Chapter 42

Andrew

I should have known the night would go wrong the moment John pushed me to invite Pruedance to hang out with us. I think he had been keeping it up his sleeve and waiting for just the right moment to suggest that stupid game. Okay, true, the werewolf edition was epic, but with her presence it didn’t go like the other times.

At first it had been silly fun – challenging all the senses and abilities for nuance, along with the strength of each wolf – the usual creative ideas guys came up with when alcohol and ego get mixed together. I was surprised that the lone wolf refused to join in the beginning – was she afraid or did she truly hate such silly games with passion?

I should have been fine with her just watching, cheering and laughing, but John being John could not go long without poking the wolf. And who would have thought that she was a fast runner?

I had managed to lose to a girl – a fu.cking lone wolf at that. Twice. The first time she outran me only by a mere inch as most of the distance we ran shoulder to shoulder – which was messing with me in a weird way – as if she was some kind of magnet for me and I wanted nothing more than to attach myself to her. I still couldn’t quite process it.

And the second time? All I remember now is that I had to smell her scent all the way up and it completely messed with my hormones – watching that se.xy ass jiggle in front of me in those yoga pants just did me in. If I wasn’t running, I bet I would have sported a semi. And it made me angry that my body betrayed me just because of the bond. But on the downhill – she hadn’t just run fast, she had flown. I couldn’t believe my eyes and I definitely wanted to try it, but as I had never done it before I was worried I would just lose my balance, go rolling down the hill, and lose the race completely. I was still hoping to catch her in the last sprint as she should get tired, but unfortunately she didn’t. She just had a wild grin on her face at the finish as she was clearly enjoying every second of humiliating me – an Alpha – in front of everyone. The second time had been worse, because this time I knew what she was capable of. And Dane’s comment that only an Alpha should outrun another Alpha did not help my ego, because she beat me. Seeing her clash with Dane triggered a strange possessive reaction in me. I told myself it was just the bond – yet the feelings were undeniably real.

The guys had laughed and whistled, throwing jokes around while I caught my breath, but none of them were laughing at me. Not really. If anything, they were just impressed by her. She had just smirked like it was nothing, like beating an Alpha was just another Tuesday activity. Now that I think about it – how intense her training regime with her dad actually is? Because that is the only training she ever attends – with her father. I’ll need to speak about this with my dad soon, I made a mental note.

After that the dares kept flying around the room, bouncing from one idiot to another. I didn’t want to notice her or follow what she was doing all evening, but my senses just had a mind of their own. Her presence was the strongest thing in the room, and my body adjusted to it automatically. Even when I tried to focus on others, my eyes kept glancing at her, my ears kept tuning to her voice, cheers and chuckles.

She lost to Greg in table arm wrestling – which made me note that her arms were not that strong. Did that mean that running was just her top skill? But then again – she climbed that tree as if she had some superpower. I was still wondering how she could do that – as if she extended her claws and dug them into the trunk to hold herself attached to it. But who could manage such a partial shift? Once you started a shift, it ended for you in mere seconds.

My dad had said a few times that Alphas can perform part shifting. I’ve tried and practiced it many times since I got wolf but I could hold it only for five seconds or so before I completely shifted into a wolf. Using wolf strength and heightened senses was different from starting to physically change shape. Now that I think about it, it was similar to that time when she drove her sharp nails into my ribs to escape. I really would have to talk with my dad about this tomorrow.

Through the evening, she stayed exactly the same – sharp, unbothered, watching everyone like she was studying a bunch of mildly entertaining animals in a zoo. Every now and then her eyes would flick toward me – never for long though, more like passing over me in the crowd – but just enough to make something in my chest tighten.

Then John made his move. I should have known he was planning something the moment that smug grin spread across his face.

“I dare you… to kiss the Alpha.” The room went quiet. And suddenly every eye was on me.

She flipped him off immediately, which made the guys laugh, but she didn’t laugh with them. She just stared at him like she was mentally planning his funeral.

“He probably has a mate somewhere out there,” she said with clear disgust. “I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes.”

Something about that sentence made my chest feel strangely heavy – like she was still planning to reject me. But John pushed her anyway. I probably should have mind-linked him to stop this bullshit, but I was stuck on one thought – would she actually kiss me? And if she did, how would that feel?

She stood up slowly, clearly considering walking out, and for a second I almost hoped she would. When John called her a chicken, even I knew she’d take the bait – she was just that proud. So instead of leaving she walked straight toward me. Her eyes never left John, not once, making me wonder – did she hate John that much that she was practically trying to kill him either with looks and thoughts, or was looking at me just that disgusting to her?

She turned a sharp and hateful look at me in the last moment. Before I could react, she dropped into my lap – my hands moved automatically, catching her thighs and steadying her. And the moment our bodies touched – I was lit on fire.

Heat spread through my chest, sharp and sudden, like a spark hitting dry wood. Her scent wrapped around me like a blanket – warm and sweet, making my brain fuzzy and my wolf restless under my skin. This bond has made my body react in different kinds of shitty ways without my permission or willingness, but what this closeness did to me, to my body, was a different kind of attraction. Suddenly desires started shooting fireworks of different ideas – like that I could just stand up and take her to my room to do oh so many different things to her. My grip tightened without thinking.

She wrapped her arms around my neck like she’d rather strangle me than sit there, bringing me out of my fantasy world. As I gazed at her face that looked like she had just bitten into something rotten, it did hit my ego because no girl had ever looked at me with so much disgust and hatred just as she was planning to kiss me. And knowing that she was my mate just twisted that knife deeper in my chest.

“Its just a dare,” she muttered, pushing that knife all the way to the hilt. And then she kissed me – hard, not gentle, not hesitant. She slammed her lips against mine like she was attacking a problem instead of kissing a person.

And I could have never imagined that just a kiss would or could change my life. My ears were ringing as her full lips brushed against mine, as my tongue tasted her, as the bond, attraction and mind-numbing lust sent a jolt straight through my body.

Her lips were warm and softer than I expected. For a brief moment the entire room disappeared, drowned out by the awareness of her weight in my lap and the heat of her body pressed against mine. I definitely wanted more – da.mn the fact that she was a fu.cking lone wolf. My wolf pushed forward instinctively.

But then it was suddenly over as she pulled away so soon. Like touching me had burned her. She slid off my lap without even looking at me and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as if she had just done something disgusting. Like she needed to erase the experience. Maybe it was just for show to others, but it grated on me – my ego and my pride – it annoyed me more than it should have.

I guess the game continued – my attention wasn’t really on it anymore as my body and especially my lips still buzzed from the recent experience. I felt even more attuned to Prue’s presence in the room.

My attention snapped back when the room suddenly exploded and I realized Prue had just dared John to kiss a guy. Wow, if that wasn’t a nasty revenge, I don’t know what is. John tried to refuse, but she kept throwing his own words back at him with brutal satisfaction. She had that way of turning her brilliance into something sick and twisted. I mentally shook my head – here I was sitting and thinking that she was brilliant? After one kiss?

John looked ready to kill her but that dude deserved this punishment so well. Now that I think about it, I’m almost sorry I didn’t get this idea first. Not that I hate him for daring Prue to kiss me – oh no, unfortunately that was the highlight of tonight. Or any night I’ve had in my life this far. Fu.ck. But John was a pain in my as.s in so many other ways that I was glad someone finally had the balls to strangle him a little bit.

Just when I thought that John would pu.ssy out and march out of here, he crossed the room instead, grabbed Nico by the neck, and kissed him. Not a quick joke kiss – a real one, with tongues and all. I could not believe my eyes. Was he actually gay and had just never told us? was the first irrational thought that popped into my mind. The room erupted into whistles and laughter, and even I couldn’t help the small smirk that tugged at my mouth. It was just a dare, I brushed it off.

John stormed out not long after that, his pride clearly in pieces. Prue had already left moments earlier, flipping him off on her way out like the entire evening had been nothing but mild entertainment. The party died quickly after that as people drifted out and the noise faded.

Eventually I ended up alone in my room, staring at the ceiling while the house finally went quiet. Sleep didn’t come – a classic night ever since my wolf scented that female – but tonight was worse because my mind kept replaying one moment.

The way she had dropped into my lap without hesitation. The flash of heat the moment our bodies touched. And the brief moment our mouths molded into one. At first I tried to push away the memory but at some point I replayed it in sick detail second by second with only one lustful thought buzzing under my skin – I wanted more. So much more.

My wolf shifted restlessly inside my chest. I exhaled slowly and turned onto my side, trying to ease the freshness of the memory away. But it didn’t work. Of course it didn’t. It was like my body was now even more aware that she was across the hall.

My chest tightened as suddenly I was sad that there had been so much hate between us since the beginning. Now I wished I could just have her here, in my bed, sleeping tightly after I had had her in every way possible on every surface of this room – like every other happy mated couple out there, not all the humiliations that I’ve lived through with her.

What hit me with even greater sadness was the awareness of how big her hatred and disgust were towards me. My traitorous mind supplied all the ways and times how she had messed with me, cursed me, accused me and humiliated me.

I’m still annoyed that she is my Goddess-gifted mate. It’s unfair that my body craves her so damn much. If one stupid kiss already did this to me… I’m not sure what will happen the next time she’s this close.