Chapter 21

Chapter 21

*****

*Jayden's POV*

"I fucking hate you, Corey."

I chuckled at Trent's hiss.

"Yeah? Well, fuck you too! Izzy... Can I have a glass of water?"

I felt myself begin to smile as soon as I looked over at Corey but forced a stop to the automatic reaction, afraid of how he would react to it even though he was not even paying attention to me.

It was almost one in the afternoon and neither of them had gotten out of bed. It was probably the first time Trent had ever drunk too much. Come to think of it, I had never seen him drink at all.

Izabella rolled her eyes when Corey looked at her pleadingly.

"No! You've wasted poor Trent. You're such a bad influence," she said, crossing her arms.

She reached to smack her friend's hand when he tried to flip her off. He still seemed quite drunk. It reminded me of the last time he had been...

"Where's Jay?"

My heart skipped when he suddenly sat up to look around and spotted me; a stupidly large grin spread over his still-drunk face.

"Hey, your face is all better!"

I lifted my hand expecting to touch the cut on my lip, but it was smooth. Even the scar on my neck was gone thanks to Izabella and some of her blood... Luckily, Sean didn't notice it last night, so she healed, and he never saw it.

"Healed." I shrugged.

"Healed?" Kaden narrowed his eyes at me.

"You know, I'll get that water for you –" I attempted to get up, but Kaden caught my hand.

"Healed?" he repeated.

I sighed. "Izabella," I said, quickly.

I waited for Sean to go crazy about his mate hurting herself to give me her blood, but he smiled. I felt as shocked as Izabella looked.

"You... You don't look very upset..." Izabella said slowly.

"Yeah? I knew you were bound to do it sometime and I couldn't tell you not to. It's your blood. Besides, you don't listen to me –" he was saying.

"He's right. You don't listen to anyone," Hayley inserted. Izabella smiled.

"You weren't forced to, and you're not hurt. Right?"

His mate shook her head as he ran his eyes over her as if giving a quick scan to see if there were any injuries before he looked over to me.

"No harm done. This is actually a good thing. I mean, now you're more powerful than most of Inferno, Jayden," Sean said.

"Jay? Strong? You drank her blood, didn't you? I told you not to mess with my friends –" Corey finally seemed to be sobering.

Izabella's eyes rolled again, and I assumed the reaction came naturally and quite often when she interacted with her best friend. "Go to sleep, Corey," she instructed.

"Fine," he mumbled, plopping his head back onto the pillow.

I was both surprised and not by his obedience. He was so strong and yet around Izabella and Hayley he behaved like a trained little puppy, so Sean and Trent. The girls had them wrapped around their fingers.

"I want to get out of here."

Trent sat up, still looking a little sick but his werewolf cells must have cleaned him up because he was fine. As for Corey, there had to have been a huge difference in the amount of alcohol they drank because he still looked terrible.

"Me too. How long 'till the car's fixed?" Hayley asked.

"Two days; they pushed it back again." Sean frowned. "I'll just see if I can find someone else... Alpha's going to kill me for letting this ridiculous trip happen without telling him and bringing you with, Izzy," he muttered.

Izabella gave her mate a sympathetic pout as she reached to take his hand.

"You couldn't have known that would happen."

I swallowed, looking away as I realised she was referring to the hotel incident; the incident that had been my fault.

"I should have known better than travelling without more protection. You're not just any wolf."

Izabella didn't reply, she seemed upset. She couldn't argue and clearly wasn't happy her blood meant she would always be a target. The trip really had been a reckless decision for all of us and it especially put her in a vulnerable position.

"You're right, Alpha is going to kill you and the leadup it will be torturous. He's going to mutilate you slowly and make sure you're alive to feel it while he does. Ah, I can't wait!" Corey grinned at the ceiling.

My eyes widened when Sean shoved Trent's pillow over Corey's head without pressing it down much, Trent just laughed.

"Die!" Sean sounded like he was joking.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Izabella said, pushing the pillow away.

Corey smirked at Sean as Izabella asked him if he was alright while her mate shook his head.

"Let's go." Trent chuckled as he got up.

"Hey, Jay, take care of your mate," Sean said, I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"What? Why should –" Kaden was cut off when Hayley clasped her hand over his mouth.

"He'll be asleep all day anyway and you don't like crowded places, so you won't want to come with us. Right, Jay? See you later!"

I turned to her to protest but everyone – except Corey – was gone in a second.

A quick annoyance overcame me before I looked at the only other person in the room and felt relief wash over me. He was fast asleep. I smiled. The pillow Sean had shoved on his head had further tousled his hair leaving the blond curls a mess.

I was glad he was sleeping. That would be less work than trying to understand why he was so nice when he was drunk or trying to avoid him when he was sober. Hopefully, he would remain asleep until they got back... Or until the car was fixed, that would be great.

-----

The sound of frying drew my attention from my notepad. The house had been silent for the past few hours.

He was up.

Why hadn't I heard anything? Even before the boost I got from Izabella, I was aware of small sounds. Corey must have been very stealthy, though I doubted he was trying to be.

I listened to the cluttering in the kitchen and looked over at the clock. It was almost eleven at night, I was willing to bet the others were going to stay out even later.

"Uh... Jay?"

My head snapped in the direction of the voice, surprised.

Corey stood at the door, once again only in track pants, his hair still a mess. I felt my face heat as I fought to keep my eyes on his face despite the strong urge to look at the pack tattoos and his bare torso. He did not seem to like wearing t-shirts indoors.

"I'm making food... You want some?"

The question stunted me so much, that I was sure I heard him wrong and didn't reply until he sighed.

"Would you like some food, Jayden?" he spoke again.

I swallowed, realising I was actually hungry. I had been too lazy to make myself dinner earlier. Still, it was shocking. Even though he repeated the question and it was clear what had been said, I doubted it. When he tilted his head looking a little puzzled, I stumbled into an answer.

"Uhm... Y-yes, please."

"Alright..." He looked around, his eyes pausing on some parts of the room while I tried to comprehend what was happening.

He wasn't drunk... but he was talking to me normally...

Was I dreaming?

He cleared his throat.

"How... about you find a movie somewhere while I'm plating it?" he asked.

Yes. I was definitely dreaming.

I looked at my arm, wondering if I should pinch it to wake myself up, but I didn't want to wake up. My mate was finally speaking to me like I was just another human being and not someone he despised, and he wasn't drunk... Even if I woke up to be hurt by it just being a dream, I would be happy to have the time with him.

I looked back at him.

"Okay..." I spoke, slowly. Afraid of messing up the dream.

Corey's eyes squinted at me.

"I shouldn't have asked. You're so weird..." he shook his head as he walked out.

Maybe it wasn't a dream? I decided to find out and pinched my arm. Nothing happened, so I tried again before looking back to the spot Corey had just been standing. My head felt a little light as I panicked. I wasn't dreaming. Why was he being nice to me? What was he up to?

I lifted my hands to my head as the panic grew while I tried to figure out if I had gone crazy and started to hallucinate because of how much I wanted my mate to be interested in me. A clear, angry growl in my mind made the panic cease. My wolf was upset about me wasting our opportunity.

Right. He was being nice. Maybe if played into it, he would realise I wasn't bad. Maybe we could be friends... and maybe we would get along and he wouldn't want to head to the peaks anymore...

I got off the carpet hoping to find a movie somewhere as the house did not have any Wi-Fi or cable. The TV did have a DVD player for some reason. My hope died when I was unable to find disks anywhere, there wasn't anything worth watching on TV either.

Determined to find something to do though, I walked into to everyone's rooms hoping to stumble onto anything entertaining.

I found a box in Hayley's dresser. It wasn't hers and must have been left by the landlord. It looked like an old board game. I liked board games; I was sure Corey would not, but it was the only thing there was, so I just grabbed it and headed to the living room.

"What's that?" Corey was seated on the carpet, some pillows surrounding him.

He was still without shoes or a shirt but had a plate of food in his hands and there was another on the coffee table beside him.

"I'm not sure... I found it in Hayley's room. I didn't – there aren't any movies."

I watched Corey for his reaction, he just nodded and took a bite of his food.

I carefully sat on the carpet, keeping what seemed like a reasonable distance between us despite the heavy pull that made me want to get closer to him.

"And you don't know where it came from? It looks ancient." He put his food down and grabbed the box.

I frowned at how he didn't just ask for it politely before he snatched it from my hands.

"That's yours."

I looked at the table when Corey nodded towards it and reached for the plate of food. It smelled very appetising and smelled amazing, but I was still uncertain about what was going on and instead of eating, I watched him open the box.

"It's a trivia game for 'getting to know friends and family'." He chuckled as his eyes lifted back to me and he smirked, glancing at the plate in my hands. "What? Do you think I poisoned it?"

I looked down.

Well, I had not, but since he mentioned it...

"It took me an hour to make this, Jayden. You think I would ruin my work for you?" he scoffed to himself.

I bit my lip, poking the fork into the food.

I really wasn't sure what to think of him at the moment. I wasn't sure what was happening.

"Sorry."

I froze at the word.

"For what I said to your friend... Finn," he said the name with a bit of force.

"I-I'm not the one you should apologise to."

Corey looked up from his food, and I couldn't quite read his eyes as they studied me for a few seconds.

"Right..." he muttered, eventually.

I tilted my head as a strange feeling filled my chest and stomach and found my eyes lowering to his as I wondered what it was, because it clearly wasn't coming from me. I quickly dropped my head when I realised he was still looking at me and I had just openly stared at his bare abdomen.

"T-thank you for the food," I stuttered quickly.

I lifted some off the plate and took a bite. My brows rose at the taste, my eyes widening. It tasted so good. Corey could cook? How...? He really didn't seem like he would be good at domestic tasks, especially not cooking. Not to mention that it was a lot better than my cooking, which usually ranged from toast to microwavable instant noodles.

"It's... it's really good."

"Let's play." He tossed the box onto the carpet between us.

No, I wanted to eat.

"You can play and eat," Corey gave a chuckle that made my heart skip as my face heated.

Had I said that out loud?

"Why? It looks..." I drifted off.

The box was a faded brown, the pictures on the front barely visible. It didn't look like it would be fun if the pieces of the game were even still in the box.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," he said.

"It's not a book, is it?" I frowned, still more focused on the food as he opened the box.

The laughter that came from him caused a bit of pride to fill my chest at getting the reaction.

"Whatever." He tilted the box's lid in his hands and read the instructions. "Roll the dice, take a card from one of the boxes, and ask a question based on the card. If the person doesn't want to answer, they get punched," he said.

I shook my head and had to swallow before speaking. "It does not say that."

"Yeah. You're no fun. Sean and Trent would have agreed." He rolled his eyes. "It said, if you don't answer you have to fulfil a dare and cannot back out no matter what it is," he said.

"It really said that?"

"No, but my rules are more fun. You don't want to play?"

"Uh... Fine..." I was bored.

Corey's smirk as he grabbed the dice made me instantly regret agreeing. Why would I agree to a game of what was basically truth or dare with him? I opened my mouth to retract my agreement, but Corey had already tossed the dice and moved his piece to a yellow square on the board before he grabbed a card from the box of the same colour marked, 'Entertainment'.

"Favourite action movie?" he asked, frowning. "Lame."

"We don't have to play," I suggested.

"Do you have anything better to do?" he asked, reaching for his food.

"No..." I mumbled. Maybe it would be fun to ask him questions, I didn't know much about him. "X-Men." I ate some food before grabbing the dice to roll it and move my ornament: it was a little red tack.

I picked a card from a little box that read, 'About me'.

"What's your favourite colour?" I read, disappointed. It was a little cliché.

His face skewed, not looking too happy as he thought about it. "Green... Very light green," he said.

"Green?" I asked, a little surprised.

He didn't look like a 'light green' type of guy... Maybe black or red... blood red.

"Yeah." He took his turn. "What is something you've always wanted to do but have been too terrified to?" he asked.

"Bungee jumping," my answer was automatic.

"Bungee jumping? Why? You're a fricking werewolf!" he asked. "You'll still live if the rope snaps."

"After an excruciating amount of pain and a year or three in the hospital, given my healing abilities," I said.

He chuckled.

"Ah, right. I get it now," he said. "It's pretty amazing though, you should try it."

"Not while I have bones that can break."

He laughed at my response as I threw the dice and moved on the board. I drew a card from the 'about me' box again – which was where he got the question he had asked me as well – and read it aloud.

"What is one thing you can't live without?" I asked.

"Water."

I gave him a flat stare.

"Fine," his face skewed in thought. "Uh... My car."

I chuckled. I could have guessed that.

He played again before grabbing a card. I wasn't paying attention to which box he drew from as I was too busy eating.

"Tell me about your family."

I looked at him.

"That's not a question..." I said and then added, "Let me see the card."

He turned the card around and it indeed had the word 'family' written on it. Goddamnit.

He waited as I stared at my food, contemplating before an amused breath from him made me look up. He was smirking.

"I take it you're going to pass?" he asked.

"No." Hell no.

I didn't want to have to do something he dared me to do. I had no doubt it would be dangerous, and he had the bungee jumping thing I had just mentioned fresh in his mind. He would probably make me use a rope fashioned from tying sheets together or something.

He glared at me, crossing his arms like an upset child.

"You suck. How is avoiding the dare fun? Whatever, just talk," he muttered.

I laughed at how childish he was being. It was kind of cute. My laugher died as I began to answer the question.

"Well... uh... I was born to two people, and... one of them wasn't too happy to have me," I mumbled, my voice unintentionally becoming lower as I mentioned that.

"Your father?" he asked.

I nodded. "I'm an only child."

"What else?" he asked.

"Joe's pretty much been like a father to me since I was ten, so I guess he counts as family," I said.

"How did it start?" he asked.

"That's your fourth question," I said.

"Amazing observation," he said sarcastically. "So, how did it start...? Did he just... hit you?"

I bit the inside of my cheek as I held my breath; an uncomfortable, heavy feeling weighed in my stomach as I thought of my father.

"I don't remember. He just never liked me at all... I mean he was always angry at me. Even when he just got off work; he would arrive home and just go off on me. I wasn't sure why, but I knew I must have done something wrong. S-so, I-I tried to do everything perfectly hoping he would be happy with me but... I just... there's always something I... I don't do right..." I felt my eyes begin to pound. Even mating was one of those things.

I tried to push the current situation from my mind because somehow thinking of my father hurt less than thinking about Corey.

"I wanted him to... Um... I wanted my dad to... love me the way Kaden's dad loved him. Or at least like me. Sometimes I would just try to talk to him, or show him something I thought he would like or be impressed by... but he hated that. He got so angry whenever I tried to speak to him." I gave a humourless breath.

"My mother was never okay with the hitting. I don't know, at the time she was more afraid of Joe finding out and punishing her mate than she was about what he did to us. I've never healed as fast as normal wolves, so the bruises were a problem. Though, whenever she tried to say something, he would hurt her too, and I couldn't do anything about it...

"He hated that I wasn't very strong... and it just kind of got worse when he realised I wasn't... straight. It got worse for Mom too, because he blamed her."

I clenched my fist tightly and, for the first time, felt the effects of Izabella's blood. He wouldn't be able to beat me up anymore...

"Was he the one who cut your neck?"

"No, that was –" I froze with my hand on my neck. I must have unconsciously lifted it to touch the scar that wasn't there anymore.

I had gotten too into my memories and had said too much. He had not asked for all of that.

"N-no one – no one cut my neck," I said.

Corey gave a breath of disbelief, and I continued quickly to cut off any more questions he had.

"Well, anyway. When I was ten, Joe found out and banned him from the pack, and told everyone else he had died. The end," I said. "Your turn."

I reached for the dice, but they were gone. So were the cards. Corey looked around and I frowned.

"Where is everything?"

"Gone, I guess." He shrugged.

"Yeah?" I rolled my eyes before I reached for my notepad but froze when my fingers brushed the carpet. "Where's my book?" It had been in one spot all afternoon; it had still been there when we started eating.

"Mmm..." Corey leaned back having put his food aside. "That's gone too, I guess," he said, a hint of a mischievous smile on his face.

"Give it back, Corey. Now." I glared at him.

I was freaking out inside, no one read my lyrics. Ever. Sometimes I wrote short diary entries in that notebook when my diary wasn't nearby.

"Don't tell me what to do," he said. I spotted the black peeking out from under him.

"It's mine. Give it back right now, Corey!"

I dove at him, he must not have been expecting it because he fell back onto the carpet before I shoved him aside and grabbed my book, which he had sat on.

I attempted to stand up, deciding I was done with the stupid game and him, but Corey grabbed the book again.

"What's in here? Poems? Songs? Is this a diary? Your deepest secrets –"

I shoved him, slamming my hands into his chest as he held the book out of my reach. He fell back and I instantly pinned him to the carpet by his shoulders, my knee on his thigh to keep him from moving away as I tried to reach for the book. It was still too far way, he was taller than me, his arms longer and he held them stretched out far above his head.

"Give it back! Now!" I snapped.

"You think just because you've gotten a little stronger you can take me?" He raised his eyebrows at me seeming amused, which annoyed me more. It didn't seem like he was exerting any effort to keep the book out of reach while I struggled to stretch towards it. "Please, Jayden." He chuckled beneath me.

I looked down at him, using my weight on his shoulders so I was pinning him further.

"You are currently not in a position to try to intimidate me," I said.

I cried out in surprise when his arms quickly lowered, bumping into my wrist. The sudden loss of support made me fall on top of him. I shut my eyes expecting my nose to smack into his chin, but the impact never came. Instead, I felt myself caught just before I could slam into him. His hands held a firm grip on my ribs, just below my chest.

I opened my eyes and tensed as it hit me how close we had become, and now how close his face was to mine...

My face was so close to his, his soft, shallow breaths brushed my face. The light tickle of his breath drew my eyes to his lips...

My palms rested on his bare, soft skin. His firm chest rose and fell with each huff. The feeling of his skin on mine fired up my wolf and the instinct that came with it was to move my hands and run them along the warm surface so I could touch as much of him as possible.

I tore my gaze from his lips to look back into his eyes. They were watching me, amused. Did he not realise how close we were? How could he not with my skin pressed against his? Was it an after-effect of the alcohol? Had it made him less alert?

My body felt hot, my heart hammered hard and fast, pumping the heat all over my body. I wanted to push away; I knew I should have... but I couldn't move from him. I was sure I wouldn't be able to control myself much longer and he was going to be absolutely pissed.

"Your grip is pretty shitty. Also, that's a basic counter to being pinned, you should know better than to leave your arms open like that." His lips drew me back as they curved into a half-smirk half-smile that showed off his teeth. "Is Inferno training that bad?"

Just one... and maybe he wouldn't mind... It had felt so amazing last time. He didn't seem to mind our touching at the moment...

Before the rational part of me could argue, I lowered my lips to his.

He seemed stunned frozen, but it felt like as soon as our lips met, my entire body ignited. The sudden rush of intense heat and passion, happiness and urgency sparked an almost blissful light-headedness in me. It felt like I was floating; like everything around us was gone.

My moment of perfect madness only lasted a few seconds before he broke the kiss, turning his face from mine. I instantly attempted to push away from him, ready to desperately apologise and make a run for it as a rush of distressed tears filled my eyes, but I was caught, unable to push very far away as his hand clasped the back of my neck.

I didn't even look at him as I began to speak.

"I-I'm so - sorry – I-I didn't – It just –"

My breath caught as he drew me back, his lips meeting mine in a firm, but gentle kiss. Unlike seconds earlier, it didn't feel rushed and panicked. The same intensity of emotions ran over me, but it simmered. The kiss felt calming, yet passionate as my tense arms relaxed, my body sinking into his as his thumb caressed my jaw, gently brushing my earlobe.

The warmth from his chest seeped through my shirt, and it felt like we were touching, connected despite the barrier. It felt amazing.

This kiss was much slower, much more delicate than the last one we had when he kissed me in the hallway. It didn't feel like a rush, it didn't feel like he was fighting... and part of me wanted to believe it was because he liked me.

Despite the enchantment the kiss had on me, despite how blissfully happy I felt, my wolf felt, the clarity seemed to be there too. Though I couldn't think about it, there was a painful ache in my chest that made tears begin to wet my eyelashes as I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.

As much as I wanted to believe it, as much as I desperately hoped differently, he did not really want what was happening.

My thoughts were cut off by him biting my lip softly and it sent shivers down my spine. I felt the hand on my ribs slip onto my back to pull me closer to him when I didn't respond to the nibbling on my lip.

"Please, Jay..." the soft, pleading whisper made me gasp.

I just wanted to fulfil what it sounded like he needed. I decided to stop thinking and just let it happen. It didn't seem to be real, the emotions did, but it didn't make sense. Whether the moment was a dream or not, I wasn't going to ruin it with my thoughts.

I just nodded, letting him in as I tilted my head to taste him, my hands sliding onto his shoulders as his arm tightened around my waist, pressing us further together.

*****