Dark Woods

Chapter 6

"Hey J, there you are. Come on—I've already spoken to the alpha and he's granted us permission," Sarah says, approaching with concern etched on her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

Clearing my throat, I turn to face my friend. "Yeah, um, I'm totally fine. Let's go before Kylie starts getting worried." I grab Sarah's hand, practically dragging her out of the pack house. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath until we're safely in Sarah's car.

My skin still tingles where Gabriel's lips touched my forehead, and I can't stop replaying the way his muscles looked under those lights. Get it together, Jasmine. It was just a stupid kiss on the forehead.

But even as I think it, I know it wasn't just anything. That kiss felt... possessive. Like he was marking me somehow. And the way my body responded? That's not normal. That's not how I react to guys. Ever.

"So, what happened back there?" Sarah asks as we drive toward Kylie's house, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. "You looked like you'd seen a ghost when I found you."

"I'm more interested in what's happening between you and Jacob," I deflect, hoping she'll take the bait.

I need her to drop this topic so I don't have to discuss what just went down between Gabriel and me. I haven't had time to process everything and don't want to share the details with my friends until I'm certain it actually happened. I've always found Gabriel attractive and harbored a small crush on him, but with all the girls constantly throwing themselves at him at school, I'd decided to bury those feelings. What's the point of wanting something you can never have?

But that look in his eyes, the way he said my name, that f*****g forehead kiss—it felt like there was something more there. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind.

"Don't try to change the subject," Sarah says with a grin. "But fine, Jacob seems really sweet. He asked if I was staying for the whole party tonight."

"See? I told you he was into you."

The fifteen-minute drive to Kylie's house passes quickly as Sarah gushes about Jacob. She's got this dreamy look in her eyes that I've never seen before, and it's actually pretty cute. Sarah's always been confident with guys, but this feels different. More real.

As we pull into the driveway of the massive Black Eclipse house, we spot Kylie already waiting outside for us, dressed in casual clothes but still looking effortlessly beautiful.

"Hey, my beautiful friends! What took you so long?" Kylie calls out, jogging over to the car.

"Someone got lost, and I had to save her," Sarah says, shooting me a knowing look as she gets out of the car.

I roll my eyes. "I wasn't lost—I just ran into someone, that's all."

"Oh, and who was that?" Kylie asks with obvious curiosity, linking her arms through both mine and Sarah's as we walk toward the house.

"Alpha Gabriel," I say in barely a whisper, causing both my friends to gasp in shock.

"You didn't tell me that in the car!" Sarah exclaims, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Well, Sarah has a thing for a guy named Jacob, whom we met at the pack house," I say quickly, hoping to redirect the attention away from myself.

"What!" Kylie exclaims, her eyes going wide. "Jacob Peterson? The one who never talks to anyone?"

"And he said he'll be at the party tonight," I add, earning a sharp glare from Sarah.

"Oh, my goddess, Sarah, really?" Kylie says, covering her mouth with her hand. "Jacob is incredibly attractive, but he never goes to parties. Like, ever. The fact that he's going to one now is very suspicious—he definitely has a thing for you."

"You think so?" Sarah squeals with delight, bouncing on her toes.

I exhale a sigh of relief as the Alpha Gabriel topic seems to fade into the background, meaning I won't have to share any details about our encounter with my friends. At least not yet.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kylie says, holding up her hands as we reach her front door. "Back to you and Gabriel. What exactly happened? Did you guys talk? Did he say anything? Oh my god, did he touch you?"

Fuck. My face heats up immediately. "It was nothing. We just... talked for like two seconds."

"Bullshit," Kylie says, studying my face. "You're blushing like crazy. Something definitely happened."

"Can we please just go inside and get ready?" I beg, but Kylie's already got that look in her eyes—the one that means she's not dropping this anytime soon.

"Oh, and Jas, don't think we're dropping the whole Alpha Gabriel situation," Kylie says with a mischievous grin as she unlocks her front door. "I want every single detail while we're getting ready."

I groan as I follow Sarah and Kylie into the house. "There are no details to give!"

"Sure there aren't," Sarah laughs. "That's why you looked like you were about to combust when I found you."

"I hate you both," I mutter, but I'm smiling despite myself.

Kylie's house is just as luxurious as the pack house, with high ceilings, marble floors, and expensive artwork everywhere. We head straight to her massive bedroom, which is bigger than my entire living room at home.

The room's decorated in shades of cream and gold, with a king-sized bed that probably costs more than most people's cars. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer an amazing view of the pack territory, and there's even a sitting area with plush chairs and a coffee table stacked with fashion magazines.

"Okay, first things first," Kylie says, clapping her hands together. "Outfits, hair, makeup, and then we're getting every detail about Gabriel while we work."

She walks over to her enormous walk-in closet and starts pulling out dresses. The closet's bigger than my bedroom, with sections for different types of clothes, shoes organized by color, and accessories displayed like they're in a boutique.

"Jas, I know you brought that green dress, but I have some options that might be even better. Sarah, I grabbed a few things that would look amazing with your coloring."

"Kylie, I already have an outfit," I protest, but she's already holding up a black mini dress that would barely cover my ass.

"This would look incredible on you," she says, grinning wickedly. "Especially if you want to catch a certain alpha's attention."

"Absolutely not," I say, shaking my head. "I'm not wearing something that short."

"Fine, what about this?" She pulls out a deep red dress with a plunging neckline. "It's classy but sexy."

Sarah laughs. "Kylie, you're like a sexy fairy godmother."

"I try," Kylie says with a bow. "Now come on, let's see what we're working with."

The next hour becomes this whirlwind of trying on different outfits. Sarah ends up in a cute pink crop top and high-waisted white skirt that shows off her legs perfectly. Kylie settles on a tight black bodycon dress with cutout details at the waist that makes her look like a model.

I stick with my emerald green dress, but Kylie insists on accessorizing it with some of her jewelry and a pair of heels that add three inches to my height.

"Perfect," Kylie says, stepping back to admire her work. "Now for hair and makeup."

She sets up what looks like a professional makeup station on her vanity, complete with more products than I've ever seen in one place. There are brushes of every size, palettes with colors I can't even name, and bottles of foundation in shades ranging from porcelain to deep bronze.

"So," Kylie says as she starts curling Sarah's hair, "Gabriel. Spill. Now."

"There's really nothing to tell," I say, but my voice gives me away.

"Liar," Sarah says. "You've been fidgeting since we got here, and you keep touching your forehead."

Shit. I hadn't realized I was doing that.

"He just... said hi," I say weakly.

"And?" Kylie prompts, sectioning off another piece of Sarah's hair.

"And he knew my name."

"That's it?" Sarah asks, sounding disappointed.

I hesitate. "He... might have kissed my forehead before he left."

Both my friends go completely silent. Kylie drops the curling iron (thankfully not on Sarah's head), and Sarah's mouth falls open.

"HE WHAT?!" they both scream at the same time.

"It was nothing!" I say quickly. "Just a quick peck on the forehead. Friends do that, right?"

"Friends do not do that," Kylie says firmly, picking up the curling iron again. "Especially not Gabriel Preston. That boy doesn't touch anyone unless he's planning to f**k them."

"Kylie!" I gasp, my face burning.

"What? It's true. He's got a reputation for a reason." She continues working on Sarah's hair like she didn't just drop a bomb. "The fact that he touched you at all is huge."

"But it was just my forehead," I protest.

"Doesn't matter," Sarah says. "Intimate touches like that mean something."

"You guys are reading way too much into this," I say, but my heart's racing just thinking about it.

"Are we?" Kylie asks with a knowing look. "Because you look like you're about to hyperventilate just talking about it."

She's not wrong. My palms are sweating, and I can feel that familiar heat pooling in my stomach just from remembering the way Gabriel looked at me.

"Okay, your turn," Kylie says, finishing Sarah's hair and pointing at the chair. "Sit."

For the next hour, Kylie works her magic on my hair and makeup while Sarah paints her nails. They keep peppering me with questions about Gabriel, and I find myself admitting more than I planned.

"He smelled really good," I confess as Kylie applies my lipstick.

"What did he smell like?" Sarah asks, leaning forward with interest.

"Like... sweat and cologne and something else I can't identify. But it made me want to..." I trail off, realizing what I was about to say.

"Want to what?" Kylie prompts with a grin.

"Nothing," I mumble.

"Want to lick him?" Sarah suggests, and I nearly choke.

"Sarah!"

"I'm right, aren't I?" she laughs. "Oh my god, you wanted to lick the sweat off his body."

"I hate you both so much," I groan, but I can't deny it.

"This is amazing," Kylie says, stepping back to admire her work. "You look absolutely stunning. If Gabriel doesn't lose his mind when he sees you, he's blind."

I turn to look in the mirror and barely recognize myself. Kylie's worked some kind of magic—my eyes look bigger and more dramatic, my lips are the perfect shade of pink, and my hair falls in soft waves around my shoulders.

"Holy s**t," I breathe.

"Right?" Kylie grins. "Now let's go make some poor boys suffer."

"Speaking of suffering boys," Sarah says, applying a final coat of nail polish, "what's the plan for tonight?"

"What plan?" I ask suspiciously.

"The plan to get you and Gabriel together, obviously," Kylie says like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"There is no plan," I say firmly. "I'm here to have fun with my friends, not chase after some guy who probably doesn't even remember my name."

"Oh, he remembers," Sarah says with a knowing look. "Trust me on that one."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because," Kylie says, putting the finishing touches on her own makeup, "guys like Gabriel don't just randomly kiss girls on the forehead. That was a claiming move."

"A what now?"

"A claiming move," Sarah explains. "It's like... marking territory. He was letting every other guy know that you're off limits."

"That's ridiculous," I protest, but my heart's doing this weird fluttery thing in my chest.

"Is it?" Kylie asks. "Think about it. Gabriel's got girls throwing themselves at him constantly. He could have any girl in school. So why would he single you out?"

"Maybe he was just being nice?"

Both my friends burst into laughter.

"Gabriel Preston doesn't do 'nice,'" Sarah says between giggles. "He does hot, possessive, and alpha. That's it."

"You guys are insane," I say, but I can't shake the feeling that maybe they're right. Maybe there was something more to that kiss than I thought.

As we grab our purses and head for the door, I can't help but wonder what Gabriel's reaction will be when he sees me tonight. Part of me is terrified, but a bigger part of me can't wait to find out.

"Ready to party?" Sarah asks as we pile into her car.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I say, but my stomach's full of butterflies.

Tonight is going to change everything. I can feel it.