Shane Lawson -
Shifter, Werewolf, Monster, Freak; I preferred the term slave.
Ever since I was a child all I ever heard was how I was unworthy of the pure werewolf bloodline. About how I was an abomination.
My father had mated with a weak bloodline, and because of my inability to shift, he refused to hand the role of Alpha to me. It seemed that I was unfit to lead a pack of wolves when I was practically human. Now Chris, he had always been envious of that fact, but it wasn't as if it mattered. I had two shifter parents and yet still I’d been punished for being a stunted shifter. My father was always threatening to rip my mate's heart from her chest. Even to this day, although only eighteen, I knew that I’d hate my father forever.
He may have been the father of two boys: one he groomed to be Alpha, the other he hid in the shadows from shame, but he didn’t deserve to be my father. Ivan Lawson was just a cruel man with a scowl on his lips and an evil glint in his eyes. And while Christopher may have been his golden boy, I made sure to save the only person I cared about when I left his brain washed pack.
My brother.
"Shane!" Vanessa's voice squealed from the other end of the phone.
"Vanessa," I chuckled at her obvious excitement; her crush towards me was minor so I never worried. Her mate would come soon, hopefully.
"Harper and I are running late but we should be at the club just after your shift ends."
I nodded to myself, "I'll see you then, doll."
She sighed through the phone before hanging up. If she wasn't so adorable I wouldn't have encouraged her school girl crush, but she was very attractive and currently unmated. Albeit, I knew I was being a bastard but I was still a hot blooded male with the libido of a werewolf. I knew as soon as her mate came along she was going to leave me high and dry, but for now we were just having a little fun.
I pushed open the employees’ door at the back of the club, looking around at the progress made over the day. There were three waitresses and a bartender working to set up the club for tonight, since Halloween was one of our biggest nights. Halloween started with the pre-adolescence dance which went from six to nine o’ clock, for anyone under the age of sixteen. Then there was an hour to prepare for the rest of the night- a night of booze, vomit, tight dresses, and erections.
We had to call in extra security for tonight to make sure underage drinking, forced sexual encounters and drunken brawls wouldn’t be an issue. Usually I would be another fierce face watching out for some wasted idiot to start something, but tonight I had the late night shift off for the West Sisters.
The blonde dynamite and the voluptuous brunette – one I could have and one I couldn’t.
The night I saw Harper standing at the end of the bar, lost in her thoughts I couldn’t just walk away. It wasn’t until I was right in front of her I could smell what she truly was, but I didn’t care. Her smile nearly knocked me off my feet, and her laugh made me want to keep her from walking away. It was a young boy crush, but for fate to kick me when I'm down again nearly killed me. She was my brother’s mate; one I can’t have, yet watch from afar.
“Hey man, can you just clean up the bar before you clock out?”
I glanced up to my left to see the new manager of the bar, Kevin – the old manager’s son. He was a brat, but he was a good business man.
“Sure,” I forced a grin.
I grabbed the ripped, over-used cloth that I had shoved in my pocket. I used it to wipe down the glass counter, and rub down some of the bottles sticky from God knows what. I ran the once white cloth under the bar tap, letting the warm water clean away some of the grime from all the soda that splashed onto the countertop during the teen’s dance. I bent down to put away the cloth and a couple of the empty bottles before I finished for the night.
I heard the sound of groans of protest as chairs were dragged to the backroom, Kevin’s shouts at the rest of the staff to hurry before they reopened for the night, along with the strained replies of obedience. I couldn’t care less. I clocked out on the computer kept under the bar, and heard the familiar click of someone lighting up the outside lights on the building.
“Shane!”
I jerked up from my crouched position, nearly hitting my head in the process, popping my head up to see who had called me. A young man with crudely dyed white hair and multiple piercings stood there with the biggest smile on his face. “Hey Mickey,” I responded, with an easy grin sliding onto my face.
Mickey was a nice kid from down the block. In the last couple years I'd seen him really bloom into a good guy. Ever since he had come out publically about his sexuality, he now seemed more confident and friendly.
“I got what you asked for,” His smile only got bigger, “I know you asked for Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean but apparently that was a popular costume this year.”
I quirked an eyebrow staring at him, waiting for him to continue, “Meaning what exactly?” I urged him on, as I walked from behind on the bar. I jerked my chin in the direction of the employee break room, giving him the signal to follow me.
“Yeah,” He nodded quickly, the bright gold ring in his nose bouncing, “Anyway, as I was saying, I had to improvise.” Mickey took a couple of quick steps forward to catch up before he lifted up a plain white bag up to me. “Hope it works for tonight.”
I reached for the paper bag, smiling in gratitude. “Thanks man, you have a goodnight, alright?”
“I plan to!” He winked at me, turning without a second glance and walking out the main doors and onto the main street.
I couldn’t help but shake my head and chuckle when it came to Mickey, he was just always so damn happy all the time.
I sauntered back into the only employee bathroom. The bathroom was the posture child for club washrooms. It had a sink falling out of the wall – pipes sticking out, a giant crack in the dirty mirror, and a toilet that looked older than anything else in the whole building. I wasn’t planning on using it for anything else but a change room.
I opened the bag to see blue and red fabric, with the Superman symbol imprinted on the front of the padded chest. I nearly laughed at Mickey’s pick, but I found it oddly flattering that he saw me as a superhero.
I spent the next ten minutes or so working on getting the costume to fit without anything coming loose or being able to clearly see my crotch. I wanted to impress, but leaving something to the imagination would be nice. What took me the longest to fix was the slight curl of my bangs. I would have to give more credit to the movie magic hair stylists due on a daily basis, since I clearly didn’t have that special gift.
“Here goes nothing,” I shrugged, glancing one last time in the mirror before entering the now bustling scene of women in skin tight clothes and men with pants straining to stay on from their obvious desire.
I heard a familiar laugh before I saw Chris walk into Bella Coola. He brushed his hands across his jeans, dusting off what appeared to be dirt. The side of his face was torn to shreds, and I knew he was dressed up as his favourite villain – Two Face.
I immediately made a bee-line towards him, nearly getting up in his face. “Where have you been?" I growled.
"Out." He snapped, without turning to meet my face.
His moody behaviour towards me was starting to get on my nerves. "Fuck man, you're never home anymore and you constantly seemed pissed off."
Chris' head, finally, snapped in my direction, his whole body tense. "Why the hell do you care?" He took a step forward, nearly brushing his chest against mine in a show of a challenge. The hair on the back of my neck rose at the threat, the Alpha blood in me stirring, but I had no choice but to back down – without a dominant wolf I was nothing but a human.
"My house, my rules," I said, mocking my beloved father's words.
"Chris! Are you coming?" A voice whined from the front door. One I recognized.
I grasped my fists tighter, glaring at Chris' blank expression. "Molly?" I hissed, feeling my body shake with anger. Every memory of our fleeting romance flashing in my mind; our lust-filled glances, to innocent touching, all the way to broken promises and shocking skeletons in our closets.
The slim redhead skipped into view after I said her name. "Oh. It's you." She whispered, bowing her head. Her once tempting hair was swept around her one shoulder in a vine of crimson curls, as her slender body was currently wrapped in a revealing green dress with random leaves and flowers decorating it – Poison Ivy. How original.
I scoffed at her act, "Don't you fucking dare pull that vulnerable shit with me. Or do you forget who let you keep your pathetic job?" My patience was about the snap as I watched her venomous hand wrap around my brother’s arm.
Molly's head moved up till her eyes met mine, a smug smirk plastered on her face. "Dear Shaney, did you forget who let you keep living your pathetic life?"
I stiffened at the veiled threat. "We made a deal."
"Yes. Yes we did, funny how you think I would honour it." Molly broke away from the possessive hold she had on Chris to stalk to her over to me. She was pressed right up against me, on her tip toes to whisper in my ear. "Since you're the one bound to protect the ones you love."
I looked away from the wicked temptress towards my younger brother. “You fucking idiot, you had a mate right there and you fall right into her hands?” I whispered, feeling a twinge of regret.
Molly’s eyes flashed as she sneered at me, before replacing it with a sickly sweet smile. “Same way I got you, wasn’t it Shane? I just seemed to be the perfect rebound girl, huh?”
I stared harder at my brother, waiting for any type of response from him. Until I saw his eyes, they were glazed over and unresponsive. I knew that look; I had seen it in my mirror a thousand times looking back at me.
"Now do you see?" She purred, making her way back to her prey.
"What did you do to him?" My voice broke as I struggled to get the words out as I nearly choked on the air I was breathing. I knew she would never kill him; she obviously needed him for something, but for what?
Molly flicked her fingers in front of Chris' face, his hand twitched slightly before he wrapped his arm around her. "Why don't you ask your father?"
A growl bubbled up from my throat and I had to grip onto the glass frame of the bar counter. I could feel the glass crack under the sudden pressure and the stabbing pain shooting up my arm as my blood started the pool in my hand.
What are you doing, you idiot – save Chris! I jerked up at the thought, swinging back around in the hopes to spot my brother or that thing. I couldn’t see them anywhere; it was as if they had vanished.
A mess of blonde hair bounced in front of my view, blocking out any chance I had of finding my brother. “Oh Shane! I finally found you,” it squealed.
I sighed, giving up on my chivalrous attempts, glancing down to see Vanessa West standing there in one of the slinkiest dresses I had seen all night. She stood there fluttering her eyelashes, pushing out her boobs with her hand on her hip. She looked hot, desperate, but hot.
“Why hello there, sweetheart,” I forced a smirk onto my face, not wanting to force my problems onto a carefree girl like this one. “Where’s your sister?” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Her once seductive smile now fell flat into a frown. “I'm sure she’s around here somewhere.” Vanessa sounded bitter, I gave her a confused look but she only brushed me off. “I thought maybe it would just be us two tonight – Harper could meet someone new.”
“Well-“I stopped short when Vanessa gave me a pointed look. “Okay.” I nodded in surrender, Harper wasn’t mine after all. I tried to quickly flip my attitude to flirtatious before I got over swept by the feeling of everlasting longing once again. “So I must say you look pretty damn delicious tonight.”
Vanessa giggled, twirling her hand through her dirty blonde locks; her mood suddenly changing as well.
“Superman, really?” Her smooth voice made my heart-rate pick up and a smile instantly light up on my face like the lovesick idiot I was.
I turned to find Harper grimacing at me, a teasing glint in her eyes. She was in nothing but a golden plated bikini, her naturally tanned skin proudly on display. I felt a rush of desire full my body, and had my hand twitching out her touch her. "Says the one dressed as Princess Leia, in the bikini that has starred in every teenage boy’s wet dream." I smirked at her, before winking, "And may I say you wear it well."
"You do the man of steel justice, as well." She replied, her glistening white teeth finally coming into view as her beautiful smile crept onto her face. She looked ten years younger when she smiled, and it scared me how much I wanted her whenever she did.
"Well, Yoda one for me, baby." I said jokingly, finally giving into my urge to touch her. I gently grabbed her braided hair between my thumb and forefinger, playing with it.
"God, not another pick-up line. I regret coming over here now."
"Go have fun!" Vanessa squeaked, causing me to flinch at her tone and accusative glare at me.
I watched Harper turn to leave, letting my eyes trail down her bare back as I watched her muscles contract and move under her flawless skin. I wanted to reach out and grab her, bring her back, put a smile back onto her face. But she wasn’t mine.
“You could have been nicer.” I snapped at her younger sister. Feeling no remorse when Vanessa pouted, she was acting like a spoiled brat. “She’s your sister for fuck’s sake.”
“I'm sorry,” Vanessa sighed, sounding genuinely sorry.
I nodded, pulling her into a hug as a saw the water started to pool in her eyes. Unmated female wolves were some of the most emotional people, and you had the handle them gently. “Hey, it’s okay.” I murmured, rubbing her back. I really did like Vanessa she was a good kid, and made me laugh, but she wasn’t her sister.
"Do you need something?" I heard Chris' voice snarl. My head snapped in the direction of his voice, feeling my stomach drop with dread.
"No, I thought you were someone else." Vanessa’s vulnerable voice answered, I could hear the fragile aspect to her voice as she talked – seconds away from breaking down.
I spend every waking minute when I'm near Harper keeping my hands to myself and making sure my thoughts stay my own. She reminded me so much of my lost mate, Hailey; she was the walking torture of another woman I couldn’t have. The day she met Chris and broke down on the side of the street because of him I wanted to strangle him, but I had never thought I'd hate my brother more than in this minute.
I broke away from Vanessa to push my way through faceless bodies to get to Harper. "Wait! Harper, I need to tell you something!"
I was going to tell her. I would risk my brother’s and my own wellbeing and give away Molly’s secret, if it meant to save Harper more heartbreak. She had suffered so much; losing her mate, twice, and raising her son alone. I couldn’t stand the thought of her crying and broken. Again.
I reached out to grab her shoulder, my fingers just barely brushing across her back. "Not now." Harper breathed her voice so low I nearly missed it.
Before I could even take a step to chase after her, I felt a hand roughly grasp my forearm and shove me back. I was pushed and tugged through hoards of people until I found myself in the back alley behind the club, the streets lined with trash and empty bottles.
“That’s enough, Chris.” I could recognise her nails-on-a-chalkboard voice anywhere. Molly.
A violent shove sent me stumbling back into the brick wall. “Molly, are you fucking crazy?”
“No, Shane – are you?” Molly flipped her hair back away from her face, frowning in disgust. “To throw away everything you’ve ever loved for some stupid bimbo?”
“I wasn’t going to-“
“Oh, give me a break.” She sighed, shaking her head before pacing back and forth slowly. “I know what you were going to tell her. Your brother really does love her, just an evil witch has put a nasty spell on him – blah blah blah, no one cares, Shane.” Sarcasm dripped off her every word, she pointing her finger out at Chris. “You stole him from your father and he isn’t very happy about that.”
I ground my teeth together at the mention of the sperm donor they called my father. “Fuck him.”
Molly stalked forward and slapped me hard on the face. The resounding crack echoed in the abandoned alleyway, and made my head snap to the side from the force.
“Don’t you dare talk about him like that.” Her fiery expression was now lit with pure hatred for me. I could see the unhealthy attachment to my father in her eyes. “When he comes, and he will, don’t think he won’t let me kill you on the spot – fucking omega.” She spat the two words at me, and then nodded her head at Chris, then me.
My brother’s gaze didn’t leave mine as he walked over to me; he looked as if he was considering something before I saw him lift a thick steel pipe. He jerked his hand forward, bashing the blunt instrument against my skull.
I felt my teeth chatter and the blood pour into my mouth as I bit onto my tongue. Black dots danced before my eyes, I could just make out the arrogant smirk plaster across Molly’s face and the blank expression on Chris’ before it all went black.
- - - -
Early Update :D I wanted to thank all my loyal readers for dealing with my erratic updating and some confusing chapters (I really should have planned this out better..)! Anywho, I have officially written out a plotline for the next couple chapters so I finally have a good idea of how I want this story to go (: Honestly, I never thought I'd have 70,000+ reads for one of my stories so thank you!! I couldn't think of any other way to thank you but updating earlier than usual :D & yes more votes/comments does mean I'll update faster. It gives me the push I need to write, but I don't want anyone to feel like they're obligated to vote!!! Vote because you love it, I'll update my story whether I get 1,000 votes or 10, don't worry (: Any thoughts about Shane's POV? His feelings for Harper? What's up with Molly and their deal? Anyone curious about the Lawson boy's dad?
Comment / Vote / Fan / Loveit / Hateit - love glandon
P.S. Come on, check out my other story? PLEASE? I'd love you forever http://www.wattpad.com/story/4133823-numb