Chained To Fate

Chapter 7

Jared Pov

    “Where is your brother!?” My mother yelled at me for the fifth time this past hour. I sighed loudly, rolling my eyes as I tried to ignore her. I was placing the bowls of chips everywhere around the house, getting ready for the party to start.

    “I don’t know, mom,” I said dully. I honestly haven’t seen Easton since he stormed out of school. He did that sometimes, just left and stayed away for a day or two at a time. It went for a week sometimes too, but those were rare and usually only when he was really angry, like when dad goes off on him. No matter how many times I try to tell him to leave him alone, he just won't stop getting onto his case. It was frustrating, especially since he was always so nice to me.

    “Well text him! Call him!” She yelled at me, throwing her hands in the air as she went back to the kitchen, mumbling. “He probably did something to push him away, like all the other birthdays,” She mumbled, making me roll my eyes as I followed her into the kitchen to get more things. Yeah, I was the one who chased him away. It had to be me, not the countless arguing when all of us were together. “It was probably when Alan went off on him, I swear if he doesn’t come back then I’m getting a divorce this time!” She said. I sighed, grabbing the barrel of drinks and lifting it easily, carrying it into the living room. So dad did go off on him again, of course he did. I swear, it’s always the same thing. I wish I could just get a place without needing to get a mate first. That way I’d just take Easton away and...and...I sighed, shaking my head as I put the drinks down. And what? Confess my gross crush on him? Live happily ever after as the laughing stock of the whole pack for being with my brother? Not that he’d even like me anyway, he treats me like I killed his best friend or something.

    I pulled out the phone, wondering if he’d actually reply to me if I called him, instead of the twenty texts I’ve sent every time mom bitched at me. They were all read, but no reply, go figure. I called him as the doorbell rang and of course she yelled at me for being on the phone while someone was about to be here, not caring that she told me to f*****g call to begin with. I only let it ring about three times before I hung up, not wanting to try anymore. If he shows up, he shows up. It was better this way, honestly. This way, I wouldn’t have to see him get a mate. Hopefully I found my mate before him, that way if he did get one I’d already be happy with who I’m meant to be with and I won’t care if he’s with someone else. Someone else. I frowned, opening the door. Now that I think about it, I knew he was gay but I didn’t even know if he had anyone. He dated a boy in high school, when they were freshmen. Honestly, it seemed more like a curiosity thing than dating, they weren’t even together long and the guy he was with ended up getting a girlfriend. After that, Easton wasn’t with anyone else, not that I know of anyway. I growled, realizing how shady he’s been the past year. Barely being home, always gone for days at a time. What if he did secretly have a boyfriend this whole time? “Um, bro? You good?” I blinked, looking at Ashton as he wagged his eyebrow at me. Elizabeth was standing behind him, on her tippy toes as she pressed her chest against his back, staring at me over his shoulder. “Can you get your body off of me? I don’t want my future mate to see me like this.” He said, shrugging away from her.

    She rolled her eyes at him as she pushed past him, walking past me as well. “She’d probably think you’re cooler than you really are, having someone like me touching you.” She said, waving her fingers at him as we rolled our eyes. “Mama!” She called out, rushing to my mom. It was strange, watching them. Mom adored Elizabeth, but she hated me. It was the strangest thing, really.

    “Elizabeth! How are you? Are you here for Easton?” She asked, a grin on her face. Yeah, that was it. She wanted Elizabeth to be with Easton, even though she knew he was gay, she didn’t care.

    Elizabeth giggled, gently pushing against mom’s shoulder. “Of course I’m here for Jared, mama! It’s always been Jared for me,” She said, batting her eyes at me.

    “I think I need to go throw up, be right back,” I said to Ashton.

    “Me too, I’m coming too.” He said, following me to my room.

    “Where are you going!? More people are coming!” Mom shouted at me, frustrated. “I swear, Elizabeth, I hope you see just how much better Easton is. He could be your mate, you never know!” She said as we ran up the stairs and went into my room.

    I sighed, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket as Ashton went to sit on my bed. He grabbed the basketball and started throwing it into the hoop I had next to the door. Absently I picked it up, throwing it at him as I answered the phone. “Hello?” I asked, catching the basketball before it went in the hoop. Ashton threw my pillow at me and I stuck my tongue out at him, throwing the ball as hard as I could. He yelped, catching it before it hit his face, then proceeded to flip me off before throwing it towards the hoop again.

    “Leave me alone, Jared.” Easton’s voice said from the other side of the phone.

    I blinked, looking down at the phone, seeing it was Easton, before putting it back on my ear again. “East? What the f**k, where are you? Mom keeps hounding me to get you here.” I said to him as Ashton threw the basketball again. I ignored it, letting it bounce on the ground. Ashton stared at it like a lost puppy, trying to will it to come back to him, before giving up on it.

    “I’m coming, I’ll be there soon.” He said, grumbling. I rolled my eyes at him, even though he couldn’t see me. Ashton picked up one of the pencils next to the bed and threw it through the hoop, a grin on his face as it went through the net.

    “Where have you been lately, East?” I asked him, a growl in my voice. What has he been doing? Now that I thought about it, was he with a guy? I could feel my anger getting ahold of me and I tried to take a deep breath, to calm myself. I turned my back on Ashton, ignoring him as he continued to throw random objects through the hoop.

    I could hear Easton sigh in frustration on the other end of the phone before a clicking sound, the turn signal. Mom was calling for me downstairs and I could hear it starting to get loud, as if everyone was showing up. “None of your f*****g business, Jared. Leave me alone,” He said, before hanging up on me, I turned around, growling in frustration as I flung my phone at the bed, forgetting Ashton was there.

    He caught it, staring at me with wide eyes. “What the f**k, bro? It was just a couple of things, I’ll clean it!” He said, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender.

    “What?” I asked, confused, before looking at the growing pile of everything on my nightstand along with some shoes laying in a pile under the hoop. “Whatever, I don’t care. Come on, mom’s calling me.” I said with a sigh.

    He leaned back on the bed, putting his hands under his head and closed his eyes, grinning. “She was calling you, not me,” He muttered, before I grabbed his ear, yanking him off the bed. “Ow ow ow! Okay, I’m coming!” He shouted, jerking out of my grip with a frown, grumbling as he followed me down the steps. I sighed, looking at the scene down below. Everyone that was important was here, along with their kids around my age. Twenty or older, along with a few under, like Ashton. I groaned as Ashton chuckled behind me, moving to the top of the stairs as he grinned at everyone gathered below us. “Ladies!” He called out, holding his arms out wide. Ashton was fairly popular, and being my best friend didn’t hurt either. More than a few of the girls down below giggled as they called out to him, and he ran down the stairs, getting engulfed into the group that was waiting down below for him. They giggled and pulled him back and forth and I rolled my eyes, grinning. He said before he didn’t want his future mate to see him with Elizabeth pressed against him, but here he was getting attacked by at least four girls. I shook my head at him as I walked down the stairs into the crowd below. It was crazy how fast it filled up in the matter of time I was upstairs on the phone. The phone. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair as I remembered how Easton was talking to me. Was he really with another guy right now? But...I had no room to even be upset about it. I couldn’t do anything, he wasn’t mine, and he never would be.

    “Easton!” I whipped my head up as I stared at the door, watching Easton walk through as mom ran to him. He ducked his head down and purposely turned the other way, hiding behind one of the football players on my team. He looked down at Easton in surprise, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and grinning at him. The music started to boom and I was grateful for it, because otherwise, everyone would have heard me growl in frustration, instead of the ones around me. As if sensing what I was thinking the guy looked up at me, ignoring Easton as he tried to shove him off of him. One look at the anger in my eyes and he lifted his hands up, turning around and walking to the other side of the house, away from us. I walked to the middle of the room, or tried to. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. Everywhere I went there were bodies pressed against me, rubbing against me. Girls threw themselves on me, trying to grind against me, begging me to dance with them. At one point I had a girl on either side of me and one in front of me, all of them with their backs turned to me as they pressed their butts against my body. The boys around me whooped and cheered for me, calling me the master, and all I wanted to do was go outside and get some fresh air.

    The girl in front of me grabbed my hands and placed them on her butt, causing another cheer from my dad this time as he came into the door. Everyone moved out of his way as he walked to me, smacking me on the back with a grin on his face. “That’s my boy! Just the way I was at your age,” He said with a grin. I cringed, grossed out as the other guys around me cheered for him, calling him the man.

    “Excuse me,” I said harshly, backing away as the girls around me all stumbled backward, falling into each other. They glared at me as I weaved around my dad, ignoring the others as I went to the door, opening it and going outside. I sighed as I took a deep breath of the crisp night air, content for a moment. I took another breath and walked to my car, leaning against it. From here I could see everyone dancing inside, the blinds still left open. Mom must have not cared that they were open, wanting to show off how popular we get for parties, since we’re the second in command. So freaking vain sometimes.

    “You okay?” I looked up, watching as Elizabeth came out of the house, walking over to me. She had her long black hair up in a high ponytail, a tight-fitting black dress on so high her panties probably showed when she bent over. If she was even wearing any, knowing her.

    I nodded at her, shrugging. “Yeah, it was just too crowded in there,” I said, watching as Ashton was flung against the window. He had a grin on his face as he turned around, grabbing the girl he was dancing with, and twirled her around. “f*****g stupid, all the people that are here,” I said with a sigh.

    She nodded, leaning up against my car next to me. “You’re right, especially since I’m going to be your mate.” She said, lifting her hand and pushing some of her hair off of her shoulder, examining her nails in the process. I snickered, shaking my head. “Come on, handsome, let’s go dance.” She said with a grin, grabbing my hand. “You can’t stay out here for your party. Even your stupid brother is in there.” She said with a shrug.

    I didn’t feel like fighting with her. Tonight is my party, and in a few hours, I’ll be twenty. I’ll meet my wolf and…hopefully my mate. I took her hand, following her inside. At least if I was dancing with her the other girls wouldn’t mess with us. The benefits of being friends with the alpha’s daughter, after all. She led me to the door and I took a deep breath, wishing at least half of these people were gone. She turned to look at me, her perfect eyebrow raised, waiting for me. I straightened my shoulders and nodded at her, leading her inside. I was to be second in command one day, I needed to man up. It was just a room full of people, and hopefully one of them was going to be my mate. What could go wrong?