Aa

Chapter 6. Cinnamon Chaser

I make my way out of the forest and walk onto the mix of gravel and grass that surrounds the lake.

Emilie is in our usual spot, perched on a large log in front of a roaring bonfire and next to her is Evan.

His auburn hair is loose, the waves cascading down onto his shoulders and I try to think of the last time I saw him with his hair down but it's been forever.

While I wasn't as close to Evan as I was Emilie, being that he was her brother and Asher's best friend, we had spent a lot of time together.

I approach where they're sitting and Evan gives me a knowing nod and half smile. He was the only person I knew who could relate to being rejected and now we were a club of two.

I sit down and Emilie immediately wraps her arms around me, pulling me into her. "I'm so happy you came."

I lean into her embrace, inhaling her comforting and familiar vanilla scent. "I'll let you know how happy I am that I came after a few drinks"

She lets out a small chuckle then immediately stands, shaking her empty cup. "I'll get you one while I get a refill."

As she walks away, Evan clears his throat and looks at me, the light of the fire enhancing the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. "I told Asher he was an asshole."

Before I can respond and tell him I wasn't quite in the mood to talk about Asher, Bryce sits down next to Evan and throws her pin straight brunette hair over her shoulder and looks at her long manicured nails."Maybe he just didn't think you'd be a good Luna, it doesn't make him an asshole."

Her statement was a gut punch. My feelings for Asher never had anything to do with him being a future Alpha and given that the chances of him being my mate were astronomical, I didn't put a whole lot of thought into being a future Luna but.. maybe he had.

"Well, the Moon Goddess obviously thought she would be, despite what anyone else thinks." I look up and Emilie was back with our drinks, pinning Bryce down with a glare. Bryce clicks her tongue, clearly lacking a rebuttal and stands to go back to her group.

For as long as I can remember, she has always had a thing for Asher and never liked me because I was close to him. Unfortunately for her, Asher won't get a second chance at another mate and she hasn't had her ceremony yet.

Emilie hands me my drink with a wink. Her fiery red hair was a good indicator of what's below the surface, her fierce personality one of many things I admire about her.

She sits back down next to me, stretching out her long sun-kissed legs before her sky blue eyes meet mine and I can see the excitement dancing in them, the kind that says she's up to something.

She leans in to whisper. "Have you seen our new arrival? Knox.. I believe his name is. Goddess have mercy on me, I think she may have created him herself."

I smirk into my cup and Evan suddenly stands. "I'm not sure you're capable of whispering because I heard all of that."

She looks at her brother and starts motioning chef kisses over and over. "Perfection. You'll have to thank her for me on one of your many trips to the Tree of Fate that you make, if you can remember to."

I hold in a laugh and try to keep a straight face. Evan merely shakes his head and decides to leave us to it.

I turn to her, c*****g my head to the side knowing she intentionally whispered loud enough for Evan to hear so that he'd inevitably get up.

She smiles and puts her elbow on her knee, resting her chin on her hand. She obviously asked about Knox for a reason.

"I met Knox today.. he walked me home from the pack house." I say it with indifference, not giving anything away. Not that there was much to give anyway.

Her brows raise in curiosity. "And how'd that go?"

She tips her cup back to drain it while still eyeing me from the side and I roll my eyes dramatically. "Why? What did you hear?"

She gulps whatever liquid she had left in her mouth and grins. "Oh, just that Asher had made a huge deal about him being the one to oversee your recovery. Apparently, Knox rarely ever left your room."

"I'm sure Alpha Mason and Luna Amari arranged that and it has no bearing on Knox. As far as Asher, Knox told me that even though he rejected me, he might still be a little possessive."

Her eyes widen slightly. "So he does say more than two words at a time!"

I snort and shake my head. "Barely."

She leans back, mock fanning herself. "All that mystery gives me fanny flutters." The laugh that comes out of me is more like a cackle.

"He is a bit... " I pause and she interjects. "I call him Fort Knox. Impenetrable. For now anyway."

"I was going to just say aloof but you win." She flashes a victorious grin and I smile before standing. I wave my cup, signaling a need for a top up and she joins me.

Once we both fill our cups to the rim, we start making our way back and I begin to think about what Bryce had said.

I could always ask Evan if Asher had told him why he rejected me but I'd rather not know than to not hear it from Asher himself.

Since that wasn't happening anytime soon, I'd just have to be left with that gnawing at me and at the moment, that was better than facing him.

I'm pulled from my thoughts when I notice Evan has made his way back and he was now surrounded by others, all fawning over him. I look at Emilie and she grimaces. "None of them have had their ceremony yet, maybe Evan will get lucky and find an unmated wolf soon."

I frown and she pauses, turning to me. "s**t. Winter.. I'm sorry."

I nudge her shoulder. "It's fine.. and he will. We both will.. eventually." It was honestly the fathest thing from my mind right now but I know that's not the case for Evan.

Emilie and I move to sit in the grass and I have to hold onto her to keep from toppling and she barks out a laugh. "Already, Winter?!"

I shrug and make myself comfortable just as my stomach growls and I remember the last meal I had was the night of my ceremony and likely the reason why the alcohol was having such an effect on me already.

No sooner after sitting down, Emilie eagerly shouts "Truth or Dare time!"

I groan and make no attempts to hold back my clear disapproval. "You guys can't possibly still enjoy playing this."

She scowls at me just as another group approaches.

"Count us in." Xaden looks at me and smirks before finding a spot to sit. Oh f**k no.

"If he's in, I'm out." I'm not drunk enough to deal with whatever Xaden can come up with during this game.

"I'm not shocked. Outside of your little group.. " He points to Emilie and Evan "you have never tried to get to know anyone."

I scoff. He can't be serious. "Last time I checked, it's the other way around and also, truth or dare isn't about getting to know someone but where you make someone spill secrets they'd rather not or dare them to do stupid shit."

Xaden makes a motion with his hands as if I only proved his point. "So.. basically getting to know someone."

Emilie chimes in. "There's always the wolfsbane if you don't want to answer or do the dare." Her eyes are pleading as if this will somehow bring me closer to my pack and not be used to try and humiliate me and as if the wolfsbane was an easy out.

I glare at her for a few seconds, the both of us communicating with just our eyes.

Fuck it. I'm not going to let him rattle me. I'm going to need the entire keg for this shitshow. "Fine. Who's first?"

Xaden throws his arm up and locks his eyes onto mine. s**t. I should have went first.

"Winter.. truth or dare?"

I swallow hard and quickly weigh my options. I'll just pick exactly what he wants me to. "Truth."

His brows raise but he wastes no time, obviously already knowing what he'd ask. "Is it true you had feelings for Asher?"

Everyone turns and looks at me. I never made it obvious and I've never told anyone but Emilie how I truly felt. He was adding insult to injury with my rejection and somehow, despite no one else even having an inclination, he did. "Of course.. we were friends."

He huffs in annoyance. "You know that's not what I meant."

Emilie cuts in, feigning a look of indifference. "You weren't specific enough.. Winter, you're up."

I look at Xaden and wink, I'm sure he expects me to shoot right back at him but I have other plans. I look over at his best friend. "Ryder. Truth or dare?"

His eyes squint, not only is he caught off guard but now he's thinking hard about which one to pick. My guess is, he will go with truth assuming that I don't know much at all about him.

"Truth."

I smile, plucking a blade of grass and playing with it for a few seconds to add to the tension. "Is it true you don't know about Xaden f*****g Scarlett?"

A few people gasp and Ryder looks over at Xaden who is glowering at me. He must have forgotten that I had walked in on him and Scarlett in the library bathroom because they didn't bother to lock the door.

Xaden looks at Ryder calmly. "You two aren't mates.."

Ryder tsks, clearly agitated. "No but I put my d**k in her and you're my best friend."

Emilie once again intervenes, clearing her throat. "Your turn, Ryder."

Xaden looks back at me and I raise my cup in his direction before putting it up to my lips and emptying what was left.

"Truth or dare, Xaden." I thought his pick could go either way with me or Xaden, luckily for me.. it went as I had hoped.

"Do your worst. I choose dare." Ryder slides his hands back and forth together, surely trying to conjure up something that will rise to Xaden's request.

"I dare you to kiss Winter.. really kiss her, no loopholes, tongue and all."

I choke on my drink. Two birds with one stone. I underestimated him. Xaden eyes up the wolfsbane and then looks at me.

Fucking Ryder. If Xaden says he will do it and I refuse, I'll have to chew the wolfsbane and the effects of it could last well into tomorrow, affecting both Aanika and I.

Xaden stands with a smug smile on his face. "You're probably a terrible kisser and I did ask him to do his worst.. and he delivered, I feel I must see it through."

His dark eyes sparkle with victory. I want to wipe the smirk off his face and without hesitation, I decide to do just that.

I walk straight over to him and grab the back of his neck, pulling his lips into mine. I gently kiss him at first before sliding my tongue across his full bottom lip and then use it to part his lips.

He leans into the kiss, a low moan escaping him before his tongue is sliding against mine. He tastes like cinnamon and before I can get too carried away, I suck his bottom lip into my mouth before pulling away.

I turn and walk away back over to my spot with weakened legs and it has nothing to do with the kiss, I was now closing the gap between tipsy and drunk. Everyone is looking at us both but I say nothing as I carefully lower myself back into a sitting position.

Emilie leans in and whispers. "Was it as good as it looked?"

"It was like a shot of cinnamon whiskey after all this beer. Unexpectedly delicious and hot."

She chokes on her drink and looks as shocked as I felt saying it.

Xaden sits back down on the log and addresses all the stares. "Okay, so the kiss wasn't absolutely terrible."

There's a few laughs and it's Xaden's turn but he surprisingly doesn't pick me and instead chooses Bryce.

The game moves on and after having to reveal Xaden was actually a good kisser to everyone because I chose another truth, I'm refilling my cup once again.

I'm now fifty shades of drunk and I'll likely curse myself for it come tomorrow but it numbed what I needed to.

Just as I plop my ass back onto the grass next to Emilie, my phone vibrates in my back pocket. I grab it and answer.

"Hiii."

"Winter?"

"Mhmmmm."

"Are you drunk?"

My brows furrow and I pull the phone from my ear to look at the callers name. Unknown caller.