Angry, Oblivious, Alpha

22 Garden Eden

Clarisia

I quickly lined my eyes with eyeliner and blackened my eyelashes.
I lined my lips with dark red. The velvety fabric of my dress clung to my body as light as a feather.
I turned briefly in front of the mirror, my stomach looked bloated from the heat-pain. With a sigh, I gently ran my fingers over the bulge, then grabbed the denim jacket and threw it over my shoulders.
Lorelie was already waiting for me downstairs. She had pinned her dark hair up, bronze eyeshadow shimmered over her blue eyes, which sparkled in competition with the stars. The deep red dress showed off her curves perfectly.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, and I took her hands. "You look stunning!"
Lorelie began to beam. She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you!" she said in a high voice. "You too."
Together with Jessy and Ann, we walked through the woods to the city.
The loud music of the Garden of Eden echoed out onto the street, colorful lights flickered on the facade.
Behind my friends, I made my way through the jumping crowd. The noise and the sweaty people irritated my wolf, my body stiffened and the smells became more intense.
I handed Ann my jacket and she hung it on a hook in the coat rack.

"What would you like to drink?" the bartender shouted to me.
My gaze darted over the board on which exotic names were listed in white chalk.
"Give me a beer." I rested my elbows on the polished wood and leaned my back against the bar. In the crowd, I recognized Derik, who was standing next to Brian and Jayce, a drink with a red umbrella in his hand. Our eyes met and I hesitantly raised my hand.
Derik quickly turned his head away.
"I'll be right back," Lorelie called over the noise and snaked her way through the crowd to our friend.
I gritted my teeth and reached for the cold glass bottle that the bartender put down.
"Thanks," I mumbled as I dug coins out of my small shoulder bag.
The round metal clinked softly on the wood.

"Cass, isn't it?" The voice made me flinch.
I turned to the boy who had come to my side. His features looked vaguely familiar.
"I'm a friend of Ben's from your class," he called over the loud music.
"Yes," I nodded slowly, "that's right."
A smile crept across his face. "My name is Ryan."
"Nice to meet you." I tilted my head slightly.
Ben's friend took another step closer, looking down at me with his dark eyes. "You look good," he said, his smile growing wider.
"Um, thanks." I looked down, embarrassed. "I have a date."
"Oh yeah?" Ryan grinned.

At that moment, Damien's powerful figure appeared in the crowd, his gaze resting on my body.
"He's very jealous," I said to Ryan, suppressing a smile.
"Hm, sounds like a toxic relationship to me." Ryan took a good look at my cleavage.
"Maybe," I admitted quietly.
"Then screw him!" he suggested with a shrug. "I can be there for you, Cass."
I tilted my head back and laughed. "Oh, if it were that easy, Ryan."
"No, really," he repeated. "I can help you."
Ryan put a hand on my arm. A deep rumble mixed with the booming bass of the music.

"Ryan," I leaned forward slightly and looked into his eyes, "he's really jealous. Please, take your hand away."
My eyebrows went up. "For your own safety."
And because I didn't want Damien to turn the poor boy into sushi.
The threatening aura sent a hot shiver down my spine, but the shiver was anything but unpleasant.
Ryan seemed to sense it too, because he actually took his hand away.
"Go away," Damien's deep voice growled behind me, whereupon Ryan looked away and disappeared into the crowd.
I slowly turned to my mate. Damien looked me up and down, his eyes darkened.
"You look," Damien paused and I braced myself against his words, "very beautiful."
I looked up at his face suspiciously, his expression seemed tense.

"Oh," squealed Lorelie delightedly, who of course returned at that exact moment, Jonah following.
"You!" growled my brother, tapping Damien in the chest with his index finger, causing me to stiffen my back in alarm. "Alpha or not, if you harm my little sister again, I will massacre you."
"Jonah!" I hissed and squeezed between the two boys. "Leave it!"
I quickly put a hand on Damien's chest to keep him calm. An electric impulse shot through my arm and Damien sucked in a sharp breath.
My brother narrowed his eyes, glaring coolly at my mate. "Clear?"
I hissed quietly, but Damien tilted his head almost imperceptibly.
"It won't happen again," he said in a hoarse voice.

My brother nodded in satisfaction, wrapped his arms around Lorelie's waist and the two staggered to the side, giggling.
I wrinkled my nose and quickly turned my head away. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this sight."
An awkward silence spread, but at that moment Jayce stormed towards us. He leaned unsteadily against the bar, a veil clouding his brown eyes.
He was definitely drunk.
"I've been looking for you!" Jayce poked me in the shoulder with his index finger.
Damien let out a low growl, but Jayce ignored the threat with a broad grin.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, frowning skeptically.
"Mhm," Jayce said conspiratorially. "You have to help me."
"With what?" I suppressed a grin and took a sip of my beer.

"She's sending me signals," Jayce whispered, coming so close that I could smell the gin on his breath.
"You're not eighteen yet, Jayce," I said, grinning. "You're not allowed to drink hard alcohol."
He waved his hand in the air, almost hitting his own nose. "Brian bought it for me."
He leaned awkwardly on the counter and peered up at me from under his tousled hair. "Did she say something? About me?"
I returned his gaze, amused. "Who?"
Jayce looked at me blankly, and I couldn't suppress my grin any longer. "Well, Jessy!"
I choked on my drink. Coughing, I put the glass bottle on the counter and gasped for air.
"Is Jessy sending you signals?" I gasped.
"Think about it, dumb bimbo!" Jayce demanded, causing Damien to growl deeply. "Chill, macho. Time for you to fuck..."

"After dancing, she asked if you were coming to the party!" I interrupted him hastily before he could provoke Damien's beast any further. "And she blushed a little."
"I knew it!" Jayce slammed his fist on the bar. "And there she is."
He grinned as he turned his back to me. Ann and Brian came towards us, Jessy close behind. Our beta wolf's daughter looked stunning.
The neckline of her dress left no room for guessing about her ample bust, the sky blue color matched her eyes and light hair perfectly. The colorful lights of the disco flashed across her pale skin.
I quickly looked over at Damien, but he didn't even glance at our friend.
He noticed me looking at him and winked at me.

"Hey, babe," Jayce greeted Jessy before I could wonder about the wink.
Lorelie emerged from under Jonah's arms, first looking skeptically at Jayce, then her gaze wandered over to Jessy, who stopped in perplexity.
"Can you read?" boomed Jayce, his grin growing even wider. "There's something written in my pants for you."
Ann, Lorelie, and I groaned at the same time.
"My God!" exclaimed Jessy.
"You can call me Jayce, my angel," trumpeted Jayce over the booming bass of the music.
Brian spat his drink over the bar, laughing. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, snorting.
Despite the makeup, Jessy's face turned red.
"You're so immature, Jayce!" she hissed.
He nodded suggestively at her, his gaze wandering down to her athletic legs, which were visible under the hem of her dress.

"Admit it," he whispered loudly enough for all of us to hear, "you adore me."
Jessy buried her face in her hands, embarrassed.
Brian patted his friend on the shoulder. "Dude, it's time for your next drink."
"Oh yeah!" Jayce said happily, his eyes lighting up.
"Then at least your mouth will be stuffed for a few minutes," Brian muttered, shaking his head slightly.
"Would you like something?" he turned to us.
I said no.
"Oh, I'm not drinking alcohol right now," Damien said defensively.
"Afraid of losing control?" Jayce asked, grinning cheekily.
Our friend's joke earned him a very dark look from Damien.

While Brian was ordering from the bartender, Damien took a step closer to me.
I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Do you want to dance?"
I looked up at him in surprise, my eyebrows rising. "You can dance?"
"Mhm," he said. "Have you forgotten who my sister is?"
"Uh, that's hot!" I bit my lower lip. "When guys can dance."
"I'm hot too!" Jayce roared. "For you, Jessy!"
With my friend's whining in my ear, I followed Damien over to the dance floor, laughing. He took a step to the side. The flickering light cast colorful spots on his light hair.
"After you."

I could feel his strong body like a glowing force field on my back as I made my way through the crowd. The werewolves among the party guests examined me closely, they put their heads together and whispered.
The rumor about our imprinting, which had persisted since the incident on Wednesday, seemed to be replaced by certainty.
Embarrassed, I lowered my head, but Damien didn't even notice the people staring and I realized that he had probably been struggling with this his entire life because of his alpha status.

When I reached the middle of the jumping crowd, I turned to him, a smile on my lips. "Show me what you've got."
A sparkle lit up Damien's eyes, which looked gray in the dull light.
He leaned down and kissed me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adult content in the next chapter, be warned ;)