The car itself must have been going maybe ten miles an hour. Ella concentrated, pushing her short black hair behind her ears and closing her eyes. She smelled three people, including the driver. Two were their own, and the third was a human, or at least not lycan: he was covered in the sharp, shrill scent of terror like spoiled milk with the prickly scent of lemon. Judging by the frenetic vibrations coming from his mind, he was focusing on driving, and the other two were scenting the air. Ella and her partner sliced deeper into the wood, thankful for the scent maskers they'd thought to bring. The car continued driving south, and they cut west by northwest, listening until the sounds of the car faded away.
Morning was coming, and they needed to be at a safe house or at least at a hotel somewhere far from there. If need be, Ella would steal a car or break into a vacant home. They needed rest, and a plan.
* * *
"I'm just saying, we need a plan."
"I'm just saying you need to let me take care of this."
"I'm sick of feeling like I can't do anything, Gerald. I feel...impotent." Ella ruffled her springy black curls for the tenth or fifteenth time during the conversation.
"Stop doing that," Gerald said through gritted teeth. His eyes darted around the slowly filling parking lot. "You know I hate that."
"You're right, I'm getting pissed off just to spite you!"
"That's not what I meant." he removed his wire-rimmed glasses and narrowed his eyes. "I'm getting a headache. Let’s just go in, meet with the other couples. We can talk about it later. It's not like we're leaving before the bonding ceremony anyway. We still have six weeks."
"Three months," Ella countered bitterly. "You said three. Months. That's a big fucking difference, Gerald! How are you going to plan the bonding ceremony, find a new---"
Before Ella could get another word out, Gerald was two inches from her face and gripping her arm so hard she felt the skin bruise.
"I said I'm on it." His brown eyes flashed yellow.
By the time she let out another breath, he'd released her and was moving away. She watched his swimmer's body cut through the pairs of lycanthropes making their way to the hall under the recreation center. The building itself claimed to be a branch of the main rec center, one of three. From the outside, it was boxy and earwax yellow, and some of the outdoor equipment was crumbling from disuse. Inside was just as innocuous, a series of rooms with workout equipment, a generous pool, and an indoor track. It was uninteresting, but its true purpose lay underneath its foundations.
Inside the main hall, an unassuming oak door led you to another short corridor ending with a heavy steel door. This steel slid open to reveal a series of elevators and a long flight of winding stairs. The elevator simply encased you in a bubble of silence for ten seconds before spitting its contents out into a foyer, but the stairs, impossibly steep and twisty, gave you glimpses of the torches whose flames licked the walls of the enormous underground structure, littered with ancient bones and artifacts. It was the biggest wolf den in Colorado.
Ella took the stairs now, wanting to peer at the small crowd that would be gathering in the light of the torches at the bottom. Dozens of chairs were organized in a circle around a modest pulpit, and about half of them were filled. Ella counted twenty-two people exactly before she finished the dizzying descent. Her shirt was starting to soak through with nervous sweat, and she was thankful for thinking to bring her jacket to cover any embarrassing pit stains. She wore shorts in anticipation of needing to move around during this meeting, and her skin was covered in goosebumps. This many lycanthropes in one place was bound to throw off a ton of energy, and Ella's sensitivity meant she was catching every bit of it. Maybe that's why she and Gerald were at each other's throats.
Movement caught her eye, and she turned to look beyond the chairs. Far off in the corner, near some enormous speakers, a woman danced. Dancing was too simple a word, Ella realized as her heart skipped a beat; her body was living in the space between the music, molding it, shaping the pulsing drums. The woman wore a black pleated skirt and a thin green sweater, both of which accentuated the graceful curve of her body. Her legs were tucked into simple black boots, and she had vivid red hair that spun around her head like fire. She was tossing it around with her hands playfully, pouting her full, red lips in mock sexiness at someone Ella couldn't see.
Ella found herself stepping forward and moving toward the woman's gracefully swinging hips without thinking. She knew her from somewhere; did she work here? Ella still didn't know everyone, even after nearly a year of working as Assistant swim coach. Gerald took up a lot of her time, especially once he decided they'd move after the bonding. The girl looked a lot like the pretty art teacher...Lexie? Laya? Lucille?
"Lucy!"
A huge blonde man wearing a black shirt with the words SECURITY printed across the back bounded up to the dancing woman just as she was seductively running her hands down her very generous bosom. He seized her around her waist. Lucy screamed with laughter as the man swung her around, demanding to be put down, only partially joking. When he did, he pressed her to him, lifting her with both arms to kiss her deeply. She curled her arms and legs around the man, and Ella's heightened hearing picked up the low growl rumbling out of him as he cupped her buttocks and carried her off to a room Ella hadn't noticed before. The door slammed quickly, and all noise was silenced.
She walked to the circle of chairs to find Gerald, not sure why she felt so sick. Her head was swimming, and she could hear and feel the blood as it rushed around her brain, fueling the wild mash-up of feelings and images. Her mouth was dry. She kept seeing the flash of thigh beneath the woman's skirt, Lucy's fingers moving briefly against her round breasts, her Cupid’s bow mouth. She felt a rush of moisture between her legs. Her heart was pounding, and there was an odd tugging sensation at her heart. She'd never felt this before, not once in her 24 years. She felt as though she was going to shift without even needing to call on her inner wolf; her beast was pushing against the invisible barrier within her, and it brought the entire world around her alive. She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself, and finally spotted Gerald, who was peering at her from a chair about twenty feet away.
He waited until she sat down to speak. "I'm sorry for...before," he said, laying gentle stress on the word. "I didn't realize how much energy this place was going to be teeming with. I see you're feeling it too," he motioned to Ella's flushed face, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. "You look like I did when I first saw you." His gentle face cracked a smile, and Ella's heartbeat steadied. She slipped a hand in his and leaned over to kiss him softly. She expected to have to stop herself---her sexual energy was clearly going crazy--but she broke the kiss after a few seconds, hearing someone at the podium clear their throat.
A man with salt and pepper hair stood with both hands resting on either side of a skinny microphone, smiling politely and waiting for the noise to die down. It did almost immediately, and Benjamin, their Alpha and patriarch, opened his mouth to speak.
"Thank you," he said quietly. Benjamin's voice was low and strong, and constantly hinting at the power behind it. He'd ruled the pack for thirty years, wresting it from his senile father and keeping hold ever since.
"You all know I'm a man of few words, so I'll make this brief. We are all here because each of you has found a mate to bind your power with. You have taken at least a year to explore the relationship your love and devotion can bring, and are sure in your choice of mate. Each of you will make a binding supernatural commitment to the pack and your mate, sealing your bond with our pack ritual, and grow in life and in power together."
"This meeting is going to determine your sub-packs. I have sorted you all into smaller groups of four to six, and these are the groups you'll gather in on the night of the ceremony. Our quarterly rituals begin with these sub-packs circling for power before joining into one group. Then, you and your respective mates will retreat for the sealing of the bond. Males will take their female mates in whatever fashio
n you chose. You all should receive slips of paper with your group number. You will find numbers placed along the snack tables surrounding the hall. I leave the rest to you. Good luck and happy planning."
Before anyone had a chance to ask a question, Benjamin descended from the pulpit and hurried to one of the elevators, followed closely by a guard of powerful betas wearing black sunglasses even though they were indoors. Ella watched the men as they filtered silently behind their boss, observing the group even as she walked to her table---table 3, Gerald told her while she watched the square faced men and their dark lenses.
"I heard they wear the shades to hide their eyes," came a voice at Ella's shoulder.
She looked, startled, and then flushed. It was Lucy, smiling up at Ella with dewy green eyes and slightly tousled hair. The blonde man from earlier was sitting smugly by her side, looking at Ella and Gerald with mild interest. He had a beard cut closely to his face and deep blue eyes that were empty and cold as a stretch of polluted sea. His shirt seemed too tight for him, and so did his pants.
"What do you mean?" Ella squeaked. She couldn't believe this woman was in her group.
"Their eyes are always ...you know. Shifty," Lucy let out a rich giggle that warmed Ella to her toes. "Yellow or that weird copper or red or orange. Multicolored sometimes," she said thoughtfully. Ella waited for her to come out of her reverie, and Lucy offered a hand. "I'm Lucy! I guess we're sub-pack-mates. That's a mouthful."
"You're a mouthful," The blonde lunk said, palming her waist with one enormous hand and giving her a squeeze. "I'm Richard."
Ella felt rather than saw Gerald roll his eyes at Richard's cheese. "I'm Gerald."
"Ella," Ella said finally, moving to shake Lucy's hand. Richard brushed between the two women suddenly, knocking their hands away and offering his own to Gerald, who stifled a sneer of disgust. He painted a smile on his lips instead, and Ella saw Richard bristle when the two men grasped hands. Her skin tingled all over, and she could tell the men were testing each other's power.
Lucy met her eyes and rolled her own, then winked. Ella felt that stupid lurch in her stomach again, and smiled goofily.
"Always have time for a pissing contest," Lucy whispered behind her hand, eyes sparkling with laughter. The two men were straining, muscles trembling, until finally Richard grunted and released Gerald's hands.
Gerald seemed satisfied. "Richard, let's talk about synchronization." He put a palm on Richard's shoulder and steered him toward a set of chairs and away from the women. Ella knew Gerald wanted to handle this himself, and she looked an apology at Lucy, who shook her head.
"Richard is the same way. I would have been more surprised if he didn't try to cut me out." Lucy eyed Ella in a friendly manner, but she felt warm as her pupils danced over Ella's body. "You're the swim coach, right?" Lucy smiled as the other woman nodded, unable to speak. "I teach art here, mainly painting, but a bit of sculpture. You look fantastic in a swimsuit by the way, all lithe and model-like. That's why I never applied. I look pornographic in most swimsuits."
Lucy was absentmindedly spooning punch into a cup, so she didn't see Ella blush. "Th-thanks."
They stood in silence, sipping punch and swaying to the music playing distantly. Ella was imagining Lucy's heavy breasts in a bikini top, waist narrowing before her full hips spread to fill out the bottom. She thought about sand clinging to the plump cheeks of her buttocks, bouncing as she walked. There was an unbearable pressure in her body that increased whenever Lucy looked at her. She needed to touch her. Any excuse---fixing her hair, removing dust from her collar, smudged makeup. Her skin burned and her lungs were aching.
Lucy turned to her suddenly, looking at her carefully. "Did you enjoy my dancing earlier?"
Her words threw Ella off long enough for her to forget her nerves. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean----"
She stopped when she saw Lucy's lips curving devilishly. "I should apologize. I knew you were watching," Lucy admitted, dropping her gaze. Ella thought she was blushing. She looked over at Gerald, unsure if she should be as nervous as she was.
The hall was buzzing with noise, but her eyes and ears zeroed in on the angelic face surrounded by a mass of wavy red hair, hanging on every word.
"I'm only saying this because I feel like you feel it too."
Ella's heart stopped, and she willed herself to calm down.
Lucy stepped a little closer, showing her nerves now. "There was this...connection between us when I first saw you, I felt...and when you saw me dancing, it was like I couldn't help it. It's so strong, and even now, I find myself wanting to..." she waved her hands in the air, flustered. Ella laughed, and Lucy laughed with her, relieved.
"I think know what you mean," she said carefully. "I'm very...drawn to you."
There was a pregnant pause, and the two women exchanged an intense look, sifting through context and diplomacy to find the real meaning of their baffling connection. Ella tried to convey meaning to Lucy---her incredible need to touch her, kiss her, bury her face in her hair and in the soft, curly hair between her legs. Lucy licked her bottom lip, and Ella's hearing picked up her heartbeat speeding away.
The men were still talking, but they looked like they were finishing up. Ella turned to Lucy. She wasn't sure if the woman was feeling the exact same way, but her enormous eyes and the tension held in her short frame gave Ella an inordinate amount of hope. Her heart felt inflated, buoying her spirit.
"I think we should hang out," Lucy said casually. Her fingers were moving nervously from her collar to her hair. The men were approaching now, and Ella's heart was already sinking. Lucy seemed to notice because she reached forward to seize Ella's hand and squeeze it. Ella felt a curious sizzle in the air right before their hands connected, and then a breath-taking bolt of electricity shot up their arms, inciting the blood in Ella's body to boil and bringing a gasp from her lips. Lucy's wide eyes were glowing softly, throwing off soft sparks that floated to the edge of Ella's vision like fireflies. Lucy whispered something, and Ella realized a moment later it was your eyes---her chocolate brown irises must be shining too.
Their skin thrummed and Ella's vision started to change, and the world was ripped from under her. She was being surrounded by a silky, fragrant aroma, and her body was being squeezed by an unseen force. She was looking at a tall woman with wild black curls and eyes like polished copper, whose mouth was open in shock. She realized she was looking at herself through Lucy's eyes, and her heart began to break with the difference in how Lucy saw her. Her skin was soft and glowing, her body was strong and supple, and she had the overwhelming urge to bind with Lucy in that moment, and separate the delicate folds of her mind to fuse with her mysterious core.
Then the air rushed back into her lungs, and her vision returned to normal. Lucy was panting, holding her sides, and gazing at Ella with tears in her eyes; Ella was alarmed---what had she seen?
The men had returned, and were looking between the women warily.
"Alright?" Gerald asked, gray eyes boring into Ella as if they already knew the answer.
"Yeah," she said weakly. She touched his cheek and smiled, feeling her body calm and readjust its tenuous grasp on reality. This seemed to pacify him a little.
"We got the words picked out, now we need some body art," Richard was saying. "Luce can do some examples for you---if she's good at anything, it's this!" Richard said, laughing, oblivious to how shaken and pale Lucy was.
Gerald was watching her, so Ella didn't try to touch Lucy again as they said goodbye. She handed Lucy the slip of paper with their names on it before they left, explaining that her cell number was on the back. She chose to climb the stairs, wanting to breathe as much fresh air as she could before she got to the car and buckled in.
Gerald was silent as he slid next to her, watching her in the mirror. Ella looked at her hands, terrified. She didn't know what he'd seen, or if he'd actually seen anything at all. She could see his mind working, like always, leaving his gray eyes vacant and cold.
> "Fun with your new friend?" he asked finally.
She could tell by his tone that she wasn't supposed to answer, so she tried to breathe around the lump in her throat instead.
Every line of his body suggested rage was bubbling below the surface. Ella couldn't figure out why. They were still going to be a mated pair, they were still going to power bond---what did a crush matter? Was it just that it wasn't him? Gerald made it clear long ago that their relationship was business-like. Ella was destined for power---the pack mage said so, and she was destined to bring her mate with her. Unless another man capable of complementing Ella's power came into the picture, she would have no other choice but to mate with Gerald. No other man had ever been half as interesting to her as Gerald had been. He never returned her warmth, opting instead for a cool sort of love and dutiful affection, and Ella learned to be content with this, until she wasn't anymore. Now she was just resigned.
Gerald spoke again, more bitterly. "It seems like you guys have quite the connection."
Her heart dropped like a stone, and she felt a confusing rush of joy simultaneously. He was jealous of the attraction. But Lucy wasn't a male, so Ella could never mate with her within the pack, and so could never reach the power level she'd been working toward.
"It doesn't mean anything," Ella said finally, saddened by how morose she sounded. She realized she meant it; they couldn't be anything. She wasn't going to answer Lucy's texts, she decided. It was asking for trouble. She'd see her at work, and that was it.
Gerald seemed satisfied at the declaration, and started talking about lights and outfits for the ceremony. Ella's mind trailed off, wondering what it would feel like to have Lucy wrap her limbs around her body like she did with Richard.
Chapter 2
"Is it safe?"
"I dunno."
"Maybe I should just---"
"You're not going alone. We're going on together."
Ella looked at Lucy's face. Only half if it was illuminated by the moon, but she could read the fear there as clear as day. She squeezed her delicate hand, giving her a smile she knew didn't reach her eyes.
Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Page 41
