Temptation (Journal of the Wolves of Spruce Hollow)

by Tarrah Betts

  “Wow! You look really great Aspen. Wow!” Justin said as his eyes roved up and down my body appreciatively.

  “Thanks, you look really nice too Justin.” I said as I lowered my eyes and flashed him a shy smile.

  Justin smelled delicious and looked so hot with his blond hair, American Eagle shirt and jeans. Honestly, he probably had the best hair of any guy I knew, well maybe except for Roan, he had pretty great hair too, all tousled and spiky looking. It was pretty sexy.

  Justin was standing there, gazing at me with his thumbs lazily hooked in his pockets. He looked pretty hot, causing my wild, teenage hormones to scream “Sex, sex, sex”, as I took in his perfection.

  Even though most kids my age were hooking up in the back seats of cars, I was still a virgin. And unless I lost my virginity at school or on the back of the school bus, there really wasn’t any opportunity for me to lose it while under Roan’s watch. I swear, I’d be a virgin until I walked down the aisle, if he had anything to say about it.

  Justin’s arms were ripped from working out and still lightly tanned with a honeyed summer glow. I wanted to reach out and gently run my fingers up and down his arms and then tangle them in his hair as we kissed passionately.

  Instead, we stood there staring at one another like two adolescent fools.

  When he broke the tension and shot me a megawatt smile at me, I was overcome with the urge to eat him whole. He was perfect and beautiful and we were going to have a great time tonight. Nothing was going to stop me.

  Chapter 13

  ***

  The Dam was the local high school party place. It was far enough outside of town and deep enough in the woods that local parents and the police didn’t venture down there very often. The police usually raided it once a month in the summer and tried to cut down on the underage drinking but it didn’t stop anything, it merely delayed it and the kids were back at it again the next night.

  The Dam, was just that, a small water dam that had been constructed back in the 1960’s to stop the river from flooding low lying parts of Spruce Hollow every spring when the melting snow and ice made the river swell higher than was normal. It had been used for decades by generations of local teenagers and it was considered a rite of passage to attend a Dam party at some point in high school.

  As far as party spots in the woods went, the Dam was pretty well equipped as somewhere along the line, some forward thinking teenagers had brought in a number of picnic tables up there in the backs of their trucks, so no one would have to sit on the ground. A large circular fire pit had also been built with a number of large rocks piled almost knee high with seating built around it.

  The Dam also boasted many secluded spots off the beaten dirt path in the woods, and was a known makeout spot for teenage couples. Over the years, more than a few teenage girls in Spruce Hollow had lost their virginity back at the Dam.

  We drove along in Justin’s black Jeep Cherokee, joking around and making sidelong glances at one another.

  “Did you have your Jeep at Sabre’s Auto body recently? I saw one there that looked just like this one.”

  “Uh, yeah, I did. I was getting the winter tires put on. Have you ever laid eyes on the dudes that work there? There are three of them and they’re like these enormous, hulking gear heads that work on cars. They’re pretty scary, you should see them.”

  “Oh really? Wow,” I tittered nervously.

  The last thing I wanted was for Justin to be made aware of the connection between “these enormous, hulking gear heads” and myself. As far as I was concerned, the less he knew about Roan and vice versa, the better off I was going to be in this whole situation.

  As we drove on, I found myself wondering what Justin was thinking or what his expectations were for tonight. Hopefully, they were in line with mine, as my agenda tonight involved overwhelming excitement at simply being on a date with Justin, exhilaration about going to the Dam, nervousness at the prospect of my first alcoholic drink and joyfulness at the possibly my first kiss.

  This was more than an exciting experience, it was life changing! I was actually being given permission to grow up! Of course, that permission was being given by none other than myself, but I wasn’t being such a stickler for details.

  I felt so naughty and alive to have done such a daring thing behind Roan’s back. What he didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt him and I certainly wasn’t going to tell him about my little adventure to the Dam, that’s for sure.

  Sometimes Roan still treated me like a little kid, not a teenaged girl with her own maturing wants and needs. Most of the time, it was useless to even try and tell him how I felt about anything because he was the boss of the universe, apparently. And therefore his word was the law.

  But not tonight it wasn’t, so suck it Roan!

  We turned off the main road onto a well-traveled dirt road. It had rained quite a bit lately and the dirt road had big ruts cut into it from the tires of frequent visitors from the teenage population of Spruce Hollow. The deeper, water filled ruts made the Jeep and my boobs bounce up and down as we drove over them. I didn’t know if I should cover my chest or hold on to the seat to keep from bouncing. It seemed useless, either way, as the road ahead of us appeared to go on for quite some time.

  The Jeep was lurching and bouncing around like mad. It was a good thing that Roan had installed new tires on it. We drove like this in the dark woods for some time, bouncing and maneuvering until the road ended and we finally pulled into a large clearing. It was large, some hundred or more feet across and it’s longest end, and was filled to brimming with all manner of vehicles with 4x4 capability. Trucks, Jeeps, dirt bikes, atv’s, you name it. If you could slam it into “four low”, it was parked here in the clearing. Justin pulled into a space at the end, between two trucks, and we both got out.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked curiously, as I hopped out of the Jeep and tried to avoid falling into one of the water filled ruts.

  There were only a handful of kids standing around the clearing talking, yet from the sheer number of vehicles parked here, there must be a hundred kids or more running around the woods somewhere.

  “We’re not there yet, silly girl,” Justin said as he smiled at me, “Come on, it’s awesome,” he said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a wide path at the edge of the clearing.

  I could see specks of light off in the distance but I found myself wishing that I had Roan’s Were vision for a moment. The dark woods had always creeped me out, ever since I was little. I didn’t know if it was because I grew up surrounded by Weres and knew that there really were things out there in the dark or maybe it was some repressed memory due to being left in a car in the middle of the night while my biological mother met with her drug dealer.

  Who knows?

  When we finally emerged at the end of the trail, it was immediately apparent that “this” was the Dam.

  Justin had been right, it was awesome!

  The Dam was larger than life and bigger and better than any story I had ever heard about it. The fire pit was enormous and blazing cheerily in the middle of the clearing was literally the biggest fire I had ever seen in my entire life. It didn’t have just have firewood burning in it, like a normal fire would, it had whole stumps, logs and tree trunks. The heat the fire threw off didn’t make it seem like a cold November night at all.

  I didn’t know how safe it was to build such a massive fire in the middle of the woods and then throw in a large gathering of intoxicated teenagers to boot, but the Dam had been around for many years and no one had burned down the forest during one of those parties.

  Yet.

  Shut up brain, could you sound anymore like Roan right now? Don’t you dare ruin this night for me. Now, be quiet, we’re supposed to be having fun here!

  The gathering was extensive and it seemed like everyone in the senior class was present, in addition to a smaller number of kids in the junior and sophomore class. I felt like an excited little kid at the county fair as I gawked
and whipped my head around at every new sight and sound. The whole experience was overwhelming to me but so exciting at the same time.

  I was nearly humming with the electricity that pulsated in the air; at least it felt that way to me. Maybe it had more to do with the pulsating excitement that I felt inside, rather than the environment but the two were so closely woven for me that it felt like one and the same.

  Justin reached down, grabbed my hand and led me towards the picnic tables. My hand felt small and delicate inside his and..OMG, he was holding my hand and in front of everyone too!! Overcome with excitement, my heart was beating so loud, like a drum in my chest.

  I thought I might die, it was pounding so hard. Holding someones hand in public, in the teenage world, was the equivalent of announcing out loud “Yeah, you see this girl right here? Hands off, ‘cause we’re together”.

  The exhilaration of the entire situation was nearly too much for me to absorb and we had only just gotten to the party! What other wonders might the evening hold?

  We met up with Justin’s buddies on the football team, who were congregated in a rowdy group near the fire. I felt slightly intimidated around them and just stood at Justin’s side and smiled shyly at everyone.

  He introduced me to each of them and I just kind of said “hi” but didn’t make any real conversation with them, I was much too nervous as I hadn’t really met any of the guys on the football team in person before tonight, but I had seen all of them in the halls at school, either wearing their team jackets or on the field at our school football games.

  Football players were a big deal in my high school.

  They were, for the most part, the social leaders in school and therefore, the most popular kids in our small town and I was completely out of my element, standing here amongst them. This was uncharted territory for me because although it did happen occasionally, seniors generally didn’t hang out with or date anyone below their grade level. So, the fact that I was even in their social circle right now was a pretty big, awesome deal.

  “Hey, you want a beer?” Justin asked as he steered me away from his group of buddies and walked us towards another picnic table where they had several round, shiny metal barrels set up on picnic tables. I’d never seen round barrels like these before in my life and wasn’t even exactly sure what they were, but there was no way I was going to embarrass myself and ask Justin about it.

  I felt gauche enough as it was. But from watching the other kids, I gathered that people were pouring some sort of liquid from a spout in the round metal barrel and then drinking it. It was obviously some sort of alcohol.

  Probably.

  It could be fruit punch for all I knew. I wasn’t exactly a Dam party officianado but I was going to find out soon enough as Justin got two big plastic cups from a stack of cups that was sitting on the picnic table next to the metal barrels. He filled them like a pro and then passed one to me.

  “It’s Budweiser, hope you don’t mind,” he said as held the glass out to me. I took the glass and looked at it. I felt an anxious titter bubble up inside of me but I stifled it back down as I robotically nodded my head, like I had a clue what he was talking about.

  I had never consumed alcohol before in my life, much less held a glass full of it in my hand. This was my first time and truthfully, I was beyond nervous.

  Over the years, I’d occasionally seen Roan drink beer from a can or bottle, but not very often and only in the summertime while he was barbecuing or after he had mowed the lawn, but I had never actually held or seen beer up close before.

  I took a sniff and it smelled kind of yeasty and sour. Ugh.

  I sure hope it tasted better than it smelled. Justin sure seemed to like it and was taking big mouthfuls of his and not wanting to seem out of my element or childish in front of him, I brought my cup up to my mouth and took a small sip.

  OMG, YUCK!

  It tasted disgusting and made me gag a little as I swallowed. Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to drink beer if this is what it tasted like? Justin smiled down at me with that perfect smile and laughed out loud at the disgusted look on my face.

  I immediately exploded in embarrassed heat from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, as my stomach protested wildly.

  Oh, Lord, please don’t throw up Aspen.

  Justin looked me up and down, appraising me. Maybe he was thinking that he had made a mistake in asking me to come here with him?

  Not wanting to seem unworthy of him, I took another drink and forced a smile at him.

  Okay, that wasn’t as bad as the first time but it was still pretty awful.

  I looked at the large, full cup and sighed. I hoped I would be able to finish it.

  “Hey, can we go sit by the fire?” I asked as I rubbed my free hand up my arm. Maybe an opportunity might present itself at some point and allow me to pour some of the awful beer out when he turned his back or something?

  Sitting by the fire made me feel warm and toasty inside. I was glad because I hadn’t brought my jacket with me and the air outside was chilly. My beer was still full and resigned to drinking the foul liquid; I held it up to my mouth and drank it slowly as I took a look around. Kids were sitting or standing all around the fire pit, warming up, and like us, they were all drinking too.

  One thing’s for certain, Dam parties sure were loud. No wonder they had to have them so far in the woods! The music was cranked up and I vaguely wondered how they’d even managed to get music playing in the middle of the woods. Where did they even plug the speakers in?

  I didn’t wonder for long when “Copperhead Road” started playing and the school football quarterback, Nick Phillips, yelled out “I love this fucking song, turn it up Trevor!” and Trevor Stevens took off down the path that lead to the parking area and the music suddenly got louder.

  “Where is the music coming from,” I asked as I looked around the party. “Over there,” Justin said as he pointed to a far corner of the clearing that I hadn’t noticed before. “It’s crazy isn’t it? Trevor rigged up his stereo to play on a truck adaptor and he and a few of the guys hauled these old speakers that he found in the trash last summer up here. He leaves them up here all year round and then just brings up a crapload of wire to connect the speaker to the truck whenever we have a party. Wild huh?”

  I nodded my head in agreement. Mystery solved.

  I had never felt so out of my element in my entire life.

  Chapter 14

  ***

  As the hours flew by, one fact became glaringly obvious:

  Justin was perfect, I was sure of it.

  Not only was he perfect, he was beautiful and funny too. He told me amusing stories about his family, the football team and the leadership camp that he had attended over the summer. We talked and laughed as we drank our beer by the warmth of the fire.

  By the time I’d reached the bottom of my large plastic cup, Justin seemed even funnier than before, if that was even possible. I really liked him a lot and hoped that I had made a good enough impression for him to ask me out on a date again.

  Justin stood and pulled me up to stand with him “Wanna dance, beautiful girl?” he asked seductively.

  My face lit up in a smile as I drank in his words. I don’t think I had ever heard another male refer to me as “beautiful” before and I wanted to roll around and bask in the glow of it for a while.

  Not even Roan had ever said those words to me and as I got older, I secretly worried that maybe the reason that I’d never heard anyone say those words was because I wasn’t a very attractive girl and would never find a man that would love me.

  It was especially difficult from my vantage point of living with and being surrounded daily by the physical perfection of all the male and female Weres in the pack, but also from hanging around Sorcha day after day for the past ten years.

  I didn’t have a chance in hell against that freaky kind of unflawed perfection because Sorcha was Barbie doll perfect with a capital letter “B” stamped
somewhere on her ass, I was sure of it..

  It kind of gave a girl an inferiority complex, you know?

  I smiled and followed Justin away from the fire towards the area where the rest of the partygoers were drinking and dancing.

  “Whoops, careful,” Justin said as I caught my foot against a shallow tree root and careened into him. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I said apologetically as he steadied me and then put his arms around my waist. “You really need someone to take care of you, don’t you?” he whispered softly into my ear.

  It must be the beer talking because my head felt fuzzy and my thoughts disjointed as I started giggling into Justin’s embrace on the makeshift dancing area at the Dam. It was a peculiar feeling, for sure, but one that was completely freeing at the same time.

  I felt emboldened in that moment, like I could say or do anything I wanted to.

  Almost like I was totally invincible.

  I broke from Justin embrace and started to seductively sway my hips back and forth to the music. At least, I thought I looked pretty damn alluring. Who knows? I didn’t have much experience with dancing, having only been to two school dances, back in middle school, prior to this.

  As Justin came up and grabbed me from behind, I figured I must have been moving the right way as he pulled me right into him, our bodies sandwiched together and moving at the same time to the music.

  I could feel everything like this, his hands on my hips, his fingers splayed and touching against my bare stomach. I could even feel his heart pounding in his chest tight against my back and his hardening cock against my ass.

  It set my pulse racing.

  I was set to brimming with teenaged lust for this boy and fearlessly reached my arms up and laced my fingers around the back of his head like I had seen in a movie once.

  Omg, was that too sleazy or too forward of me?

  I had no idea but from the looks of envy and hatred I was getting from a couple of the girls from the cheerleading squad that were standing off to the side, I thought maybe it was entirely the right thing.