Surrendering To The Alpha

Night On The Town

Kelsey

Mia and I quickly retreated to my parents’ house to get ready for what was supposed to be a laidback night out. Mom had dragged Dad to some opera in the city that she had been talking about for months, which left us home alone to get ready. I decided to wear my new black long sleeve bodysuit which conveniently plunged down so low that I opted to go braless and a short black leather skirt. Mia had curled my hair into these beautiful soft beachy waves that I could never get right when I tried to do it myself. I finished it all off with a sharp cat eye to showcase my green eyes and my favorite shade of nude lipstick. I stopped in front of the body-length mirror in my bedroom to check out the final results. Perfect, I muttered to myself. It had been a long time since I had gotten all dolled up to go to a bar. With Eric's long hours at work, the last time we had a night out on the town was his birthday nearly a year ago.

Mia narrowed her eyes at me as she did her make-up in the mirror and bit down on her bottom lip, “if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to be seen by someone tonight."

I could feel the heat penetrating from my face. s**t, was it that obvious? I didn’t care about Blake anymore, but was it bad that I just wanted a taste of sweet revenge? The fact that he didn’t even bother to come over and say hello today on the field because he was too busy with Malibu Barbie still infuriated me. “It’s my first night back in five years. Is it too much to ask to look presentable?”

“Presentable? Girl, you look like an entire happy meal. Guys are going to be drooling all damn night," she said and tossed her head back in a laugh as she continued to apply mascara on her full eyelashes.

Mia puckered her lips together and stood up in the mirror to take a final look, “not too bad,” she said under her breath. I’d given Mia a dress to borrow which seemed to look better on her than it ever did on me. She wore a short white bandage dress that emphasized every single curve on her body. The white dress contrasted against her long natural bouncy dark brown curls that I had always been envious of. She reminded me of one of those exotic supermodels you would see in a magazine.

I was thrilled that the walk was short and sweet, but I felt my wolf getting restless for no apparent reason. Lelia hardly got like this. I scolded myself, I knew I should have gone for a run before coming out tonight. We approached a glowing sign at the corner of the block that read “The Wolf’s Den.” The line to get into the bar had wrapped around the building. I shot Mia a concerned look and began to complain, “you do realize by the time we get inside, it’ll already be last call." It had been clear that this place had become extremely popular, but I didn’t spend the last couple of hours ripping apart my closet for the perfect outfit to stand in a line all night.

A large hand grasped mine and pulled me towards the door abruptly, “Not when you’re with the band," a low husky voice taunted. Whoever this dude was, he held both Mia and I’s hands, one on each side. We approached the front of the line and I tugged my hand away from his, but he tightened his grip. As I was about to yank harder from his hold, a bulky bouncer nodded at him. “Band is here!” he belted out to the man in the all-black suit behind him. “Have a great night ladies,” he said as he unclipped the velvet rope, side stepping and granting us access into the bar.

The Wolf’s Den hadn’t changed a bit since the last time I was here, the entire place had a rustic vibe to it. Once we got inside, Mia grabbed the back of this guy’s neck and impatiently kissed him. Serious PDA alert, I thought to myself. After a few moments of watching them exchange spit, Mia pulled back and turned to me. “Kelsey, this is my boyfriend, Jake. Jake, this is THE Kelsey I’ve been telling you about!” she said with a burst of excitement. He pulled me into a tight hug and whispered in my ear, “welcome home."

Mia and I gutted straight towards the bar while Jake took off to get ready for his set, “two tequilas!” she shouted to the bartender. I could feel Lelia's anxiety pushing towards the surface again, making me feel dizzy. The bartender flashed her a smile, there was no doubt that he was a flirt. He slid over the tequila shots with a lemon rimmed on each glass, “I got it, it’s on me."

I gave Mia a knowing smirk but didn’t dare to say anything as she passed me my shot. She lifted up the tequila shot and cheered, “just like old times” and clinked her glass with mine. I enjoyed the burning sensation of the tequila running down my throat for a moment before I stuffed the lemon into my mouth, trying to suppress Lelia's nerves.

A group of people that we went to school with started to gather around us, each one insisting on buying another round. I grunt inside of my head, there’s no way I’m going to make my meeting with Alpha Max tomorrow morning sober. Lelia smirked inside, "who ever complained about free drinks?"

While it was nice to see so many familiar faces, Mia could tell that I was being overcrowded. I lipped “thank you” to her when she asked me to come with her to the washroom. We strolled into the ladies' room quickly and touched up our makeup, neither of us actually needing to use the washroom. “I swear that bartender definitely has the hots for you," I teased as we walked out of the washroom, both of us breaking out into a laughing fit.

“ARIZONA!” came shooting from my right side and I turned to see Asher enthusiastically standing up from his chair at the table that was too close for comfort. I swear to the Moon Goddess that I must have forgotten how to breathe when my eyes shot past him and locked with Blake’s. Oh s**t, this is how this is going down. This is not how I expected this to play out. Blake looked like a deer in headlights and I was pretty sure I had an identical look pasted to my face.

My wolf was howling ecstatically inside, immediately recognizing Alpha Blake’s seductive scent of sweet butterscotch interlaced with a musky sandalwood, which she missed so much. It had been pretty much the reason why I avoided going to bakeries in Arizona, one whiff of butterscotch in the air and it felt like my heart was breaking all over again at the reminder that my destined mate, the man that I was in love with, had rejected our bond all those years ago.

He quickly diverted his uncomfortable gaze onto the beer bottle label he had been playing with, avoiding making further eye contact with me at all costs, as if he couldn’t care less that I was standing right there. We both knew that wasn't true though. In that brief moment, I could see silver swirls dancing in Alpha Blake’s memorizing blue eyes. I recognized it as his wolf pushing forward, trying to take control. I knew the bond wasn't fully rejected between the two of us but I never thought that the pull would still be so damn strong.

Asher looped his large tattooed arms around my waist and pulled me into his body so I could hear him over the loud music, “Give me five minutes to get away from work, I gotta buy you a drink."

Just then the other man that was sitting with them, pushed his beer up to his lips and said “come on Asher, you’re going to keep these beauties all to yourself?” I smirked, that's that amplified shifter hearing for you. His eyes bolted up and down my body, leaving me to feel violated like he had just eye f****d me right there.

My wolf immediately picked on his strong Alpha aura. He demanded dominance on a level that almost made me shutter. Admittingly, he was strikingly handsome. He was tanned and jacked, his muscles nearly ripping the black v-neck he had on. He had dark purple eyes that made him look dangerous yet mysterious and a faded buzz cut. I could feel Asher’s hesitation rolling off of him when he struggled to introduce us, “Well, this is my best friend Kelsey from Arizona and her friend Mia from Crimson Pack. Kelsey, Mia: this is Alpha Tate of the Black Moon Pack and his Beta, Luke. You already know Alpha Blake obviously, so I’ll skip the introduction there."

My heart was pounding outside of my chest as Blake's name rolled off of Asher's lips, all those memories that I’d fought so hard to forget came pouring down on me. I had to ignore the urge I had to jump over the high top table that they were sitting at and throw my body against his. That same chiselled and rock-hard body that lit something explosive deep inside of me.

Blake lifted his beer to his lips as if he was looking for some liquid courage and before he set it back down on the high top table, he calmly nodded at me and said, "Kelsey. It's been a long time." I couldn't control the anger that was suddenly building up inside of me at his casual acknowledgement and nodded back, "not long enough" and returned my attention back to Alpha Tate.