Twice Bitten (New Moon Series Book 1)

by Belle Harper

  “I wanted to speak to you about changing grades for a student.” Her eyes went wide behind the hideous pink frames she wore. “You will change grades for Alexis Turner. You will give her passing marks in all her classes. She will graduate with a B-average.”

  She was a little stunned at my compulsion before she blinked and came to. “Well, yes, of course. Is there anything else?”

  Your blood.

  “Give her perfect attendance.”

  I pushed through the glass doors and rushed straight to my office. I unlocked the door and as soon as I was inside, I ran to my desk and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels hidden in the bottom draw of my desk. I was shaking from the need to feed. I didn’t have time; I drank straight from the bottle. I could feel the alcohol warm me, help me with the hunger. My office door swung open and Ranger stood right in its place.

  I almost had to pry the bottle from my lips as his eyes flashed to me. I could see that stupid smirk on his face, that he caught me at a bad time. I wiped my lips on the back of my hand. “Close the door, young man.”

  He kicked his leg out from behind and the door slammed shut. I rolled my eyes, always so dramatic.

  “And how can I help you today, Ranger?”

  He walked over and dropped his bag before sliding into the chair at my desk. One knee up and he laid back like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Why the fuck, do you keep turning up at our house? Like ever since Lex got there. You keep showing up, for breakfast today…” He raised his brows and smirked. “You don’t eat breakfast, at least, not the kind we serve, blood sucker.”

  I returned his smirk and took my seat, still clutching my bottle of Jack. But with Ranger here stinking up my office, I wasn’t so hungry anymore.

  “Are you worried about the competition? Worried that maybe, just maybe, she wants her cake… and to eat it, too?” His hands went to the armrests, his knuckles almost white from gripping so hard.

  “No, fuck you. This isn’t fair if you’re in the game. This is bullshit. How can someone compete against… you.” He blew hair out of his eyes and sank back into the chair. When his head bent down to his lap, I watched him take a few deep breaths. That made me feel like shit for teasing him. I didn’t realize that he really thought it would be unfair. I never thought I would have even a small chance of Lexi considering me as a mate.

  Well, that was until last night, and of course, I could barely sleep. I kept running that over in my mind. That and the way Mav put his hand on my knee—it felt electric when he touched me. I could see in Lexi’s eyes; she was wondering if we were more than friends, especially after the conversation from yesterday.

  But the thing was, Mav and I… Well, I never thought we were even friends to begin with—he had always avoided me. He never spoke to me, until last night. Did Lexi say something to him? When I saw Ranger put his head up, I could see the unshed tears in his eyes. Oh, fuck.

  “Fuck, Ranger. I was just messing. I know you like her, but shit. Like you really like her, you’re in love with her?”

  He quickly looked away and ran his sleeve over his face. “Yes,” he mumbled. “And you’re… well, you’re you. And you just have to be you and you get the girl and…”

  I put the bottle on the desk and pulled out some books and pens I needed for class. The bell would ring very soon.

  “Ranger, apart from the fact you said ‘you’ one too many times in that sentence, yes, I am me. Why would a girl like Lexi want to date me? I am three-hundred and twelve. She is seventeen. I have lived eighteen times longer than she has.”

  He just shrugged but didn’t make any effort to leave.

  “Are you upset that she is with Rafferty?” His eyes flashed to mine. At first, I thought he was going to say yes, but he surprised me.

  “No, if anything, I understand they have a connection that she and I won’t have. It’s different, he understands her in ways no one else can. And it pisses me off, but that’s because I feel so much for her that I want that. But instead I am breaking inside. I put on the happy face every day, but I don’t feel like that. Not on the inside.

  “And then last night, when she said that Bella should have had them both—a vampire and a shifter. That… Fuck. I couldn’t sleep. I waited to speak to her this morning. I wanted to know why she said that. Was she trying to tell me that I didn’t have a chance, not even a small one? I have been showing her I can get along with Rafferty. He isn’t so bad.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the last bit. I shook my head and waved my hand for him to continue.

  “Well, have you ever heard of shifters, vampires, and human being together?”

  I tried to think back to all the packs I had met along my travels and not once could I place three of them together.

  “Shelly is a vampire; she is the case worker who brought Lexi here to us. She is dating a wolf-shifter, who is a cop. My friend Benedict, he no… he dated a human once, but that was before I met him.” Ben didn’t date at all, so he was a bad example. I tried to think of others I could draw from, but I was struggling. Vampires dated humans all the time, so did shifters.

  “Are you saying that you want Lexi to stay as she is? That you won’t want to turn her? You are an alpha’s son,” I reminded him. Alpha sons produced more alphas. But without a shifter female, he wouldn’t. “Lexi isn’t human, so don’t over think this.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang. I waited to see what he was going to say but he just picked up his bag and left. I followed and was hit by a powerful hunger. I will have to get someone to take my classes for today. I needed to go before I did something I couldn’t fix.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Lexi

  I felt like the worst friend again. Ada texted me, asking if I was coming to class. I felt bad I wasn’t there again—it wasn’t like me to ever take time off school. I shot her back a quick text telling her we could hang out this weekend. But of course, now I have two huge secrets I couldn’t tell her. Oh, wait make that three. Me. The strange smelling girl who turns shifters’ heads.

  And that your vampire teacher that buys you stuff for your period. Oh god. He can smell blood? He would have been able to smell me. I didn’t think about that.

  But I was glad for the tampons and chocolate, which I was onto my fifth bar. I didn’t know if that was a bad thing or a good thing. I didn’t care, it was yummy brown goodness and it made my PMS happy. The cramps were just a dull ache now and I was just finishing off my makeup for the day.

  “How long does it take, Lexi?” Jett called out. He had asked me to hurry twice. I was hurrying, he just had no patience for me to look my best.

  “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” I hollered back. I could hear his footsteps as he entered my room and his beautiful face peered around the open bathroom door.

  “Oh man, was hoping you were naked.” I threw a towel at him and he caught it, laughing.

  “You don’t need all this, Lexi. You are a natural beauty.” Well, of course no one needed makeup, but everyone needed a mask. Something to hide behind at times. Mine was eyeliner and mascara.

  “You seriously have the most amazing eyes. I bet they have something to do with what you are. I really hope we get answers today. But that is only going to happen if you get your butt moving. Come on.” He threw the towel back at me, and I didn’t get a chance to catch it as it hit the side of my head. I just laughed and threw it at him again, but he had run off laughing.

  “Well, for that I might take another twenty minutes,” I yelled back, but then realized that he would have heard me even if I whispered it.

  I brushed my hair again, then put it up into a messy bun. I grabbed the leather jacket that I loved so much—I definitely need to call Ada for girl talk later— and walked out of the bathroom with a swing in my step. Today was the first day I had felt so… I don’t know the words for it… happy and nothing bad was going to happen.

  I have the most amazing silver-haired boyfriend. I smiled to myse
lf as I skipped down the stairs. Yeah, I was going to say that to him tonight. I was going call him my boyfriend. God, how much had changed in just a short time? When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I was shocked to see someone different in the house.

  “Hey, Lexi. You might remember me?” Oh I remembered him. From the party where Raff got fucked-up by a bunch of wolves. I looked down to his outstretched hand then glared back at him. His hair was all neat and gelled, and he was wearing dark jeans and a navy sweater. He moved his hand and rubbed it over the front of his sweater.

  “Uh… maybe not? I’m Saint.” He looked over to Jett.

  “Yeah, you tried to give me poisoned water, then you fucked-up my boyfriend. I remember you. You’re a fucking asshole.” I lunged at him. I didn’t know I had this kind of strength but when I shoved him hard in the chest, he stumbled back a few steps. He looked surprised. You would be surprised how strong someone can be when they have this kind of adrenaline running through them. The images of Raff’s back that night, the blood… so much pain came rushing back. I lunged at him again, this time my fist was clenched and aimed for that stunned look on his face. But before it collided, warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me back against a hard chest. I pulled to get away, but Jett held me tight.

  “What is going on in here? I can smell that from out there. Alexis?”

  I was shaking. I couldn’t stop the memories; it was only nights ago that he did that.

  “Ah, yeah. I am really sorry about that, Lexi. I truly am. I will even apologise to Rafferty for what I did. Luckily, we heal fast, I knew he would. So no damage. He is fine.”

  No damage. What about emotional damage asshole. I used my elbow to get free from Jett. He snatched my wrist but not before I slapped Saint across the face. He looked over to Alaric. I was breathing hard, my heart was racing. This day, this one day that seemed to start off half decent, just got ruined.

  “Alexis, please control your anger. Saint is here as our driver today.”

  Saint held his hands up at me. I could see he regretted what he did to Raff, but it didn’t change a thing. He still did it.

  “I deserved that and more. I am sorry, Lexi. I really am.”

  “You do not get to call me that. Do not speak to me, and I am not going in any car with you.”

  There was a loud growl, but I didn’t care what Alaric thought.

  “I will drive us; Saint can drive you, Father. I will follow in my Jeep.”

  A few extras came along. Apparently some council guys, who rode with Alaric. I was worried a little about being alone with Jett. He hadn’t done anything for me to be worried about… yet.

  But he was sweet and playful, and I wasn’t too sure what his intensions were. Was he like the other shifters? Was he affected by my scent or was he okay with everything. He was only a year older than me; he had just turned nineteen.

  “You’re really quiet. Did you want to talk about what happened back there?” I shook my head and watched the trees as we drove. After a few moments, I saw deep blue water.

  “Did he really try to give you poisoned water?” I snorted at that, and Jett laughed. It helped the mood a little.

  “No, well… for all I knew he could have. I think he was maybe trying to chat me up at the party. He gave me water, but I never trust anyone with an open cup. So, I tipped it out.”

  It became quiet again as we followed the black SUV in front. The one that Saint was driving.

  “Thanks for driving me. I can’t forgive him for what he did, not yet anyway. I know that Raff healed fast, but still. He didn’t see the pain he was in; it broke me how bad it was. I washed his wounds and dressed them. I was scared he was going to die.” I tried to stop the feelings but they flooded me—stupid period. I did get a little emotional when it came. I wasn’t immune to it… I was a regular girl.

  Well, I was a regular girl until I came to Kiba.

  “Well, do you know what you need?” I looked over to him, and he gave me a small smile then winked. I let out a small chuckle.

  “You need to be fed. You need a juicy burger, yum yum. Some fries, ooohh… maybe a milkshake? Something sweet like apple pie? Yeah, you need apple pie. Ice cream… cake. Of you need some of that… and to eat it, too.”

  I laughed as he made sounds like he was eating between the words. He was cheering me up, and it was working.

  “You know, you seem to know all the right things to say. How come you’re single?” I had kind of figured out they all were single—either that, or their girlfriends were invisible and they forgot to mention them.

  “Well, I did have a girlfriend. We dated for a while… She wanted to go to college. She wanted to be a vet. So, we broke up.”

  Oh, man. Shit. That happens.

  “But you could still chase after her? How far away did she go? Or you could have maybe followed her to college?”

  He watched the road ahead and didn’t say anything for a while. I guess I hit a sore spot. I just met Raff, we only just newly together but even now if we were to break up, I knew I would be heart broken. But I didn’t fully know him, either. Or what his plans were for after high school.

  “It’s a hard one, it wasn’t just me. She was dating my packmate, Mekhi, too. She was… no, is beautiful. The sweetest girl I had ever met. And she accepted Mekhi straight up. I told her we came as a pair and she was happy. We all were. We were open about our claim to her, everyone knew the three of us were together. Father thought that we would… claim her.

  “But she had told us of her dreams to become a vet; all her life she had wanted to heal animals. We thought that was perfect. We wanted her to do what made her happy. When she was accepted into Colorado state, I asked my father if we could move down there. Get a place and she could live with us while she studied.

  “I knew the answer before he told me. We don’t leave our pack lands. We can go to college, but its online. We don’t leave Kiba, unless on business. She wanted to do the distance thing, said we could visit her. But the thing was, if we did visit, we would end up like what happened to Raff. Or worse…” He took a deep breath. His words were thick in his throat. I could tell this really hurt him still. He must really love her.

  “What is her name?” I asked after he didn’t continue. I could see the glassiness of his eyes, the tears threatening to spill over.

  “Clare, Clare Briggs.” He made a funny chuckling sound. “Well, I called her Clare bear, and Mekhi called her Pooh bear.” He wiped his eyes and there was smile on his face.

  “She sounds amazing, and so does Mekhi. How come I haven’t met him yet?”

  “Well, Father has instructed the other shifters to stay away until you settle in. We can’t have any of our packmates or friends over, human or shifter.” My mouth dropped open. Oh, man, that made me feel like shit. Like was he and Mekhi… together also? Fuck, I didn’t know what he looked like, but with shifters, they were all hot. And the thought of Jett and this Mekhi guy together, touching each other’s bodies, sucking…

  Jett laughed. “I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but I can smell it. You have dirty thoughts, Lexi Turner.” I could feel my cheeks heat up. Holy shit, how did I forget that? I can’t even have thoughts without giving away what I was thinking. Fuck it.

  “Was just wondering if you and your packmate, you know… fuck, too?” I turned and wiggled my brows at him.

  He cracked up laughing. “I don’t kiss and tell, Lexi.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Lexi

  The place they took me too was very similar to Kiba. Just bigger.

  “Bardoul are our allies, they are a very large wolf pack. If anyone knows what you are, they will. They are the largest pack in the state.”

  It was like having a history lesson with Jett. I enjoyed learning more about the wolf-shifters. He had never met a panther-shifter, but he said they were out there. He honestly didn’t know much about them, but only because he never been interested in learning about them more.

  But bear-
shifters lived in Port Angeles, and he had met a few before, but not in bear form. Which would have been so cool. I told him I would love to pet a bear, just to see what they felt like. He told me not to pet shifters unless I wanted them as a mate. That it was very intimate. So, there would be no bear petting for me in my future. Only wolf petting.

  I when we rolled up to a large building that looked like a school, I turned to Jett.

  “They have a school here where they teach all their shifter pups without humans. The council offices are all connected with the school. So, you might pass some students.” I gave him the dirtiest look I could give him. Really? I was not going to school today because of the whole smelling thing, and now he drops this on me.

  “I didn’t think about it, okay?” He chuckled. “I will try my best to block you from anyone.” I could see Alaric and Saint had hopped out, along with the other two men that were with them.

  “Fine, but I swear if one of them sniffs me, I will hit them. That shit is fucked up.” Jett just laughed as if I was joking. I wasn’t. I think he was hoping I was.

  I got out of the warm car and into the cooler day. It was overcast here compared to Kiba, but it smelled so fresh and nice. Jett gestured I follow them all into the building.

  “When you spoke to us, Alaric, I was excited to hear you were bringing the mystery girl.” A tall, dark-haired man greeted us. He was just as big as Alaric. I guess he was the alpha around here.

  “Hello, Alexis, I am Ralph. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He held his hand out for me to shake. He didn’t seem weird, so I took it, he had a firm but gentle grip.

  “Nice to meet you, too.” He shook Alaric’s hand next and told us to follow him to the testing center.