by Tl Reeve
“Horribly.” She cut a path through the crowd of people watching the college football games. Her school played later, hence everyone wanted pizza. “His parents are so….”
“Fucked up?”
“Shitty.” Though fucked up worked, too. They came off all high and mighty. Nothing like her mom and dad at all. “I’ve never seen another alpha family treat the daughter of an alpha so deplorably. And, when Christoph mentioned mates, even though I know there isn’t a gay bone in either of their bodies, they went nuts. I couldn’t believe the things they said.”
“Not everyone has families like ours, Bell. You can’t expect them all to be nice and caring.” They muscled their way up to the counter. “While we’re here, we should relax a little. It’s going to take some time for the pizzas to get finished.”
She eyed her cousin suspiciously. “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”
Hayden laughed. “We’re not getting drunk. You’re too young to buy beer. I meant we should enjoy a game or something mundane instead of worrying about mates and the house and school.”
Her cousin had a point. All she seemed to do lately was worry about everything instead of enjoying the moments when they came. “Okay.” She lifted her hand to get one of the bartenders’ attention. When he came over, she smiled. “Hi. We’d like a couple of sodas, please, and do you happen to have an estimated time for our pizzas to be done?”
He poured their drinks and placed them on the polished teak. “Name?”
“Bell Dryer.” Her arch nemesis leaned against the bar, giving the bartender a flirty grin. “Or loser in some circles.”
The guy glanced between them.
“It’s Bell Dryer,” Hayden affirmed. “We have an order for twelve pizzas.”
“Let me guess, Emma’s is at the house, and the heifer can’t get her own food?” Laney snarked.
God, Bell hated Laney, especially because of how she treated Emma, Bell’s friend. She wished she could punch the girl in her perfect teeth and knock them all out. “Actually, I have a crew of people there. You know, two alpha lions and a pride to take care of.”
Laney pulled out her phone. “You mean this alpha lion?”
In vivid detail, Christoph stood with a raven-haired beauty, his lips pressed to her forehead, their body language that of knowing each other very well. Bell’s stomach dropped. Her heart stopped beating, before tripping over itself. All of her blood went cold as she swayed on her feet. She licked her too-dry lips, unable to comprehend what she saw. Even though she’d realized last night what his parents tried to pull, she hadn’t thought it worked. Obviously, she hadn’t counted on her mate to betray her, either.
Bell cleared her throat. “Doesn’t mean anything.” She forced the words past her lips while on the inside she shattered. She couldn’t leave. She’d promised everyone lunch.
“Oh, on the contrary, it does.” Laney flipped through the pictures of Christoph and this girl. Even one of him handing her his phone and her slipping it into her shirt. The girl looked at him, the way Bell had on several occasions. “I guess he didn’t like playing second fiddle to a dragon.”
Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she wouldn’t give Laney the satisfaction of crying in front of her. She had to get her shit together and pull on her big girl panties. “Are you done?”
The girl laughed. “Not by a long shot. Give it up, little girl. You don’t belong here. You don’t deserve your house, and you sure as hell don’t deserve being even a side chick for someone like Christoph or Jackson. They are above you. You’re gutter slime.”
“Excuse me.” A man stepped between them. “Are you Bell Dryer?”
She glanced up at the man wearing a tailored three-piece suit, and a jolt of surprise raced through her. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been wearing a toga. “Victor Lorenz.”
He grinned. “At your service.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pledge application. “I am fully aware of how untraditional this is, but I have a proposition for you, if you and Hayden would kindly join me for a drink.”
She glanced at the bartender. “Well….”
“You have thirty minutes left on the pies, miss.” The bartender gave her a kind grin. “What would you like to drink, Vic?”
“Beer. Imported. Surprise me. I like surprises.” He winked at Bell. “Shall we?”
She followed him to a table away from the hustle and bustle of the pub. “You need pledges,” he announced when they sat. “I have a plan.”
“Hold up a minute.” Hayden raised her hand. “You have a plan? What’s in this for you?”
He sighed and bowed his head. “You’re right. I should explain myself better. Although, I am very excited to be at this table with you.”
Bell frowned. “Victor, you’re a junior. You’re talking to a freshman and a sophomore. I don’t understand why you’d be excited to talk to losers like us.”
“Hey!” Hayden smacked her shoulder. “We’re not losers. We’re misfits.”
“Precisely why I wanted to talk to you.” He laid the pledge application on the table. “I would like to join your merry band of misfits.”
“But you’re part of Kappa Pi.”
He frowned. “Not anymore.” The wave of sadness coming off him nearly knocked her on her butt.
“Why?”
“They found out I’m gay.” He shrugged. “Some of the guys aren’t comfortable with the idea of a gay man being in close quarters with them. So they stripped me of my home and of my fraternity.”
“They can’t do that!” Hayden slammed her fist on the table. “They’re discriminating against you.”
“Yes, they are. But, they also have photos. Kind of like what Laney has against your Christoph. Only mine are with a boy on the soccer team. He’s of age, but they are compromising, nonetheless.”
“So, they have you boinking some guy, who cares!”
“I’m a power bottom, so they have pictures of me being boinked.” He gave them a rueful smile. “I don’t care about my sexuality being out there. It’s the fact of my privacy being invaded, and I had no issue about walking away. Then I heard about your house needing pledges, and the fact you are so open with your policies. I thought perhaps we could shake up the school together.”
“What did you have in mind?” Bell glanced at his application. She had no issue welcoming Victor into their home and their sorority, but she didn’t fully understand the bylaws to make sure it would work out.
He pulled another application of out his jacket and laid it on the table. “This is for a co-op house. It means men and women can live together and act like a fraternity or a sorority, only they’re not in the Greek life.”
She frowned. “We’d lose our charter, though.”
“Not necessarily. I want to challenge the Greek board. I’d like for us to have the first Greek Co-Op House. It will be for those who feel like they have nowhere to go, or they don’t feel accepted.”
She glanced at the application. The filing fees alone would cost her more money than she had. The only reason their house was on the mend had to do with her father offering up his services. “The fee is pretty steep.”
“We’ll raise the money.”
“How?” Hayden grabbed the packet and flipped through it. “We have a house to fix up, ten pledges to find in thirty days, and you want us to raise two grand in thirty days?”
“Fundraisers.” He didn’t even hesitate. “Your house can be a spotlight for those who feel like they don’t fit in. You have a chance to change young shifters’ destinies everywhere.”
She looked to Hayden who held her hands up. “This is your choice, Bell. You’re the president of this shindig. Whatever you want to do, I’m behind you. No matter what.”
She glanced down at the packet and bit her bottom lip. Two grand was a lot of money, but Victor had a point. Shifters like them needed a place to feel safe. Her aunts and uncles would be proud of her if
she followed this route. “Welcome to Sigma Epsilon Xi, or whatever we’re going to be called when this goes through.” She held out her hand to him, which he eagerly took.
“Thank you, Bell. I promise we’ll make this work. You don’t even have to worry about the pledges. I have a plan.” He gave her a saucy wink and slid out of the booth. “For what it’s worth, I’d talk to Christoph before believing a word coming out of Laney’s mouth. She’s a petty bitch who can’t keep a shifter to save her meager life.”
“The pictures are pretty damning, though.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes. But unless you know the context in which they were taken, you’ll never fully know the truth.”
True. “I’ll take your advice, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He started to walk away.
“Victor?”
He stopped mid-stride. “Yes?”
“You can move in today, if you want. Excuse the mess, though. We’re fixing up the place.”
“How do you think I found you? I’ve already been by the house.” The Cheshire grin he gave her made her laugh.
“Sneaky and pretty sure of yourself.”
He gave a lift of his shoulder. “I had a good feeling about you. I’ll see you when you guys return.” With a wave, he disappeared into the crowd of college students.
“Well, looks like we’re on our way.” She turned to Hayden. “Do you think he’s right about Christoph?”
Hayden growled. “Something is up. I’m not sure what, but I can guarantee you, Laney didn’t get those pictures to protect you. She meant to inflict damage.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too.” Didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“Come on, the pizzas should be done.” She stood. “The only way to the truth is to get it from the horse’s mouth. Or, in this case, the lion’s.”
***
“Jackson,” Christoph yelled over the noise inside of Sigma Epsilon Xi.
“Out here,” a man he didn’t know answered.
“Thanks.” He made his way through the kitchen and out onto the new deck he hadn’t noticed when he first arrived. Rapier’s crew worked quickly and efficiently for damn sure.
Scanning the massive yard, he spotted Jackson hard at work in the far-right corner, repairing the dilapidated fence. Not wanting to draw too much attention, Christoph headed to him.
“Where have you been?” Jackson’s tone filled with scorn while he laid down the wood he had been nailing to the new structure.
“I’ve had some unexpected issues.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been absent since the dinner with your parents. Bell needs us. She’s hurting. I don’t like when Bell hurts.”
“Me, neither.”
“Whatever, dude. You’re the one hurting her. You’re warm and loving one second and a cold fish the next. Do you want to mate Bell or not?”
Guilt washed over him. “Yes. But it’s complicated.”
“No. No it’s not. It’s simple. We take Bell to bed together, mate her, and mark her. See? Simple.” Jackson sighed. “Instead, our perception of the situation is that you’re not interested.”
“Have you…?” The rest of what he was going to say, he couldn’t force past his teeth. With everything he’d dealt with the last few days, if he found out Bell had taken the next step with Jackson, without him, it would kill him.
“No. She won’t unless it’s all together. She’s afraid of one of us feeling slighted.”
Relief filled him. “We should talk about what’s going on.”
“About fucking time,” Jackson huffed. The scent of brimstone intensified more than normal—a sure sign both the man and dragon were at the end of their ropes.
Even though Rapier had assured him everyone on his crew could be trusted, he still ushered Jackson away from them. For a man like him, he didn’t automatically trust the other alpha’s word. Past experiences within his own pride and the trust others had betrayed made him overly cautious.
“Is Bell here?”
“No. You just missed her. She’s with Hayden. They went to get us some pizzas. No one should hear us. The noise of the saws and hammers blocks out most of the sound.”
He nodded. Jackson had been right.
“My parents have set up an arranged mating, like I told you, but it’s worse than even I imagined.”
“Bell is your mate.”
“They don’t give a shit. They don’t want me to mate for love. They want me to mate for position. For power and what they can gain from it. It’s fucked up, but it’s the truth. I met my betrothed today.”
“Whoa. What the fuck? Are you not going to mate Bell?” Anger radiated off Jackson, his eyes turned red, and a hint of smoke escaped his nostrils.
“I plan to mate Bell. But I need to wrap up several loose ends. Defying my alpha, my father, means I will be exiled from my pride.” Sadness overwhelmed him. Yes, his parents’ greed and desire for power had turned most members of their pride into shells of their former self. From the time he’d been a young cub, he’d intended to restore his family’s pride to where they had once been. A strong, righteous pride. Going against their wishes and mating Bell would kill his dream and cause him to forsake his people.
“Son of a bitch.” Jackson placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did. To Rapier. He’s been helping me get everything in place and is offering me a position within his pride. Everything has to been in place before I inform my parents.”
“Okay. Why do I have a feeling there is more?” Sympathy filled the other man’s eyes.
“Because I’m being torn apart by the person I met.” Disgust filled him again. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact his parents wanted him to mate a baby.
“And?” The impatient dragon folded his arms over his chest.
“She’s sixteen and abused by her father. He’ll kill her if we don’t mate.”
“Are you sure, Christoph?” He didn’t miss the doubt in Jackson’s tone. He’d had his own doubts for a while that perhaps they’d played him. Until Rapier handed him the data from Kalkin Raftery, Bell and Hayden’s uncle, a little while ago. His parents had nothing on the Osaka alpha, who often used both mental and physical punishment on his pride. The pictures Rapier provided had turned his stomach. He couldn’t leave Aislinn to suffer because of him.
“I’m 100 percent sure. Rapier has proof. A file filled with pictures and evidence of the Osaka’s atrocities committed on those within and outside of his pride.”
“What a clusterfuck.” More smoke seeped from Jackson’s nose. At least this time his anger hadn’t been directed at him.
“I cannot. I will not leave her to suffer for my choices. Rapier and I believe her father will retaliate against her. Aislinn fears the same.”
“Aislinn? That’s your betrothed?”
“Yes. A baby, Jackson. Tiny and slight and unable to protect herself. Even if I don’t have a pride, it is my responsibility to protect the weaker.”
“Relax. You don’t have to sell me on her protection. I’m not an alpha, but I know right from wrong. What’s the game plan?”
“Simply to remove her from her parents. Rapier has made arrangements to hide her within his pride. She will be given a new identity with a chance to mature and live a life of freedom.”
“Time frame?”
He shrugged. “Unsure, maybe Monday at the earliest. I can only hold everyone off for so long. I gave her my phone with instructions to not respond or answer to anyone but Jackson Dalco. When the time is right, we will take her.”
“You make it sound so damn simple.”
“It’s not. I, along with Rapier and Kal, will be spending countless hours making sure we can pull this off without a hitch. If someone finds out who has taken her, I’ve effectively pulled my mate’s family into an all-out war. Bell could be at risk. Hell,” he growled, rubbing his hand through his hair. “All the
Dryer females could be at risk.”
“From what I can tell, Rapier Dryer isn’t the type of man to expose his family or his pride to any unnecessary risks.”
“I agree.”
“We need to tell Bell,” Jackson stated.
“We?”
“Yes, we.” A sense of belonging, which he never experienced with his parents, raged to life. “FYI. She looks pissed.”
Bell marched down the steps and headed toward them. Yeah, she did. Her gaze swept through the yard and landed directly on him. Her jeans hugged her softly rounded hips. His dick, always half-hard whenever he thought about her, pushed insistently against his zipper. Her dark-blue sweatshirt had paint splatter all over it, and her hair had been pulled into a tight ponytail. She looked very un-Bell, but still beautiful.
“Do you want my protection?” Jackson mumbled behind him, joking.
“Maybe. But I deserve it.”
“No, you don’t. You forget. Our mate’s father is an alpha. She’ll be disappointed you didn’t tell her, but she’ll understand.”
“I hope.”
“I know.”
“So, you finally decided to show up?” She all but roared at him. The hammering and sawing abruptly stopped. The crew turned to watch their alpha’s daughter.
Shit. They didn’t need an audience.
The door banged open and Rapier Dryer stepped out. “Yo!”
The entire crew which had been fascinated with their conversation turned to Rapier. “Lunch break. Everyone inside to eat while the pizza is hot.”
The yard emptied, except for the three of them.
“Do you have any idea what my family, friends, and Jackson have been doing for me for the last couple of days? Oh yeah. You wouldn’t because you haven’t been around.” She was a sight to behold. She glared at him while tapping her foot impatiently.
“Blondie. He has a good reason. Just let him tell you.” Jackson spoke on his behalf.
“Stay out of it. This is between him and me.”
He held up his hands. “Yes, ma’am.”
Honest to the Gods, at any other time he would have laughed at Bell dressing Jackson down. He could squash her like a bug, but she had no fear of him. And, apparently, she had no fear of him because she intended to give him a proper tongue-lashing.
