Shadows of the Ancients Read online

  “Good, because next time, I’m not gonna go easy on you.”

  He smiled an all too attractive smile at me then, “Really?” He started dancing around gracefully on the balls of his feet, fists up in a fighter’s stance. I think I can take you.”

  “You think?” I sighed, and gave him a playful push, realizing for the first time in our conversation that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Oh dear lord, my hormones needed to be put in check, because Ashley’s brother was something to look at! “You’re a werewolf, you have to be more convincing than just ‘thinking’ you can take someone.” I had never really been interested in guys much. Since I had gone through my final transition, my hormones seemed bound and determined to change that though.

  “You’re right! How about this,” the grin that graced his face turned into a thousand watt smile, and he winked at me as he said, “I can take you, because you’re too distracted by my lack of a shirt to put up a fight.”

  “Ugghh,” My face immediately went red! “You wish,” I threw over my shoulder as I turned to leave.

  “I can smell your excitement, remember?”

  “You need to learn some wolfy manners, Jack!” I laughed at him. We could smell the chemical changes in the body that were indicative of overexcited hormones, just like we could sniff out fear, and anger. He wasn’t wrong, but usually we tried not to call each other out on it. It was like an unwritten rule, unless you were in the middle of vying for a mate, then everything was fair game. Jack already had a mate, and he was just tormenting me. “See you later, Jack. Call your mommy!”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He shut the door, then reopened it quickly, “tell my annoying sister hi for me to, will you?”

  “She has a phone too, you know?” He didn’t answer, just shut the door.

  I walked back to my house, and grabbed my car keys and my overnight bag. When I came back out of the house Zach was there, leaning against my car. I dropped my bag onto the porch, figuring this might take a few minutes.

  “Going somewhere, Jess?”

  “As a matter of fact, I am.” I looked him up and down. He wasn’t wearing much, just a pair of board shorts and flip flops. His golden tan made all those abs look really good though. I couldn’t deny that he was yummy to look at. The grin that lit his face up then, said I’d been caught with my hormones showing again. Damn.

  “Like what you see? It can all be yours, you know? All you need to do is say yes. It’s really not that hard. Y-E-S.” He smirked at me when I rolled my eyes. “See, it was really easy, you should try it.”

  “Can you move your ass off my car? I have places to be.”

  He stalked over to me in that regal way that only Alphas could move. “I came over to invite you to the lake.” His arms snaked around my waist and started to pull me towards him until I threw my hand up in between us.

  “Hold up there, lover boy.” I felt the wave of anger that rolled over him then. And that was just one of the many reminders of the things I didn’t like about Zach. Sure, he was good looking, confident, sexy, hot… um, smart, and in line to be the next pack leader, but he also had a temper and a dark side I couldn’t get behind. I’d seen his cruelty first hand when he had tormented Sierra. Back when she thought he’d still accept her offer to be her mate one day, he had destroyed her publicly, calling her tainted, and unusable. Sure, he’d been younger, and had been firmly admonished by his Uncle Marcus for his behavior. I didn’t believe he’d changed though. He was just a lot more careful about what he said and did in front of witnesses. “I already had plans, I’m headed out to hang with Ashley for the day.”

  I saw as anger rippled across his body in a physical manifestation. He wasn’t used to not getting his way. “You can change your plans. I’ve already said yes to Marcus. It wouldn’t kill you to spend some time with me.”

  “How about tomorrow?”

  “I don’t want you tomorrow. I want you now.” There was a demanding quality to his tone. He was trying to force my hand in this with the power of suggestion. If a wolf was alpha to you, they could bend you to their will by forcing power into their words. Zach was trying to do that to me, only he was failing, and it was pissing me off.

  “How fucking dare you!” I was yelling so loud that my mom ran out of the house. Zach’s eyes got big then. Rage flared through my very essence. “I will not be forced to do anything with you! Do you understand me? You ever try that shit again, and I promise you that ‘YES’ is the last fucking word you will ever hear me utter.” I pushed him away from me then, and tossed the door of my Jeep open, slid in, slammed the door shut, and got the engine started so I could take off before I did something truly stupid.

  I heard my mom apologizing to him as I started to take off, and I shot her a warning look, but she didn’t back down. She kept staring after me as I pulled away. Fury still ate away at my insides. I couldn’t even think clearly. I saw red all the way to Ashley’s apartment. It probably wasn’t the best idea for me to wander around the human world when I was this angry, but if I had stayed with the pack, I would have lost my shit on Zach. That would have consequences I didn’t want to think about, especially since I knew in my heart that even though Zach was an alpha, he was not alpha to me.

  Some asshole had the audacity to cut me off while I was angry driving. The growl that escaped my lips followed by a curiously hairy middle finger was my cue to settle my ass down. My wolf was close, and she was just as furious as I was. She was pacing, just under the surface, fueled by the anger. Zach had just basically tried to werewolf roofie me into a date with him. He was trying to compel me with alpha power. What a douchebag. Clearly, he wasn’t as smart as I once thought he was.

  STRANGE FATES

  Once I got to Ashley’s I realized I never grabbed my overnight bag. “Damn it. I dropped the bag on my porch when I saw Zach. I was so angry I didn’t even think to pick it back up.”

  “It’s okay. I think you’ve left half of your wardrobe over here anyway. At least the good half,” she whispered conspiratorially. I had to keep my more questionable clothing at Ashley’s house, because my pack didn’t approve of any of our single females going out looking indecent around humans. It didn’t matter if the whole pack saw us naked. Our pack leader, Marcus, didn’t want us drawing attention to ourselves. I wasn’t entirely sure why we had to hide our cleavage from the humans, but Marcus was always adamant. When I complained about it at home, my father had told me once that it had nothing to do with humans and more to do with the possibility of other weres spotting us out and about. That made sense since the balance between males and females in each generation was always off a bit. The fear of our females being courted by someone out of the pack was all too real, according to my dad. Not that I had ever heard of that happening. Ever.

  “It just makes me so angry. He tried to basically roofie me. Like, he couldn’t get me to go out with him, so he was going to force it with a werewolf version of a date-rape drug. He was trying to pull alpha power over me…”

  “Yeah, I knew what you meant when you said roofie, hon. Also, I think you should calm down a little before I have to explain to my neighbors why I’ve got a large dog here when I haven’t paid a pet deposit.”

  I looked down at my fingernails that were currently turning into claws. “Damn it. I hate what he did, and I hate that it leaves me in this kind of mood too. Sorry, Ash.” I sat down for a minute, and started working on calming myself. I closed my eyes, breathed in slowly, and then letting it out. Each time I exhaled another breath, I was expelling the negative feelings too. Hanging onto them was drawing my wolf out. Ashley knew how to deal with it. We’d been here before. She sat quietly waiting until I had myself under control again.

  “Sorry you didn’t get out before he stopped by.” She handed me a shot of liquor. I knocked it back like it was Kool-Aid. Ashley smiled. “That’s my girl. Feel better now?”

  “I’m better. Now, let’s figure out what I’m going to wear.” A smile spread across my face, and I’m sure my ey
es were lit up from the inside. “I’m going to torment the shit out of the human male population tonight.”

  “Yes! There’s my favorite wingman! You draw them in with that unnatural wolf beauty of yours, and I will keep them enthralled with my crazy awkward social skills.” She laughed at herself as I side-eyed her from where I was sitting. Ashley was gorgeous. She didn’t need any help from a wingman, and she knew it. Her naturally vibrant red hair was all the rage whenever we went out, and her long curling locks only caused her bright blue eyes to stand out even more on her face.

  “What would we ever do without each other, Ash?”

  “No clue, so let’s not find out.” She smiled at me, then bounced up onto her feet and took off for the closet. “Now, time to get you dressed. What’s it going to be tonight? Leather? Lace? Little black dress?” She held up a too die for dress that I bought a few weeks ago. I’d left it here, because I didn’t want any of my family to find it and start in on lectures about inappropriate dresses. At 5’10” tall, and most of that being legs, I was stretching the limits of how short a dress could be before you had to consider it a shirt. It wasn’t really my style to wear something so revealing, even when I went out for a night of mayhem with Ashley, but I was in full on rebellion mode. I took my shower, and slipped into the dress. It came about an inch and a half below my ass. Luckily for me, at some point after puberty and the calling hit, Mother Nature decided I deserved a few curves along with some of the muscle I had packed on. I had a nice, firm body, but I definitely had a defined ass, and some smallish, but perky boobs. Staring in the mirror, I couldn’t help but saying out loud, “damn, I make this dress look good!”

  Ashley laughed at me. “You freaking werewolves and your egos, I swear. I wish I could be that confident with myself.”

  “I don’t know why you’re not. You’re gorgeous. Besides, don’t guys usually have a thing for redheads anyway?”

  “Well, of course they do. You know us gingers… we have no soul. That’s sexy, because they think we’re up for anything. Sometimes, they’d be right.” I laughed as Ashley sauntered over to her vanity, hips swishing suggestively the whole way. She was definitely in one of her moods that said, we were either getting into a whole lot of fun or a shit load of trouble tonight, maybe a good bit of both. “Come here, let me do your makeup tonight. You need some seriously smoky eyes to go with that dress.”

  “Yes ma’am.” I sat down in front of her and let Ash work her magic. She didn’t just stop with my makeup either. Ashley also had her way with my hair, curling it into soft chocolate waves that looked silky smooth to the touch. I dared not touch it though, afraid to break the spell of perfection she had cast upon me. My eyes were indeed smoky with the use of charcoals and a subtle undertone of purples that made my bright green eyes pop all the brighter. “Ashley, you are a genius. I look…”

  “Amazing.” She tried to stifle a giggle so she wouldn’t poke her own eye out with her mascara brush, “I am so getting laid tonight.”

  “Oh boy! And here I am stuck on your couch for the night. The last time we went out, you even had my hormones on overload.” She was giving me a knowing look, “Hell, I nearly barged in and demanded to be part of the shenanigans.”

  “Oh, well… the last time was with Troy. He so would not have minded that.” We both laughed. “Seriously, I know your pack mates for life, but it’s not like those guys aren’t out sowing their wild oats and shit before they settle down. Why is it any different for you? You’re 21, you should be living a little before you get sucked into that life for good.”

  “Believe me, there are moments where I’ve been close to giving in, but…”

  “But…” she came over and gave me a hug then. “You’re just too adorable, and you’ve read one too many romance novels, hon!” She kissed the top of my head before stepping away and making sure she didn’t damage all the work she’d done to my hair earlier. “I love you for it, but for tonight… we’re tucking the virgin in you away and raising hell instead. Come on, let’s go break some hearts!”

  I walked into Club Hypnotic just behind Ashley. It seemed like all eyes were on her as she made her entrance. I couldn’t blame them. If I swung that way, I’d totally snatch Ash up for my own. She was sex incarnate. Her red curls bounced around her shoulders as she laughed at the joke I’d made about the bouncer on the way in. Her bright blue eyes sparkled enchantingly under the neon lighting in the bar, and her perfect porcelain skin made her look every bit the goddess that the men always thought she was. While I knew my werewolf energy could affect the people in the room and make them sit up and take notice, I didn’t think that’s what had all the heads turning tonight. I was a full head taller than Ashley, but her curves, in that body hugging dress were definitely on display and being appreciated.

  Ashley took my hand in hers and started guiding us through the crowd. I let her. Being an alpha meant I didn’t let too many people push or order me around, but there was a different air to what Ashley did. She wasn’t demanding my attention, she was pulling us into a partnership, if that made sense. It was the same feeling I’d always gotten around Ash. She saw us as equals, and everything I did reflected that. I let go of my wolf side in order to not offend her, long ago. Now, it was second nature. There was no top dog between us, we were just Ashley and Jessie.

  We maneuvered our way toward the middle of the crowded bar, and found a little table off on the side. Ashley tossed her clutch up on the table, and I took a stool, waiting to see when the waitress would notice us. She noticed us alright, but she was going to make us wait. Jealousy was an ugly bitch.

  “Well, looks like we’re gonna play hell with the service in here again. I’ll go grab the first round, you sit tight. I want at least one shot down before you up and leave me for all that!” I pointed out the myriad of hot bodies gyrating on the floor in front of us.

  “Mmmhhmm,” she said as she licked her lips. “I’ll be waiting, but you really need to hurry. I haven’t had any since Troy took off on his trip, and my body is missing all the fun of being touched!”

  “Dirty slut!” I laughed as I walked off toward the bar.

  “You know it, hon!” She answered back. If I were a normal person, there’s no way I would have heard her over the din, but since I wasn’t normal, I just chuckled at her answer.

  Once I got up to the bar, I leaned in a little, weary of leaning too far and letting my ass fall out of the dress, but pushing my boobs far enough forward that the male bartender would take notice and come serve me. I was a virgin, but I absolutely knew that womanly wiles would get me served faster than standing around with a stick up my ass. Sure enough, the two guys he was serving started pointing down the bar to me, huge grins plastered across their already inebriated faces. The bartender tossed me a smile, and let me know he was on his way to me. The two guys he was serving said something to him before he came over.

  “What can I do for you, beautiful?” I raised my eyebrow up at the endearment, but just smiled.

  “Vodka cranberry and a Captain and Coke. Make the Captain a double.” I smiled back at him, nothing that meant more than, ‘please hurry with my drinks,’ but he seemed to take it more as a flirtation. He winked at me and started pulling the necessary glasses. When he finished making the drinks, with a little more liquor than called for, he pushed them forward and smiled again.

  I started to hand him a twenty dollar bill, and he waved it off. “Your fan club paid for those.”

  “Well, in that case,” I slipped a five out and dropped it in his tip jar. He thanked me, and I held the drinks up to acknowledge the guys who had paid for them, and I walked back to Ashley. “Heads up chica, we’re about to get company in 4, 3, 2…”

  “Hey ladies!” The taller of the drunk guys from down the bar were right behind me as I slid Ashley her vodka cranberry.

  “Drinks were on these guys,” I said to her as she took a sip, and gave me a questioning look.

  “Ah, I see. Well thank you…” her southe
rn draw was always a little bit thicker when she was using her manners, or flirting, but she paused waiting for them to give their names.

  “Adrian,” the taller one said, then hit his friend in the chest, “and this is Bobby.”

  “And this seems to be our lucky night,” Bobby interjected, looking back and forth between Ashley and I like he’d just won the lottery.

  With that, I spit some of my Captain and Coke back into my glass. Ashley, on the other hand was the picture of poise and perfection. “Well, fellas, we just got here. So, why don’t you give us just a bit to unwind and have some girly downtime before we work on anything else, m’kay?”

  They both looked confused, but nodded their heads and started to walk off when the couple next to us left their table. “What’d I tell ya? Lucky night!” Bobby shouted at his friend as they slipped into the stools at the table next to ours. They were being rather obvious with the ogling they were doing too.

  “Oh God, leave it to you to make one little trip to the bar, and end up with stage 5 clingers!” Ashley laughed, her deep sultry laugh, and I joined her.

  “What can I say, it’s a talent. All the douchebags want a piece of this!”

  “Yeah, well… maybe we can at least find you a tall bit of sexy trouble for the night, because you would make whimpering idiots out of either of them.”

  I heard laughter from over by the bar that didn’t sound entirely human. I looked up and caught the eyes of a guy in some faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt that was straining so hard against his muscular physique that it almost appeared to be a second skin. His hair was so dark it could have been black, but it was hard to tell in the club’s low level of lighting, even with wolf-vision enhancements. Some shorter pieces of hair fell out of the leather thong he had tying it all back in a ponytail. Those stray pieces framed his jaw to perfection, and I knew by the gleam in his eye, and the prickling sensation wrapping around my skin, that he was a Were and he was going to be my kind of trouble tonight.