Awakening The Goddess

CHAPTER 11

Eriana

I woke up bright and early to a small human suffocating me with their tiny body. Bria was laying her entire body across my face. She works hard to make it all the way in here. Climbing into the bed takes all of her strength and she basically just collapses on my face. At least, that's what I think. I grabbed Bria and pulled her into my arms for a morning cuddle with my sweet girl. Just her presence alone brought a sense of peace and calm over me.

We cuddled until Ash came barreling through the door and jumping on the bed - her usual Saturday morning routine when she sleeps over. I was almost back to dreamland, but no, not with her around.

“Wakey wakey! Eggs and Bakey!” She yelled way too loudly for the hangover I was currently sporting.

“Ughhhh, noooo leave us alone,” I whined, knowing I would not get any more sleep today.

“Nope! I made breakfast, and it’s getting cold! Get up! Let’s Carpe some Diem! Plus! It’s girls' night and I want to do your hair before we go out. We only have like 13 hours,” she said enthusiastically. I knew it would take just about the whole 13 hours, so I had no choice but to get up.

“Fine,” I said, giving in. I grabbed my phone and read the last message Derion sent me last night. I can't believe he lied to me. I don't know how I knew, but I just did. He was probably with some girl when I texted him. Why else would he be up at three in the morning and not at home? I don't know why I was so angry and jealous at the thought of him being with someone else. It's not like he was my boyfriend or anything. He's literally just some guy I met at work a few days ago. That's it. I deleted the message thread and threw away his card. I couldn't take another L after what happened with Darius. He was already lying to me and I wouldn't stand for it.

I woke Bria up with a tickle attack and a million kisses. Hearing her laugh is and will always be the highlight of my day. My baby girl is all I need. These men ain't s**t and I wasn't getting caught up in any more of it.

After putting Bria in the tub, washing her hair, and feeding her, I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and washed my hair, so Ash could start the multi-hour process. I walked into the living room and the smell of bacon and sausages made my stomach growl loudly. I grabbed one of the pre-made plates for myself and the Daniel Tiger plate for Bria. Bria was already on her splat mat, and she clapped as I brought her food to her. Why is this kid so adorable? I put her plate down in front of her and she neglected her utensils and ate everything with her hands.

I sat on the couch and turned on some cartoons and started eating. When Ash came to sit beside me with her food, she looked at the cartoons then at me and rolled her eyes. I don't care how old I get. As for me and my house, we would always watch Saturday morning cartoons.

After we finished eating and washed the dishes, I started doing Bria’s hair while Ash started doing mine. I gave her my phone to distract her and finished in about two hours.

Six hours later and Bria was sitting watching Sesame Street with a head full of bows and plaits, eating some apple slices while there Ash still had half of my head to do.

“Ughhhhhh, how much mooooore?” I whined to Ash as I tried to feel around in my hair to gauge her progress.

“Well,” she said as she popped my hand with her comb. “It’s been six hours and I’m halfway through, so six more hours. Be still and move your hand,” she said, hitting me again.

“Ow! Always so violent,” I responded while rolling my eyes.

“Whatever. Anyway, are you going hunting for some d-i-c-k tonight?”

“Mm, maybe. If it happens, it happens, but I’m not going hunting,” I said with a shrug.

“I guess. I’m definitely looking for something to hunch on tonight,” she said with a laugh as I elbowed her in the stomach.

“Language!” I said, glowering at her. I looked in Bria's direction and she couldn't be bothered with us at this point. Elmo had entered the building and nothing else in her life mattered beyond him. Bria loved Elmo more than she loved me, I feared.

“Oh, sorry, munchkin,” she said to Bria, who completely ignored her. She was in Elmo land and we wouldn't get her back until he left.

****Six hours later****

I stepped out of the shower fully shaved and smelling like a dream. I quickly dried off and lotioned up for the night ahead of me. I was so excited to go out with Ash tonight. We always have a good time, and that's exactly what I need.

“Here, drink this,” Ash said, handing me a shot of some weird dark brown grossness. She stood over me with her hands on her hips, watching to make sure I drank it all.

“Girl, what the f**k is this?” I said, sniffing the weird liquid.

“Just drink it, E.,” She said as she rolled her eyes.

“Fine, stop peer pressuring me, you bully,” I said as I took the shot. “Oh, gross. That tastes like black licorice,” I said as I gagged.

“Here’s three more, take them before we leave,” she said as she walked out to finish getting dressed.

I downed the three shots and put on my little gold dress and heels. I put my fresh and incredibly tight knotless braids into two space buns in the front while I let the rest hang down my back. I’m not big on makeup, so I did a cat eye with some magnetic lashes and a matte brown lip.

After I finished dressing and putting on my makeup, I walked to my full-length mirror and admired myself. I absolutely loved the way this dress looked on me.

“Stop eye-f*****g yourself and let’s go!” Ash yelled from the living room. I grabbed my clutch and walked out of the room to see Ash dressed in an extremely short pair of red leather shorts and a matching red leather tube top with thigh-high boots.

“Good god, Ash! Your ass looks amazing,”

I said as I playfully squeezed her butt.

“Don’t I know it,” she replied with a cheeky wink.

"Where’s Liz? I want to say hi before I leave."

“She’s playing with Bri in her bedroom so we could sneak out.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. I’m still going to go hug my baby before we leave, though,” I said with a shrug. I walked to Bria’s room and heard her cute little laugh as I opened the door.

“Ma ma!” She squealed.

“Hi, pumpkin! Come give me a hug!” I said as I opened my arms for her as she scampered to me. I swooped her up and gave her a bunch of kisses before putting her back down.

I greeted Liz and gave her a hug before she started rambling a mile a minute about some new game she was playing. She was so excited I couldn’t help but be excited with her. After that brief but very detailed conversation with Liz, I turned back to my favorite girl.

“Mommy has to go but I’ll be back, okay,” I said, as I cupped her face and kissed her forehead.

“No go, mama,” she said as she cried.

“Hey, don’t cry cupcake. I won’t be long. Plus, Elmo is here with you,” I said as I grabbed her favorite Elmo toy and started puppeteering him to dance and sing.

She giggled at my Elmo voice and hugged him. I gave her another kiss on the head and left without too much of a fight. As much as I loved my baby, I still needed a break sometimes. Especially after this week. It was almost 11 when we walked out of the door, but it was such a short drive that time wasn't an issue. The Diamond will be in full swing until sunrise tomorrow.

“Here, drink!” Ash said as she handed me a half-empty bottle of Jägermeister. I took a few more swigs as we walked to the car. I said I wanted to drink until I forgot Darius existed and I was well on my way. We drove the short distance blasting Mulatto’s 'He Say, She Say' as I drank and Ash drove. I just knew tonight would be legendary for us.

***Derion***

I sprayed myself with my Christian Dior Sauvage cologne as I looked at myself in the mirror. I decided not to do too much because I only needed one woman’s attention tonight. I opted for a black Tom Ford T-shirt and jeans and my favorite gold rope chain and bracelet. I had my barber come to me to make sure I was freshly cut up. I looked at my watch and realized it was just about 10 pm so we should probably head out.

I walked out of the hotel bathroom and grabbed my wallet and cell phone. I sent Ori a quick text to let him know I was ready to go and walked down to the lobby. I sat down on a couch and stared off into space as I waited for Ori to come down. He showed up a few minutes later dressed similarly to me, except he wore a grey shirt with silver jewelry. He wore his locs in a braided style since he’d just gotten them re-twisted.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s go. I’ll drive,” he said.

“You always drive.”

“Yeah, cause you drive like s**t and we almost die every time you’re behind the wheel.”

“Man, f**k you. You’re still alive.”

“Only cause my wolf can heal me,” he said with a laugh. I couldn’t help but join in. His laugh was so infectious and I was in a much better mood than last night.

“Whatever, man,” I said as I shoved him playfully. “You can drive. Let’s just go.”

As we drove off in my blacked-out BMW 840i, I watched the scenery unfold around us. Lamister seemed like such a peaceful place. It reminded me of Silverwood on a much smaller scale. We could fit 6 Lamisters inside of Silverwood. My pack members didn’t need to leave our grounds for anything unless they just wanted to travel.

Silverwood has grocery stores, a few malls, movie theaters, and anything else you could need. We had a population of almost 4,000 supernaturals and it had not been an easy feat, but assigning captains and sectors made it easier. It was still a lot of work to maintain the pack, but I’ve grown into my position of Alpha pretty well.

The drive to the nightclub was pretty quick. We parked a few blocks down the street and walked the rest of the way. We could hear the loud rap music and the heavy baseline from two blocks away. I was full of excitement knowing I would be in proximity to my little firecracker of a mate.

After a short five-minute walk, we made it to the door of The Diamond and walked straight past the line. We heard jealous whispers but ignored them as we walked up to the bouncer. As long as my angel wasn’t waiting out there, there was no need to engage anyone. I showed him a picture of Eriana and told him to keep an eye out for her and let her skip the line when she made it. He nodded in understanding and opened the door for us.

Flashing lights, loud music, and the scent of weed and alcohol greeted up as we walked in. I hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to sniff out Eriana when she came in with so many scents around. I looked around and took in the scene. We came by earlier to reserve a VIP section. I didn't really like to be in clubs, but I'd go to the deepest layer of hell just to see Eriana.

We went upstairs and sat in the VIP booth that we reserved a few hours earlier. I could see everything from this spot. I sat in the middle of the couch and focused on the door. Ori sat across from me and watched the crowd for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. After about thirty minutes, some random girl in a skimpy outfit brought in bottles of champagne with sparklers.

She stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the door, trying to get my attention.

“Hey, handsome,” she whispered in my ear, her cleavage hanging in my face. “I’m off in a few hours, do you want some company?”

“No,” I said flatly and eased her out of my way. Lucky I did, or else I wouldn’t have seen Eriana walk through the door in a little gold dress that showed off ALL of her assets and some tall heels with straps all around her legs. I could have taken her right then in the middle of the club.

I watched her move about the dance floor and head over to the bar. I watched her every movement. She looked like she was already pretty drunk, so I definitely wanted to keep a close eye on her. There are a lot of predators here, and a drunk human is an easy prey.

I watched her drink and dance with her friend in the middle of the floor. She looked so happy and carefree, and I smiled when she would smile or laugh. As I was watching her, Ori tapped my arm and nodded towards some drunk guy walking towards Eriana.

I stood up and started walking down the stairs, just in case. Ori took the other stairs down to come up behind the man. I never took my eyes off of her. She seemed oblivious of the eyes on her as she twerked on her friend. If it wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, I might be jealous.

The drunk man stumbled across the floor to make his way to the bar. He didn't even spare a glance at Eriana. After determining the drunk man wasn’t a threat, I stood where I was to watch her. After a few more songs, she got tired and walked past me to the bar. She leaned on the bar, causing her ass to poke out, and I walked up behind her.

I placed both of my hands on the side of her, trapping her under me, and whispered in her ear.

“Hello, beautiful.”