I shrugged. “Do you want to get drunk or watch the drunks?”
His lips stretched across his teeth in amusement. “I suppose I would like to get drunk. It has been a long time since I tried. Wolfsbane is too expensive for our pack.”
The music thumped around us and shook the walls but I had no trouble hearing my date over it. He still grabbed my waist and yanked me to him. I didn’t know if it was the music or the Wolfsbane in the works but I didn’t mind one bit. It had been too long since I had male attention likethis.
The flask was empty within an hour and I could feel the effects of it lulling me into a comfortable stupor. Rafe and Tracey were nowhere to be seen and I honestly didn’t care. I felt betrayed that she hadn’t even warned me. Just as I was starting to taste anger in my mouth, Carden grabbed my hands in his and yanked me to the middle of the living room. The floors were spotted with different kinds of drying liquids and there was a slight scent of vomit in the air. But for a moment, I felt like I was normal again. Like I wasn’t turned and I didn’t have to worry about animal instincts or stupid alphas. For once I felt like I was me again and that was all that mattered.
Carden kept his hands on my waist while we bumped and ground to the music. My eyes slowly fell closed as he pulled me closer to him. Sweat dotted my brow but I didn’t dare stop. It felt too good to be pressed against his warmth. His scent wrapped around me and drowned out the sweat of the other bodies around me. A hum worked its way up my throat and I felt a rumble of approval at my back.
Carden’s arms tightened around me and my mouth went dry. The effects of the Wolfsbane were starting to wear off but that was the last thing I was worried about. A delicious heat had started to tug at my lower belly and the last thing I was worried about was whether or not I was going to leave this party drunk. The only thing that I was worried about was leaving the party with him.
A gentle touch on my arm had my eyes snapping open. My body stopped its gyrating, even as Carden continued to pull on me and rub on me. The pooling in my stomach hadn’t stopped but it wasn’t as strong as I stared into the yellow eyes of my friend.
I frowned. “What is it?”
She swallowed hard and shook her head.
I pressed her. She wasn’t going to interrupt this if it wasn’t important. Her hair was a wild mess around her head and for a minute, a little one, I wondered if she had gone another level with Rafe. If they had left the friend territory she promised they were hardly in.
“Can I talk to you?” I looked over my shoulder to ask Carden if he was ready to go but Tracey’s hand on mine had me looking back at her. “Alone?”
I blinked through the lusty haze that had wrapped around me and told Carden I would be right back. He left the dance floor with us but leaned against the wall in the kitchen as Tracey yanked me out into the backyard, where a dying garden awaited us.
“I don’t think this double date was such a good idea,” Tracey muttered as she ran her hands down her face.
I ground my teeth together. “Did Rafe hurt you? Are you okay?”
Tracey’s head snapped up and her mouth went into an O shape. “No, never. He would never do anything like that. I agreed to be his date tonight because he was going to come alone. I figured it would be better to keep my eyes on him.”
I nodded my head. “Okay, so what’s wrong?”
“Do you feel anything with Carden?” I blinked at her.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Like do you feel a connection with him or a mate’s pull?”
My eyebrows pushed together as I shook my head. “I don’t think so, but I am insanely attracted to him.”
“I just think if you aren’t feeling a mate’s pull, then maybe you should tread carefully.”
It hit me then, why Rafe was here. “Did Rafe put you up to this?”
Tracey bit her lip. I had never seen her so nervous before. “No, but he’s not doing very good tonight and I don’t know what to do.”
“Then maybe he needs to leave.” I shrugged my shoulders. I hated to cut the party short for her, but I wasn’t the one that brought the deranged wolf as my date.
Tracey’s eyes flicked to something behind me and my back went straight. I wasn’t going to back down on this. Slowly, ever so slowly, my arms crossed over my chest. Tracey shook her head. “This isn’t going to end well, I think I need to call someone to bring some more spiked booze.” She laughed nervously but I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t let Rafe continue to ruin my life. I had to live and I was going to do whatever it took to do so.
Chapter 30
Jade Rivers
It had been hours since I had seen Tracey and her extra spiked booze. We hadn’t gone through it quickly this time. Carden had a flask in his pocket and I had one in my bag. We took turns sipping on it slowly, savoring the nasty burn it created down our throats.
This time we weren’t dancing, which was fine, I didn’t really care about that too much. I just wanted to be. I wanted to feel like I had before I had been turned. I wanted to feel normal again, even if this wasn’t normal at all. I could try.
So when Carden’s arm wrapped around my shoulders, I let myself feel the excitement. When his fingers rubbed lazy circles over my collarbone, warmth pooled deep within my belly. When his lips found the shell of my ear, my body went liquid. A deep sigh escaped me.
