The movie came to an end and the darkness encapsulating the theater lifted.
Anwaatin bounced up and announced that she needed to use the washroom. Chloe felt a little pressure too and said she'd go with her. Animkii told them he'd wait for them in the arcade section of the theater near the washrooms.
They filed out and down the hallway and split up in the lobby.
When Chloe and Anwaatin were done, they approached Animkii leaning against an air hockey table.
"I was thinking we could play a couple of games," he said, motioning to the table.
"Yeah!" Anwaatin darted to the other end of the table to take up her position. "Chloe can play the winner, kay?"
"Or you can play with her first and I'll play the winner," Animkii smirked, going to the token dispenser and inserting some money.
"Aren't our parents expecting us back soon?" Chloe asked, walking up to the table and looking at the glowing neon markings in the dim black lights. It sounded like fun but she didn't want her parents to worry if they were expecting them back soon.
"I called and they said it was fine," Animkii assured her as he scooped out the tokens from the machine and turned back to them. "Ann and I used to play this all the time. It'll be fun."
"I've gotten better, bro," Anwaatin sneered, picking up her sombrero-shaped paddle and waiting for him to insert the tokens and the machine to start up. "I can beat Mamaw and Papaw all the time now."
"Well, go easy on me," Chloe said. "I've only played a couple of times with my dad and that was a long time ago."
"I'll try, but no promises." The she-wolf had an excited, yet devious look on her face that made Chloe laugh.
Animkii inserted some tokens into a slot in the machine and the table came to life. Air blew out of tiny little holes on the surface and a plastic puck clunked free from a slot at the side in front of Anwaatin. She pulled it out and set it on the table. It started to move a little with the air blowing gently from underneath. She looked across the table at Chloe, her lips twisted up in a crooked grin, and got in position. "Ready?"
Chloe picked up her paddle that was crawling away from her and placed it in front of her goal slot. "Yeah."
Anwaatin tapped the puck and it slid slowly across the table. Chloe hit it back a little harder and it picked up in speed as it bounced off the left side of the table's railing and continued down to Anwaatin's side. Anwaatin again hit it lightly but a little harder than her first, giving Chloe a chance to warm up before eventually striking the puck hard after it had bounced off their paddles a few times. It went straight into Chloe's goal before she could even realize it.
"Yes!" Anwaatin pumped her fist in the air before getting back into position. "Come on, Chloe. Warm up's done. Time to play dirty."
Feeling a little more confident in her skills, Chloe pulled the puck out from the slot it tumbled down to at the side of the machine and set it on the table. She smiled back. "Alright, I'll try."
Smacking the side of the puck, it struck the right side of the railing and Anwaatin smacked it back—into Chloe's goal.
"At this rate, the game will be over in a minute," Animkii commented, his hand blocked the grin he was trying to hide. "Go easier on her."
"I am just getting warmed up!" Anwaatin declared as Chloe fetched the puck and put it back on the table.
She sent it across the table and Anwaatin hit it back—with less force this time—and they were able to get a decent game going before Anwaatin again sent the puck flying down Chloe's goal. Chloe was starting to find her groove, enjoying the game and the challenge it bought as she retrieved the puck and smashed it across the table. Anwaatin wasn't ready and it went straight into her goal.
"Aw, come on!"
"Snooze, ya lose," Animkii declared from the sidelines, laughing at Anwaatin's slip-up.
Scowling, Anwaatin slapped the puck back on the table and smacked it. It darted towards Chloe's goal slot but she hit it back. Back and forth, they sent it before it went back into Chloe's goal thirty seconds later.
The machine shut down as Chloe passed her paddle to Animkii, smiling despite losing four-to-one. "Good luck."
His eyes grinned back at her, making her heart do a little dance. "Luck's got nothing to do with it."
He inserted more tokens into the machine and it spat the puck out in front of him. He set it on the table and sneered down at his little sister as they both got into position with Chloe standing at the side.
"I'd be careful if I were you," Animkii warned Chloe. "It wouldn't be the first time if someone on the side got struck by the puck."
Chloe lifted a brow before taking a few steps back.
Animkii struck the puck at the side, sending it zigzagging across the table until Anwaatin smacked it back. The puck was a blur as they struck it back and forth across the table. Chloe's eyes widened in awe as she watched on.
Finally, after two minutes, Animkii sent the puck crashing into Anwaatin's goal. She groaned loudly as his fist pumped the air and he pointed a protruding claw at his sister across the table. "You're still no match for me, pup."
Chloe could see their wolves rising to the surface with the competition and the challenge the game posed. The hairs on the back of her arms and neck bristled. The smell of their adrenaline seeped from their pores and Chloe found herself feeling more drawn to the domineering stance Animkii was projecting.
"You got lucky. I'll wipe that smirk off your face this time," Anwaatin jeered as she set the puck on the table.
The game kicked off again, the puck violently assaulting the railings of the table as they struck it over and over with their might until Anwaatin scored against him.
"One-to-one. You wearing out old man?" Anwaatin sneered.
Animkii put the puck back on the tabletop. "Hardly. I'm just getting warmed up."
They battled against each other for a few more minutes. Animkii won the next round and Anwaatin won the following one. Two-to-two.
"Let's make this more interesting," Animkii said, holding the puck in his hand before launching into the last round—the tie-breaker. He stepped around the table casually toward Anwaatin's side. "How about we raise the stakes a bit? Winner gets a prize. What do ya say?"
Anwaatin was still in position and ready for a sneak-attack. She straightened up, narrowing her eyes at him. "Oh? What did you have in mind?"
"If I win..." He leaned down and whispered into Anwaatin's ear, cupping his hand to block his lips and any sound from escaping.
Anwaatin smiled before he straightened up. "Okay. And if I win..." She stood up on her toes to whisper in his ear while blocking her mouth with her hand as well.
Chloe couldn't catch a word of what they said behind their hands. They stood on the other side of the air hockey table and the other arcade games behind her made noises with their flashing lights. Not to mention another movie elsewhere in the theater must have finished as more humans were now dispersing through the lobby toward the exit.
"Deal," Animkii said.
They shook hands, grinning at each other before returning to their sides. Animkii put the puck down, waited for Anwaatin to nod her head, and sent it flying to the other end of the table. She struck it back and their game commenced.
A different aura filled the air around them this time. It was still competitive, as was their Alpha-born natures, but it seemed less aggressive, if that were possible. Whatever they had whispered to each other, it settled their wolves a little and it looked like they were now playing for fun.
Chloe found herself smiling as she watched them. They really were a cute pair.
The tie-breaker went on and on for five minutes before the puck finally went into a goal slot.
"Yes!" Animkii fist-pumped the air. "The winner and forever Champion of the Zhooniyaa Miskwi Pack is still undefeated!"
Anwaatin huffed, rolling her eyes, but her face was still alight and grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Now to claim my prize," Animkii announced.
Turning, he strode toward Chloe, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder.
"Hey!" Chloe laughed as he darted out of the arcade, across the lobby, and out the door. He didn't stop there. He jogged across the parking lot to the car while she bounced along his shoulder, laughing and demanding he put her down.
When they had reached the car, he set her down and leaned his hand against the car next to her. She was still giggling and couldn't help it, even though he stood very close to her. She didn't know what to feel. Should she be upset that he manhandled her? Was he excited about winning the game and goofing around? She didn't know how to respond but she couldn't help but revel in his closeness. The smell of him lured her in. The quickened beating of his heart matched her own and she felt more drawn to him as he panted a bit after hauling her a hundred yards on his shoulder.
She tended to avoid looking at him over the last few years, but this time she couldn't help but notice how strong and broad his shoulders had gotten. How much he had filled out since being a teenager. His hands were larger than she remembered and rougher from years of training with the warriors. She wondered what those hands would feel like caressing her stomach, thighs, and breasts...
Heat rushed to her face as his dark brown eyes gazed into hers and she could feel her heart beating harder and faster within.
She should push him away. He wasn't her mate.
But what if he was her only chance?
"The winner would like to claim his prize," he whispered in a low, rumbling voice that sent a shiver up her spine.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"A moment alone with you."
The smile on her face spread wider with a little quirk of her brow. "Is that all?"
"There is something else..." his eyes drifted down to her lips before meeting hers again. "If it's not too much trouble."
Unconsciously, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew exactly what he was referring to and a part of her wanted to say yes, while another part of her no.
Their last kiss surprised her and many times she caught herself thinking about it and scolded herself to stop. It was all she could think about now as he leaned closer and brushed his thumb along her jaw. A tingling sensation trailed behind his thumb, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end and a shiver to course through her again. Her eyes drooped to a close as her lips parted in a shaky exhalation, her heart racing.
She shouldn't want this, but she did and she welcomed his lips when they touched hers. Bliss enveloped her as she moaned and his tongue dipped between her parted lips.
How could this be wrong when it felt so right?
She stumbled backward until she bumped into their car as his body pressed in closer. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tighter to her. She didn't know how to French kiss, but at that moment she didn't care. All that mattered was him and having more of him and his mouth on hers. Delving into the pleasurable sensations that erupted between them like a bubbling volcano. Sweet heat simmered within as he pressed himself against her lower stomach. She liked the feel of him. The hardness of him.
It was wrong, so wrong, but she didn't want him to stop.
He groaned, his throat rumbling his pleasure that drew forth a low growl from herself.
Surprised by the sound she made, she broke the kiss, gasping for air as she hung her head. She felt dizzy with delight but a part of her burned with shame.
"Is this wrong?" Her voice was almost hoarse and uneven as she pulled air into her lungs. Her eyes stung, her heart clenched as her stomach tumbled over itself.
"Chloe," he murmured, his voice equally rough and raw. He cupped her face in the palms of his hands and tilted it up so that her eyes would meet his. "Whether you find your mate or not, this, this bond we share, is real. There is nothing wrong about it."
She whimpered, her feelings still battling against each other. She wanted to believe him but she was scared to trust him again. And her mate? How could she betray him? How could she ever face him if she didn't wait for him?
"And my feelings for you will never change."
She swallowed, her eyes and throat burning with this last admittance. "How? How can you be so sure when I am so confused and can't be sure of anything?"
He leaned down and closed his eyes. He nuzzled his nose with hers before pressing his forehead to hers and heaving a shuddering breath. "Not only because the Goddess showed me a vision of you, but also because I have wished and prayed for you to be mine since we were both pups."
She whimpered at this. She wanted to ask when he had this vision, what happened in the vision, and how he could hurt her the way he did if he felt this way for so many years, but she couldn't spit the words out. Her heart climbed into her throat and blocked it and she couldn't swallow it down.
Before more could be said, Anwaatin's scent drifted toward them. Animkii didn't pull away but lowered his hands to hold hers between them.
"So," Anwaatin asked in a giddy voice, "have we swapped saliva yet?"
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Copyright Jo Lee Hunt ( Joflower ) 2020