Talons

Chapter 133: The Window

Colton’s POV

Like me, Dolton is affected by the bond, which means that although he was the one who messed up, it’s hurting him because it’s hurting Miracle. It’s weird because, if he didn’t want to be with her, he would feel nothing, but because he does he is miserable.

It's the same for me and Rhea; I’m hurt every time she reminds me of how I’ve hurt her, and when I think about all the women I’ve had, I feel physically unwell. If I didn’t want my mate, I would likely feel nothing; at least that’s what I learned from goddess studies.

The mate bond only seriously affects those who want to be together, even if it's at a subconscious level and while this isn’t the best time, I find myself wondering if I can trigger the effect of the bond in my mate by making her see me in a different light. If I can make her happy, she may subconsciously want to be with me.

“and if you can arouse her, she may go into heat.” Orlin brings up a particularly crucial point that, while I’m not planning to exploit, it's possible that I will.

A woman who spends a lot of time with her fated partner without marking and mating with them tends to spontaneously go into heat. We’re told that it’s to speed up the mating process.

Rhea has never gone through urges, but that doesn’t mean she won’t go into heat. The problem is that if I move too quickly, I may have the opposite effect on her, especially since she seems to know my s****l history.

My brother and I have our eavesdropping session interrupted by a knock at the door, and I quickly go check who it is.

“Is Mandy here?” Carter asks, and I nod at the man. “She left Carly with Janet. She said she was having a sleepover with your mate. I’m just here to tell her 'no.'” I chuckle at Carter who is completely serious although it sounds as if he’s joking.

He boldly knocks on the door, but Holly opens it, and she squeezes through a small crack before the door is shut and locked again.

“Mandy says she will see you in the morning, and don’t forget to make sure food is available for the kids.” Carter's eyes go dark, and I start to get suspicious.

He continuously pounds on the door, but no one is answering, and after a while, Dolton’s face takes on a concerned expression.

“Was the lock on those windows changed?” He asks, and I panic with him.

Rhea’s ‘room’ used to be Colton’s, and he rigged the window to pop open with any key. I hadn’t changed it because I wanted to show my mate that I trusted her, but right now, trust is... out the window?

I quickly grab my keys and unlock the door, not surprised to find the room empty. I should have known something was up when Holly left, she probably went to get the car for them to make a getaway.

“Mandy has her block up,” Carter says, so I break through it, telling the woman to think carefully about what she’s doing. 

She responds by telling me where they are going, and all she asks for is an hour before we show up. She also told me about the charms Holly had made for them so I’m a little less worried.

“They want an hour head start,” I say, but my brother isn’t having it. I try to calm him by telling him to get ready to follow them, but he looks himself up and down as if to indicate that what he has on is fine.

“Bro,” Carter says. “You can’t show up like that. If you don’t fight back, she’ll keep doing this.”

“You talk as if you know.” Carter frowns before explaining that he was once in similar shoes, and while Mandy didn’t actually leave the territory, she would dress up a lot. She knew that it drove Carter crazy, and my guess is that it’s the same thing Miracle is doing now.

We end up convincing my brother to allow Janet to choose an outfit for him. I swear the girl was born for the position of a luna’s assistant because even though Dolton was putting pressure on her, she remained calm and only presented him with two outfits, dismissing everything he picked as ‘overly casual.’

“I’m really proud of you,” I say, liking the fact that the girl didn’t allow my brother to intimidate her. I know he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but she doesn’t.

“The Lu- I mean B told me that only people who are insecure take their frustrations out on others.” Carter bursts into laughter because a twelve-year-old indirectly questioned my brother’s confidence.

“You know what little girl, come back and say that to me after you’ve found a mate.” My eyes dart to Janet, who usually becomes sullen when anything regarding a wolf is mentioned, but she isn’t fazed at all.

“Her scent is changing,” Orlin adds, and my eyes go wide. Janet’s thirteenth birthday is soon, and if my nose isn’t playing tricks on me, she’s about to present with a wolf.

I tell the girl that she and I will need to talk soon, and she nods, not in fear, but in understanding, before leaving.

“What’s your problem?” Dolton asks, noticing my change in demeanor and when I tell him that Janet is omega born, he looks at me in skepticism.

“That girl was clearly on the verge of emergence.”

“That’s what I want to talk to her about.”

With the chit chat over, the three of us make our way to my car, and Dolton complains about how small it is. I also dislike the size of the vehicle, but money is tight, and now that I have a mate, I will need to take my time to get a new one.

I also want Rhea’s input in what kind of car I buy because she strikes me as the type to want to take our children places and, like her mother did for her and her sisters, bring them to and from school.

“I swear if I see Miracle grinding on anyone, everybody’s dying.” I want to support my brother, but I don’t sense a joke in his words, and neither does Carter. He must’ve forgotten that we have mates who are included in that ‘everybody.’

Rhea’s POV

I think my cousins and Holly are trying to get me killed right now. Aside from the skintight pink dress I’m wearing, they had me climb out of a window and sneak off the territory with them.

I don’t understand why making Dolton jealous has to include me, especially since they know that Colton isn’t above getting physical.

The only reason I agreed is because Miracle was really putting her all into the commands she was directing toward me, and I felt bad.

“Are you sure this place is safe?” I ask, walking toward the nightclub with Holly in the lead.

The girls have been drinking in the car for the last twenty minutes, so they are drunk. Human only clubs don’t serve wolf whiskey, which is stronger, so Holly prepared in advance. Neither woman is listening to me, and I feel bad that I seem to be dragging the mood down.

“Dolton brought this on himself. Just go with the flow.” I shrug and follow Holly inside.

Since I have some experience working in a nightclub, I know we were able to get in without waiting or paying anything because we are eye candy. I just hope that we aren’t among a small number of women inside because I don’t want another incident with Colton.

Eventually, I relax to a point where I’m not panicking. Miracle is drunk, but she’s only dancing with us, Mandy is egging her on, and Holly is busy being the funniest person in the room. 

She isn’t interested in male companionship, so anytime a guy tries to dance with her she starts breakdancing, which is hilarious, and influential. 

I tried the same approach, but the guy started to pop lock before windmilling in front of me. I was so shocked that I couldn’t stop nervously laughing, but Holly accepted the challenge on my behalf.

I became so engulfed in their dance battle that I wasn’t paying attention until a pair of familiar arms wrapped around my waist.

Colton's POV

When we got to the club the bouncer literally tried to stop us from getting in, but my brother and I are giants compared to most humans, and Carter's height is no laughing matter, so a quick glare did the trick.

The first thing my brother wanted to do was rush in and carry his mate away, and truthfully, I wanted to take the same approach, but Carter, a mated male told us it was relationship suicide.

The way he said it successfully scared us both, and so, instead of dragging them away, we followed his lead, sneaking to the darkest corner to watch from a distance.

The bar reeks of arousal, alcohol, s*x, perfumes, and ass, so we can't just sniff them out unless we want to make ourselves nauseous in the process. By the time I spot my mate, I started to tremble with desire.

Pink is definitely her color, and other than the fact that there are men around, I don’t mind the way she looks.

So far, the girls haven't danced with anyone, which is why my brother and I are staying put.

They are clearly drunk, well my mate doesn't seem to be, but Holly, Mandy and Miracle are smashed, so we don't want to spoil their good mood unless we have to.

My cousin is already a very eccentric person, but drunk, she becomes a clown and every time someone tries to dance with her, she busts into a breakdance routine. All of the men seem to take her hint and walk away while my mate and her cousins laugh uncontrollably.

Seeing her giggle and smile so freely has me feeling bittersweet, but one day, those smiles will be mine only.

Unsurprisingly, someone tried to dance with Rhea, and she attempted to follow Holly's example; only she got the wrong guy.

My beta and my brother stare at me with 'what the f*ck' faces on as the man goes into full on b-boy mode.

Rhea starts to chuckle nervously, but Holly is clearly offended and pulls my mate away to accept the challenge. My mate looks so entertained by the display that I start to become jealous.

"Are you just going to wait until someone steals her from us?" Orlin asks.