by Belle Kayce
“You do a good job at angering them,” Lance says, humor in his eyes. “Admirable of you.”
Once the music stops, Lance takes our intertwined hands together and kisses the back of my hand. My entire being tingles from the feather-like contact. “I hope to dance with you again someday.”
“Even though I stepped on you the whole time?”
Lance nods. “I wouldn’t have it any other way as long as it’s you.”
We stare at each other for a moment, and I give him a shy smile. I’m definitely blushing.
And I don’t usually blush.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As the both of us head back to our rooms because we are both tired (although it’s probably just me), neither of us let go of our hands. Using this to my advantage, I veer Lance towards the patio. Thankfully, no questions arises from Lance as he lets me lead him outside.
He shrugs off his suit jacket and put it on me because it starts to get chilly outside.
“Oh, look, Lance,” I say, making him turn towards the pool. “That’s such a nice pool that Paxon has, don’t you think? I’d die for one like that.”
“Hm,” is all Lance says.
I open my mouth to say more about the pool, trying to make him see reason, but I hear Paxon calling us from a distance. He’s with Cole and they’re coming towards us.
“Ava, I heard about the thing with Kade,” Paxon says, sighing loudly.
“He needed to be taught a lesson.” I cross my arms, shivering at the slight chilly night air.
“Kade isn’t known for his kindness,” Paxon says grimly, glancing at Lance. ”My beta, Sargon, planned this all out a while ago and invited everyone. Kade is my pack neighbor, so I suppose it makes sense to invite him.”
“Kade told his mate he would wipe her—your pack—out like it was nothing.”
“We’ll figure this out in the morning.” Paxon gives us all a once over. “You guys should rest for the night. It’s been a long day for all of us.”
Understatement.
***
Back in the room, I realize I need to have another conversation with Lance. I motion for him to sit down.
“Sit since, you know, I outrank you and everything.” I grin at him, not being able to help it. His words are making me so happy.
“You’re never going to let that die, will you?” Lance asks. He sits down, his eyes never leaving mine.
Nope. “I might.”
Lance raises an eyebrow. I know he doesn’t believe me. He had loosened his tie, making him look all the more drop-dead gorgeous.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the plan that you were going to join Paxon in the fight?” I ask him. In all honesty, it hurt me a little that he didn’t tell me about his almost-suicide mission. That’s some serious wolf crap right there, an alpha fighting an alpha. It’s not really normal for it to happen unless an alpha wants to take over another one’s pack.
Lance looks away for a second. “I thought of it on the spot, but I do have something in this fight. You.”
My heart melts a little. “Maybe I should be the one fighting since my bad-luck self got me in this mess in this first place.”
“Ava,” he looks at me with pleading eyes, “this became my fight the moment they wanted my mate dead. Don’t feel guilty.”
Caught. Because I do feel guilty. More than that, I feel so freaking useless. Defenseless. I will probably take years to train and I still can’t fight anyone, especially an alpha.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I whisper to him my biggest fear. “That’s what I wanted from the start, Lance. What if you get badly injured or . . . or worse?”
In a flash, he’s in front of me, cupping my face with both of his hands. The tingles I feel from his touch brings out hummingbirds in my stomach in full force.
“How come every day you say or do something that will make me even more attracted to you?” he asks.
I blush. He brushes a thumb over my cheek.
“You are just you, and that’s enough for me.” He drops his hands, taking a step back. “I don’t know what I’d do if any harm comes to you.”
I swallow. “But what about you?” I ask him desperately. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He’s not invincible. “Not that I don’t believe in you because I do, but I mean . . . what I mean is—”
“I promise nothing will happen to me,” he says, his voice deeper than usual.
“Pinky?” I hold up my pinky. “I take these seriously by the way.”
“Pinky promise,” he says, hooking his pinky finger with mine and then kissing my finger.
***
I’m not feeling sleepy anymore. Lance is taking a shower. Instead of waiting for him or Cole, who looks like he’s having a serious conversation on the phone, I wander off to venture the house.
The halls are huge and painted pictures are all over the walls. There is this room with the door open. I get closer to it, then take a peek inside. White cloth covers each furniture in the room. The smell of alcohol reeks inside the room as I spot a figure at the corner.
Paxon.
Realization hits me as I figure that this is Vanessa’s room. My heart physically hurts for him. I don’t know how he does it. I admire him greatly for looking like he has it together. It’s admirable how he doesn’t just give up, like most alphas do when their mate dies.
I quietly pass the room and make my way back to my room, but everything looks the same in the house, so I know I’m kind of lost.
All of a sudden, I hear a panicked voice.
“Father! Please—”
I recognize the voice. Tiffany. Alpha Kade’s mate is in my view and sure enough, her ugly mug mate is next to her. An older man is in front of them and is looking like he’s choking.
“She’s coming with me,” Kade tells Tiffany’s father with a low growl, “or I’ll kill you.”
My eyes widen. Seriously? What is this guy on? Tiffany’s father looks absolutely terrified. I feel really sorry for him.
Stop threatening to kill everyone, you psycho.
Kade, Tiffany, and her dad all turn to me, and I realize too late that I said that out loud.
Kade takes a step towards me, and I remember what Bo told me once. Surprise. Sunrise. Or something. Basically, surprise the person by hitting their lower body and jab them at their upper body. Hence, the name sunrise.
I take a couple of steps back.
“You should know where a she-wolf’s place is in a pack whether you are the demon’s mate or not,” Kade snarls.
My heart sinks a little as he takes another threatening step towards me and then growls. I try to surprise him by kneeing him where it hurts, but he grabs my hand and tugs it.
His grip is so strong on my arms that I want to cry out. I know welts are going to form.
“Please, Kade. Don’t!” Tiffany cries but Kade isn’t listening.
For once, I wish I had put my filter on.
He pulls me with his vice-like grip and is literally dragging me.
Now, out of all times, a headache starts to pound on my temples. I can barely breathe. This headache is the worst one yet. I can’t even fight Kade off.
“I hear two alphas are looking for you,” Kade says menacingly.
I’m pushed into the ground. Hard. My heart drops. I’m going to die. This is it. My head is throbbing, and I feel so weak to even try to stand up or even say anything.
I feel myself black out, and the last thing I see is Kade looking like he just got thrown to the other side of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Tug.
Tug.
I pry my eyes open to the persisting thing tugging at my shoulders and then see a worried Tiffany looking down at me with wide eyes.
”What happened?” I ask her, trying to remember what happened. I remember just . . . blacking out.
Kade. Oh my gosh—
“You were out for only a few minutes,” Tiffany answers me worriedly, cutting o
ff my thoughts. Her voice lowers. “And Kade was knocked unconscious. How did you manage to do that?”
“I . . . what?” I ask her. I realize we’re no longer in the room where Kade dragged me in, and I’m on a bed. “How did I get here?”
Tiffany is still looking at me like I’m an alien.
“I followed you guys, and as soon as I got in, Kade was knocked out and so were you. My father and I helped you get into my room. Right now, my father is getting Alpha Lance.” Tiffany swallows thickly. “I don’t know if Kade is awake or not.”
Quite frankly, I don’t care. He can go choke on his ego.
“He needs to relax.” I snort, feeling my wrist sting. Sure enough, there are welts from his grip.
“I’m scared,” Tiffany says quietly but I hear it.
Before I can say anything, there’s a commotion in the next room, and Cole barges in on us.
His eyes land on me, and he looks a little disheveled.
“Ava!” Cole’s tone is urgent, putting me on edge even more. “You need to go to Lance. Now. He heard about Kade, and is about to shift, but he-he . . . we just can’t let him do that.”
I stand up and get to my feet. Tiffany helps me. For Cole to be this frantic, it has to be something really serious.
“Where is he?” I ask Cole even though he’s already out of the door. I have to almost jog to catch up with him as he goes to the direction of Lance’s room.
Cole looks at me. “You’re perhaps the only one who can prevent him from shifting.”
Lance’s door is open, and I walk in to see him bent over slightly. His claws are out and his eyes are shut.
“Lance!” I exclaim, not knowing how to stop him from shifting, or why he can’t stop himself. Purely on instinct, I wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. Almost immediately, he wraps his arms around me too, his claws tearing into my shirt and barely grazing my skin. He buries his face on the crook of my neck, and I feel him inhaling my scent, probably calming him down. The mate bond isn’t strong, but the sensation of him is making me feel a little breathless. Feeling like I need to, I run a hand through his silky soft hair a couple of times to try to calm him and myself. Right now, he has stopped shaking, but he keeps breathing me in. His hot breath on my neck is driving me a little insane, but for now, I need him to be calm.
We stay like this for a while.
Lance finally leans back, looking down at his claws as they slowly retract from my torn shirt. His voice has a heaviness to it. “Did I hu—”
I shake my head before he feels guilty by thinking he hurt me. “No. I’m okay.”
Lance looks down at my wrists, and I wish I covered the welts that formed from Kade’s grip.
“Ava,” his voice is guttural, like he can’t stand the sight of it. His voice almost makes me want to just hug him and never let him go, but I need to remember something really significant in all of this.
“Kade knows,” I rush in before I let my hormones get in the way. “He knows Trent and Steven wants me.”
Lance’s jaw ticks and he takes a step back. For a second, I think he’s going to shift, but he reigns it in. Gone is the tender expression he gave me just a few moments ago. His face is inscrutable.
Without warning, the door opens with a bang, and a grim Paxon and Cole enter the room.
“Kade left.” Cole walks with Paxon in tow, the latter looking like he’s sleepwalking. “He left with Tiffany.”
“Oh no,” I say in horror. My heart drops because who knows what Kade will do to her. This is the worst-case scenario right here.
“Her father, Miguel, is hospitalized because of him. Seems like Kade really wants his mate,” Paxon says, letting out a breath.
“We have to get her back,” I say. There isn’t any other option. Tiffany doesn’t deserve this.
“We?” Lance asks. His entire face is clouded, and the stoic alpha is in full display now. He is completely different from a few minutes ago.
“She helped me. That’s the least I can do.” I shoot a glare at him.
He’s not looking at me but at Paxon. I’m getting aggravated that he’s dismissing it like it’s nothing. I will get out of here even if the last thing I do is help Tiffany.
Lance says, “Cole is going to take Ava home. Once she’s safe, Kade will be taken care of.”
“What?!” I say in a shrill. Oh heck no. I’m not going to just be some damsel in distress. “Lance—”
“This isn’t up for discussion.” Lance is still not looking at me. His tone holds a finality that makes me feel like I shouldn’t be testing the waters right now. He got so angry at Kade for hurting me, he was about to shift and do heavens-know-what. I know he might be scared of what might happen to me, but I will be fine.
“Lance is right, Luna Ava.” Paxon gives me a short smile. “In this case, you can’t do anything.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “What are you talking about? I can be of use. I can do something.”
“You can be home. Be safe,” Lance responds easily.
I’m not budging on this. “No.”
Lance’s head snaps towards me. He holds my glare with one of his own. I should be squirming and should probably die from it, but I’m too concerned with wanting to help Tiffany get away from her psycho mate.
“Ava, guess who is the first person Kade will attack to get to Lance?” Cole asks me.
Lance is still holding his expressionless glare at me, but I’m not backing down.
I see Cole’s point, and I’ve lost the argument, but I still keep fighting. “Tiffany is the priority here though.”
“Of course.” Paxon nods. “Kade isn’t going to kidnap one of my pack mates like he owns them. Even if he wants more of my land that I’m not giving to him, I won’t let him be like this any longer.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” I tell Lance seriously.
Lance glances upward as if saying “heaven help me”, then drags his gaze towards me.
Suddenly, all three of the male wolves stiffen. Within seconds, Lance’s back is in front of me. Cole is at my other side. I peek over from Lance’s shoulders to see a tall tanned man with his arms crossed. He is leaning on the wall opposite of us with a smug expression on his face, like he’s been there for a while.
“Grayson.” Cole’s voice is a little on edge, and I remember Lance and Cole mentioning this alpha who is trying to take land in the north, alongside Kade. Does someone like him really have to appear at a time like this? We already have three alphas that currently hate our guts, and adding another one to the mix sucks.
Alpha Grayson gives a carefree wave and peels himself off the wall. What I want to know is how he got past Paxon’s border control. I’m thinking that’s what all of us are wondering.
Grayson gives Lance an appraising look, then looks at Paxon. “I heard Kade was invited to this party and I wasn’t. Kind of offended.” He tilts his head a little more. “Then I hear something else that’s very interesting.”
Grayson’s brown eyes land on me. I manage not to shudder. By now, I’m guessing everyone has heard of Trent and Steven looking for me. It’s great to know I’m on some kind of hit list.
“Like what?” Paxon asks. “We don’t want any trouble.” I can tell he’s a little more alert than before. Whoever this Grayson is, has Paxon rattled.
“Something about a special reward for whoever captures this she-wolf.”
Lance’s startling growl makes everyone freeze. Even Grayson looks frightened for a second. I take his hand, trying to make him not shift.
“I don’t want any trouble,” Grayson says quickly. “I want to help you guys in fact.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Grayson just keeps staring at Lance and Paxon as a sudden tension fills the air with the arrival of the new alpha.
“What help?” Lance asks, his voice giving away nothing. Holding his hand works at calming him, but unlike Cole and Paxon, Lance doesn’t seem as tense with Grayson’s presence. It’s like Lance isn�
�t even bothered. He sits down on the small loveseat and motions for me to sit next to him.
Thankfully, I sit down, realizing how much my feet hurt and how sleepy I am.
“You’ve seen my cousin?” Grayson’s question is directed at Lance, totally changing the subject.
“Dylan is doing fine,” Lance responds.
Alpha Dylan? The one that caught me when I ran away? Dylan is the nicest guy, and he’s related to this supposedly bad Alpha Grayson?
“That’s good,” Grayson says earnestly. He looks at Cole. “So, it is true that ex-alpha Cole Wales is with Noctis Luna. This is getting even more interesting than I thought.”
Cole glowers at him.
“Why are you here?” Lance asks, not taking his eyes off Grayson as he walks closer to us.
“Kade has made an enemy of you, Paxon, and I want to tell you I would like to be an ally.”
Paxon scoffs. “You? An ally? Why?”
“I’ve been eyeing Kade’s lands for a while. It’s an opportune moment for me to join with you and Lance. You’ve always been good friends with my cousin but never me.”
“I don’t associate myself with alphas like you,” Lance says, which is totally offensive, but it seems like Lance doesn’t care.
“I’ve banned the whipping post per your request.” Grayson frowns like Lance hurt him. “Kade does it like many others, but out of goodwill for you, I stopped it.”
Grayson glances in my direction.
“You haven’t been in your pack land for a while either,” Paxon says. “Of course, I’d be suspicious of what you’re doing.”
“If I tell you, you wouldn’t believe me.” Grayson shrugs. “I’ve just been searching for something.”
Paxon narrows his eyes a little. “Searching?”
“I’d rather not say. It only affects me.” Grayson shrugs. “It’s personal.”
I want to ask if this guy is mateless or not, but I don’t want to be under his radar. I’m betting that it is his mate he is looking for.
