The guy actually grimaced as if he was thinking of refusing the order. I had heard refusing a direct order was painful. I wouldn’t know. I had beaten my way to the top before the previous Alpha had had a chance to give me one, not that I would have obeyed if one had been issued. I was a tad dedicated back then.
“You need to leave, Clay. Get the hell out of here,” Slade said, barely above a whisper, and my eyes darted to Clay.
“No. Clay stays,” I said as I reached in my pocket and took out my cell phone. After I sent Kai a text to get everyone in the dining room ASAP, I swiped out of the message thread and stared down at the girl I was kissing in the picture. I placed the phone on the table and slid it to the other side. “Does this girl have anything to do with why I don’t remember the last two weeks?”
“Shit,” Slade swore, and then he huffed. “Yeah.”
“You didn’t go through his phone?” Clay said, aghast.
Slade rolled his eyes. “You didn’t either, so shut up.”
Sinna walked through the other door and paused, but I didn’t take my eyes off Slade and Clay. Clay had mentioned Sinna went with me to the Salacious Limerick concert, so I knew she knew something about all this, too.
“C’mon in, Sinna,” I said. “Have a seat and play with us.”
She took a step back. “Um, I think I’ll—”
“Sit down,” I demanded.
Without commenting further, she picked up one of the chairs from the floor and sat it upright before sitting in it.
“You may continue,” I said to Slade, and then I looked to Sinna. “I expect you to fill in the blanks if he misses something.”
“Blanks about what?” Sinna said.
“Blanks in my memory. I want to know it all. Do I need to give you a direct order, too?”
Sinna averted her eyes from mine as she shook her head. “No. I’ll tell you everything I know, Ace. I never thought it should be kept from you.”
The swinging doors parted and the other door opened as the rest of my pride began to file in. “Sit down and get comfortable. It appears that we’re going to be here a while.”
Monday, February 9th 2015 12:13 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
After an hour, I opened a half gallon bottle of Jack Daniels. After two hours, I felt I needed something stronger than alcohol. It was too bad I never got into drugs, but I actually considered changing my mind about that life choice after hearing how fucked up my life had become in the last two weeks.
Fuck. I had bonded with a damn werewolf pack leader. What the hell had I been thinking?
I cleared my throat then paced to the window. She was out there somewhere, and just as clueless as I had been only a few hours before. After what I had been told, I knew that vampire of hers wouldn’t have told her anything, not since he was the one who’d requested our memories of each other be erased.
Was I pissed? No, not really. Mind-fucked came closer to hitting the mark. I could tell Clay was nervous that I was upset with him, but I wasn’t. Was I relieved? Maybe. I had no memory of this Andra girl, even though each and every one of my pride had told me their memories of the time we’d shared together. I felt nothing for her. So, I guess I was relieved that my best friend sided with the enemy and screwed with my head hardware. It was probably for the best. I couldn’t be faithful to only one woman for the rest of eternity. There was no way she could keep me satisfied.
“Who is on rotation to work tonight?” I said. When nobody said anything, I turned and looked around the room full of blinking eyes. “I don’t remember her. Why should I be angry? My life is now, the way it always was. Who the hell cares if I fucked a vampire’s girl and pissed him off? I sure as hell don’t. I don’t remember anything and neither does she. It’s done. It’s over. We need to focus on what is important, and that is burying a brother and adding more people to our work detail when we go out, since there are obviously slayers out there who want us to be extinct—”
“I think they only wanted Andra,” Nikon said, “and I’m pretty sure we killed all of them.”
“Not all of them,” Karma said. “I saw the girl we held captive here leave with the ex-demons. I’m not sure why they let her live, but she didn’t appear to be in pain, and she wasn’t bound in any way.”
“I’m not worried about one female,” I said. “Let her be.”
“What about Justice?” Slade said. “He went after Andra because of you. Don’t you think he will try it again?”
I shrugged off the annoying buzzing in my veins and shook my head. “That’s her pack and the vampire’s problem now. I’m not bonded to her anymore. There’s no reason to tell her about any of this. Forget you ever met her.” Absentmindedly, I reached up and rubbed an ache in my chest. Forcing concentration, I pulled my thoughts away from the woman on my phone. “We’ll put Rogan to rest at dusk. I want to thank everyone for sharing your memories with me. You are dismissed.”
My eyes shifted to Slade and Clay. They both knew I hadn’t meant they were included in the dismissal. After everyone left the room, I linked my hands together behind my back and cocked my head back.
“Ace—” Clay started.
“Shut up,” I said as I shook my head and closed my eyes. The fact that the two people I cared about most in this world had lied to me hurt more than anything. I hated being lied to and they both knew it. I mentally counted to ten, then opened my eyes and stared at them. “I’m disappointed in both of you for lying to me.” Glancing at Clay, I sighed. “You’ve been my best friend for over six years, Clay. That’s not very long, considering how long I’ve been alive, but I love you like a brother, like one of my pride. The only reason you deleted my memories was for selfish and foolish reasons, and for that, I will decline your invitation to join the band again.” I held my hand up when he started to protest. He shut his mouth and sulked. I blew out a breath and held up a lone finger as I looked at Slade. “That’s your one and only fuck-up. You’ve been with me from the very beginning of this. I also consider you a best friend and a brother. Don’t ever keep anything from me again.”
Slade pressed his lips together and dipped his head. “My apologies, Ace. I never will again.”
“Let us prepare for Rogan’s ceremony,” I said, then led them out of the room.
Chapter 57
2 Weeks Later
Monday, February 23rd 2015 11:16 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Slade
Slade stared at the two envelopes in his hand and tried not to freak the fuck out. He had no idea how long they had been lying on the kitchen counter, tucked amongst the bills and junk mail, like they were of no special consequence, yet here they were, and they completely changed everything.
“Hey, buttmunch,” Sinna said as she opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Slade only stared at her, blinking. She cocked an eyebrow as she leaned her elbows on the kitchen island. “You okay? You look really pale.”
He was just about to tell her about the letters when he heard Ace’s heavy banter coming from outside the kitchen. From the sound of things, the guy wasn’t alone. Surprise, surprise. Every night, for almost two weeks now, he’d partied and brought at least one human female home to share his bed. Slade didn’t know what to make of it, because Ace hadn’t said more than three sentences to him since the guy found out he’d been lied to. The big son of a bitch knew how to hold a grudge.
As Slade left the kitchen, he thought that Ace wouldn’t have a choice but to talk to him now. What was in the letters was a game changer where Andra was concerned.
“What’s going on?” Sinna said, and it was the first time Slade realized she had followed him.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Slade said, and stopped at the base of the grand staircase, seeing that Ace had managed to bring two girls home with him tonight. The three were nearly to the top of the stairs and the girls were taking turns running their hands over his backside. One of them barely looked old
enough to vote. Christ, this has to stop. “Ace,” Slade said, and waited until his Alpha stopped and turned his head. “May I have a word with you in private, please?”
Those amber-colored eyes studied Slade for a moment, and then he finally nodded. Turning back to the girls, he pointed to the right, and said, “First door on the left, ladies. I’ll only be a minute. Get ready for me.” Before he started back down the stairs, he swatted the younger on the ass, and she squealed and giggled her way up the remaining steps.
The blood in Slade’s veins began to rush as Ace made his way back down the steps. He had no idea how Ace was going to react to this news.
“What’s this about?” Ace said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “As you can see, I’m a little busy.”
Slade nodded to the top of the stairs. “What’s with all the girls coming home with you, Ace?”
Ace stiffened. “You got a problem with what I’m doing, Slade?”
Slade shrugged. “Yeah, maybe I do. It was you that made the rule to never bring home humans for kinky play. What if one of the pride shifts and they see? You would have never done this before you lost An—” Slade squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled hard. “Never mind.”
Ace’s arms fell away, and he leaned into Slade’s personal space. “Before I lost what?”
Slade shook his head and took a step back. “Nothing, man. Do what you want.”
Ace erased the distance Slade had made between them and got back in his face. “I had every intention to do just that, but you’re going to tell me what you were about to say or I’m going to beat it out of you.”
Heat flared in Slade’s eyes as he glared at his Alpha. “You’re a dick! You know that? You’ve done nothing but party and screw as many girls as you can talk into coming home with you since you lost Andra! That’s what I was going to say!” Ace flinched at the sound of her name, but he didn’t back up, so Slade kept going, because he’d wanted to get this off his chest for a while now. “You may not have any memories of her, but something is going on with you. You’ve changed, Ace. You don’t talk to any of us anymore, especially me. You only care about yourself, and that’s not the Alpha we know and look up to.”
Ace blew out a breath as he took a step back and looked down at the floor. “Maybe I’m tired of the Alpha scene,” he muttered.
“What?” Sinna said.
“I’ve been thinking of taking Clay up on his offer to join the band again,” Ace said. “I didn’t want to say anything until I’d made my mind up, so I guess since I’m saying it now that means I’ve made the decision to do it.”
A small sound came out of Sinna, but Slade’s eyes stayed on Ace, his fingers clenching around the paper in his hand. “If that’s what you want to do, do it, Ace, but you can’t leave us until after the Shift ceremony.” Slade looked at the letters in his hand and pressed the one addressed to Ace Keller to his Alpha’s chest. “Just so you know, Andra’s pack will have the same address as your pride after the move. So go back on tour, Ace. Andra is a better Alpha than you anyway, and she is still our Alpha, bond or no bond. You made it legal when you sent in the paperwork to the Shift council, asshole. She has your last name.”
Slade twisted on the ball of his foot and headed for his room.
“Slade!” Ace shouted, and then he swore. The heavy sound of Ace’s boots running up the stairs could be heard all over the house, but Slade ignored it.
“Andra is still our Alpha?” Sinna said as Slade opened his bedroom door and stomped into the room. “How do you know?” she said when he didn’t answer her.
Without looking at Sinna, Slade handed her the envelope as he searched the room for his wallet. Spotting it on the nightstand, he walked over to retrieve it, and then slid it into his back pocket. “A bonding and a mating are different and, up until recently, we didn’t know that a bond could be broken. However, a mating can’t be. It’s like a marriage—”
“I know what a mating is, Slade,” Sinna said, and huffed. “I’m not stupid.”
Slade looked up to the ceiling when the girls Ace brought home started shouting and cursing. “Get out!” he heard Ace roar, and then something crashed against a wall and the guy’s bedroom door slammed.
Slade grinned. “Good, then you’re aware that there is no divorce.” He pointed to the envelope in her hand. “Read who it is addressed to.”
Sinna looked at the envelope and let out a small gasp. “Andromeda Keller.”
“I only opened the one that was addressed to Ace, but I’m sure they both say the same thing. It’s the invitation to the Shift ceremony and Masquerade Ball in May. There is also a separate letter that congratulates Ace and Andromeda on their mating nuptials. Ace had to have filled out a mating form and sent it to the council for them to know anything about her. And now that he has, it’s permanent. According to them, Ace and Andra are… married.”
Sinna beamed. “So we’re going to Alabama, right?”
Slade rolled his eyes. “I’m going to Alabama.”
“And I’m going with you,” Sinna said as she followed Slade out of the bedroom.
His only response was a grunt.
Tuesday, February 24th 1:21 a.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
Nothing had changed on the ceiling of my bedroom in nearly two hours, but I couldn’t make myself stop looking at it. Because looking at it kept me from grabbing my phone to look at the picture of that girl.
Saying her name out loud—or even to myself—caused my chest to ache. I had no memories of being with her, but I dreamed about her. Oh, God, did I dream about her. I dreamed of her the first night after I found out that my memories had been swiped clean. When I woke to discover that she wasn’t really in my bed, I’d nearly lost my fucking mind. And I dreamed of her every night since. I dreaded falling asleep and looked forward to it at the same time. Seeing her there was sweet torture, but not seeing her was pure agony.
So, yeah, I needed distractions. The parties, the booze, the girls, even the damn ceiling were all distractions to keep me from thinking about a girl I knew nothing about but still wanted more than anything in the world. At least with the girls I brought to my bed, I could close my eyes and pretend the soft skin I was touching belonged to her, to An…
“Fuck,” I said, and then snatched the phone off the nightstand. As the image of her lit up my phone, I soaked in the immediate feeling of awe it always gave me to see the picture. I traced the lines of her face with my eyes and felt a surge of jealousy spike in me at seeing my own lips on her face and hated the fact that I couldn’t remember that time or any time with her. I had never in my existence hated Clay so much for taking that from me.
The fact that she would be living in the same territory as me only made it worse. If I couldn’t have her, being that close to her would make me lose my mind. I was honestly afraid of how I would act if I ever saw her. And I would—I would see her. I would see her at the Shift ceremony, and we would be expected to run a territory together afterward.
I was so screwed.
I thought I could handle it. I honestly thought I could. But I couldn’t. I thought about her all the time, like she was a goddess and I had a silly crush on her or something equally as stupid. Back when I was a member of Salacious Limerick, I’d had fans look at me the way I was looking at her. It was stupid, because even if I could somehow remember her and she could remember me, and we could remember the time we shared together, we were different people now. There was no bond. I wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with. No matter how long I lived, I couldn’t be the man she needed in her life. I’d be a fool to think so.
Tossing the cell phone to the mattress, I rolled to my side and stared at the pillow beside me that I’d been clinging to as I slept for two weeks. It smelled so good, something like vanilla and spice and floral-scented shampoo. It pissed me off that the smell wasn’t as strong now. There was no way to get it back.
The familiar trembling began to set in, but I didn’
t bother trying to fight it off. I’d already learned fighting it would only make it worse. I was an addict for this girl, and I was going through a never ending withdrawal.
“You’re a fool. You’re a stupid, fucking fool, Ace.” I punched the pillow twice, and then grabbed it and pressed my face into it as the shakes took over completely.
Tuesday, February 24th 2015 8:21 a.m. CST
Montgomery, Alabama
Mena
Mena shot straight up in bed and pushed the damp hair out of her face. As her mind cleared from the fog of being asleep, she felt shame at regretting that it had only been a dream. Perhaps it was the stress of selling the house and taking on the responsibility of leading a pack of werewolves that was bringing on these erotic dreams with a man who was definitely not the man lying beside her in a deep sleep.
Of course, fantasizing about Trey Thatcher had never been a hardship before, but she couldn’t remember him ever being in any of her nightly dreams—well, not until recently. The rock god had been in her dreams every night for two weeks now. And not only was he in her dreams, but he didn’t have the long hair or facial hair he kept when he played for the band Salacious Limerick. In her dreams, his hair was so short on the sides and back that she could see his scalp and the top was only about half an inch long. His facial hair was completely gone. And the tattoos… Dear God, she’d seen tattoos on his body that she had never seen in any photo or picture on the internet. It had to be a result of an overactive imagination. Maybe I need to start seeing my therapist again, she thought as she tossed back the duvet and got out of bed, before her mind began to wander toward what the rest of his anatomy had looked like and how great the sex with him had been.
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