Dinner is not what I was expecting. I thought we would be going to a low-key restaurant that has a buffet. Instead we ended up at a fancy steak house with an all-you-can-eat buffet. As soon as we walk in the door, I can feel the difference. There are wolves everywhere. People stop when we enter but Jason just walks us straight up to the counter, ignoring the stares.
The guy behind the counter is intimidating as hell. Dark skinned with markings over every inch of his skin, much like the Maori tattoos you see on New Zealand people. They track up his arms, disappearing under the sleeves of his shirt. It’s fascinating.
His brown eyes rake over me, curiosity clear. I smile, trying not to offend him because of my staring. He just looks so beautiful. He smiles back, his teeth showing, causing my mates to circle around me protectively. I sigh and roll my eyes. He starts chuckling. Damn. I can’t believe the power I feel coming from him. It’s the same power Jason and Cam emit when they are pissed but this feels like sunshine. Soft and welcoming.
“Calm down pups, I don’t mean the girl any harm,” he chuckles, the deep bass of his voice sending shivers through my body.
Jason turns around to see the others around me in a circle while Jake, Rick and James stand off to the side not even bothered in the slightest. “Guys, relax. He’s an old friend,” he chides as the guy walks around the counter and grips Jason in a hug. They clap each other on the back, old friends reuniting. I wonder who he is?
They pull apart, Jason a massive smile on his face. “Dani, this is Eli Jones. We go way back,” he says introducing me. “Eli, this is Dani, my mate.” Eli’s grinning and if I wasn’t already staring, I wouldn’t have seen the flash in his eyes. His wolf peeked through at the mention of me being Jason’s mate. Interesting.
My wolf pushes forward trying to scent him but we aren’t close enough. I go to take a step forward, stopping when I realize what I’m doing. Why is my wolf so intrigued?
Eli nods, a cheeky grin in place, “It’s nice to meet you.” He turns to Jason, putting a hand on his shoulder, “So what are you after? Full meat buffet or elegant dinner alone?”
“We’ll all be eating together tonight, none of my mates will be left out,” I interrupt before Jason can say anything. I don’t want this new wolf to think it’s just the two of us, just as he implied.
It suddenly goes extremely quiet through the restaurant, all eyes turning to look at me. Oh shit. “Yes, this is Dani, future Alpha Queen. We’re trying to relax before the next trial so please give us some space,” Cam says to the room, an air of authority that I’ve rarely seen him use. It sends shivers down my spine and my wolf on alert. She likes the dominance he’s projecting.
Everyone goes back to eating and Eli turns his stare at Cam calculating. “So, you must be Luke’s son. Tell me, how’s that working out for you?” he asks, his lips curving in a devilish smirk that sends my heart racing.
Oh god! What’s wrong with me?! I look around for a bathroom, see a sign and head straight for it, not even caring that I’m in a place filled with foreign wolves. I hear the guys shouting behind me but I block it out, needing to isolate myself. My wolf is going insane.
I practically run through the bright red door, letting it slam behind me and hurrying into a stall. Closing the lid on the toilet, I sit down and take deep breaths in through my mouth and out my nose, slowly trying to calm down my racing heart.
Minutes pass, and I hear the door open outside before the soft click of heels on the tiles has me holding my breath. A wave of power oozes into the room, the likes of which I haven’t felt before. It immediately soothes my wolf and I slump in relief.
A soft knock on the door has me opening it, no longer afraid of my heat cycle. On the other side of the door, a beautiful dark-skinned woman is hovering, a concerned expression on her face. As soon as our eyes meet, the concern washes away to a breathtaking smile. “Thank goodness, you’re ok. I wasn’t sure how well my influence would work with your wolf. How do you feel?” she asks, her voice sending waves of calm through me.
Whoa. This woman could be an ad for Valium the way her voice is working on me. “I’m fine, thank you but how exactly did you do that?” I ask, curious to know what she meant by her ‘influence.’
She smiles brightly at me, “Ah, so you’re very new to this then? I figured someone would have mentioned me at some point. I’m Vivienne,” she says, offering her hand. I take it smiling up at her, and walk out the stall feeling a lot steadier. She smiles as I lean over the sink, scooping water up with my hands to gulp greedily. Vivienne watches me a twinkle in her eye. As I take the next gulp, she smirks, “I lead the rogue pack.”
I choke, water going down my air pipe. The smirk disappears and she slaps me on the back, my eyes start watering and I gasp for air. My airway burns and I take a step away from Vivienne, nervous to be around a rogue. Everything I’ve heard hasn’t exactly been good.
“Calm down, Danielle. I don’t mean you any harm, I just want to help. I imagine everything you’ve gone through the past couple of weeks has not been easy,” she says, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. I calm down, realizing if she was going to hurt me, she would have done it already.
“That’s an understatement. This past month has been the hardest, of my life. What do you want?” I ask, sighing in defeat. She obviously has some kind of agenda. What it is though, I have no idea.
“Come with me,” she says, an air of professionalism around her as her heels click on the tiles. I follow her out of the bathroom, to see the guys all waiting for me. I wave to them showing them I’m ok, and follow Vivienne down a hall until we get to a double set of black doors. She opens the door, waiting for me to enter first and closes the door behind us.
The first thing I notice is Eli, standing there with a determined look on his face. Oh crap. “Um look Vivienne, I’m more than happy to talk to you but it’s not the best idea for Eli to be in here without one of my mates. They will lose their shit,” I admit, a smile breaking out when a growl is emitted from deep in Eli’s chest. My wolf is pleased to have him react to us this way. Me however, I just think it’s funny a wolf I don’t know would think he has any claim over me when I already have enough mates to handle.
Vivienne slaps him over the head, stopping his growling. “Eli! Where are your manners?! I raised you better than this. To treat your mate like this? I should hang you by your toes in front of the pack for your disrespect. Now apologize!” she growls, annoyance lacing her voice.
He grumbles, falling to his knees and showing me his head in submission. “Danielle, my mate. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect. I have been waiting for the day I would meet my mate and it’s a bit hard to know she already has six other mates, vying for her attention.”
I stumble back a step, shocked at his submission and the need in his voice. “I think you may be confused, I’m not your mate,” I rush out, looking around the room for a quick escape.
Vivienne steps past her son, reaching for me, her hand glowing with a soft white light. My panic disappears, replaced by awe. She places her hand on my cheek and I know instantly that Eli was telling the truth. It’s like a book has been burned into my brain, telling me everything I need to or could ever want to know.
I stumble away, my mind overloading on the information that is still firing into my mind. “What’s happening?” I ask, gasping as each new image burns into my mind, giving me a migraine. I trip over the rug and go flying. I brace for impact only for a set of arms to catch me at the last moment.
My body seizes as the information burns through, assaulting my brain. All sound is blocked out as I try to focus on everything but it’s no use.
Finally, sound starts to filter in and I can hear Vivienne and Eli arguing. “Why did you do that? She wasn’t ready for her powers to activate yet!” Eli growls, his chest vibrating against my body. I sit up, panting from the influx of information to see the concerned look on Eli’s face. Vivienne however, is leaning against the desk, her legs crossed, not a care in the world, “See? She’s fine. Besides you knew as well as I did that her power needed to be activated. Our race is in her hands. Did you really want her going into it uninformed? Especially when she’s your mate? Come Eli, I think you’d want a mate who knows what she’s doing,” she chides, as if it’s no big deal she just almost fried my brain.
I get to my feet, my wolf raging inside me as so much knowledge flashes through my mind. I know who I am, what I am. “Kneel!” I demand, pushing my dominance at Vivienne, enjoying it as she drops, shocked. “I am your Queen! Not some puppet for you to play your little games with!”
She stares up at me, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Now, you’re my Queen. A minute ago, you were just a silly little teenage girl who had no idea what she was capable. I used the last of my power to give you all the information you needed.” Eli stares at his mother, a mix of admiration and anger while I try not to sway on my feet. “Can I stand now?” Vivienne asks, slightly annoyed.
I nod, releasing my hold over her and letting her get to her feet. Eli grabs my arm as I start to tip over, my head feeling faint. Way to look tough, I chide myself.
It’s just so much. I know about our whole history, the first trial, each trial after, my mother and father’s trial, how to access all my powers if I choose to change our history. It’s unbelievable.
“Hey you ok? Want me to go get Jason?” Eli asks gently, letting me see a softer side to him.
I sigh, exhausted, “Yeah, can you get my mates? I’m not feeling too well,” I admit, sinking into one of the chairs by the desk as Vivienne takes a seat behind it.
Eli leaves me and Vivienne alone, off to get my mates. Once the door is closed, she leans forward ready to say her piece. “I know that may have been too much for you but it needed to be done. A time is going to come soon where you are going to need Eli. He will be there waiting for you and will bring you to us for cleansing. But, only when you’re ready. I can’t tell you more because I can hear them rushing back for you but ask James,” she says just as the door bursts open, Cam and Jason hurrying straight to my side.
Nate, Pete, James and Mitchell are surrounding them as they attend to me, lifting me by the arms and helping me walk. I stumble a few steps before Cam scoops me up, striding straight out the hall. He walks towards the door but I stop him, “Oi! I may be exhausted but if you even think of walking past the food without letting me have any, I may just kill you,” I tell him, smiling when his eye twitches in annoyance.
“Dani, you need to rest. We’ll just order food later. It was a mistake coming here,” he says ending on a growl, looking around at the other wolves as if it’s their fault.
I slap him on the chest, starting to get irritated. “Put me down, right now!” I demand, trying to climb out of his arms unsuccessfully.
He gives in, putting me on my feet. “Fine, we’ll eat here. Just let me put you in a chair before you fall on your face,” he pleads. I smile, glad I won. He leads me over to a large table already piled with plates of food except for one. I sit down in front of one of the plates, not even looking up to ask who’s plate I’m eating from. All I know is I am starving.
Everyone else sits down around me and I hear Pete grumble walking away with an empty plate. Ha! It must have been his plate I stole.