by SJ Hayslett
Evony was about to answer Denise and let her know she was definitely interested, when a hand wrapped around her waist from behind. At first she thought it was Arthur, but the smell beneath the cologne was off. The guy who grabbed her started to dance, well more like grind against Evony from behind. She caught Arthur's eye who, as soon as he saw that she was struggling to get out of his grip, started to make his way over to save her. Evony didn't want to hurt the human by using her strength and she thought it was best to leave another human to save her. She looked back at Arthur but just as he was about to reach them, the guy who had a grip on her waist was suddenly pulled off from her. Denise pulled her towards the wall as two guys started punching.
"What are they doing here?" Nick asked not daring to take his eyes from the two guys-no wolves. Evony caught the scent of one of them when his arm brushed up in front of her face to throw a punch at her mystery grinder. They were definitely werewolves.
"What do you mean? Who are they?" Evony asked watching the fight unfold. Out of the corner of her eye, she made sure that Arthur was safe and hadn't jumped into the fray.
"They're two of Blood Moon's enforcers. Actually, they are two of the best enforcers from the pack. The pack doesn't usually have a presence here, except for those who are students or professors. I would love to know why they're here now." Madeline filled in.
'Maybe our mate sent them to watch over us!' Evony's wolf exclaimed. Even Evony had to admit she was giddy at the thought that Reed had someone keeping watch over her. Surely it showed that he cared for her in some weird way. Right?
Upset with how she quickly turned her thoughts to think the better of her mate, she placed her cup on the table. "I'm going to get some air. I'll talk to you guys later." She waved to her new friends and they nodded back, still watching the fight fest in front of them.
Evony squeezed through the sweaty crowd to make her way to the front door. The scent of drunkenness and sweat was an assault on Evony's senses and she had no clue how Denise, Maddie, and Nick were able to stay in the party for so long.
Evony stood outside taking in gulps of fresh air. The air in Boston seemed so much thicker than the air where she was from. Of course she was now closer to the ocean than she's ever been. She could even smell a hint of salt that lingered. Evony was just about to step away from the house and head back to her dorm, when she felt a presence behind her.
"The Alpha would like to see you at the pack house." One of the enforcers from the fight was now standing beside her.
"I'm supposed to be at his beck and call?" She replied bitterly. Evony looked over her shoulder and looked at the enforcer that was only doing his job. He was fairly cute, but at least ten years older than her. His sandy blonde hair was cut low to his scalp and his eyes gleamed like hot chocolate. He was only a few inches taller than she was, but she could tell by his build that he would be formidable force for anyone who dared to battle him. "Where's your partner in crime?"
"He's getting the car. This way." The enforcer kept his distance, not touching her, but keeping his hand hovering above the small of her back. She wondered if Reed told them that she was his mate, and that was why he refused to touch her. Wouldn't want word to get around that he touched the Alpha's mate. Then again what if the last minute meeting was because he made the decision to reject her.
The enforcer led her around the building and into a black Escalade with dark tinted windows. 'Cause this isn't skeevy at all.'
'But we're going to see our mate. We're going to see Reed.'
Evony sighed at her wolf's excitement and blocked her from her mind for a while. All of her enthusiasm was sure to give her a headache. "So do I get to know your names, or not at all? I'd just really like to know the names of my kidnappers."
There was a chuckle from the driver's side and Evony turned her attention to the guy behind the steering wheel. "Wait, are you guys twins?" She blurted out.
"Yeah. We are. I'm Paul," the driver said. "And this is Connor. I'm the older one." Paul said.
"That maybe true, but I'm the cuter one. And Ma loved me more." Connor joked. Well at least they weren't stuffy enforcers, Evony thought to herself. Her father's enforcers hardly would talk to her, unless it was to show respect for her as the alpha's daughter or to give directions. It was like they didn't even know how to smile. Evony always found it depressing when she needed to be in their company for an extended period of time.
Evony looked at the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was already ten o' clock, she hadn't even realized that she was at the party that long. But then again, Arthur did keep dragging her from conversation to conversation like she was some kind of trophy presentation before she found the other wolves.
"So can you tell me why the alpha wants to meet so late? Is this normal?"
"He didn't say Miss Morris. Just that he wanted to meet with you." Paul stated while looking at her through the rear view mirror.
"How did you know my name?" Evony asked.
"When Alpha Reed told us to pick you up he told us your name."
"Yeah but how did you know it was me. My name could have been Mary Jane Carter for all you knew." Evony narrowed her eyes as she looked at the two of them. "I didn't meet you two at the pack house when I met with your alpha this morning." Neither of them said a word while Evony confirmed her suspicions.
"Have my new favorite set of twins been following me all day?"
When they still remained silent, Evony was sure that she was right. And if she was right, that could mean that either Reed wanted to protect her, or he didn't trust her. If he didn't trust her, would she then still want him for a mate? There was. No way she wanted to find herself in a relationship where there was no trust.
Paul had mind linked to Connor that they had said too much, and now the entire SUV was silent while everyone drowned in their thoughts. Neither of the two had realized that Evony's easy-going attitude made it easy to just start telling her anything. It didn't matter that neither of them came out right and said that they had been following her, unfortunately the problem was they said enough to lead her to that conclusion and they knew that if it got back to Reed, he might not be too happy with them.
Evony looked out her window into the dark landscape that flew by her on the other side of the glass. Every so often, they'd pass someone on their nightly jog, and Evony's mind would wonder what they were thinking about. She always found it funny how people's lives are interwoven together, even without a passing thought to the person around them, and yet, they some how thought they were the center of their universe.
'You're being too melancholy.' Evony's wolf hissed.
'Shush you.' Evony scolded herself for letting her walls down for her wolf to snake in with her thoughts. She wasn't ready for input from the peanut gallery just yet. Evony went back to staring out the window, when all of a sudden, she started feeling nauseous. She could feel sweat condensing on her forehead and she was in desperate need of the car to stop, right at that moment.
"Paul! Pull over right now. Please!" Not a moment too soon, Paul did as was requested, well really demanded of him and before he could come to a complete stop, Evony jumped out of the backseat and started throwing up. She screamed as a sharp pain shot out from her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. Tears were storming her eyes from the pain, and part of her begged for her life to end.
'What's going on?' She asked her wolf, but she too was in great distress and didn't want to answer.
"We're already on pack property, do you want us to take you to the pack doctor before your meeting with the alpha?" Connor was gracious enough to hold her hair back while she vomited and was now rubbing her back. She nodded her ascent and climbed back into the backseat, but this time she laid across the bench seat.
Connor passed a bottle of water to Evony and she ungraciously chugged it down in one gulp. "Thank you," she weakly gave to Connor. Paul sped down the long driveway to get to the pack house as fast as possible. However, by the time they made their wa
y to the house, Evony was feeling much better. Both enforcers didn't want to take a chance that she could have another outburst like that again and ushered her into the house.
"Guys, really. I'm fine now. There must have been something in those beers back at the party." Not a very comforting thought considering how many drinks Arthur had given her. Could he have slipped something in her drink? She was sure that she would have smelled any drug that a human could have conjured up and she didn't suspect anything. "I'm serious, just take me to Alpha Reed's office so I can get back to school."
Paul and Connor looked at each other skeptically over her head, unsure if they should just take her to the pack doctor, but she really did look like she was back on her feet. So instead of turning her to the right wing when they made it to the foyer, they turned left towards the offices. Alpha Reed's office was the last one at the end of the hall, and the trio were halfway there when the door opened and revealed a stunning blonde fixing her hair and frosted pink lipstick.
The nausea and chest pain suddenly made sense to Evony and she fought back the tears that forming for a new pain. Her mate was with this she-wolf, even though he knew Evony was his mate.
The blonde closed the door and started walking towards them, but didn't seem to acknowledge that they were in the same space until she was practically right on top of them.
"Oh hello," she said confused. "What's going on? Another rogue?"
"Alpha Reed asked us to bring her in for a discussion," Connor offered.
"Well I'm Luna Blair. And you are?"
Chapter 7
Reed looked at the camera feed that sat on the corner of the desk in his office. He sighed at the thought of having to deal with this girl again. Reed closed the file that he was working on, and put his computer asleep, so that his visitor wouldn't see a hint of what he was working on. Reed was notoriously secretive when it came to his alpha duties, and though he trusted mostly everyone in his pack, there were some – including this guest, who probably would try to betray him at a moment's notice.
Sighing once more, Reed hit the buzzer on his desk pad that released the latch in his door, allowing it to open for whoever requested entry. It was a safety feature against anyone who wanted to harm the alpha, and a recent addition since Alpha Lawrence's untimely demise. Reed was proud of the office, it was soundproof so that no one outside could eavesdrop on any of his meetings. It had a separate phone line and power generator along with a bathroom and two refrigerators-one for food storage, and the second a mini-fridge. It was essentially a panic room that he had designed for at least his mate's protection. Who he now knew was Evony.
"Blair, to what do I owe the pleasure. Have you reconsidered my offer?" Reed asked as soon as the door latched closed.
"Actually," Blair stood in front of him and Reed was disgusted at how much skin she was showing. "I was hoping you had reconsidered."
"There's nothing to reconsider. I'm no longer interested in pursuing our relationship, I told you this earlier. I'm just not feeling it anymore and I need to divert my energies into pack business. You said you understood."
"I did. And I still do. But you have to admit," Reed was so exasperated with the direction that the conversation was going, he hadn't even realized that Blair had lowered herself into his lap. "We were so good together. It doesn't have to end for us."
"It does." Before he could say anything more, Blair pushed her lips onto his and her hands held his head fused to hers. When she dug a fingernail at the base of his skull, he was surprised enough that he opened his mouth and Blair saw that as her opening to slip her tongue down his throat.
He finally pried her hands from his head and forced her to fall on the floor when he stood up. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" His alpha command came through and Blair bared her neck in submission. "So help me goddess, if you EVER pull a stunt like that again, the transfer to another pack will be off the table and your only options will be to stay or be banished. Make the choice now, or I'll make it for you."
"I'm sorry, Alpha Reed. I'd like to stay with the pack, sir." Blair whimpered, not daring to get off the floor just yet.
"Then get out of here. I have work to do." Reed watched as the she-wolf continued to cower until she was through the door. He looked at the clock and figured he'd have another ten minutes before his enforcers brought his mate to him.
From the moment he saw Evony standing in the middle of the meeting hall, he wanted to grab her and mark her. Make sure she was claimed so that no other wolf would sniff around her. But there was no way he could consciously do that if he was thinly attached to Blair.
Reed thought back on how hard the struggle was to walk away from her intoxicating scent of cocoa butter and cinnamon, though there was a fading aroma of something minty and lavender. Of course, even if he wasn't attached to Blair beyond an alpha-packmate relationship, marking Evony right then and there probably wouldn't have given him the happy ending that he longed for.
He just needed to be in her presence again.
~*~
Blair held her hand out for a greeting, but Evony could tell that it was all for show. For a second her wolf wanted to take control and rip out Blair's throat, but Evony kept her head. Blair's off the shoulder top was revealing in more ways than she probably wanted it to be. Of course she wanted her breasts to be front and center for any male, including her mate, to ogle after, but it also revealed that she was an unmarked female. There was no way that she was Luna of the Blood-Moons, but it was obvious to Evony that Blair was comfortable saying she was, which meant that she was comfortable with her mate.
"Pleasure to meet you." Evony smiled and shook her hand briefly. "My name is Evony Morris. I was telling my fiancé that from what I'd seen of the pack earlier today that it was obvious that it was lead by a strong alpha pair. Though I am sorry to admit, I wasn't aware that Alpha Reed was mated. I'll have to tell my father so he can update his records. When was your ceremony?" Evony felt bad that she was enjoying watching the wannabe Luna squirm. But the fact that she had the nerve to address herself as Luna when she wasn't mated was just a bug up her ass.
"Oh nice, and who's your father?" Blair inquired, without answering Evony's question, though Evony didn't know why she was continuing to dig her hole. Besides the fact that she knew that she was Reed's mate and rightful alpha female of the Blood Moon pack, it was obvious that Blair was lying.
"Alpha Jermaine Morris. He wasn't too happy with me going to school here. Neither was my fiancé for that matter. But what can I say, except 'Go Harvard!' You know? It's probably what this meeting is about anyway. Matter of fact, excuse me while I go knock this meeting out real quick so that I can get back to my dorm room. It was nice meeting you, Luna Blair." Evony nodded without bearing her neck in submission to Blair and made sure to address her with the title that she so coveted.
"It was nice meeting you too. Have a good evening." Blair continued down the hall and turned left to head further into the house. Evony didn't care where she went as long as she stayed far away from her.
Once Evony was sure that Blair was really gone, she turned back towards Alpha Reed's office and saw her two twin bodyguards standing outside of Reed's door. She hadn't even noticed that they had moved away from her during her chat with Blair. With them standing next to each other, she couldn't really tell which was which. They were too identical, if that was possible.
"So are you guys going to be my permanent protection?"
"We haven't received those orders, miss." Evony was sure this was Paul, he seemed to be the more serious of the two. Connor liked to joke and often took his cues from Paul's lead. At least that was her summation from the small amount of time they spent in the same company.
Evony knocked on the door and waited for her mate to open the door, assuming that the office was soundproof like her father's office back home. Sure enough, Alpha Reed stood at the door and stepped aside to let her in. She chose to sit in the loveseat that was along the wall, and perpendicular to his desk.
&nb
sp; "To what do I owe the pleasure of this summons?" Evony was cold towards him, and Reed couldn't understand why. Well he had an idea; he did walk away from her rather brusquely. He felt a pang of guilt as he thought about how Garrett said she was upset on the ride to school. But he just needed to know that she was all right after Connor and Paul reported that some drunk idiot at a party was groping her. He didn't need her at a party; he needed her in his bed beside him. Or under him, whichever. But definitely not with some asshole who couldn't hold his liquor.
Reed was at a lost as to how to respond to the chilliness of his mate when she didn't even let him continue.
"As a matter of fact, you want to tell me why you have two enforcers following me around? What am I to you that you need me followed? Am I that much of a threat to you and your precious pack?" Evony was beyond fuming.
"You're my mate, that's who you are to me. And as long as you're not marked you will have a protection detail. Though maybe some competent ones that won't allow themselves to be seen by you."
"Oh now you want to claim me as your mate when you couldn't acknowledge me as such when I was standing right in front of you. But what happened? I'm assuming since Paul and Connor attacked some innocent kid at a party that you got jealous and wanted him away from me, because I'm quote unquote yours. It doesn't work that way buddy." Evony took a second to take a breath but started her tirade up again when she saw that he was gearing up to speak.
