Good Mate, Bad Mate

9 - Running With Devon

Darren POV

    I had to listen to my dad, the current Alpha, tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing with my life, all damn day.  I swear, he just refused to give it a rest, and I was so sick of it.  

    As soon as he said we were done with my training for the day, I bolted out of his office and ran straight to Valerie's room.  Unfortunately, when I opened her door, my eyes landed on her getting f****d against the wall, by one of the warriors in the pack.  

    She had a look of pure ecstasy on her face, while the guy f****d her with vigor.  When they both started moaning each other's names, I quickly and quietly shut her door.

    I didn't say anything, since I f**k other shewolves from time to time, and I was going to be looking for my mate soon.  Instead, I took off like a bat out of hell, and ran all the way to the cave.  I shredded my clothes when I shifted into my wolf form, so when I got there, I shifted back to my human form, then I jumped into the water.

    After I swam for a little while, I floated on my back, and gazed up at those spectacular stalagmites, that always caught my eye.  I found them to be beautiful, and staring at them, always helped me find some peace in my otherwise frustrating life.  

    Even though I didn't necessarily want to take a mate right then, a part of me hoped I would find her, just so my dad would get off my back about it.  We only had a week and half, until Gavin and I would travel to the Forest Pack with a few of the other unmated wolves in the pack.

    I was still floating on my back, dazing off in space, when I heard Gavin ask, "Are you alright, Alpha?"  He almost always called me Alpha, out of respect, and I usually called him Beta.

    I snapped my eyes in his direction before I mumbled, "Yeah, I just needed to get away from the pack house."

    "Rough day with your dad again?" he nonchalantly asked.

    "You know it," I deadpanned.

    Gavin frowned, as he mumbled, "One of these days, you will officially have the title, and you won't have to listen to his bullshit anymore."

    "Hopefully that happens sooner than later, because he is about to drive me and my wolf crazy," I complained in frustration.

    Gavin pulled off his gym shorts, then jumped into the water.  When his head surfaced from under the water, he spit water right at my face, then he burst into a fit of laughter.  

    Instantly, I started splashing water at his face, while I laughed with him.  I could feel the tension leaving my body, as we continued to splash each other.  I always enjoyed swimming, and even more so, when my bestfriend was with me, and we were at this wonderful cave.  

    When we got tired, we decided to head back to the pack house.  I found a random pair of black gym shorts hanging from one of trees, and slid them on before I walked inside.  

    Right away, Valerie walked up to me, and snaked her arm around my waist, then she whispered in my ear, "I've been looking for you."

    I scoffed, as I gave her a little push to get her away from me.  I knew she was just spewing bullshit out of her mouth, and I didn't want to hear it at that moment.  I was finally in a decent mood, and I wasn't going to let her ruin it.  

    I walked away from her and went to the kitchen.  While I was making myself a BLT sandwich, she stalked into the kitchen, then she angrily asked, "What the f**k?  Why did you just push me away like that?"

    I released a sigh of frustration, then I nonchalantly stated, "Look, I know you weren't looking for me.  There is no reason to point blank lie to my face.  If you do it again, I won't even look in your direction moving forward."

    Valerie gasped from my bluntness, then she warily asked, "What makes you think I was lying to you?"

    I gave her a pointed look, staring straight into her eyes, as I deadpanned, "I saw you f*****g the warrior earlier.  How could you be looking for me, when you're f*****g him?"

    Instantly, Valerie dropped her eyes to the floor, as her face paled.  I could tell she felt guilty, so I closed the gap between us, then I gently pulled up on her chin, to make her look at me.  Once I had her eye contact, I mumbled, "I'm not mad at you for f*****g him, but I don't like being lied to.  You of all people, should know this already."

    "I'm sorry, Darren, but I really was looking for you," she warily admitted with a frown on her face.

    I dipped my head down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, then I asked, "Why were you looking for me."

    "I missed you," she cheekily replied.

    Yeah right, I thought to myself, remembering the look of ecstasy and moans of pleasure that I witnessed earlier.  Instead of being a d**k and saying that, I simply replied, "I missed you too, but I am exhausted.  I'm going to eat this sandwich, then I'm off to bed.  We can hang out tomorrow."

    Valerie flashed me a small smile, then she responded, "Okay, have a good night."

    "Good night," I said in return, as she walked out of the kitchen.

    After I ate my sandwich, I didn't exactly as I said I was going to do, and went straight to my room.  I took a quick shower, then pulled on a pair of dark blue boxers.  I didn't feel like doing anything else, so I climbed under my blanket, and quickly fell asleep.

Bethany POV

    Carly and I hung out in the suite all morning.  I cooked pancakes and eggs, while Carly cooked bacon and hash browns for a late brunch, since we both slept in.  

    After we ate and cleaned up the kitchen, we both went to our own bathrooms, and took quick showers.  I had barely finished pulling on my light purple sundress, when I heard a knock on the front door.  

    With the towel still wrapped around my head, I opened the door, to see a very handsome Devon standing there with a smile plastered to his face.  He was wearing a pair of beige cargo shorts and a light blue v neck t shirt.  

    Instantly, I blushed as I mumbled, "You can come in and sit on the couch.  We are almost ready to go."

    Once I moved out of his way, he walked into the suite, then plopped down on the couch, and looked around at his surroundings.  I walked back to the bathroom, then quickly pulled my hair up into a messy bun, since I didn't want to take the extra time to french braid it.  

    When I walked back out of the room, Devon was still sitting on the couch, and Carly was still in her room.  I sat down on the other side of the couch, then I nonchalantly asked, "How are you today?"

    "Better, now that I am sitting next to such a beautiful shewolf," he cheekily replied.    

    I flashed him a genuine smile, as I shyly remarked, "You are quite nice on the eyes, too."

    Devon chuckled before he stated, "You don't have to be shy around me."

    I could feel the blush spreading across my cheeks, as he gazed at me with his pretty brown eyes.  I turned my head, and glanced in the direction of Carly's room, then I yelled, "Are you ready, Carly."

    Devon scooted closer to me, then he mumbled, "You know, there's really no hurry.  I don't mind hanging out with you like this."

    "Um...I have plans with my aunt later, so we kind of need to get going sooner than later," I sheepishly responded, making him chuckle again.

    A second later, Carly came skipping out of her room, with a smile on her face.  When she spotted us sitting on the couch, her smile widened before she happily chirped, "I'm ready.  Let's do this."

    I jumped up from the couch, then quickly walked toward the door.  As soon as we all walked out of the suite, and I shut the door, Devon draped his arm over my shoulders.  I glanced up at him, with a small smile playing at the corners of my lips and mumbled, "That's really not necessary."

    "Oh but it is," he coyly replied while still smiling.

    I stopped walking, then I narrowed my eyes and furrowed my eyebrows, as I warily asked, "And why is that?"

    "I don't want any other guys, who aren't your mate, getting the wrong idea.  If they see you with me, they will know to keep their distance," he stated with determination.

    I gave him a hard shove, then I sassily stated, "You don't have any claim on me.  Who do you think you are?"

    Right away, he started laughing.  When his laughter died down, he gently grabbed my face, then he murmured, "Oh, but I do.  I clearly remember us shaking on a deal, that if we didn't find our mates in five years, you would come back here, and be my chosen Luna."

    Instantly, my face turned red, as I sheepishly replied, "That's five years away.  You don't have any claim on me now."

    Instead of coming back with a response, he smashed his lips to mine.  When I tried to pull away, he kept a firm hold on my face and continued to massage my lips with his.  I couldn't help but notice how soft his lips were, and how good it felt to be kissed by him.  

    I knew I shouldn't kiss him back, but I couldn't stop myself.  After a few seconds of him kissing me, I fisted his shirt, while I returned the kiss.  He didn't pull his lips away from mine for at least a full minute, and when he finally did, I was left speechless.

    Devon snaked his arm around my waist, then he cheerfully asked, "Shall we get going now, since you have plans later."

    I felt a little guilty for saying I had plans when I didn't, so I cheekily admitted, "I don't actually have plans.  I was just going to visit with my family."

    As soon as I told him that, he pinched my side, effectively tickling me.  I squirmed under his touch, making him chuckle while he replied, "That's what you get."

    When we walked out of the pack house, all eyes in the vicinity snapped to us.  I could hear whispering from all around, and I knew they were whispering about the way Devon had his arm wrapped around my waist.  

    Devon pulled me into his side even more, so I glanced up at his face, to see him beaming a proud smile.  I giggled at his cuteness, and let him lead me to the tree line, with Carly walking on the other side of me.  Once we got there, we hid behind different trees.     

    I pulled my sundress off, then tied it to my leg, before I shifted into my wolf form.  When I stepped out from behind the tree, I noticed Carly's burnt sienna colored wolf right away.  It was such a rare color for a wolf, and I took a few seconds to stare at her in awe.  

    When I heard a twig snap to my left, I snapped my eyes in that direction, and saw a massive all black wolf.  The only other color on the wolf, was the white on the tip of it's ears, and it's gold eyes.  I knew right away, it was Devon's wolf.  I could feel the aura of the Alpha line radiating from him.

    It wasn't long before the three of us were running through the forest.  I felt great to let my wolf out and just run.  The wind blowing through my fur felt absolutely amazing.  We ran for several hours, before we returned to the tree line, and shifted back to our human forms.

    As soon as I pulled my sundress back on, I walked out of the tree line, and waited for Devon and Carly.  It was only a few seconds, before they both emerged from the tree line.  Carly ran straight to me, then locked her arm with mine, as she happily exclaimed, "We should do that more often.  My wolf is so happy now."

    "I agree.  That was good for my wolf, too," I chirped in response.

    Devon walked up on my other side, then locked his arm with my other arm, sandwiching me between him and Carly.  I flashed him a genuine smile, as I said, "Thanks for taking us around the territory.  We had a lot of fun."

    "You're welcome, sweetie.  I'm more than happy to take you ladies for a run anytime," he thoughtfully replied.

    Devon walked with us all the way to the suite.  I let Carly go in before me, then turned around to face Devon.  I flashed him a shy smile, before I timidly stated, "You're a really sweet guy, but I don't want you to get attached to me, then feel heartbroken when I find my mate."

    He brushed his knuckles across my cheek, then he softly murmured, "Don't worry about me, sweetie.  I can handle anything thrown my way.  I only want to see you find happiness, whether it's with me or your mate.  The truth is, I have liked you since we were just little pups, but I never had the courage to tell you until now."

    "Okay, Devon.  I just don't want you to feel the way I did, when I found out Jackson is Estella's mate," I sheepishly admitted.

    "I understand what you are saying, but it's not going to stop me from liking you," he cheekily stated.

    I giggled before I replied, "That's fair.  Thanks again."

    Devon flashed me a smile, as he said, "You're welcome," then he placed a soft kiss on my lips, before he spun on his heel and walked away.