Chapter 13
Adouble knock and Stark opens the door. The sun hasn’t even come up yet. I wrap the sheets up around my head, blocking the light from the hallway. My burst of adrenaline faded a few minutes after driving yesterday and I feel no need to move yet.
“I have to leave, but Nikki”—I pull the sheet down so I can burn holes in him with my eyes—“is coming over, so you’re not alone.”
“No, thanks. I’ll risk it.”
“Not an option. You disappeared.”
“Correction, I saved my life. Where’s Jocko?”
Stark nears the bed and looks down at me, his drool-worthy smell of cedarwood reminding me of the muscles hiding under his shirt and that I am bare under the sheets. I reach for the comforter to add another barrier between us.
“He’s busy.”
“Call him. I’m sure I can convince him to come instead,” I flutter my eyelashes.
Stark’s fists form inside his pockets. Can’t say this isn’t fun.
I don’t see why he’d care if I enjoy his second-in-command’s company so much.
Jocko is the only person I can be relaxed here with.
Like we could be family one day, as if the spirits didn’t leave me without every ounce of Pratt’s personality.
“Nikki is already here.”
“Hello?” Her voice rings down the hallway.
“I’ll be back tonight.”
“With Jocko?” I ask right before the door slams.
Knowing I don’t need to entertain her, I fall back asleep in no time.
When I eventually wake up, I climb out of bed and step in the shower, getting any of yesterday’s smells off me.
The scent of roses fills the shower as I rub suds up and down my arms. I rinse, shake, and get dressed.
I stick to shorts and add a dark-red sweater.
When I enter the main room, Nikki is cooking with another girl, maybe a few years older than me. Dark-brown hair similar to my own is braided into two down her back. She smiles at me when I walk over to the kitchen.
“Hi, I’m Lirea.”
“Aloka.” I smile.
Maybe I could attempt to have girlfriends. The chances of leaving here seems to be dropping.
“We’re just making lunch. Do you want anything?” Nikki asks.
“I’ll just have a salad. Thanks though.”
She goes back to stirring a pot and Lirea taps spices into a pan. Not long after, they choose seats at the end of the large table next to me.
“Sorry you had to come here,” I say.
“Don’t be.” Lirea stirs up her rice bowl.
“Stark asked. It’s no big deal,” says Nikki. She seems less nosey today.
Lirea smirks at Nikki. “You’ll probably be roommates soon.”
“You don’t say.” I hide the surprise on my face with my glass of water. Taking a gulp, it threatens to come back up.
“Well, with Stark and Nikki being mates, it only makes sense.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize. I keep trying to get home, but the Elders win.” I roll my eyes as I stir up the dressing on my salad.
“Seriously, the Elders are so about rules. I hate it,” Nikki says, and now I have to hate her less. “Stark and I aren’t officially mated yet”—she turns her bare forearms in the air—“but it’s coming.”
“That’s minor. You’ve already slept together,” Lirea says.
I try to block all bare-chested images of Stark out of my brain, but now Nikki is wrapping her hands around his neck. I shudder.
“You cold?” Nikki looks over at me, scanning my outfit again.
“I’m good. Are you mated?” I ask Lirea.
“Not yet, but I’ve got the sex thing down after going to school.”
So, I was right. Girls do talk about sex most of the time.
“You ever meet anyone? I know, like, your whole hidden-from-the-world story, but a girl’s got to get.”
I laugh. “It’s been a while, but I went to the cities for a bit before Pratt controlled my life.
” After our mom passed, he got a bit out of control, but things eased after the first year.
Though I was never allowed back to the cities—since he couldn’t hide the obvious werewolf factor of his build, I’d be going alone.
“Can’t say I expected that,” Nikki says, and I smile.
I blend, and going into bars was easy.
“But Nikki knows what wolf sex is like. I wish I’d find my mate to find out.”
Nikki’s eyes cast to the side. “Yeah, it’s something else.”
“I bet Stark is on fire,” Lirea says.
My chest burns at the image and I drown it with logic.
Just because he has the most mesmerizing coat and eyes doesn’t mean I should be upset about Stark and Nikki being together.
There is more to mating than looks. The man lacks any understanding of personal space and loves to give out commands.
Though that rare laugh of his sends thrills through me each time I cause it.
We sit and chat about first experiences with humans and decide Lirea had the worst experience, yet it’s laughable.
The day goes by faster than I expect, sitting and listening to their gossip about most of the girls in the pack.
Some names I recognize from early high-school days.
When they start talking about a mating ceremony for Nikki and Stark, I leave them to it.
By evening, Lirea abandons the two of us. Only a handful of people come for dinner—the younger wolf Hudry, Otis and Faira, and Jocko.
“How was it?” Stark pulls a roast from the oven, and I move to the other side of the island to grab a ready dish. I don’t respond. If he really wanted to know, he could ask his mate-slash-babysitter. Despite the fact that I didn’t mind all our conversations, the reason they were here is the issue.
I take a seat at the end of the table, letting Nikki take the place across from Stark again. It should be her spot. She smiles across the table at me. Not that it’s my business. Him being mated is not affecting me at all.
Jocko bumps his arm into mine and leans in. “You okay?”
“Totally.” I force a smile.
During dinner, I learn that the hunt for the camp down south was successful and now it’s getting a twenty-four-hour watch duty. Meaning Stark will be gone more. If Nikki moves in, I may accept the Elders’ punishment for leaving.
When I stand for my routine dinner cleanup, Stark rises to join and starts handing me plates to rinse.
“Red?”
“Hmm?” I don’t turn to look at him, instead focusing on our hands not touching.
“Did something happen while I was gone?”
I scrunch my eyes at him and shake my head.
“I know you’re pissed to be back here, but you know I can’t hear you. Am I wrong to guess that you might stab me with that knife you’re washing?”
“I’m over the moon.”
He drops it and leaves me to finish.
For once, Faira doesn’t budge or insult me while I do dishes. Jocko, Hudry, and Nikki stay after dinner, lounging in the pit. Stark takes a seat on the longest couch. Nikki moves from a chair to sit next to him; she even looks like she belongs there.
The temperature in the room changes and I know it’s me. I step down the two stairs and pause. How are they all not done with each other yet?
“Night, Jocko, Hudry,” I say before going back up the steps. “And good night, Nikki. Thanks for today.” I wave my hand behind me as I walk away.
I’d consider locking your door tonight, Stark, Jocko thinks.
She say something? Stark asks.
You’re an idiot.
Moonlight glows through the windows. The full moon is tomorrow night. I have no plan, and no way to prevent from turning. Pratt’s entire goal of keeping me safe is going to go up in smoke. The light never fades throughout the night, like the spirits are taunting me.
Smoke clouds around me, my body is on fire. Stark barges through the bedroom door, and I bolt past him, out to the back deck. The release across my body is ecstasy. Except . . . did he see me burning? The smoke isn’t normal—and neither was his face.
Behind me, screams start and twist into growls.
We hunt her tonight.
My chest heaves and the trees blur in the distance. Six wolves close in, their eyes narrowing in the dark. I scream—
A sound shakes me.
I jolt awake, heart racing, my eyes adjust to the partial moon taunting me out the window. My pillow is damp. I flip it over and stare at the ceiling. Nothing like a nightmare to remind me of what’s to come.
Pratt should’ve just let me be alone.
Stark doesn’t barge into my room the next morning before leaving, and when I move into the main area a little while later, Nikki smiles at me, cooking away at the stove.
My feet drag across the floor, and I slump onto the couch. I should go back to bed, but on the other hand, that’s where the nightmares seem to be. Tucking my arms under my head on the armrest, I watch Nikki move around the kitchen.
Hudry shuffles out of the bunk room with the hood of an oversized hoodie pulled up, and drops into the spot beside me.
“You okay?” he whispers.
I force a little smile at the young wolf. “Just tired.”
He nods solemnly. “I’m glad Stark let me sleep in today.”
“You going to eat?” Nikki asks.
“Yes, please,” Hudry answers, pushing himself up. She stares at me, waiting for an answer.
“Maybe later. Want to go for a run?”
“Not like this.” She motions at her human form.
I can’t even argue with her. Who wants to run this way if they didn’t have to?
“I’d run with you.” Hudry perks up on his way to the kitchen.
“Thanks, but I’d rather not get you in trouble.”
Morning changes to afternoon, Hudry leaves, and after counting every single tree out the window, I open the book I grabbed blindly off the shelf in my room.
The cover features a wolf bite, and in dark lettering, A Bonded Mate.
How appropriate. We learn about bonding in high school—or for me, in homeschool.
I splay the edges and get to page one, but soon find myself wondering why Nikki and Stark haven’t got it over with yet.
For most people, once they find their mate, it isn’t unusual to have a ceremony in weeks.
It’s not like human marriage. Mates are bonded for life, and you don’t get another.