by Tigris Eden
“Yes da. I know. What time does your plane land?”
“Late morning, half past eleven. You and your young man will be picking us up?”
“Yes da.”
“Good girl. Then we’ll see you tomorrow tifi.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Hold the line, grandma wants to talk to you.”
“Dat be me byootiful gyal, Jesminda.” Her grandma said over the phone. It made her heart ache for home. She’d been gone too long. She needed to take Faith there so she could see where she was from.
“Dis be ya tifi.”
“Don’t be getting facey with me Jesminda. I know how to talk propa.” Her grandmother said back.
“I miss you.” There was a huge lump in Jes’ throat. She just wanted to hold her gram again. Hugging her grandmother reminded her of spiced coconut rum drinks, and warm sand between her toes. It was all the things she missed about home and more. The constant breeze cooling her heated skin, and the humid nights spent in the jungles on her father’s land, it would all come rushing back to her the moment she hugged her grandmother and breathed her in.
“Me too. I get to see my gyal before the Death Angel come knocking on my door.”
“Nonsense.” Jes said quickly. She knew the Angel of Death, and if Gabe so much as hinted he had her grams number, she’d end him. Her grandmother was fierce and would outlive them all.
“It be da truth.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.” Jes whispered into the phone. She’d had enough. She would only think of her grams as being well and vibrant. Inara Ashant was trying to make Jes feel bad with talk of death, and it was working.
“I’m gonna bring all the love I have for ya next time, so my tifi will remember when to come home.”
The phone disconnected, and Jes let out a sigh of relief. That hadn’t been too bad. Tomorrow would tell her just how the rest of the week would go. Her father and grandmother she wasn’t too worried about, it was her mother that would be a source for pain.
Faith ran into the room with her backpack and an ice cream cone in hand.
“Mommy, they coming?”
“Yes baby.”
“Yay!” Faith jumped up and down getting ice cream everywhere, and Jes just shook her head.
“Daddy still downstairs?”
Jes found that on the compound, she could hear things, but not everything. It was as if wolves whispered on a different frequency than normal immortals. On the other hand, it could have been her nerves. She wasn’t sure.
“Yeah, Sam’s downstairs. Daddy says it’s for pack business.”
Which was a huge do not pass go and do not collect two hundred dollars. It was a big, stay out of our business and fuckyouverymuch. Since she wasn’t a Lycan the pack made it difficult for her to assimilate. There was the law and then there was Pack law. Jes didn’t fit in anywhere. She was stuck in limbo. Although she and Draven were mated, she’d come to find out it wasn’t a recognized union. But because Faith was fully Lycan, they didn’t consider her daughter a bastard. Mara tried explaining how males were the deciding factors in how offspring were treated. If a male Lycan had relations outside of their race, the child would be accepted, but if a female Lycan breeded with a male outside the race, the offspring wouldn’t be as widely accepted. And to further confuse Jes, if a male was born to a Lycan regardless of the parents gender, then the male trumped the female offspring. Go figure that one. Draven explained that this had to do with a males Lycan’s genes being the aggressor and taking control of the fetus’ cells, replacing them with its own cells, a genetic swap of sorts. But because Jes wasn’t Lycan, they treated her as if she had no say in anything, while her daughter was widely respected by all. She was getting tired of the term ‘pack business’ being thrown in her face for almost everything. Dinner preparations, “sorry dear, only the females of the pack have a say in what’s prepared.” Faith’s daily lessons. “Mara will decide that. It’s always up to the alpha’s mate to do the pups training.” Private conversation that weren’t for her ears. “I’m not trying to exclude you, but its pack business.” If she heard that phrase one more time, she was going to go Carrie on their asses!
Some of the members welcomed her. Mara, Draven’s mother was one of the few. Although she was the alpha female of the pack, it still didn’t stop other members from passing judgment. It also didn’t help that Antony was indifferent towards her, he didn’t exactly mistreat her but he didn’t exactly welcome her either. Draven tried to make her feel comfortable, but so far, it wasn’t working.
“Come here baby.”
Faith skipped over to Jes and wrapped her arms around her waist. Introducing her stomach to ice cream.
“Faith Rene Stone! I’ve gotta change now because of you. I’ve got ice cream on my clothes. You little monster!” Jes tickled her mercilessly until her little girl was huffing and puffing, unable to speak or laugh any longer. After their tickle fest she found a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. She quickly washed Faith’s face and hands, and the two of them preceded to go down into the common area.
# # #
"It's about time you came from upstairs. I thought you two were making a brood of puppies,” Sam said to Draven as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
They were certainly trying, not that it was any of Sam’s business. Draven remembered Sam fondly. He was his father’s second in command. Dark brown hair greying at the sides, Sam was one of the oldest Lycans on the compound, and he didn’t look a day over thirty.
“How are things running?” Draven asked.
It was a valid question. He hadn’t been back to the compound for more years than he could remember. Since Aidan’s death, Something he would never forget. His father was determined to get him back to the compound. He was mainly here for Faith’s ceremony and for his official mating to Jes. But being back left a bitter taste in his mouth and plagued him with memories of a brother he’d looked up to who was no longer alive to share in Draven’s good fortune. Aidan would have been proud of him and the things he’d accomplished.
“Things are good. We’ve had six new births, all strong males. The females are fertile, and our males work hard to keep their mates happy.”
Happy. To say Jes was happy was hard. They hadn’t seen eye to eye since they’d arrived on the compound. She was getting frustrated by the day, and he understood why, but felt powerless to stop it. Pack was pack, and Jes was being left out of the loop on a lot things. Draven knew the difference between right and wrong, but as the next in line to lead the pack, pack came first. His mate was tired of hearing those words, tired of not being able to make major decisions in their daughter’s life and Draven was beginning to feel strained. There was a definite disenchantment at having to prove himself to the pack while at the same time, struggling to keep his mate happy.
Jes didn’t understand that it took a pack to raise a cub. That everyone would have a say in their daughter’s upbringing. It had been done that way for centuries. It was the Alpha’s mate that handled the rearing of her grandchildren so that they too would understand that pack came first. The upbringing of their daughter had been the least of their worries. When it came to dealing with the fact that they weren’t truly mated in the eyes of the pack, it put a further strain on their relationship. The only times they experienced peace was when they were locked away in their room making love, or when they took Faith outside the compound for a day of sightseeing. Half of a bond did nothing and it hadn’t been entirely his fault that she hadn’t taken his blood to cement their ties. It just seemed that things continuously kept getting in the way of what needed to be done, to tie them together in this life and the next.
Their bond was strong, lasting, but there was room for an even deeper connection. Something he felt compelled to do, but had not seen to fruition. The night he’d disappeared, he had every intention of completing the bond, but fate was a cruel bitch. She’d ripped them apart to test them. Fate had made them struggle until the v
ery end. He knew there was a reason for everything. Nothing was coincidence. His memory was not where it should have been when he returned to the unit, but he’d stalled a little longer. Needed time to come to terms with all the things he knew to be true. It took him three days to come to terms that Jesminda was his. What he needed to do now was admit he wasn’t at full capacity. He was of three minds. One part wolf, one part Draven, and the other part, Mr. Black. Moreover, Mr. Black was still on board with his tyrannical rantings of total eradication of the human race.
There. He admitted it. If only to himself.
“I’m glad things are well. How about the prep work for Faith’s ceremony?”
“Everything is coming together. Is Jes finally accepting Faith’s spirit walk? Or are you still trying to placate her?”
“Let me worry about my mate.”
“She’s not your mate yet Draven, not fully. Everyone here knows it except for her. When do you plan to remedy that?”
He planned to complete the bonding ritual, and he would. They’d have their ceremony, making them one, and the pack would recognize her as an equal, they wouldn’t have a choice at that point.
“Again, let me worry about it.” He told Sam through gritted teeth.
Sam nodded and turned to the door as it was opening.
Asia Thompson walked in. Blonde hair, grey eyes, long legs and still looking the way she did the day she told him, she’d chosen his brother instead of him. Her youthfulness was gone and replaced by someone who’d lived hard. Draven admitted she was still appealing, but in a way when a male saw a woman passing in the street or a crowded room and thought to himself, “yeah she’s pretty.” Making the woman an afterthought not something to be sought after.
She’d been his first everything. Though at the time, he hadn’t understood how the game was played, but she’d taught him. The two of them had been together for eight years before she left him for his brother Aidan.
Instead of staying and enduring the embarrassment of the two of them together, Draven left the pack to join the military, later the Shadow Unit. His brother had died a year later in a tragic accident while he’d been away on assignment, and unreachable. By the time he’d gotten the news of his brother’s death, the funeral was over and Asia was long gone. Now she was here.
Why?
“What are you doing here?” Draven asked. Sam stood aside as she walked inside just beyond the foyer. Asia’s long blonde hair was in a ponytail and her grey eyes void of any real emotion. He could see it now. The cold, calculating look of a woman who wanted her dues. Why he couldn’t see it before, could only be the fault of his teenage hormones.
“Why, I’m here to see you.” Asia purred. Draven watched her with wary eyes as she took a few steps towards him. He held up his hands to stop her movement before she came any closer. Even his wolf’s hackles were raised in preparation for her attack. She was trouble. Trouble back then and trouble now.
“Stop right there. Answer the question Asia.”
She pouted which did unattractive things to her face.
“Your father asked me to come here. You apparently have a daughter. I came to meet your precious little girl,” she remarked sarcastically.
Draven growled and allowed his wolf to come to the surface.
“Have a care how you refer to my little girl. I don’t know why you’re here or what you and my father have planned, but it’s not going to work.”
Asia had the audacity to smile, and just as he heard Jes making her way down the stairs with Faith, Asia ran to him, catching him off guard and throwing her arms and legs around his body planting a kiss on his lips.
This was the start of a shitty week, Draven thought as he peeled her off his body with barely contained fury. His eyes clashed with his mate and what he saw there made him readjust his last thought. Things were going to go from shitty, to fucked up.
# # #
Everything had happened so fast Jes wasn’t sure if what she saw was real. She could hear voices as she made her way down the stairs. One was a woman she didn’t recognize, but thought nothing of it until she hit the bottom of the stairs. Said woman was wrapped around Draven like a second skin. No, like a fucking spider monkey. She’d caught the woman in action just as her body collided with Draven, and was that lipstick on his lips?
“Faith honey, go and find Nana Mara.” Her voice didn’t waver as she spoke to her daughter. She wasn’t going to let the other woman see how hurt she was.
“Kay’ Mommy.”
Faith quickly bounded out the door in search of her grandmother as Jes turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.
Everything fell away but the two people in front of her. She noticed a few things right from the start. His hands gripped the woman’s thighs as he peeled her somewhat forcefully from his body, and the woman’s face was too close to Draven’s because they’d just finished kissing, the evidence was smeared on his lips. What really pissed Jes off, was her man still hadn’t bolted into action to explain what her mind still couldn’t come to terms with.
Jes couldn’t form a sound let alone complete sentences. Rage and fear had become her new best friends. Who the hell was this bitch? Could she not smell her scent on Draven? Not even an hour ago, they were swapping body fluids. She’d obviously missed one hell of a kiss.
Well, awesome for that bitch, Jes thought. All the woman would be tasting was the heated core of her pussy! Jes took a series of breaths. It was the only way she could articulate what she was going to say next.
“How do I taste?” She asked the other woman, curious to hear her response.
Draven moved away from the woman who was eyeing Jes as if she was the stranger! No stranger than you are to me bitch.
“Excuse me?”
“How does my pussy taste, bitch? Sweet enough for you?”
The woman blanched but recovered quickly, before speaking.
“Who are you?” The woman asked.
“Asia, this is my mate Jesminda.” Draven wiped a corner of his mouth smearing the woman’s lipstick, and pissing Jes off further.
Asia looked in Draven’s direction, eyes wide, like the thought of Draven uttering those words were impossible. Think again Barbie doll. What was it with him and blonde-haired women?
“Well, she doesn’t look like mate material. I would have never guessed that you’d go outside the pack.” Asia shot back with her hands on her hips and her head to the side, inspecting Jes. Scrutinizing her in any and every way another woman would size up their competition.
“Draven, you have less than two seconds to explain this shit, or I’m going to wipe the floor with both your asses.” Jes said in a calm whisper. Inside she was seething. She could feel her power building, looking for an outlet to release her fury.
“Jesminda. Calm. Down.” Her mate said in a harsh voice. As if she was a dog that would heed his command, he knew better than that!
Jes flipped him the bird and took a step toward the other woman.
“Times up,” she said in the direction of her mate, who still hadn’t given her a single explanation.
Did he forget her that quickly? Had she been so easily replaced by bimbo Barbie?
“Jesminda! Stop this.”
“Motherfucker!” Sam said. “Her eyes are red.”
Jes didn’t care if her eyes were the color of limestone. She was pissed, and she wanted to know, what the fuck was going on! How could he even think he could do this to her, to their family? This was why she was so hesitant with him in the beginning. He’d been real quick to drop Melissa for her. Now it would seem he was dropping her for this woman he called Asia.
“Baby?” Draven said cautiously.
Jes turned her attention back to her mate, who was currently taking hesitant steps in her direction. Oh, he should be wary of her, real fucking wary. Emptiness started to build inside her. It was cold and dangerous. This was a place she’d gone too many times when she thought Draven was lost to her. Now she wondered if going
after him had been the right choice at all.
“Don’t baby me, you two timing son of a bitch!”
“This is not what it looks like.” Draven frantically waved his hands between him and the other woman. “I don’t want this woman, I love you.”
“You used to love me.” Came the response from Asia.
Oh, that bitch had nerve.
“Shut your mouth Asia, or I’ll have Sam shut it for you.”
Sam didn’t say a word, but he did take a menacing step in Asia’s direction.
“Baby look at me, focus on me.” Draven pleaded.
Jes turned in the direction of her mate’s voice, but all she could see was a cloudy film of distrust. It was obscuring her vision, making her second guess not only herself but Draven as well.
“After Faith’s ceremony I’m leaving. Do you get me, I’m leaving, and I’m taking our daughter with us. I’ve fucking had it!”
She was sick and tired of coming second. She was sick and tired of having to deal with the looks of the other pack members when Draven escorted her around the compound, and she sure as shit was sick and tired of fighting her way through the bullshit in order to get a message through his thick skull!
Jes turned and headed for their room, hoping she’d be calm enough to talk to Draven later. She was going to leave this place, there was a sickness here and as it grew it was distancing her from the only man that had truly loved her. She doubted talking would work though; it hadn’t in the past, and she didn’t think it would work now. Stubborn ass.
Chapter 3
Draven was in deep shit.
Deep shit.
So deep, he could feel the sludge pulling him under.
Of all the things to be caught in the act of, it had to be the worst-case scenario. Asia fucking Thompson was going to be a problem. Warnings or not she’d flat our ignored his request and jumped him anyway. The bitch. Wrapping herself around him like a fucking warm coat was not conducive to a happy and healthy environment. No, Asia had cultivated a kill zone.
