Riley's POV
I braced myself, ready for the door to open.
It clicked and swung open.
"Hey Riley." Ashton greeted, sending me a smile.
I mentally let out a sigh of relief and let a smile of my own slip onto my face.
"Hey." I walked to him and went on my toes to peck him on the lips.
He was stunned when I pulled away. I grinned and skipped by him. However, I didn't get far because his hand caught my wrist and pulled me back to him. He turned me around and placed his lips back on mine.
I kissed him back, tangling my hands in his hair. His arms snaked around my waist, bringing me closer. I quickly pulled away before his tongue could ask for entrance.
He groaned as I giggled and ran to the kitchen.
I was tackled to the floor before I could place my foot on the kitchen ground.
The thirteen-year-old girl on top of me was giggling wildly.
"Hey Riley," Jessica chirped.
"Hi Jessica." I groaned out.
She got off and I noticed another girl beside her. She had wild fiery red hair and really pale green eyes.
"Hi," the red head said smiling. She was much more tame than Jessica. "I'm Penny."
I got off the floor and offered her my hand. She took it and gave it a firm shake.
"This is Riley, Ashton's crush and now his girlfriend. Riley, this if my best friend, Penelope." Penelope gave Jessica a harsh glare.
"It's Penny." She stated.
"Penelope prefers to be called Penny." Jessica said, emphasizing Penelope.
I jumped as a hand grabbed mine. "So you've met the two devils." Ashton said, playfully glaring at Jessica and Penny.
Penny had a tinge of pink on her cheeks and she looked away. I raised my eyebrow, surprised.
Then I followed Ashton into the kitchen. "I think Penny has a crush on you." I whispered into Ashton's ear.
He chuckled. "So I've heard."
"Aww," a voice said from ahead of me. I beamed as Hayley and Terran came.
"Hello Hayley, Terran." I said smiling.
"Don't they look adorable, Terri?" Hayley cooed.
Terran looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. "Um...."
Ashton snorted. "Terri? Seriously?"
Terran shot his son a glare. "Don't make me use the middle name, Ashton."
"What's the middle name?" I asked, curious.
Hayley grinned.
"Mom..." Ashton warned.
"Ashton Bryan Slade." Hayley practically shouted.
I looked at Ashton. "That isn't so bad... Did you know that your initials say abs?"
Ashton's face twisted into a scowl. "I know."
Hayley laughed.
"Hey Riley." Nathan said patting me on the head. I slapped his hand away and ran my hand through my hair to smooth it down.
"I'm going for a jog. So see you in a few." He waved and ran out of the backdoor.
"So...where's Erin?" I tried bringing her up casually.
"She went to visit her grandparents." Ashton said, leading me to the dining room.
I mentally did a happy dance.
Ashton planted me on the chair next to him. The same chair I sat on from the last family dinner. Jessica sat next to me and Penny settled beside her.
We were halfway through the food when the backdoor slammed open. All our heads snapped to Nathan who, by the way was half naked and bloody.
Terran and Brandon stood up, suddenly serious.
"There is a rouge attack to the west." Nathan said with wide eyes.
Terran did some quick orders to the people and they all ran out the door, stripping.
Ashton sent Jessica a look and she nodded, gripping my hand.
He was about to leave when I grabbed his arm. A rouge attack? Doesn't rouge mean lone wolf? are they werewolves?
He turned. "Riley, I have to go. Stay with Jessica. She'll be able to protect you."
Before he could go, I gave him a quick kiss. "Don't die." I said, worry in my voice.
He looked surprised for a second then nodded and ran out.
"Come on Riley!" Jessica tugged on my arm. We ran down to the basement and I noticed the women and children following.
Jessica passed me to Sophie who continued to pull me away from the dining room. Just before Jessica went out of sight, I saw her raise her hands and the door shut behind us, locking it.
She was on the other side.
"Wait!" I shrieked.
"What?" Sophie asked.
"Jessica. She's on the other side." Sophie cursed and told Sarah to get her.
We stood in a dark room, you could barely see anything. Sophie got on her knees and lifted the rug, showing a trapdoor.
She opened it and ushered everyone in. I was still confused by the time Sarah came in.
"She won't open the door, Sophie." Sarah said.
Sophie let out a string of curse words and ran her hand through her hair in frustration.
"We can't tell the boys. They will be too distracted. Let's hope she can survive."
I awkwardly cleared my throat. Did they forget I was standing right here?
Sophie sent me a nervous smile. "So... Riley... We have a lot of explaining to do don't we?"
I nodded. "Yup. And you can start with what are you and why rouges are attacking you."
-
Ashton's POV
I ran out the backdoor and didn't bother to take my clothes off as I shifted. Once my paws touched the ground, I took off at full speed to the west side of my territory.
When I got there, there already were tons of wolves attacking. There were some dead ones on the ground.
I spotted the nearest wolf that was being outnumbered by three rouges. I ran towards him and tackled one of the rouges. It growled in surprise and lifted its paw to scratch my face.
I jumped off him and when he got up, I pounced on him. I dug my claws into his back and hung on as he thrashed under me.
I clamped my jaw on his neck and bit down hard. He ran me into the nearest tree, which made me lose my grip on him.
He turned to face me, but I was faster and leaped forward, ripping his throat out.
His dead body fell down with a thud and I bounded off to help others.
I finished off my fifth rouge when a new smell filled the air.
I growled and scanned the perimeter. My eyes zeroed in on Jessica who was surrounded by rouges.
Why isn't there anyone helping her?! And more importantly, why can't she obey orders?
I ran towards her. Her scared and determined face flashing in my mind. She managed to reduce the number of rouges around her, but she wasn't going to last for long.
I was almost there when I was tackled to the ground.
I growled viciously at my attacker and wrestled with him for a while.
When I finished him, I looked for Jessica again. I saw her lying on the ground, unconscious. The rouges were advancing on her. I panicked and ran as fast as I could.
Before I could lunge at the nearest rouge, another wolf sprung into the circle.
It was a young rouge.
He was black and white. He growled at the other rouges who looked genuinely confused.
He crouched over Jessica protectively and growled again. They growled back, but left him alone.
I got closer and when he saw me, he growled like he did for the others.
I snarled at him. He whimpered softly but stayed on top of Jessica.
Jessica groaned and the wolf stole a quick glance at her and then looking back at me cautiously.
I didn't miss the look of worry and care in his eyes, though.
Then I knew. He was Jessica's mate.
Oh, Jessica. You lucky butt. You get your mate so soon.
I was about to pounce on him when another wolf tackled Jessica's mate to the ground.
He bared his teeth at the wolf who tackled him. The rouge gave him a hard look as if telling him that they were going. Jessica's mate took one last longing look at her before they ran into the woods.
I looked around and noticed that all the surviving rouges were retreating.
Some of my pack members chased after them.
I shifted and scooped Jessica up in my arms. Jake and Austin ran to me with worried looks on their faces.
"What happened?" Jake asked.
"Jessica came out to help again." I decided not to tell anyone about her newfound mate. I'll wait for a while before I spill the beans.
"Mom's gonna be so mad." Austin said.
Brandon appeared next to me. He sighed. "Why does she always sneak out?"
"She grew up with boys. Of course she would grow up to be one of the guys." I said walking home.
"So it's our fault we got her hurt?" Jake asked.
"Technically, yes." Austin said.
We were at the outline of our backyard when Brandon tossed us some basketball shorts.
We put them on and then the backdoor opened and mates and children streamed out.
My mother was the first to reach us. She immediately examined Jessica's face, seeing a few cuts and scrapes. She ignored us and took Jessica's body from me.
We were used to that. My mother always cared about Jessica more because she was younger and a girl. Jake was jealous at first, but he had gotten used to it when Carly started coming through the door.
Sophie was the first one to reach us she ran to Brandon and gave him a kiss.
Then Sarah and Carly.
I began worrying when I didn't see Riley.
"Where's Riley?" I asked Sophie.
Sophie open her mouth to answer, but the door opened.
Riley's head peaked out. She scanned the crowd of people before her eyes landed on me.
She smiled brightly and shoved the door open. She sprinted to me and engulfed me in a hug.
"You're alive." She breathed out.
I chuckled. "Yes, I am."
"Why didn't you tell me you were a werewolf?" She asked next.
I sighed and kissed the top of her head. "I thought I would scare you away." I inhaled her intoxicating scent.
"I already knew about werewolves, Ashton. Sophie just had to tell me what was happening."
She pulled away, her lips turned down in a frown. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
She looked at the blood stains on my body.
"No. Those are the rouges' blood."
She let out a sigh of relief, her cool breath fanning over my chest.
Then her face heated up.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
She stayed silent.
I tilted her head so I could meet her eyes. She flickered her gaze away from mine and muttered something.
"What?"
"You are half naked." She repeated.
I smirked. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
I blinked in surprise. I didn't expect her to answer.
I pulled her closer to me and kissed her.
She was just too adorable.
She kissed me back. Her arms sliding up my chest to the back of my neck and resting in my hair. She brought me closer. My fingers played with the hem of her shirt.
I licked her bottom lip, asking permission to enter. When she didn't open up, I licked again. This time, she opened her mouth. Her small tongue darted out and licked my lips.
I groaned.
"Keep it PG guys. There are kids around." Nathan said, walking past.
I growled at him and Riley blushed.
"So, when were you going to tell me you were a werewolf?" Riley asked, looking up at me.
I scratched my neck. "Uh... When I know you aren't going to run away?" I said, unsure.
"And when is that?" She quirked her eyebrow.
"Um..." I trailed off. Then something popped into my head. "You said you already knew about werewolves. How do you know?"
It was her turn to feel uncomfortable. "That's a story for another day."
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I promise that I will tell you everything when the time comes." She said.
"Everything?" I echoed.
"Everything." She replied firmly.
"Good." I leaned down to kiss her again, but she backed away. I pouted at her and she shook her head.
"What's your status in here?" She asked.
"You mean in this pack?" She nodded.
"I'm the Alpha's second son." I said proudly.
The blood drained from her face as she stared at me in horror.
My eyebrows came together. Did I say something wrong?
"Did you say Alpha's second son?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Am I your mate?"
I smiled. "Yeah."
She nodded, looking troubled.
"What are the ranks in the pack?"
"Alpha, Beta and Third." I listed off.
"Who's the alpha?"
"My dad. Once Brandon turns eighteen, he will become the Alpha. Nathan is the soon to be Beta."
"Who's the Third?" Her blue eyes big with curiosity.
"Erin."
-
Riley's POV
Ashton took my hand and pulled me to where Brandon and Terran were talking.
He cleared his throat, gaining their attention.
"Riley," Brandon said, smiling. "How are you?"
"You all are werewolves as well aren't you?" I ignored his question.
"Yup." Sophie stood next to Brandon and looked at me softly.
"I'm Brandon's mate." Sophie said. "Carly is Jake's and Sarah is Austin's."
"How about Jessica?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ashton shift uncomfortably.
"You don't find your mate until you are 15." Ashton said wrapping his arms around my waist.
"How about you? You are 16 and you found me this year."
Hayley grinned. "That's because he needs to learn how to be patient."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"That means that he has been waiting for his mate for a whole year." Jessica said.
"Jessica," Hayley exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be resting. You were hit in the head pretty hard."
"I'm fine." Jessica said sounding annoyed.
"So you've been waiting for me, huh." I bumped my hip against Ashton.
He leaned his head on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. "Of course. Unlike Jessica, I treasure the mate bond."
Jessica's face twisted into a look of disgust. "Ew. Don't kiss in front of me."
"You'll do it with your mate someday." Jake said coming with Carly.
Then I saw the look on Ashton's face again. One of unease.
"Something wrong?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"Tell you later."
"Riley, dear," Hayley started. "I'm sorry that we had suddenly dumped the information on you."
I laughed uneasily. "I actually knew about werewolves for quite some time now."
Terran raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"
I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, all the attention was on me.
If I told them how I knew about werewolves, I would have to tell them that I am a member of a gang. That would not end pretty. And today, of all days, I forgot to bring my gun.
When my phone vibrated in my pants, I thanked whoever was up there listening to my prayers. I quickly excused myself, sliding out of Ashton's arms and jogging into the trees.
"Hello?"
"Riley."
"Hey Spence, what's up?" I asked, looking over my shoulder to see if anyone had followed me.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm talking to you, so that means I'm alive and fine. Why do you ask?"
"There was a wolf attack just now. A guy was coming back from his mission when he saw the wolf fight."
"Oh. About that... I just found out that Ashton's family are all wolves."
"What?!"
I think he blew up my ear.
"Shh," I hissed at him. I peeked from behind the trees to see if anyone had heard. So far, no one.
"They have ultra good hearing remember?"
"I want you to come back right now." Spencer commanded.
"I can't. They'll be suspicious."
"Fine, Justin's coming to pick you up."
"What? No! Spence-"
The line went dead.
"Ugh! Spencer and his big brotherliness." I muttered.
I went back still grumbling.
"Are you okay?"
I let out a startled yelp as Jessica melted from the shadows.
Literally.
My eyes widened. "H-how did you do that?"
"What?" Jessica asked tilting her head.
"You just came out of nowhere. How did you do that?"
"Oh." She grinned mischievously. "My mother says that I was born with magic in my blood. I don't know how, but I like it."
"Magic..." I whispered to myself. "So are there any other supernatural beings that exist?"
"There are werewolves and magicians."
"No vampires?"
"I wish." Jessica sighed.
"When do you start shifting?"
"On your 15th birthday." Jessica said with excitement. "Just two more years until I can run with my brothers."
I smiled softly at the bouncing child.
"Riley," Ashton called me.
I looked up at him. He had finally put on a shirt and had an irritated look on his face.
"Justin's at the door. He said he has come to pick you up."
"Okay. Bye Jessica."
She waved at me and skipped to where Penny was standing in a distance.
Ashton took my hand and led me to the door.
Justin stood at the door, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. When he spotted me, he instantly relaxed but eyed the little smudges of dried blood on my clothes.
They must have come from Ashton's body when I hugged him.
Justin tried to keep a straight face when Ashton approached him.
"You can go first." I said to Justin who nodded and silently went to wait in the car.
"Goodnight." I said to Ashton and gently brushed my lips on his.
As I was about to pull away, his hand went to the back of my head and pulled me closer. He kissed me hard and I quickly responded.
His tongue licked my bottom lip, asking for entrance, which I did not open up to. He licked again but my lips were sealed shut. He growled and bit on my bottom lip gently.
This time, I opened my mouth and our tongues clashed against each other, earning a moan from the both of us.
A car horn made us jolt away from each other. Ashton glared at Justin who glared back.
"See you later." I kissed Ashton once more on the lips and began walking away.
"See you in school, tomorrow." He replied.
I stiffened but kept on walking. I'm not going to see him tomorrow. By then, I'm going to be off searching for Bridget.
~
Since today is a special day, I've decided to update.
So I was thinking on doing the next book on Jessica.
I shouldn't be thinking too far ahead but I really want to do it on Jessica.
Don't worry Help Me isn't close to finishing.
QOTD: Should I do the next book on Jessica?
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Happy Mothers' Day
B00kster