Mated, But Not Marked

Chapter Six: Trouble

The ride to our first stop was a hidden speakeasy bar in downtown Chicago. There was a mix of humans and werewolves alike, not that the humans would know any different. I insisted on taking a different taxi from Kaden and his Beta, much to Clara’s dismay, but I couldn’t risk being in an enclosed space with Kaden’s intoxicating scent. It was hard enough trying not to look at him, but if I stayed that close in proximity to him, I was certain to lose control.

Once we got to the hidden speakeasy, I made my way to the bar to order Clara and I some drinks and get the night started. The speakeasy had dim lights and smoke mixed through the air, almost reminding me of a burlesque club.

While I waited for my order, I noticed the eyes of a man I immediately could tell was a wolf, looking at me with a stare that made me fidget in discomfort. I shifted my body away from him to try to pretend like I hadn’t noticed, but he started making his way towards me. For some reason, my warning bells were going off that this guy was trouble.

“Hey there, beautiful. Can I buy you a drink?”, the strange man purred as he stalked towards me like he was admiring his prey. His voice sounded off to me, like he was putting on an act to appear charming.

“Sorry, but no, I already have one. Thanks.” I dismissed him curtly and turned away from him and my drinks, looking in the direction of Clara and the group in our corner booth. Aaron had already gotten bottle service for the group and Clara was taking shot after shot with him giggling all the way as he caressed her cheek with hidden promises for what the night would entail for them. I was happy she was enjoying herself, as long as she was responsible.

I also looked at Kaden. He was seated in the furthest corner of the booth arms spread out and resting on the corners on top, silently staring at me. I could see him clenching his drink and his gaze hardening as he watched me and the man next to me.

“My name is Aros. Are you with someone tonight?” I didn’t respond as I continued to look at Kaden’s reaction. Aros continued, “Hmm, so sad. A beautiful girl like you looking so lonely. You seem like you could use a little fun.” The wolf interrupted mine and Kaden’s trance, trying to regain my attention.

“Yes, I am actually with someone here.” I lied. “And I’m with my friends tonight, so if you’ll excuse me—“ I started to turn away to grab our drinks and go, but Aros abruptly grabbed my wrist to stop me and squeezed tightly.

I looked up at him with surprise, but then quickly switched to anger. I’m about to rip that smirk off his face, Myla. If you don’t handle him, I’m taking over. Arayla warned in my head with a growl.

Arayla, I’ve got this, don’t worry.

Aros paid no attention to my obvious aggravated state. “I’d love to show you a good time tonight. Trust me, we would have a lot of fun, I promise to make it worth your while.” He winked and squeezed my wrist tighter like it was a promise for more to come. He tried to flash me a genuine smile, but I could see a predatory look underneath.

When I remained silent, he continued on. “Here, have some of your drink and see how you feel after that…” I looked at him when his voice started to trail off as his eyes started to widen in fear.

I thrust my hand away in disgust, ready to put this asshole in his place, when in a flash, I was quickly pulled into the chest of someone else. Sparks immediately tingled throughout my entire body. I gasped as the most delicious scent filled my lungs. Kaden’s body almost jolted in surprise from the feeling of it as well.

“Get the f**k away from her. She’s with us.” Kaden growled threateningly, placing me behind him in a protective stance. His dangerous aura was slowly releasing and the people next to us were starting to feel it, including the humans, even though they couldn’t understand what it actually was.

“Alph-Alpha Kaa-dden, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she was with you and your group...” He muttered almost incoherently. He started to back away from us when Kaden’s gamma Andris appeared behind Aros, stopping him from moving any further.

Kaden ignored him. “I’ll ask you only once. What the f**k did you put in her drink?” He said so low and calm, but I could feel the fury underneath it.

I looked up at Kaden in surprise. I hadn’t noticed Aros doing anything to my drink. When Aros remained silent, Kaden picked up my drink, which thankfully I hadn’t sipped yet, and hovered over it to sniff it. His eyes went black with recognition.

“Gamma, please personally escort him to our underground cells. Aros”, he practically spat his name out in distaste, “and I will be spending some quality time together. Won’t we?”

Aros stared at Kaden in complete horror. Andris discretely and quickly injected Aros with a needle, probably filled with wolfsbane and a sedative, and took him out of the bar with two other pack members.

It took me a moment to process what just happened. I’ve never seen Kaden look more dangerous than he did now. Oddly, it didn’t scare me.

He saw me staring and tried to calm himself down. “You alright?” He asked, concern momentarily crossing his face.

“I think so. What did he put in my drink?”

His eyes got even darker. “It’s a party drug that r****** like him use on unknowing she-wolves. It has wolfsbane in it to prevent you from shifting to protect yourself, but also gives you partial paralysis and memory loss so that you can’t control what is happening or even remember what happened after.” He explained calmly, even though I could tell he was anything but calm.

I shuddered to even wonder what would’ve happened to me if I had ingested the drug. Part of me was scared, and the other part of me was ready to kill. I wanted to rip Aros apart piece by piece for trying to do that to me and for any of she-wolf he did that to.

“Thank you for your help, but I can take it from here.I want to go to him and handle this myself. He shouldn’t be allowed to live for doing that to she-wolves. What if he tries that again to someone else?” My body started to shake in anger. Arayla wanted his blood and I was fighting her to remain in control of myself. I saw my reflection in the mirror behind the bar and saw my irises started to turn into Arayla’s distinct magenta color. I started to stand up to follow Andris and Aros, but Kaden stopped me.

“Concerned for other she-wolves, but not for yourself? Hmmm. Regardless, you will not go anywhere near that disgrace of a wolf. I won’t allow it. He will be handled by myself and my men accordingly. Don’t worry, he will get everything deserves, very slowly. And you, Myla”, he paused as if relishing in saying my name, “you need to be more careful and alert with your surroundings. I can’t be there to protect you. I can’t be there at all.”

My body shivered in pleasure at the sound of him saying my name, even Arayla was purring inside my head. But immediately, I registered hurt when he implied the thing I knew in my heart to be true. He couldn’t be there for me. He didn’t plan on being around to protect me.

“Let’s go back to the others. We don’t want them finding out what happened. I’ll get you another drink” Kaden stated while I wallowed in my thoughts. He guided the small of my back to direct me back to the group and then left to get the drinks, leaving soft tingling sensations down my body where his hand was.

“Myla, finish your drink before we go. One of Aaron and Kaden’s drivers will bring us to Eclipse.” Clara barely noticed my absence and wasn’t even aware that I had yet to grab our first drinks. At that moment, she only had eyes for Aaron and she was eager to make her his for the night.

Kaden returned with mine & Clara’s drinks in hand and set them on the table. The previous look of concern on Kaden’s face, was now masked completely as he acted unaffected by my presence. He quickly finished two shots of whiskey from the table and informed us that he linked his driver to be ready for us downstairs.

It was at that moment that I realized that tomorrow I would need to go back to my regular life without my fated mate and return to all my responsibilities, obligations, and to Evan. I would need to go back as though nothing changed. I would feel the heart crushing blow of rejection from my true mate, and I would need to act like everything was fine.

Tomorrow, I would go back to being the future Luna of a pack. But tonight, I could just be Myla.

I quickly chugged my drink and had half of Clara’s before standing up and leaving to go to the car. Clara raised an eyebrow and started laughing since she knew how low of a tolerance I had for alcohol, especially for a wolf. The black tinted SUV was waiting outside and I eagerly climbed in, freedom waiting for me, even if it was just for a night.