SOUNDTRACK: “Unbearable” by Nathan Wagner.
*****
Watching Mack salivate over Natalie as she walked up the aisle was a very specific kind of torment.
Because even though I was supposed to be watching our friends publicly vow themselves, my eyes kept drifting back to Meg who, alongside Cara and Tessa, was standing with Natalie today.
She looked… stunning.
Natalie, always with the impeccable taste that I didn’t understand, but could fully appreciate, had draped all the girls in floor-length, light-green, figure-hugging-but-not-clinging dresses that revealed flesh without being suggestive.
It was fucking torture.
SOUNDTRACK: “Your Daughter” by Chase McDaniel. ***** ~ RIG (Three weeks later) ~ Getting out of my jeep in the driveway of the house that was the site of Cara’s torture turned my stomach. My Alpha power—still difficult to contain at times, making me itchy and prone to aggression—surged as I took in the cracked cement with weeds and grass growing up, the overgrown flower beds now little jungles of three foot weeds, and the grass that was thin and patchy, and mostly dead. This was the place that her fucking father had made her believe no one could love her. This was the place she’d been hurt. This was the place I wanted to burn to the fucking ground. But for today, at least, that wasn’t the assig
~ RIG ~ I let my upper lip curl up and bare my teeth. Let him see that he was dealing with a helluva lot more than a spoiled rich kid. His instincts were dulled by humanity and alcohol, but even his dimwitted senses caught the flash of my teeth. He stiffened. I smiled. “My wife wants to share her wedding with her Mom—we eloped, but we’ve just watched some friends getting married and it’s making her think about what we missed, so we’re going to do it properly. Make another memory. And Cara wants to share that with her mom. So, we’re going to renew our vows in front of everyone we care about. Which, sadly, includes you.” He smiled and I wanted to bite his face off. “You are invited,” I growled. “But you
~ CARA ~“Shit.”I fumbled the keys, swearing as they made a shiny little arc towards the floor and jangled when they hit the carpet. I had to take a second to close my eyes and breathe before reaching down to pick them up and hurry out from behind the reception desk to the little alcove around the corner to the tiny dungeon of a back office. Then, when I tried to plug the key into the door, it just swung open anyway. Someone had left it unlocked. My boss was going to shoot me if anyone had vandalized it again.This day just kept getting better and better.With another muttered curse, I shoved the door open and turned to reach for the light. The library was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and this office had never been updated. The light switch was a cord that hung from the ceiling and had to be given a sharp tug, otherwise it wouldn’t click. And because this room was a cave—no windows, no light at all except the single, naked bulb in the ceiling—without that light the room was
~ CARA ~That night, I sat bored and tired, a cup of warm beer on the coffee table next to me, my temple leaned on my fist as my study-group, and half my classmates, got drunk around me.I was exhausted. After that run-in with Rig, my head had been scattered, and it had taken twice as long to do everything. I couldn’t leave work because the first payment for the year on my room and board at school was due the following week and I was still short. I had to pick up every extra shift I could and pray that I’d manage to get my studying done during the quiet hours at the library.Not that I’d gotten any studying done that day. Every moment I wasn’t helping someone, I’d found myself staring at a wall, or a book in my hand, replaying that kiss.It was so wrong, on so many levels… and yet, my stomach fluttered every time it entered my thoughts. Which seemed like it was every other minute.A ripple of gasps nearby snapped me out of the thoughts—again—and I looked up. The five people who’d been
~ RIG ~ Eyes locked hungrily on Cara, I watched her brown hair swing around her shoulders as she slipped through the crowd towards the door. My friends couldn’t stop laughing and nudging each other. “Oh, snap, Rig!” Jack chuckled, slapping me on the back. I shot a glare at my friend, whose gold, curly hair matched his personality perfectly. ‘I thought your Allure was irresistible?’ he laughed through the mindlink, so all of our packmates would hear. The Allure was a power given only to wolves. An ability to cut through fear or distrust in the human mind by overwhelming it with sexual desire. In ancient generations we had used it to lure humans into our grip to be devoured—literally. But generations of evolution and technology meant modern wolves had no need to eat humans. Instead, we used the Allure to soothe the dulled human instincts that warned their weak owners something was deeply wrong when a wolf was nearby. And for fun, of course. But as my friends teased and laughed, I
~ CARA ~The next morning, eyes aching because I’d only gotten five hours sleep, I followed the rest of my study group out of the Modern Lit lecture hall, sighing with exhaustion. The assignment we’d been given wasn’t due until midterms. I was going to be spending a lot more time with this group than I thought.“So, we need to find a time we can all meet and make sure everyone’s keeping up with their assigned pieces of the project,” Diana said. She was the kind of girl who turned heads wherever she went—shoulder length, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that would wrap guys around her finger, but would turn sharp as a blade at the sight of another beautiful woman.I’d spent enough time dealing with the crap dealt out by girls like that in high school. I had no interest in spending months working with her. But I had no choice. The professor had assigned our groups.“I work a lot,” I said as we all turned down the main hallway. “If you guys meet at the library, I can check in dur
~ RIG ~“I heard she ignored you when you winked.”I stood in the middle of the living room of the packhouse, gaping at Mack. The house is mine—purchased for me by my dad for my university years. But all my friends live with me. Dad said it was a good chance for me to learn how to live with other males and establish dominance.“How the fuck did you hear about that?” I said, trying not to growl and give away my surprise.“Diana Fowler.”Even Charlie and Jack in the kitchen groaned. Diana was one of the humans who instinctively sensed the power of the wolves and was drawn to it. She seemed to pop up everywhere. She’d been with Cara the day before when I saw her in the hall. I should have known.“Diana Fowler wouldn’t know a subtle flirt if it bit her in the ass. I didn’t get ignored, trust me.”“Whatever,” Mack piped up. He’d been grinning all morning. I could scent the competitive challenge wafting off of him. “Cara’s not going to fall for your shit. I can’t wait to see you rolling on
~ CARA ~I wasn’t sure quite how it had happened, but I ended up walking through the Art and Lit building with Mack, who was being a gentleman.It was weird.I was only two halls into the building and admiring the architecture—I’d always loved this building with its Victorian era paneling, crown molding, and carved panel frames—when a shadow fell over me and a low voice murmured, “Good morning, Beautiful,” in my ear.Right in my ear. So close, his breath fluttered in my hair.I’d startled and turned quickly, surprised to find not Rig, but Mack walking next to me, grinning.“I’m not that scary,” he said good-naturedly when I just gaped at him.I sighed at the butterflies I got from his smile, uncertain if they were nerves or attraction. Nerves, I decided. I would not flutter over these playboys!“What are you doing, Mack?” I asked, a little bit annoyed with myself for the fluttering.“Just wanted to make sure your week started right—with a smile from a friend.” Apparently his apology t