~*~ Flashback ~*~
~~~ Over Six Years Ago ~~~
“Preston, yes, like that.”
I’m in Preston’s bedroom and despite my best efforts, I have not been able to stay away from him tonight. We all attended a ceremony for Aiden where my father announced his intention to stand down as Alpha and pass the position to my brother. We were all in high spirits and having fun.
Preston, being Preston, had suggestively been mindlinking me all night with tiny teasers of what he wanted to do to me when we were alone and I had managed to resist at first. However, the lewder his propositions were, the more aroused I became until the heat between my legs was unbearable and I knew every unmated wolf in a 100-mile radius could probably smell the scent of my frustrated arousal.
I am going up to my bedroom, follow me if you want me too, Red. I smile when he uses the nickname that he gave me as a child. Red, in honour of my hair and my temper, apparently. Now he says my cheeks turn red when I come for him and so the seemingly innocent nickname now had a hidden meaning for both of us.
I follow him to his bedroom not even five minutes later and when I get to his door, he instantly pulls me inside. I am thrilled to see he is already naked.
“Get that dress off and spread your legs for me.” Oh, sweet Moon Goddess, I love it when he becomes all demanding. I do exactly what he asks of me.
Preston stands behind me and his hot breath on my neck causes shivers to flow throughout my body. As he palms my boobs and tweaks my nipples, the sparks from our bond cause ripples of desire to shoot to my core. My thong is soaked from my wetness and when Preston glides his hands down to my slit, he groans when he feels my sopping underwear.
“Our first time in the packhouse, you can’t scream this time, Red, okay?” he whispers to me, biting my ear lobe and forcing my skin to pucker, and I moan at the back of my throat.
“I thought you liked my screaming,” I tease. I certainly enjoy it. The past six months have been an education, and in spite of my reservations, Preston has won me over and kept every promise he made me. He has shown me what my body is capable of, and how he can make me feel good too. We are simply electric together in a way I can’t even comprehend. Preston presses every buzzer, delves into every crevice and never stops wanting to please me.
“I love making you scream but we will be found out if you scream here, can you be quiet? I promise I’ll make you scream this weekend, baby.”
I nod my agreement. I can be quiet; I am sure I can be quiet.
“Sit on my face Amber, I want to lick you until you squirt.” I do exactly as he asks, but I should have known better because I always lose all inhibitions when Preston’s mouth is against my pussy. Once his tongue starts exploring my depths, folds, and bundle of nerves, I lose track of who I am, where I am and who I am hiding from.
Within minutes of Preston’s tongue connecting with my core, I am coming and screaming. He flips me over while waves of pleasure still flood my senses. “Ssssshhhhhh Amber, shush baby!”
Oops! I am now on my back on the floor where Preston had been. He looks at me and groans. “Fuck it!” I hear him say and he presses his body into mine.
“Preston, yes, like that.” His hard length fills me and stretches me, and I feel my climax starting again as he pumps harder and faster… until the bedroom door swings open.
“Amber?” I hear my brother shout before the light comes on, showing me and Preston in all our naked and coital glory. Aiden’s roar echoes throughout the room. “Get the fuck off my sister, you piece of shit. I am going to kill you, Preston. How could you do this, how could you take advantage of my baby sister like that? Does our friendship mean so little to you?”
Preston roars in indignation. “I haven’t taken advantage of her, I love her. She’s my mate!”
And just like that, Preston broke his first promise to me. He told Aiden about our bond and broke my trust in him in the process.
~*~ End of Flashback ~*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever since Preston told Aiden about us, I had waited for him to break every other promise he made me. I had never let him all the way in, and I never intended on doing so. I was convinced if I let him in then he would hurt me, and I wasn’t strong enough to survive someone else hurting me.
It’s just before 5pm when Aiden gets back to the packhouse. I hear him shouting me and trying to link me, but I can’t respond.
“Can I come in, Amber?” When I don’t respond, he opens the door. “I’m coming in, okay? I am going to presume it's okay until you tell me to get out.”
I feel his weight on my bed and his big hands pull me to him, just like when I was a little girl after my mother left and father was never home. My big brother had always had the ability to make me feel invincible and to make me feel like everything was going to work out, but he can’t fix this.
As I cry like the end of the world has come, my big brother holds me tight. “What am I going to do with you, Amber? If only you would take a chance, both you and Preston wouldn’t be hurting so much right now.”
*** Eva ***
I have my baby back home with me and I feel like I can start moving forward with my life. After Aiden leaves, I contact a solicitor to start formal divorce proceedings and I also call my mother. I need her support right now and although it pains me that I have to ask her to support me, I do it anyway.
Her moving to the south of France to be with her latest husband has caused a physical and emotional distance between us and although we were never best friends, we had been close as mother and daughter. I need my mum right now, I need someone to tell me everything is going to be okay, and to help me with my child.
“Oh, hello Eva, I meant to call you just last week but I got distracted. How are you and Summer and Ryan doing?” My mother’s overly sunny reply feels saccharine sweet, but I push that to one side for now.
“Mum, I need you! Please can you come and stay with me for a little while?” I hate the neediness in my voice, I haven’t needed my mother since I was a small child and I hate asking for help.
“What? Do you mean now? What’s wrong, Eva, is Summer okay?”
The tears start to burn my eyes and I can hear the emotion in my voice as I attempt to explain what has been happening.
“Aww, Eva, what a mess. I will fly over tomorrow but Claude won’t be able to come. He has to work and look after the horses.” I am relieved to hear her husband won’t make the trip. I don’t like him and I certainly do not want him around my daughter. Out of all six men my mother had married, I dislike Claude the most.
Her next sentence shocks me to my core.
“Shall I continue to send your allowance to Ryan, or shall I set up another account when I get over?” What allowance? And why has she been sending it to Ryan?
“What allowance? I don’t know what you are talking about, Mum.” My blood is boiling now. Apparently I have an allowance I know nothing about, and Ryan has been pocketing it for himself, leaving both me and our daughter with next to nothing.
“Eva, he told me you didn’t want to discuss it because it is part of the trust your father had set up for you. He told me you had asked him to deal with it all. You got a lump sum at 21 years old, and I have been sending Ryan 10K a month ever since. The second lump sum is due in six weeks’ time.”
I had known about the first lump sum, I used the money to buy most of my house and I only have a tiny mortgage, the rest I set aside for when I needed anything. At the time I had wanted to secure my future and although I had reservations about accepting money from a man who had never been part of my life, I had needed a secure place for me, for my future, so without too much thought of its origins, I took the money and invested it.
“Ten grand a month? What the hell has Ryan been doing with ten grand a month?” I hear my mother stuttering in the background, and I apologise for shouting.
“I believed him Eva; I know how much your father shunning you has hurt you. I believed him when he told me it hurt you too much to discuss it. I didn’t want to hurt you even more by bringing it up repeatedly.”
I explain to my mum that I understand, Ryan is a lying, manipulative waste of a man and his scheming doesn’t surprise me too much. She tells me she will arrange to come over and stay with me for a little while, hopefully she can get a flight within the next day or so.
I spend the afternoon playing with my daughter, I read to her, and we watch cartoons and sing nursery rhymes. I will never take the little things for granted again.
I miss Aiden a lot. Once Summer is safe and sound asleep in bed, my thoughts are consumed by him, and the simmering desire I have felt since the moment we met starts to feel overwhelming.
Beta Preston knocks on my front door just after 9pm to check on me, and he tells me Aiden will call me soon.
“Preston, would you come in for a few minutes so I can ask you some questions about Aiden and about mate bonds please?” I note how uncomfortable he looks but he agrees, and I make him a hot drink and a sandwich for his trouble.
“How many mates has Aiden had?” I blurt out before covering my mouth but Preston has a twinkle in his eye as he laughs.
“You only get one fated mate. You can obviously have casual affairs and flings and even relationships with others, but the other half of your soul is very precious. We mate for life once we find that person and there is no better person in the world to spend your life with than your fated mate.”
Wow, it all sounds so romantic and fanciful, I can hardly believe it and yet I have recognized the depth of my feelings for Aiden. Even in this short amount of time, I know I feel more for him than I ever did for Ryan. Even now, only hours after he has gone home, I miss him desperately. I miss his warm gaze, his safe arms, and his hot kisses. I want more. But it's moving too fast, what will people think? What will people say? I know Salma would tell me to fuck anyone else, but that’s never been the way I lived before.
Beta Preston’s voice pulls me out of my tormented thinking. “It’s called ‘pining’, the feeling you have now where you miss him. Your soul now knows its other half is out there and nearby and you will constantly feel an ache, a hunger for what is rightfully yours.”
“How do you know how I am feeling, Preston? I don’t even understand it myself.” I watch as pain flares up in his eyes and an instinctive need to comfort him rises inside me.
“I know because I am pining for my fated mate too, and I know she is pining for me. I just hope she realises soon that she wants me and that I will love her and take care of her, otherwise I am doomed to a lifetime of feeling incomplete without her.”
Is that how Aiden will feel if I refuse to be his? Is he pining for me too?
My phone rings and Aiden’s name flashes, Preston waves goodbye and I answer the call. “Hey, Shortie, did you miss me?” he asks playfully.
I answered him truthfully: “I miss you more than I could ever tell you, Aiden.”