The six minutes dragged. When the bell finally sounded, I hastily shoved my books into my backpack. I was just about to stand when the classroom door opened. My senses came alive as an aroma assaulted my nose. It was musky and woodsy and sharp, and on top of that, I could smell the wolf. A wolf that I was sure I didn’t know. My inner-wolf perked up, and my heartbeat doubled.
I slid out of my chair, a soft flare of adrenaline pushed through my veins. Unease started to claw in my chest like an animal trying to break free, and a slow growl started at the base of my throat, working its way up. The room fell silent, completely silent. I breathed in the scent again and I caught something else. Dominic.
But there was something … off. I could feel it, knotted and tangled in my gut. My classmates were rushing into the hallway, most likely to get out of my way. My skin was crawling with shivers. I didn’t wait for everyone to clear out. I couldn’t. My inner-wolf pushed me, begged me to move. I quickly shouldered my bag and headed out the door.
Dominic stood beside a man who was casually leaning against the lockers. If I had to guess, I would have said he was in his early forties. He was short, an inch or two shorter than my five-foot-six, but he was thickset — sturdy looking. His head was clean shaven, and as he looked at me, I caught a fleck of gold in his eyes.
“Dom, who’s your friend?” I asked, eyeing him closely. He didn’t answer, didn’t even bother to acknowledge that he’d heard my question. Instead, he just kept that infuriating expressionless mask of his in place.
I took a step toward him and as I did, the man’s nostrils flared and then he smiled a surprisingly friendly smile. “You.” His voice was raspy and he was pointing a stubby finger at me. “You’re coming with me.” He didn’t take the chance that I might not agree. Within a second, he was across the hall, grabbing my wrist and yanking me forward.
“Let go of me,” I growled. A fast shiver cut across my skin, and my inner-wolf brushed against my chest as if she were asking if she could come out and play. I pushed the sensation back, and pulled on my alpha scent, focusing on everything Jared had taught me. I imagined it thick and heavy and suffocating, and as I did, my imprint began to heat up like a flare of a match tip.
He shuddered, only slightly, and the friendly smile melted away. “That’s really not a nice way to greet a guest.”
“Wasn’t meant to be,” I said and yanked hard, pulling my wrist from his grasp.
The man chuckled, not a nice sound. “Apparently.” He snatched my hand again, yanking me forward as he started down the hallway. Students jumped out of the way, pressing against the lockers and trying darn hard to pretend they didn’t notice us. “The alpha asked me to retrieve you, but he didn’t tell me how to do it. Rein in that scent of yours, kid, or I’ll drag you out of here and tie you up in the back of my truck.”
I tried to yank free again, and snapped, “I’d like to see you try it.”
“Jade, Aidan sent us to get you,” Dominic growled. “Give it a rest.” He wouldn’t look at me as he fell into step beside us. He was nervous — I could smell it — but I couldn’t tell if it was because of me or the dumbass that was holding onto me.
I gritted my teeth. I was pretty sure it was true. Dominic wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t. Obviously, he wasn’t being forced into helping, but really, wasn’t the dragging thing a little extreme?
“Who the hell are you?” I demanded, letting my scent fade a little, as he pulled me through the doors into the harsh sunlight. A cool breeze cut through my hoodie as he tugged me toward the parking lot.
“That doesn’t really matter,” he said. It wasn’t unkind, just cool and brisk as if he’d written me off as a low ranking pack member (although clearly from the way he’d shuddered under my alpha scent, he knew I wasn’t).
“You do know who I am, though, right?” I asked, a little baffled.
He chuckled, stopping beside a steel gray pick-up truck. “Sure do,” he said and winked. “You’re the alpha’s mate.”
I laughed. Hard. I didn’t mean to, but it bubbled up and out before I could stop it. “Clearly, you have no clue who I am.” I poked him in the chest with my free hand. “I’m the mate of an enforcer. The head enforcer, actually. And I’m also the alpha female of the pack in town.”
The man was totally unfazed. He pulled the door open and Dominic jumped into the back of the extended cab, before he finally let go of my wrist, gesturing for me to get in. “Exactly what I said, you’re the alpha’s mate.”
A growl rattled around in my chest. I opened my mouth, ready to tell him again, when Dominic said, “Jade, get in the damn truck. Don’t make me call him. Trust me, right now, this is the better option.”
I snapped my gaze to him, taking in the hard lines on his brow and the bruises under his eyes. He looked like crap. He held my glare, unrelenting. For about half a second I was tempted to tell him to make the call, but I didn’t. Right then, I didn’t think I could handle talking to Aidan in a civil way, so I bit my tongue and hopped into the truck.
The man slammed the door as soon as I was in and then made his way around to the driver’s side. When he was in the truck and his door was shut, I swiveled, looking him straight on, and asked, “Where are you taking me?”
“Home,” he grunted, starting up the truck and shifting it into gear.
Home, I thought. Relief swelled in my chest. At that moment, home was exactly where I wanted to be. I would take a hot shower, calm down, and then go and see the jackass who had me pulled from school. Yep, home was perfect.
The drive took less than five minutes and for those five minutes I sat rigid in my seat, my gaze fixed to the floorboards. Dominic didn’t try to talk to me, and neither did the man driving, and I was seriously glad for it. The last thing I wanted was to have to talk. Frankly, I was just too busy stewing over being dragged out of school.
I didn’t look up until the truck came to a stop in the driveway and when I did, my jaw clenched tight. As it turned out, the bald man did take me home; it just really wasn’t the home I wanted to go to.
CHAPTER 5
~ AIDAN ~
Jade was, to put it mildly, pissed off.
I was sitting on the couch, my legs stretched out and arms folded behind my head, trying to stay awake as I waited for the inevitable when she burst through the door. She looked like she was ready to punch someone, most likely me. She stalked toward me, Tommy and Dominic trailing along behind her, neither of them looking impressed.
I had kind of hoped she would have calmed down a little by the time she got here, but by the look of her, she hadn’t. I’d known she would be fuming. I’d expected it. But the thing I hadn’t expected was that even though she was furious, her skin didn’t shudder, her eyes didn’t flare. She was in control of her inner-wolf. Completely in control. I hated to think it, but whatever Jared had been doing with her was helping. And that thought made my blood boil. I knew it was a lack of sleep and stress that was making me so edgy, but knowing it didn’t make the thought of Jared helping her any easier to swallow. It should have been me.
She stopped a few paces away from me and as her eyes swept over me, a layer of ice settled in her glare. “You ever hear of a phone, jackass?”
I kept my expression blank, which was harder than I thought it would be. Home. The word filled my mind, my body, as I took her in. Her long, brown hair was loose, hanging around her shoulders. As my eyes raked over her, my skin warmed, my heart raced. She was in jeans and that plum hoodie she always wore, nothing out of the ordinary, but on her, well, everything looked good on her. Her scent, fruits mixed with almonds, made my inner-wolf stir, and a deep-seated craving spread through me. She was mine. My inner-wolf agreed, echoing my thoughts, Mine.
I pulled in a deep breath, letting her scent reach every nerve within my body, and then I met her cold gaze. “Jade, sit down. We need to talk.”
Jade’s jaw dropped a little, and the layer of frost that had settled over her eyes thawed slightly. Her nostrils
flared. She was breathing me in. Her inner-wolf heard the command in my tone — in my scent — even if she didn’t want her to.
Dominic made a sound. It wasn’t quite a laugh, but I was pretty sure that’s what it was supposed to be. It was choked, gurgled, as if he had tried to swallow it.
Jade ignored him, but his laugh seemed to clear her head a little. She swallowed hard and fixed a lukewarm glare back in place. “Talk,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, drumming her fingertips impatiently. “Come on, I’m dying to hear what reason you could possibly have for sending Dom with a complete stranger to drag me out of class — literally drag me — when it was your idea for me to go in the first place.”
I smirked. I couldn’t help it. Jade was just so damn cute when she was pissed off. Her peach complexion was slowly turning to an adorable shade of pink. “Actually, that was Dom’s idea, not mine.”
I held her glare in total silence until Chris shattered it by clearing his throat. Jade shifted her fuming gaze to him. She started to vibrate a little. Adrenaline most likely. Her fingers stopped drumming; instead, they trembled slightly as she pressed them against her hip bones.
“So this is the girl,” Chris said, bemused. “This is your mate? Really?” He folded his arms over his chest and chuckled, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen.
“I’m not his mate!” Jade pivoted, and I caught another shudder of her skin, as she faced Chris head on. “Who the hell are you?”
I chuckled softly. I knew it was completely horrible, but part of me was seriously glad that she wasn’t as in control as I initially thought she’d been.
The glad feeling was short-lived. Her scent flared and I almost flinched — almost. I glanced around the room, taking in the smirks from Tommy and Chris, and Dominic’s scowl. Suddenly, my stomach twisted and sank. Maybe having them all here wasn’t such a great idea. She looked as if she were ready to launch herself at Chris. But I knew that Chris and Tommy needed to see what I was dealing with if they were going to help at all, and as for Dominic, well, if I was being honest, I had kind of hoped having him here might chill her out a little. I knew she was mad at him, but they had a history. One that I had really hoped would bring her down a notch or two. And, yeah, I probably should have called her instead of sending Tommy, but I knew she wouldn’t have answered. I’d barely gotten a response when I told her to go to school, and she hadn’t answered a single one of my calls since she became alpha female.
“Jade.” I said her name carefully, keeping my voice firm, forceful, hoping it would speak to her inner-wolf if nothing else. “These are the newest members of Jared’s team. The guy you’re thinking about attacking is Chris,” I said, and then nodded toward Tommy, “and you’ve already met Tommy.”
“We aren’t looking for new members.” Her voice was growled, harsh, and when she looked back at me, her eyes flared with challenge. “You have no right to ...”
“Stop,” I said, raising a hand in warning. “I have every right. This is my pack. I’ve made my decision.”
“It’s our pack,” she said, throwing up her hands. “You just can’t ...”
“No,” I said, cutting her off. I stood up, and stepped toward her, closing the distance until we were so close that if one of us pulled in a deep breath, our chests would touch. I glanced down at her and she met my gaze with something that looked a hell of a lot like hatred, but underneath that hatred, I swore I saw a lick of fire just waiting to ignite. I swallowed down the urge to take her into my arms and said, “It’s not ours. It’s mine. Until you decide to step up and get involved with the pack, you don’t get to make decisions involving them.”
“Screw you, Aidan,” she said, exhaling the words on a breath. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight, and then blinked a few times before meeting my gaze again. She opened her mouth, as if she were going to say more, closed it, and then turned her back on me — again.
It wasn’t the first time she had turned away from me, and knowing her, it wouldn’t be the last. But still, it burned. I reached out without thinking, wrapping my arms around her waist, and pulled her back flush against me. Leaning forward, brushing my lips against her ear, I said, “Don’t walk away from me, Jade.”
~ JADE ~
Aidan’s breath brushing against the back of my neck — warm and sweet — sent a hot chill careening through me. My breath hitched. I could feel every ripple of his abs and chest against my back as he held me close. His strong arms tightened around my waist, pulling me closer still, and darn it, but I leaned into him.
His command and this show of dominance should have bothered me, but it didn’t. I felt delicate, like a flower, with his arms around me, surrounding me with his power. My inner-wolf lapped it up as if hearing him, feeling him, having him so close was the best treat she could have asked for, and even though I hated it, I completely agreed with her. The last thing I actually wanted to do was walk away from him. Doing it once was pretty much all I had in me, right then, I was sure of it.
I could feel the others watching us. Their breathing, their heartbeats, whispered around me like a breeze rustling through the forest, but at that moment, I didn’t care.
Aidan’s steady heartbeat thrummed against my back, and his heady scent … I licked my lips and took a deep breath. Home. I was home. His betrayal had hurt. I was sure that I would never be able to trust him again and yet, as I stood there incased in his arms, I knew that I would never be able to stay away from him either.
And then, my phone rang, a sharp pitch, sharp enough to clear my head.
I wrapped my hand around Aidan’s wrist, pulling his arm from my waist. He didn’t stop me. Instead, he let his arm fall, then the other, and then the warmth of his body pressed against mine was gone. I felt the separation like a loss of a limb and I almost turned into him. God, I wanted those arms back around me, but then my phone rang again and I hastily fished it out of my pocket, glancing at the screen.
Jared.
Guilt pooled in my stomach, which was completely asinine. I had no reason to feel guilty. It wasn’t like Jared and I were really an item, but I felt it, like searing hot water pouring over my skin. I forced a smile, took a breath, and tapped the screen as I brought the phone to my ear.
“Hey, baby,” I said. My voice was raw, as if I’d swallowed a handful of tacks, and I swallowed hard, trying to clear the lump from my throat.
“Where the hell are you, Jade?” he yelled.
I cringed from the blast of his voice piercing my ear, and I almost glanced around to see if anyone noticed, but thankfully I caught myself. I forced my smile wider, hoping it would ease the rockiness of my voice. “I’m at Aidan’s. You should probably get over here.”
“You’re supposed to be in school,” he barked.
I could feel Aidan’s eyes on my back, and I found myself hoping that he couldn’t hear Jared. I didn’t want Aidan to hear the possessive edge in my so called mate’s voice. I didn’t even want to hear it myself.
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” I said. Was my tone sweet enough? I didn’t know. I wanted to walk outside. I wanted to tell Jared off, but I couldn’t. Not with everyone watching. Darn it! I hated having to play the sweet girlfriend. I wasn’t even sweet on a good day. I sighed and felt my forced smile stretching further. “Can you find Erika and bring her with you? Oh, and maybe call the team. I want them all here.”
“I’m not your damn secretary, Jade,” he growled. “Call them yourself if you want them. Better yet, get your ass home.”
I sucked in a deep breath. I was vibrating all over, and I felt the twitch in my jaw as I bit down, swallowing the urge to rip into him. “Jared, I’m not asking.”
Aidan stepped into my line of vision and tapped my chin, forcing me to look up. He smirked, a knowing kind of smirk, and reached out, taking the phone from me before I could stop him and brought it to his ear. He chuckled, and an amused grin curved his lips. “Jared. Come. Now.” He barked out the order, grinning the entire time, a
nd then thumbed the screen, disconnecting the call. His grin spread wider and he winked at me, tossing the phone back.
I caught it easily, and jammed it in my pocket. “You look a little too proud of yourself there,” I snapped, glowering at him.
“Yeah?” he asked, chuckling. “Well, I kind of am.”
CHAPTER 6
~ JADE ~
Aidan’s house was comfy. I was pretty sure it had belonged to one of the previous alphas of the Dog Mountain pack, but I had never been inside before. It wasn’t much, a living room done in browns and greens, soothing just like the woods, with a smallish kitchen off to the side, and a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. The carpet was kind of gross and the paint was chipped and peeling in spots, but other than that it was cozy. And it smelled like him. Strong, a little sweet, and green. It was a peaceful scent, one that I was pretty sure I would never get enough of. Every few minutes it would get stronger, and then fade, as if he were using it, trying to stir a reaction from me, and it was a crazy hard effort to keep the stoic expression on my face and not let him see how much he was affecting me. I had already slipped up once since I walked through the door and there was no way I was going to do it again.
I sat on the couch, my feet pulled up underneath me, waiting for Jared and the team to show up. Aidan sat across from me in a big, beat-up leather chair, with Chris and Tommy standing behind him. His light brown hair was askew, and his jawline, rough with a couple days’ growth. His brown eyes were tired, but alert, and he wore an easy smile, as if the five of us together wasn’t awkward at all.
Dominic paced the small space, five steps one way, five steps back. His calm mask was starting to splinter. Every few minutes he would steal a glimpse at me and when he did, I caught the slivers of pain and regret spreading through his eyes like ice cracking under pressure.