Chapter 6 - Dance The Pain Away

~~~ Allaya ~~~

“Man candy at 12 o’clock! Don’t look, he’s coming your way!”

Alexis smiles mischievously and my treacherous mind instantly travels to that man that looked as sexy as the devil himself, the absurdly gorgeous man that of course has a girlfriend.

‘You’re a terrible person, Allaya!’ I silently reprimand myself, yet my heartbeats are going wild in anticipation. Though I can’t explain exactly how, I can feel his presence in this club, that all-male fragrance mixed with fresh ground coffee scent is everything my nose can pick up in here.

Time moves in slow motion as I wait for him to show up, it seems like an eternity passes until someone is lightly touching my shoulder.

With no delay, my hope falters, I don’t feel my insides bursting into flames, so it cannot be him.

“Allaya, you’re here again!” A man’s throaty voice is pulling me out of my train of thoughts.

I turn around and meet a pair of charming baby blue eyes. A smile graces my lips before I can even become aware of it, he has that soothing aura I never encountered before our first meeting.

It's the sexy guy. Landon. He too has an effect on me, but somehow different.

“Landon Morgan, isn’t it?”

“You remember me.” He smirks, and then leans over, his lips grazing over my right cheek.

Suddenly, my flirty side awakens. I should focus on a man who’s not committed to someone else, and get the other one out of my mind forever. Though my heart is the one that craves for what it can’t have.

“How could I forget my hero?” I breath out a silly line, while a blush creeps on my cheeks.

“Ohh, I’m touched!” His hand flies to his chest, grasping it. “Since you are so grateful, I might steal a few dances from you. What do you say, are you up for it?”

“S-sure. I’d love to!”

He inches closer and whispers to my ear. “I have to take care of some stuff, but maybe later?”

I narrow my eyes, did he have the nerve to ditch me after asking me for a dance?

“I know that one, he is a man whore!” Alexis flashes a suggestive smile, her voice low, just for me to hear. “But doing him might prove to be a very efficient medicine for that broken heart of yours, as long as you know it’s with no strings attached!”

“Who, Landon?” Amiera never ceases to amaze me with her sharp hearing. “Yeah, Alexis is right. I know him very well, we are family friends. He is not a bad guy, but he changes women more often than he changes his socks.”

“So that was Landon Morgan!” The revelation hits Alexis.

“I didn’t know he was like that!” I utter, disappointed.

All men are the same. Jerks.

My eyes trail to where Landon went, and he is all wrapped in female presence, smiling and flirting with three ladies at the same time, they don’t seem to mind sharing him.

Wait… was that the stuff he had to take care of?

I roll my eyes in annoyance, he is just as entitled and arrogant as the others.

One hour passed and he never once looked my way. I know because I kept stealing glances at him like a fool.

My worth is not determined by a man’s attention, but I do feel rather uneasy lately. The reason is pretty obvious. Being cheated on, betrayed by the people close to me, it messed with my confidence, shattering it to a thousand little pieces.

Witnessing my ex boyfriend pounding into my step sister really did it for me, I can’t get that image out of my mind, it will haunt me forever.

I am not stupid. Watching the sort of women that float around Landon hints to one thing, he would never pay attention to someone whose looks don’t match the ones of a top model or whose wealth is less than seven figures. I check none of those boxes.

Half an hour later, he leaves the club with some of his friends, ignoring me until the very end.

‘Great!’

The echo of rejection courses through my body, and if I were to admit, my mind is clouded by ego, not by some genuine feelings.

I dance the pain away, losing my control. The ring is all mine and even though I’m aware that I move way too lasciviously, I don’t really care right now, the club lights seem to make everything even more intense. I’m having tons of fun until I trip over a misplaced chair and fall right into a man’s chunky arms.

“I am really sorry!” I immediately apologize, feeling like a klutz.

I don’t need to raise my eyes and see his face to know who he is. Once again, the voice in my head claims possession over this magnificent man.

My arms are on his powerfully built chest, a beast inside me wants to rip his shirt off and play with his bare skin, his fragrance arouses me and it’s too difficult to handle.

I hear his husky voice, sensual music to my ears: “It must have been fate that brought you into my arms again. I didn’t get your name last time.”

“Allaya.”

“So you’re Allaya.” He breathes my name into my hair, and I shudder at how arousing it rolled out his tongue.

My figure trembles in his arms, the beast inside me found a new owner, to put it mildly. What is it about this man that enchants my senses, making me all weak, needy and wanting for more of him?

With no warning, air becomes poisonous, a cold look in the back of my head makes me stiff, I slowly turn my head to locate the source of this shady vibe.

Landon.

He returned with his friends, and his energy is so tense, I can cut it with a knife. Anger is flashing in his eyes, yet it doesn’t seem to be directed at me, but at the one that holds me in his arms.

He doesn’t stick around long, I watch him inviting a random girl to dance, not before giving me a raging look.

Okay, what is his damn problem? He successfully ignored me until now.

“Let’s dance!” My attention snaps back to the one my entire body craves for. “I’m Hayden, by the way.”

Hayden…

Even his name sounds sexy.

I nod my approval, my brain refuses to cooperate in forming words.

Wait… No!

“What about your girlfriend?” I glare at him.

“Layla is not my girlfriend, she’s just someone who can’t understand boundaries.” He chuckles, his breath on my neck blowing flames through my skin, doing no good to my already trembling body.

Three or four songs might have passed, I was not counting, but the moment they will change this slow romantic music will strike me as a lightning, I just know it.

I can’t believe my thoughts and I’m scared I’m even crazier than before. It’s been a few months  since I started hearing a voice in my head, as if I am sharing my body with another being, that at this stage takes almost full command of me.

Music is now of a different tone, and I start to regain some control over my beast, while Hayden is gazing at me with his bewitching eyes.

He puts a small kiss on my shoulder that happens to start a delightful fire in my belly and then retires, not before throwing at me a devil’s wink.

“Thanks!” He utters before leaving.

Again, I say nothing.

~~~ Hayden ~~~

The girl that has me wrapped around her little finger tripped and fell right into my arms. I can’t even decide what is more delicious, her scent or her clumsiness.

Time came to a halt the moment we touched, my wolf feeling relaxed as if he received the treat that he expected.

Her arousal mixed with the heavenly scent of black chocolate and mint is flattering my nostrils. Her trembling figure makes my protective instincts skyrocket, the need to forever protect her is written on every bone of my body.

It’s not just her beauty that does wild things to my body, but that combination of shyness and flush of excitement she disclosed right after I’ve pressed my lips on her shoulder, that moment was my cue to leave for I couldn’t keep my cool much longer.

In just two meetings she put some sort of spell on me for I cannot feel complete without her. It may serve as validation that she is my mate, though I’ll have to wait two more weeks for the legit confirmation.

I’ve heard of no one mating outside their species, except for some made up stories of no importance. In fact, there is a rule forbidding it and every magical creature is aware of that rule, we find out about it as soon as we grow old enough to understand.

The same rule saved me as a teenager when a vampire had set his eye on one of my kind, I fought and killed him when he tried to force her. He was young too, but much more stronger for werewolves have to shift to empower themselves, vampires are lethal anytime.

But what they lack is a pack, me and my pack are training daily to be able to prevail through any kind of dire situations, that was such an event and we secured victory along with the girl’s safety.

If not for that rule and some other reasons like the one that he tried to force her and we just acted on defense, I would have been executed on spot, that vampire was the son of the Head of the Magical Council, a cunning blood sucker that still awaits for an opportunity to strike me and my kind.

Another problem is that Landon wants Allaya as well, and he’s been my best friend all my life, I even call him my cousin, though we are not blood related.

~~~ Landon ~~~

That girl I met a week ago, Allaya, is here again, looking so stunning in that black dress that I’ll devour her entirely if she’d accept to come home with me.

If she were a werewolf, she would probably be mine, but the rules are very clear, I can just date humans, until I meet my true mate, an Alpha empowers his pack by having an Alpha blood mate.

So until my 21st birthday, which is almost 6 months later, I’ll date and fuck as much as possible.

I’d planned to make her anxious by letting her wait for me, but after I had to leave the club to solve some pack business, I found her in Hayden’s arms, and that bothered me more than I imagined.

Do I really like her that much or it bothered me because she was in Hayden’s arms, not any other random man?

Ever since we were kids, we had a little competition going on between us, as our fathers had before us.

And while growing up, a piece of confidential information reached my ears more than once. That information shocked me to the core for it stated that my father was the real Alpha King, not Hayden’s father. Under some unknown circumstances, that role was switched from one to another. If that’s true, I can’t help but wonder what was the reason behind it.

I’ve confronted my father and he denied, ordering me not to discuss this subject with anyone, ever again, him included. Somehow, it remained in the back of my brain like a puzzle I needed to solve.

 The same with Allaya, I can’t grasp what exactly about her calls out to me.

* * *

~~~ Allaya ~~~

The cold air brought me to reality as soon as I set foot outside the club.

When was the last time I had so many controversial emotions mixed together? Never.

When was the last time I’ve felt so alive? Also never.

I am walking on fluffy clouds and I cannot even hide it, there is this huge grin all over my face.

“Damn, girl, that Hayden really got to you! I can’t blame you though, he is freaking hot!” Alexis pulls me out of my reverie.

“Hayden? Landon’s best friend?” Amiera looks at me intently. “I really hate to be the one that breaks it to you, but he has a girlfriend already.”

My world is once again shattered into little pieces with the power of a few words.

“Is her name Layla? And Landon is his best friend?”

“No, Layla is head over heels with Hayden, but he wants nothing to do with her.” She denies, I can’t understand a thing. “Landon and Hayden have been besties since childhood. But what’s more important is that Hayden and another friend of mine, Arianna Hayes, have an unbreakable bond, to put it into words.”

My stomach muscles clench, I feel like I’m going to vomit, pass out or probably both.

HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND.

AN UNBREAKABLE BOND.

Why does stuff like this always happen to me?