“Yup,” I cleared my own throat then, “be right there.” My dad was snickering. Seriously, shoulders shaking, trying to hold back his laughter as he left the room kind of snickering. “That was a little awkward.” I groaned out loud.
“Yeah, I guess I’m still not winning points with the family.” Mikael stood, and held his hand out to me. As I joined him, and brushed up against Mikael, I realized he was still very affected by our little kitchen make out session. When I glanced down, and then up, he smirked. “Yeah, I’m going to need a minute, maybe some cold water, and a little distance.” He stepped back then, so our bodies were no longer touching. Then he walked around me to the sink to splash some water on his face. I didn’t help things out any, because I just stood there biting my lip, watching him, thinking about how absolutely sexy he’d look standing there splashing water on his naked body. And with that thought my hormones ramped up a notch again, heat pooling in places that were not going to help the situation one little bit. Mikael went completely still. “Jess,” he growled out my name. “You are not helping the situation.” His eyes fell on me then, and I swear I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. The smoldering look in his eyes at that moment had me pinned in place, as he began stalking toward me. He walked right up to me, not leaving an inch of space between us. I noticed, because splashing cold water on his face hadn’t helped at all. He turned my body then, so that my back was flush against his chest, and he leaned down, so that we were cheek to cheek, “you’re going to wait outside, and stop thinking dirty thoughts. His hand moved down the length of my torso, coming around and forward when he reached my thighs, “because I can smell your arousal right now, feel the heat coming off of you in waves, and if we don’t get a little distance right now, you’re parents are never going to like me again or want to use that table of theirs. Understand?” His hand stopped short of falling between my legs as he asked his question.
I couldn’t speak, hell my whole body was trembling with anticipation. A very huge part of me wanted to tell him to hell with my parents, and their table, but then he gave me a little push, and smacked my ass when I stumbled forward. The distance, once I made it out to the living room, helped. Unfortunately, it also made things painfully clear for me. I was absolutely sure I smelled like a bitch in heat, because all the men who were now standing in the living room turned to me at once, and either looked away quickly, or were assessing me appreciatively. “Where are my parents?” I asked, directing the question to Jack, who was purposely not meeting my gaze.
“They went out to get us some supplies from the service shed.” Jack was still looking away as he moved to the opposite side of the room. Tom and Andy weren’t looking away. They were both staring right at me, and coming closer.
“I need to, um, I’ll be right back.” I ran upstairs, and heard Mikael growl behind me as he walked into the living room.
I could have sworn I heard him growl out, “mine!” I grabbed some clothes from my closet, a towel, and jumped in a very cold shower long enough to rinse off, and dress in something that wouldn’t smell like I wanted to mate with every available male in the damn pack. Sometimes, being an unmated female werewolf was a horrible feeling. Our kind very rarely knew shame. We were used to being nude in front of people. It was second nature, but the whole, ‘I’m ready to get down and dirty and have some babies’ hormone trip my body just went on, was not cool. Not at all. A part of me wanted to hide upstairs, and not show my face again, but that wasn’t going to be an option.
“Jessie, we have to go, come say goodbye.” It was Jack, and he wasn’t being quiet. Which meant, he was probably going to embarrass me when I got down there. “I’ve already threatened bodily harm to your boyfriend, you might want to come intervene.” That was how you could tell Jack had once been human. Werewolves just didn’t use the terms boyfriend and girlfriend. We always referred to pairs as mates.
“I’m coming!” I yelled back as I slipped my shoes back on my feet. Once I came down the stairs and rounded into the living room, Jack didn’t disappoint me.
“Aw, you didn’t have to go get your nicer jeans on for our goodbye party, Jess!” He drawled as he came over and scooped me up in a big hug. Mikael, I noticed, was watching with an amused look on his face.
“I hate you right now!” I whispered to Jack. “Seriously, you’re a jerk, and I can’t believe that just happened with everyone here.”
Jack laughed, then ruffled my hair, and kissed my cheek, “You just gave me so much fodder for the torment that is coming your way!” He teased, but then leaned in and whispered so low that I didn’t think anyone else would hear him. “I was around you and Evan, and he never brought you to that point. I’m thinking you made a wise decision.” As awkward as it was for Jack to bring it up, I hadn’t thought about it before. Sure, I had been horny around Evan, but he’d never brought on my true heat like that. I had to stop myself from thinking about it though, because the minute I did, I felt myself warm up, and seek out Mikael. Our eyes locked, and luckily Jack stepped in the line of sight, because I was about to be in trouble again.
“NO!” My dad growled out. I looked up in time to see him grabbing Andy and Tom by the collar. “I think you two need to go wait outside,” my dad’s rumbling voice reverberated with power.
“Oh God!” I put my face in my hands, to hide. Jack laughed at me.
“Growing up is so tough!”
“Shut it, Jack!” I was beyond embarrassed. Everyone knew what was happening with my body. Sure, it was supposed to be natural, but that was my dad, having to drag two pack members out of our house. For his part, Jack was a good boy. He patted me on the back sympathetically, and then let me go as I went to sit on the steps and pout. “I’m going to miss you, even though you’re a huge pain in the ass.”
“I know! I’ll miss you too.” He looked at his watch, and then stood around antsy for a bit. “I don’t think Ashley’s going to make it here before I have to go. No one has been able to get a hold of her yet. Could you tell her I love her, and I’ll see her soon?”
“Of course, Jack.” I smiled up at him, “It’s not like you won’t be back soon. You’ll find him.”
“That we will!” Jack turned from me to Mikael, who seemed glued to the couch. “You, be good to her. And maybe, you know, leave when we do if you two aren’t ready to be completely serious about things yet.” Jack looked back and forth between us for a minute. “Yeah, you might want to give it a few days before you come back too.” Okay, that was even more embarrassing than anything else had been so far.
As Jack walked out the door, Mikael got up, and literally walked the outer edges of the room, to stay as far away from me as possible. “I think he’s right, Jess.” He smiled at me and shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. “I have almost no self-control right now where you’re concerned. I’m going to head back to town, and see what I can find out about this witch situation. I’ll call you in a little bit.”
“I’m sorry. This has never happened to me before.” I was pouting, and I didn’t care. “So, embarrassing.” I mumbled.
“Oh believe me, it’s not embarrassing, it’s so damn hot you’re nearly flammable,” the look in his eyes was back to a smoldering heat all his own. “I really,” he took a step towards me, “have to…” another step, and I was standing now too.
“Alright, lover boy, times up.” It was Jack, and he was grabbing Mikael’s shoulders, and pulling him towards the door. “Out you go!”
Mikael growled, but let himself be led outside and away from me. I decided it was best to go mope in my room for now, since clearly the quick shower hadn’t worked earlier. When I got there, I grabbed my phone, and texted Ashley.
Jack had to go on assignment. I will tell you about it later. He says “love you and see you soon.” Also, can you come hang out later today or tomorrow? I’m going to be locked in my room for a few days or weeks. Making out with Mikael brought on my heat cycle, while we had a house full of men here. Asi can explain how embarrassing that
was for me. Uggh.
Since I had nothing better to do with my time, I went and plopped down on my bed, and hoped for a peaceful nap.
I woke up drenched in sweat, breathing hard, and worried beyond reason about Jack. All week, since he’d left to go hunt for Zach, I’d been having strange dreams, and this one hadn’t been so much strange as worrisome. It took me a minute to fully become aware when I woke up from the vision-like dreams. I was shocked to find my dad standing at the end of my bed looking worried.
“Dad? What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Did you have another dream?”
“Are you watching me sleep now? Because that’s just weird.”
“No, Jess, I am not watching you sleep. I came up to tell you that the King is here to see you, but you seemed to be having a nightmare. I wasn’t sure if I should wake you or not, but you sat up on your own.”
“The king?”
“Yes, Antoine is downstairs, requesting an audience.” My father’s words were dripping with sarcasm. If he ever held any respect for the Ancient royalty, it was lost when their supreme ruler took away my free will and ordered me to date two of his sons at once. Thankfully, that debacle was over now that I had chosen one of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use that choice to piss off Antoine, because he had gotten what he wanted. I was with a son from his first bonding. I looked over at my clock then.
“It’s only seven in the morning! Who shows up at someone’s house, unannounced, at seven o’clock in the morning?”
“Kings do, Jess. He does as he pleases, and we must not question it.” My dad added, “right now,” under his breath.
“Fine. Whatever. I need a shower first. I’m all sweaty, and since he didn’t call ahead, he’ll have to wait, King or not!” My tone was haughty, and I probably sounded like a spoiled brat, but I didn’t care. I didn’t like Antoine one bit, and just because he was the King of the werewolves didn’t mean I had to play the good, devoted commoner for him. We both knew that one day, being the white wolf meant that I was going to be above Antoine in the chain of command. Maybe, he should get used to it sooner, rather than later.
“Jessica, you’re treading dangerous ground.” My father seemed worried, but there was an undercurrent of pride in his tone as he spoke. He was sick of Antoine pushing me around too.
“Seriously, dad, do you think if I piss him off he’s going to make me date the other son too? I am tired of his bullshit. Also, I smell. I’m taking a shower, and he can wait. Oh, and we need to talk about the dream I just had, but not with him here.”
“Okay, I’ll go entertain some more while we wait for you.” My dad looked back over his shoulder before he left the room, “please, hurry.”
Before I ran and jumped in the shower, I texted Mikael.
Your dad is at my house for some reason, requesting an audience. I’m showering and getting dressed, slowly, if you want to speed your way here before I talk to him.
I hit send, and then thought about why I had been hiding myself away from Mikael for the past week, and added, I’m all better now, I swear! I hoped that was true, as there hadn’t been any sign of my heat for two days now, but I was worried about tempting fate. I figured with Antoine here to piss me off, even if my heat cycle wasn’t completely over, my anger would be enough to keep my hormones in check.
I took my time in the shower, shaved my legs, and applied ample amounts of lotion on them afterwards before getting dressed. Mikael hadn’t responded to my texts while I was showering so I wasn’t sure if he’d make it here or not. Without anything else to stall my going downstairs, I finally pulled on my clothing, and bounced down each of the steps, like I used to do as a kid.
“Ah, I see you finally decided to grace us with your presence, Jessica.” Antoine hadn’t even let me get to the bottom step before he started running his mouth. This was going to be an awesome visit. “You do know that you aren’t actually the white wolf leader of legend yet, don’t you? You are still under my rule. I will forgive your testing of my patience this once though, since I have news to deliver.”
“What news?” I asked, not really caring what he had to say to me.
“Well, it seems you are to be mated to Mikael, after all! Congratulations!”
I knew what I had decided. I knew that Mikael and I were going to have a serious conversation, and soon, about becoming a bonded pair, especially after he managed to bring on my first real heat cycle. I wasn’t exactly sure what Antoine was getting at by announcing it though. “Excuse me?” I finally questioned him.
“Yes, well, a little birdie told me that Evan was about to let you off the hook, so to speak. Since his old flame is back in town and unattached, his eye has wandered. I hear they are making travel plans.”
Well, he hadn’t heard that I made a choice first, but it was still a punch in the gut to hear that Evan was going to go away, and more importantly that he was going away with Clarissa. It made me sick to my stomach, mostly, because he had never been a real contender for my heart. I’d been a second place trophy for him when he didn’t think he could have his grand prize. It made me wonder if, after Mikael showed up unattached, Evan just stuck it out with me because he found out what I was. That just made the betrayal I felt sting all the worse. I tried not to show any of what I was feeling outwardly though.
Instead, I offered Antoine a shrug and my explanation. “Well, last week I told Evan that he lost his chance with me, so he’s free to go wherever he wants with whomever he chooses.”
Antoine looked positively taken aback. He thought Mikael was winning by default, and that I would be forced to do his bidding anyway. “Is that so?” He questioned as he collected himself.
“Yes, that is so. I suppose you thought you were doing me a favor in coming to tell me, instead of letting Evan tell me himself. It’s unfortunate that Evan didn’t explain to you that I already made a decision, otherwise you would have known it was a wasted trip. I appreciate the fact that you thought so much of me to come all the way out here though.” I was surprised that I sounded so sincere as I spoke. “Was there anything else? Can I get you some tea or something?”
Even my parents were astounded by my reaction. I saw, from the corner of my eye, as my mom’s jaw dropped before she checked herself and got it together.
Antoine picked up his glass and held it out for me to see the brown liquid that was still in it. “Your mother already took care of the hospitalities while we waited on you to clean yourself up.” It seemed he was done squirming. “So, do tell, since it seems I am slightly behind on the times, what plans do you and Mikael have?”
“I haven’t seen Mikael for the better part of a week, so we haven’t really made any plans.” I shrugged making it seem like I was completely indifferent on the matter. I figured if Antoine was in the dark about me making a choice, then he didn’t know about my self-imposed isolation after his son got my motor running a little too hard last week.
“Maybe I’m not understanding. I thought you picked Mikael?”
“True, but after dealing with Evan, I’m doing things differently this time. You never really know who a person is until you get to spend some serious time with them, or apart from them, as the case may be.”
Antoine narrowed his eyes at me then, realizing, no doubt, that I was screwing with him. “Jessica, I gave you an order to pick one of my sons. Now, if neither of them are for you, I could always free up my oldest, and beyond that, you have no choices.” I heard a sharp intake of breath that alerted me to the fact that Antoine hadn’t come alone. Sitting off in the corner of the couch was Malachai and Annabelle. For his part, Malachai actually managed to look intrigued by the idea, while Annabelle had gone deathly pale.
“You’re a real dick, you know that?”
“Jess!” My dad hissed at me, from across the room. “Maybe you need a minute to compose yourself.”
“Like hell I do!” Somewhere in the back of mind, I registered the fact that a motorcycle had pulled up and the engine d
ied, but I didn’t wait to see Mikael come in the door. I let my temper fly. “Your daughter-n-law sits right there, and you threaten to give me to her mate? You dare think that shit is going to fly again? I will not be told who to date, or put on anyone else’s time table again. If you think you have the juice, you try to make me, and I promise you this…” I was livid and breathing heavy at this point. “Even if I can’t break free of your command at first, I will eventually. But before that happens, I will find a loophole and take it. I’ll be damned if I have you push me around and muck up my life, or anyone else’s. And while we’re on the subject, you owe Annabelle an apology.”
“I owe no one anything! I am King here!” Antoine was on his feet, and he wasn’t entirely in control of himself. He was shaking. At first, I thought he was just shaking with anger, and then I realized he was focusing on me too hard for that. He was trying to break my will.
I popped my hip out, put my hand on it, and gave him the most impertinent look I could, “how’s that working out for you?”
Mikael was there, by my side then, having crossed the room while Antoine and I were having our little battle of wills. “What the hell is going on here?” Mikael looked from me to his father then, “and please tell me I didn’t hear that correctly. Tell me you didn’t suggest that Malachai…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He just got a big dose of what Evan got a few months ago, and he didn’t look at all happy with that.
“Mikael, so good of you to join us, uninvited.” Antoine noted how his son had placed himself slightly in front of me, and gave him an approving look. “It was only months ago Evan was standing protectively in front of this one. She must have a skill other than being a mouthy little girl then…” I was well aware that he was alluding to the fact that he thought I had slept with both of his sons. The bastard.
“You’re crossing lines here, today, that I don’t think you’ll be able to come back from down the road, father.” Mikael growled through clenched teeth.
The Ancients Series Page 37
