Hangover

ALLIE

The next morning, I wake up in my old bedroom with a splitting headache. I groan as my stomach churns in protest at the amount I had to drink last night.

Danielle and I hadn’t stopped drinking after the two bottles of wine. She’d opened another, and when that was gone, she declared that we needed to ~really~ let loose.

That’s when she produced the bottle of tequila and the shot glasses.

The guys had joined us, and it wasn’t long before we were all dancing around the living room.

I feel rough this morning, but I don’t regret it. I needed to blow off some steam and forget about my mate and the events of yesterday.

I know that I won’t be able to ignore him for much longer, and I need to go back so we can talk through what happened yesterday, but I’ve decided that it can wait until tonight.

I’m going to go downstairs and attempt to eat breakfast—if I’m able to keep anything in my stomach, that is. Then I’m going to go to school. No matter how bad I feel, I’m not going to miss it.

I feel that being with James is starting to make me lose the things that make me, ~me~. A person in my own right.

He might think he can take my job away, but he isn’t going to take my degree away from me as well.

I take my toothbrush and underwear into the bathroom to get washed and changed, then slip on my clean T-shirt and walk down the stairs.

When I enter the kitchen, Toby and Adam don’t look much healthier than me.

Danielle, on the other hand, looks like she had nothing at all to drink the night before. She’s making breakfast and singing along to an upbeat song playing on the radio.

“Do you have to be so loud!” Toby asks her, clutching his head in his hands.

“I’m not being loud,” she protests. “I’m just following my normal morning routine. Why are you so irritable?”

“Probably because I downed almost a whole bottle of tequila last night. Why are you so perky? You drank more than me!” he whines.

“I didn’t drink that much. You’re just a lightweight.”

“Hey,” I jump in, keen to end their conversation before it turns into a full-blown argument.

“Feeling better?” Danielle asks.

“Yes, thanks. It was just what I needed.”

“I’ll just finish making breakfast, and we can head to class.” She pours me a cup of coffee and hands me a slice of toast.

Ten minutes later, we’re ready to go.

Outside, the pack car we usually travel in is waiting for us. The door opens, and David gets out.

“It’s only me. I know that you’re mad at James, but I thought we could still travel together.”

He holds the door open for us, and we climb into the car.

We travel in silence for a few minutes before he speaks.

“No one knows better than I do how bossy and uncommunicative my brother can be. He does what he thinks is best and doesn’t feel that he has to explain or justify his actions to anyone.

“But he’s honestly trying to change for you. It’s just going to take him a while.”

I nod. “I know he is, but I was so scared yesterday. He let me think that he was going out to face Ryan alone. I thought he was going to die.

“If he had just let me know that his wolves were following us… And then, when we get back to the packhouse, he just called Archie and told him that I won’t be working at Raffles anymore.

“He thinks he can order me around and make decisions about my life without asking me.”

“He knows he messed up. Just give him the chance to make it up to you,” David urges.

“I’ll think about it.”

***

It’s a long day. My brain feels like mush, and I’m finding it difficult to concentrate on lectures. Finally, it’s over.

I have to return home and face James.

When I reach the pack house, James is waiting for me.

“Are you ready to talk?” he asks anxiously.

I nod, and he leads me up to our bedroom.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that we weren’t alone and that I had arranged backup.”

“Why didn’t you? I was so scared that Ryan would kill you. And all the while you had your warriors following us. Why did you make me think we were alone?”

He grabs my hand and pulls me closer to him. “Things have been getting more and more serious with Ryan and his rogues. It wasn’t safe to travel without an escort, but I didn’t want to worry you.

“I wanted us to have the perfect day, so I kept their presence a secret.”

He looks so serious, so desperate for me to understand my heart melts. I feel myself begin to weaken, but I can’t just let him get away with this.

“You keep doing that,” I complain. “Hiding from me what is going on with Ryan. That our wolves are being attacked, that his raids are increasing.

“Don’t you trust me? You take me to see your mother so I can learn how to be a luna, but your actions don’t back that up.

“A luna’s duty is to help protect her pack. How can I do that if you don’t share with me the dangers that we face?”

“I know it was wrong of me,” James admits. “But knowing that Ryan wants you and that he’ll do anything to get his hands on you makes me crazy. All I want to do is shield you from that. Protect you from him.”

“That isn’t going to work. You can’t keep things like this from me. Especially when they relate to my own safety, I have a right to know.”

“I realize that now, and I promise that I won’t do it again. From now on, I’ll share what is going on with you. Do you forgive me?”

I shrug, still unsure.

“And then there was Archie,” I remind him. “You decided that I just wouldn’t work for him anymore. You didn’t ask me what I wanted. You didn’t consult me. You just called him up and took away my job.”

“I was so scared after the attack,” he says. “Ryan made it clear that he was determined to have you and that us being mates wouldn’t stop him from kidnapping and claiming you.

“I have to protect you from him. My wolf was going crazy. It was the only way to calm him down.”

“And you couldn’t have discussed it with me first? Explained why it was important for me to give up the job?”

“I should have. I know that I had no right to make that decision for you. I won’t do anything like that again.”

He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Last night was torture. You not being here. Knowing that because of my actions you might decide not to come back. Not to forgive me.”

He pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me, inhaling my scent.

I let him. As infuriating as this wolf is, I know that I can’t bear to be apart from him any more than he can from me.

“I’ve missed you so much. I don’t want to spend a night apart from you again,” he tells me.

His lips crash down on mine and he nips at my bottom lip as he insistently demands entrance to my mouth. I open and let his tongue tangle with mine.

In one swift move, he effortlessly lifts me up into his arms and stalks to the bed. He gently lays me down, and hovers over me. His hands roam over my body. He rips my T-shirt to expose my breasts and begins to massage my left breast.

I mewl with pleasure as his hand trails down my body and impatiently unbuttons my jeans. I lift myself up as he pulls them down, desperate to give him access to my sex.

His mouth rains kisses down my stomach, while his finger begins to run torturous circles around my clit. He plunges two fingers inside me, and I gasp at the sudden intrusion.

“You’re so slick and wet,” he moans. “I don’t think I can wait much longer to be inside you.”

“Then don’t.” I unzip his fly and release his cock. I stroke it firmly until he groans.

He pushes me back onto the bed and spreads my legs open, positioning himself above me. In one quick motion, he pushes inside me, and I cry out in pleasure as my walls clench around him.

“You’re so tight,” he pants. “I love being inside you.”

He begins to move, finding a gentle rhythm, pushing forward and slowly withdrawing. It feels good, but not good enough. “More, I want more of you. Faster,” I demand.

“You’re so impatient,” he chastises me, but he quickens his pace. With each thrust, he pushes deeper and deeper inside me. I feel heat rising in my core. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of him.

I move to meet him, pushing him deeper inside me, desperate for the release that only he can bring.

Flesh smacks against flesh, and I’m so close. My walls flutter around him. It only takes a few more thrusts before I scream out as my orgasm rolls over me. I’m consumed by pleasure.

A second later he groans, joining me, cumming deep inside me.

He holds me close, and we lie there, our hearts beating in unison.

“I love you,” he tells me.

“I love you, too.”