Darcingtowne Wolves: The Misfits (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Resolve

“Er...sorry, maybe I have the wrong address…” Tobias stumbled over his words as he suppressed the sudden urge he felt to submit to this whelp. What in the hell was this aura? A Beta? But he was, well, a runt.

“Sebastian, stop being a d**k and let him in. He’s with me. I invited him.” Ryan’s voice called, coming closer as he neared the front door. 

Sebastian smirked a little, “Well, well Ry… I never knew you had such good taste in men. You can invite more people next time. Come in then, stranger.”

“I’m Gamma Tobias of the Twilight Promenade.” Tobias said, offering a hand to Sebastian after crossing the threshold. “But please, call me Toby. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Beta Sebastian.”

Sebastian hesitated, and gave Ryan an odd look. Ryan only shrugged. There was some unspoken communication going on there; they were probably linking. Then, Sebastian shrugged as well.

“f**k titles.” Sebastian said as he gave Toby’s hand a vigorous shake. “You can call me Bastian or Bash. We might as well head on up, if there’s any more late comers they can just text. Or, you know, f**k off.”

The elevator ride to the rooftop deck was short, and less awkward than Toby had been anticipating. Despite his fondness for foul language, Sebastian was quite funny, and clearly close with Ryan. The beta joked lightly about Toby wing manning for the big boy, and when they stepped out onto the large open space Tobias couldn’t help but be impressed.

The deck was huge, with a lovely oval shaped pool and attached hot tub. The pool was lit with flickering waterproof lights in the shape of water lilies, while additional light was provided by large lanterns set around the seating areas and strings of lights along the perimeter of the roof. Perhaps the most interesting sight was the dining area. It consisted of a huge pergola that glittered with hanging wisteria that had been crafted from thousands of blue and purple glass petal-shaped beads. Under the dazzling lights of the wisteria above was a long live edge table with bench style seating enough to accommodate at least twelve guests at once.

Some guests were already in the pool, but more were gathered around the table enjoying a feast of pizza, sausages, prime rib, and burgers. There were a whole host of sides too, and even desserts - cakes and little puff pastries arranged into a tower with a garland of spun sugar wrapped around it. He wondered if they had catered for what seemed like a pretty small, chill party. There couldn’t be more than twenty people present, but there was enough good for more than double that number.

Ryan motioned Tobias over to the table to grab some food. As they sat there chatting, he felt an odd twinge in his nose, and that feeling once again of anticipation. Then, the elevator door opened up and he was smacked in the face by a scent that he’d spent the entire day trying to block out - dew on new spring grass, honeysuckle and old leather bound books. The smell of his mate. The smell of home.

Penelope exited the elevator carrying another cake; this one with two layers and covered in coconut and maraschino cherries. It was her favorite cake, Hawaiian delight, and smelled divine - but not nearly as divine as the scent she caught on the cool fall breeze blowing gently in her direction. Pine, sandalwood and a hint of fresh mint. Her mate!

“Mate,” Penny whispered, nearly dropping the cake as Carrie stumbled into her. 

She’d come to a sudden stop, and Carrie, who was behind her, had been focused on her phone and not really paying attention. She was probably posting some party pictures to her social feeds. Penny turned and shoved the cake into the startled Carrie’s arms, then ran forward to the table, where her mate was sitting wide-eyed next to Ryan, who looked from his Alpha, to her mate, then back again.

“Did you say mate?!” Carrie nearly shouted and threw the cake up, but managed to contain herself before there was any loss of confectionary goodness.

“A..Alpha?” Ryan sputtered.

“Mine.” Penny said, her eyes locking with her mate’s from across the table.

“Yours…” her mate agreed, just as breathlessly.

Then, she lunged forward, grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him halfway across the table and kissed him right there in front of everyone.

“She gives us dinner and a show,” Sebastian quipped, snickering a little at the shocked looks on their guest’s faces. “Our Alpha really is the tops.”

It happened so fast that Tobias didn’t have time to think it through. She’d declared her claim, and he’d...well, he’d accepted. It was impossible not to when she was right there in front of him, breathing the same air as him, standing under the same sky. Denying her had been unthinkable.

Then, she grabbed him and kissed him with such passion that it stole any of the remaining protests he could have martialled. Her lips were plush and velvety against his rough, scarred ones, and parted easily as he pressed his tongue against them, requesting entrance. He didn’t realize they had an audience; even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have cared. All that mattered was that his mate was kissing him, and he was kissing her in turn, tasting the sweetness of her mouth. She must have been baking, because she tasted of frosting, coconut and pineapple.

Eventually, Ryan cleared his throat with a determined loudness that made his mate pull away.

“Uhm...Alpha, this is Gamma Tobias of the Twilight Promenade.” Ryan said, looking a bit nervous, but also rather pleased. “Tobias, this is my Alpha and best friend in the whole world...Penelope Silvius of The Misfits.”

“Ohmygoddess!” came a squeal from behind his mate. A tiny woman with a haze of red curly hair came up beside his mate and set a large, two-layered cake on the table. “He’s SO hot. I’m totally jelly. Are you sure you can’t share, Pen?”

The girl gave him a wink, which made Tobias blanche.

“Down, girl.” Sebastian said, grabbing the red haired girl around her neck as he scrubbed the top of her head with a balled fist. “He’s a man, not a chunk of meat.”

“Ow-ow-owwwwuuuuh!” the red haired girl whined, batting at the Beta.

“You’re one to talk, Bastian. Like you weren’t eyeing him up when he came to the door.” Ryan said softly, snorting a little when Bastian glared at him.

Penelope had been bearing up under the teasing well, but finally let out a low growl at this, her eyes going dark. “Mine.”

“Yes, Alpha, yes. Yours. We know. We saw.” Ryan said, soothingly. Then, he continued with a wry smile, “Maybe you should haul him over your shoulder and carry him off to your suite now? I’m sure you have lots to talk about. After you finish ravishing each other, anyways.”

This seemed to snap Penelope out of her sudden bout of possessiveness. She blushed bright red, and sputtered, “R-Ryan!”

“Go on, Penny. I’ll bring you a plate later.” Ryan said, shooing her a bit. Then, he turned to Tobias and tilted his head in the Alpha’s direction, “You too.”

Tobias got awkwardly to his feet, leaving his own half eaten plate of food behind as he followed Penelope to the elevator. They rode down to the Alpha penthouse in silence, neither one seeming to know what to say to the other.

“S-so...uhm, Tobias…” Penny finally said just as the elevator came to a stop. She pronounced his name carefully, like she was testing it the feel of it on her tongue. She smiled a little, as if the sound of it pleased her.

“Yes, Penelope?” he answered, getting up the nerve to look at her again after taking turns stealing shy glances at each other. 

“Do you, er, have a favorite dessert? I like to bake, so…” Penny said, giving him a shy smile. “Maybe I could make something for you sometime.”

“I’d like that.” Tobias said, returning her smile hesitantly. Now that the moment had passed, reality was starting to creep in. They’d passed the first step in the mating process, strengthening their bond, but it wasn’t too late to take it back. “But...I’m not sure how this is going to work out. You see, I can’t leave my post, I have responsibilities...”

He could feel the disappointment radiating from her as they exited the elevator, and her face took on the same impassive expression he’d seen her father wear. Hers was not as practiced as Mason’s, her lavender eyes darting nervously as she considered how to respond to this.

“All right.” Penelope said, her impassiveness sliding away as she came to a decision. “Then...don’t leave your post. I don’t see why we can’t take this slow. Maybe, uhm, you can join us when you’re ready? We can take some time getting to know each other first.”

Tobias was surprised at her reaction. Where was that stony determination to reject a mate that wouldn’t join her pack? Was the pull so strong that she was reconsidering on the spot? Her response didn’t sound impulsive; it sounded like she’d been thinking about things over the last three weeks. He wanted to feel irritated that she wasn’t sticking to her guns, but his overwhelming response was one of relief.

Penelope sat down on a large grey L-shaped sofa, and patted the cushion beside her, wanting him to sit. He swallowed a little, and remained standing, though he did come closer. The pull was so strong, it was hard to resist. If he could have, he would have sat and pulled her right into his lap.

“No, what I mean to say is...I have things that are important to me, someone I can’t just leave behind, even for a mate.” Tobias said, turning his eyes away from hers so that he could maintain his resolve.