AUTHOR’S NOTES

AUTHOR’S NOTES

FOR ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING PATIENTLY FOR MARCUS AND RIVERS’ STORY, PUT ON YOUR GAME FACE AND LACE UP YOUR SHOES BECAUSE  THEY’RE HERE!

Prologue: Pack Fest.

Prologue

One year of mind-numbing, heart throbbing, never-ending bliss…that was the only description that came to mind whenever I was asked about my relationship with Marcus.

It had certainly been a journey; one filled with bad times and good times, happiness, sadness, jealousy, excitement, disappointment and love, which is exactly what made the experience worth it, because knowing you came out on top through it all is what anyone would enjoy bragging about and what I could honestly label as sublime.

Sublime even when your better half was staring at you as if you’d completely lost your mind; which was exactly the way Marcus regarded me the moment I stepped through the door that day. Leave it to him to be completely unappreciative of my natural creativity.

He’d hated it when I’d gotten my numerous cartilage ear piercings and hated it even more when I’d dragged him along to the tattoo parlor so he could  hold my hand through the pain, so I suppose it shouldn’t have been a complete shock that he’d react this way when I’d stepped into Adrian’s home with my rainbow colored hair.

I actually found the style quite tasteful, it was a shame he and the others couldn’t appreciate beauty.

“Wow pretty!” Stephie; my one saving grace exclaimed when she saw me and I scooped her up into my arms with a grin.

“Thank you sweetie.” And gave her a kiss. Now this five year old appreciated beauty.

“Looks like a rainbow threw up in your hair.” Grady, who was spending the summer with us so he could learn the ropes in the Corsetti company, commented when he exited the kitchen with a plate full of my homemade lasagna.

I rolled my eyes.

“Was that really necessary?” Lucas, who was shifting around paperwork at his desk asked me and I frowned.

“What? I did it for Pack Fest .” I explained and if Marcus was one prone to rolling his eyes I knew he’d be doing it now. When I looked over at him however he’d managed to school his expression to one of nonchalance, but I could feel his disapproval through our mating bond.

“Eat your food Marcus, you’ll get used to it eventually.” I told him with a wink, then kissed Stephie’s cheek once more before setting her down.

“By the time I even dare to build up the courage to get used to it you’ll change it again.” He said drily but I could sense the amusement behind his words.

The frequency with which I changed my mind was a teasing note between us, but honestly, all great people knew that a creative soul had to be allowed to spread his wings every once in a while…or every other day…whatever the case may be.

I set down my shopping bag at the doorway, then watched as Stephie pulled herself up into Marcus’ lap to sample his dinner, when she reached over to take a sip of his drink, Marcus was quick to pull the alcohol from her hands and place it out of her reach.

No matter how many times we told the little devil she wasn’t allowed to drink the stuff she always tried to get her own way, quite unsuccessfully I might add, but I was afraid to imagine how it would be in her teenage years.

It was right then, while Stephie pouted; giving Marcus those big bright eyes that always made him putty in her hands that Adrian walked in.

In one hand he carried a leather briefcase and in the other a cup of coffee. Stephie was the first to respond. She bolted from Marcus’ lap, forgetting all about him and his drink.

“Daddy!” she squealed and I had to grab the hot coffee from Adrian’s hand as he dropped his suitcase and scooped her up in his arms.

“Hey there princess, what are you doing home?” he spoke the words to her but his gaze found Lucas’.

“She faked a stomach ache to get out of school.” He offered weakly and Adrian frowned, looking down on his daughter in dismay.

“What did I tell you about lying Stephanie?” he questioned but rather than look remorseful, she leaned in to wrap her tiny arms around Adrian’s neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

Adrian sighed, pulling her closer and I met Marcus’ eyes across the room. He smirked. That child had Adrian wrapped so tightly around her little finger I was surprised he could still breathe.

“Next time just leave her there.” He said then, making his way pass the rest of us and up the stairs with his little princess. Possibly to give her a ‘stern’ talking to.

When I looked at Marcus again, he patted the seat next to him on the couch and setting down Adrian’s cup, I made my way over there, plopping myself none too gently onto his lap. In an instant his hand came up and he was running his fingers through my newly transformed hair.

I settled onto his chest with a satisfied sigh.

“Wait, you said you changed your hair for ‘Pack Fest’ right? what’s that?” Grady spoke then.

I looked at him in surprise for a second, then shrugged, “Almost forgot you haven’t been with the pack long.” I began.

“It’s a huge event where wolves from different packs visit the twenty-three master packs in two months. It happens every four years…we have parties, hunting competitions, bon fires, drinking, everything fun you can imagine and more- all for free- all you’ve gotta do is show up.” I explained with an excited grin.

I’d only ever attended once before and even then I’d only been to a few of the packs in the two month period. To get in might be free but one had to think of plane fares, hotel charges and all the fees that came along with travelling for two months. It was only now that I was with Marcus that I could afford to really be caught up in it all.

“Wow twenty-three packs in two months?” Grady was excited now, he’d even forgotten about the food that still sat on a plate in his lap and was appraising me with wide eyes.

“When does it start? And how do you know where to go first?” he questioned.

“Exactly two weeks from today and it doesn’t matter where you start, you just choose a master pack and go there…you’re guaranteed just as much excitement no matter where you go first.”

“This has to be the best idea I’ve heard all summer, are we all going?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Marcus and I are going and Lucas and Adrian are gonna come for the final week. We’re visiting Carson’s pack last…but the only way to get in is to either be a werewolf or have one as a mate and last time I checked, Thomas is the pack Beta, he won’t have time to go with you.” I didn’t mean to burst his bubble but rules were rules.

“I’ll get him to go with me, it’s cool.”

“No offence Grady, but Thomas can’t just drop his pack duty to go running around the world with you.” I told him and he rolled his eyes.

“You’d be surprised the things Thomas would do for me.” Was his counter and I shrugged. It would certainly be interesting to see that come to fruition.

“What about your job here?” Marcus asked him and Grady shrugged.

“It’s not like I really need the money, I was only doing it for the experience so….I quit.” He said simply and I felt Marcus stiffen.

“You quit? Do you have any idea how important getting a job with the company is? Adrian hired you as a favor and you’re going to throw it back in his face?” his voice had an edge to it now and I ran my fingers along the back of his neck to soothe him.

“Adrian will be fine…you said this comes once every four years right?” I nodded “Well then he’ll understand. I’m gonna go call up Thomas and have him fly out here. We’re starting here in London right?” he asked as he pushed up from the chair.

“Yup, there are three master packs here so we thought we’d just visit them first.” I told him and he grinned, grabbed the phone from the table beside him and practically glided into the other room.

Marcus gritted his teeth. “That boy doesn’t understand the meaning of the word responsibility.” He said with disdain and I shook my head.

“Stop getting all pissy over it sweetie, that’s just how Grady is…plus, who cares; in two weeks we’ll be so caught up in ‘Pack Fest’, we won’t even have time to think about responsibility.” I said with a grin and a wink and he relaxed.

“Twenty-three packs in two months huh?” he grinned back and I snuggled closer.

“This is gonna be one hell of a summer…twenty-three packs in two months… I can’t wait.”

                                                AUTHOR’S NOTES

SO ESSENTIALLY, THIS NOVELLA WILL BE COVERING RIVERS’ AND MARCUS’ EXPERIENCES DURING PACK FEST WHICH SPANS OVER THE PERIOD OF TWO MONTHS.

JOIN THEM AS THEY TRAVEL THE WORLD TO VISIT TWENTY-THREE WOLF PACKS AND REVEL IN THEIR EXPERIENCES ALONG THE WAY.

THANKS FOR READING GUYS…I’LL TRY TO UPLOAD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! in the meantime 

check out my story  “ A Vampire’s Marine“

KEEP SWEET!

DoUbLe.A

-unedited.

Chapter 1: Marcus vs Grady

Chapter 1

Rivers’ POV

If it was one thing I hated it was the airport. The annoying process of getting through all the security check points, waiting in long lines, dealing with pushy people and loud children, then having to wait at baggage claim to pull your heavy as hell luggage off that ‘spinny thing’ that had the annoying habit of pinching the zipper of the suitcase making it harder for you to pull it off and that’s only the half of it; I didn’t even want to mention the chore of having to filling out those forms!

I suppose the only decent thing about being in the airport on a cool night like tonight was that it wasn’t me who had to go through all the airport drama. All I had to do tonight was sit in the lounge with Grady waiting for Thomas to arrive.

His plane had already landed so he was probably going through the first checkpoint by now. It still surprised me that Thomas was actually going to attend Pack Fest.

I’d thought for sure he wouldn’t be able to make it what with all the duties he had back in the pack, but he’d explained that each pack was expected to send out a representative to attend and since Grady wanted to go, he’d volunteered himself and now, just two weeks later, he’d jumped on a plane and was now in London.

I glanced at Grady who was busy sucking down some green liquid he’d bought in the food court, while eyeing every semi attractive female that passed by. I shook my head.

“Thomas will be here any second and you’re here checking out women?” I asked, annoyed by his behavior and he turned his eyes my way and appraised me with a bored look.

“I’m a guy, what do you expect me to do? Sit here and read the newspaper?” he said using that mocking tone he knew I hated and I quickly folded the newspaper that sat across my lap and dropped it into the empty seat beside me.

He’d gotten creative with the insults over the past few months. This week he’d taken to referring to me as a female; simply because I’d colored my hair. The moron.

“Isn’t Thomas enough for you?” I asked then; it was more because I was honestly curious than actually judging him that I asked but it didn’t really matter because he only rolled his eyes in answer.

Nothing ever fazed Grady. It was one of the reasons I liked him; I could freely throw around insults without having to worry that I’d hurt his feelings.

“I’m only looking. There’s nothing wrong with looking.” He explained as if he was trying to teach a slow kid how to spell a particularly easy word.

My eyes narrowed. “What if it was Thomas looking at girls? Then what?” I asked.

He shook his head, his eyebrows crinkling; “Thomas isn’t into girls…remember?”

I sighed. “Okay then smart ass, what if you caught Thomas checking out guys?

“Then who cares. It’s not a crime if you don’t touch and plus, Thomas doesn’t look at guys, he looks at me.” He said with a satisfied smirk and I grinned.

“Exactly, and doesn’t it make you feel good that he doesn’t ogle other people?”

I knew I’d gotten through to him when he sank down further into his chair and grumbled to himself before sucking up some more of that nasty looking green liquid.

I propped my feet up onto the small table before me and tried to get comfortable but the deathly frigid air circulating from the hidden air conditioning vents prevented any such comfort and I found myself wishing Marcus was here to warm me up. It was all because of the idiot sitting beside me why he wasn’t here.

Marcus and Grady couldn’t get along. Marcus held the view that Grady was an inconsiderate, selfish child who shouldn’t even be allowed to go out into the world to interact with other people until he’d received the proper training. Grady on the other had thought Marcus was a grouchy, stuck up, emotionless asshole who needed to take a chill pill.

I however, thought their intense dislike of each other had more to do with the fact that Grady got off on insulting me( which Marcus hated) and Marcus was the only one who never laughed at Grady’s jokes ( which Grady hated). They were just two big kids who needed to get over themselves.

So the less time they spent in the same room with each other, the safer it was for everyone involved.

I turned to him then to see him place the now empty cup at his feet, when he straightened up, he pulled out his phone and began typing away.

“Did Laken say whether he was coming or not?” I asked him.

“He says he doesn’t wanna go without Carson.”  And I nodded.

Well I didn’t really blame him, who wanted to travel across the world without their mate. I imagined it had to suck being an Alpha sometimes. Work work work and Carson couldn’t even go to the packs close by because as a master pack’s Alpha he had to make sure his own camp was ready for visitors.

“So it’ll pretty much just be the four of us then I guess.” I commented to myself.

“I thought Scottie and Jessie were coming.” Grady’s eyebrows crinkled as he frowned over at me and I shook my head.

“Jessie’s about to pop out a kid any day now, how do you expect them to come with us across the world?” I asked then shook my head. “Idiot.”

“Hey lady, you might wanna hold on to your purse!” Grady shouted then and I sat gaping at him before I realized he wasn’t talking to me but to the lady sitting a few feet away from us.

I watched as the woman looked up, pulled her purse which had been sitting on the chair beside her, onto her lap and rewarded Grady with a smile.

Behind her sat two rugged looking men, who now glared at Grady with equal looks of disgust and anger.

“They were actually trying to steal her stuff?” in asked in awe.” In an airport?” I continued and Grady nodded.

“The world’s filled with stupid people.” He said simply and I turned my attention back to the guys who had now pushed up from their seat, no doubt looking for another victim.

The airport though? The place had more cameras than I could count, the level of security was beyond intimidating and they’d chosen this place to rob people. I couldn’t understand it.

“I’ll go tell one of the guards.” Grady announced then, pushing up from the chair.

When I thought back on this moment, I’d say that was Grady’s mistake. No part of me felt that it was right to allow a person with criminal intent to roam free, but sticking your nose into other people business could have devastating effects.

I didn’t see if the men he reported to the guards had been caught or whether they had just left, because by the time Grady got back, Thomas had arrived and we’d made a swift exit from the airport walls. Thomas looked beyond tired after his long flight and Grady and I each took one of his bags, leaving him with only a small duffel in tow.

By this time it was about 9:00pm and we found ourselves walking along rows upon rows of cars in the parking lot searching for the vehicle because Grady for the life of him couldn’t remember where he’d parked.

I knew I shouldn’t have made him drop me off at the airport entrance when we’d first arrived. Typical Grady. It was when we finally found the thing that it happened. There were about five of them, all holding something in their hands.

They reminded me of those 90’s gangs I used to see in those shows on TV. I recognized the two guys Grady had busted in the airport earlier; the others were just faces.

“I think you know what’s coming next asshole.” The airport guy said to Grady and I watched him pull a small pocket knife from his coat pocket. One guy held a bent out of shape metal bar but I couldn’t make out the other objects.

“Jesus Grady I’ve been here ten minutes! What did you do?” Thomas questioned in exasperation as Grady stood frozen, taking in the scene.

“Thomas?” Grady said then, his voice sounding calm as if he was about to start a conversation.

“What?” his mate questioned, his eyes darting between Grady and the men.

“Run!” he shouted.

Then as quick as a flash, Grady dropped the bag he was holding and dashed across the lot, narrowly missing an oncoming vehicle in his attempt to escape.

All five men took off after him without even a glance in our direction and I could only look on in shock. Then before I could gather my wits, Thomas dropped his bag as well and was chasing after them all.

I looked down at the bags laying on the ground, then back at the path they had taken before pulling out my cell phone and dialing Marcus’ number.

Something told me this was not going to end well, if anything, the streets would soon be drenched in blood and the airport authorities would be left without any explanation as to what animal had ripped the men apart, which was an inevitable outcome if any of those guys laid a hand on Thomas’ mate.

…………………………………

Two hours later we all sat in my and Marcus’ living room after what felt like the longest night of my life. Marcus; as usual looked completely put out by the entire situation.

When he’d picked me up earlier from the lonely parking lot ( because Grady had run off with the car keys), he’d been so pissed I couldn’t even get a word in. He’d told me however, in no uncertain terms that it would be the last time he’d trust me alone with Grady.

I hadn’t even had the heart to argue then that he needed to stop treating me like a child, because I’d been too worried over both Thomas and Grady to care.

Now that we all sat safely in our own space; I was glad that the only injury I spotted was Grady’s swollen spilt lip, which he kept dabbing at as it seeped blood. Thomas looked beyond pissed as he scowled at his partner and Grady didn’t look too happy either.

 It had been a crazy night indeed.

“I don’t get it though, if you managed to get away from them, then how’d you get the split lip?” I asked then and watched as Grady’s eyes darted to Thomas and narrowed dangerously.

I looked between the two in confusion.

“I wish I never even asked you to come.” Grady said, then dabbed the lip once more. “Asshole.” He grumbled out before pushing up from the seat and not long after he had exited the room.

I glanced at Marcus; whose expression betrayed nothing, then back at Thomas. “Did you hit him?” I asked in horror but rather than answer me, he pushed up from his seat, grumbling an angry ‘goodnight’ and he was gone.

I looked around at Marcus in shock. “Oh my God, he hit Grady!” I couldn’t even understand how all this had come to pass in all the confusion.

It made no sense, Thomas would never hurt Grady; he wasn’t that type of person. Was he? I found myself wondering.

Thomas was my friend but no matter how much of a pain in the ass Grady could be, he didn’t deserve to be hit and I pushed up from the seat, intent on letting Thomas have it.

I felt Marcus’ hand latch onto mine however, then he was pulling me back down onto the seat beside him.

“Let them deal with it. It’s none of your business.” He said simply and I gaped at him.

“If Thomas is hurting Grady it is my business!” I exclaimed, only loud enough for Marcus to hear, but his hand remained on my arm.

“You don’t know what happened out there tonight, let them deal with it.” This time his voice was firm and I gritted my teeth.

“Don’t treat me like a child Marcus, you know I hate when you do that.” I responded and he finally released me, pulling back to regard me with disapproval.

“Then stop acting like one.”

I turned away from him instantly, blinking away the stupid tears that always threatened whenever he said something hurtful.

Then I heard him let out a sigh and I imagined him running his fingers through his hair in frustration, before reaching for me.

“I apologize, I shouldn’t have said that.” He said then, pulling me against him but I resisted.

“How is trying to help my friend, me acting childish?” I asked, the hurt evident in my voice, then when he tried to pull me against him again I moved further away. “No stop it, you can be such a dick sometimes.” I insulted.

It was stupid that I could always feel so hurt over the little things he said and when it came to Grady or any other person I could brush it aside like it didn’t matter.

“You’re right, I’m sorry I’m just annoyed over everything that happened. Grady always puts you in these situations, you could have been hurt. He doesn’t deserve your concern” He said simply and I rolled my eyes because just like that I was over it and I turned to face him with a watery smile.

“Grady did the right thing by reporting the guys, you just can’t see past the fact that you don’t like him.’ I said knowingly and I shook his head.

“He’s nothing but an inconsiderate, selfish child who shouldn’t even be-”

“… allowed to go out into the world to interact with other people until he’s received the proper training . I know, you’ve said it a million times…but you really need to get over it, then you’ll see he’s actually not that bad.” I said, then moved closer so I could rest my head in his lap.

His hand went automatically to my hair and he trailed his fingers through the strands.

We lay there in silence for a few minutes before he spoke.

“I’m sorry for what I said…really.” he told me; the sincerity of his words seeping through our bond and I smiled.

“Yeah I know, you just can’t help being an asshole sometimes.” I teased, using Grady’s signature insult and he grinned, pulling gently on my hair before resting his head against the back of the couch.

I loved these moments, it always felt like I couldn’t get enough of them during the day and so night time was always my favorite. I closed my eyes and reached through our mating bond as I usually did at times like this.

As time had passed we’d learned more about it and how to manipulate it to suit our needs better. We still had yet to learn how to use actual words to communicate through it and I had no idea if we ever would, but I was still grateful for the little things.

I snuggled closer, enjoying the feeling of moving through his mind; taking in all the thoughts he’d had that day. Like the frustration he’d experienced when the company had lost a client that day due to an employee’s incompetence, the anger he’d felt when he’d fired said employee, then the calmness that had come over him when I’d called at that very moment to wish him a good day and…oh!

I grinned when I felt the bulge in his pants and I shifted my head a little to gaze up at his face. I completely left the bond then to capture the hem of his shirt and sneak my hand under and up; trailing my finger over his chest.

He always got like this when I delved into the bond. He said it was like he could feel me in every part of his body and the deeper I delved the stronger the feeling got. I’d personally never felt it because he was of the belief that my private thoughts throughout the day were mine alone and he didn’t want to interfere.

Of course I had no such qualms about him, especially if it was going to get him all worked up.

I pushed up completely and moved to swing a leg on either side of him so that I was sitting on his lap, facing him and that’s when he opened his eyes and the intensity in them sent a thrill through me.

“You sure you wanna start this here?” he asked, voice husky with unspent passion and I ground against him just to hear him moan with pleasure.

“Does it matter?” I whispered back before taking his lips. Hearts pounding, teeth scraping, tongues melding and suckling and licking until the heat inside me built up and all but overflowed.

“We have guests.” Marcus gasped out when I ground against him again and in a flash we were out of the couch, my legs and arms still wrapped around his hard frame and our mouths still moving together.

I heard a thud as something fell to the floor, then another and I could only imagine him hitting into things as he attempted to take us up to the room. My back arched when he slammed me into the wall above the banister and I almost cried out when his teeth sunk into my neck.

“Ugh”

He was a beast when it came to passion and I twisted and turned as he continued to ravage my neck; then we were moving again, up the stairs, down the hall and through the door before he dropped me onto the bed and climbed on top.

I loved him like this; rough and passion fueled. It was the only time he never held back, the only time he didn’t have to think anything through; the only time my safety wasn’t the first thing on his mind; just the way I liked it.

I cried out in pleasure as his mouth trailed over my turgid nipples and his hands did sinful things to my body. The rest was indescribable

…………………………………………

~Marcus’ POV

“Good morning darlings, make yourselves at home, I’m almost done!” Rivers announced when Adrian, Lucas and their little girl stepped through the door that morning.

Ever loud and always smiling; the ultimate morning person.

I dipped my finger into the bowl of cookie dough he was mixing and plopped it into my mouth.

“If you keep doing that I won’t have any left to bake the cookies with.” He said then shot me a warning glare.

I laughed. No matter how hard he tried, he could never succeed at looking threatening. It just wasn’t in his nature.

“You’ve been cooking all morning. When will it be ready? I’m starving.” I announced, then dipped into the dough once more.

When he noticed, he grabbed the bowl from the counter and deposited it onto the counter at the far side of the kitchen.

“That’s because you’ve been in my way all morning, go entertain your brother and the others so I can get some work done.” He scolded and I shook my head in amusement.

“You’re the one who asked me to help out.”

“Yeah and all you’ve done is sample the food and made a mess…now go.”” He said again, this time he didn’t spare me much of a glance as he opened the oven to check on the lasagna and I relented, swiping a muffin from the counter as I made my way out of the kitchen.

“Uncle Marc!” Stephanie exclaimed when she saw me, and I swept her up in my arms making her squeal in delight, before handing her the muffin and depositing her back into Lucas’ lap.

“I heard we lost a client yesterday…and you fired another employee?” Adrian commented from where he stood beside the bookshelf, pouring whisky from the decanter. I took the glass he offered and watched him pour another for himself.

“I miss the times when people’s fear drove them to be better employees.” I said in annoyance, then took a sip of the drink.

Rivers would have a fit if he saw us drinking alcohol this early in the day. I took another sip and went to stand by the window, taking in the view below.

“Yeah well, we’re not in the drug industry anymore, we’ve got to do things right and at the rate you’re going, we won’t have any employees left.”

“Better to have none than to deal with incompetence.” I argued and he sighed.

“People make mistakes, half the junior team’s already afraid to work with you, you’re only scaring them more with the way you keep letting people go.” He told me and I shook my head.

“Not long ago you’d kill a man for making a simple blunder, now you’re welcoming it?”

“Not long ago I was a criminal, who thought the best way to run an empire was through fear. Now I’m a legit and thriving businessman, living happily with the man I love and a daughter who means the world to me. People change brother.” He patted me on the back, gave me a knowing smile and made his way over to Lucas and his daughter, who promptly offered him a piece of her muffin.

I shook my head. I was the happiest I could remember being in my whole life but that didn’t mean my standards had dropped.

Just then Rivers entered the kitchen with a large sandwich tray in hand and I watched him deposit it onto the center table.

“You guys can start, I’m not done yet.” He said then turned swiftly to reenter the kitchen, only to run into a very satisfied looking Grady, followed by his smug looking Mate. I watched as Rivers took in their expressions and seemed to heave a sigh of relief before pointing them to the sandwiches.

With the way he’d worried about Thomas’ potential abuse last night I wasn’t surprised by his obvious relief at their expressions.

“Morning Shorty.” Grady greeted Stephie, holding out a hand for her to give him a high five, then reaching for a sandwich.

I shook my head. Just the sight of him had my blood boiling, there was just something about him that left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I left the guests to reenter the kitchen before I felt the urge to do some bodily harm.

“I swear just the thought of him sets me off.” I announced when I got there and Rivers offered me a small smile.

“Well you can’t hide out in here. I’m practically done anyway.” He said, pulling some plates from the overhead cupboard.

“I’m not hiding, this is me preventing the occurrence of a catastrophic event in your living room.

“You do realize that we’ll be stuck with Thomas and Grady for two months right? Which means you’re gonna hafto get over it.” He said, then pulled the glass of whisky from my hand and replaced it with a tall glass of milk.

“And you do realize that we’ll be leaving in two hours right? What do you plan to do with all this food?” I asked, glancing around the kitchen at the multiple dishes, plates and trays stacked with food.

He followed my gaze. “I’m gonna packed up whatever we don’t eat and give them to take home with them.” He told me and my brows furrowed.

“They’ve survived without your cooking years before you showed up babe, I don’t think it’ll kill them to go without it for two months.”

He frowned then bit his bottom lip and something inside me stirred. “I know, but I just want them to have something to eat for this week. Look how thin Stephie is, she needs all the nutrition she can get. Here take this out there.” He said then shoved the plates into my free hand.

………………………………

It was three hours later before we’d finally cleared up all the food, cleaned the kitchen and gathered our luggage.

Thomas, Adrian and I were busy loading them into the vehicles while Rivers and Grady spoke to a teary eyed Stephie.

“But you hafto stay” she was saying, her voice shaking.

“Hey, no crying, we won’t be gone that long shorty. How long did we say?” Grady asked her and with a dramatic sniff she held up seven fingers.

“Exactly and the weeks are just gonna fly by and soon your daddys are gonna take you where?” Rivers asked this time.

“America.” She sniffled, swiping at her tears.

“Right and you’ll get to play with the little kids in Carson’s pack for a whole week. That’ll be fun right?” Grady questioned and when she nodded I turned to load another bag into the vehicle.

It didn’t surprise me that Rivers ended up packing the most bags. Four large suitcases for two months. I’d watched him while he’d dumped stuff into them two nights before but I still couldn’t understand what he had packed that he needed four suitcases for.

When we were through, Thomas and Grady got into the vehicle they’d borrowed form Adrian and while I shook hands briefly with my brother and Lucas, then kissed Stephie’s forehead, my mate made a show of hugging everyone. If I didn’t know better I’d say he’d rather stay there with them.

“Remember just seven weeks okay Stephie?” Grady called out from the car and I stepped into my own vehicle and slammed the door behind me. Soon we were all loaded up and pulling out of the yard to begin our journey to Pack Fest.

When we hit the main road, Grady, who had been given the task of driving since Thomas wasn’t familiar with the roads, cut in front of us so suddenly, I had to slam onto the brakes to keep from crashing into him, he honked once, twice, then he was speeding down the traffic clear streets until all I could see were his taillights in the distance.

I gritted my teeth and eased my foot off the brake, while Rivers chuckled beside me.

“I swear you’ll get used to him.” He promised and while I entertained thoughts of strangling the life out of Thomas’ mate, I pressed down on the gas to continue our journey to the first hotel.

                                     AUTHOR’S NOTES

I CAN’T WAIT TILL THE EXCITEMENT BEGINS!

HOPE YOUR ENJOYED THAT FIRST CHAPTER GUYS. LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.

Chapter 2 : Obssession

Chapter 2

It was pouring by the time we arrived at the hotel and Marcus’ mood had lightened considerably over the long journey. He helped me pull the luggage from the trunk before an overexcited bellhop came to the rescue, carting the bags onto one of those mental ‘luggage carriers’ or whatever they were called.

We left the car keys with the valet and managed to check in without error. Thomas and Grady were nowhere to be found, however they’d called an hour earlier to let us know they’d arrived. We were only this late because Marcus being Marcus had had to stop in at the office for a while to do whatever it was he usually did there.

I just wanted to find a place to eat, then wrap up in bed and sleep for a few years. I was too tired to even look around in awe at the magnificence of the five star hotel Marcus had booked. When we finally got to the suite and Marcus had tipped the bellhop who’d gone happily on his way, I dropped down onto the bed and closed my eyes.

When I opened them a crack it was to see Marcus setting up his computer onto the desk and pulling out his other gadgets, I drifted off to sleep before he could even lower himself into the chair.

When I woke next it was to Marcus pulling off my clothes so I could sleep comfortably and I stayed awake long enough for him to pull the covers over my naked body and whisper something to me that I had no way of processing with my tired brain.

It was the incessant banging on the door that woke me up the next time. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and looked at the screen; 9:15pm. I pushed out of bed and grabbed the robe that was lying across the bed and spotted Marcus, equally undressed and watching me from beneath the covers.

“If I had to hazard a guess I’d say it was Grady.” He said drily. I left the room, quickly making my way into the spacious living area and sure enough when I pulled open the door only moments later; Grady pushed in with Thomas in tow.

“Why aren’t you dressed?” he asked me, with furrowed brows and I took in his pajama bottoms and loose T-Shirt.

“For what?”

“We’re gonna go grab some food downstairs…we didn’t really eat much when we got here.” Thomas explained and I put a hand over my mouth to cover my yawn.

“Yeah, I’m kinda hungry too. Gimmie a sec.”

“Where’s the other one?” Grady asked then and despite the grin that blossomed at his words, I was quick to warn him. “Don’t piss him off tonight Grady.” And he gave me the most innocent look one could expect from a trouble maker and I shook my head with a low chuckle.

I left them and went back to the room where Marcus was already pulling on some clothes. He didn’t look particularly annoyed at the interruption from our visitors but he didn’t look very pleased either.

“They wanna go eat.” I explained and he nodded.

“Yeah I heard. You look tired.” He commented as he pulled on his shirt and I shrugged, dropping the robe as I pulled one of my suitcases open.

“I don’t know how I’m gonna wake up for Pack Fest tomorrow.” I told him.

“We could go in the evening.”

“No way, we’ll miss everything that way. Besides it’s Grady’s first time, I want him to experience everything. Did you let Adrian know we’re here?”

“Stephie answered his phone.” Was his only answer and I smiled.

Which meant that they’d had a particularly lengthy conversation with her telling him every little thing that she’d done that day and outright refusing to hand her father the phone. It surprised me how much I missed her after just a few hours.

……………………………..

Marcus’ POV

Rivers, as always drew way too much attention wherever he went and it had nothing to do with the colored hair. My mate was too attractive for his own good. Even dressed as he was in a simple pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt, eyes followed him. I glared across the restaurant at the latest creep who sat staring at Rivers with lust filled eyes and tightened my hand on glass.

“You want me to go beat him up for ya?” Grady said softly by my side and I scoffed.

“The guy’s twice your size, you couldn’t even ruffle a hair on his head.” I shot and Grady smirked.

“I know how to fight asshole, it’s just you stupid supernatural people who make it hard to win.” He continued and I appraised him with narrowed eyes.

“How are you so sure that guy’s human?”

He seemed to think about it for a second but gave up and turned to me. “Is he?”

“He is.”

He looked at me then, his expression thoughtful and I wondered what nonsense was running through his head as he watched me. My brows furrowed when he grinned.

“You’re kinda obsessed aren’t ya?” he asked and I shook my head.

“Excuse me?”

“With Rivers, you’re kinda obsessed with him. I mean that guy you been glaring at for how long is only looking and I bet you just wanna rip his head off. You’re obsessed.” Grady explained and I shook my head once more.

“It’s not the looking that pisses me off…it’s what the pervert’s thinking.”

“What you can suddenly read minds now?” he continued skeptically and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“It’s not hard to imagine what’s running through his mind, but in answer to your ridiculous question. I’m not obsessed, I’m in love. Something I thought you would understand.” I turned to look at Rivers who was in deep conversation with Thomas, then back at Grady who was smirking.

“No. What Thomas and I feel for each other is love…and what Rivers feels for you is love but what you feel for Rivers is on a completely different track dude.” He said then seemed to think about it for a second before he spoke again, “Isn’t obsession some kind of psychological problem?”

Then before I could get an insult in he turned from me and squeezed himself between Rivers and Thomas.

“Let’s play a game!” he announced, then grabbed the bottle of tequila that sat on to counter and made his way over to an empty five-seater in the center of the room.

Rivers seemed pretty excited as he took a few shot glasses from the bartender and followed Grady across the room with Thomas at his heels, so I made my way over to them as well, pulling up a seat beside my mate, who was busy lining out the glasses in the center of the table.

“Okay so it’s pretty much a question and answer couple game, to see how much we know about each other. I got some of the questions online and I stole some from Jessie when we were doing our session that one time.” Grady began.

“So Rivers is gonna look up some of his own questions online to ask us. We’ll take turns asking questions, so for example I’ll choose to ask Rivers something about Marcus and if he gets it wrong he has to take a shot of the tequila, then Marcus could ask me a question about Thomas and…yeah you get the point. Obviously the couple who has taken the least amount of shots wins.” He finished and I nodded. Okay it actually sounded pretty interesting.

“Let’s begin, and Thomas I swear if you make us lose to them I’ll kill you.” Grady said with the most serious expression I was sure he could muster. Rivers looked at me and smiled and I returned it before turning my attention to the couple before us who looked about ready win it all.

……………………………..

Rivers’ POV

“What’s one thing he’s really afraid of…Marcus?” Grady asked

“Spiders.” Marcus answered without hesitation and Grady scoffed.

“A wolf who’s afraid of spiders? Really Rivers?” I rolled my eyes.

“What’s his favorite thing to do with you…Grady?” Marcus asked.

“Sex.” Was the immediate response and I rolled my eyes again and Thomas and I exchanged identical looks of amusement.

The game had started about forty-five minutes before and after the first few questions, they had completely forgotten that Thomas and I were a part of the game. Instead, they addressed every question to each other, just waiting and hoping that it would be the other party who would end up taking the shot.

I pushed up from my seat and Thomas followed. It was no surprise to me that Marcus and Grady hadn’t even realized that we’d left and I shook my head as I walked over to the pool table.

“They’re not gonna let up until someone has to take the shot.” Thomas commented and I nodded.

“I just don’t get why they hate each other so much. It’s like everything’s a competition between them.” I took up one of the heavy colored balls and spun it onto the green surface of the table.

“Grady doesn’t hate Marcus, he admires him; that’s why he loves to rile him up so much.” Thomas explained and my eyes widened.

“Yeah right, Grady told you that?”

“He didn’t have to, I know him better than anyone. He looks up to Marcus, the only reason he tries to piss him off so much is because he doesn’t know how to tell him. That’s just the way Grady is.” Thomas explained then after a brief pause he continued “I guess you could say Marcus is like the big brother he never had.” Thomas finally trailed off with a smile and I returned it, glancing across the room to look on at Grady in a new light.

“Wow that’s so sweet.”  And sure enough, just watching Grady play the game with Marcus, you could see that he was enjoying himself and I wondered why I never noticed before.

“I don’t think I can say the same for Marcus though. Grady really rubs him the wrong way.” Thomas continued and I nodded.

“That’s because Marcus likes to be in control of everything and Grady is the one person who won’t let him get his way.” I told him and Thomas’ brows furrowed.

“Why is he like that? Even with you he seems controlling, as if letting you out of his sight for a second would be a huge mistake.” He didn’t sound judgmental as he said the words, only curious and I looked at Marcus.

“He can’t help it. Ever since his parents died, he’s been the one trying to keep his family together; keep his brothers inline you know. Adrian might have started their business and paved the way for success, but if it wasn’t for Marcus’ drive and sheer will, they wouldn’t have gotten very far. He told me once that he couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to his brothers.” I explained,

“I mean he lost both his parents, I guess I understand why he’s so protective of those he cares about, but he means well and I love him for it.” I finished. “It makes me feel special that he’s always watching out for me.” I finished and Thomas nodded in understanding.

He looked back to the table where both men sat and smiled.

“You know Grady will win right? We’ve been best friends since we were toddlers and we’ve only gotten closer since mating; he knows things about me that I don’t even know about myself.” Thomas chuckled and I joined him.

“I know…and it’ll do Marcus some good to lose to him. Maybe he’ll start respecting him a little.”

“Or he’ll hate him even more.” Thomas offered and I grimaced.

I allowed the silence to pass between us for a while as we continued to watch our mates’ game from afar, then I spoke up.

“Thomas?”

“Hmm?”

“Why’d you hit Grady?” it had been on my mind ever since he did it and it worried me constantly. I needed to know that they at least had a healthy relationship. I couldn’t bear seeing any of them hurt.

Thomas didn’t answer right away, but his mouth tightened as he continued to watch the guys.

“Let’s just not get into that Rivers.” He told me then and that worried me even more. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me.

“At least tell me it’s not what I think it is, tell me you’re not hurting him.” I felt like a terrible person for pretty much accusing him of abuse but I didn’t know how else to get the information I needed.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re fine.” He said then and I watched as he made his way over to the guys once more and lowered himself into the chair beside Grady. Not once did he look back at me.

…………………………………..

It was about midnight by the time we got back to our rooms and after a long hot shower, I climbed onto the oversized bed and continued climbing until I was straddling Marcus, who lay shirtless on his back. I sat on his stomach and he opened his eyes to watch me.

I smiled, then rested my head onto his chest so I could hear his heartbeat as I delved into our bond.

 He was in a good mood tonight; it was the first feeling I got as I began exploring and I pushed deeper; needing more. I felt his hand running along my spinal column as I continued and I relaxed deeper into him.

His many different feelings throughout the day assaulted me at once and I began the process of flipping through them one by one. I felt his annoyance at Grady when he’d cut in front of us this morning, his satisfaction at getting everything he’d needed done at the office, then the tenderness that had welled up inside him as he’d watched me sleep earlier and I smiled at that, moving to kiss his lips gently, before resting my head back onto his chest.

The next feeling was of loneliness which surprised me and I delved deeper to gain an understanding of where it had come from; he missed his brother Scottie whom we hadn’t seen in months and my heart went out to him.

“We’ll see him soon enough.’ I said then.

“Hmm?”

“Scottie…you miss him, but we’ll see him soon.” I assured him and he shook his head, almost in embarrassment that I’d picked up on something he often described as a weak emotion.

“I wish you’d told me.”

“There was nothing to tell…it’s just still strange being away from him this long; but you’re right I’ll see him soon; it was just a passing feeling.” He explained and I gave him a look that said; we both knew it wasn’t a mere passing feeling.

The loneliness he’d felt when he’d thought of his brother today had drenched the strands of our bond so deeply, I was surprised I hadn’t felt it earlier. I kissed him again and this time I allowed him to kiss me back; until our lips were brushing and our teeth were nipping and that very fun part of him was starting to make itself known. When my skin became flushed I pulled away.

I wasn’t done with the bond yet.

“I like your feelings today…they’re mostly happy ones.”

“Sit up.” He said in response and I did, pulling from the bond completely as I looked down at him in confusion.

“You know you make me happy.” He said I just about teared up because Marcus never said things like this.

“You’re gonna make me cry…stop.” I said, swiping at my wet eyes and he chuckled. I watched as he took both my hands in his, sliding his fingers from my elbows to my palms, then his eyes roamed over my chest and what he could see of my hips, right down to my bare feet.

It always saddened me when he did this. It was his way of inspecting me for any visible injuries and despite his subtlety, I’d figured out his motive from day one. Even if we’d been together all day with no possible way for me to have been hurt, he still checked and he had no idea I realized.

I couldn’t even imagine what he must have gone through with losing the people he cared about to make him so protective of those in his life who managed to stay alive. It was as if at any moment he expected me to suddenly disappear and he was desperate to ensure my safety.

I pulled my hands from his and cupped his cheeks before leaning in the place a kiss on his forehead, his eyelids, his nose, then his generous lips; which I suckled gently.

“We should go for a quick run, we haven’t shifted in forever.” I said when I pulled away and he shook his head.

“It’s pouring outside.”

“So? I’m getting itchy I need to shift…plus the rain’s not gonna kill us.” I argued, then hopped off him and pulled on some loose clothes.

“We could go early tomorrow before we leave.” He tried but I was already pushing the bedroom door open and he jumped up with a sigh.

………………………….

The rain was cold and the air was frigid and I rolled my shoulders against the onslaught, then glanced at Marcus who had already shifted by my side and stood there patiently, sniffing the air. I tilted my face to the sky, soaking up what the night had to offer before I shifted down to form; my bones quaking and my heart racing until I was settled and comfortable in my new skin.

I sniffed the air taking in the different scents and I felt Marcus nudge me to get a move on and not long after we were bolting through the streets, partially hidden by the  tall buildings until we found the forestry we so craved.

It was hours before we shifted back and entered the hotel lobby dripping wet yet thoroughly satisfied.

………………………….

We left the hotel pretty late the next morning because I’d just been too tired to drag myself from under my warm sheets. When I got downstairs Thomas and Grady had already eaten and I’d had to grab a cup of coffee to go. This time we all travelled in the same vehicle and it was surprisingly a friendly drive; absolutely no squabbles from Marcus and Grady but something told me that was only because Grady was asleep for most of the journey.

When we pulled into the camp I immediately felt at home. This was definitely one of the more wealthy camps yet they’d managed to keep an air of simplicity and familiarity that I was certain the other wolves would appreciate.

As we searched for a place to park, I listened to Thomas in the back seat laying down the do’s and don’ts for Pack Fest and I glanced at Marcus; hoping he at least listened to some of what Thomas was saying, because despite his maturity and usual seriousness, Marcus had a temper that would put an Alpha to shame and I wanted no problems while we were here.

“I thought you guys said this was a pack Fest, this place looks so…wow.” Grady commented when we exited the vehicle and I looked back at him with a smirk.

“I said it was Pack Fest Grady, not a carnival.” I told him and we all just stood there for a second gazing at the opulence that surrounded us.

                                             AUTHOR’S NOTES

THE STORY OFFCIALLY GETS UNDERWAY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER..FINALLY!

LEMME KNOW WHAT YALL THINK AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT TO READ..I REALLY APPRECIATE IT <3

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited

A little peek

Chapter 3

The lines at the entrance were moving swiftly and within the space of ten minutes we’d already moved to second place. The security wasn’t as much as I’d expected but I supposed the guards placed here were quite capable. I’d counted fifteen front gate entrances and in front of each small whitewashed gate stood two guards; one shifted down to size and one who assumed ‘human’ form for questioning.

So far there and been no hiccups and with the sun barely peeking through the clouds, the day was cool and welcoming; just the way I liked it. Behind Marcus and me, Grady stood with Thomas munching away at a bag of peanuts while Thomas spoke to him softly; I couldn’t catch a word he said but the conversation felt intimate somehow and I turned my attention to other things. Namely my sexy jean clad mate, standing quietly next to me, observing the crowd.

I leaned into him and his arm came to rest around my shoulders but he continued to watch the crowd.

“I’m so glad we’re finally here.” I told him with a grin.

“I don’t doubt it.” I heard the amusement in his voice and I leaned closer, my eyes drifting closed as I attempted to enter the bond, but the moment I caught the first tendrils of his emotions he shut me out and I pulled away quickly, blinking up at him in surprise.

He shifted slightly, then appraised me with a raised eyebrow and I blushed as understanding dawned. I’d almost forgotten he got turned on whenever I delved into the bond and I gave him a coy smile as he shifted uncomfortably beside me and I felt the first stirrings of his arousal.

“My bad darling.” I smiled sweetly and looped my arm through his.

We stepped up to the beginning of the line. “How long will you be staying and what’s your-” the guard trailed off with furrowed brows and the wolf beside him sniffed the air. He sniffed at Marcus’ leg then moved to sniff Grady and instantly recoiled.

“I’m going to have to ask you two to step out of the line please.” The guard addressed Grady and Marcus and I sighed.

Great just what I needed .

                                               AUTHOR’S NOTES

I DECIDED TO GIVE YALL ALITTLE SNEAK PEEK BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE THE TIME TO GET THE CHAPTER UP TODAY…FINALS ARE APPROACHING AND I’VE BEEN LOST IN MY STUDIES. I’LL TRY TO POST THE ACTUAL CHAPTER TOMORROW.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND JOIN ME IN CELEBRATING REACHING

1MILLION READS ON ’What the Alpha Says…Goes“ it’s all thanks to you guys <3

KEEP SWEET!

Chapter 3: Pack Lagu

Chapter 3

The lines at the entrance were moving swiftly and within the space of ten minutes we’d already moved to second place. The security wasn’t as much as I’d expected but I supposed the guards placed here were quite capable. I’d counted fifteen front gate entrances and in front of each small whitewashed gate stood two guards; one shifted down to size and one who assumed ‘human’ form for questioning.

So far there and been no hiccups and with the sun barely peeking through the clouds, the day was cool and welcoming; just the way I liked it. Behind Marcus and me, Grady stood with Thomas munching away at a bag of peanuts while Thomas spoke to him softly; I couldn’t catch a word he said but the conversation felt intimate somehow and I turned my attention to other things. Namely my sexy jean clad mate, standing quietly next to me, observing the crowd.

I leaned into him and his arm came to rest around my shoulders but he continued to watch the crowd.

“I’m so glad we’re finally here.” I told him with a grin.

“I don’t doubt it.” I heard the amusement in his voice and I leaned closer, my eyes drifting closed as I attempted to enter the bond, but the moment I caught the first tendrils of his emotions he shut me out and I pulled away quickly, blinking up at him in surprise.

He shifted slightly, then appraised me with a raised eyebrow and I blushed as understanding dawned. I’d almost forgotten he got turned on whenever I delved into the bond and I gave him a coy smile as he shifted uncomfortably beside me and I felt the first stirrings of his arousal.

“My bad darling.” I smiled sweetly and looped my arm through his.

We stepped up to the beginning of the line. “How long will you be staying and what’s your-” the guard trailed off with furrowed brows and the wolf beside him sniffed the air. He sniffed at Marcus’ leg then moved to sniff Grady and instantly recoiled.

“I’m going to have to ask you two to step out of the line please.” The guard addressed Grady and Marcus and I sighed.

Great just what I needed .

…………………………………

“I’m sorry gentlemen but this is a private event. I’m going to have to ask you to-”

“They’re with us.” I spoke up quickly and the guard looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“You should know better. Wolves only, unless it’s your mate. Breaking the code and taking along these…these…” he was struggling to find the best description as he looked on at Marcus and Grady in disgust and I pursed my lips, moving forward to lay a hand on Marcus’ shoulder.

“This is my mate.” I said simply and I watched as the guard’s eyes widened in horror then disgust, then understanding before his face shuttered and I couldn’t even begin to guess what it was that he was thinking.

The guard’s eyes then travelled to the hand I had on Marcus’ shoulder and he regarded me with cold indifference. I looked around when the wolf who had been standing beside the guard moved to growl at Grady who stood there staring down at him as he munched his peanuts calmly.  Thomas was glaring at the wolf and I shook my head.

“How about you call off your pet.” Marcus said to the guard who still stood watching us. His voice was cold and dangerously low and I took hold of his hand hoping to calm him before his temper got the best of him.

“The guard didn’t even glance Marcus’ way and the wolf by Grady’s side kept growling at him.

“Dude I live in a pack full of werewolves, one of my best friends is the Alpha and my mate is the Beta, do you really think I’m afraid of a little growling?” he questioned the creature calmly, then continued munching on his peanuts with not a care in the world and I grinned at his bravery.

The growling stopped instantly and we all watched at the wolf shifted form, shaping to stand on two legs. He was a muscular guy, around Marcus’ age it seemed, but lacking the hostility his wolf had just shown.

“You’re from that pack?” he asked Grady in awe and Grady looked on at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“I should have known from the moment you said you were mates that you’re from the Fabled pack.” The other guard said with distain.

“Fabled?” Thomas questioned with furrowed brows and I looked back at the guard, just as confused by the description as my Beta was.

“The pack who turns a blind eye to homosexuality, whose leaders practice sodomy and where cross specie mating is blatantly accepted.” The guard spat.

“Is it true that your pack is guarded by actual vampires?” the recently shifted guard asked; his eyes wide with amazement.

“I heard that the vampires tear apart any intruders and drink their blood.” He continued and I opened my mouth to correct him but Grady spoke first.

“Look dude, I’m glad you’re showing an interest in my pack and all but we really just wanna enjoy the fest so could you let us in now?” he said, the annoyance in his voice unmistakable. I was proud of how he was handling the situation and I turned to the ‘mean’ guard.

“Exactly, we’ve been here for a while now and we’d love to enjoy the place like everyone else.”

“Homosexuality is not tolerated in our pack.” He said through gritted teeth and I felt the tension in Marcus rise.

“Marcus don’t.” I whispered fiercely. When he got like this, it was stupid not to expect bloodshed.

“You know everybody’s dying to go to your pack this year, they all wanna see the vampires, plus the fact that you don’t open your gates till that last week of Pack Fest kind of intensifies the mystery.” The other guard said, completely disregarding his partner’s words.

It was true that vampires resided in our pack but I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought that people would be fascinated by it. After all not many people had seen the creatures.

Behind me, Thomas was speaking on his phone and Grady went to take a seat on the ground against the wall, looking more bored than anything else.

“It’s time you all left the premises before we have real trouble.”

When Marcus finally stepped forward Thomas took his shoulder in a firm grip and I watched as he held out his cell phone to the guard, who after brief look of suspicion took it and put it to his ear.

“Of course sir.” The guard said after a few seconds then handed the phone back, he looked pissed and utterly disgusted as he stepped aside and opened the gate.

“Go ahead.” He said and I looked at Thomas who shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to be friends with their pack Beta.” He said simply and we were finally allowed to enter.

“We’re gonna have this problem with every pack we go to aren’t we?” Grady spoke up and I shrugged.

“We’ve gone completely against the norm with our lifestyles, it’s no surprise we were stopped. I’m just hoping Thomas has a lot of friends in high places.” I said shooting my Beta a glance and he shrugged.

“We’ll be fine.” He said simply, then, “Let’s just enjoy the day. I’m gonna show Grady the soccer field. Let’s meet back here at the end of the day.” He said then he was steering his mate in the opposite direction and I turned to Marcus.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by their behavior.” He bit out, turning to look back at the guards who still manned the gate.

“Yeah well we decided to travel the world, we were bound to come across people who didn’t approve and there’ll be much more where those came from.” I told him then took hold of his hand and pulled him forward. He finally looked away from the guards and at me. “I don’t want any trouble Marcus, just ignore them.” I told him seriously and after regarding me for a few moments he nodded and allowed me to drag him away.

……………………….

Marcus’s POV

 The place was as I imagined it, large crowds of people milling about, food stands, gift shops only rather than selling key chains and candy, they sold weapons; knives, guns, bows and arrows; whatever weapon you could think of they had it.

There were no rides but everywhere you turned there was some form of competition going on, fights, knife throwing and the like which emphasized how very different wolf society was from the human culture. Everything here was centered around strength and strategy; survival. Rivers had explained that each pack was different, that this pack was one of the more formal ones.

They held firm to the ways of the past; a true wolf pack and you could see it in the lack of any real modernity on the compound. The homes at least were somewhat normal but everything else looked like something from the fifteenth century.

The pack was more like an ancient military base than anything else but it intrigued me. Their culture was completely different from Carson’s and I wondered what kind of people really resided here.

“…been dying to shift again, I don’t know why my wolf’s been so restless lately.”  Rivers was saying as he pulled me to the edge of the forestry. I watched as he pulled off his shirt, boots, pants and all the bracelets he’d piled on his arms and gave them over to an attendant who placed them into one of the wooden lockers lining the edge of the forestry.

The he turned to watch me. “Come on sweetheart I wanna hunt.” He said excitedly, looking between me and the lush hills and I indulged him as always, pulling off my clothes and handing everything to the attendant who stuffed them into the same locker.

I was given a sheet of paper to sign, then before long I found myself shifted down to form and entering the forest with my mate. I could sense his exhilaration. He always got like this when he shifted, as if it was a relief to be in what he called his true form.

He nudged my side with his furry head, then took off at a breakneck speed through the woodland. I sniffed the air; enjoying the scent of the wood; loving the natural feel to the outdoors. Around me I could also sense other wolves and I spotted a few of them darting through the trees.

  I set out at a jog; I wasn’t like these creatures, shifting never gave me that sense of relief, it never filled me with that intense need to hunt, I only felt relaxed and comfortable in my new skin.

I eased away slightly from the presence I felt at my side and watched as a wolf regarded me with its head tilted to the side. The creature’s fur was tawny to my midnight black. I watched it sniff the air, then step closer, sniffing again. No doubt wondering what type of creature I was.

 My scent was different, the texture of my fur softer and my build strikingly larger than the average werewolf.  The creature moved to nudge me, its nose planted in my neck , then it stepped away angling its head in the direction all the other wolves were going and took off.

I seized the invitation and took off behind it, dodging trees, jumping over roots and enjoying the wind in my fur. I chose not the hunt as the others were doing, instead, I broke away from another group of wolves I’d come across and followed Rivers’ scent, he’d been here briefly, his scent mingling with that of another and I ran in that direction, knowing that he was close.

It took me twenty minutes to find him and when I did he had shifted back to form and laid out in the grass with a few others who had also shed their wolf forms.

He was talking to a woman, who was completely unclothed and seemingly entranced by whatever it was that Rivers was saying to her.

When he sensed my presence he glanced my way with a grin and waved me over and I went. He sat up, crossing his legs as he continued his conversation with his new friend and I stretched out beside him, laying my furry head onto his lap. He stroked my fur absently and I closed my eyes listening to the sound of his voice.

“…oh no darling you need to get that guy shaved, he looks like a caveman.” Rivers exclaimed and the woman’s hearty laugh had me opening my eyes to regard her.

“My mate does what he wants, when he wants; a woman’s instruction does not matter to him.” She said and she looked at me.

“It is always nice to see mates so completely bound by each other. He is beautiful Rivers.” She said and a moment later I felt her hand running through my fur alongside Rivers’ and I froze and pulling away.

“He’s not very…sociable.” Rivers said quickly and I could hear the apology in his voice.

If it was in my nature I would have rolled my eyes at his misplaced courtesy. You would think people would know not to go around invading a person’s personal space.

“Well that’s alright. Neither is my Edgar….but we do enjoy the company of others in ways that does not involve speaking…if you catch my meaning.” She said, her eyes darting to me one more.

“You mean you guys are okay with sleeping with other people? While mated?” even to my own ears Rivers sounded shocked by her pronouncement and she chuckled.

“Don’t sound so surprised darling, it’s quite common for wolves to share their pleasure. Edgar and I are not ones to deny ourselves that. We do not hide ourselves away from other species, other lovers, other genders, pleasure is pleasure.” She finished and my suspicion grew.

“You would enjoy my Edgar he understands how to give pleasure as do I.” she continued eyeing us both and I finally closed my eyes, growing bored with the conversation.

It was just another thing I hated about people; never capable of just saying exactly what they wanted, always finding ways to beat around the bush.

The woman wanted sex, plain and simple; saying it wouldn’t have been very difficult.

“Yeah right sweetheart, have you seen the size of this one. He doesn’t share and I he’s more than enough…trust me.” Rivers continued, his voice as loud and suggestive as usual.

“I can only imagine.” His friend spoke and I could practically smell her desire.

“You need a haircut Marcus.” Rivers said absently as he continued to run his fingers through my fur. “I’ll give you one when we get back to the hotel.” He continued and I ignored him.

The last night he’d told me he’d give me a ‘haircut’ I’d found myself sitting in a chair for over an hour as he added a bunch of strange smelling products and sprays into my hair; explaining all the while which one was to prevent breakage, which one was to make my hair ‘super’ soft, which one was to add volume and the list went on. Never again.

“You’ll enjoy my pack if you choose to go.” The woman was saying, “We are free in our ways; you’ll find many of our residents will be intrigued by your coupling.” She continued and I decided right there that we would be bypassing that particular pack in our travels.

“I heard about your pack. Aren’t you guys nudists or something?” Rivers continued and she laughed.

“Such a human term darling. We are free is all. We allow our bodies to direct us, we house no shame and we enjoy that which is natural.”

“Are you going to pack twining?” Rivers changed the subject and I could sense the woman’s excitement before she even spoke.

“I hear they have outdone themselves this year. They will host their Fest onboard a fleet of ships!” she exclaimed and Rivers gasped “so it’s true, I can’t wait! Even though I’m sure a lot of people won’t be too happy about that. No hunting, no real camp activities.”

“Yes well, it will be a nice change I think.” she said then, “Oh my Edgar calls, it was nice meeting you Rivers, I hope to see you again. Goodbye Marcus.” She said and I opened my eyes to watch her departure.

“I like her.” Rivers announced when it was just the two of us.

No surprise there. She was just as flamboyant of he was after all.

………………………………………….

Rivers’ POV

It was almost sunset by the time we decided to leave the hills and I could have kicked myself for spending almost the entire day up there. We hadn’t even seen half of the camp so I had no idea what else they had to offer.

It was beautiful though; the hills were so fresh and relaxing; if I could, I would stay up there longer, but I wanted Marcus to experience Pack Fest the way it was meant to be experienced. I wanted him to see more than just the hills.

When we’d retrieved our belonging from the locker, I pulled him along to a food stand and from there the excitement of being at Pack Fest began. After eating our fill, we found ourselves watching competition after competition, always spectated by large crowds of raucous wolves.

There was knife throwing, wrestling, hunting, bloody wolf battles and more, all in the name of competition. It was what us wolves craved after all; to see who was better, stronger, faster and more powerful. It got the adrenal pumping and soothed our prides.

It was normal. It was messy and the wolf in me loved every second of it. We’d also managed to make it to an early bonfire where we sat and listened to stories of battles lost and won by our ancestors and socialized with other wolves; friendly and otherwise, until we’d become hungry once more and had to find another food stand.

At one point we spotted Thomas and Grady moving through the crowd but they disappeared a second later and we were left to our own devices once again.

This particular pack didn’t have much to offer in terms of activities despite the fact that they had managed to keep us all entertained. They relied too much on the ancient ways; on hunting and all the things wolves were expected to do but they lacked what the younger generation of wolves craved which was why many had left the camp earlier than usual.

Marcus seemed to be enjoying himself though which left me satisfied enough to remain. While far from friendly, he did manage to make friends with a few- and I do mean few- of the visitors. I on the other hand had too many numbers to count and not enough space in my phone to store them; I’d say the day was going well indeed.

“You look tired.” Marcus commented after we’d left a gift shop where I’d purchased a beaded necklace for Stephie.

“Not really.” I said covering a yawn, “Are you?”

He shrugged then took hold of my hand as we proceeded to push through the crowd.

“I’m thinking maybe we should just bypass the other two packs in this region and head out of the country.” I told him and when we were safely out of the crowd’s grip he spoke.

“Why? I thought you wanted to visit all the master packs.”

“Yeah but the other two will pretty much be the same as this one, they’re the more traditional packs; everything is centered too much on battle; I wanna see what else the other packs have to offer; like pack Twining or pack Chantlis.”

I stifled another yawn.

“Alright whatever works.” He said then looked around briefly, “Let’s go find Thomas.” And I was being pulled through the crowd once more, his hand wrapped securely around mine.

We were moving in the direction that most people were gravitating toward. I sniffed the air trying to pick up Thomas’ scent but the mash of bodies closing in around us prevented any such luck. As we continued the bodies pressed closer and closer until I was sweating profusely and I found myself wishing I was as tall as Marcus who had no such problems.

“Ah!” I shouted when someone accidentally slammed into me and I fell back into the crowd, my hand slipping from Marcus’. When I tried to get up, my fingers were crushed under another passing foot and I yelped in pain, holding my hand to my chest.

It was too hot, too many bodies and the air was stifling. I gasped, grabbing someone’s clothing to help pull me up, but whoever it was flung me off in surprise.  I finally managed to pull up from the ground and I tried to push through the unrelenting crowd. When I couldn’t even get through them due to my lack of strength and otherwise small frame, I felt a ripple go through me as I began to shift.

Scared of a little crowd…wow my pack would be so proud.

When I was shoved again, I stumbled and my shifting died down completely. It was just too much; I couldn’t shift. A passing thought had me wondering where all these people were going anyway that they would risk being trampled underfoot.

When I felt an accidental elbow in my side, I yelped again, then stumbled as another body pressed against mine. I coughed as the rising dust clogged my throat, then it was another body slamming into me causing me to fall unceremoniously to the ground once more where foot after foot crushed my hand.

I could see the pack headlines now; ‘ Big bad wolf trampled by crowd’. When another foot came crashing down unto my hand I cried out and felt the tears come to my eyes.

I pushed up again, this time using all my strength to shove at the bodies pushing against me and I received more than a few rough jostles in retaliation.

“Marcus!” I shouted when I couldn’t make headway and I felt like a pathetic little child lost in a crowd.

I could feel my mate’s worry through our bond but I couldn’t even gain a sense as to where he was. I tried walking with the crowd, thinking that they would all eventually stop when they got to their destination but the camp was large and it could be awhile before that even happened.

I sucked in another breath and coughed against the dust, my battered hand still pressed against my chest as I fought to maintain my balance, then I felt a hand latch onto my upper arm and miraculously I was being pulled through the crowd; shielded by a large familiar frame from the mess of bodies.

It felt like ages that I was being pulled, then we broke through the crowd and the breath of fresh air had me coughing again as Marcus pulled me into his strong arms.

When my coughing fit was over I gripped him, my heart still pounding in my chest, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins at my near death experience.

He pulled me from him, his hands moving over my bruised face gently, then he pulled my hand from my chest to assess the damage. It was badly bruised and swollen to twice its original size.

“Jesus Rivers.” I heard another voice beside me and I looked around to see Grady standing there, then Thomas’s patted my head but I could see the relief in their faces and when I looked back at the thick crowd then looked back at Marcus, who was still inspecting me for other injuries, his brows furrowed in concern, my eyes watered and a sob fell from my lips.

I  tried covering my mouth with my good hand trying to prevent my tears and but Marcus pulled it away and gathered me in his arms, a second later I felt us being lowered to the ground and I was in his lap, sobbing against his chest from the shock and embarrassment of my ordeal.

I was a wolf why was I sitting here bawling like some human kid? I imagined the passersby thinking how weak I was to be acting this way and I tried to calm myself; tried to stop the tears but to no avail and I clutched my mate tighter. Then something happened.

I could feel Marcus sifting through the bond; something he never did. I could feel his presence melting on each strand as he tried to calm me.

“You have a right to feel this way, you could have lost your life out there.” He was saying as he continued to travel through the bond, drenching every strand with calming thoughts and comforting feelings.

“I’d okay Riv, I’ve got you.” He whispered into my ear and I clung tighter.

 We stayed that way until the shock wore off and the tears dried up and even then, I could feel his presence in our bond, soothing me while he continued to whisper his comforting words.

“…and I’ll even let you cut my hair…” he was saying and I couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped at the bribe.

I finally pulled away and blinked up at him after scrubbing the tears from my face with my good hand. I took a shaky breath and let it out slowly.

“I thought I was gonna die out there, I couldn’t breathe and I kept falling, I thought they’d trample me.” I said and when I felt Grady’s hand on my shoulder I looked around and offered him a smile, noticing for the first time that we were sitting on the ground, Marcus’ back against a building with Thomas and Grady stooped in front of us.

“Thought we fucking lost you out there bro.” Grady said, the concern in his tone evident.

“How’d you find Marcus? We were looking for you…” I trailed off, moving to push out of Marcus’ lap but he held me firmly to him, lifting my injured arm once more to inspect the damage.

“We actually spotted him in the crowd, looking for you.” Thomas answered and I nodded and looked away.

“Where’re they going anyway?”

“Blood match.” Thomas supplied once again.

 Fight to the death. A werewolf’s idea of entertainment. I shook my head and tried to pull up again, this time Marcus allowed it and I stood, my hand clutched to my chest and my happy mood from earlier completely shattered.

“I think maybe we should head back to the hotel.” Grady offered, the concern still etched in his features and I offered him another smile.

“No I’m fine, we can stay if you guys want. Maybe we could go watch the match.” I offered half-heartedly, but Marcus was quick to interfere.

“No you need to get that hand looked at, maybe we can find a doctor here somewhere, then we’ll take you back to the hotel to get some rest.”

I opened my mouth to resist but Thomas held up a hand.

“He’s right, it’s time to go, plus we have twenty-two packs left…we won’t be missing out on anything. Don’t worry about it.” He explained and I finally nodded.

“Fine but I don’t want a doctor here. If we’re gonna leave, let’s just leave.” I told them “Please.”

Not long after we were making our way around the crowd, through a couple deserted alleyways, to the gates and into the parking lot. We all piled into the vehicle and the second we hit the highway I was asleep.

                                         AUTHOR’S NOTES

TAKE IT..I’M GONNA GO GET SOME FOOD.

LATER GUYS.

DoUbLe.A

-unedited.

Peek for ch.4

Sneak peek–Chapter 4

“Maybe you should keep it submerged.” Grady suggested when I lifted my battered hand from the ice filled water yet again. It was quite possibly doing its job but it was still painful as hell.

“You try sticking your hand in a jar of freezing water and then you come tell me what I need to do.” I muttered; grumpy from the pain and uncomfortable from the sweat and dirt still caked to my skin .

I hadn’t had much time to do anything since we’d come back. Marcus had simply filled the jar of ice and water, handed it to me and told me to stick my hand in. Then he’d left and twenty minutes later he still wasn’t back and the swelling still hadn’t gone down.

“Do you want me to take you to the doctor?” Grady asked again, coming to crunch down in front of me. I shook my head and his eyes travelled to my hand.

I held it up before me like it wasn’t my own; inspecting the damage. It was starting to develop dark patches where the bruises were more prominent. I tried to flex my fingers but I felt a shot of pain and stopped. There was a shallow gash in the middle of my palm; I probably cut it on a rock or something.

Now that the hand was above water, the numbness was wearing off and it began to throb painfully. I stuck it back in the jar with an annoyed sigh.

“Where’s Marcus?”

Grady shrugged.

“Somewhere with Thomas. Do you want me to call him?”

I shook my head. “I need to shower. Help me take these off.” I told him then, pulling my hand from the jar and lifting it gingerly.

Grady stood and his hands went immediately to my shirt tail. I lifted my arms slightly, allowing him to pull the filthy thing over my head then drop it to the floor without jarring my injury too much. Who would have thought a trampled appendage would hurt so damn much.

“Jesus Rivers.” He gasped when he spotted the bruises covering my torso. I winced when he reached out to trail his fingers over a particularly large bruise.

“Those much hurt like a bitch… Do you want me to get you some painkillers or something?” his brows were furrowed in concern; completely  unGrady-like  and I shook my head.

“I just wanna get clean and go to bed sweetie. Get my pants.” and without hesitation he was unsnapping my jeans and helping me out of it.

There went my awesome first day of Pack Fest.

Ugh…

 …………………………………….

Marcus’ POV

“He says he’s fine but I think he’s still in shock.” I explained to Adrian, the phone trapped between my ear and shoulder as I juggled the bags of food.

“You sure you don’t want us to come out there?”

“No need. In a day or two he’ll put it all behind him and be ready to jump right back into it. You know how he gets.”

Adrian chuckled on the other end “Alright them, tell him I’ll call later.”

“Will do.” I said, pushing the hotel room door open with my foot. I managed to grab hold of my mobile before it could fall to the floor, then looked up to see Grady pulling down my lover’s pants.

                                     AUTHOR’S NOTES

THOUGHT I’D GIVE YALL ALITTLE SOMETHING SINCE I GOTTA STUDY…HOPEFULLY I’LL GET THE FULL CHAPTER UP SOON .

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.

Chapter 4 : Secrets

Chapter 4

Marcus’ POV

He seemed genuinely concerned for Rivers well being which, so far was the only thing I liked about him. You could see it etched in his face with every twist and turn of the vehicle through the surprisingly busy streets of the country.

I tried to maneuver the vehicle as best I could around any visible potholes and  bumps but every time the tires happened to snag on one of the road’s offending imperfections it would jostle Rivers’ arm and he would whimper in his sleep, causing Grady’s brows to furrow deeper and deeper until he sat quietly in the back looking miserable and tormented.

I could understand how he felt. Just the thought of Rivers hurt was enough to drive me up the wall, so one could just imagine the reality of the situation now. I was torn between taking him to the hospital and just going straight to the hotel. There were no broken bones just his bruised body and bruised pride which was what ultimately led me to the decision to go straight to the hotel.

We’d been driving for an hour so far but had managed to stop once to get a small igloo with ice and water. At the moment my mate’s hand was submerged in it and still he slept on; quite possibly exhausted from the shock of all he’d been through.

“He’ll be fine Grady.” Thomas was reassuring his mate in the back seat.

“Yeah I know.”

A glance at the rear view told me otherwise; he was still worried and clearly doubting Thomas’ words.

“I just keep thinking what might have happened if Marcus hadn’t found him.” he said brokenly and a wave of appreciation flowed through me at the sincerity of his words.

There was a chance my earlier dislike of him had been misplaced. If he cared this much about Rivers then he couldn’t be completely hopeless.

“No point in thinking about that. He’s safe.” I spoke for the first time since our brief stop but the silence that descended had me thinking that maybe I’d sounded harsher than I’d intended.

I wasn’t very competent in the whole ‘comforting’ department.

“Maybe we should just call this whole thing quits. We got to experience one pack, I don’t think I could stand seeing him hurt again.” The boy continued to mumble.

“If you think Rivers will agree to that then you don’t know him very well.” I commented, glancing briefly at my sleeping mate.

“Besides, it’s a minor injury, he’ll be fine in a few days.”

When Rivers whimpered against I delved into our bond, drenching the strands with as much positivity as I could while half my mind remained focused on the road. He was dreaming about the incident and I imagined he would be for some time to come, after all it wasn’t every day that someone came face-to-face with death.

The pounding of my heart escalated at the very thought and I pushed it from my mind. I’d just have to be more careful with him. I wouldn’t let him out of my sight.

………………………………………..

“Maybe you should keep it submerged.” Grady suggested when I lifted my battered hand from the ice filled water yet again. It was quite possibly doing its job but it was still painful as hell.

“You try sticking your hand in a jar of freezing water and then you come tell me what I need to do.” I muttered; grumpy from the pain and uncomfortable from the sweat and dirt still caked to my skin .

I hadn’t had much time to do anything since we’d come back. Marcus had simply filled the jar of ice and water, handed it to me and told me to stick my hand in. Then he’d left and twenty minutes later he still wasn’t back and the swelling still hadn’t gone down.

“Do you want me to take you to the doctor?” Grady asked again, coming to crunch down in front of me. I shook my head and his eyes travelled to my hand.

I held it up before me like it wasn’t my own; inspecting the damage. It was starting to develop dark patches where the bruises were more prominent. I tried to flex my fingers but I felt a shot of pain and stopped. There was a shallow gash in the middle of my palm; I probably cut it on a rock or something.

Now that the hand was above water, the numbness was wearing off and it began to throb painfully. I stuck it back in the jar with an annoyed sigh.

“Where’s Marcus?”

Grady shrugged.

“Somewhere with Thomas. Do you want me to call him?”

I shook my head. “I need to shower. Help me take these off.” I told him then, pulling my hand from the jar and lifting it gingerly.

Grady stood and his hands went immediately to my shirt tail. I lifted my arms slightly, allowing him to pull the filthy thing over my head then drop it to the floor without jarring my injury too much. Who would have thought a trampled appendage would hurt so damn much.

“Jesus Rivers.” He gasped when he spotted the bruises covering my torso. I winced when he reached out to trail his fingers over a particularly large bruise.

“Those much hurt like a bitch… Do you want me to get you some painkillers or something?” his brows were furrowed in concern; completely unGrady-like and I shook my head.

“I just wanna get clean and go to bed sweetie. Get my pants.” and without hesitation he was unsnapping my jeans and helping me out of it.

There went my awesome first day of Pack Fest.

Ugh…

 …………………………………….

Marcus’ POV

“He says he’s fine but I think he’s still in shock.” I explained to Adrian, the phone trapped between my ear and shoulder as I juggled the bags of food.

“You sure you don’t want us to come out there?”

“No need. In a day or two he’ll put it all behind him and be ready to jump right back into it. You know how he gets.”

Adrian chuckled on the other end “Alright them, tell him I’ll call later.”

“Will do.” I said, pushing the hotel room door open with my foot. I managed to grab hold of my mobile before it could fall to the floor, then looked up to see Grady pulling down my lover’s pants.

I kicked the door closed and deposited the bags onto the nearest table. “You know if I was a lesser man I’d be beating the shit out of you for touching him.” I drawled as I watched Grady discard the pants onto the floor at his feet.”

He rolled his eyes and Rivers looked toward me with a grin.

“Hey darling where’ve you been?” he asked, making his way toward me in nothing but a pair of too tight boxer briefs.

My eyes narrowed into slits as I took in his bruises. “You should be resting.” I told him sternly but he completely ignored my words and stood on his toes, angling his face for a kiss.

My eyes roved over his face and over his arms before I conceded and placed a gentle peck on his forehead. He frowned, regarded me for a second before looking back and forth between me and Grady.

“Which one of you is gonna help me with my shower?” and when my eyes narrowed dangerously he winked and stepped past both of us and into the bathroom. A second later I heard the spray of water and I turned to Grady who was watching me warily.

I indicated the door. “Thomas is probably looking for you.”

He was quick to nod and not long after that I was alone with my thoughts and the sound of my lover humming in the shower.

I sighed, then rolled my shoulders, trying the dispel the tension there as I  pulled off my shirt  and made my way to the bathroom and the steaming shower that awaited me there.

……………………………….

Rivers’ POV

The poolside was quiet this time of day. There were three other people here along with us and until Grady decided to take that dive he was gearing up for, the pool would quite possibly remain empty.

“Sweetie we’re on vacation, why can’t you just forget about work for once? The company isn’t gonna crumble with you absent for a couple months you know.” I said turning to Marcus who was naked save for a pair of black swim trunks, sitting on the lounge chair beside me with a pile of papers and folders organized before him.

It was a beautiful day out; I was finally able to relax without having to worry too much about my throbbing hand after the uncomfortable night I’d had and I just wanted to spend the day unwind with my mate; yet there he sat, nose deep in work….as always.

“Mmhmm.” He responded distractedly and I knew without a doubt he hadn’t heard a word I’d said.

I tried again.

“Can we just enjoy the day without your bloody papers please.”

No response. My eyes narrowed.

“Marcus.” I called.

“Not now Rivers.” He said firmly, his brows furrowed as he continued to scrutinize the document before him.

I pushed up out of the chair in annoyance and ripped the document from his hand and it was only then that he glanced my way. His mouth tight with a frown as he glared up at me.

“Now that I’ve got your attention, could you please just relax with me today? You’re at it twenty-four seven, it’s time for a break.” I said and proceeded to gather the other papers as best I could with only one useful hand.

I froze when his hand latched onto my arm and he gave me that signature look that let me know he wasn’t having it.

“Don’t give me that look. It’s for your own good.” I admonished and when he plucked the papers from my loose grasp, I reached over and plucked them back from him.

“Rivers, I don’t have time for games. This may be a vacation for you but I have too much to get done to sit here and waste time.” He explained calmly, as though I were a child.

“Well you’re ruining my vacation with all this work. A few days won’t kill you. I’m gonna go put these away and we’ll try to have some real fun.” I said adamantly and I felt the annoyance whisper through our bond.

“Rivers. Stop.”

Typical Marcus with his grumpy disposition. You’d think I’d have at least made some headway in getting him to lighten up in the year we’d been together.

I looked at him with a raised brow.

“That tone only work on your employees darling. Now either put these away or I will.” He was putting a damper on my day.

“Don’t be ridiculous giv-”

I acted before either of us could formulate another thought and with a flick of the wrist his papers went flying through the air to land into the pool a few feet away.

I watched in horror as they floated on the surface for a fraction of a second before they sank…and sank…and sank until I could barely make them out.

I turned around slowly to take in my lover’s expression. I offered him a weak smile as he stood there staring down into the blue of the pool, the bridge of his nose trapped between his thumb and forefinger signaling his frustration.

Then his flashing eyes turned on me and I regarded him warily.

“Don’t look at me like that you’re the one who brought paperwork to a poolside.” I said in my defense, gesturing around us and to my surprise a half smile sprang to his face and his eyes flashed with amusement.

“You’re something else, you know that?” he said and I shrugged.

“Does this mean we get to relax now?”

“Okay…sure…” he trailed off and I raised a brow when he stepped closer to me. “Do you want to go for a swim?”

And in an instant he had me lifted from the ground.

I could see his intent clearly though our bond as well as the ill-concealed mixture of glee and vindication as he moved ever closer to the pool.

“Marcus don’t you dare!” I squealed and an instant later the I was being swallowed up by the chlorinated water. I kicked to the surface, spluttering as I glared at him where he stood smirking down at me from dry land.

“My hair! You are so dead Marcus Corsetti!”

I ran my hand through my hair and squeezed for what it was worth, then looked back up at Marcus who was now gathering whatever papers I hadn’t managed to destroy. My eyes narrowed when he deposited them into the file jacket and proceeded to leave the pool side.

“You’re the one who chose to be mated to a nerd.” A voice spoke not far behind me and I rolled my eyes before turning to Grady.

“Shouldn’t you be off pestering Thomas or something?” I asked jokingly and he shrugged.

“Where is he anyway?” I looked around the pool side and took note of the other tourists…no Thomas.

“Probably getting some rest…he’s…” he trailed off uncertainly then shook his head. “He’s probably just tired, we stayed out late last night.” he finished and I appraised him with narrowed eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah why?” I hadn’t realized something was off about him until that moment. I took in the subtle droop in his shoulders…shoulders which housed what looked to be human bite marks?

“Jeez you and Thomas are really getting into it huh?”  I left it up to him to decide whether I meant sex or something more sinister. He only shrugged.

“Maybe I should go check on him…see you later okay?” then he was swimming the distance of the pool and exiting at the shallow end. I watched him until he was completely out of site then pulled out of the water myself, grabbed my towel which was strewn across the chair and made my way to my room. Marcus and I needed to have a little talk about Thomas. Something wasn’t right here.

………………………

“Something’s up with Thomas and Grady and don’t tell me to mind my own business because this  is serious. I saw bite marks.” I announced as soon as I entered the room. Marcus looked up at me from where he sat around the small table and appraised me with a bored expression.

I watched as he raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, “Bite marks?” he looked skeptical.

“Yes bite marks and they don’t look like the ones you’d get from playing around if you know what I mean and Grady won’t tell me anything.” I was practically pleading. For what exactly I wasn’t completely sure but something needed to be done.

“Grady didn’t tell you because it’s not your right to know. What happens between them is their business.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms before my chest. “Thomas could be abusing him and you want me to mind my own business?”

“Grady isn’t the kind of person who would stay in an abusive relationship and Thomas wouldn’t intentionally hurt his own mate. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” His expression hadn’t changed. Still looking borderline bored and maybe just a little bit… annoyed.

“You don’t know what Grady would or wouldn’t do, you don’t even like him but if you won’t help then I’ll find out on my own.” I swiveled, grabbed my towel again with the intention to exit the suite.

“Rivers.” The seriousness of his tone stumped me and I turned back to him with a dramatic sigh.

“What?”

“Come here.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t have time for this Marcus, I need to help my friend.”

“You need to relax.”

I gritted my teeth and turned to go once again.

“How do you propose to find your answer? Go over there and insult your Beta by accusing him of ill-treating his mate?”

I paused and turned slightly.

“I really couldn’t care less right now…better to be safe than sorry right?”

“Or is it better to act the fool rather than be logical?” came his scathing remark. I spun to face him.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, I’m trying to look out for someone I care about. You’re just sitting on your ass choosing to do nothing. At least I care!”

“Thomas is not harming his mate Rivers…but go ahead. Go pry into their lives, it will be interesting to see how well this will go over.” he shifted his attention from me completely then and picked up his pen to continue whatever work it was he was doing.

“Why can’t you just support me in this? What if it was Adrian or Scottie…you’d investigate I know you would, so why are you giving me such a hard time?”

He looked at me then, his eyes piercing mine. “There’s nothing to investigate here. Trust me.”

My eyes narrowed. “Do you know something I don’t? Is that it?”

He seemed to think about it for a moment but still chose to remain silent and my suspicious grew.

“What’s going on Marcus?” I moved away from the door and came to stand only a few feet away from him.

He dropped the pen and leaned back in his chair to regard me.

“I’m going to need you to trust me. Do you think you can do that?”

A bullshit answer if I ever heard one. I glared

“And I need you to trust me and tell me what’s going on. Do you think you can do that?” I returned and his brows furrowed.

“It’s not my business to tell.” He spoke calmly and silence descended for a brief moment as we both just looked at each other.

His face was devoid of emotion but his eyes glowed with intensity. I took a breath, then another and attempted to enter the bond and like a shock to the system I came upon a block.

He was shutting me out!

“I can’t believe this.” I spoke softly.

“Rivers you know I would have to have a good reason for choosing to keep this to myself. I promise you, Thomas would never intentionally hurt his mate. That’s all I have to say on the matter.” He said it with a degree of finality and I bristled at his words.

“There’s never a good reason to keep things from someone you love.”

“Riv-”

 I turned on my heels before he could get another word in and pushed through the door, leaving him to his precious secrets.

                                           AUTHOR’S NOTES

TOOK ALITTLE BREAK FROM STUDYING TO UPLOAD THIS. hOPE YOU’LL ENJOY!

DoUbLe.A

unedited

Chapter 5: Thomas

Chapter 5

Marcus’ POV

The room was quiet, the air was one of dejection and the two men standing before me weren’t exactly what you would call rays of sunshine. Thomas moved to stand by the window then, looking out into the dark night while Grady watched him; the concern etched deep in his features.

It certainly wasn’t the best of situations, in fact, had I been a similar position I still had no idea what I would have done. Marcus Corsetti; the logical thinker, the mastermind behind the best of plots; the brain, yet when it came to this I was at a loss.

“I shouldn’t have come here.” Thomas muttered then; quite possibly the most sensible thing he’d said all night. Grady as expected didn’t agree.

“Don’t start with that crap dude, you’re fi-“

Thomas spun to face him then, mouth drawn in a thin hard line, eyes tight. “Don’t say I’m fine, you and I both know that’s bullshit.” He roared at his mate who stood his ground.

“Thomas it’s just a few scrapes; I get ten times worse than this on the soccer field; you’re overreacting.” I allowed them to continue their argument, though it was pointless and quite frankly a waste of my time.

I moved to sit in the chair opposite them, making myself comfortable as I awaited my turn to speak.

“Overreacting? I’m hurting you Grady! I can’t touch you anymore without worrying that I might accidentally rip your fucking head off…how is that overreacting?” he blazed.

“Stop being such a wuss, you’re the only one making a big deal out of this, it doesn’t matter what you think, you won’t really hurt me, you can’t, so can we just stop worrying about this for once?”

I looked between the two; well it was certainly a destructive relationship they had going, but then I thought of my brother Adrian and his lover; maybe destructive wasn’t quite the word I was looking for….

Thomas shook his head as if to clear it and took a breath. “I swear Grady sometimes you can be such an idiot. I’m losing control of my wolf. Every day I have to literally tell myself that I won’t hurt anyone, that I’m in control and no matter how hard I try I still slip.”

Grady’s eyes narrowed: “Adrian has the same problem and he’s perfectly fine!”

“Adrian isn’t a werewolf; he’s a shape shifter which means he doesn’t get the same urge to shift as I do: I can’t just live my life never shifting; I’d go mad!” he continued.

I wondered briefly if the hotel staff were on their way up, I could barely hear my own thoughts over the racket they were making.

“And clearly my situation is different from Adrian’s, I’m losing control even in my human form.” He threw up his hands in frustration then turned away from his mate; falling silent.

I glanced down at my watch, uncrossed my legs and pushed up from my seat. “Well as entertaining as this has been I’d like to say my piece and get back to my mate.” I began and when neither of them glanced my way, I proceeded anyway.

“It’s clear that you’re getting worse Thomas and as much as you wish that wasn’t the case Grady, it is. As you requested, I haven’t told Rivers-“

“And that’s another thing, why can’t we tell Rivers? It’s not fair that we’re leaving him out of the loop, he’s going around thinking you’re abusive.” Grady shot at Thomas, cutting me off mid-sentence.

My eyes narrowed.

“I don’t want anyone else knowing.” Thomas said simply and Grady rolled his eyes.

“As I was saying,” I continued, “I haven’t told Rivers partly because you asked me not to, but mostly because he has this thing where he thinks he has to help everyone and if he finds out, that’s exactly what he’ll try to do and as it stands I don’t want him near you.” I spoke seriously.

When Grady opened his mouth to interrupt once more, I held up my hand and continued.

“I’m not trying to offend you Thomas but you’re not in control of yourself right now and I can’t have my mate getting hurt. I wish I could help you, but even this is beyond me and at the end of the day, friendship or not, Rivers has to come first which means we can’t continue Pack Fest with you.” I finished

They remained silent and I watched as Thomas contemplated my words. “I’ll even go on to suggest that you forget about Pack Fest this year and try to deal with yourself; people could get hurt.” I didn’t have much more to say beyond that and so I made my way over to where he stood and offered my hand.

Without hesitation he took it and we shook hands briefly. “Good luck.” I told him and when he nodded I turned and left the room without a backward glance. I honestly hoped Thomas would get better and if I was a praying man I’d be on my knees, but despite the fact that he was a good friend; sometimes you had to make tough decisions and like I’d told Thomas, Rivers’ safety would always come first.

I decided to stop by the bar in the hotel lounge before I went up to face my ill-tempered mate and as soon as I sat, I was practically attacked by some woman I’d never seen before. She took her place on a stool beside me and offered me a saucy smile.

“By me a drink?” were her first words and throwing caution to the wind I did, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do because the moment the bartender handed her the glass her mouth took over.

Rivers could talk, but this human was a whole another cup of tea all together. She spilled her drink at one point and laughed before offering me that same smile from earlier and I wondered if this was the kind of thing straight men found attractive. She hadn’t constructed an intelligent sentence since the moment she sat down and the more she spoke the more annoyed I became.

“Excuse me.” I said politely yet cutting off whatever she was about to say and pushed up from the stool. I exited the lounge, drink in hand and made my way to the deserted pool side where I could think.

I looked into the pool, taking in the stillness of the water.

For whatever reason Thomas was losing control of himself; the wolf in him slowly taking over. Adrian was the only other case of any similarity that anyone had heard of and even then the cases differed greatly.

 I took a sip of the amber liquid.

I wondered how it must feel to be losing control of yourself like that; to the point where you could hurt your own mate, then I wondered what I would have done in a similar situation. Would I leave Rivers to keep him safe or stay and try to fight it out?

Adrian had been lucky. As long as he didn’t shift he had complete control of himself but Thomas? It was a strange case indeed.

“He’s gonna get better.”

I didn’t turn to face Grady when he approached the pool side. “I never said he wouldn’t.”

“What he’s going through is only temporary and even if it isn’t, I don’t care. Thomas will always be the same and he’d never really hurt me, you think a few scrapes are gonna scare me away from him?” Grady was angry, I could feel the emotion pouring off him in waves.

“Is there a reason you came to tell me all this?” I asked calmly before taking another sip of my drink. It was as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words.

There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “There are only three people out there that Thomas trusts enough to listen to; Carson is one of them and he hasn’t even told him what’s going on, I’m the next and he’s shutting me out and then there’s you and the moment you told him he’s putting people in danger he’s all ears.”

I had yet to face him but I wouldn’t need to look at his expression to know that he was hurt by the situation. What I didn’t understand was why he’d chosen to come to me with all this. Me; who he clearly couldn’t stand to be around.

“And I’ll ask again, is there a reason you came to tell me all this?”

I could just imagine his anger. “Yeah it’s because of you Thomas decided he’s gonna go back home. If you hadn’t put all this shit in his head he wouldn’t-”

I turned to face him. “Thomas has a mind of his own, the only reason he would choose to go home is because he thought about what I’d said and decided it made sense. He made the right decision and when he get’s there, it would be in his best interest to let Carson know what’s been going on.”

“Keep in mind that Carson is the Alpha, the second he tells him, he’ll suspend Thomas’ Beta duties and then what will Thomas have? He’s already losing control of his body, it’ll kill him to lose his position too.” I could see the worry in his eyes, the determination in his stance as he stood there fists clenched; mouth set.

“He’ll resume his duties the minute he’s back to normal and in any case; he can’t hope to lead a pack in his condition. Trust me Grady, this is best for him. Maybe Carson will be able to help or find someone who can.”

He stood glaring at me for a few seconds then he seemed to lose his very spirit. I watched his shoulders slump and he lowered his gaze.

“He doesn’t want me to go back with him.” he said softly and when he wouldn’t meet my eyes, I finally understood why we were even having this conversation. He needed someone to talk to and I was the only one available.

“He wants to keep you safe.”

“I’m not some wimp, I can handle myself, and like I said, he wouldn’t really hurt me. I know him better than anyone.”

“Well then it looks like you have a decision to make.”

He was silent for a moment then he met my eyes unflinchingly. “What would you do?” he asked and I could see it took every ounce of strength to bury his pride to ask me.

I didn’t need to think on the answer, if it was Rivers in that position or any of my brothers for that matter… “I’d go with him, show my support.” I said simply and he nodded.

“His flight is before day break, I gotta go buy a ticket. Tell Rivers…tell him I’ll call when we land.” He said and turned to go. I watched him until he disappeared around the corner, then I drained my drink and deposited the empty glass onto the nearest ledge.

………………………………..

 Our suite was dark when I got back. I kicked off my shoes, dropped my jacket onto the back of a chair before entering the bedroom where Rivers, not surprisingly, was still awake, sitting up in bed and flipping through a magazine, using the illumination from the moon- which was streaming through the open window- as light.

“You smell like perfume.” Was the first thing he said when I entered. He had yet to look at me, just continued flipping through the magazine with an expression akin to boredom.

“Yeah I just got back from a tryst with my mistress.” I said drily then watched in amusement as he tried to hide a grin. I pulled my shirt over him head and the pants were next.

“Where’ve you been?”

I paused, “Telling you that’ll probably just piss you off even more.” I commented and moved to climb onto the bed, but the moment my knee grazed the silken sheets a pillow came hurtling my way, smacking me in the chest.

“You’re sleeping on the couch.” He said in a huff and I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”  I got in and watched as he sprang out, grabbing the pillow he’d just been resting on.

“Then I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I sighed. He was the biggest drama queen if I’d ever known one. I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back, watching him struggle to be freed. “No one’s sleeping on the couch, come here.”

He didn’t put up much of a fight but when I had him securely trapped beneath me, he glared at me with such defiance only Rivers could muster. I chuckled and when he looked away I grew serious.

“Name one time I’ve lied to you. One time I’ve given you a reason not to trust me.” I said quietly. He froze, then turned his gaze back to me slowly.

“Let me up.”

“You can’t answer can you?”

“Let me up.” He gritted again and I relented, allowing him to sit up and move a short distance away from me.

“You’re just trying to make me feel guilty. You’ve been keeping things from me Marcus, you’re the one in the wrong, not me.” he accused.

“I’ll say it once more and then I’m done defending myself. It’s not my secret to tell. I’m not about to break their trust just because you feel left out. I’ve given you no reason not to trust me, so when I say Thomas isn’t abusing Grady I don’t get why you can’t accept it.” I allowed the annoyance to creep into my tone and he bristled, turned away from me and pulled the blanket over his body.

He said nothing more and neither did I. I allowed ten minutes to pass, then fifteen.

“Why is it such a big secret then? Why did they tell you and not me?” he mumbled after a while.

“Because it’s their business who they choose to tell. “ I said simply and finally he rolled around to face me, lips turned down in that cute little pout only he could pull off and I smiled, moving to touch his face.

“You’re too nosy for your own good.” I told him then leaned in to steal a kiss on his lips, cheek, nose, chin until he was smiling up at me and I knew all was forgiven.

                                            AUTHOR’S NOTES

IF YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN KEEPING UP-TO-DATE WITH MY MESSAGES AND TWEETS, YOU’LL KNOW THAT I’VE HAD WRITER’S BLOCK FOR THIS PARTICULAR STORY FOR A WHILE NOW. FOR WHATEVER REASON MY INSPIRATION IS LACKING, BUT I TRIED MY BEST AND THIS IS ALL I COULD SQUEEZE OUT.

I’M HOPING I’LL GET MY INSPIRATION BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE THIS STORY.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT TO READ MY WORK.

If you do any fan art for any of my characters lemme know so we can all fangirl over them!

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The essence of this notice is to give you amazing and supportive readers a heads up on what’s happening with this particular novella. To be honest, after the third book in the series was completed; that being ‘The Criminal and the Vigilante’ I hadn’t planned on writing another, it was due to the vast number of you who requested a story for Rivers and Marcus why I even decided to write this.

What I realized however, was that even after the first chapter, I had no passion for it,  to the point where typing up a chapter every week felt like a chore. It made me realize that while it was good to take requests and do something for you guys, it’s never good to do something unless your heart is in it and my heart isn’t in ‘Shifter and the wolf.’

It has even reached a point where I have writer’s block, something that has never happened to me before and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that as much as I love you all and as much as I adore this couple, until I have the passion and motivation to write their story then I can’t continue it.

It is with that said that I must sadly announce that Shifter and the Wolf has been discontinued indefinitely. It’s important to note however that there is a strong possibility that it will be continued at a future date as I have never been one to quit a project, but for now I can’t go on.

I apologize for any inconvenience caused. I know many of you were enjoying it and will be sad to see it go, but let’s all cross our fingers and hope that one day sooner rather than later I’ll be motivated to continue.

Thank you for your time and as always KEEP SWEET!

-DoUbLe.A