ANNALISE

At first I was fine with having hickeys to show off. Thinking that it would keep Finley away from me. All was great until dad went all alpha on Xillon and me. Now, as I stare at the much larger and darker bruises covering my breasts, I could kill him for doing this to me. Concealer can only do so much. I’ve done my best to cover them, but they stand out like a sore thumb.

‘They are beautiful. Show them off proudly, Annalise.’

‘If I die, you do as well. Remember that when the alpha is whooping our ass in pack training tomorrow. That’s if we even make it to pack training. He may very well kill us and them tonight.’

‘You are the alpha’s pride and joy. He wouldn’t lay a finger on you. Stop being a pussy. Get dressed and get out there to our mate.’

‘You seem so sure of yourself for Xillon and Xavier being our mate. As I remember, you were head over hills with Finley and his wolf Nox as well. Not that I don’t feel a connection with him. But he scares the crap out of me.’

‘We’ll converse more later. Get out there before Luna comes back.’

I shake my head and sigh in defeat once I’ve pulled the dress on. ‘Yup, dad is most definitely going to kill us. This dress shows off so much more skin on my chest than the other one did. Well, here goes nothing.’

Man, I hate being the last to arrive late to places. And also being the last to arrive.

Crissy’s dad Connor bows his head, tilts his neck in respect, then pulls the door open for me. “Good luck. You’re going to need it. Alpha Max and Luna Celeste are both on a rampage tonight.”

“That brings comfort. Thanks for that,” I said, rolling my eyes. Connor chuckles and gives me a slight nudge, pushing me forward.

As I feared, everyone’s heads swung in my direction upon entering the barn. A growl comes from not only my mother and father, but from Finley as well. He shoots a menacing glare at Xillon, who smirks and shrugs his shoulders.

“Don’t just stand there! Sit your ass down so the food can be served!”

Dad slammed his fist down on the table, causing the plates and silverware to jump and clank together on the massive table where everyone was seated.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” I said meekly, barred my neck in submission, then scurried to my seat between my brothers.

His eyes glaze over as he instructs the omegas to serve drinks and food, then glares at me. ‘If he so much as touches one hair on your body tonight. I won’t hesitate to…’

“Quit your shit, Max.” Mom hisses into his ear, looks at me, and rolls her eyes.

‘He did the same thing to me when we were younger and not yet mated. Pay him no mind, sweetie,’ she says, then soothes him by running her fingertips through the hair at the nape of his neck. That’s when I glance over at Finley to see his eyes glaze over.

‘I can’t believe she let him mark her, like she’s some kind of common street whore! We need to do something about this and quick, Finley!’

‘Get out of my head, Nox. I can’t do this with you right now. We’re surrounded by wolves. Not to mention she feels nothing for us beyond being infatuated with my appearance. I screwed up royally when I forced my way into her thoughts. That was wrong, on so many levels. She probably won’t talk to me after what I did.’

‘You better get your ass in gear! She is our mate! Are you going to let her reject us for him?!’

‘Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!’

He shakes his head, then looks my direction momentarily with sad eyes, before averting his gaze to his plate. Closing my eyes, I inhale and exhale a few times, then perk back up as they lay platters in front of us. Thankfully, my mind was devoid of other people’s thoughts.

“Hey, Jarek.” I whisper while discreetly pointing under the table at all the minors from the ancient crescent moon pack. “Is that beer they are all drinking? Most of them are under age right, beyond the adults, of course.”

“Yes, and wine. They have different customs overseas.”

“Do you think eventually we could drink as well? Technically, we have our own laws, right? We don’t go by human standards.”

Jarek rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Don’t you have a shawl or something you could have worn over your shoulders or something? I’m so disappointed in you. Stop asking me questions I hardly know anything about. Xillon better be glad he’s like another brother to me, or I’d rip him to shreds.”

After they lay the food and drinks out, the omegas sat down and dad stood up to introduce the new members of the pack. He announced that later tonight, we would go to the shifting ceremony chambers to induct all the new members into the pack. We will all join at that point, so we can mind link with one another. That was a surprise to learn. But it’ll be awesome to be linked and able to connect with all of them, I suppose.

Lifting my hand, dad glances my direction and quirks his brows. “What is it, Annalise?”

“Sorry to interrupt Alpha, but will there be a pack run afterwards?”

“Good question. I hadn’t thought of that. What do you think of having a pack run, Alpha Gabriel? I know you all must be tired from your travels. We could put it off until the full moon. It’s only a couple of nights away.”

“We need to let our wolves out. A pack run to let our wolves become familiar with the territory would be nice, Alpha Max.”

“It’s not imperative for everyone to be there for the induction ceremony. The choice is yours if you all would like to join us for a run afterwards. I will send out a mass message when the time comes.”

Cheers rang out, and I momentarily got excited, bouncing around in my seat, that I would glimpse Finley’s wolf Nox. Then I quickly put those thoughts aside, when I caught Xillon glancing my way from several seats away. I glance across the table and catch Finley’s amusement. He averts his gaze across the table and smirks cockily at Xillon, before chuckling and filling his plate with food.

‘I hope they’re wolves don’t tear each other apart. It may be a mistake for us to join in the pack run afterwards, Larissa.’

‘They’ll be fine. We aren’t going to miss the run because they are being barbaric. Besides, we won’t let them get close enough to each other for anything to happen.’

‘Fine, we’ll go.’

‘Of course we will.’

After the Alpha’s and Luna’s take their first bites, they wave their hands in the air for everyone to dig in and begin eating.

***

Xillon and I stayed back and skipped the induction ceremony. I think he wanted to get me alone after what happened during dinner. It was as if he and Finley were having a face off, with who could devour the most meat or something. It was the most awkward thing I’ve ever seen, as they both kept looking in my direction, to gain my favor. Reminding me of how idiotic guys can be.

I quickly changed into running shorts and a t-shirt, thankful he had gone to his room instead of mine. There’s no reason to wear anything underneath, because I’ll be stripping soon for the run.

Plopping myself down on my bed, I get into a meditation pose and do my best to clear my mind of everything that has happened today. But Finley kept coming into my thoughts. His ocean eyes made me give up meditating, so I just tried to grab a quick nap before the run.

‘Are you going to come hang out with me, or what? You pleaded with me not to go to the induction ceremony. But you’re not even here.’

‘No, and I won’t be going for the pack run, either. The alpha forbade me from participating and told me to stay away from you for a while. So I’m abiding by his commands. You can go if you wish. All I ask is that you stay faithful to me.’

‘I’ll stay in if that would make you feel more comfortable.’

No reply came, so I inhaled a huge gulp of air and held it until I started feeling faint, then blew it out in a loud whoosh.

‘This decision is up to you, Larissa. Because I’m obviously not thinking clearly. Do you want to go on the pack run, or not?’

‘I think we should go, but stay close to Trex and Janus. Do as Xillon asked and steer clear of Nox. We don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize our relationship with our mate.’

‘That’s just it, though. Nox is claiming we are his mate. You heard that conversation plain as day, just as I did. He’s also gutted about forcing his way into my thoughts. You are right, though. We should put all of this aside, go on the run and stick with my brother. Let’s go downstairs. They should finish soon.’

As I was ambling down the stairs, I came across Finley, who was heading upstairs.

“Will I be seeing you on the run, Annalise?” He asks in his thick Scottish accent that has my hormones skittering all over the place. Damn, those pleading ocean eyes are going to be my undoing.

“Uh… yes. But I’ve promised to stick with my brother and my friends Xena and Zariah.”

“No worries. I wasn’t asking for you to run with me. I’m just glad you’ll be there. I’ve been meaning to apologize. For infringing on your thoughts. I’ve never left our pack in Scotland and well… To be honest, there’s no excuse for what I did. Just know that I won’t do it again.”

“Well… you doing that scares me and makes me feel like I can’t trust you. I don’t have control over my gifts. People’s thoughts come to me whether or not I want them to. I haven’t mastered blocking my thoughts from you all. It was an invasion of my privacy. I’m angry and mortified. I shouldn’t have been thinking those thoughts in the first place about you. I’m fond of my boyfriend.” I whispered as I looked around for others who may have followed him. But no one else was around.

“They are wrapping up the last of the inductions, don’t worry. I’ll keep my distance from you from now on. Again, I apologize for what I did earlier. Like I said, I won’t do it again. Hopefully, you’ll accept my apology, so at some point we could be friends. Know that I also have a girlfriend that I’m fond of. She’ll be here in a month. Perhaps we could all hang out together. She will need friends once she arrives.”

“When that time arrives, I suppose we’ll see. For now, I need you to keep your distance from me. I don’t want any conflicts between you and Xillon. If I had to choose a side to defend, it would be his.”

“Rightly so. Bye for now, Annalise.”

His smile doesn’t reach his sorrowful eyes. He bows his head, then leaves me alone on the stairs, speechless.