Here in Heaven

Chapter 10

It took every ounce of willpower in Roman’s body to stop himself from shifting right there on the dance floor. The moment their mate disappeared, Riff went completely feral. He was growling and trying to claw his way to the surface. Roman felt his canines elongating as he rushed off the dance floor. Not knowing where else to go, he headed for the bathroom.

Pulling up the plug on the sink, Roman filled it with the coldest water possible. Then he dunked his face into the water, holding it there until he had no choice but to come up for a gulp of air. His mask was discarded on the countertop and he could only hope that the other party guests coming in and out of the bathroom didn’t recognize him. As he was twice most of their size. And aggressively drowning himself in the sink, most of them were at least giving him a wide berth. He snatched his mask up and headed into the closest stall. Roman forced himself to take long deep breaths. He willed his body to relax. This wasn’t easy, considering his wolf was pacing circles in his head with his hackles up.

Mate mate mate mate… We have to find mate. We have to find her right now. Where is mate?

“We aren’t going to find anyone if you get me killed in the middle of this party!,” Roman hissed. He didn’t speak out loud. But inside his head, to his nutcase of a wolf. “The whole place is full of warlocks! RIFF! You’ve got to calm down. We’re going to find her.” Riff kept up his bullshit for a few more minutes. But finally the animal realized he wasn’t going to find anything that wasn’t inside this bathroom stall if he didn’t knock off his incessant ranting and pacing.

OKAY! I’ll stop. Let’s go find mate!

Roman warned his wolf again, this time threatening to leave the party without his mate if Riff tried to force to the surface again. Roman was bluffing. And since they shared one mind, Riff knew it. But he did finally calm himself down enough that Roman felt safe to leave the bathroom and go in search of his beloved.

The hallway to the bathroom was partitioned off from the main party area. A temporary wall was erected. Solid on the bottom and partially see through on top, with cut out sections that looked like stars. Roman peeked through, hoping to catch a whiff or a glimpse of the woman so he would at least know which direction to go before he re-entered the thick of the party. Her smell was stronger than he expected and he moved along the wall, trying to spot her. She had to be close.

Finally, Roman turned. Outside the entrance to the women’s bathroom was the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes on. She was voluptuous and the fitted bodice of her dress put all her curves on display. Her flesh was creamy and pale. And her long black hair fell down over her shoulders in waves. She was wearing a party mask that disguised the top half of her face. But he could see her full lips and her gray blue eyes glinting in the dim lighting of the passageway. Roman breathed in her scent, getting a better sense of it now. She smelled of chocolate and fresh brewed coffee. But there was an undertone of something more tangy. Almost acidic. His eyes widened. His mate was not a pure wolf. She was a hybrid. Part wolf, part witch. And from the smell of her, she was a powerful witch. He never even realized that female witches had powers. He only ever heard about the warlocks. While female wolves fought alongside their mates, witches did not.

Roman didn’t even realize he was advancing on the girl until he had her in his arms. She was breathing hard. Her body was tense. And her heart was beating a mile a minute. Riff whined inside him. His mate was frightened of him. Roman gently caressed her hair, running his hands down her arms to feel the tingles of their bond before wrapping his arms around her waist. He lowered his head, letting his nose graze the cords of her neck as he breathed in her scent.

“Mine,” he whispered. Though the mutt promised he wouldn’t, Riff began pushing forward. Roman’s teeth elongated again as his wolf urged him to follow his most primal instincts and mark his mate. Right here. Right now. Roman forced his head back, reminding his wolf that their mate had not accepted them yet. And that she seemed quite nervous. He didn’t want to mark her against her will. Or scare her more than he already did. As she was only half wolf, there was a chance she didn’t even know what a fated mate was. When Roman pulled back, he could see that his mate’s gray blue eyes had gone black.

“Back off!,” she ordered, “...you’re scaring my human.”

Roman backed off immediately. He couldn’t bring himself to completely break physical contact with his mate. So he grasped her hand and held it between his as he stepped slightly back and away from her. He could hear Riff whining louder in his head. He wanted to be closer to their mate. His mate’s eyes flashed back to their normal color. Then they started glowing. They were purple, a color of magic he had never seen before. Roman felt a surge of energy pass through from her hands to his. He didn’t know much about magic, other than how to defend himself from it, but whatever his mate was doing to him felt amazing. The tingle of their mate bond combined with her power felt like it was filling his body with energy. Almost like the surge he got when he was working out hard training or sparring. But without the physical effort. Riff could also feel the effects and he was suddenly rolling around on his back, baring his stomach to this girl like he was a puppy instead of a fearsome alpha wolf.

“Wow,” Roman whispered, “...what was that?”

“Were my eyes glowing again?,” she whispered. Roman nodded. “I think we better go somewhere more private.” Roman nodded again, eager to be alone with his mate. A drunken man stumbled out of the men’s bathroom and was shuffling in their direction. Julianna gave the man a concerned glance before she grabbed Roman’s hand and led him down the hall. The wall stopped near where the small private alcoves were. Juliainna peeked inside the first one, sighing in relief when she found it was unoccupied. She pulled Roman inside with her, snatching the curtains closed behind them.

The moment they were alone with the curtains drawn, the man had his arms around her again. He moved so fast, it shocked her. It was almost like he stopped time, although his eyes weren’t glowing with magic when he did it. He’s not using magic, he’s using his wolf speed. Wolf speed? Julianna didn’t know wolves were fast. All her father ever said about them was that they were foul troublesome creatures that were more animal than human. But the man staring down into her eyes through his party mask didn’t look like an animal. He looked like a dream. Literally. Just like the man she had been seeing in her dreams. Tall with long tousled blonde hair and broad shoulders. He was absolute perfection. And he smelled even better than he looked. He smelled like a freshly picked apple after a summer rain storm. But better. The only way Julianna could describe it was that he smelled like home. Not her home. But the home she was always meant to have.

Everywhere his skin was touching hers, Julianna could feel a tingling sensation. Almost like an itch. But instead of scratching it was making her want to grind her body against his. Mate! We feel that because he’s our mate! Julianna still wasn’t quite used to having a second voice in her head. But she was glad that someone inside her seemed to know just what in the actual hell was going on. Because she had no idea.

“Please,” he murmured, running his finger down the line of her jaw. He cupped her face in his hand, his thumb caressing across her lips. “Can I kiss you?” Julianna hesitated for a moment, ignoring the voice inside her head that was screaming and howling for her to say yes. Then she nodded. If she spoke, she wasn’t sure which voice was going to come out of her. Her own, or the horny dog in heat that was suddenly occupying far too much space inside her head.

He moved slowly, giving her time to pull back if she changed her mind. Julianna thought it was exciting when Lance kissed her upstairs in the alcove. But it was nothing compared to what this man’s lips felt like against hers. Just the brush of his mouth on hers set her entire body on fire. He pulled her body against his, deepening their kiss. When he pulled back for a breath, Julianna leaned into him. She tucked her nose into the crook of his neck and breathed in the delicious smell of him. There was one spot on his neck that smelled better than the rest. The skin there felt softer. And she had the sudden weird urge to bite him there. Hard. Suddenly, she felt a lot more teeth in her mouth than she started the night out with. Julianna jerked back and lifted her hand, feeling her elongated incisors.

“Am I part vampire now too?,” she grumbled. The man laughed and kissed her on the mouth again, unconcerned with the fangs that had suddenly sprouted there.

“Those are your canines,” he told her.

“How do I turn them back to normal?,” she asked. He laughed again. His laugh was low and throaty. Almost musical. Julianna felt like she could listen to the sound of it all day.

“When you calm down, they’ll retract,” he assured her. He smiled at her as he ran his hands down over her long silky hair. “You haven’t had your first shift yet?,” he asked.

“First shift?,” she asked. “I don’t even have a job.”

He means the first shift into a wolf doofus!

“Well how was I supposed to know that?,” Julianna lamented. The man laughed again. Her eyes were clouded over so he could tell his mate was talking to her wolf. And if she didn’t know what a first shift was, he guessed he had his answer. She hadn’t shifted yet. He was surprised that her wolf was able to push out the way she did before the first shift. It usually took that to cement the bond. He knew his mate must have a powerful wolf. This excited Roman. And Riff. Roman still would have accepted her whole-heartedly no matter what. But he knew he was blessed to get such a powerful and unique mate.

I told you Rose was nothing compared to our real mate!

Yeah you sure did, Roman thought. His mate was still in his arms. And he was dangerously close to losing control and taking her on the loveseat while the warlock party continued only a few feet away. Thoughts of Rose brought to mind the arrangements Roman made for her. An entire room full of flowers and candles. Romantic music. Surely, his real mate deserved those things. Not to be humped like a dog with only a thin curtain separating them from a room full of strangers.

“Would you like to go back to the party?,” he asked. She smiled and nodded gratefully. Roman took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. He wrapped an arm around her, swaying gently to the rhythm of the music. There were people all around them. But he only had eyes for her. If he wasn’t so distracted, he would have seen the angry eyes that were fixed on him from the staircase above.

“I’m going to tear that f*****g mutt apart!,” Trevor cursed. His eyes were already glowing red as he began descending the staircase. He made it halfway down before his uncle grabbed him and drug him back up the steps.

“What in hell do you think you’re doing?,” the man hissed into his face. “You’re going to start a fight? Here? In my house? In the middle of your cousin’s party?” When they hit the top of the stairs, Daniel shoved his nephew against the wall using much more force than was necessary. “Do you know how many coven leaders and council associates and f*****g vampire clans are here? You would make a mockery of me in front of these people? Have you lost your f*****g mind, Trevor?”

“That mutt is down there!,” Trevor hissed back. “Gannon Goldbourne’s f*****g son. He’s dancing with Julianna. He has his filthy hands all over her! Those wolves are the ones making a mockery of you. They’re making us all look like fools!”

Daniel sighed. He wasn’t overjoyed when he noticed that a small group of wolves crashed his daughter’s party. But he watched them closely for a while. And they weren’t doing anything but enjoying the party. They weren’t fighting. And other than eating five slices of birthday cake each, they were behaving respectfully in his home. This was not a problem that needed to be dealt with this very moment.

“We’ll deal with the wolves later! Now go down there and get Julianna. And do not make a scene or I swear you’ll be the one I deal with later and not those mutts,” Daniel ordered. He released Trevor, straightening out his jacket before he pointed the young man down the stairs.

Julianna was staring up at her dance partner with stars in her eyes. He was not only the best smelling and best looking man she ever saw, he was the best dancer too. Well, maybe his dancing was just ok. But she would still rather dance with him than anyone else. An urgent tap on her shoulder snapped her out of the little bubble she was currently living in. She turned to see her cousin Trevor. And she could tell by the look on his face that he was upset.

“Trevor, are you okay?,” she asked.

“Your dad wants to talk to you,” he said, not explaining further before he grasped her by the hand and began pulling her through the crowd. Julianna gushed a quick apology to a woman that she knocked into. She yanked the mask off her face so she could see where Trevor was dragging her. He was acting strange. And Julianna was starting to get scared. She was worried her father might have somehow found out about the little trick Lance pulled with her necklace. And while it wasn’t her fault, her father was sure to blame her for it.

“What the hell were you dancing with him for?,” Trevor asked, looking at her like she lost her mind. Julianna looked down over the crowd from her new vantage point on the staircase. She spotted the man she was looking for instantly. He stood head and shoulders above the crowd, staring up at her with his mask off. She felt her heart pull and she was seriously considering yanking away from her cousin and running back down the steps to him. That’s certainly what the voice in her head was encouraging her to do. But Trevor’s words held her in place. “Don’t you know who that is?”

“What do you mean?,” Julinana asked, “...who is he?” She knew the man was a werewolf. And she assumed that was why Trevor was upset. He hated wolves. Almost as much as her father hated them. But this seemed like something more.

“That’s Roman Goldbourne,” Trevor hissed. “Gannon Goldbourne’s son and heir to the Gold Mountain Pack. Our worst enemies.” Julianna felt her stomach bottom out. Her eyes widened. The man of her dreams was Roman Goldbourne. This couldn’t be happening.

Roman was so entranced with his mate that he didn’t see the man coming. One moment he was dancing. The next Trevor Black was standing a foot away from him, talking to his mate. And in an even stranger twist of circumstances, his mate seemed to be familiar with the man. She let him whisk her away without complaint. A small growl slipped out. Roman took his mask off, following her movements with his eyes. She and Trevor stopped halfway up the staircase. Her mask was finally off. And she was as beautiful as Roman knew she would be.

“We’ve been made,” Mikey urged, pulling on Roman’s arm. “We got to go man, I don’t want to fight Trevor Black in the middle of his uncle’s house.” Roman nodded. But he didn’t move.

“I found my mate,” he whispered. Mikey clapped him on the back.

“Where is she?,” Mikey asked. “Get her and let's get gone.” Roman pointed up the stairs. Mikey followed the gesture with his eyes.

“Who?,” he asked. “There’s no one up there except…” Mikey glanced at Roman and then back up the stairs, his face going pale beneath his summer tan. “She can’t be your mate. There’s no way. Don’t you know who that is?”

“Who?,” Roman asked, the panic rising in his voice. “Who is she?”

“What do you mean who is that? That’s the birthday girl. This is her house. This is her party,” Mikey said. “That’s Julianna Darko.”