Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Amore was heaving and I was thankful for Josie’s tight grip against my hand as we searched for a table among the barely clad women doing the same thing. Kate, the avid tracker that she was, had elbowed her way to a table on the balcony before another group of girls could snag it. A girl placed her cocktail on the table and placed her hand on her hip, challenging Kate who scoffed in response. Dee rolled her eyes and calmly walked over, ready to diffuse the situation.

“We’ve been here five minutes,” She sighed to Kate who had grabbed the girl’s cocktail and was daring her to take it.

“We got here first,” snapped the girl, backed by two of her friends who stood either side of her.

“Why do I feel like we’re going to be kicked out before we’ve even had a drink?” I asked Josie, who was watching the scene unfold, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of some drama.

“Does it look like I really care?” Kate swung one, lean leg over the side of the bench and gestured for Josie and I to join her. Josie scurried over and smiled widely at the girl before taking a seat opposite Kate.

“Ugh, just give me my drink back,” The girl sighed.

“Sure,” Kate replied sweetly and handed the drink back, watching as the girls walked away.

Dee took her seat next to Kate and shook her head, “You had better watch your back, you’ll end up with a nice swill before the night is up.”

“Pfft, I could smell her perfume and desperation a mile away.”

“For the birthday girl, you’re awful angsty,” I laughed as she bristled.

“Four Pornstar martinis?” She asked, choosing to ignore my question and standing up. She brushed our hands away as we began to open our purses, “I’ll get the first round, but you better treat me to lots of shots later on.”

Dee saluted her and she sauntered over to the bar, immediately catching the eye of the young, male bartender. As she ordered, I turned my attention back to the girls.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

Josie shrugged, “She probably just needs a good drink.”

I pursed my lips, but decided not to say any more on the subject as Kate came back over carrying two martinis in her hands, followed by the bartender who was staring at her like a lovesick puppy. I smiled at him as he placed my drink in front of me, but didn’t fail to notice how his gaze never left Kate, causing drops of the drink to splash out onto my hand.

“W-What’s your name?” He asked her, as she gracefully took her seat again.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, but I could tell she wasn’t really interested. Kate got attention from men as though she was famous, but we all knew she was waiting for her mate; not even Isaac could win her over.

“Katherine...would you please be a doll and bring us another four drinks? I think I should’ve ordered another round seeing as we’re going to be here for some time,” She flirted.

“O-Of course, on the house, happy birthday,” He replied, nodding towards the birthday girl badge Kate had unashamedly pinned to the top of her dress.

The bartender hurried away and I gave her an accusing look as I sipped my drink. I wasn’t the only one as Dee gave her a wry grin.

“What are you playing at?” She asked.

Kate downed her shot of prosecco and took a sip of her cocktail. “I’m horny,” She stated.

“He’s about nineteen,” Josie scoffed.

“He’s just a bit of a confidence booster,” Kate corrected. “To make sure I look hot enough for the real deal.”

“I thought you were waiting for the one?” I asked her.

“I’m twenty two, I don’t know if he’s stuck in a tree somewhere, but I have got to get laid before my vagina shrivels up.”

I shuddered, “Thanks for the mental image.”

We continued to sip our cocktails, until I could feel the night approach and the breeze begin to kick in. On our fourth round, we were beginning to feel a bit giddy and I could feel the alcohol swirl around in my brain, lowering my inhibitions and making everything seem like a good idea. I drank the last of my fizzy, purple drink and reached for my phone in my pocket.

“I have two texts from Mason. They’re heading to a bar on George Street once the match has finished. He wants to know when we’re heading over that way?”

Josie burped in response, sending herself in a flurry of giggles, “Tell him we’re heading their now. I’m ready for something a little stronger.”

I whizzed the text back to him and stood up, swinging my bag over my shoulder. We headed into the bathroom to relieve ourselves and check our makeup before heading back out onto the street, linking arms like we would have done back in high school. I had no idea where we were headed, but I trusted the girls to lead the way and we seemed to follow the crowd, most of the night’s revelers having the same idea. We passed a road sign for George street and turned around a corner to find a well-lit, busy street lined with bars and clubs.

“This may be the best street in England,” Josie sighed as she gestured at it.

“Revo is just up there, lets get up there quick before there’s a huge queue.”

Dee began speeding up her walk, pulling us along with her. As we neared the bar, Dee held up her hand and called out for the attention of the bouncer. He was a fierce looking bald man in his near forties with a couple of face tattoos and dark stubble across his face. A scar across his eye was his most noticeable feature, but his grin sent our way quelled my doubts.

“He looks a bit familiar,” I whispered to Josie, as Dee broke our link and went to go and speak to him.

“He’s Dee’s uncle, you’ve probably seen him around the pack. I didn’t realise he was bouncing tonight, we’ll get in no bother.”

“Hey girls,” He called as we neared. “You must be Heidi, Mason doesn’t shut up about you. I’m Jamie. Nice to finally meet you,” He held out his hand for me to take and I smiled politely, allowing him to shake my hand although it felt like he was about to snap it off. “You get into any bother and you come to me, got it?”

I nodded and he ushered us in, ignoring the groans and moans of those waiting in the queue. I took in the sights as I stepped through into the bar. It was larger than I first thought with a bar on the left as you walk in, with plush booths for seating on the right. A dance floor took up most of the space at the far end of the bar and it was lowly lit with blue strobe lighting. A recent pop song filled the air, accompanied by the sounds of laughing, talking and shouting.

Stood at the bar, I ordered a gin and lemonade, before turning around to observe and people watch. I stirred my drink as I leaned back on the bar, careful not to lean in any wet patches. There were a group of young men stood by the DJ who were being ogled by teenage girls trying to impress them.

Josie caught me looking at them and smirked, “They’re wolves,” She said.

“How do you know?” I asked, taking my gaze away from them and back to her.

“Smell. But also just a sense. I think I recognize one actually. Remember when we went for that trip up North? They’re part of that pack.”

I suddenly felt a deathly tight grip on my arm and let out a squeal as Kate’s nails began to dig into my skin.

“Jesus Kate,” I cried, “Your nails are like claws.”

“Look,” She hissed. “The tall one with auburn hair, do you see him?”

“Uh yeah, why?”

“Oh god, Oh fuck, Oh shit,” She mumbled, trying in vain to hide behind me. “He’s definitely my mate.”

I couldn’t help the shriek that left my mouth and Kate dug her nails into my arm even harder, “Shut your mouth,” She cried. “What do I do?”

“Don’t ask me, I’m literally the worst person to ask.”

Josie and Dee casually strolled over after speaking to Jamie for a little while longer. Kate spun around and unhooked her talons from my arm, allowing me to rub it as I shook my head at her. She latched onto Josie who tried to fling her off unsuccessfully.

“Get off you weirdo. What’s up with you?”

“It’shim,”She squeaked. “With the auburn hair, standing with a beer by the DJ booth.”

“Ohfuck,” Dee responded. “Well go over!”

“I can’t!” She cried, “What if he rejects me in front of his pack or just humiliates me in front of everybody. He’s not noticed me yet, do you think I can go home and change?”

I gave her a look and rolled my eyes, “Kate you’re a walking goddess, just pretend you’re requesting from the DJ and he’s bound to notice you.”

“I can’t go on my own, come with me?” She pleaded with us all.

“Let’s pretend we’re going up to dance,” Josie suggested, grasping Kate’s hand comfortingly.

A familiar song began playing which got some more groups up dancing, easing Kate’s nerves slightly. Dee went up first, raising her arms and shaking her hips to the music, swaying more rhythmically than I ever thought possible. She turned around and began mouthing the lyrics to us and I peeked a glance towards the group of men who had turned their attention on her. I copied her, feeling slightly awkward as I had nowhere near the grace or sexiness of Dee.

Kate began to relax slightly as she noticed they weren’t coming over immediately and began to enjoy the song, laughing at something Josie whispered in her ear. I suddenly felt a presence behind me and Kate immediately stopped dancing as she looked behind me. The boy with auburn hair smiled shyly at her and ran his hand through his hair. He stepped closer to her and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Can we talk?” He asked.

Kate nodded, a pink blush lighting her cheeks even in the low lighting and she followed him to a booth, leaving just Josie, Dee and myself on the dancefloor with the other wolves.

“You’re part of Alpha Mason’s pack right?” One of them questioned towards Josie who gave him a wide grin and a nod. He warily cast an eye in my direction and looked worriedly towards her.

“Don’t worry, she knows.”

He visibly relaxed and sent a smile in my direction, “How come you’re hanging out with wolves then?”

“Um...”

“That would be because of me,” came a voice behind me that sent a delighted shudder up my spine.

“Alpha Mason,” The boy greeted, dropping his head slightly in respect.

Mason shook his hand politely and moved to pull me to his side, wrapping a protective arm around my waist.

“Where’s Kate?” He asked, looking at our little threesome.

“She found her mate,” Josie grinned, “They’re sitting in that little corner booth over there just talking.”

“One of your lads?” Mason questioned back up at the man, his tone not malicious, but not quite friendly either. I knew that Mason took the safety of his pack seriously especially when it came to one of his closest friends.

“Yeah, Will. Shy lad, I think she’ll eat him alive,” He guffawed and groaned when Dee slapped him in the stomach.

“Where’s your Alpha tonight Jason?” Mason asked, not entertaining his joke.

Jason shrugged, “Didn’t want to come out tonight. Says he’s too old for all that.”

Mason glanced behind him, his eyes searching for Kate.

“Let them talk,” I whispered to him. “She’s excited and he looked so nervous.”

Mason smiled down at me and kissed my hair, “You look beautiful, are you having a good time?”

“I am actually, it’s been fun and I can’t believe Kate found her mate on her birthday!”

“I’ll miss her,” He sighed, taking a gulp of the beer I hadn’t noticed in his hand.

“Why? What do you mean?”

“Heidi, she’ll be leaving for his pack,” He said gently.

I pulled away from him in shock, “No, she can’t leave!”

“It’s customary, plus she’ll want to be with him all of the time now.”

“Well why can’t he move to Penshaw?”

“The women are the ones who tend to move packs when they find their mate. Men often have important jobs that they can’t leave for.”

“Bullshit, Kate does have an important job! She can’t leave!”

I spun around to find Dee and Josie listening in to our conversation with solemn faces.

“Are you both going to abandon me too when you find yours?”

“Heidi, let’s not think about that okay? This is supposed to be a happy time and besides, she’ll only be an hour away. We can visit her all the time,” Dee reasoned.

I huffed, but I knew she was right. This wasn’t America where she could end up hours and hours away, England was only small and we could always pop on the train to see her anytime we wanted. The thought relaxed me slightly and I leaned into Mason’s embrace. Isaac headed over and wrapped his arms around Dee and Josie pulling them together as he put his hands together to blow me a kiss.

Josie smacked him and wiggled out of his grasp, announcing that she was going to get a drink. Dee and I quickly followed her to the bar where we would have a better look at how Kate was doing. I ordered another gin and followed Dee’s finger to a booth where Kate and Will were talking, their heads bent low and close together as they played with each others fingers.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lone male figure standing in the darkest part of the bar where the light couldn’t reach. I frowned, but thought nothing of it, turning my attention back to Kate and Will as we tried to decipher what they were saying, but even with Josie and Dee’s hearing, they couldn’t hear anything over the pounding music. An unsettling feeling trickled over my body and I felt myself looking into the dark again. The man was still stood there, his arms folded and body still as a statue. As I focused my sight, I could make out slight features and my stomach flipped.

He looked just like Dan.

I could feel my skin go cold with fear and a shiver sent the hairs on the back of my neck raised into hackles. I tried to tell myself that it couldn’t be Dan, that there was no way he could have found me, but I couldn’t help how my breath hitched in my throat every time I tried to breathe and my eyes filled up with tears to the point where I couldn’t see. I was vaguely aware of Josie asking if I was okay, but I couldn’t hear her over the pounding of my own heart in my ears.

As my tears fell more frequently and my breathing turned into noisy sobs, I managed to point in the direction I first saw him, but I could hear Josie telling me that there was no-one there. At that point, I could feel the comforting presence of Mason who took me into his arms and walked me briskly out of the bar and into the cold, night air.

“Breathe, Heidi, breathe,” He soothed.

“He-he-he...” I choked, trying to calm my breathing as I focused on Mason’s face. “He was here.”

“Who was here?” He asked, looking over my head as though to try and find whoever it was.

“My-my stepdad,” I spluttered, taking a big gulp of fresh air.

I could feel my breathing return to normal and as I wiped my eyes, I grimaced at the black makeup that now caked my hands and was probably running in streaks down my face.

“Is that who you’re scared of? Heidi, is that who you were running from?”

I nodded, stepping closer to Mason who wrapped his arms around me. “He found me,” I managed to say, feeling the tears start up all over again.

“Heidi,” Mason said, his voice dangerously low, “I’m going to need you to try and tell me everything. Do you understand? I can protect you and your mum better if I know more. Can you tell me?”

I gulped, I had been keeping it away from him for so long, so afraid of what telling him would do to me, or even to our relationship but I knew I couldn’t keep it from him any longer. Not when there was a possibility he was closer than we ever thought possible.

“Okay. I’ll tell you.”