Kennedy - 6

6 - Kennedy

My eyes go wide. “First what?” Still dodging, I’m sure they all talk but it’s not something we talk about out loud as a group.

“Yes!! I knew it! Who was your first kiss?”

“Huh?!”

“Don’t play dumb, any red blooded non-mated woman would be a complete moron for not taking whatever they were offering. And you are beautiful, and they have definitely noticed. Who. Was. Your. First. Kiss?”

“Jason.” I covered my face. I don’t know why I was embarrassed to tell her. It was nice and he was so sweet with me and everyone was around for that one. “But just the one, during a game of spin the bottle. Not something any of us talk about really.”

“What about Tommy? He doesn’t seem like the type to stop at kissing. But I also don’t get the feeling you slept with him.” I shake my head no.  And she smiles like the Cheshire Cat. “Yes!  How far did you let it go?”

“What are you, a mind reader?” I sit there and she just looks at me expectantly.  It must be the alpha blood, she’s just used to getting her way.  I finally cave. “Far enough. Look, the guys and I really don’t talk about this stuff. I don’t know how much they’ve said to Jer, and I don’t want him to get weird with me if he doesn’t know and finds out.  Or getting in a fight with them, he’s super protective, if you haven’t noticed.” I stare again at her and she just stares back, lifting an eyebrow. She just waits, damn patience. “Fine. It was during a seven minutes in heaven game and didn’t mean anything…” I look down at my lap, twisting my fingers together.

“Oh, but it did!  Look at your face!! How many times did he make you orgasm? He seems like a more-than-one kind of guy.  Were they your first ever?”

“Seriously, this is so weird.” I scrub my hands over my face. She shoves me playfully and I almost fall off my bed.

“How many times?” Her smile is infectious. I can see why Jeremiah would love her even without the mate bond. 

“Twice…”

“In seven minutes? Using what?!”

“Just his hand.” I shrug again, giving up on holding out on her. She’s clearly going to push for information until I give up anyway and it’s nice to have a girl to talk to. “Also my first from someone who is not myself. And yes I had s*x with Ben. I didn’t want to give my ‘V’ card to just anyone and I wanted to have some kind of idea of how it all worked. He was super gentle and patient with me. He’s not a small guy. And again, I don’t know if Jer knows.  He probably does, but it’s not something I discuss.”

“So hot!”  She rubs her hands together.

“Not nearly as hot as what I walked into downstairs a little bit ago. Did he forget other people live here or is that like a mate bond thing where you get horny all of a sudden and have to f*ck right where you are?”

I was kind of joking, but it’s her turn to blush. 

“Maybe a little of both. I mean I didn’t know you lived here and his parents are still at the meeting. They'll be back in the morning so I didn’t see anything wrong with it. And it is kind of hard to keep my hands to myself when he’s around, you’ve seen him. Do you really talk to him everyday?” She’s blushing, but there’s a little tone of disbelief in her voice.

Copyright © 2024 by Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions

“Yeah we have for as long as I can remember. Always checking in before school and before bed back, well before. Now we are at the same school and I train with them, so I’m with almost all the guys everyday.”

“Knock, knock!  Is it safe? I would like to be able to have kids someday, Ken.” My door cracks open and my best friend stands in the frame, but waits for me to give him the okay.

“We’re fine Jer. We just had to fill in some gaps you missed because you are a moron and let your d*ck take over thinking for you.” He huffed a laugh and walked in with two mugs, set them down on the side table and climbed on my bed behind Rayna. “I brought tea, thought it might help. We have an early start tomorrow, we all need to sleep.”

He can’t keep his hands to himself either and it’s really cute watching him wrap her up in his arms. Her dark hair frames her heart shaped face contrasting with his light blonde hair.  She leans back into his embrace.

“What’s tomorrow?” I ask, confused, grabbing for the cup of tea.  It’s a blend that the healer made when I told her I was still having nightmares and nothing else is working.

“We are traveling to my pack so Jeremiah can meet my brother. He’s the Alpha, but was dealing with another urgent matter so my dad and I went to the meeting in his place.”

“I'm glad you did.” He nuzzles her neck and I can hear his wolf purr.

“Okay please don’t have s*x in my room. You have your own for those extra curricular activities. Jer,” I slap his leg.  “Thank you for the tea, I should be good. Did the guys leave already? I didn’t even think to say goodbye.” I’m trying to rush them out. As cute as it is, I have heard that new mates escalate from light touching to f*cking quickly.  And that isn’t something I want to see, no matter how hot my best friend and his new mate are.

“Nah, they're all in the Media room. We figured it would be easier for everyone if we all just left from here in the morning.”

“Why do you all have to go?” I’m still learning all the nuances of pack politics, but the thought of all of them being gone makes my heart sink.

“We are all going, you included.  When an Alpha travels for more than just a couple days, usually his team goes as well as long as someone is here to run the pack and Beta Daniel is still here and my parents will be back tomorrow too.”

“What does any of that have to do with me?”

“I’m sure that Rayna would like to have another female along.  Traveling with all males all the time, can’t be fun. Besides, you’re one of my warriors and my best friend, I would like you there when I have to meet Rayna’s brother.”

“Is that code for you’re afraid of my brother?!” Rayna laughs at him.

“Umm, yes Luna!” He growls in her ear. “No sass from you. She’s always the buffer when there’s too much testosterone in the room. Kennedy has actually been to several meets with me.  She’s really good with all the small talk and she remembers everything. It’s very handy. It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful and typically earns attention quickly. And your brother has the biggest pack territory and is one of the most notoriously dangerous Alphas, not to mention I’m about to take his sister away. I need all the help I can get.”

I ignore the backhanded distraction comment and ask, “Wait, what pack are you from?”

“Dark Moon.”  My eyebrows shoot up. Even I have heard of them.  I can’t remember the Alpha’s name, but he is ruthless from what I have heard.  He takes over weak packs and eliminates Alphas like I go to school and turn in assignments. “Relax, He’s not that scary.”

“Maybe for you, he loves you, for the rest of the world he’s intimidating. If the situation was reversed and someone came and told me they were Kennedy's mate and she’s packing her stuff and leaving today. I would probably try to beat the sh*t out of them. Mate bond or not.”

I laugh with Rayna and then stop and stare at him. A thought just occurred to me, “Is that why no one here tries to date me? Cause you told them you’d beat the sh*t out of them?”

“Uh…no…not exactly.”

“But pretty close to being accurate?”

“We may have insinuated that you could handle yourself and we would take care of whatever was left over.”

“Good to know there’s a ‘we’ to yell at.” I look at Rayna. “How far is the drive to your pack? I need to make sure I have enough topics to yell at them for over the whole drive.” She giggles again and Jeremiah blanches, knowing I’m not lying.  He only calms when she turns her head and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Okay go, you two are making me nauseous. I will see you in the morning.”

They both get up to leave and make it to the door when Jer turns, “Do you need a shirt? I can grab one.”

“I still have the one you gave me a couple days ago, I should be good.  I have to start weaning sometime.” And just like that, we’re back to being weird. Even with a little history I don’t know how Rayna will feel about him giving clothes that smell like him to me.

“Let me know if you need me, alright?” I just nod my head. There’s no way I’m yelling for him with his mate here.

I fall asleep more quickly than I have in the last 3 nights. But, I’m not sure if that’s from him being back in the packhouse or being so tired I had no choice.

That was where the good night ended though. Screeching tires rattle my ears, acrid burning rubber singes my nose, blood slicked everywhere, screams from all around me… This time it’s not my parents with me though.  It’s Jeremiah and Ben and Tommy and Jason.  I’m screaming for them, but no one is answering, they are all looking at me, eyes wide open, but not seeing me. Then I’m screaming, I’ve lost them. They shouldn’t even be here. They weren’t supposed to be in the car. Why were they here?

“Kennedy!! Wake up! Ken!! Come on girl, come back to me! KENNEDY!!”

My eyes fly open and I blink slowly to focus.  It feels like I’m moving through wet sand, my whole body is limp and I can’t seem to control my muscles. 

“Kennedy, we’re here, you’re safe now, stop fighting.” A calm washes over me the familiar sandalwood scent registers. Jeremiah. I breathe deep again, this time a sweet floral note mixes with the sandalwood making the calm feeling deepen, until I realize it’s not familiar.. Who else is with me? No one can see me like this. It’s bad enough Ben was subjected to it. A part of my brain is being logical, but then it’s all foggy and slow.

“Mmmokay!” I slur out. “Be okay. Go bed.”

“Why does she sound drunk this time? She’s never sounded like that before.”  Ben, I think.

“Jus tire, Ben. Back sleep.” I can’t move my body but I can feel myself collapsing backwards. I think arms are trying to hold onto me.

“Kennedy, wake up for us, please. Just for a few minutes, then you can sleep.” It’s that soft voice again. Someone is brushing hair out of my face. The floral scent is really nice. The hands are gentle, like my moms.

“Nice hands.”  I mumble.  I can feel my brain working, but everything is all disjointed and confusing.

I try to blink and I think I can feel something moving. There’s tightness around my arms, but it doesn’t hurt. I breathe in again, it seems to be the only thing I have control over. I feel a squeeze on my hands and my eyes finally open.