by Wood, Vivian
“I was going to ask-“ he began.
“O’RILEY!” came Rhett’s voice across the Grass. The girls all turned to spot him near the Armory.
“Ah, yes. I’m running late. Raincheck?” Declan asked, jogging backwards toward Rhett.
“Go on before you get in trouble, then,” Kat said dismissively.
Declan grinned and turned around, loping over to meet the other Shifter. Cera sighed, tucking a strand of her dark hair back into place.
“Honestly, no one should be that good-looking. It’s just unfair to all the other men in the world,” she commented.
Tessa laughed, and tore her gaze from Declan. She could feel that invisible string tugging again, pulling her toward Declan. She’d best keep that to herself in this company, she thought.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Jace leave the mess hall and make a beeline for their table. No wonder the girls had chosen this table. It was a man magnet.
“Tessa. What are you doing out here?” Jace asked, his tone none too friendly.
“I-“ she started.
“Tessa was just agreeing to go out with us tonight,” Kat cut in. Kat gave Tessa a look that said go along with it.
“Uh, yeah,” Tessa mumbled.
“Go out where?” Jace demanded.
“We’re going down to the French Quarter tonight. Hear some music, drink some girly drinks, do some dancing,” said Kat.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’ll be dangerous,” Jace argued.
“I’ll be-“ Tessa started in, only to be cut off by Kat again.
“Don’t worry yourself, Jace. Declan’s offered to come along just to protect Tessa. He’ll stick to her like glue all night, my friend. She’ll be right as rain.”
Jace’s eyes locked on Tessa’s face, but she looked away and shrugged.
“I don’t like it,” he said.
“Are you saying my brother isn’t a good protector, then?” Kat challenged.
“I didn’t say that, Kat.”
“Well, then. No problems after all. You can run along,” Kat snapped.
Jace turned to Tessa again.
“Can we talk?”
“What is there to talk about?” Tessa asked.
“In private?”
“We’re just leaving for the city,” Angel chimed in.
Tessa gave her a grateful smile, and then looked back at Jace.
“Yeah, we have to go. Maybe later,” she finished lamely.
Jace looked furious, but he just shook his head. Whatever he had to say was apparently not for mixed company, and Tessa wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it right now.
Get off me, he’d said.
Tessa turned brightly and offered her arm to Kat, who immediately began towing her across the Grass.
Even as she moved away, Tessa could feel Jace’s eyes burning into her back.
Tessa took a second to soak in the bright neon lights, drunk revelry, and loud music that defined Bourbon St. in the French Quarter. It seemed as if the whole city was having a party, and everyone was invited. Also the party never ended, according to Kat.
Strip clubs and bars lined the street as far as Tessa could see; people were strolling slowly, packing into karaoke clubs, and observing the general goings on from balconies high above the street. The group of girls had already been wolf-whistled several times, and Declan kept having to scare off would-be suitors.
Tessa couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed; not just by the raucous crowd on Bourbon St. but really just from leaving the peacefulness of the Den. Without realizing it, she’d started to mentally settle in there, which of course was an incredibly bad idea for numerous reasons. Sure, she needed to pretend to plan on staying, but they’d never let her stay once she’d betrayed them to the Legion.
It was distressing, because there was a sense of rightness in being surrounded by Shifters. It reminded her of what Jace had said about how he enjoyed being around his pack members, and never had to hide his true self around them.
Tessa suddenly stumbled into another woman, nearly falling flat on her own face. Apologizing profusely, she looked up to the woman she’d nearly mowed over.
She immediately locked gazes with none other than Madeline Copeland, who was giving Tessa a scathing glare.
“Watch where you’re going, new girl,” Madeline spat, her throaty voice threatening. Tessa stepped back, trying not to overreact and make things worse.
“You must be Jace’s sister Maddie,” Tessa said slowly, as if addressing a maddened dog. Maddie’s sharp eyes gave her the once-over, and her expression said that she clearly found Tessa lacking in the extreme. Tessa held her temper in check. It wouldn’t do for her to get into it with someone who was obviously mental, not to mention a lot taller and meaner than Tessa.
Maddie bared her teeth in response, but before she could say anything Kat came up and put herself between Maddie and Tessa. Crossing her arms, Kat regarded Maddie mildly.
“What are you doing here, Copeland?” Kat asked.
“It’s a free country, O’Riley. I’m just introducing myself to the new blood. I heard whispers about another Ascendant in the pack, but y’all have done a great job of hiding her so far. Thought I’d come and see the competition for myself,” Maddie said, not taking her eyes off Tessa.
“Well, you’ve seen her. Now you can either play nice or get the hell out of here, your choice,” Kat said, her expression irritable.
“Whatever. Stay out of my way, human.”
With that Maddie was off, striding down a side street. Her photo hadn’t done her justice; she was really beautiful in person.
“Don’t worry about her, okay?” Kat said, eyeing Tessa. Tessa nodded, trying to appear unconcerned. Kat gave her a smile and skipped back to where Cera was waiting for her to lead the procession.
Angel came up next to Tessa, nudging her playfully with an elbow. She held an unspeakably tacky-looking drink and gave Tessa a devilish grin.
“That looks absolutely vile. I can’t believe you’re going to drink that!” Tessa accused Angel, looking at the neon green plastic cup full of mystery liquid.
“It’s kind of pineapple-y. Honestly it’s way better than it looks. Besides, it’s not for me, it’s for you!”
Angel flashed another perfect smile as she forced the drink into Tessa’s hand. Tessa opened her mouth to object, but the other blonde was already bouncing off to catch up with Kat and Cera, who led the procession.
“Don’t worry, they’re not as bad as they look,” came a sultry French voice. Tessa was surprised to see Emmy, looking runway-ready in a peachy chiffon micro-dress and nude heels, hanging back from the group to let Tessa catch up.
“I’ll try anything once, I guess,” Tessa said, giving the other girl a shy smile. Taking a sip of her drink, she tried not to be intimidated by Emmy’s incredible raven-haired beauty.
“Before you arrived, I was the new girl in the pack,” Emmy said casually, her eyes roving over the brightly lit signs and people wandering on Bourbon St.
“I can’t say I’m glad to have taken your position,” Tessa said nervously. Emmy gave Tessa a sympathetic smile and nodded.
“It wasn’t the easiest time for me. But being an outsider does have some advantages,” Emmy said thoughtfully.
“Such as?”
“I had a lot of opportunity to observe our pack members. I like to think that I have gained some insight in the last year of living with these people,” Emmy said, waving her hand to indicate their friends.
“Anything you want to pass on to me, I’d love to hear,” Tessa said, her curiosity growing by the second. What advice could a dreamy beauty like Emmy possibly have for down-to-earth Tessa?
“I learned a lot of things, but I was most strongly struck by Jacques and Madeline. There is, as they say, more than meets the eye. Jacques especially.”
“I agree with you, but I can’t really put my finger on what it is about him. He’s very compelling, I think.”
“He doesn’t really like to answer any personal questions, so I don’t really know that much about him or his past,” Tessa said, her tone melancholy.
“I won’t be the one to tell you his story, but I will tell you this. When I first came here, I flirted with Jacques quite a bit,” Emmy said, her French accent making it sound like “fleuurrrflirted with Jacques quite a bit,” Emmy said, her French accent making it sound like “fleuurrr
ted”. Tessa’s brow creased and she opened her mouth to respond, but Emmy held up a hand to silence her. “Do not be concerned, he never responded in kind. After my very first time watching the pack play the Game, we were both very drunk and he spoke honestly with me about his feelings. He said that he had nothing to offer a woman, whether physical or of the heart.”
“You mean he thinks he’s cold-hearted?” Tessa asked, confused. The Jace she knew could be quite impassioned, especially when his anger was provoked. The idea that he was without emotion struck her as absurd.
“That is what he meant, but I think it’s more. He believes himself to be without worth, it seems. For me, he carries around too much on his shoulders. He is very sad, you know?”
Tessa was quiet for a minute before responding.
“What am I supposed to do with this information, Emmy?”
The stunning woman merely raised one shoulder in a half-shrug, a classically French study in graceful movement. Tessa was struck again by the woman’s physical perfection, and judging by this conversation she wasn’t exactly stupid either.
“I am not suggesting anything to you, Tessa. I simply tell you what I would want to know if I were trying to win Jacques’ heart. Please consider it a gift rather than a demand.”
Emmy’s deep blue eyes raked over Tessa for a moment, then she reached out and patted Tessa’s shoulder.
“It will be all right. You’ll see,” Emmy said reassuringly.
Tessa blinked and nodded, the gears in her brain whirring to process all of Emmy’s information. Emmy inclined her head gracefully and gave Tessa another quick smile before she hurried to catch up with Kat and Cera. How she moved so fast in those stilettos, Tessa had no idea.
Tessa took a deep breath and sipped the drink in her hand experimentally. She winced. If this passed for pineapple around here, she wasn’t eager to try all the other fruits. Still, it had been nice of Angel to buy Tessa a drink, so drink it she would.
Tessa took three long pulls from the drink’s twisty straw, sucking down about half of it.
“I thought you said you were taking it easy tonight,” came a rumbling voice just behind her.
Tessa turned her head to look at Declan, who sidled up next to her and kept pace as she walked.
“Maybe I changed my mind,” she said.
“I suppose Bourbon St. can do that to a girl. Be careful with the hand grenades, though.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hand Grenades. The name of what you’re currently drinking.”
“Hurricanes, hand grenades. Everything has a crazy name here.”
“Try pronouncing some of the street names,” Declan said knowingly.
“Like… St. Ann?” Tessa teased.
“Like Tchoupitoulas,” he fired back.
“Raincheck on pronouncing that one,” Tessa said with a smile.
“Your boy Jace taught me that one when Kat and I first moved here. He and Maddie helped us transition here from our old pack,” Declan said.
“Is that right? Why did you move here from Cork?” Tessa asked amiably, steering the conversation away from Jace.
“My sister wouldn’t settle for some lowly job as a cook or a teacher, which is what women “My sister wouldn’t settle for some lowly job as a cook or a teacher, which is what women
were supposed to do in our old pack. Kat’s far too ambitious for that, and Shaw was accepting new members, so… here we are.”
“So what does she do here?” Tessa asked.
“Well, you know Shaw’s the alpha, sort of like being the president of the pack. Rhett’s his second in command, and Jace is third in command plus security. So they’re like the vice president and the speaker of the house, respectively. That makes Kat the Secretary of State, I guess. She’s the pack administrator, has her hand in just about everything to do with pack operations,” Declan explained.
“I guess I should be thankful that I found a pack that doesn’t discriminate against women. It sounds like a lot of Shifters are pretty stuck in the past. I’m not sure what I would be able to bring to the table here, though. I’ve never really done anything other than sit on committees and fundraise for charities,” Tessa said.
“You’d be surprised what you’ll be good at, Tessa. I felt the same way before I came here, but Kat and Shaw put their heads together and found me the perfect position.”
“And that would be…”
“I’m the procurer. I don’t like being trapped in the Den all the time, and I’m a fair hand at blending in with humans, so they put me in charge of going out and getting anything that the Den doesn’t provide for us. Everyone just submits their requests, and I bring it back to the Den. I also stand in for Shaw in any instances that our pack-owned companies might need public representation.”
“Is Shaw camera-shy?” Tessa asked, amused.
“In a manner of speaking, yes. There’s a long list of reasons why he doesn’t want to be in the public eye. That’s his story to tell, though.”
Tessa nodded thoughtfully, strolling slowly alongside Declan. She was thankful that he’d been thoughtful enough to slow his long-legged stride so that she didn’t have to run to keep up with him. Just another sign of his overall wonderfulness, really. Declan went on talking, keeping her entertained.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about your job anyway, I’m pretty sure that Kat already has designs to steal you over to her office. She has an enormous workload and no one to share it with. She’s already been singing your praises to me,” Declan said with a bright smile.
Tessa flushed, returning the smile. For some reason, hers felt a bit false compared to his. She couldn’t help but compare Declan’s easy humor and mellow attitude with Jace, his opposite in so many ways. She didn’t want to think about Jace tonight, though.
“You know, I’m glad we came out tonight. I’ve been wanting to get to know everyone a bit better, plus this is way more fun than sitting around Jace’s house, trying to figure out whether or not he hates me.”
“I doubt that he’d want to hear that, Tessa.”
“Who cares what Jace wants? I certainly don’t.”
“Can I ask you a question, then?” Declan asked, his lilt thickening.
“In that accent? Anything.”
“Ach. You, uh, you do feel it don’t you? The pull?”
He stopped, and looked down at Tessa. All the sudden Declan’s face was deadly serious.
“I, well- yes. I do,” Tessa hedged.
“I can’t quite understand how that can be.”
“Why not? You’re- well, you’re very..”
“I’m not talking about my looks, Tessa. When a couple mates, there are certain steps, like. Things that change as they begin to commit to one another. Their wolf might change color or grow. The scent especially changes.”
“Okay…” Tessa prompted.
“You smell like him.”
“Well, he’s given up his bed for me to sleep in. Alone,” she hastily clarified.
“It’s more than that. His scent is ingrained on your skin. It’s a sign of courtship.”
“That’s… weird. And kind of gross. Jace and I aren’t courting. He’s made it very clear that he isn’t interested in me that way,” Tessa said slowly.
Declan gave a sharp bark of laughter, and Tessa raised an eyebrow in query.
“Tessa, love,
have you looked at yourself in a mirror? I suppose you can’t really smell your own Ascendant scent, but still. Every unmated male is interested in you that way, to a man.”
Tessa flushed, and looked off down the street.
“I don’t see how you can speak for the whole Den, Declan.”
“Did you know that after the Game, the men all use communal showers? Boys talk.”
“Okay, TMI. Anyway, I meant what I said about Jace.”
“Look at me, Tessa.”
She looked up into Declan’s aquiline eyes, waiting for his challenge. Instead he leaned down and caught her mouth with his in a tender, searching kiss.
Tessa’s heart fluttered and she leaned against Declan to keep herself upright. Declan’s kiss was soft and probing, asking a question that she wasn’t sure how to answer. Tessa went still, not knowing what to give back.
Declan immediately broke the kiss, stepping back and running his hand over his mouth and jaw.
“I-“ she started.
“Tell me you’ve got no possible future with Jace, and we can try that again. Promise me that you’re not waiting for him. Otherwise as I can see it, touching you again means I’ll be losing my friendship with Jace,” he accused.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that kiss was good, but it would have been a hell of a lot better if I were the one you wanted.”
Declan turned his face away, masking his expression.
“I can’t… I don’t know. I can’t promise anything to anyone,” Tessa said haltingly.
“I understand, Tessa. Really I do.”
After a moment of silence, Declan looked back at Tessa.
“You’ll let me know the moment he fucks it all up, will you?”
Tessa couldn’t help but laugh, and Declan’s smile returned.
“Of course,” she replied.
“I am nothing if not a hopeful man, love.”
Tessa grinned and took the last sip of her drink, slurping loudly to get the last drops. She was feeling nice and warm now. The drink had loosened her up a bit, she thought. Just not enough to kiss Declan.
“How about a couple more of those, then?” Declan said, indicating her drink.
“Just don’t call it pineapple-y.”
Declan gave her a strange look and shook his head, smiling as he turned and headed across Declan gave her a strange look and shook his head, smiling as he turned and headed across
