Alessia
I looked over my shoulder one last time before tugging my jacket closer to my body, cutting across the back alley that took me straight into my Pack territory.
After escaping the club I quickly tossed my remaining shoe in the opposite direction of where I was now, in case those idiots used my own Uncle to track me down.
Because they would.
And when they did, I wanted to be as far away from them as possible.
I let out a loud breath and clouds started gathering overhead.
I was angry.
Not only because my Uncle decided to team up with the asshole who killed his niece, my best friend, but also because I had to throw away one of the last remaining objects I had left to remember her with.
"They're just shoes AJ" Serenity said in exhaustion as she laid back on my bed "Buy them if you want to."
"I can't" I whined "I made a promise to myself that I would cut back on my spending."
"You hardly spend any money" She gave me a droll look "And the money that you do spend usually goes to your charities."
I avoided her eyes "I spend money."
"If you spend money..." She let out a snicker "Than I'm a shopaholic."
I hit her with my pillow and sighed down at my laptop "Maybe I'll get them when they go on sale."
"They'll never go on sale" she plucked the laptop out of my lap and gazed down at the screen "With this brand? And this price?"
I stole my laptop back from her "A girl can dream, can't she?"
"Where would you even wear them too?" she questioned "Heels are a pain in the ass. They give you blisters and make you want to chop off your own feet at the end of the night."
"A girl should always have one pair of killer heels" I said, quoting my favorite line from one of my movies "Heels that remind you that Queens stand tall and hold their heads high."
"And you think that these heels would do that for you? You think that they'll make you feel like a Queen?"
"Yes" I sighed wistfully "Maybe..."
One Week Later
"AJ you got a package!" my brother yelled from the front porch "A package that needed a signature!"
I got up from my perch on the couch and walked curiously to my brother, who was currently rattling said package against his ear.
I snatched the package out of his hands.
"Does the package have your name on it?"
"It has my last name on it" he said reaching for it "And that counts for something."
I kicked him in the shin "This is mine. Not yours."
He stopped reaching for the package, letting out a yelp, and pouted down at me "That's not fair."
"Life isn't fair."
He shot me a look "How come no one sends me packages?"
"Probably because you're ugly" I replied, ripping open the package "And no matter how much people feel sorry for you, you're just not worth the money."
He stared at me "I hope whatever is in that package is damaged beyond recognition and can't be returned."
I snickered and pulled out the medium sized box.
When I saw the brand name on said box, the laughter died in my throat.
Attached to the lid of the box was a small crisp white envelope.
I opened the note with shaky fingers.
"Dear Cousin,
I was going to wait to announce this and give you my surprise in person, but since we're Matthews (and we don't like to wait), I figured...What the Hell!
Hopefully, with these heels, you'll let your inner Queen shine and help me maintain our Packs continuous peace and prosperity. I couldn't have asked for a better Beta or best friend.
Love,
Your Favorite Cousin (Sin, FYI!)
P.s. Shoes don't define who you are or the strength you possess. Only you can do that.
P.P.S. I still think heels are stupid."
"Holy snike" I re-read the card over and over again "I think I'm going to pass out. Or puke. Or both."
"What does it say?" EJ reached for the card "Is this a prank gift? Did someone ship you drugs on accident? Is it snakes? Did you rescue that Mexican Iguana you saw on the adoption site last week?"
He plucked the card out of my hands and read what Sin had wrote, cursing to himself softly.
I ignored him, finally opening the prettily designed box.
I nearly screeched at the sighed of the red dust cover.
I carefully unfolded the tissue paper and shot to my feet when I saw my heels, the shoes that I remembered the character in my favorite movie obsess over, sparkle at me.
I shook the memory away and was almost home free when a thunderous roar sounded above me, followed by a flash of white lightening.
I quickened my pace and was just about to cross into our Pack land when another flash of lightening hit, this time, striking the ground two feet away from me.
I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the flash, and started to take off in the opposite direction.
I didn't get very far....
Every step I took resulted in another strike of lightning hammering the ground closer and closer to me.
It was almost like said lightning was caging me in, preventing my escape.
Another round of lightening hit, this time in rapid succession behind me.
Before I had a chance to whip around and see what was happening, rough hands gripped my arms and pulled them tightly behind my back, making me stumble into a broad chest.
"If I didn't know any better" the smoky voice hissed in my ear "I'd think you're trying to get away from me sugar."
I snarled at him, thrashing in his arms, and doing everything in my power to try to get him to let me go.
The man didn't even bat an eye when I hit him in the shin multiple times.
"Let me go!" I raged
"Hmm..." he leaned down to whisper in my ear "How about no?"
I ignored both his warm breath and the shiver that went down the base of my spine at his alluring tone.
"Let me go now and we'll both walk away" I tried bargaining "No harm, no foul."
"No can do sugar plum" he gripped me harder and started walking backwards with me "You're our missing link."
"Missing link for what?" I asked in confusion, temporarily stopping my struggle "What can I possible help you with?"
"Dunno exactly" I felt him shrug "Just know that we need you."
I let out a sarcastic laugh "So taking my cousin away from us wasn't good enough?"
His grip loosened a smidge as he paused in his steps "What?"
"This is exactly what happened to my cousin" I dropped my head back and locked eyes with him "He came here with Hades and just took her. Demanded that if we did anything to follow them, or try to rescue Serenity, they would send those soul eating creatures to kill us."
His jaw clenched, those gray eyes flashing "This isn't the same."
"It is" I said, my eyes flashing "You're just too close to the situation."
"Listen" he said, spinning me around, and gazing down at me with conviction burning in his unique eyes "I don't know everything that happened to your cousin, no thanks due to the reluctance on my cousin's part, but I know that this is not the same. You will return to your family."
"How would you know?" I scoffed at him "You're a soldier. It's your job to follow his orders."
He scoffed, readjusting his grip, and dragged me backwards "I follow orders from no one."
"Could have fooled me" I muttered under my breath "You're following his orders right now."
He shot me another looked before tapping something in his ear.
"I got the girl" he said, eyes suddenly glowing as thunder sounded over our heads "Heading back now."
I dragged my feet, and dropped all my weight, forcing him to stumble to the ground with me.
"Sorry but I'm not leaving my family behind" I growled before shifting into my wolf.
He jumped away from my snarling form, gazing at me in equal parts surprise and intrigued.
"You're a Carmine wolf?" he cocked his head to the side "I haven't seen one in decades and even then, their furs weren't as vibrantly red as yours is."
I growled at him, reading myself to lunge at his body.
He braced for impact but instead of my wolf actually making contact with him, like he thought I would, I faked a left and ran right, down the empty main street.
It was a little risky, considering with how many condos and apartments there were with the T.V. lights on at this hour, but it was a risk I was willing to take in order to get away from these creeps.
Besides, if any of the humans do spot me, we'll just get the Animal control Chair to make a statement on our behalf.
"Baby, I'm the nicest out of the three!" he called loudly after me "So either you come with me willingly or Zephy is going to gag and chain you to a furniture dolly and wheel you around everywhere we go!"
Lightening flash and suddenly he was in front of me.
Instead of stopping, I increased my speed, managing to bypass him once again.
"Sugar plum" he said through gritted teeth as be appeared in front of me once again "I'm really starting to get annoyed now."
I could see the Pack border in front of me, about a hundred and five feet away from me.
I was almost home free.
Five more sprints and I was safe.
I was about to open my mouth and let out a howl to alert my Pack when suddenly, my whole body froze up and started convulsing.
I shifted immediately from my Wolf to my Human form, my body still jerking on the cold, wet cement.
He...eletrocuted me?
The idiot really electrocuted me?
I heard his footsteps before I felt him.
He bent down and drape his coat over my naked body, making sure to carefully pick up my still convulsing body in a unique bridal style carry.
"You...shocked...me?" I choked out, wincing at how much that hurt to say.
"I couldn't let you call your Pack for reinforcements" He gazed down at me sympathetically, sorrow lacing his tone "Zephyr would have destroyed them all. I saved them from his wrath."
"You're...just...like...him" I gritted out.
"No, I'm not" he said softly, barely above a whisper "I'm worse."
And somehow...something in me...made me believe him.
Because deep down, despite what I wanted to vehemently deny, that little voice inside my head started whispering two things I absolutely dreaded to come to terms with.
The first being how much of a monster he really was....how many terrible things he was capable of.
The second being that this monster..who I hated with all my being... was now considered my Mate.
The one person I was destined to spend the rest of my life with.
With those final thoughts...I promptly passed out.
Right into the arms of my psychopathic Mate.