Here in Heaven

Chapter 11

Roman’s mind was a swirl of conflicting emotions as his cousin walked him forcefully out the door of the Midnight Shadow mansion. Mikey had a firm grip on his arm and he kept him moving all the way to his open top jeep, opening the door and shoving Roman into the passenger seat. Marcus, Jose and Drew crowded into the backseat together, laughing as they tossed their masquerade masks and assorted party favors out onto the ground.

Mikey slammed them against each other as he gassed it out of their parking spot. Then he jammed down on the gas pedal, leaving tire marks across the Coven’s pristine cobblestone driveway. He glanced nervously at Roman as they slowed down, approaching the main property gate. There was a man sitting in the little booth near the end of the drive. But the gate itself was open to let the party guests enter and leave at their leisure. There was a small line of cars. But they were just waiting for traffic to clear so they could pull out onto the main road. Mikey knew he only had to make it a little further and his cousin would be safely off the Coven’s main property. Once he had Roman home safe, then they could start making an attempt to figure out what to do about his warlock princess mate.

Roman’s eyes were clouded over, his full attention going to the conversation he was having with his wolf. He paid no attention to the rowdy behavior of his friends in the backseat of the car, even though Drew was booting his feet into the back of Roman’s seat, rocking his body around. The cars in front of them slowly cleared. And Mikey breathed a small sigh of relief when he pulled through the tall iron gates and prepared to pull out onto the road. The dash lights dinged. And the footboard lights came on as the passenger door swung open. Mikey leaned to his right, making a desperate grab for Roman to try and keep him inside the car. But it was too late. Roman ducked out of the car, using his wolf speed to propel himself back down the driveway towards the mansion.

“OH s**t!,” Marcus hollered.

“Should we go after him?,” Jose asked, twisting in his seat to try and see where Roman went.

“No one else get out of this car!,” Mikey ordered, using the power of his position as the son of the beta to compel at least Jose and Drew to keep their asses in the car. Having Roman running loose on Midnight Shadow territory was bad enough. If all of them took off, it would only make things worse. Mikey hit the gas and sent the car careening wildly out onto the road.

“What the hell is going on?,” Drew asked, trying to make some sense of the situation.

“Roman found his mate,” Mikey explained, driving as fast as he dared back towards wolf territory. The last thing they needed after what was already going on was to attract the attention of human law enforcement.

“Why didn’t he bring her with us?,” Drew asked. That would have been the logical thing to do. Even if she was human, she would still be allowed at the packhouse if she was Roman’s mate.

“He couldn’t bring her with us,” Mikey hollered. “Because his mate is Julianna Darko!”

There was a moment of silence as the three partially drunk shifters let this information sink into their alcohol fogged minds. And then the entire backseat erupted into total chaos. Marcus started bear growling and hollering for Mikey to turn the car around and go back. Jose was screaming that Roman’s dad was going to kill all of them. And Drew exploded into hysterical barking laughter.

Roman ducked into a small crop of neatly trimmed bushes, trying not to tear up the landscaping too much. He watched to make sure Mikey kept driving, taking himself and his friends back to Gold Mountain.

“We should’ve stayed in the car,” Roman huffed, trying to slow his breathing down.

Mate! We can’t leave our mate! Go find her! RIGHT NOW!

“Calm down,” Roman pleaded. He’d never had so much trouble controlling his wolf before. They were always totally in sync. But suddenly Riff was acting like he’d gone completely feral. “If we shift here, these haints will kill us!” Roman cringed a little at his use of the offensive slur. His own mate was a warlock princess. So he figured he should probably stop insulting them as a whole. “I got out of the car. I promise we’ll find her. Just calm down!”

Roman flopped down on his ass in the bushes, breathing a sigh of relief when his canines finally retracted and he felt Riff back down. Roman could still feel the animal pacing nervously in his mind. But at least he stopped fighting him for control over their body. For now. Roman raked his hands through his shaggy blonde hair. He took a few more deep breaths before he rose to his feet and carefully extricated himself from the bushes he was hiding in. Inside the mansion, the party was slowly winding down. But there were still enough people milling around inside and around the outside of the door that the security probably wasn’t going to notice him.

He headed towards the rear of the mansion, away from the front door. He had to climb a fence. And duck under some low hanging trees. But he managed to make it behind the large opulent house without too much trouble. Roman looked around, noting the differences between the Coven property and his own packhouse. Everything here was perfectly manicured. The flowers were in neat little carefully planned and controlled gardens. The grass was lush and green and well trimmed. It looked like something from a magazine. Like space that no one used or enjoyed. At home, the grass was always half trampled from the amount of people that were always coming and going. His mother had a hard time keeping the pups out of her gardens. And even at this time of night, there were often people gathering in the large outdoor kitchen or swimming in their giant pool. It wasn’t uncommon to see people dashing through in wolf form, chasing each other or any wildlife that made the unfortunate decision of wandering too close to the packhouse. The sort of manicured landscaping that Roman saw outside the Coven mansion wouldn’t last a day without being trampled or rumpled in some way. And Roman wondered if anyone ever actually used or enjoyed the area he was currently sneaking through.

Roman tried to stay out of the more well lit areas, sticking to the shadows as he sniffed the air for any sign of his mate. After he weaved his way through the rose garden, Roman finally caught a whiff of her delectable scent. He closed his eyes, breathing in her mocha deliciousness. And when he opened his eyes, he scanned the area, looking to see where her scent was coming from. It took him a moment to spot her up on the second story balcony. But when he did, the sight of her took his breath away.

Her long hair was twisted into one long braid that fell forward over her shoulder. She had changed out of her fancy ball gown. And was now wearing a long black silk nightgown. It was low cut enough that even from his low vantage point, he could see the cleft between her ample breasts. She lifted her hand, toying with the pendant that hung from her neck on a delicate silver chain. Roman was about to step out of the shadows and reveal himself when a knock on her bedroom door pulled Julianna away from the balcony railing. A moment later, a man appeared. He joined her on the balcony, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Mine!

Roman shook his head. He didn’t like the sight of another man touching his mate any more than his wolf did. But this man wasn’t a rival for her affections. He was her cousin, Trevor Black.

“I’m sorry,” Trevor told her. “I didn’t mean to upset you or ruin your party.” Julianna smiled at him, nearly melting Roman’s heart on the spot. She was the most gorgeous creature he’d ever laid his eyes on. But when she smiled, it took his breath away.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” she assured him. “I know you were just looking out for me.” Julianna wrapped her arms around her cousin. And he hugged her back, holding her tight.

“I don’t want you to worry about those filthy wolves,” Trevor said. “I’m going to make sure they never bother you, or any of us, ever again.”

“Trevor,” she pleaded, “...please don’t start any more trouble. Just let it go. Who cares if they crashed my party. I’m sure lots of people came that weren’t invited.”

“They started the trouble,” Trevor hissed. “I’m just going to finish it.”

With that, the man ducked back into the house. Roman heard a door open and shut. And Julianna let out a long heavy sigh. She lifted the pendant around her neck, rubbing her fingers over the smooth surface of the stone a few times before she lifted the necklace and pulled it over her head.

Get rid of that thing, it's horrible.

Roman heard her speaking. But her voice sounded different. He quickly realized it was not Julianna talking, but her wolf. Her blue eyes flashed a vibrant purple. And then they turned black. She turned towards his hiding place, sniffing at the air.

Mine.

Roman smiled. His mate knew his scent. He wasn’t sure if she would remember it. She was only half wolf and they were in the middle of a crowded party when she scented him. He moved slowly, not wanting to startle her as he stepped out into view. When she saw him, Julianna let out a low rumbling growl. Then her eyes flashed back to their regular gray blue.

“Roman!,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”