My Other Half
CONSTANTINE'S POV
“I can't believe we're on an errand to pick up a table on a Friday evening,” mutters Caspian. He is now sitting in between Lazarus and me in Penny's father's pick-up truck. Lazarus is driving.
“Stop whining, Your Royal Highness. You know you would do anything for Genesis,” comments Lazarus drily.
“Well...maybe, but we're not getting the darn table for Genesis. This is for her friend, Penny,” Caspian keeps complaining.
I'm proud and happy that my pack has grown to accept my beautiful sunshine so readily and love her so deeply. In fact, I think they've already started to love her three years ago when I first broke the news that I've finally found my erasthai. Who wouldn't? My mate is lovable. A bit quirky maybe, but that's what makes her absolutely adorable.
“Penny is Genesis's best friend, ergo we're doing this for Genesis. Besides, we could've left you there at Penny's if we knew you're going to whine like a three-year-old,” I return.
“Oh goddess, have mercy.” He shudders. “She's crazy scary isn't she?”
“Batshit crazy.” Lazarus nods.
All of us start grinning at each other. Finally, something all of us could agree on. That girl is scary. I don't know how or why Genesis likes her so much. I just can't see it, but hey, if my girl loves her, who am I to judge? I'd do anything to make my mate happy. Just the thought of my mate leaves me smiling like a fool.
“You're sooo...pussywhipped” Caspian coughs the last word into his hand.
I smack the back of his head playfully.
I remember her kissing the bed the other morning. I bit my lip as I feel laughter rising up. I remember what we did before that, that led to the bed kissing and feel myself harden.
“Okay, let's get this table quick!” I urge the guys. I wish Lazarus would drive faster. We're over the speed limit as it is, but I need to get back to my flaming red-haired minx of a mate real quick.
***
I can see that they were expecting us when we get there. Somebody must have called ahead and warned them about us coming. Penny's uncle, Robert bows respectfully and leads us into the backyard where the table is.
“This is my wife, Helen,” he says, pointing to a lady who curtsies awkwardly, then she just stands there staring at us with an awe expression of awe on her face.
“Then, there is my daughter, Olivia and her two friends.” He indicates three girls who are sunbathing in the backyard in their skimpy bikinis.
Huh, who knew somebody would be sunbathing in this weather. The sun is out once in a while, but most of the time it's a bit overcast. It's too windy and chilly to be in something so skimpy outside.
Lazarus and I both stare at the table. The table is big and quite long, but I know one of us could've carried it without any problem.
Caspian nudges Lazarus and me with his shoulders. Apparently, one of the girls has taken her top off. Nothing I haven't seen before.
We both bring our attention back to the table. It's not the weight that we're concerned about, it's the length. It might be too long to fit at the back of the truck.
“What do you think?” I ask Lazarus.
“Might be too long,” he answers.
“Might be doable if one side goes over the top of the roof,” I suggest. “Somebody would have to hold it up there just so it won't slide off.”
“Or we could tie it up there,” suggests Lazarus.
“You want to carry that, man?” Caspian asks Lazarus and me.
“You can sit out at the back and hold it in place, you begged to come after all,” I say to Caspian before I grab the middle of the table and place it over my shoulder. Let's get this over with.
“That looks very heavy, do you guys need any help?” yells one of the girls from where she's lying on the grass.
“No, we're good,” answers Lazarus quickly, grabbing the front of the table.
“Oh, no...we'd love to help,” says another girl.
“No, we don't need any help,” I answer, and signal for Lazarus to start moving.
Apparently, the word no is hard to be understood by some people. They come running to help us carry the table anyway.
Caspian grins at us as all the three girls start crowding around. His smile drops when a girl steps in too close to him.
“You're Prince Caspian, right?” says the girl, batting her eyelashes up at him. He gives her a cold, hard stare as an answer and the girl totters backward real quick.
“Hi, my name's Olivia,” says the topless girl, moving in way too close to me. I find her scent very irritating. Her hand reaches over and touches my chest. I drop the table, step back and look around. Aren't the parents going to put a stop to this? They are nowhere to be seen. How convenient. Being a royalty means you have to put up with crap like this sometimes.
“Let's get moving now,” says Lazarus. Usually, they leave us alone when they sense our lethal dominance and cold indifference. We have problems like this with human girls because they don't understand our power even when they sense it. Most female werewolves, however, don't dare approach us, but this girl is persistent.
“Genesis was at my 18th birthday party a few weeks ago...I think she had fun,” she says, smiling suggestively up to me. Her hands are once again reaching up to touch my pecks. I feel my jaw clenching. She must have seen something in my eyes because she suddenly paled and steps back. Yeah, keep moving, mutt.
Lazarus is scowling, holding the table up awkwardly. He's the only one holding the table up right now and one girl is standing very close to him. Lazarus is too gentlemanly to say anything rude to a woman. He's one of our toughest warriors, but a situation like this makes him uneasy. He has Serena to fight battles like this for him usually.
I know my sunshine is very possessive. I wonder what she would do if she was here.
I'm about to grab the table when I feel a sudden pain in my chest. Like a heartbreak. That's the only way to describe it. The only time I felt something close to this was when Genesis told me she didn't love me. The pain is intense.
Lazarus and Caspian must have felt that too because Lazarus dropped the table and Caspian is staring at me with an alarmed look on his face. Something that could be felt by the whole pack is something that shouldn't be ignored. My chest tightens. Genesis!
I rush to the truck, followed by Caspian and Lazarus.
“Your Highness! The table! You forgot the table,” yells Penny's uncle.
We ignore the man and jump into the truck.
I'm very sure it's not Serena. I can feel it deep down in my guts that it's Genesis.
“I'm sure it's fine, man,” says Lazarus trying to calm me down, but I can see that he's worrying as well. Caspian is sitting back quietly. The three of us become broodingly quiet.
“She's a lycan. What could go wrong? It's going to be fine,” mutters Caspian finally, as if trying to convince himself as much as trying to convince us.
The speedometer on the truck is close to 100 mph, yet this is the slowest car ride in the history of mankind and lycans. We'd be much faster if we're in one of our sports cars.
A thousand worst-case scenarios cross my mind. The tightness in my chest is getting worse by the second. Once in a while, my vision turns red, urging me to jump out of the car and run, but I keep it down. I need to be in control for this.
Genesis. Sunshine. My beautiful mate. I'm never letting her out of my sight again.
I refuse to entertain any thoughts that I won't see my mate alive, safe, and happy again. I refuse to believe that my world is crumbling.