Unexpectedly Mated

11

“Nicole?”

“Hi sis!” Nic felt awful calling her sister from the airport but she was dying to see her. That they’d stay in the same hotel Letty worked at made things that much easier for her. Sadness, along with annoyance that she’d allowed her mother and step-father keep her away from her sister, filled her. She needed to stop letting them piss her off. Misery wormed its way into her heart. It had been so long since she’d spent time with her sister. She was tired of arguments with her mother about the way she chose to live her life.

“Are you here yet?” Letty’s said breathlessly. “Sorry, lugging a box to one of the storage rooms and trying to hold a phone to my ear isn’t working well right now.”

“We’ll be there soon, but you’re sure you can make time?” She bit her lip and followed behind the group of shifters and friends, along with Kel, Karla’s brother who decided to join them, and Shaari who was their personal enforcer guard.

The moment they exited the airport, the heat slapped her in the face full force. It overpowered with its dryness. She squinted and brought her sunglasses down from the top of her head. Beads of perspiration crawled down her back. She needed a shower as soon as possible. Hopefully her room had a massive soaking tub she could lay in for hours and just relax.

“I’m fine! I am dying to see you. We haven’t hung out since last summer and that was only for a weekend,” Letty said, more shuffling noises coming from across the line. “Call me once you get here. I missed you, sis.”

“I will. I missed you too,” she mumbled and ended the call. Guilt tore holes in her chest. She’d never do that again. It wasn’t Letty’s fault that their mother was a blood sucking leech.

A large black Cadillac limo waited for them by the curb. The words SAU and decals with claw marks covered each of the doors.

“You ladies ready for some fun?” Kel asked, his gaze not once leaving Shaari. Something was going on between those two, but by the way Shaari ignored him, it seemed he had a tough road ahead.

“I’m ready for a drink and a pool,” Jordan said, fanning herself. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this place was the equivalent of hell on earth with all this heat?”

“Oh yeah, this is the reason I hate coming to Vegas,” Emma murmured. “I knew there was reason, I just couldn’t remember what it was. The infernal heat.”

“Is it just me or does anyone else feel like their sandals are melting into the sidewalk?” Ellie glanced down at her feet and wigged her toes. Her bright pink nail polish contrasted against her pale skin.

The drivers held doors open for them to hop right into the limo. Cool air filled the inside and killed off some of the exasperating heat.

“It’s a definite. We’ll have to make sure we never leave air conditioning if we don’t want to burn to ash,” Jordan hissed, popping open her bottle of water and taking a gulp.

“I thought vamps were the ones that had to worry about turning to ash,” Nic said, pushing her wet bangs away from her sticky forehead. She’d left without saying a word to Jake and it annoyed her that he never bothered to call her. His single text message from that morning had annoyed her even further. ‘Don’t get married.’ Obviously the others were wrong. He loved the single life and he wasn’t giving it up.

And maybe if she figured out what the hell she wanted, she could demand from him some kind of either s****l or emotional commitment instead of having herself and him in limbo. She had given herself a migraine thinking so damn hard.

The drive through the desert to the hotels wasn’t long. Nic was used to visiting her family there once she left home. For years her mother refused to forgive her for giving up modeling. She’d made a lot of money and her mother couldn’t understand why she didn’t want the constant spotlight.

“We finally get to meet Letty!” Ellie cheered.

It seemed just leaving Blue Creek had done wonders for Ellie and Jordan. There was much more life and enthusiasm in both of them.

“Yeah. She looks a lot like me, which is weird since we have different fathers, but I guess it’s because we sort of take after mom.” Nic winced. “At least in looks alone. Personalities? Not even a little.”

“Isn’t your mother on like every charity board there is?” Barbara glanced down at her cell phone, typing furiously fast with her thumbs.

She sure was. Anything that would get Dina exposure to others in high society meant she wanted to be a part of it. Dina was lucky Nic’s dad had worked hard and had a massive bank account, along with life insurance to his name, before he passed. It really was the only way her mother had been able to spend the past twenty five years without having to work or lift a finger other than to tell her staff what she wanted.

“Yeah. Everything that revolves around making her seem like she’s at the top of society, she’s there.” Nic hated that her mother was so superficial. So obsessed with making herself and her family appear so materialistic. Even with all those charities, Dina’s ultimate goal in life was to fit in with the who’s who of the west coast.

When they arrived at the beautiful all glass SAU Hotel, Nic’s brows flew upward. The hotel was massive. It easily rivaled one of the larger strip hotels like the Bellagio or Caesar’s Palace.

The lobby, all glass with stainless steel along with some columns thrown in, created an atmosphere of modern and antique that blended beautifully. A giant bear, wolf and cat marble fountain sat in the center of the open space. Their big domineering stances showed off the danger as well as the power in the shifter community.