This place had a library? Man, why had I wasted time searching for a damn arcade room when I could have escaped into a whole other world?
The room was larger than I expected and vacant to my surprise. Appearing to be abandoned for a while. I guess when you had access to a room full of books everyday, the excitement grew a little tedious, but not to me. It was late in the afternoon and everyone probably had other obligations and forms of entertainment but I was grateful for the uninterrupted peace.
It didn’t take long for a book to snatch my interest, then planted my behind in a plush chair to lose myself in the pages. That was until I was scared back to reality by the ringing of my phone.
“Hello.”
“Where are you at?” my brother asked.
“I’m in the library. What’s up?”
“Are you alone?”
I glanced around. “I think so. Why?”
“Okay, I was just checking on you. Are you okay?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Did you forget I’m locked up on a werewolf compound? There’s not much of anything happening here.”
“Right,” he agreed, unimpressed with my attitude. “Weren't you going to Chug’s tonight with a few of us?”
That perked me up. “What? I can really go?”
“If you want. I’ll be there with you so I’m not too concerned with you escaping,” he attempted to joke.
“Yes! Oh man, I figured I was gonna spend two weeks getting neck cramps from reading all day. Yes, I am definitely coming tonight.”
“You're not drinking a drop,” he promised. More like warned.
I rolled my eyes again like he could see me. “Oh please. I'll just play bartender for everyone while I sip on my virgin margarita.”
“Yeah you have jokes. You're riding with me so be ready by eight.”
“Yes, sir,” I mocked in a deep voice.
The call went dead without another word.
Checking my phone, I closed the book, and decided to take it with me for later. I headed to the cafeteria for a to-go meal before I needed to return to my room and search through my wardrobe for something suitable to wear.
But while standing outside the kitchen reading and waiting patiently for my order of broccoli soup a voice caused me to jump.
“What cha’ reading?”
Startled, my body jolted. “Shit,” I mumbled, steadying my heart.
He smiled at my reaction.
My neck cranked to look up at him due to his close proximity. “It’s called The Night In.”
He cocked a brow. “Interesting cover picture,” he mused.
I twisted the book to see a shirtless man holding a shirtless woman to his chest and I willed myself not to blush in embarrassment. “It's a little cliche but it's good so far.”
He nodded, wearing a grin while his eyes stayed locked to mine. “What are you waiting for?”
My gaze fell to the floor briefly. “Some soup. They ran out on the buffet but they were supposed to be bringing me some. What are you running around getting into?” I asked to be polite.
“Grabbing some food before going out.”
Curious for more details, I asked, “Are you going to Chug’s?”
“It’s a Thursday night ritual that we meet there in support of Liam. Not that he needs the extra cash flow–he does pretty good on his own.”
I nodded before spotting the kitchen staff worker exiting through a door with my bowl of food.
“Thank you so much,” I uttered to her.
“Your welcome, dear.”
Turning to leave, my eyes found Alex’s and I offered a small smile before passing.
“Hey, Melie” he called, forcing me to stop and look back. “Are you going tonight?”
“I was planning to, yeah. It would be rude for me not to accept the invitation,” I added as an excuse for some reason.
“I’ll see you there, then.”
I nodded before turning away, biting my lip to control my stupid smile.
What was wrong with me? Why did the idea of seeing him later make me giddy? Or was it the fact that he bothered to ask me in the context that he likely was looking forward to seeing me?
Get a hold of yourself, Melanie. The first man who gave me a little attention had me in a tangle of thoughts. I had a boyfriend, so attention from anyone else was wrong and should have been repulsive.
But it wasn’t. No, instead I found myself stressing over the perfect outfit that wouldn’t perceive me as an eighteen year old little sister. I was out to impress and prove I had the ability to handle myself surrounded by a bunch of werewolves. I had been born into this life after all and just wanted it to appear like I had been present all these years.
High on my agenda list for the evening was limiting the time I spent around Ian. That was imperative, to ensure he wasn’t constantly able to remind me of my place. Especially if I wanted to enjoy myself. Of course it was disencouraging that the only people I was acquainted with were my brother's friends, so my social skills required a little greasing.
I settled for a purple long sleeve, V-neck and a pair of skinny jeans. I wore my black flats and a black leather jacket, applying just enough makeup where I could pass for twenty-one then headed out to the courtyard where Ian text to meet him.
At first sight of him, his eyes narrowed on me. “You look like you're going clubbing,” he complained.
“What?” I objected, peering down at myself. “This is very much appropriate for a bar. If I was going clubbing a lot more of something would be visible.”
“Not while I’m around,” he promised.
“Fortunately, I don't roll that way. Mom would freak out before dad even could. Then I'd really be locked in a room forever.”
“And I’d encourage them to add a padlock,” he joked as we ambled to his car.
“Are there any female friends of yours gonna be there tonight? I mean. no offense but I don't really wanna hang out with the old people.”
He ignored my insult. “I’ll introduce you to a few ladies. Liam’s mate usually brings in a crowd but I think they're all pretty old too.”
“Liam’s mate comes to his bar?”
“That's where they met.”
We both buckled up, then he turned over the ignition.
“He was telling me how she doesn’t know he’s a wolf. That should be a fun conversation,” I mused.
“She knows what he is but she hasn’t come to grips with the whole thing. Don’t be surprised if you see them avoiding each other a lot. They both keep going in damn circles. He hasn’t told her about the compound yet,” he offered as a topic.
Maybe that’s what Liam meant then.
“Poor girl.”
“Poor Liam,” he countered. “He’s the one who has to explain all this to her in hopes she doesn’t freak the hell out even more than she did when he told her he was a wolf.”
“I mean sure that’s a hard thing to handle but she’s probably thinking about how she’s been captured in a lifetime trap. Not everyone wants to spend forever on a compound with your kind. She probably wants to buy her first house, and expand her education out of state or the country, or even travel and now she’s stuck, neglecting her own wishes for a man who she’s forced to be with because of some weird mate bound.”
His silence had me wondering if I insulted him.
“I never thought of it like that,” he finally remarked.
“That’s the only way I see it. The kiss of death. I mean it's probably different and I, of course, don't personally know much about it, but I'm glad I’ll never have to worry about making that choice.”
He paused, glancing over at me with a frown. “You could still be mated, Melie,” he stated.
“I know, I know. Anyone can be mated but the possibilities of that occurring are like one in a trillion. It's not very likely. Thank goodness,” I added.
“Yeah,” was all he replied.
“Speaking of; have you stalked her lately?” I wondered, after a minute of silence.
We both knew he understood who I was referring to.
“Stalked?”
“Yeah, Ian, stalked. Unless she sensed you outside her window and discovered the truth that means you're still stalking and keeping your distance so she can’t find out the truth.”
He huffed at my tone. “She graduates college in May. Her and Evie live in a house a few miles from one of our allied packs compounds.”
“Is she still with-”
Obvious to where my question was headed, in a stern tone he snapped, “Yes.”
“I’ll never understand, I guess,” I murmured mostly to myself.
“It's complicated,” he agreed.
I huffed at that. “You make it that way. Raigen has always been into you Ian, even if you're oblivious to the fact. I’m friends with her on Facebook and she’s always posting facts on relationships in reference to what the opposite of what Robbie is doing.”
“That makes no sense,” he countered.
“Sure it does. Every woman does it in hopes that their man will see it and get a damn clue. She’s not posting those meme’s to validate that’s how she’s treated but how she wants to be. It's like woman 101.”
“Is that true?” he asked, genuinely curious.
I nodded. “Yeah. Listen to what we don’t say and you’ll be the smartest guy in the room,” I advised.
“Hmm.”
“How long are you gonna wait until you realize she has the right to know?”
“I don’t know, Melanie, I'm just going with the flow right now. I don’t want to hurt her. She’s been through so much shit like the fucked up situation as a kid. Not to mention she has been in a relationship for a few years now. Don’t you think it would be a little rude to come in and blow it to pieces? Even if you're right about the Facebook shit-I feel like too much time has passed already and she wont ever forgive me for it.”
Ian Woodlawn had just opened up to me? Aw, my awesome big bro…
“Well, fortunate for you she won’t have a choice but to be with you when she finally does discover your little secret.”
He laughed at my logic while turning the wheel to enter a parking lot.
“This is it?” I asked myself out loud.
My nerves increased instantly at the amount of vehicles in the lot.
“He does do good,” I mumbled.
“Nervous?” my brother predicted, removing the keys from the ignition.
He could sense I was and we both knew that.
“I’m not sure,” I replied thinking of a certain male that promised to be here tonight.
What was that about?
“You’ll be okay.”
Sure, I thought mere feet from reaching the front door.
Music was audible from outside the bar but upon entering the melody was instantly drowned out by a bell dinging and the uproaring cheers from the crowd. Literally everyone in the bar, bellowed-including some customers who didn’t even glance in our direction-partook in the greeting like it was routine or something. Stunned and unsure what to make of the outburst, I glanced at Ian who grinned casually at the rush of excitement.
Was that normal around here?
The smell of burgers and beer filled my senses while I continued to take in the scene. Willing myself not to scan the room for someone with green eyes.
“Rum and coke and a virgin margarita,” I heard my brother say to the pretty bartender. “Come with me,” he said, turning us around for a short couple of steps until we reached a table with a group of females. “Hey Steph,” he called over the music. “This is my little sister, Melanie,” he introduced.
“Hi,” I smiled back at her friendly face.
“Take care of her tonight, will ya?” Ian asked casually.
I could tell she was a werewolf because of her height in comparison to the other females surrounding her. She was also a little older than me but I sensed from the nature of the situation, she and Ian were good friends.
“What are you drinking?” she asked me.
“A Margarita. What’s that?” I asked about the orange liquid in her tall glass.
“It's an orange creamsicle. It tastes just like a Push Pop ice cream.”
“Hmm, that sounds delicious.”
The bell on the door rang loud and just as it did two more individuals walked in while the crowd exploded in loud cheers. Pretty much everyone chimed in simultaneously forcing me to glance around grinning.
“Does that happen every time someone comes in?” I asked my new friend.
“It's a bar rule,” she happily explained. “When Liam first opened the place, he greeted everyone like that and would encourage others in the bar to do the same. It's supposed to make you feel welcomed.”
I thought about that and loved the idea.
About twenty minutes later when the bell on the door signaled another paying customer was entering, everyone-including myself-erupted in greetings. Only my yell was cut short when the last of the four familiar men were fully through the door.
He was here!