I press my palm against the door and open it.
My best friend, Claire, is pinned against the wall and Ben is pressed against her. Benson is the future Alpha of Hill River, also Claire's mate. The sound of their kissing becomes loud.
Cringing, I turn on my heels and walk away before an adult movie premieres in that room. Downstairs, I catch another couple's intimate moment, across the living room of the house where the party is.
On the couch beside a large plant, Katie is sitting on Luke's lap and kissing him. He's the future Beta of Hill River.
My chest feels heavy and breathing becomes hard. Luke is my mate.
Claire and I are from Moore Cliff pack. We are the youngest child of Moore Cliff's Alpha and Beta, respectively. Claire's elder brother, Mike, is our future Alpha, and my elder brother, Sid, is the future Beta.
In our current situation, that is a bit of a problem.
I sidestep a pair of giggling teenagers on the stairs.
The problem is not in the fact that Claire and I are mates to werewolves of the same ranks as our brothers, but that those werewolves are from Hill River.
Turf wars, loss of lives, heartaches, and age-old enmity – that's how the relationship between Moore Cliff and Hill River can be described. The bad blood runs deep and dark.
Claire and I found out on the same day that Ben and Luke are our mates. It was in one of the parties like this. We four agreed to reject the other and go on with our lives as if we never found our mates.
That plan didn't work out so well for Claire and Ben. But whatever it is between them is still a secret. It's sort of a love-hate relationship. Claire's mood keeps switching between wanting to kill Ben and have crazy sex with him.
Luke and I are at the opposite end of that spectrum. We are as good as strangers. He and Katie started dating two years ago. He didn't stop after he found out we are mates. Why would he? We agreed to continue to be strangers.
The sound of my phone ringing pulls me out of my thoughts. It's my brother.
"Where are you?" Sid asks.
"I'm at a party Claire wanted to go. Why?"
"Go back home. Our parents will be home in an hour."
The Alpha and Beta are out of town with their spouses. Our parents' absence gave us a rare opportunity to attend parties freely. Mike and Sid are also at a party at one of their friend's house. Our Delta is like a cool uncle, so he let us go for as long as we promised to stay out of trouble.
I run back up the stairs. Eyes shut, I go near the room and say, "Claire, we gotta go. Sid called. Our parents will be home in an hour."
I hear them cuss, and in a second, I feel her hand grab my arm and pull me downstairs. We leave the house hurriedly.
––––
We and our brothers reach home, our packhouse, on time. Ten minutes late and we would've been in trouble.
Feeling grateful for the close escape and hurtful from the memory of seeing Luke and Katie kiss, I fall asleep in my room with mixed feelings.
Not long after, I feel something heavy looming over me.
"Rose." I hear someone whisper my name. "Rosieee." The sound increases. "Rose!"
I snap open my eyes and see Claire bent over me. She's breathing heavily. "What?" I say half asleep.
