My breath caught in my throat and my heart stopped. I swiveled in my chair, not bothering to try and hide it. Dominic sat at the head of the lunchroom table, which was ridiculous, because really, it was just a plastic fold up table, but he made it look … regal. Aidan sat on his right, Erika on his left, and along the edges, six other pack members watched him, engrossed in whatever he was saying.
Dominic was smiling. His eyes were bright. He looked … happy … content … proud. My heart started to pound again and my stomach rolled. Dominic never looked happy. Not anymore. He always had the same mask. Hard and cold and cruel. Not happy. Never. And the way the others were watching him, listening to him …
I locked eyes with Marcy and whispered, “No.” I didn’t mean it as a whisper, but the rock hard lump that had suddenly formed in my throat wouldn’t let my voice rise any louder.
Her eyes were wide and the color rushed from her face. “He …” she started, but she must not have believed what she was about to say, because she promptly snapped her mouth shut.
I pushed my chair out, the legs scrapping across the linoleum floor with a screech, and I stared at Dominic for a long minute. Clippings of the last few days flitted through my mind as if I was looking at newspaper articles. The pack is stressed. He’s no good for you. I’m trying to help you. All his subtle little hints and warnings rang out through my head and heat burned in my cheeks. Suddenly, I felt sick and utterly stupid. I wasn’t part of the pack. He wouldn’t have been able to warn me of anything without seeking permission unless … The thoughts were swarming so loudly in my brain that I couldn’t understand any of them.
And then I was standing over him, and I heard my voice, cold as ice, say, “Dominic, we need to talk.”
Dominic didn’t even look up. “Kind of busy,” he said dismissively.
I gritted my teeth, and I really don’t know what came over me, but I grabbed hold of his ear and pulled. “We need to talk now.”
That got his attention, as well as the attention of all the werewolves at the table. They all glared at me, even Aidan was giving me a death stare. Dominic jumped up from his chair and smacked my hand away from his ear. He took hold of my bicep firmly, and said, “I’ll be right back, guys,” before he dragged me from the cafeteria.
As soon as we were through the doors, he dropped his hold and asked, “What do you want?” His tone was sharp, and his shoulders, rigid.
“It’s you, isn’t it?” I asked. I guessed the look on my face wasn’t sweet because he backed up a step and the pink flush in his cheeks turned white. I poked him in the chest and he flinched back another step. “You took out Ray.”
Dominic trembled slightly under my stare, and he sucked in a noisy breath. His shoulders sagged a little, as if he was trying to shrink further away from me. He dropped his eyes to the floor, and then he gave his head a forceful shake, pulled in another loud, sucking breath, and hesitantly met my gaze. “You threw me out of your house. Blew me off, and now you think you can just … just …” He grunted and threw his hands up in the air, completely frustrated.
“Stop it,” I snapped, and he flinched again. “Just cut the crap, Dom. You followed me around all weekend; you can damn well answer my question!”
Dominic cocked his head slightly, and searched my face. His brow furrowed in confusion and any hostility that had marred his body softened. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Come on, Dom, I know that the black wolf that trailed me all weekend was you,” I shouted. I didn’t mean to shout. It just sort of happened, and a burning blush rushed up my neck. I took a deep breath and smiled awkwardly. “Look, it doesn’t matter. You’ve made your point, okay. I’ll stay away from Aidan, but don’t be like Ray. Don’t start the recruiting. You’re better than that.”
“Jade, I’m a brown wolf and I’m not,” he punched out the word, letting it hang in the air for a moment, as if he wanted to make sure I grasped it before he continued, “the new alpha. And it would be really smart for you to forget that you know anything about Ray.”
~ AIDAN ~
Crap! It seemed like that was the only word my brain was able to formulate as I listened to Jade and Dominic. It was also the first time in my life that I hated having enhanced hearing. It would have been nice to pretend that they were just having a friendly conversation.
Erika leaned into me. “You were following her?” she snarled in my ear and then leaned back. Her lips curled into a sneer and she laughed darkly. “Did you hear that, ladies? It looks like we have another contestant.”
Crap! Crap! Crap! All the banter stopped instantly and four sets of glowing yellow eyes landed on me, expectantly. Waiting. I slouched a little, trying to look relaxed, and shrugged my shoulders, brushing it off as no big deal. I held their eyes for a long minute before I said, “She’s nothing.”
“I don’t know about that,” Erika said and laughed again, but there was no humor in it. “She seems smitten and by the sound of your wild heartbeat, I’d say you are, too.”
CHAPTER 11
~ JADE ~
“Dom, what do you mean it wasn’t you?” I asked. My voice was barely a whisper, and the metal lined hallway suddenly seemed … small … tight … airless. I had hugged that wolf, and I had let it smother my face with wet kisses. I felt … violated. At least I knew why Dominic hadn’t tried to talk to me yet, although knowing it didn’t really make me feel any better.
“I’m not a black wolf,” he said again, a little helplessly this time. He took a step toward me, and when I took a step back, he put up his hands in surrender. “Jade, you’re not looking so hot. Are you okay?”
I focused on breathing. In and out. In and out. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so upset, but my throat was burning and I fought hard to swallow the tears that were threatening to break loose. My heart was breaking — again — just like it had two years ago. And I realized, unexpectedly, that part of me, even though I had been fighting it, had really hoped that I was going to get my Dominic back. That he’d heard my confessions. That he wanted to start over and fix things like he’d said. And I was pretty sure that the fact that he hadn’t heard me say all those things was distressing me more than knowing some other wolf was stalking me.
I shook my head. “Nope,” I said calmly, and before he had a chance to make me even more not okay, I turned from him and started down the hallway.
“Jade, wait!” Dominic called. His footsteps were extremely loud in the vacant hallway as he jogged to catch up to me.
I spun back around and put up a hand to stop him. “I can’t do this right now, Dom. Just tell Mac I’m not feeling well. Please.” My voice sounded as hollow as I felt, and it really didn’t sound like my own. I tried to close the doors. I wanted to hide my feelings, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t focus. I could barely breathe. Each small breath I managed to suck in hurt, burning down my throat like a lit fuse, and into my lungs.
But Dominic didn’t seem to have the same problem. His face hardened as he closed himself off from me, and it made my stomach drop. I could see the doors slamming shut as he proceeded to lock me out and cut me off, and I hated him for it. He nodded. “Take the sidewalks.”
I offered a weak smile and a little wave, but he didn’t respond. He just looked at me with those cold, uncaring eyes and waited for me to leave. And that’s exactly what I did. I left. Just like he had left me two years ago. Without a backwards glance, I weaved through the empty hallways, and out the front door of the school.
My key was stuck in the lock. It wouldn’t turn and I couldn’t get it out. It was frustrating as all hell, and without thinking, I kicked the door. Hard. It hurt. I yelped, and my big toe throbbed.
But it was worth it. I yanked on the key again, and it came out, just as the door flew open.
Dad smiled at me. It was the kind of smile that only a dad could give. A bit excited, a touch worried, and a lot happy. It was one of those smiles that encompassed every emotion he had, and it was exactly what I needed.
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“Hey, Dad,” I said, and without warning, I launched myself at him for one of his epic bear hugs. “Welcome back.”
He caught me just as I knew he would, squeezing me tightly and spinning me over the threshold. But the hug didn’t last nearly long enough. He put me down and held me at arm’s length, giving me one of those concerned fatherly looks. “Hi, honey. What are you doing home?”
I wiggled out of his soft grip, and slid by him, kicking the door shut with my heel. “Wasn’t feeling good,” I lied, and padded into the living room. I dropped down on the couch, focusing all my effort into looking sick.
He didn’t buy it for a second. “You never get sick,” he said bluntly, following me into the room. He sat down beside me and asked, “What’s going on?”
Dad looked tired but relaxed. His silver-dusted black hair was flat on one side, as if he had been sleeping on it, and he had pillow creases indented on his cheek. He had on his favorite navy blue jogging pants, and a gray T-shirt, and by the tightness of his lips, I guessed he was fighting against a yawn.
“Sorry I woke you up,” I said. “How was your trip?”
“Jade,” he said with a no nonsense tone, “what are you doing home?”
I bit my bottom lip, and wiggled on the couch as I considered lying again. But then I looked into his bright blue eyes, and I saw the concern painted on his face and the floodgates burst open. Everything rushed out in a mess of words. I told him about Erika and the locker room. I blurted about the black wolf. About Dominic. About Ray. About how no one was supposed to know he was dead. I told him about Mom being all jumpy. I talked about losing Dominic, and about how much I missed him. It was as if I was stuck in a tornado, gushing everything out in a spinning gust of wind, unable to stop.
But just like a tornado, I touched down, and ran my course, and when there was nothing left, I flopped back on the couch, feeling drained and a little deflated.
Dad considered my story for a long and way too silent moment before he asked, “Does Dominic know about the black wolf?”
“What does that matter?” I asked a little breathlessly. Out of everything that I had blurted out, he had to focus on the black wolf. I wanted to be upset, or angry, or anything, really, but I couldn’t. It all seemed like too much energy. And all I felt was empty. Not in a bad way. It was more of a contented kind of empty, as if I had expelled all the badness and all that was left was … exhaustion.
“He has always watched out for you, honey,” he said softly, and he reached out, brushing some hair from my forehead. “Even if it didn’t feel like he was there, he was. He always will be. You know that.”
Did I? Not really. But I nodded and smiled anyway. “I’m going to lie down,” I said, hauling myself up from the couch.
“Wait,” he said, taking hold of my wrist and pulling me back down. He wrapped me in a hug, leaning his chin on the top of my head. “I know you think we are pushing you, your Mom and I, to join them, and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to give Dominic an excuse. He hurt you. He knows that. You know that.” Dad sighed and his shoulders slumped a little against me. “But you can’t judge them all from his stupidity. I just want you to be safe, honey. I know you can’t see it, but the pack is safe. They always have been, and having the wolves as friends isn’t as bad of a thing as you think it is.”
I knew he was trying to be comforting, or give me some kind of life lesson full of wisdom, but it really wasn’t helping. There was nothing safe about the pack. It didn’t matter which way he tried to spin it; werewolves were not safe.
I pushed out of his arms, giving him what I hoped was an agreeing look. “I’m going to take a nap,” I said, and I left him sitting there with concern marring his face, and I headed to my room.
It wasn’t until I got to my room that I realized he hadn’t told me about his weekend, but at that point, I was just too drained to care.
I screamed. There was something on me, smothering me. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to push it off, flailing my arms around, pulling at the comforter. I couldn’t move. It was dark. Too dark. I was drowning. Suffocating. Another scream ripped from my lips, but it was muffled and distorted with barely any sound to it.
“Chill out, Jade.” Marcy’s voice belted out, wrapping around me like a soothing blanket. She grabbed hold of the comforter and pulled it down. I sucked in a ragged breath and it burned through my empty lungs. She was laughing and grinning, and she was sitting on top of my stomach.
I pushed her off of me, giving her a dirty look. “What the hell?”
Marcy giggled. She flopped on to her stomach and made herself comfortable on my bed, resting her chin in her hands. “What happened to you today?”
I grabbed my powder blue comforter, pulling it back up to my chin, and wiggled under the covers, trying to find the sweet spot again, and hoping that she’d just go away. I closed my eyes, and kept wiggling, but I just couldn’t get comfortable.
Marcy cleared her throat dramatically loud. I opened my eyes and gave her another dirty look, but she just grinned.
“Nothing happened,” I said. “I just wasn’t feeling well.”
“Liar,” she said, pursing her lips. “You never get sick.”
I groaned and rolled onto my side. “Whatever.”
My curtains were open, revealing the star speckled night sky. The silver moon was almost full, and there didn’t appear to be a single cloud. I must have slept for hours, but yet, I was still exhausted, and I was sure if Marcy would just leave, I would have no problem falling back to sleep.
Marcy had another plan. She smacked at my legs. “Get up. We’re going out.”
“Just let me sleep, Mac,” I said, snuggling a bit deeper under the blankets.
“Not happening.” She laughed evilly, and crawled over me so we were nose to nose. She was grinning mischievously, and her eyes danced with laughter and what looked a lot like secrets. “We’re going to get ice cream and you are going to spill everything. Especially the part about why Erika was asking about you. Whatever you said to Dom, she's fuming about it.” Her smile widened, and she giggled a little. “And I have awesomesauce news of the boy variety.”
CHAPTER 12
~ AIDAN ~
That night, Dominic was the moody one. Not that I was overly moody per se, it was just that Dominic was never really anything, except when Jade was involved. Again, I found myself wondering what that girl had done to make my pack so uneasy around her. It wasn’t just Dominic and Erika; it was most of them. They all watched her with leery eyes, and she seemed oblivious to it. The girl was too busy being overly sure of herself, and I couldn’t help but think it was a complete act. No one could be that tough, not when they knew what they were up against.
Dominic hadn’t spoken a word to me since lunch. After Jade left, he had talked to her friend, and then stormed off. I still couldn’t believe that Jade tried to drag him out of the cafeteria by his ear, and if I hadn’t been the reason for her anger, I’d probably be laughing about it now.
We were sitting in my motel room watching the night descend upon us; well, I was sitting. Dominic was pacing. I had figured he would have come around by now, but he hadn’t. Every once in a while he would stop his relentless pacing to slam something around, but still not a word.
The first challenge was scheduled for tonight. I was sure Dominic wouldn’t be here otherwise. Erika wasn’t wasting any time. She was determined and strong and competent, and I absolutely hated it. She was a bitch and not really someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But then, none of the challenging females really sparked my interest. They were all just so … bitchy and conceited and fake.
But Erika, she had to be the worst of them. Actually scheduling a challenge … it just wasn’t normal. Females were usually more creative, not relying solely on strength to beat their opponents. They picked their times carefully and rarely broadcasted when the attack would happen. It gave them the edge of surprise. As long as there was one witness to testify to th
e outcome, the winner would move forward.
Erika though, she wanted an audience. Most likely, she was trying to intimidate the others, letting them see what she could do. And I didn’t like it. She was too full of herself, and conceit wasn’t really a great leadership quality.
A frustrated growl penetrated my eardrums, and Dominic slammed a coffee mug onto the dresser, shattering it.
“Stop slamming things around and just spit it out already,” I said, sprawled out on my lumpy bed, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. I couldn’t take much more of his brooding. The stress of tonight was eating at me, and he was only making it worse. And at the rate he was going, I wouldn’t have a single mug left in this crap hole of a room.
“I asked you to stay away from her,” he said through clenched teeth.
“And I told you that wasn’t your call to make.” I tried to hide the amusement from my voice, but it leaked out, completely unintentionally. Seriously, for a guy that didn’t even like women, he sure acted like a crazy jealous person.
He stiffened, every muscle in his body tensed, and he glared at me. “She’s not going to join the pack.”
I offered up a smile. “I never said I wanted her to.”
The smile worked … a little. Dominic sat down in the desk chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Then what are you doing with her?”
Now that was the question, wasn’t it? What was I doing with her? I didn’t even know. I hadn’t meant to go to her. I hadn’t even realized it was her scent that I was following, but once I was there … I just didn’t want to leave. No, that wasn’t entirely true. I wanted to leave, but my inner-wolf had wanted something different. She was born to be an alpha. She had the strength. She had the compassion. She could make me tremble with a single look. Jade had it all, or she would, if she was one of us. And I’d have her.