Chapter 5: Chapter 5

EVERLEE

“You call us if you need us.”

Tears brimmed my mother’s eyes as I leaned in to hug her neck. I knew leaving the nest would be hard, but I didn’t realize how hard. My throat burned as I swallowed down my tears and let my mother cry softly into my shoulder.

Dad rubbed her back softly, while she tried to straighten her shoulders and put on a happy face. “Mama,” I said. “I’m just thirty minutes away. Everything will be fine. I have Bryiar,” I said, gesturing toward her side of the room. “And Harlan.”

The corner of Dad’s lip turned into a slight snarl, and I rolled my eyes.

It was as if he didn’t mate with my mother, and she became pregnant through Immaculate Conception or something. Mom elbowed Dad in the ribs. “Knock it off. You promised.”

“I did,” he said, stepping forward and rubbing his palm over my head. His salt-and-pepper hair was longer than usual and his beard unkempt. Being alpha, he normally kept up his grooming, but he seemed worried.

I knew it was about me whether he showed it or not.

“I’m going to be fine,” I said confidently.

He tugged on the long brown braid on my shoulder and smiled. “Your mother was wearing a braid the first time I saw her. You look just like her.”

“She must have been beautiful, then,” I said with a smirk.

Mom smiled as she smoothed her palm over my bed that she insisted she help make. “She is,” Dad said, turning his back to my mother. “You remember you can call me whenever you need me. If Harlan tries to pressure you into anything—,”

“~Dad~,” I said, shaking my head. “He isn’t—”

He put both palms on my shoulders and stalled me. “I raised him, Everlee. I know he ~knows~ what is right and wrong. However, I also know how I felt in his position all those years ago. I didn’t force your mother, but dear God, I wanted to.”

I lifted onto my toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Dad. I love you both.”

He wrapped me tightly into a hug. “We love you.”

I walked them both out to Dad’s Jeep and pushed away the feeling of loss that drove away with them. Freedom rang in the distance, and I couldn’t stop myself from seeing Harlan’s dark eyes at the end of that bell.

Speaking of, he went to his advisor’s office to correct a class on his schedule while I made my way back to my dorm. Bryiar stood in front of my mirror, judging two outfits. “Red or black?” she asked.

I pointed toward the red crop top, and black leather pants. “The red will bring out your hair.”

She tossed the other suit onto her bed, and giddily did a dance. “The alpha party starts in two hours, and I can’t wait. Fingers crossed I score me one big hulky alpha that will fulfill all those wild fantasies I’ve been having lately. What are you wearing?”

I plopped down on my bed. “I don’t think I’m going, Bryiar. I’ve already found my mate, why would I go? Plus, I’m dying to spend some alone time with Harlan in his apartment.”

“You’re joking?” she said, giving me a deadpan look. “This is the first party—~the party~—to attend. Who cares you found Harlan? You can go mingle, drink, and dance with your mate. And then go bang each other ~while I find my alpha king mate.~”

I smiled at the ceiling. It was the first official day of school. It’d be silly not to attend the first party. I would have all semester to be with Harlan. Plus, he probably wanted to go.

“Okay,” I said, pulling out my phone. “I’ll text Harlan.”

“That’s what I thought,” Bryiar said, flipping her hair.

Me~: ~Want to go to the alpha party? Bryiar is throwing a hissy fit. It should be fun?~

My phone buzzed moments later.

Harlan: ~Sure. We can wind down before classes tomorrow. Plus, I want to see you tipsy. We weren’t mated the last time. I bet you’re cute as hell.~

I smiled at the screen, feeling all those jitters dance inside of me.

Me: ~Oh, I’m cute all right. Let’s just hope my wolf is behaved. She’s been tossing some vivid fantasies my way lately.~

Bryiar pulled her hair into a high ponytail with her hand. “Up or down?” she asked.

“Down.”

Harlan: ~I’m banking on it.~

***

EVERLEE

Bryiar eyed my short summer dress, and thigh-high boots. I’d hidden them purposefully so she wouldn’t try to steal them for the party. I had plans to spend my first night on campus at Harlan’s apartment, and not that he needed enticement, but I wanted to look nice for him.

“Those weren’t in your closet when I looked earlier,” she said, her blue eyes narrowed.

“That’s because I hid them underneath my bed.

Bryiar flipped me the bird and snatched her purse from her bed. “Well, I do declare, Everlee you’re a piece of best friend trash, you are.”

I chuckled, sliding my phone into the side of my boot. “Well, ya know, I aim high.”

Bryiar looped her arm through mine and squealed. “Is Harlan meeting you there?”

“He’s outside waiting now,” I said, checking my teeth in the mirror once before we walked out into the hallway. “I hope he likes this dress…”

Bryiar snorted. “By the way the boy has been eye humping you since the party, there is no way he isn’t going to be drooling over you by the end of the night.”

~Skip the party~, my wolf begged. ~Your parents are long gone. Go to his apartment now.~

Gnawing on my bottom lip, I imagined how the night would go if we went straight to his apartment. ~Straight to business…~

“Everlee!” Bryiar said, shoving into me. I glanced over at her. “Pay attention. You almost fell. You’re the freaking lycan queen’s daughter and you’re drooling over your mate.”

“Just because my mom is my mom doesn’t mean my wolf isn’t horny like everyone else’s. It’s all she thinks about.”

She shoved open the door to Hellman Hall, and we walked out onto the front steps. The night air blew against my heated skin, and Harlan’s scent came with it. His dark silhouette formed near a magnolia tree in the front yard.

Harlan whistled a cat’s call and stepped into the moonlight. Just the way his breathing hitched, and the sound of his heavy heartbeat made my body warm from the inside out. When we made it to him, I un-looped my arm from Bryiar, and Harlan snaked his arm around my waist. “You look good enough to eat,” he whispered softly, his voice dropped an octave, sliding up my spine like liquid sin.

I turned in his arms, backtracking toward the alpha house, loving the spark of lust in his eyes. “Maybe you’ll find out later.”

Bryiar faked a gag from yards ahead of us, as Harlan took three large steps, grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder.

He hauled me all the way to the steps of the alpha house, letting me down against the open door as music spilled out around us, and students squeezed in behind Harlan who had me trapped against the glass. “I ~will~ find out later,” he said, kissing me softly before someone complained that we were blocking the door.

Bryiar disappeared somewhere in a crowd of people in the living room, while Harlan dragged me toward a keg in the kitchen. He handed me a red plastic cup, and I downed the liquid, knowing I wanted to be loose and not nervous once we made it back to his apartment.

My wolf began counting down the minutes as soon as we arrived.

I wanted to ~at least~ enjoy ourselves before we left.

A loud chanting started from the stairs, and Harlan chuckled from behind me. “~The alphas~ are coming,” he said into my ear. “Let’s go watch these girls have a panic attack trying to snag one.”

I laughed, knowing Bryiar would be in the midst of the groupies. We maneuvered our way out of the kitchen and toward the foyer where a large alpha logo was printed on the floor.

The chanting was getting louder, the excitement buzzed in the air like the moments before a kickoff. Harlan found a small circular chair in the corner of the living room, sat down and sat me on his lap.

His fingers splayed over my thigh, and my body warmed. My wolf pushed ungodly things at me, and before I knew it, I was straddling him in the corner of the room, listening to random girls squeal behind us.

“I’m not too worried about the alphas,” I said, lowering my mouth to him. “How about you?”

Harlan grinned, sliding his palm against the back of my thigh, underneath the length of my dress, to the globe of my ass. “What alphas?” he asked against my mouth.

Harlan tangled his other hand into my hair, diminishing the space between our mouths, kissing me as I’d been dreaming about. My dress bunched around my waist, and he pulled it down the best he could, making me smile into our kiss.

“Are you being polite, or you just don’t want anyone else looking?”

Harlan’s gaze flickered red. “There is nothing polite going on in my head right now.”

~Go to his—~ My wolf stopped.

~Weird.~

~Really weird.~ She’d never just stopped talking like that.

I sat up, feeling my wolf begin to pace, and noise erupt from the stairs. Harlan sat up with me, bringing me closer to his waist so he could see over my shoulder.

A smell wafted from the lobby area, an ocean breeze at night, the feeling of warmth followed behind it. My fingers tightened around Harlan’s deltoids, and I glanced down at his face.

Something wasn’t right.

“Rage!” someone yelled.

My wolf paced harder, crying in confusion as the smell grew closer, and the feeling overwhelmed me. My fingers dug into Harlan’s shoulders, and I stared at him as realization washed over his handsome features.

“Rage! Over here,” some girl yelled to no avail.

The smell grew closer until it lingered over me, immersing me in a scent that mimicked the feeling Harlan’s gave to me. Harlan’s eyes turned red, and his gaze shifted behind my shoulder.

My back stiffened at the fury that flickered in his eyes. “Harlan,” I whispered softly. “Who is that?”

Someone chuckled deeply from behind me. “~Harlan~, is it? You have two seconds to get your hands off my mate before I rip you to pieces.”

In a fit of fury, Harlan stood and placed me behind him, against the chair. Carefully, I peeked around from Harlan’s shoulder and my wolf cried out. That face. Those electric blue eyes, and the hard part in his ebony hair.

This was Rage Hunt. The alpha king’s son.

My dad knew his dad because all alphas knew the alpha king. The king of all the alphas.

Harlan’s fingers curled into fists. “~Your~ what?”

Rage glanced over at me, a playful smile pulled at his mouth, and I hated myself for reacting to it at all. “My mate,” he said more clearly. “I don’t take too kindly to your tongue being down her throat, or your hands on her ass. The only tongue she’ll be getting is mine.”

~Oh crap.~

~Double crap.~

~What in the hades was going on?~

Bryiar waved at me from the corner of the crowd and mouthed, “Run.”

That’s what I wanted to do. Everyone was staring at me. I didn’t like it. But my feet wouldn’t budge. Instead, I fought that internal desire, and shoved Harlan toward the side.

It didn’t really work, but it was an attempt to gain control of the situation. “Harlan is my mate,” I said, lifting my chin to him.

Rage’s gaze lowered to my mouth, and then to my eyes. “~Hmm~. It looks like we have a problem then.” He leaned in and whispered, “Because I don’t share.”