A soft snore stirred me from my sleep. Feeling confused, I rolled towards the sound, opening my eyes and staring into the face of a man that I barely knew. How had I ended up in this situation? Why did this continue to happen to me?
Rejection… A small voice in the back of my mind whispered, sending a shock of pain through me.
Two years, it had already been two fucking years and somehow the pain still felt fresh, like it had just happened yesterday.
Cursing I sat up, letting the blanket that was covering me fall to my waist, revealing my bare breasts. Small hickeys lined my nipples and chest. It looked like I would need to cover them for the next week while working.
Feeling a sudden surge of annoyance rush through me, I slowly got out of bed and began to look around the floor for my clothes. My shirt was ripped, but my pants were still wearable.
Sighing, I picked up the guy's shirt and threw it on before pulling on my pants. Taking a final look at the man that was still sleeping soundly, I turned and tiptoed out into the cool and clear night.
I needed to get home soon. There was no way that my younger siblings weren’t wondering where I was since I was usually home around 1 or 2 am on the nights I worked.
Pulling out my phone, I confirmed that it was well past 2 and quickened my pace.
As the night air slapped me in the face and cleared my still sleep-hazed mind, I found myself wondering why the hell I kept doing this. Why did I allow myself to sleep with random men to forget the pain? Why did I keep trying to erase the emotions I felt when his face popped into my mind? Where the hell did the strong and independent Thia get off to?
She’s gone… The voice murmured, laughing. She became a weak bitch thanks to love.
"Love." I spat out the word, tasting sour on my tongue. "What the fuck is love?"
Love did nothing but ruin you. It made you a fool, and it wasn’t for me. Sure, I had found my mate two years ago, but that didn’t mean that I was in love. On the contrary, I hated him and wanted nothing to do with him.
Liar... The voice cackled, causing my heart to plummet to my feet.
"Shut up."
Shaking my head, I tried to push away my negative thoughts as my quick walk turned into a jog and then an all-out run.
Physical excursion was a good way to forget everything that was plaguing me. I just needed to run and feel the wind against my skin. The urge to change rushed through me, but I suppressed it since I was in an area mostly inhabited by humans.
Why was I somewhere with humans? Because I decided to forget everything and make a living for my family, I would get a mundane job bartending at a human club that I had visited a few times in my teens.
Of course, lycans usually didn’t need to take up jobs in the human world because we could take up jobs in our packlands, but I wanted to have a way to escape from those lands.
Don’t get me wrong. It didn’t have anything to do with dissatisfaction towards the pack or our alpha. I loved Haidan, and I couldn’t have asked for a better leader, but seeing her mate Antoine was a bit much for me.
Why Antoine’s twin had ended up being my mate was a mystery. The goddess seemed to have a sick sense of humor. And that man hadn’t hesitated to reject me and disappear for the past two years, leaving my heart in shreds.
So lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize when I arrived home until I looked up to find the lights in the living room still shining brightly.
"Shit." I hissed, realizing that one of the kids was still awake.
Stopping in my tracks, I took in a few calming breaths before beginning to make my way up the porch. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my keys and began to unlock the door, only to be stopped as it flew open and bright gold eyes surrounded by a round caramel face with wild dark curls cascading around it appeared.
"THIA!" Chloe wailed, rushing forward and wrapping her little arms around my legs. "Where have you been? Theo insisted that you forgot about us."
"Never." I murmured, reaching down and picking Chloe up and hugging her close. "Haven’t I told you before to not listen to your brother when he says things like that?"
As if realizing that he was being mentioned, Theo appeared, his hazel eyes narrowing while he took me in like a stern father.
"You’re late." He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Where have you been?"
"Nowhere that a child should be concerned with." I chuckled, moving into the house and closing the door behind me. "Where is Leah?" I asked, looking around the brightly lit living room.
I had left Leah in charge of watching the twins, and she should have been with them.
"She wasn’t feeling well, so she went to bed early." Chloe responded, frowning.
"Not feeling well?" I repeated as worry began to claw at my heart. "Is she in her room?"
Kneeling down, I placed Chloe on the ground and looked up the stairs towards where the bedrooms resided.
"Uh huh." Chloe said, nodding so rapidly that her curls began to bounce against her forehead.
"You two head to your rooms. I’m going to go check on Leah and then will come tuck you in."
Placing my hand on Chloe’s head, I rustled her hair before stepping aside and watching as she and Theo made their way towards their room. It was only when they disappeared from sight that I quickly headed up the stairs, two at a time, and made my way to Leah’s room.
An uneasy feeling was beginning to rush through me, and my heart was starting to beat rapidly. How could Leah be sick? Lycans rarely get sick, and when they do get sick, it only meant one thing…
Taking a deep breath, I braced myself as I heard the sound of movement within Leah’s room. Nails ran along the door and a low growl found its way to my ears.
It looked like Leah was going through her first change, and I needed to make sure that she stayed in her room and away from the twins.
"Leah!" I called, gently knocking on the door. "Open up."I could only imagine what Leah was feeling right now. Our first change was terrifying and painful. I hated that she was alone when the change had begun."Thi..." Leah’s garbled voice came through the door as a loud howl sounded.Cursing I grabbed the door knob and began trying to turn it. I needed to get in there before she completed the change.Sometimes, rarely, we would go mad and forget ourselves during the first change. This didn’t always happen, but it could, and if it were to happen to Leah, I needed to be there to stop her."Leah, let me in!" I c
I could feel all the warmth disappear from my body as Ashton’s stone cold gaze took me in. Even after 2 years, it looked like he still hated me, despite us being mates."What are you looking at?" He growled, his eyes narrowing as the clear disgust he was feeling shone on his features."N-nothing." I stammered, slowly getting my wits about me. "Most definitely not a piece of shit with an attitude problem."At my words, Ashton’s frown deepened. I knew that taking hits wasn’t the best of choices, but I couldn’t stop my mouth. I was still so deeply hurt by his rejection, and I wanted desperately to make him feel just a smidge of the pain he was putting me through.
"Who do you think you’re talking to?" Ashton growled, his eyes growing dark."An idiot." I snapped back.All the feelings of depression and hurt that I was feeling were gone, and now I just felt pure irritation at the man standing in front of me. Sure, he was my mate, but that didn’t mean that I was going to let him talk to my friend like that."Did you just?" Ashton’s narrowed gaze grew wide as he took in my words.Around us, I could feel his alpha aura beginning to seep out. It looked like the man was pretty pissed and wasn’t going to calm down that easily.
Ashton remained quiet and continued to move until we reached the edge of Lake Ramsy. Small ripples danced around it as harpies swam below. From my vantage point, I could just make them out through the plants and rocks that sat at the bottom of the lake."What are those?" Ashton asked, squinting down at a particularly small harpie that darted from rock to rock."Harpies." I responded, feeling slightly confused. "You’ve never seen a harpie?""No." Ashton admitted kneeling down so he could get a better look as the small creature slowly began to swim towards the surface.Releasing my wrist, he reached out a hand in an a
I slowly reached out a finger and pressed it against the smooth skin of Serenity’s little hand. As I did so, it clenched, grabbing hold as tightly as a tiny little creature could."She’s perfect." I whispered, feeling tears pricking at my eyes.Never in my life had I ever considered myself the emotional type, but here I was crying over a newborn as if the child was my very own."She is, isn’t she?" Haidan murmured, smiling down at her daughter."She is the most perfect creature in the world." Antoine ad
"You can leave if you’re going to be like that." Antoine continued poking that beast. "I’m pretty sure I can find someone else to go along with Thia."Despite his attempt to keep calm, Antoine’s aura had begun to trickle off of him and reach towards Ashton, who was already on high alert.These brothers were truly going to end up getting physical if this continued on."Could both of you please keep your dicks in your pants?" I growled, deciding it was time for some intervention. "I get that you’ve got the whole same love thing between you, but right now we have the same issue at hand and need to be getting along."
"I’ve asked nicely." Ashton said quietly, his eyes flashing gold. "If I have to ask again, I’m not going to be so nice.""Could you two calm down?" Antoine’s voice drifted towards us, but it sounded like a soft whisper in my ear.The room seemed to vanish all around me, and all that was left was me and Ashton. Was this a result of the mate bond due to physical touch?I wasn’t sure if I liked it or if it scared me, but I couldn’t quite find it in me to move away."Stop touching me!"Quick as a whip Ashton’s
Club music blared and colored lights danced around the floor beyond. Carlos, the DJ, was set up and ready to do his thing while I busied myself cleaning cups.This was how my nights usually started before the whole place was filled with bodies that wreaked of sex, drugs, and alcohol. Sure, it didn’t seem like it was the best of places to be working, but I couldn’t deny that something about the chaotic energy that it sent rushing through me made me feel at peace."That’s a cute top."Looking over, I found Audrey eyeballing the white lace corset that I had decided to wear for the evening, along with a pair of black leather pants.