by A Lonergan
I stretched my hearing and listened as Rafe chuckled from my bedroom. Of course, he was listening. I wondered what else he was doing up there. Especially since I knew he still had my panties in his drawer at his house. Nalia was satisfied with that but I regretted not taking them back with me. My cheeks heated at the direction my thoughts had taken.
I nodded my head. “I can promise you that if Rafe,” I raised my voice a little bit so he couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear me. “Ever hurt me physically or emotionally, I would run as far away as I could. I wouldn’t look back and I would probably eat his heart.” The last bit was definitely from Nalia.
My mom snickered. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I won’t say I’m not proud. I know you’ve always been a partier and I haven’t had any issues with that but your father has always worried more than I have. I think he’s gotten worse in his old age.” She winked.
Tracey was waiting for us when we got back to the Pack Lands. She eyed my bright pink suitcase with a lifted brow. “What’s that for?”
“I told my mom we were going to the beach in a few weeks.” I shrugged my shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal.
Tracey sighed with pleasure. “Yes, please. No men allowed?”
Rafe growled behind us but we both ignored him as I dragged my suitcase through the snow to my cottage. It made a soft scraping noise but I didn’t pay it any attention as Rafe followed behind it like a puppy.
“No men allowed.” I nodded.
I waggled my fingers at Rafe as we entered my home. He leaned his body forward, ready to protest.
Gabriel had picked up Chinese takeout on his way back from checking on the elders in the pack. They were staying with elders of another pack, being protected through their people. I could tell by the set of Rafe’s jaw that he wasn’t happy about leaving his people’s safety up to someone else. All of the Guardians hardly fit in my little living room but it was comfortable.
Lucas sat at the bar in the kitchen while Tracey poured herself a glass of wine. They had all sworn off wolfsbane after what had happened. I didn’t blame them, I certainly wouldn’t be touching it for a long time, if ever again.
Knox slurped up his noodles from his paper container in the most annoying fashion. Tracey snarled at him with disgust and Lucas watched the exchange with a frown touching his lips. Mav leaned against the couch this time, instead of sitting on it. He had ordered beef fried rice but there didn’t seem to be any beef in it. Rafe had his hands shoved in his pockets while he watched his men. I looked up from my perch on the floor.
“Are you hungry?” His eyes softened at my words. He shook his head.
“We need to figure out what to do next,” Rafe ran his thumb over his chin.
Archer leaned back on the floor and groaned. “Can we skip that for tonight?”
Gabriel who was usually the serious one out of the bunch with Rafe nodded in agreement. “Look, we are always trying to protect the pack. Nothing changes but can we take a break?”
Mav snorted. “The high and mighty has requested a break?”
Knox grinned around his noodles. “This is new.”
Gabriel rolled his shoulders back. “We are going to burn out if we keep up at the rate we are going.”
Knox cocked his head to the side. “We need another karaoke night.”
Rafe tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. “I swear on my life if you bring up karaoke again.”
Mav snorted again before he coughed around a mouthful of beef. “He hasn’t brought it up, has he?”
My cheeks flamed as I worried over what would be said next. Knox merely nodded his head and Rafe shook his. “Yes, he has brought it up a few times and as much as I love karaoke and letting you guys cut loose, I have PTSD from what happened the last time we went out.”
Lucas kicked his feet up on the table while he shoveled orange chicken into his mouth. “Look, they’re right, if you don’t get some kind of break, you and all of your men will not be on top of your game like you should be. I’m not suggesting karaoke but maybe something else?”
Tracey’s eyes met my own and she shook her head. Knox spoke up, looking for a death wish. “I thought I heard the girls talking about a girl's trip.”
Tracey’s eyes blazed as she marched across the room. She stuck her finger out and poked him in the chest with each word that left her lips. “Girls. Only. You. Stupid. Oaf.”
Mav hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Knox didn’t miss the movement and his nostrils flared. I narrowed my eyes at the exchange. Tracey tried to fight off Mav’s huge arms but it was no use. He grinned. “Play nice you two.”
She growled. “Never.”
Chapter 10
Rafe
There were many things I had in mind to help relieve tension between my Guardians. There were tons of ideas that had zoomed through my head but leaving my pack wasn’t one of them.
Axel leaned forward at my round table and shot me a smile. “Tracey already came to me with the idea.”
Leave it to Tracey to make my life difficult. “I don’t think a beach trip is a good idea, Axel.”
Axel pressed his lips together then tucked his hands behind his head. “My son is right, you all need to be in good shape mentally. If you don’t take a break all of this could go very bad.”
I threw my hands up. “So I leave my pack to danger?”
Axel shook his head. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. Your mother and I will be here and so will Granny. You can also leave Guardians if it will make you feel better but I think you and all of your men need a break. Plus,” he paused. “We could all use a break from Knox. Get him laid or something. He’s becoming more obnoxious and I didn’t think that was possible.”
He was right about that. Knox had been extra antsy lately. He was my best fighter, if he wasn’t in tip-top shape there was no telling what would happen. I leaned back in my chair and felt defeat threaten my body.
“You are the Alpha and at the end of the day, what you say goes but we all care about this pack and your men. You need to refill their cups.”
He was right and I hated it. I licked my bottom lip. “Yes, I agree. I just don’t know how to step aside and do this for them.”
Axel smiled. “I understand, it isn’t easy especially when you’re a control freak like you are.”
My lips parted to protest but no words came out. He was right. I was a control freak. “Fine, but there are going to be very strong rules.”
“We will follow them. I wish I could get away from this damned snow.” Something new washed over me and I realized it was excitement. Maybe this was the trip I needed to really get close to Jade. Maybe we both needed this more than anything else.
Axel’s words halted my plans. “All that Tracey requires is that you are all separate from her and Jade. She wants a girl’s trip that isn’t bothered with Knox. You can stay close to them but let them have some fun. Granny agreed to put a glamour over them. She has been learning a thing or two from these kids staying here. It would be good practice.”
The thought of Jade looking different soured my stomach. “Can the glamour only work for those not in our pack?”
Axel shrugged. “You’ll have to talk to Granny about that but she’s powerful. I understand not wanting to change the features of your mate but you will all need to be changed if you’re going to leave.”
“We will tell the pack that we are going on another mission to find out more information on this man that keeps bringing destruction to our pack. No one will know that we have left to go on vacation.”
Axel bowed his head. “You have a pack of one hundred strong here, outside of the elders. The men can protect their mates and their children just fine. You don’t have to worry about the rest of us. Granny’s magic can do the rest.”
His words did little to ease my worry.
Chapter 11
Jade
Excitement thrummed through my veins. I couldn’t believe we were actually go
ing on a vacation. When was the last time I had been to the beach? Two spring breaks ago? I couldn’t wait to escape the snow here. I loved the white fluff that fell from the sky and the random snowball fights but I couldn’t wait to be on the beach with the sand between my toes.
Tracey peeked her head into my bedroom with a suitcase bigger than my own. “Don’t tell me that it’s overkill. I absolutely have to have an outfit for every single day we are gone and then just in case, I have to have an outfit if those don’t work out. Plus all of my swimsuits and nightclothes.”
My suitcase looked like a little baby beside hers. “Okay, I only packed a few things but I can get on board with that. I like to be prepared too.”
Tracey grinned. “I mean, I’m all about ‘the less clothes the better’ but unfortunately the Guardians will be trailing us so we have to be on our best behavior.”
“You aren’t excited to have them with us?” I couldn’t deny that I wasn’t thrilled to have them with us. I was over the moon. We had so much fun that night we went to karaoke, I couldn’t imagine just how much fun we would have on the beach.
Tracey shook her head. “Absolutely not. Knox will try to cock block me and Mav will try to play ref. I could do without them tagging along.”
I nodded my head, unsure of what to say to her. I wanted Rafe there. I wanted us outside of the setting of gloom and doom. We needed sunlight and happiness. I wanted to see how he did outside of his Alpha duties. It was his sentence and roll for a long time, but if we were to be mated, then I wanted to know everything there was to know about him. I didn’t want to be mated to a stranger, even if our wolves thought we were compatible.
“You’re going to have to hang out with the guys sometimes, you know that right?” I chewed on my lip.
Tracey flipped her bouncy curls over her shoulder. “No, they can come wherever we are but I want zero interaction from them. Strangers, do you hear me?”
My shoulders slumped slightly. “Okay, that’s fine by me. We can try our best to have a girl’s trip but I have a feeling Rafe isn’t going to allow that to happen.”
She grinned. “I don’t care if Rafe whisks you away, someone is going to have to keep you busy while I’m getting a booty call.”
I threw a pillow at her. It connected with her head and she let out a loud yelp before the pillow came sailing back to me. I dodged it easily.
Granny’s hands passed over my face with a gentle coolness. She smiled as she changed my features then the rest of us going on the trip. I could hardly believe everything had been planned so quickly but Granny had explained that the longer we planned, the more likely it was that our plans would get out to the big bad wolf waiting for us.
Lucas hugged me tightly around my middle. He lifted me off of my feet briefly before he set me back down. He did the same to Tracey but I could see there was some tension when he touched her. They still hadn’t gotten back to normal and I didn’t feel like it was my place to ask about it.
“Please be careful,” he whispered.
“There’s still time for you to come with us!” I beamed at him. I didn’t want to leave him behind but he had insisted. He wanted to spend time with his parents and Granny without us breathing down their necks. He waggled his eyebrows as he looked at Carden out of the corner of his eyes. A knowing grin stretched across my face. They were both victims and maybe it was easy to care for someone that had gone through something similar to you. They had both been forced to change into wolves, even if Carden had been a human first.
“I’m going to learn everything there is about being a wolf and a witch. It’s so much different now. I don’t feel like myself. I need this.” His words broke and I understood. Tracey watched us with sadness in her eyes. She was envious of my relationship with her brother. She had told me so just a few days prior but she didn’t hate me because of it. She knew that we had needed each other and she was thankful that we had found each other. But she was still sad that she didn’t know if she would ever get to this point with him. I had admitted that I was envious of the fact that she had a brother. I had always wanted a sibling, even if I had liked being alone. Having a sibling would have been nice. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt the need to party as much if I had. But those things didn’t matter now and didn’t change anything.
Lucas pulled me back in for another hug and whispered in my ear. “If you don’t have a good time with your mate, I will be very disappointed in you when you return.” I gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek and pulled away. I could make no promises. Though I had done far more on a first date than what Rafe and I had done lately, I didn’t feel like ruining it for something physical. This felt more important and I didn’t want to screw it up because we couldn’t control ourselves.
The guys piled up in one massive SUV and we got into Tracey’s new Jeep. She sighed behind the wheel. “I have been waiting to take this baby on a trip.”
I rolled my eyes. “You got it two days ago.”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.”
Tracey watched the guys pull down the long driveway before we followed behind them. “How much do you want to bet that Rafe or Gabriel will beg to ride with us after a few hours?”
I snickered. Rafe looked tortured in the front seat already. Knox was the one driving and Mav was laying across the backseat with a flourish. He looked like he was ready to take a nap. I didn’t blame him, that was what I loved about road trips when I was little. But I didn’t think I would be getting much sleep with Tracey in the driver’s seat. She cranked up the music and began singing at the top of her lungs.
Granny waved her arms over her head as I watched her in the rearview mirror. She would mask our scents and our vehicles for a few miles. We wouldn’t be tracked as long as we didn’t get out of the car for a few hours. I leaned my head against the back of the seat and zoned out.
Chapter 12
Jade
The salt air was heavier than I remembered it being. Either that or it was my new wolf that was making the experience different. My parents had let us borrow their house on the beach and somehow, the guys had managed to get the house next door. I knew it was a pretty penny based on the size of it. Rafe nor Gabriel had begged once to get into our vehicle though when I spied them on the road, I noticed that they both had noise-cancelling earbuds in their ears. I wondered how they worked with their wolf sense but wouldn’t bother asking.
I didn’t unpack the Jeep or rush up to the house. Instead, I ran right for the waves. My feet sunk into the gritty sand and the water lapped at my ankles. The sun was starting to sink in the sky and I felt a new kind of peace wash over me. My shoulders relaxed as I stood in the surf of the private beach. I could sense Rafe watching me but he didn’t join me. After a few minutes, disappointment set in. But when I finally dragged myself out of the water and up to the house, I noticed that he had brought my bags up for me. I climbed the steps slowly, enjoying the feeling of the drying sand on the bottoms of my feet.
The beach house was like I had remembered when I was little. I hadn’t been here since I was a child. It was like my parent’s private oasis. When they came here, they left everything behind. They didn’t want the outside world interrupting their paradise. That was why I was so surprised when they had offered it to us. It was nice to not have to spend our own money but it was even nicer feeling the nostalgia of the place.
The building was painted white and lifted off of the ground. It was kept immaculate even if my parents hardly came here anymore. They made sure someone took care of it so it was ready no matter what. It wasn’t too far from the Crimson Pack either, which was nice. I could hardly believe it was snowing back home but sunny and warm here.
Tracey was already pouring herself a glass of wine and looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the house that overlooked the beach. Having parents that had money was nice. The couches in the open living space were new. They were a light grey and there was a white coffee table in the center of the ro
om. To the left was a massive kitchen with a bar that stretched the length of the room. Twelve grey barstools were tucked against it.
It was a four-bedroom house with a bathroom in each. We had plenty of room and didn’t have to worry about being up each other’s butts. My mom had called the housekeeper and had the fridge loaded for us. I peeked into the pantry. Not a single vegan item in sight. My brows crinkled together. She must have picked up on my new tastes. She didn’t miss much. She was my mother, after all.
Tracey sighed as she sunk down into the hammock at the corner of the room. It was positioned perfectly to look over the beach.
“This is magical,”
“I didn’t remember it being like this,” I breathed.
Everything was white with baby blue accents. It was the perfect getaway.
“How do you think the boys are doing?” I peered out the side window and laughed. Gabriel and Rafe were on the porch leaning over it, watching us with pleading eyes. They looked like tortured little puppy dogs. From the windows, I could see Knox dancing on the table with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. The funny thing was that he didn’t need the alcohol because it did absolutely nothing to him. He was simply high on life. Tracey joined me at the window and her eyes got as big as saucers.
“What the hell?”
“Think they’re gonna have a good time?” I asked while giggles escaped me.
Archer joined him on the table and I closed my eyes in horror. Nothing good would come out of this. Rafe’s face was pale and Gabriel was slowly sinking down onto the deck. His face was buried in his hands like he could die from mortification alone, except there was nobody around. This was about as private of a getaway as anyone got.
