Chapter 2
*****
*Corey’s POV*
I stared at the brown-eyed, dark-skinned boy who had literally sent my heart into a frenzy just by stepping into the room as he stared back at me. His round, doe-eyes were wide in surprise.
The shock on his face enacted an automatic need in me to walk over and calm him, but I fought it. I didn’t want to go near him. I didn’t trust the ridiculous reactions my mind and body had to a mate. It would be the same for anyone, but rationally I knew I wanted nothing to do with him.
My stare turned to a burning glare within a second and he dropped his gaze to avoid mine.
I clenched my fist feeling an instant sting in my chest at the downtrodden look on his face. I needed to get away from him.
“I’ll be in the same guest room I was in last time if anyone needs me,” I announced, grabbing my bag.
“Actually, all the young adults and teenagers will be sleeping in the ballroom this week.” Alexis smiled.
“Yeah, apparently we need to ‘connect as a pack’. Whatever that means.” Tyler rolled his eyes.
“It means, you kids have cliques, and you can’t successfully run a pack that is divided within itself,” Joe, the current Inferno Alpha and Izabella’s uncle, said as he walked in.
“Well, since I’m not part of this pack, I don’t have to –” I was saying.
“But you’re mated to someone in this pack. Aren’t you, Corey?” Joe smiled after he cut me off.
“What?” Jason’s voice sounded from behind me.
“No. No, I’m not,” I replied, refusing to glance in Jayden’s direction, but I could feel the knot in his throat giving me the same choked-up feeling he currently had. I fought not to look over at him, not to walk over to him.
Did I care that he was hurt?
No. I only felt like I did because of the stupid mate bond. If I could think straight, without the interference for a moment, he wouldn’t have mattered to me.
I knew for sure that I really disliked him just from the way he looked. He seemed meek and pathetic just by the way he held himself.
Joe raised his eyebrows, surprised by my answer.
“You’re not?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m not. Or maybe I am, point me to the ballroom and I’ll find her.”
“Corey –” Hayley began in a hiss.
“Hayley.” I gave her a look that told her not to continue that sentence, my voice bordering on the strict Beta tone that was only to be used when I needed to command pack members to obey.
I cleared my throat, trying to calm down as I realised how inappropriate it was to use that tone for something mundane.
She glared at me before sighing as she crossed her arms and shook her head in defeat.
“Uh… It’s straight down the hall. Opposite of the basement,” Trent explained awkwardly.
“Thanks, man.” I left the room.
The hallway was pretty empty considering that their pack lived in one house, but I brushed by how odd that was and instead headed straight to the ballroom. Once reaching it, I pushed the door open. The view of the large room surprised me. It was usually empty, but there were mattresses scattered all over one half of the floor leaving the other half completely clear. There were people everywhere.
I chuckled seeing what looked like a thirteen-year-old girl throw glitter at another as they chased each other around the room. I guess the floor wasn’t all that clear.
“Corey!”
The voice made a smile spread across my face, drawing my attention away from the younger girls playing around. I watched my friend Samantha as she jogged up to me.
“Oh my Gosh! Did you grow?! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“Yeah, actually I did. Can’t say the same for you though,” I teased, lifting my hand above her head. She was almost an entire head shorter than me despite actually being a couple of months older than me, her crown at my nose.
Any shorter and she would have been his height… Damn it.
“Jerk!” She smacked my arm before hugging me tightly.
I chuckled squeezing her back.
“You’re still gorgeous. I see you cut your hair.” It was very noticeable because it used to reach her lower back, and she had cut it to her shoulders.
“You noticed!” She smiled, twirling to show off the cut.
“Of course, I did…” I grabbed her waist to pull her closer to me, giving a suggestive smirk. “We should catch up sometime.”
She blushed, biting her lip as she looked down bashfully. She wasn’t mated and, as far as I was concerned, neither was I. So, it was okay for us to mess around.
“Yeah? Tomorrow night? There are activities, we can sneak away…” she whispered as her eyes met mine again.
“Sounds great.” I planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, right beside her lips to tease her a little. It worked, earning a dissatisfied frown from her.
Maybe I was a little bit of a player. Izabella and Hayley had always known that. I just never introduced any of the girls to them. Why would I? The pair were like sisters to me and these girls changed constantly; it would be pointless introducing them every time.
Besides, they would probably make me look strange to my conquests, I loved them all the same though.
“What kind of kiss is that?”
I raised my eyebrows when Samantha’s hands cupped my cheeks, pulling my face down so her lips could meet mine. I chuckled tugging her against me as I kissed her, my hand tracing down her back to rest on the waistband of her low-rise jeans as the other pressed her body to mine.
“Better?” I smiled once we broke apart.
She nodded, a little dazed. Again, just like in the living room, I felt a strange, uncomfortable ache in my chest. I glanced towards the doors and frowned seeing Jayden and the others. Couldn’t he disappear?
Izabella and Hayley’s glaring eyes just made me roll mine.
Every time I looked at him, I was reminded that I could feel every emotion he did, and it was always depressing. Well, maybe I understood why, but nothing was stopping him from getting a guy to make out with instead of just watching me. I surely wouldn’t mind.
“I have to set up and then find the guys. I see you later, okay?”
I gave Samantha a peck before letting her go and walked over to the side of the room where the mattresses were against the stage. I considered where each was situated before dropping my bags on one.
I then sat down on the edge of the stage and took time to process how unimaginably large the Inferno mansion was while studying the huge ballroom.
It was basically a hotel. How had they built this place?! Who built it? And could they be sent over to Galaxy because my house could seriously use their help. Inferno’s entire pack lived in this one massive mansion. At our pack, Galaxy, each family had separate houses on our plot of land.
“Corey!” I looked up ready to frown at whoever took me out of my trance, but a grin crossed my face as my eyes landed on Jason.
Up until Izabella and Sean found out they were mated; Sean and I barely spoke even though Alphas and Betas were supposed to be close. We were now since Izabella and Sean were together, but Jason and I had been making trouble all through high school together despite him being one of Sean’s best friends.
“‘Sup man?” I greeted him as he hopped onto the stage beside me.
“What’s up with you running away from us? And who’s the girl? She’s hot.” He nodded his head in the direction Samantha was with a couple of her friends.
“Back off, she’s mine.”
Samantha blushed my way when she heard that.
“And I’m not running from anyone,” I added.
“You’re running from who?”
I sighed when Tyler and the other guys joined us, because how many people were going to ask about that? But seeing Sean’s dismal face quickly brightened my mood.
“Izzy tell you to get away from her again?” I asked, smirking at him.
Before they found that they were mates, Sean and Izabella had absolutely hated each other… Well, almost. It wasn’t absolute on Sean’s side; it had been on Izabella’s and even though they got along fine now, Izabella would always be Izabella, and it unsettled her when someone never left her alone. She grew up with people avoiding her, so got used to her space. She let Hayley and me in.
Sean was beyond attached to his mate; it even creeped me out sometimes. Plus, she had not let him mark her completely yet, so I guessed that she was not completely comfortable with him yet.
Marking was a permanent marriage; it was how werewolves accepted their mate, and it amplified everything they felt for each other to begin with – which amounted to something more than an obsession and the need to protect each other at all costs. It took some time to learn to behave rationally again after that.
“Shut up.” Sean snapped at me as he fell back onto my mattress before he smirked. “Izzy told me to nag until you tell us who your mate is. She says you have found your mate and you’re hiding her from us,” he said.
Her.
Ha. What a joke…
“Is she going to give you treats for obeying her orders?” I frowned down at him.
“No, she’s going to give me so much more.”
I lowered my brows at him confused before cringing as I realised what he meant.
“Oh God no, don’t talk to me about that shit and mention Izzy.”
He laughed at my reaction.
“Wait, she’s going to let you mark her?” Jason asked.
I snorted unable to hide my laughter and Sean glared at me. She wouldn’t even if his life depended on it.
“No, she –” Sean was interrupted by a massive bang from above us.
I looked up and gasped seeing what looked like a huge black hole. I was about to push off the stage to help people get out but paused realising that none of the Inferno pack members seemed at all disturbed by the sudden hole in the ceiling. Why…?
My thoughts were summed up by Matt, “What the hell is happening?”
*****
Thank you for reading 😀
Comment