Filed to story: The Rise Of The Lycan Queen
“I’m not, but damn, you’re making me work for it.” He sighed. “Look, my life is… complicated. I’m not ready to tell you why, but there is a very good reason for me to try to stay away from you. However, Wednesday when Bridgette said what she did… the pain on your face…” He ran his hand through his short hair and growled. “It made me realize that I never wanted to make you look that way again.”
He was shattering every wall I’d ever put in place with this one conversation. “This could lead to both of us getting hurt.” I had to warn him just like he had me.
“You’ve got some dark secret that you don’t want to share with me either?” He laughed until he looked at the expression on my face. “Oh, hell, you do.”
“It’s something that I don’t tell anyone.” He deserved to know it had nothing to do with him.
“So Ella doesn’t know either?” His forehead creased, and he frowned.
“The only two people who know are in that house.” I pointed in the direction of Kassie and Mona. “And the only reason they know is because they were there.”
“We can try to keep fighting this between us, but I don’t think we’re making much ground.” He sighed and tentatively held his hand out for mine. “I know being a jackass to you has been making me sick.”
Yeah, it wasn’t fun for me either. “I don’t know what the right answer is.”
“How about we just start with this?” He took a deep breath and gently placed my hand in his. “Will you please come to my fight tonight?”
“What?” That was probably the last thing I expected him to say. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I am.” He squeezed my hand ever so gently. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head for weeks now. I need you to be there for me and Ella.”
“You and Ella?” Crap, his sister was going to be pissed. She thrived on the fact that I wasn’t interested in him. “She won’t like this.”
“She knows what’s going on.” He licked his bottom lip and sighed. “I got her permission before coming here.”
“And she’s okay with this?” I wasn’t, but our bond had already kicked in. The buzzing was stronger now with our joined hands. Even though we both hadn’t meant to kick start it, fate was intervening once again.
“If you don’t come tonight, I’m going to get my ass kicked. Having you near me helps me stay focused.” He snorted and shook his head. “All these years, and you just waltzed in and turned my life upside down.”
“It wasn’t on purpose.” I’d rather we hadn’t met either. It would make things easier on both of us.
“Oh, I know.” He met my gaze. “And you protected my sister way better than Alec ever could. Please come so both Ella and I make it out in one piece.”
The next words that I spoke were going to change my life forever. I knew better. I’d been fighting this hard, but ”yes” fell from my lips. Our bond somehow had already begun forming. It was too late to turn back. One night couldn’t hurt. “Just let me go change real fast.”
“I’ll be waiting in the car.” He grinned at me, which made my breath catch.
I headed back into the house, already regretting my decision. Not only was it a piss-poor one, but I would never hear the end of it from my guardians. It was strange, but that was how I thought about them though they weren’t a couple. They were straight and had more action in a day than I had my entire life. But they refused to settle down with anyone because of me, which made me feel more damn guilty.
“So who was that?” I hadn’t even taken a step into the den before Kassie was already asking questions.
“The brother of one of my friends.” I cringed when I said the last word.
“Friend?” Mona closed her eyes and lifted her head toward the ceiling. “Hallelujah.”
“See, this makes me want to take my decision back.” Even though I hadn’t meant for it to happen, she had become a friend.
“No, honey.” Kassie gave me a sad smile. “We’re thrilled that you have them, and they’re wolves. You need to be around your people.”
“They’re not my people.” I wasn’t
Queen. I wished they’d stopped talking to me like I was. “I’m a human.”
“Honey, humans don’t have to go see a witch every few weeks.” Mona frowned and sighed. “In fact, they avoid them. You actively seek one out.”
“Just go have fun.” Kassie gave Mona a warning gaze. “We’ll stop teasing you. Anyway, Mona and I were thinking about going to the bar down the street and finding a couple of good lays.”
“Ew.” I felt like they were my parents, so I didn’t want to think of them like that. Yes, I may have been an adult, but I hadn’t matured that much. “Please stop.”
“We’re grown women who have needs too.” Mona snorted, getting a kick out of my reaction.
“On that note, I’m glad I decided to go.” I shook my head and bounded up the stairs.
I looked in the mirror and figured my yoga pants and shirt weren’t going to make the cut, so I began scavenging my closet. I found a pair of skinny jeans and a low-cut floral top that tied in the front. It was comfortable but low cut enough to where I wouldn’t stand out as a prude or a slut.
Running a brush through my long red hair, I glanced in the mirror. My hair always made me stand out, but I refused to dye it. It hurt to see my reflection; it was easy to tell who my parents were once the connection was made. I grabbed my makeup and quickly put it on before I began overthinking everything.
I took one last look in the mirror. My eyeliner brought out the blue more, and my lip gloss emphasized my full lips. Taking a shaky breath, I turned and marched out of the house before either Mona or Kassie could say anything else.
As I stepped outside, I stopped in my tracks.
Mason leaned against the driver’s side door of his car, looking fine as hell. His eyes scanned over me. A small grin spread across his face. “You look incredible.”
“Uh…” I glanced at the ground and bit my bottom lip. I’d received compliments like those fairly often, but they were usually by drunken idiots or guys who wanted to get into my pants. “Thanks.” I forced my head up and stared at his eyes. “Should I drive my car too?”
“Well, I asked if you’d come to my fight tonight.” He tilted his head and pointed at his car. “I wouldn’t have stayed here if I didn’t want to take you myself.”
“It’s really no problem.” I didn’t want him to feel as if he was obligated to me. We may have been mates, but that didn’t mean I wanted to control his life. “It’s fine. You’ll want to go out with your friends or something afterward.”
“Actually, no.” He chuckled hard. “I want to hang out with you.”
My heart sped up at all the implications that statement could mean. “We need to take this slow. Maybe this is a bad idea.” I began to turn around when he jogged over to me and took my hand. It was definitely a bad idea.
“I gotta admit I’m not used to working for this.” He threaded his fingers through mine.
“But I’m not asking you to.” My breath hitched, causing the words to come out as just a whisper, but the smile in his eyes told me he heard.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” He lifted his free hand and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “We can take this as slow or fast as you want.”
“But Brid–“
“Please don’t say her name again.” He winced and shook his head. “Let me be clear. From this point on, there won’t be anyone but you.” He winked at me. “Let’s just see how this goes.”
“You’re playing dirty.” He knew what he was doing.
“Whatever it takes to get you in the car.” He tugged on my hand and took a few steps backward toward his car.
“So total exclusivity?” I sounded kind of childish, but we were already in too deep to turn this around. “For both of us? This seems a little too sudden. Everyone knows you’re a womanizer.” I had to remember that. He would be fine without me. A lot better off than with me.
