I opened the door a sliver to see Conner, Jake, and Max backed up against the wall. "You can come out, now. We promise not to move until you say we can." Jake murmured. I stepped out cautiously and backed away.
Max suddenly jumped of the wall and tried to run towards me. Conner grabbed him and threw him against the wall then grabbed me and raced into what I assumed to be his room. I backed away from him as he locked the door.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked. "Mating with you, of course." He answered. "It isn't a full moon, so you shouldn't be like this." I whimpered. "It's a blue moon." He said as he came closer to me with a smirk on his face.
The door suddenly burst open to Max. He rushed me out to his room and bolted the door. He pounced on me and we landed on his bed. "Max....." I whimpered. I heard thudding coming from the door and it broke down.
Jake was on the other side. He ran to us, threw Max off me, picked me up bridle style and carried me to his room. He shut the door and switched on a lamp. The bookcase in his room began to slide out of place and behind it was a door.
Jake opened the door and walked inside with me. The door shut and I heard the bookcase moving back. He turned on a light and placed me down on a bed. "Calm down. It's OK. Don't cry. I won't hurt you." He murmured and stroked my cheek.
"W-What ar-re y-you goin-g to d-do to m-me?" I hadn't realized I was crying. "Nothing. Just relax." He told me while moving stray strands of hair from my face. "Don't yo-u fe-el the pull of the m-moon?" I asked.
He shook his head. "This room prevents the moon from getting to me." He answered. "S-So you don't want to do anything with me?" I asked. "Well, I wouldn't say that. I still want you, but I won't try anything." He said gently.
Jake stroked my hair and kissed my cheeks, catching my tears with his lips before they fell off my face. "Relax, OK? You sleep here, I'll take the couch." He said and kissed me on my forehead good night.
It was a king sized bed and was very lonely. "Jake?" I whispered. "Yeah, angel?" He replied. "Will you come lay in the bed?" I asked quietly. No response. I figured he thought I was crazy and went back to bed. Then I felt the other side of the bed dip down. "Don't worry, I'll stay on my side." I heard a smile in his voice.
"Good, if I wake up with both of us clothes-less, well, let's just say, you'll have to deal with Neka." I joked. I heard him whimper in fear. "Please, no! She scares me! I promise I won't do anything!" He told me. I smiled and turned to look at him.
He was smiling at me with amusement evident in his eyes. "Seriously, though, she does scare me." He told me. "I'll remember that." I smiled. He chuckled and played with my tail, sending involuntary shivers down my back.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm the first guy you let get this close to you?" He asked. "Maybe because you are." I mumbled. "Can you explain?" He asked. "I'm very sure I could, but that doesn't mean I will." I told him.
He smiled and shook his head. "So, is that a no?" He asked. "No." I replied. "Then what is it?" He asked, utterly confused. " It's a 'Maybe later'." I answered as he stroked my arm. "I'll hold you to that." He said before I allowed myself to be consumed by darkness.
~*~*~
When I woke up, Jake was sitting on the couch. "Ready to go eat? I won't let anyone touch you. I'll punch them if they look at you, OK?" He asked. I nodded and got up, following him out.
Neka practically attacked me when I got down there. "Are you okay? What did he do to you? If he tried anything... I swear, I'll--" I cut her off. "I'm fine. He didn't touch me. Just Connor and Max..." I told her, her ears were flat at this point.
"I'll kill both of you.." She said, walked over to them, and whacked both of them. I saw Marq chuckle, I'd never even seen him smile before. I wasn't exactly comfortable, but, I didn't run. I walked to all the food on the island and put some on a plate.
I hurried to mine and Neka's room to eat. Not coming out here for a while. I thought as I shut the door and began to eat. I just sat in my bed for the rest of the day and watched TV. Neka came up later, Marq with her. "Wanna play video games with us?" They said in unison and both tinted red and smiled.
I shook my head. "I think I'll go outside and walk around a bit." I said and went out to the garden. There was a large pool in the middle. I never learned how to swim, courtesy of Master Dren. The time was right to learn. It was summer after all. Maybe Neka could teach me.
I walked around a bit and went back inside. Alpha Mirabella was busy in the kitchen with dinner. I decided to give her a hand. "So, I was thinking 'Mirabella, it's been so long since you took Neka shopping, and Ruby needs clothes, so why not take them shopping tomorrow?'. What do you think?" She said to me.
"Sounds good." I replied softly. "Great! I'll go tell my mate." She squealed like a teen-aged girl and ran off. I laughed slightly and continued to work. A pair of hands suddenly snaked their way around me and slid up and down my torso. "You smell good." A voice whispered; Conner. I wriggled to try to get away from him but it didn't work.
He kissed his way up my neck and nibbled my earlobe. "Please, stop." I whispered. "I won't hurt you. I just wanna love you." He said as he inhaled my scent. I was so scared, I was on the verge of tears. "Conner! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" A feminine voice yelled. I recognized it as Neka.
Conner was suddenly ripped off me. I turned to see Marq had him pinned down. "Th-Thanks, Marq." I said hoarsely before running up to a random room and locking myself inside. To my relief, it was empty. I sat on the bed and let my tears fall.
There was suddenly a knock on the door. "Ruby? You in there?" Neka's voice. "No!" I called back. "Ruby." She complained and I heard her pick the lock. She came in and wrapped me in a hug. "It's OK. Guys are just stupid." She said.
"Hey!" Said and offended voice from the doorway. We looked up to see Marq. "Except you, Marq." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Whelp, this is my room, so I will sit on the floor and read.." He grabbed a book from his endless piles of books and sat on the wood floor and began reading.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave." I said and left to the garden. I had a feeling I was going to be spending a lot of time there. I laid on one of the chairs and stared up at the sky now filled with stars. They were so pretty, I barely got to see them when I lived with Master Dren. Neka came out later and sat on the ground by me. "Hi." She said.
"Hey. What is it?" I asked. "Marq is reading and I am bored." She said. "Oh, well, you won't be entertained by me unless you like looking at stars." I told her. "I used to dream of going to the moon to be away from my uncle..." She said softly.
"Why just stop there? You could go as far as you want. You just need to stop worrying, fearing, and cowaring from the world. Do that, you won't get anywhere in life. The stars go as far as they like without stopping just because of obstacles. They extent to the ends of the universe." I said, thinking I sounded so cheesy. "Then why are you scared of the boys? "She asked, a little bit of annoyance in her voice. She had her ears flattened.
"Cause, I sound so cheesy and I don't take my own advice. Not sure why, though. Jake isn't all that bad. Max is a pervert. Marq has you so I'm not petrified to be with him. And Conner.....I have a seriously strong feeling that he will take whatever chance he gets to mate with me. Whether I want to or not." I replied. "I told you, I'll kill them if they touch you." She told me.
"Well then, I'd better go tell Alpha Russel and Alpha Mirabella to start planning Conner's funeral." I muttered. She giggled, "Yes, you better. But there won't be a body...See, I have everything planned out if I murder someone." She grinned evilly. "You scare me..." I said. "I know. I scare everyone. Except Marq..." She sighed dreamily.
"So, how are things between you two?" I asked curiously. "Great, great... But can I tell you a secret I haven't even told Marq yet?" She asked. "Yes, of course." I said. She lead me a long ways away from the house, "I might be pregnant..." She whispered.
I squealed in delight. "That's awesome! Alpha Mirabella might have some tests you can use to be for sure." I told her. "NO! You can't tell anyone... Marq is going to collage and I don't want this to hold him back..." She said guiltily. I sighed.
"I think the Alphas have a right to know if they're going to be grandparents. As does Marq since he's the father." I said to her." Then I'll leave and no one will know. Forget I said anything." She said, her ears folded back. "Fine, I promise on my life I won't tell anyone. I do know a way you can see if you actually are, though." I said to her.
"How?" She asked. "Tomorrow, Alpha Mirabella is taking us shopping. You can buy a test and see if you are or not without anyone knowing. I've been doing chores and I have a little more than $50, so you can use that to buy it." I told her. She smiled. "Thanks." She said appreciatively. "Any time." I said and smiled back.
~*~*~
When I woke the next morning, Neka was already dressed and walking around the room. "Neka?" I said sleepily. She looked at me and smiled. "Time to go shopping. You can borrow some of my clothes to wear." She told me.
I yawned, nodded, and dressed in a simple t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. We walked down to the kitchen and found Alpha Mirabella waiting for us. She grabbed our hands and raced out the door to her car.
Neka went off to probably buy her a test and Alpha Mirabella took me to nearly every clothing store there was. We met up with Neka in the food court and ate. It was a good thing the town was only inhabited by werewolves, else, people would've freaked out when they saw Neka and me.
After a bit more shopping, we went to the park and just hung out. Later, Alpha Mirabella took us to a restaurant for dinner and everything was delicious. When we got home, it was late. We bid our hostess good-night and went to our room.
Neka went into the bathroom to use a test while I waited for her. When she came out, her face was full of happiness, pride, shock, and love. "What is it?" I asked. Her face broke out into a grin. "It's positive!" She exclaimed. I ran over and hugged her.
"Now, you do realize people will find out eventually, right? I mean, your stomach wil grow." I said to her. She nodded. "I have at least three months before the effects start to show. Other than morning sickness, of course." She said.
"That gives Marq time to go to collage. That's good. But this also means you can't do too much activity, or you risk losing the baby." I told her. "Yeah. I don't want that. How do you think Marq will react when he finds out the baby is his?" She asked.
"I don't know, but male werewolves take great pride in looking after and protecting his mate and child. So, I think he'll be happy." I told her. She smiled and we went to sleep.
~*~*~
The next morning, Marq was sitting on the bed playing with Neka's hair while she slept. "I'm not a stalker." He said softly. "Why are you in here this early?" I asked, sleep evident in my voice. "I can be. It's my house, I've been here the longest." He said. Neka reached up and slapped him, "Stalker." She said. "Nah uh." He said and kissed her forehead.
"You've never been in here this early in the morning, unless I was asleep, which I highly doubt." I stated. "Yes, you were asleep. I get up at 4 am every day and stalk you. No, I don't. I hate mornings. And morning people. And most people..." He said jokingly.
I gave him a poker face and went to play with Hunter. I knew he was already up because he woke up at seven every morning. "What is Marq doing? I wanna play with Marq. He never plays with me." Hunter whined, I went to the room and told Marq. He went to play with Hunter.
"Ruby! Can you come to my study for a moment?" Alpha Russel's voice boomed through the house. I took in a deep breath and walked to my apparent destination. I knocked on the door. "Come in." His voice said.
I entered to find the Alpha and his sons, aside from Hunter and Marq. "Yes, Alpha?" I questioned. "I was wondering, what problems do you see in my sons that make you try to avoid them?" He asked. I gulped. "The truth?" I said in a weak voice. He nodded. "The truth."
I took in a slow breath. "Maxisapervert, I'mprettysure--" He cut me off. "Slow down." He stated. I sighed. "Max is a pervert. I'm pretty sure Conner will take any chance he can to mate with me, in fact, he's proved that. Jake really isn't all that bad." I mumbled. "I see." Alpha Russel said.
"I am NOT a pervert!" Max yelled. "I would NEVER do something like that to you!" Conner defended. Jake simply smiled at me. Max and Conner continued yelling and I coward back. "Stop that!" Jake came to my defense.
"I...uh....just, um...gonna go..." I muttered and went to my room to change. I took a shower and put on a green tank top, denim shorts, and some black flip flops. I headed out to the garden and stuck my feet in the pool. "If you want, we could go for a swim." A voice said behind me. I turned my head to see Jake.
"I can't swim." I admitted. "I could teach you. I assume my mom bought you a swimsuit while you three were out shopping yesterday?" He said. I nodded. "Alpright, let's go change." He said. We went inside and changed.
I got on my green bikini and wrapped a large towel around me then headed out to the pool in the garden. Jake was already out there in a pair of green swimming trunks. I chuckled. "We're matching." I told him. "Really? Drop your towel. You can't learn if you're not in the water." He said and jumped in.
I sighed and dropped my towel. Jake's eyes grew deep with lust and he gave me a wolf whistle. I blushed and hid myself with the towel again. "No! Get in the water!" He groaned. I laughed and sat on the pool steps. "You can stand up in the shallow end." He pulled me to him and placed me down on the shallow end's bottom.
"See? Now, let's start with the basics."