Chapter 05

SYDNEY

My brother looked absolutely dashing in his suit — raven black with a silk black button-down. He kept the top buttons of his shirt open since he hated using a tie and had his curly ginger hair ironed out and styled into a side wave. I couldn't help but think that his mate, whoever they may be, would be lucky to have him. He had the charm, personality, and looks.

Sylvain fiddled with his cuffs relentlessly, stress lines forming on his forehead. He was honestly too young to be looking so stressed, "Do you think the meeting went well?" He asked for the thousand time. I had no idea what my dad was thinking when he let his eighteen-year-old son do a business deal this big but Sylvain handled it expertly.

"You did well little bro," I reached over and pulled his cheek whilst keeping my eyes on the road, "dad will be proud."

"Speaking of him, mom moved back into the house. I'm pretty sure they made up," he cringed, shivering in disgust at the thought, "there aren't enough words in the dictionary to explain how happy I am to not be living with them anymore."

I snickered, "You had the room closest to theirs and I had the one at the end of the hall. Unlike you, some of us didn't get traumatized," I taunted, biting the inside of my cheek to stop my lip-splitting smile.

"Don't fucking remind me, sis," he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up from its neatened state, "then we had you and V—"

I cut him off with a low growl. It wasn't my intention to cut him off, but the growl rumbled in my chest before I could contain it, "Sorry," I apologized, gnawing at my bottom lip, "his name puts me on edge. I still haven't heard from him."

"You know where he is, you could always go after him. I told you before, mom and I will support whatever decision you make."

That was what I loved about my brother, how supportive he was. He did respect the concept of the mate bond, just as much as any full-blooded werewolf did, but he understood me nonetheless. So did mom. I wished dad would do the same.

"You know I can't," I spared him a glance before focusing on the road again, "not now anyway. I'll see what happens after the next couple of days."

"Do you think you'll give in?" He sounded just as interested as he was this morning. I could bet everything I owned that my brother expected me to give in, considering the way the mate bond had been pulling Quade and me together recently, I thought that too.

I took an immediate turn to the right into a dirt road in the forest that would lead to the pack house, "I sure hope not."

It didn't take us long to reach, parking the car in the garage. My brother and I went our separate ways from there. I made my way to my room, had a quick shower, and then adorned clothes that were designed for comfort. It was a relief to be able to breathe without the high waist of the pencil skirt I wore hugging my stomach so tight. I was certain that the designers of such garments expected its users to starve the entire day.

At the thought, my stomach decided to rumble. We had been so busy the entire day that eating wasn't on our agenda. Now, I was starving and ready to gorge myself on anything. Before the whole dilemma with Quade's pack, I use to spend my evenings eating dinner with them in our massive dining area. After, I completely stopped, only eating when I had the chance. I hadn't actually spoken or socialized with my pack in a while and I never wanted to be one of those Alphas. My style of leading was different. I wanted my pack to know that whatever the problem may be, I'd always be there to help. They could always tell me what bothered them without the fear of being judged or being told that they were wasting my time.

I grabbed my silk rose gold gown, putting it over the tank and cotton shorts I wore. On my way down I ran into Heather who was back in a sundress — white with silver polka dots and a thin black belt hugging her waist. She had her blonde hair curled at the ends and cherry red lipstick staining her lips.

"You aren't wearing that to dinner, are you?" I chuckled, it was definitely too dressy for a pack house dinner.

"It's dinner, one should always take pride in their dressing when sitting around a table," she waved a hand over her small frame as if to use herself as the example.

I shook my head, "You were born in the wrong century baby. Half these boys will come shirtless, probably only in boxers," most of them usually came for dinner straight after having a shower. This house was their own so they didn't need to constantly change into clothes. I guess it also helped when going for a run. All they had to do was discard one item of clothing.

Her lips pulled up, "I guess I was."

The dining room wasn't anything special. It was bathed in browns and greens, a large and wide mahogany dining table taking up most of the space. This was the largest room in the house and could fit almost every member. Sometimes, some of the members would have to sit in the living room and wait till seats finally emptied at the table. I would have asked for a replacement dinner table — glass preferable — but with how wild and rowdy things became, it would have broken.

The head of the table always remained empty unless I joined them for dinner. It was a spot designated to me. My brother sat at my right-hand side. Rightfully speaking, Tane belonged there but he stilled resided with his parents. His plan was to move into the new pack house instead of shifting here and then moving there. It made more sense that way.

I made my way toward the head of the table. My brother was already in his seat, wearing a wife-beater and sweatpants. The grin that captured his face when he saw me was indescribable but it looked very similar to a person who had finally had their prayers answered. He instantly rose to his feet and pulled out my chair for me. The pin-drop silence that engulfed the room made things a little awkward. I guess my pack didn't know how to react to me being there. Maybe they didn't know what to say because if they offended me, it would be bad for them.

I rolled my eyes, connecting my phone to the sound doc and letting Therefore I am by Billie Eilish fill the room, "Is there a movie playing on my forehead or something?" I quizzed, blocking my forehead with my hand, "I know it's a little big but let's not stare."

Every set of eyes that was on me dropped to the matte black plates placed upside-down in front of them. They all whispered sorry before gradually going back to what they were doing, some bobbing their head and singing along with the song. They sucked at singing because of the deepness of their voices but I never told them that.

Quade and Enzo entered the room at that moment. My eyes met his and for once, those green orbs of his didn't harden into a penetrating glare. I was a little stunned when I caught more in his eyes than I usually would. There was an unsettling sadness lurking in their depths, one he was trying desperately to hide. I suddenly felt very despondent. The emotion didn't belong to Rieka or me so maybe the emotion was his.

I watched his jaw flex and held in my gasp when I felt him enter my mind, whispering through the link, "Did daddy never teach you staring is rude?"

I snarled, flashing him my teeth and gripping the edge of the table so I wouldn't flip him off. The urge to shove the bird in his face was strong, too strong but as the Alpha, I had to be mature. I whipped my head to the side, breaking eye contact. It had escaped me that Quade and I could now mind link with one another.

The ladies that prepared our dinner came out, carrying trays and bowls off food in hand. I could get the distinct aroma of mac and cheese, mash, spaghetti, steaks, cheeseburgers, and much more. Werewolves generally had bottomless appetites, which meant we ate a lot because our body burned the nutrients quicker.

I barely reached over the table to grab a cheeseburger when I felt it. The sweltering heat that rippled from my core to every other part of my body in a matter of seconds. My folds began to dampen, the scent of my heat and arousal flooding the air like a pungent perfume. That was all it took for every un-mated male's eyes in the room to land on me.

I ground my molars against the unendurable pain, letting a warning growl cut through the air. It was best they knew they couldn't try anything. They weren't mated and had no control over their beasts. However, they couldn't disobey an Alpha command. The tension in the room was palpable. Each one of them sat with their muscles locked in place, darkened eyes gleaming at me.

Quade's green orbs swirled with deadly silver. He got up from his seat, chair scrapping against the hardwood, "Let's go," he ordered, his voice dropping a few octaves. It was deep, gruff even.

I would have argued with him but I knew leaving would be for the best. Of course, the day I decided to join the pack for dinner my heat would hit. Wave after wave drowned my body in harrowing pain and I did my best to follow Quade out of the dining room silently.

"Zen, bring ice. Bags of ice," Quade growled loudly as we ascended the staircase. I understood why he asked Zen to bring the bags. He was already mated so my heat wouldn't bother him. The most it would do was make him uncomfortable.

He led me down the hall toward his room, opening the door and gesturing for me to enter. I could see his muscles straining as he fought his urges. His eyes kept switching from black to silver.

"I can handle myself, Quade," I murmured under my breath.

"I'd kindly advise you to shut up and let me do as I'm doing before I do something you won't like," the tone of his voice had a pleasurable shiver dancing down my spine and awakening every part of my body.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not working."

A devilishly handsome smirk tugged at the corner of his full pink lips but before he could answer, a knock sounded at the door. He groaned in irritation before barking out, "Come in."

Zen walked in with three large bags of ice, my brother following behind him, "This may work for a few hours but that's it," Zen mused, giving me a wary smile just as another blistering wave of heat crashed into my body.

"I know, but it's something better than nothing. Now, get out," Quade's words were harsh but I knew my brother and Zen understood why. They rushed out of the room and Quade locked the door behind them for good measure before turning to me, "get into the bathroom."

"Qu—"

"Don't fucking Quade me," he roared, stalking into the bathroom, "get the fuck in here, now!"

"So bossy," I grumbled, entering the bathroom to find him at the large bathtub.

This wasn't the room we had originally put him in. This room was one of the bigger rooms — the bedroom bathed in golds and browns and the bathroom in golds and whites. There was a large bathtub, one that could be used as a jacuzzi and a separate shower with a rainfall showerhead suspended above. The bathroom had a beautiful white granite counter with flecks of silver embedded in it and a single washbasin in the center; a large mirror taking up the rest of the wall above the basin.

"Take your clothes off and get in," he ordered again, closing the faucet and filling the bags of ice into the tub.

"With you in here?" I rose a brow in question.

"You don't have anything I haven't seen before," he snorted, rolling his eyes at me, "just get the fuck into the tub before I force you in."

I slipped my gown off, letting the silk pool around my feet. Then, I peeled my tank off and dropped my cotton shorts along with my underwear. I was left completely bare, forced to use my hands to cover up. It was awkward or at least I felt awkward.

Awkward. Horny. In pain.

His eyes flared silver and a growl of approval filled the room. Even though all he did was slowly trail his heated gaze down my body, it had every tiny hair standing and goosebumps littering my skin. I inched my way closer to him until I was at the edge of the bathtub but he backed away, almost as if he were resisting the urge to touch me.

The moment my toe touched the water, I hissed, "Shit, that's cold."

"You won't be feeling it much," he persuaded but he seemed to forget that as half-human, cold affected me differently.

"Maybe you could survive in that, but I'd freeze to death. Not even my heat could save me from this," I stood there, watching the ice mock me as it floated in the large tub. The sound of a belt buckle getting undone had me snapping my head. Somehow, Quade had already taken off his shirt and was now undoing his pants, "What are you doing?" I shrieked.

"Isn't it obvious, I'm getting in the tub with you."