"Two more sets of twenty pushups. C'mon, push, guys," Mickey barked from the front of the huge basement room that was our home gym. "Back to Back" by Drake was blasting from the surround-sound system speakers, and it was so loud I could barely hear Mickey's instructions. All of the men in the pack were lined up behind Mickey, in three rows of five, which left me in the very back all alone. As if being the only girl wasn't bad enough, I was also making a complete fool of myself. While they hammered out forty more pushups by the end of the song, I could only manage to crank out seven very shaky reps before my arms gave out and I collapsed on my stomach.
"Okay, get some water. We'll hit the weights and then go for a cooldown run before dinner," Mickey announced as everyone stood up and stretched while they made their way upstairs to get water from the kitchen, where the pack women were busy preparing dinner. Cooldown run?!
I stayed down, rolling onto my back and throwing my aching arms over my face while I let out an enormous groan. Fuck this. Fuck working out. Who needs fitness and muscles and the strength to defend themselves anyway?
I felt Mickey's presence even before he reached down to pull my arms off my face. His hands closed around mine, and he gave me a light tug to help me to my feet. Unsurprisingly, I didn't even budge. He was still wearing his tight black Under Armour shirt and matching black shorts, and he looked like a sexy Secret Service agent or something. His wavy hair was getting kind of long, and was damp with sweat and tucked behind his ears like mine. Pink tinged his cheeks, but I knew first-hand how extreme Mickey's stamina was, so it didn't surprise me that he appeared to have barely exerted any energy.
"C'mon, you need to stay hydrated. Let's go get some water." He tugged again.
"Nooo," I moaned, pouting at him and struggling to keep my head from lolling around my shoulders like a spineless doll. "Leave me to die."
A smile spread across Mickey's face, and he started to laugh. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure you did better than you think you did."
Now it was my turn to laugh. "Ha! You clearly weren't watching me then. I could barely keep up with your pace and my body feels like a charred pile of bones."
"All I Do Is Win" came on next, and I couldn't help the smile that pulled up the corners of my lips. I wasn't much of a rap fan, but this song never failed to amuse me.
"Well I seem to remember a girl who had no problem keeping up with my pace a couple nights ago." Mickey's voice had deepened significantly, and the huskiness shot straight to my already-tightening pussy. I groaned, tugging on his hands where they still held mine until he'd lowered himself on top of me. I loved how big Mickey was, in every way. His broad shoulders and thick chest covered me like a blanket, and he dug his knees into the ground to keep his significant weight from crushing me.
"I prefer that kind of exercise," I whispered, widening my eyes when Mickey's pupils dilated instantly. His eyes roamed over my face, his hands tucked under my shoulders so his elbows could support his weight. I felt cradled in his arms, even though I had my back to the ground, and I wriggled around until my hands were free to grasp Mickey's muscular biceps. A thin sheet of sweat coated his skin, and my pervy mind shot straight to sex. I bet Mickey gets sweatier than this when we're having sex. I know for a fact we were both dripping in the shower--
My thoughts were cut off by Mickey's mouth attacking mine. Despite my physical exhaustion, I moaned against his tongue when it plunged past my lips and clashed with mine. Mickey's skilled mouth molded and manipulated mine until I was writhing on the ground underneath him, my pussy throbbing and my skin burning. I fisted his hair in my hands, pulling his head closer to mine and burying myself in our kiss despite the fact that I was running out of oxygen. His smell overwhelmed me, his taste consuming me, until my head began to swim and Mickey tore his lips off mine with great effort.
His face wavered in and out of my vision as I lay there, cheeks flushed and gasping for breath. The air around us felt 90 degrees hotter than it had been a minute ago.
"That....was....cruel," I panted, staring into his shining eyes when I finally had enough oxygen in my lungs to gasp out a sentence. Mickey grinned, and I noted with a pleasant shock that Mickey seemed to smile and laugh a lot more when he was interacting with me.
"Oh yeah?" he whispered, nuzzling my nose with his own. "And what about that was cruel, if I may ask?"
"I was....already....out of breath....from the workout. And you....robbed me....of my remaining....breath."
"How cruel of me," Mickey mumbled against my lips as he ducked back in for another kiss. Damn him and his werewolf recovery time. Meanwhile I was still out of breath, but when he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth I couldn't resist. I melted against him, tightening my arms around his neck and pressing my body against his as a brilliant idea popped into my head. If I get Mickey so turned on that he has to have me right this instant, we won't have to work out anymore. No weights, no run. I had to work fast though, as I was certain our five minutes were almost up and the other wolves would be back down soon.
Time to pull out all the stops. I moaned as loudly as I could manage in my breathless state, arching my back and pushing against Mickey's chest with my hands balled up into fists. I'd figured out that Mickey secretly loved when I pretended to resist him and he could dominate me. Must be one of his Alpha turn-ons, I thought wryly. True to form, Mickey let out a low growl and ground his hips against mine, letting me cop a good feel of the raging erection he was already sporting underneath his basketball shorts. Perfect.
When he moved his lips across my jaw and down my neck to suck on his favorite spot above my shoulder, I almost couldn't think straight enough to continue my plan. But then I sucked in a few breaths and clarity returned to my brain, long enough for me to snake my hand down into his shorts and grip him firmly underneath his boxers. Mickey's legs stiffened, and he groaned into the bare skin of my neck.
"Not here," he rumbled, and I felt him begin to draw back as he clearly started to recall where we were and what we were in the middle of doing. Dammit. Quickly, I gathered the precum from the bulging head of his dick and began to pump him hard and fast. Mickey's entire body tightened, every muscle flexing hard to resist the sudden onslaught of pleasure that I was giving him.
"We have to....they're gonna be back any....dammit, Benny." Mickey let out a low groan, and I opened my eyes to see his eyes clenched tightly closed and his face contorted in an effort to pull himself away from our makeout session. I had to tip him over the edge, without actually tipping him over the edge, and I knew just the thing.
"Please, Mickey. I need you. I need you so badly, I can't wait," I whispered in his ear, my lips tickling his earlobe, and he groaned again, deeper this time.
"I want you to take me up to our bedroom and throw me down on the bed and fuck me until I can't remember my own name. I want you to suck on my nipples and eat my pussy and make me beg for it. I want you to fuck me until the sun rises....fuck me until I can't walk for a week," I moaned huskily, and Mickey snapped.
With a growl, he yanked my hand out of his shorts and dug his hand into my hair, kissing me with an intensity that had me so turned on I was practically purring. Mickey's other hand gripped one of my thighs tightly and swung it around his waist as he stood us up and took the stairs two at a time, even as we made out. We passed the guys in the kitchen, just draining their cups and beginning to head back down for the rest of the workout. I assumed most of the women were in the kitchen too, but I didn't pay them a lick of attention as Mickey carried me past them and headed for the staircase.
"Hey, where are you going? We're not finished yet!" some of the guys protested, and I heard Kent's frustrated growl.
"Those two are like animals," a female voice commented with a laugh, and the subsequent roar of laughter and enthusiastic agreement followed us all the way to the fourth floor, where Mickey did indeed throw me onto the bed and fuck me until I was sure I was going to need a wheelchair.
*** *** ***
"Not a single person," I told Mickey emphatically as I leaned back in my seat and threw my hands out dramatically. "I mean, what's up with that?"
"Maybe it's just too hardcore for them." He stirred his Coke absentmindedly, watching me with his elbows on the table while I sulked. It was Friday, and he'd come to campus to have coffee with me in between my two classes of the day. When he'd asked me if I'd made any friends yet, I'd launched into a long-winded rant about how not a single person in any of my classes liked any of the music I was into. I'd mentioned Hollywood Undead, and my lab partner in Human Development had looked at me like I'd just told her I was a vampire.
"I guess....I just wish there was someone more like me. They're all preppy uptight nerds or New Age hippy progressives."
"I wonder what they say about you," Mickey joked, grinning at me as he let his eyes purposefully wander down the length of my body. I'd quickly abandoned my quest to look "normal" to make friends, and was back to my normal style. Today I had on some dark red and black ombre high waisted distressed shorts paired with a black cold-shoulder crop top. I was also wearing complicated black sandals that laced halfway up my thighs, and a dark red lipstick that complimented the red in my shorts.
"Also, I love this hairstyle on you. You should do that to your hair more often," Mickey added, reaching across the table to flick one of my stubby little pigtails. I blushed, knocking his hand away and taking several long gulps of my black coffee.
"Shut up."
"I'm serious! It's adorable."
I blushed even harder.
"So, why aren't you jetting off to another Lakers practice or workout or something?" I asked him, toying with the rim of my mug and trying to pretend Mickey hadn't just called me "adorable."
"One of the guys just had a baby, so Coach gave us the weekend off." Mickey watched me carefully as he said it, and I quickly caught my face before it could reveal my genuine reaction to the news. The truth was, I'd been thinking more and more about my future with Mickey. Our future. I wondered if we were going to get married. I wondered when we were going to get married. And most importantly, I wondered if Mickey wanted kids. If having kids was something we were obligated to do because he was the Alpha and I was the Luna.
"Oh! That's....um, that's great!" My voice sounded fake even to my own ears.
Mickey stirred the ice around in his cup a couple times.
"What would you....what would you think about, you know, us....having a baby, I mean," he said slowly, his gaze fixated on the last dredges of soda in his glass. I swallowed hard, heat rushing to my face despite my best efforts to remain cool and collected.
"Uh....I mean....now?" I hated how high my voice got on the last word, and Mickey's head shot up, his eyes wide.
"No! No, not now, of course not. But just....down the line. In the future. How do you feel about that?"
Neither of us were mentioning the fact that I'd already been pregnant with our child once before, and had promptly freaked out and drowned said baby in alcohol. My eyes squeezed shut at the memory as pain stabbed at my heart and my throat tightened. I'd grown a lot since that night, and now whenever I thought about what I'd done it made me sick to my stomach. It was the single biggest regret of my life.
"Down the line....definitely," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. Mickey grinned, and I found a smile spreading across my lips too. When I thought about being pregnant with Mickey's child and creating our own little family sometime in the future, warmth flooded my entire body and I felt like wriggling right off my chair.
Mickey's POV
"Have fun in your next class. I'll be back at two to pick you up," I said to Benny as she pushed in her chair and blew me a kiss goodbye. Ross got up from where he'd been lingering in the corner of the shop and followed her out, giving me a quick head nod of acknowledgement. I made sure to look as stern as I could to remind him of the severity of his job, and he nodded a second time before he left.
I watched her go with no shame, admiring the way her shorts lifted her cute little ass up and following those glowing brown legs until they'd disappeared around the corner. She was limping pretty hard from yesterday before dinner, but we'd had a relaxing night afterwards to make up for it. We'd mostly just laid in bed and talked until we fell asleep, and I'd massaged her legs and back to help her with the muscle soreness. Still, it put a smile on my face to see that she was still having difficulty walking today.
After leaving campus, I returned to the pack house to meet with Kent and discuss our next move with the rival pack. They'd given us one week, which was over after this weekend, and we still had no plan. Kent insisted we should attack them before they could attack us, but I wanted to keep things as peaceful as possible if we could. Besides, we were new to this city, which definitely gave them the homecourt advantage. And speaking of basketball, I couldn't risk injuring myself too severely to recover by Monday morning, or else I'd fall under some serious heat from the Lakers coaches. On the other hand, they had attacked Benny, and that rage still bubbled deep inside of me, dusted with a fierce desire to avenge her pain.
"Why don't we arrange a meeting with their Alpha so I can explain the uniqueness of our situation and reassure him that we don't intend to take over their territory?" I suggested to Kent as he reached for another sip of his bourbon. Max, Nic, Joey, and Zane were in the other room, playing video games and blasting rap music, which made it hard to focus. The energy in the pack house was buzzing as everyone was busy getting ready for the party -- the girls were upstairs doing their makeup while most of the guys were pregaming with beer and bourbon, their favorite drinks. Kent and I were the only ones trying to do some serious work, and even that seemed to be a lost cause.
"It's worth a shot," Kent admitted, throwing back his head and finishing off his bourbon. I frowned, as I realized that was his third glass and Kent wasn't much of a drinker. He wasn't much of a partier, either. And usually he would have more to say about my peaceful "let's talk it out" plan than just half-hearted support of the idea.
"Are you okay?" I asked as he got up to refill his glass.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna go get ready for the party." He exited the meeting room, carrying his tumbler with him. Get ready for the party? All I'd ever known Kent to do to prepare for a party was put on his most serious face and grab a Greek mythology book to read in the corner somewhere. Weird. I left, too, checking my phone for the first time that afternoon and cursing softly when I saw that I'd missed two calls from Benny. And several texts.
Benny: Hey I got out of PBL early, can you come pick me up?
Then, seven minutes later.
Benny: I guess you're busy or something, you're not answering. Ross said we can just walk if we don't hear from you soon
And five minutes after that.
Benny: Nevermind, Shane's giving us a ride. Be home soon
I tried to stop my thoughts from delving into the nasty, dark, jealous place they always went to when I thought of Benny and Shane spending time alone together, but I couldn't help it. I knew it was irrational because nothing had ever happened between them, but I just couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Shane had feelings for Benny. It was something about the way he looked at her...
Benny's POV
Even as I sent the message, I knew Mickey would probably be annoyed and possessive when we got home. We'd never actually discussed how he felt about my history with Shane, and his jealousy was starting to get a little extreme. Maybe I should bring it up tonight. After all, we'd been discussing having kids and starting a family only hours earlier. The least we could do is clear the air between us about Shane.
So when Shane unlocked the door and he and Ross let me in first, I wasn't at all surprised to find Mickey sitting on the bottom of the staircase, directly across the foyer. He looked to be sulking, and I gathered up my courage as I could tell this was going to be a difficult conversation. He cheered up considerably, however, when he saw that I was still limping from yesterday.
"Hey," Mickey greeted me when I was close enough for him to grab me around my waist and reel me in for a kiss. I pulled away quickly, cognizant of Shane and Ross standing behind us.
"Hey....can we talk upstairs for a minute?"
"Of course." Mickey stood and let me lead him up the four flights of stairs to our personal floor of the pack house. I headed for the TV room, and sat Mickey down beside me on the couch while I steeled myself for what I was about to say.
"So....I know it doesn't thrill you when Shane and I hang out. But we're just friends, Mickey, I swear. I know it seems weird because we slept together, but I promise you there's nothing left there--"
"WHAT?!" Mickey bellowed, jumping off the couch so fast that it was just a blur to my meager human eyes. His entire demeanor had changed in an instant; his fists were clenched, his muscles bulging, his face livid with fury. I knew instantly, with a sinking heart, what a grave mistake I had made. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck--
"YOU SLEPT WITH SHANE?!" Mickey roared, lunging forward to grab me by my shoulders and shake me. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I clutched at his hands as his grip tightened painfully.
"Mickey, it was years ago, I thought you knew already -- !"
My words fell on deaf ears as Mickey had already pushed me away from him and disappeared out of the room, yelling Shane's name at the top of his lungs.
********************************************************
hey guys!! sorry for the crazy ending, but you should be excited/nervous for the next chapter:) I initially wrote this a little bit differently before I went back through TTA and realized -- Mickey never actually found out about Benny + Shane!! so I decided to go this route instead of the one I'd originally had planned :) I hope you're intrigued! haha please vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be updating again very soon!!! xoxoxoxo