***Jessica’s POV****
This morning, I was woken up the same way I have been for goddess knows how long, the feeling of my mate f*cking someone else. Burning hot lava began flooding my body from my chest. You’d think that I would be used to it by now, but no, it feels like it gets worse each time. I’m terrified that one of these days, he’s going to mark whoever he’s f*cking. Through the mate bond, I can feel that he has the urge to, but something or someone is stopping him. That’s the only thing that brings me peace. I feel his frustration that he can’t mark them because they’re not letting him. Is it wrong that that brings me joy? I mean, I’m confident that I’d die if he were to mark someone else. The night before he left, I was stupid enough to stop him from marking me.
***Flash Back***
Our kiss became heated rather quickly. I’m no virgin, Mary, but damnit, he made me feel like anyone I was with prior was just practice. Before I knew it, he’d removed my shirt and bra. He started sucking and pinching my n*pples, causing me to throw my head back and moan. I didn’t know that s*x with your mate was this good, and he hasn’t put his c*ck in me yet! Every fiber of my being craves his touch. Everywhere he touched left a tingly burning sensation. All I wanted to feel was him inside me, but I knew that if I did, he’d become a substance that I needed more than I needed air. He’d be the only thing that could bring me to my knees. I knew without a double that he would become the drug I craved but couldn’t get.
“Wait, don’t mark me yet. With this war looming over our heads, I don’t want to risk going into heat on the battlefield. I’ll end up dry-humping a f*cking tree.” All the lust left Ivan’s face upon hearing me. He let out a deep laugh, almost to the point that he had tears in his eyes.
***End of Flash Black***
**Jessica’s POV continued****
I hate reliving that moment! It’s like a knife to my heart, with lemon juice is poured on an open wound. Without thinking twice, I downed the rest of the shot and signaled for the bartender to bring me two more. It’s hard for werewolves to get drunk, which means it’s d*mn near impossible for lycans to get drunk. But somehow, since I’ve felt Ivan being intimate with someone else, I’ve been drunk only to cope with the pain. Any time I got the feeling that he was about to sleep with someone else, I grabbed the bottle of Skyy Vodka and chugged it. At first, it numbed the pain, but now it could only dull it.
“Hey beautiful, is this seat taken?” a husky, deep voice sounded to my right. I looked over to find an extremely handsome lycan. Before I looked at him, I knew he was a lycan. He had hazel golden brown eyes that almost matched his sunkissed skin. He was as almost as sexy as Ivan, but no one could hold a flame to my mate. As soon as I thought of my mate, I felt my heart dropped to my a*s.
“N…no, it..it’s not taken.” Of all times, I picked now to f*cking stutter! After clearing my throat, I spoke with confidence. “If it’s for you, it isn’t taken.” I said with my signature smirk.
“Oh no, it’s no-.” Before he could finish his sentence, a downright wasted she lycan came stumbling into the seat. The air quickly became awkward and only intensified when he and I made eye contact. I adverted my eyes from his and cast my gaze onto the girl. It takes a lot of liquor for werewolves to get drunk and even more for lycans.
“Girllll, mates are for the f*cking birds! All male lycans are a bunch of h*rny f*cks that don’t know how to be f*cking faithful.” She was slurring her words all over the place, that I could barely understand her. Although when she talked about sh*tty mates, I heard her loud and clear.
“You are preaching to the goddess d*mn choir.” I knocked back the rest of my drink. The chair on the other side of me was pulled out, and that sexy stranger suddenly joined us. He didn’t say anything at first. Instead, he just ordered a beer.
“I’m getting a round of shots for the both of us. I can tell you’re dealing with some sh*t from your mate. What do you like, clear or dark?” I was shocked that she was buying me shots and didn’t know if I should accept it. But going against my better judgment, I ignored that gut feeling I was getting.
“I only drink clear.” The plastered she-wolf flashed me a megawatt smile before she signaled the bartender to bring us another round of shots.
“Of course, you drink clear, it’s probably vodka.” The guy next to me mumbled. Before I could reply, the girl jumped in.
“Luke, stop being such a b*tch. Clearly, she and I are dealing with bullsh*t from our mates. Just because you haven’t found yours yet doesn’t mean you can be b*tchy. I’m sorry about my brother; he can be a real pain in the a*s. Oh, I’m Emily, by the way.” I was sort of stunned by how she went from drunk as a skunk to suddenly somewhat sober. Just then, a tray of shots was slid in front of us. The guy that I now know is Luke just grumbled to himself. I pulled my attention away from him and started downing shot after shot. I’m not sure when, but at some point, Luke joined us in taking shots. Before we knew it, all of us were hammered.
~ 1 hour later~
I’ve lost count of how many shots I’ve had. I don’t even know how they’re going to pay for it, but Emily said she’ll settle the tab. Everything feels weird, but oddly enough, I can feel my lycan more now than I usually do. I feel an arm snake its way around my waist before I’m pulled into somebody’s side. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I see it’s Luke. He has a somewhat sloppy smirk on his face. I didn’t realize how much taller he was than me until I turned my head and had to crane my neck up so I could look into his eyes again; that was a big mistake on my part. Because when I did, our lips were mere inches apart. Before I know what’s happening, he crashes his lips onto mine in a heated kiss. F*ck it. If Ivan can have his fun at my expense, then so can I. He abruptly pulled away, breaking the kiss.
“What do you think about us taking this back to my place so we can have more privacy?” By now, the vodka was doing all the thinking and talking for me. I stood up and motioned for him to lead the way. The last thing I remember is leaving the bar hand in hand with him.