© 2015 by Nique Joaquin. All rights reserved.
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There was nothing but darkness and silence.
I knew my eyes were open. But there was nothing for me to see. Just darkness.
Until I felt a warmth surge from my chest and I felt a pull so strong that it almost forced me back.
I gasped.
I broke into fitting coughs and opened my eyes to find myself in the living room. Ari stared down at me and I realized- I was bent over on the floor.
"Shít." Jasper blurted, my eyes snapping to his figure in the corner. "Elair, your eyes... they're blood red."
"What?" I snap and I catch my reflection on a small mirror hanging on the wall.
They were red. I turned my heel to leave but I crashed into someone. Maddox stood in front of me and held me in my place. I sighed loudly.
"Follow me." Maddox says as he takes my hand and leads me off. Leaving Ari and Jasper behind in the pack house.
Maddox brings me to a clearing in the forest before letting my hand go. He walks across me and faces me before coming into a fighting position. I arch a brow at him.
"The hell are you doing?" I ask.
"Let it out." Maddox says and I roll my eyes.
"I have nothing to 'let out', Cross." I say and he shakes his head before swinging one of his arms at me. I dodge it quickly and I realize that he's going all out.
"Elair." Maddox calls me and I groan as I get into my own fighting stance.
Maddox launches a punch headed straight at my face and I dodge it by going down low and jumping behind him. I swiftly lift my right foot for a high kick but Maddox blocks it with his left arm. I duck when I see his right arm swings back for another hit, his right foot also goes up for a kick and I quickly dodge to the left. I get behind him and release a heavy breath, watching the mist form in front of my mouth.
Maddox turns quickly and faces me with a calm demeanour. With one quick move, Maddox uses his his arms to grab at my shoulders and I know he's about to knee me in the stomach. I use my arms to hold on to Maddox before swinging my legs up and kicking him off of me. The sound of his back hitting the trees echoes around us and I groan as I land with one knee on the ground. He wasn't using full force now, and I watched as he got back into position.
Maddox begins to make a run towards me and I immediately prepare myself for the hit. He gets close and I jump from my position swinging my legs so that they wrap around the top of his head. I use the force of my weight to shift his balance. But he resists and I end up swinging up to get off of him. My legs are in the air as I land from a backwards jump.
He immediately turns, grabs my arm and hurls me towards him. I crash into his chest and stop moving as I feel the warmth of our bodies clash with each other's.
"Better?" He asks me and I groan as I push him away.
"I was fine."
"You say the opposite of what you mean." He retorts before taking my hand. I'm about to pull my hand from his when I hear the sound of footsteps.
"Alpha Cross." Someone calls out, we turn and face the source, but Maddox's arms are still around me, trapping me in his embrace.
I watch as Winter, Mason, Jill, and Gwen make their way over to me along with three other teenagers I didn't recognize.
"Hey Luna!" Jill and Gwen greet happily. I roll my eyes before turning in Maddox's arms so that his hands are at my hip instead of my back. I would probably never get used to being called Luna.
"We were wondering if you two were ready to go." Gwen says, I look at Maddox, who gives me a look that says I have his permission, and nod.
"Yeah, we're good." I say with a shrug and Maddox further snakes his right arm around my waist while removing his left arm.
"Oh yeah, these guys are Dennis, Carter, and Roger. Dennis is my brother." Jill says and a brown haired teen walks up to me with a smile. "Dennis is mute, if you were wondering." Jill explains casually, I arch a brow and look at Maddox. He gives me a look that tells me I should ask my questions later and I sigh as I muster up a smile.
"You good, Winter?" I ask and she grins widely at me.
Winter had pixie-cut hair that was dyed completely white. Her eyes were brown and she had a kind smile- and killer moves. I remember training her hand-to-hand and this girl could handle herself. She was pretty good for a 17-year-old.
"Yup, it's pretty weird still. But I'm good." She says with a smile, the mark on her neck was on proud display with the white crop top she wore.
Ugh. I was jealous. Damn it. I wanted to wear crop tops too. Stupid Maddox and his marking tendencies. Winter blushes and I realize it's because I've been staring at her mark and she fidgets.
"Is it weird that we went straight on?" She asks and I shrug.
"It's really up to you and as long as you're happy, then so am I." I say with a smile, Winter grins.
"Thanks, Luna." She says and I sigh.
"You can just call me Elair. You're the Beta's mate, after all." I say and Winter nods her head, then looks to Maddox for permission and he nods in response as well.
"Well, shall we go?" Winter asks and I smile.
"Sure."
***
1 hour and 20 minutes later, I find myself in Portland, at Bridgeport Village. Does it ever occur to anyone that we could just go shopping at the local depot? I watch the teens run around with Winter- since she's technically still a teen- while Maddox and I walk together.
"Want anything?" I ask him and he shakes his head silently. "Okay then." I mutter. I spot a coffee stand and immediately walk over to it, Maddox follows me as I order two cups of coffee. He pays for it wordlessly and I hand him the other cup.
We sit on a nearby bench before I smell something out of the ordinary.
"What's wrong?" Maddox asks and I sigh.
"Wait a second." I tell him before I stand up and sniff the air.
Yep. Weird is definitely right.
"The hell..." I mutter, I close my eyes and listen closely.
I single out a voice I recognize and growl.
"Elair." Maddox calls but I feel my anger boil through my veins. I put the cup down and look around.
A mop of familiar blonde hair catches my eyes and I stalk over to it. Sure enough, there, stands my brother, Vaughn. I see his eyes widen in surprise and his mouth open to begin some sort of explanation. He's with two other members of the pack and I pull my fist back and, as quickly as I can, punch him straight in the face. The event takes place so fast that no one notices as he stumbles backward, caressing his face with his hands. My fist stings a bit from the impact but it's nothing too unbearable. Not when I was angry.
"Ow!" Vaughn complains and I roll my eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I hiss. "Actually, what the hell are all of you doing here?!" I ask, infuriated and demanding an immediate answer, and I feel Maddox's presence behind me.
"Well... we were sort of looking for you." One of the wolves says and I groan.
"Are you all idiots? What if you crossed territories? You barely know how to stay in line back in Blood Moon." I scold the two wolves look down as Vaughn regains a steady balance.
"Is it so bad to visit?" Vaughn asks and I roll my eyes.
"Vaughn." I call and he raises his eyebrows. "Shut up before I knock you out. I'm not stupid, visits to other territory no matter whose are supposed to be announced." I snap and he nods his head obediently.
"Sorry... We just wanted to know if you were doing okay." He says and I sigh.
"Phones, Vaughn. They exist now. Call me." I say and he bites his lip.
"But Ender said-"
"What has Ender got to do with this?" I ask before smacking my own forehead. "Give me your phone." I tell Vaughn.
"O-okay." Vaughn mutters before reaching into his pocket and giving it to me. I unlock it with ease before dialing Ender's number.
"Hey Vaughn, have you found her-" Ender's voice greets and I growl lowly into the phone. I hear him choke on his breath.
"Ender, the next time you want to know how I am, be a normal brother and call me. Don't send a goddamn search party... Especially not a group of three teenaged wolves." I hiss and I feel Maddox's arm snake around my waist, allowing me to focus on something other than the rising anger at my two foolish brothers.
"Sorry about that... But can you really blame me?" Ender says through the phone and I fight the urge to crush it in my hands.
"Ender, if you were in front of me I would knee your balls so hard you're going to go straight to hell and back." I threaten.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not-" Before he can respond, I sniff the air and walk towards Vaughn. I take a whiff of his scent before growling.
"Jesus Christ, Ender I swear to God if you are anywhere near Oregon I will snap your neck and bleed you out." I hiss and Ender lets out a weak laugh.
"...On a scale of 1 to 10, how angry will you get if I was totally in Oregon-"
"100." I snap but before I can act or say anything else, Maddox takes the phone from me and hands it to Vaughn.
"They can stay at the pack house until they choose to leave." Maddox tells me and I sigh before looking over at Vaughn.
"I swear to God, Vaughn. I will murder both you and Ender if you guys try something this reckless again." I say and I watch as Vaughn's gaze lands on Maddox's arm that's around me.
Didn't think you really were mates. Sorry. Vaughn mind-linked. I rolled my eyes.
Well, we are. I respond, well... It's not like I can really tell them the complicated things about my mate bond.
My family would freak. And Ender... Ender would probably end up bringing an army- or a search party, whichever one locates the crazy fuck-head that "owns" me fastest.
"Do you think we could go ahead?" I ask Maddox, I was beginning to get bored out of my mind anyways. Maddox is about to respond when I hear Winter call out to me.
"Elair!" I turn to look at her and find that she has two shopping bags in her hands.
"Yeah?" I respond and Winter grins.
"Do you mind if you come with me to buy a few things? I need your help." Winter says with a soft blush and I look at Maddox and Vaughn. Winter notices my brother and her eyes widen.
"Vaughn? What the hell are you doing here?" She asks and Vaughn rolls his eyes. "Okay, never mind I asked. I'm sure I can find out later." Winter says before linking our arms together. She has a mischievous look in her eyes before she easily takes me away from Maddox and walks off.
"Must be fun having such protective brothers to watch over you." Winter says with a chuckle and I roll my eyes.
"Kill me." I mutter before walking off with her.
***
"I'm not trying something like that on. Even if it is over my clothes." I say and Winter groans.
"Come on... it'll be fun!" Winter says excitedly and I roll my eyes.
She's been trying to get me to buy lingerie for the past hour. I've already got a million pieces of lingerie in my closet. I didn't need more- and it's not like Maddox and I are mated yet. And I have no intentions of-
"You know, one way or another you're gonna run out of stuff to wear." Winter says and I arch a brow.
"Please don't tell me you and Jasper screw like bunnies. Because that paints an image I did not need to see." I say and Winter laughs.
"I'm just saying, won't it be fun to tease your mate?"
"It's not like I don't already." I mutter. I mean... I've been teasing him since my little shenanigan in the blue nightie- and last night was pretty intense enough.
"Fine. But at least buy something for yourself if not for him." Winter says and I sigh as I look around. I move away from lingerie and grin when I find something that I finally would wear. "Oh. Well, that works too." Winter comments with a sly grin on her face.
"Uh huh." I with a smile.
Oh payback for all those hickeys is going to be so much fun.