Between Two Worlds

Chapter 10 Happy Birthday, Anita

Jake

The party was already in full swing by the time Duke, Samuel and I arrived. Music was blaring from a dj booth set up on the deck, and groups of our friends were scattered across Anita’s yard drinking and dancing.

“This she-wolf sure knows how to throw a party!” shouts Samuel, scanning the yard for the girls.

“Jakey!” squeals a very excited Anita waving to get our attention from the other side of the yard.

“You better go to your lover, Jakey,” Duke says mockingly. My eyes flicker black momentarily, my wolf surprisingly annoyed by Duke referring to Anita as my lover. But he quickly retreats to the back of my mind before I can question his mood. I punch Duke lightly on the arm before making my way to Anita’s side.

“Hey, babe” I greet her as I quickly peck her on the lips, seeing out of the corner of my eye Samuel flinch at my PDA. “This party looks amazing.”

Anita wraps her arms around my neck. “It just got a whole lot better now that you are here.”

I nuzzle her neck as I ask “Are you excited for your first shift tonight?”

Anita shivers in response to my nuzzling, before looking at me lustfully. “I cannot wait to finally be bonded to you.”

Rather than respond with words, I kiss her lips hungrily. My wolf becomes restless at this action, I ignore him, moving my hands to Anita’s hips pulling her closer to me as I start exploring her mouth with my tongue.

“Get a room!” says a disgusted voice behind me. I break away from Anita to see Neve standing behind me making fake retching sounds, as Fleur and Samuel laugh at her overdramatic repulsion. My wolf wags his tail, amused by Neve’s joke.

“Oh, shut up. You’re just jealous because no one wants to kiss you,” I retort with a bit more malice than I intended. I think I see hurt momentarily flickers across Neve’s eyes and my wolf snaps at me for being so mean.

Samuel mind links me, take a breath, dude! We are meant to be acting normal, not picking fights.

I can’t help it, I snap back. This compulsion is hard to control.

Try harder! Urges Samuel.

Without missing a beat, oblivious to our silent conversation, Neve winks at me replying sassily “And how are you so certain I have not kissed anyone?”

My wolf growls angrily as images of Neve kissing another man enter my head. Seriously, dude? What the f**k? I hiss at my wolf in my head. I don’t want to see images of my beta's sister kissing a random guy, that is gross.

She’s not your sister, though. He growls back.

Close enough! I reply.

Not close at all he grumbles in response before retreating to the back of my mind again. I can see Samuel and Duke stiffen, sensing my simultaneous arousal and repulsion. This wolf needs to ease up. Anita will shift tonight at midnight, and the mate bond will be activated, finally easing some of this tension.

Neve POV

“Get a room!” I say disgust oozing from my words. Whoa! I scold myself. Why did you say that? I quickly start making fake retching sounds, to cover up my unexpected possessive outburst and make it appear like a joke.

“Oh, shut up. You’re just jealous because no one wants to kiss you,” Jake spits out pulling away from Anita.

Hurt momentarily flickers across my eyes, but I try to cover it by retorting “And how are you so certain I have not kissed anyone?”

Jake glares at me whilst Fleur and Anita laugh. Duke’s whole body becomes rigid, his wolf’s eyes flash showing his disapproval. And Samuel shuffles uncomfortably from foot to foot.

Shit! I forgot for a second Samuel was standing there, and my eyes become hot with angry tears as my mind drifts back to the day on the beach. Samuel’s nastiness still stung. I thought we were getting closer, but ever since the guys shifted things had changed.

“Are you coming to get a drink?” Fleur’s question cuts through my thoughts.

“Wha..? Oh yeah, sure” I nod as I follow Fleur and Duke into the kitchen.

I look back over my shoulder. Samuel is nowhere in sight, and Jake and Anita have resumed their make-out session. A strange knot forms in my gut witnessing their PDA. I shake my head to dismiss this odd wave of jealoust as I ascend the back stairs onto the deck, following Fleur and Duke into the kitchen.

***

Neve

I am leaning on the back railing watching Duke piggyback Fleur around the backyard. They have both hit the drinks hard tonight, and they are in unusually good spirits. By default, I have assumed the role of sober best friend to make sure they don’t hurt themselves.

“Go FASTER!” Fleur shrieks. “I want a new WOLF, this one is too slow!” Duke growls playfully and starts running faster. “Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Work it, baby!” Fleur cries gleefully as she slaps Duke’s ass.

As I chuckle at their antics, I feel someone lean on the railing next to me. Samuel is shaking his head and smiling. “They’re having a great time.” He says, motioning at Duke and Fleur who are now having a spinning contest to see who will fall over first.

“Yeah, looks like it,” I reply. “What about you? I’ve barely seen you all night.”

“I’m not really in the mood,” he mumbles.

“What’s up? Do you want to talk about it?” I am genuinely concerned, but I cannot stop my heart from skipping a beat. This is the most Samuel has spoken to me in weeks and he is being nice. The last time he spoke to me was on the beach when he told me to cover up. I winced at the memory.

“Nah, it is not worth discussing,” he dismissed me as he looked at his watch, and straightened up quickly looking slightly nervous all of a sudden. “It’s nearly midnight.”

***

Jake POV

Anita and I are sitting on the back steps, watching Duke and Fleur have a spinning competition.

“I am the spinning QUEEN!” Fleur declares as Duke falls on his back. She flops down beside him triumphantly.

I chuckle to myself as Anita checks the time on her phone.

“It’s almost time,” she tells me nervously. “Are you sure you don’t want to come shift with me?”

“Nah, I think it’s best I stay here and keep an eye on these two bozos,” I nod towards Duke and Fleur who are now trying to sing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, but they can't quite remember the words.

“Ok,” Anita responds, the disappointment evident in her voice. She kisses me on the cheek as she heads off towards the sand dunes.

About half an hour later, Anita returns her eyes glistening, on the verge of tears. Walking up to where I am now standing at the foot of the stairs she whispers quietly, “Not my mate.”

“No,” I respond apologetically. “Not your mate.” I wrap my arms around Anita’s shoulders, as she starts to sob.

Behind me, there is a loud growl. I am not surprised by it, but Anita stiffens and pulls away from me. Looking up onto the porch we see Samuel glaring at us both as he snarls, “MINE!”

Neve POV

“Whoa!” slurs Fleur, sitting up suddenly. “Plot twist!”

“Get me some popcorn, Fleur!” cries Duke, “this showdown is gonna be goooood!”

I am standing next to Samuel at the top of the stairs. My heart feels like it is being constricted as I hear Samuel claim Anita as his mate. This cannot be happening. I feel like I cannot breathe. Suddenly everything makes sense. Clearly, the boys have been grappling with the knowledge that Anita was Samuel’s mate, but they couldn’t say anything because it is against pack laws to reveal a mate bond to a werewolf who is under the age of 18.

Anita’s eyes are as round as saucers, as she moves towards Samuel like she is in a trance. Samuel slowly descends the stairs and cups her face between both his hands, staring into her eyes hungrily.

I feel my heart slowly breaking watching this intimate moment, as Jake stands off to the side running his hands through his hair awkwardly. I study his expression closely. This must be so hard for him, less than an hour ago Anita was his girlfriend, and now she was staring lustfully into Samuel’s eyes.

The trance is abruptly broken by the sound of retching. We all turn to see Fleur on all fours vomiting. She looks up at us weakly stating “Sorry, guys. I don’t feel so good” before another round of vomiting occurs.

I feel myself begin to gag, as I am a sympathetic vomiter and I crouch down putting my head between my knees. Jake and Samuel instinctively pick Fleur up and begin to carry her inside, followed by Anita instructing them to lay her on the couch whilst she fetched a bucket and water.

“Hey, guys!” I hear Duke call from his position on the grass. “Where did everyone go? It is awfully lonely here on the grass… Neve? I want to go home now!”

Sighing I move to Duke’s side and try unsuccessfully to lift him off the ground. “Weakling!” He taunts me.

“Watch your mouth, buddy, or I will leave you here for the night,” I warn him. Suddenly there is another pair of arms helping me lift Duke off the ground. I look over to see Jake pulling Duke’s other arm over his shoulder. “Thanks,” I smile appreciatively at him.

He just grunts in response, refusing to make eye contact.

Duke is oblivious to the cold silence between Jake and me as he rambles nonsense. “I love you guys!” he slurs happily, dragging his feet clumsily.

“We love you too, buddy,” Jake replies.

“Why can't the moon goddess bond all of us together and then we can all love each other?” Duke continues.

“Cos that would be an orgy, Duke, not a mate bond,” I respond.

Jake snort giggles at my reply and tries to look away, but I catch him staring at me.

The two-minute walk takes us ten minutes, but we finally arrive at our house. Duke stumbles through the front door mumbling “Night night, my fellow orgy men!!”

Jake shakes his head and looks at me. “You got it from here?”

His tone is flat, and I just nod in response. Jake turns to leave and I think f**k it before taking a step forward and opening my mouth. “Jake, why do you hate me?” my voice comes out shakily. He stops descending the stairs and turns around to face me. Me taking that step forward has resulted in us being at eye level and dangerously close. His green eyes look searchingly into mine. Ive never been this close to him before, his eyes are…

beautiful? Offers up a little voice in my head. Huh? Where did that come from?

Jake seems to be searching my eyes for what he wants to say. “I don’t hate you,” his voice is deeper than usual, sexier. His green eyes keep searching mine.

“Then why are you keeping me at arm's length? Have I done something to upset you?” He winces at the hurt evident in my questions.

“I don’t hate you,” he repeats again. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I just have to keep you at a distance.”

I feel anger rising in my blood. “Why do you have to keep me at a distance?”

“I just do!” He dismisses me, he too is becoming agitated, avoiding answering my questions in any detail.

“Answer me!!!!” I scream at him in frustration.

Jake suddenly grabs me roughly by the waist, pulling me closer to him. Jake's eyes darken as his wolf comes forward, his eyes searching mine. He brushes his lips gently against mine. I step away startled, eyes wide. I slowly raise my fingers to my lips, my heart is racing. Jake nervously rakes his fingers through his sandy blonde hair. Despite being in shock from the unexpected kiss, this action is very sexy to me.

He quickly apologises, “Neve, I am so sorry! I don’t know what came over me… I think it was my frustration over the whole Samuel/Anita mate bond.”

“Jake, I…”

I don’t get to finish my sentence, as he cuts me off. “I am really sorry, Neve. I have to go.” And just like that he shifts, shredding his clothes and runs off into the night.