TWISTED FATES BOOK 2: EVEN MORE TWISTED

by Jacklyn Scott Rogers

  “No. He said he knows we aren’t like that. But I’m pretty sure he knows I’ve been keeping things from him. He’s hurt and rightfully so, but it still makes me feel like shit too.”

  “Sam, I know this is totally an I told you so moment, but being the bestest brother in the world, I won’t say it. But I did tell you that you needed to tell him.”

  I looked up and raised an eyebrow at my oh so dense brother.

  “First off bestest brother? Aren’t you my only brother? And secondly, not saying literally means not saying it. Not saying that you aren’t going to say it, and then say it in the same sentence.”

  “Hmm. Well .. Hahaha … guess ya got me there. Awk-ward …”

  “Aiden?”

  “Yep?”

  “You’re so lucky I love you. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d be shoving my Manolos up your ass right about now.”

  “Goddess no … Haha … we can't have that! Not Dark Willow! HAHAHA!”

  Aiden burst out laughing causing me to laugh in turn. Goddess, my brother was such an airhead.

  “Hey, Sam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It worked.”

  “Huh?”

  “I said it worked.”

  “What worked Aiden?” I eyed him suspiciously.

  “I made you stop worrying about Dev. It worked.”

  I stood there speechless as I stared up at the goofy grinned man in front of me.

  He was right. He made me forget what I had been upset about and eased my tension. Even my headache was gone.

  Well shit.

  Either Aiden was just lucky enough that he was able to alleviate my stress or he was really, really smart and knew what he was doing all along.

  Goddess, help us all if it turns out to be the latter.

  I shook my head and smiled at him.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “What’s say I take you out to lunch?”

  “Ooh, I’m down! Benihana?”

  “Benihana.”

  “Yesssss. Chicken fried rice, Chicken fried rice. Oh so nice, Oh so nice. Havin’ it twice. Havin’ it twice. Chicken fried rice is oh so nice.”

  Aiden broke into a little jig as he made his way towards the patio door.

  Yep, that’s my brother for ya.

  ***********************************************************

  Devon’s POV

  13 Days Later

  It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve spoken with Sammie. I don’t know why but I just felt like we needed, well more like I needed, this time apart. As much as I missed her, I felt like there was so much that had happened within this last couple of months that I needed to take a step back and focus solely on my Alpha duties. It was obvious that all the past events that transpired evidently took their toll on us; my outburst was a clear indication. The fact that I took my anger out on Sammie was inexcusable, but I just couldn’t stop myself; it was like a runaway train heading towards its imminent derailment.

  I couldn’t stop myself.

  Shit.

  Maybe that’s why I haven’t had any communication with her since. Granted she did try texting me the first couple of days, but I ignored them and focused solely on work. I visited four of my allied packs and exchanged information regarding the recent attacks. I made it known who the suspected ringleader was but as far as her end game, that still remained a mystery. The attacks were calculated and executed without fail; each time the same MO, a few members would be killed and left as a smokescreen while other pack members were kidnapped. How she was able to accomplish this was still beyond our cognition as her methods were flawless and undetectable.

  The only saving grace of this trip was that I was able to reconnect with my allied Alpha brethren and resolidify our pack’s alliances. Since it had been a couple of years since the five of us had seen each other, it was actually quite interesting to see how they had fared over these years. Most of them hadn’t really changed a lot, save maybe a few small changes but nothing too significant. The only Alpha that seemed to have changed the most happened to be Alpha Shawn Valutien of the Volga pack in Volga Iowa. With the recent passing of his mate and Luna, time was not the kindest to this man. His appearance went from muscular and clean-shaven with a military buzzcut to the complete opposite. He was no longer in shape, rather shocking considering that he is a were, Alpha at that. He was also rather unkempt and reeked of alcohol. He had the bushiest scraggly beard that appeared to have few tidbits of what I could only assume to be remnants of whatever he ate prior to our meeting. To be honest, I had the strangest sense of Déjà vu when I first walked into his office and saw him. Of course, Slade had to snicker at my thoughts and told me to take a good look at what Sammie had to live with before the whole-time alteration occurred. Not gonna lie, that sight sent shivers down my spine.

  Truth hurts, doesn’t it?

  “Shut it, Slade.”

  Slade chuckled and went back into his little corner.

  I mentally rolled my eyes. Goddess, he was such an asshole.

  The town of Volga is actually a pack with roughly around 200 members. Valutien was actually pretty clever with setting this place up as its own small fully functional town. Because it was located in such a rural area, human traffic was quite rare, save the occasional passerby that needed fuel or even something to eat at the local diner. Other than that the place was solely inhabited by weres. Since I was heading back to my own pack in the morning, I decided to spend the night here.

  My men and I were chilling at the local, and only, bar, Mitzie’s Tavern. It was a fairly decent sized establishment. There were a couple of pool tables, a few dartboards, a handful of tables and booths as well as a small dancefloor should anyone be inclined to cut a rug with whatever melodies happened to be playing from the jukebox.

  I know I could have probably headed home directly after meeting with Shawn but knowing that the drive would roughly take about four hours. Since Toby and Derrick, the two warriors I brought with me, had put in extra time these last couple of weeks, I figured they deserved to let off some steam. I opted to sit at the bar and down a few shots of Jack while the guys already managed to find a couple of unmated she-wolves to entertain for the evening. As I took a sip of my third double, I took a quick glance at the ambiance of the place. It had a rather rustic feel, correlating with the log cabin walls and exterior. There were several old-time alcohol logos and neon decorations adorning the walls and of course no pack tavern would be complete without the stereotypical stag heads directly above the entryway door and the center of the back wall above the mirrored Bar Back. There were actually quite of few patrons for it being only a Wednesday evening. A couple of seats next to me was a female, probably close to my age, but then again considering weres age a lot slower than humans, I could be totally off. She had long black hair that draped down her back and her head was tilted down at the bar counter causing her tresses to conceal her actual visage. I don’t know why but there was something about her that disconcerted me. Not that I knew her, but her posture just felt like something was off. Once I turned back around returning my focus back to my own glass filled with amber liquid, I heard a couple of rather belligerent males approach her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her instant reaction at their approach, she winced.

  “Hey, Josh. Looky here. If it isn’t our favorite little Omega.”

  “Oh Shit, Keith. You’re right.”

  Both men arranged themselves so that she was now sitting in between them as they stood and leaned forward with their elbows resting on the bar’s counter.

  “Hey, little Omega … whatcha doing over here sitting all by your lonesome? Don’t you want to hang out with us, your buddies … huh?”

  “You know Josh, it almost feels like our little toy doesn’t want to be around us anymore. I mean look at her, she’s not even answering us as if we’re not standing right here.”

  “I dunno Keith, I’m beginning to feel like she doesn’t like us anymore
. Maybe we’ve neglected her for too long. What do you think Joshy?”

  The girl began trembling as she quickly placed her money on the counter to pay for her drink. She cautiously tried to get off her barstool, obviously wanting to depart from her intruders and leave. Unfortunately, neither of the two brutes were having any of that as the taller bulkier one, I assumed Josh was his name, placed his thick callous hand onto her shoulder, forcing her to get reacquainted with her seat.

  “Hey, you weren’t trying to skip out of here without us were you little Omega?”

  “Yeah, kitten. That’s not very nice of you. You know we Always leave together after the bar closes to enjoy the after-party.”

  “Unless of course, you were just so anxious that you wanted to start the fun earlier. Is that it? What do you think Joshy? Should we start the after-party early tonight?”

  A small whimper escaped her lips as she whispered.

  “N-n-no p-please, Just l-l-leave me, a-a-alone guys. P-please.”

  The two asshats just laughed and took another swig of their PBRs.

  I’d had enough.

  Undoubtedly these pencil-dicks were trying to intimidate this meek-looking Omega.

  I gulped down my drink and slammed the glass down on the counter, then gestured for the bartender to give me another double; knowing damn well I was gonna need it once I was done dealing with these idiots.

  I turned so that I was facing all three of them and let out a powerful growl.

  “ENOUGH!” I bellowed. The power emitted from my Alpha aura caused them all to tremble and bow their heads. The two dicks were clenching their fists tightly, obviously not happy that an outsider Alpha had intervened in their pathetic attempt to bully some omega she-wolf into nonconsensual favors.

  I got up from my stool and stalked over to the little she-wolf and grabbed her tiny wrist, leading her off her to stand behind me.

  “What the FUCK man!” The one names Keith hissed through gritted teeth.

  “The FUCK man, is that I will not sit idly by and watch you pencil-dicks bully some lower rank into sexual favors when she clearly is not interested!”

  The one named Josh began laughing as if I had told him some kind of hilarious joke.

  He slapped the back of his hand against his cohort’s chest and then shook his head.

  “Dude, he thinks that she isn’t interested.”

  I glanced over at the petite framed girl, who just hid behind me with her head bowed in submission trembling, then looked back over at the nimrod twins.

  “From what I can see she is definitely NOT interested. Now, I may not be your Alpha, but I can assure you, Shawn is a good friend of mine. I can also assure you that should I decide to beat your wanna-be rapists' asses into next year he’d let me. My advice to you both is to heed my warning and get the fuck out of my sight while I’m being generous.”

  The one named Keith glared at me and smirked while glancing at the girl behind me.

  “Fine Alpha. We’ll leave but for the record, you’re wrong about what you’re seeing here,” he waved his hand gesturing about the scene between the three of them, “that little skank is playing you. Not sure what your little game is kitten but don’t come crying to us begging to take your little whore ass back. You got that bitch … we’re done with you!”

  I felt a little tug at my sleeve as she winced from the harsh words they were tossing like daggers her way. I let out another growl in a warning and the two douchebags abruptly left the bar laughing.

  Oooookkkkay …

  I shook my head and returned back to my seat at the bar. I reached for my drink and gulped down the amber liquid all at once then glanced over at the little she-wolf.

  She cleared her throat.

  “T-thank Y-y-you.” She muttered in barely a whisper.

  “No prob. Just doing what anyone would do in this situation.”

  “N-no. Not everyone. But thank you none the less.”

  “Think nothing of it.”

  Shit.

  I must have drunk more than I thought. I was starting to feel a little woozy as I gripped onto the bar for balance.

  “Hey … um … you don’t look well. Do you need any help?”

  My head was quickly becoming fuzzy as the room began to spin.

  Damn, I need to ask Shawn if their alcohol is enhanced with wolfsbane making them as potent to us weres as normal alcohol would be to humans. I tried to get my bearings but to no avail.

  I needed to get out of here. Maybe some fresh air would help.

  “Huh? Umm … you know, I think I may have had a bit more than I thought. Hahaha … I think I’m gonna head back to my hotel room to sleep it off.”

  “Well honestly, it’s on my way back to the packhouse. Is it ok if I join you and make sure you make it there ok? I mean it’s the least I could do for someone who just saved me from being raped by those two guys.”

  “Y-yeah … sure.”

  We slowly made our way out of the bar when the effects of the alcohol kept growing. I had to lean on the little she-wolf for support once we took a few steps into the parking lot.

  “Uh … I seriously have never drunk this much. Sorry for this. I really appreciate your help. I’m not normally like this umm … sorry I never caught your name.”

  A slight giggle escaped her lips.

  “Oh that’s right you didn’t. It’s Maricela. Don’t worry about it. And Devon … I’m sorry.”

  “W-what?”

  Wait … why was she sorry and how did she know my name?

  I was about to ask her when all of a sudden I felt a sharp sting in my neck and then my world went black.

  Chapter 29

  Sammie’s POV

  It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve seen, much less heard from Dev. For some reason today, more than any of the other preceding thirteen days has left me with a great feeling of unease. I had no idea why, but I felt it, lingering like a dark cloud swiftly approaching over the horizon of my so-called existence. During this time, random attacks had become more frequent amongst the werewolf packs, witch’s covens, and vampire clans alike. Shay and Astrid were still away dealing with their own Coven’s duties and Michael was still over at Dark Crescent Pack. Aiden tried to spend as much time as he had available with me but with the rise of random attacks, he needed to man the helm of his own pack as acting commander in Dev’s presence.

  During this time, however, I found a new acquaintance with Lord Danesh. It seemed that with the attacks on the Vampire Clans, our Queen had directed all council members to contact the echelons of each territory to increase security within the areas. Now, I personally was not considered amongst the higher-ups within my territory, but Lord Danesh surprisingly decided to contact me as well. To say I was shocked would have been putting it mildly. I had always thought that the enigmatic Lord Danesh didn’t approve of me; at least that’s how it always appeared during the handful of times Jareth and I had the pleasure of his company in our home. To be honest, he always looked like he smelled a really atrocious fart whenever I would approach him so, during his visits, I tended to feign fatigue and retreated to my room.

  This was why it was so surprising that he called me not once but rather almost every other day since Dev’s departure. His reason behind such an unexpected gesture was due to the fact that I was his fallen brother, Jareth’s Beloved. He simply stated that it was his duty to look after the widowed mate of his once close friend and confidant. I was definitely apprehensive at first but as I said, we’ve talked and skyped quite a few times as of late and I was actually beginning to see him as a possible mentor and friend. I didn’t really have many Vampire friends after Jareth’s death, so it was a nice distraction.

  During our most recent call this afternoon, Lord Danesh managed to divulge some rather disconcerting information regarding the random incursions on Packs, Covens, and Clans occurring across the globe. It appears that there is one anomaly that makes absolutely no sense. Out of all the random strikes, not one of
them had occurred on my own territory. We had been free from any aggressive acts on our own lands since the chaos first started. Not that I’m upset about it but let’s be honest, why avoid this territory?

  It made absolutely no sense.

  ****************************************************

  Devon’s POV

  I woke up in my hotel room laying on the bed with my head propped up with several pillows in nothing but my boxers. My head was fucking killing me.

  What the fuck happened?

  How did I get here?

  I shook my head trying to clear the fog rolling around in there but the only thing I could really decipher was that I was horny as fuck.

  I was rock-hard.

  A noise from the bathroom broke my confusion. I was ready to get up when I realized that my arms were bound with something strong enough to detain me. Seconds later, the bathroom door opened up, and out stepped the one person I didn’t think would have the actual balls to appear in front of me.

  Dasha.

  She stood in the door’s archway as her eyes took inventory of my body. She swirled the glass of wine in her hand and gulped down the remaining pale colored liquid before she reached back and set the empty glass atop what I could only assume was the vanity.

  The way she looked now; I could only assume was more to her truer self. Her long hair was now black, and her green eyes no longer held their brilliant emerald hue.

  I eyed her long, lean body sheathed in a khaki-colored trench coat and a pair of red patent leather stilettos.

  “Surprise baby! Miss me?”

  “What the Fuck Dasha?”

  “Oh baby I know, I know. We broke up a while ago but I just knew that your little whore wasn’t going to be able to keep you satisfied like I do so I decided to grace you with my presence.”

  Fuck she looked good.

  My dick throbbed.

  Wait … What?!

  A small chuckle escaped her lips as she noticed the large tent that had formed beneath the thin cotton fabric of my boxers.

  “What the fuck did you do to me?”