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Zoe
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Twenty minutes later we wound our way down a street that led to a dead end and ended at a massive wrought iron gate. To the left I spotted a guard shack—or a small house. A dozen or so well-built men stood inside, talking with each other, while others worked a control panel and kept an eye on the monitors. When our car approached, one of the burly men stepped out with a clipboard, and Kieran lowered the window.
The guard leaned in to get a better view of everyone in the car. “Name, please.”
“Kieran Auduro. Vash is expecting us.”
He flipped through the pages, tapping his finger on the clipboard. “Yes, I see your name on the list. Have you been here before?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Go ahead to the main house.” He motioned us forward.
“Holy cow, Kieran!” Cali said, glancing out the back window at the guards. “What does Vash’s dad do for a living? I mean, who has a gate like that with so many guards?”
“He owns Bellator Construction Company and Bellator Enterprises. They design and build commercial buildings, and they also dabble in investments. They do pretty well.”
“Pretty well.” Cali ran her hands over her jeans. “I feel underdressed.”
“Don’t worry about it. Whatever you packed will be fine. You probably won’t even see his dad.”
We drove through the massive property, following a road lined by gnarly old oak trees and rolling green hills. Off in the distance, I could make out a lake, and every so often a house would appear. I wondered who else lived in the gated community. The rest of the pack? I knew Vash’s immediate family lived in the main house, where we were headed. The trees eventually gave way and revealed a huge marble mansion. The three-story building, with its five white pillars, reminded me of a southern plantation house in Georgia or the Carolinas. We pulled into the half-moon driveway, and a man stepped out of a booth by the front door.
“Mr. Auduro and company,” the valet said politely, greeting us. “Leave the keys in the vehicle, please, and follow me.”
We all got out, and Kieran popped the trunk so we could grab our bags.
“We’ll bring them in for you,” another man assured us.
We did as we were told, leaving our bags and following the first man toward the house. The wooden doors swung open as we approached the final step, and a doorman stepped aside so he could let us in.
“Welcome to Bellator Estate,” he said. “Please wait here for—”
Running footsteps crashed down the stairs, and muscular legs came into view above us. The body belonging to those legs rode the banister down the last flight of stairs, and Vash landed in front of Kieran. He threw his arm around his shoulder.
“You guys made it!” Grinning, he dropped his hand and turned to look at each of us individually.
This was a whole new side of Vash. When we’d met last week, he had been quiet and reserved. This could be a fun weekend after all. Cali and I looked at each other and smiled. Vash stood a few inches taller than Kieran, had brown hair that hung a bit beneath his earlobes, and light-brown eyes. His body was extremely muscular like an NLF runningback.
He extended his arms. “Where are my manners? Welcome to the Compound.”
“Hey, Vash,” I said.
“Hi,” he said and then picked up Cali’s hand and kissed it.
“Hi.” Her face turned bright red. Vash was mated to Cali, but wasn’t able to save her from death. Once the fighting had started, my protective purple orb had encased my bewildered school friends, my little sister, and myself. I’d watched Kieran fight stoically, and my heart broke when a demon blade sliced Shay’s arm. And that was the first time I’d seen Vash turn into his wolf form. Kieran and Shay had appeared, shining their Angel Lights to diminish some of the Marqs’ darkness. The fairies distracted the Marqs, so Vash could kill them.
When I saw Vash tiring, I knew I had to fight. When I joined the boys’ circle, my purple Angel Light exploded out and knocked everyone off balance, finally giving Vash the upper hand he needed. He’d killed the rest of the Marqs except for one, who high-tailed it out of there. We all assumed he was off to give Sammael a full report.
“And how lovely to see you again, Sidelle,” Vash said, giving her a slight bow. “Come on. Let’s make the most of this visit. We can just hang out until my dad gets home.” He started to head back to the stairs, but then he stopped. “Your bags will probably be brought up to my room,” he said. “We can sort which rooms you want. You’re staying the weekend, right?”
“That’s the plan, as long as your dad is okay with it,” Kieran replied.
Vash smirked. “It’ll be a nice change of pace for him to have civilized folks around here rather than the bunch of animals he’s always hanging around with—myself included.”
We followed him up to the top of the third flight of stairs, and I glanced back down at the foyer. I scanned the whole grand room, letting my eyes linger on the centerpiece. I hoped Vash would take us on a tour of his home, because so far it was gorgeous.
“This is my wing of the house,” Vash told us, turning left down a hallway. “I get this half of the third floor, my parents have the other half, and my younger brother and sister have the second floor.”
“Wow. You have a whole wing to yourself?” Cali asked.
“Yeah, it’s one of the perks of being the—”
Kieran cleared his throat and shook his head.
“—oldest child in the family,” Vash continued.
Nice save. We’d have to pull Vash aside—and soon—so we didn’t have another slip-up. Cali had no idea about the wolves or the real reason why we were here.
Vash showed us into a living room with brown leather couches and chairs. The largest television I’d ever seen spanned the wall opposite the windows. Off in a corner, I spotted a small kitchen with a full-size fridge, a sink, and a microwave. And I thought I had it good when I got grounded and was sent to my room. Cali and I looked around the large area in awe. Her family had a big house, too, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive as this. Sidelle looked out the windows into the backyard and took in the spectacular view. From this high up, I could see the lake, the flower gardens, and a few of the other houses on the property.
Vash pointed at the door on the right. “Through that door is my bedroom, a private bathroom, and a closet. Through that way,” he said, pointing toward the opposite wall, “is another bathroom and a study.”
“This is nice, Vash,” Cali said, walking around the room and admiring the nature paintings hanging on the walls. “I don’t ever want to leave.”
I made my way over to Kieran and leaned in so I could speak quietly. “We need to tell him that Cali doesn’t remember anything, and we’ll have to keep things on the down low.”
He nodded.
“Must be nice to be an Alpha’s son,” I whispered.
Cali completely ignored the rest of us and hung on every word Vash said. Vash followed her around the room, telling her about each painting and artist, and explaining why he liked it.
We were interrupted by a polite knock, and then the butler made his way into the room and set all our bags on the floor. Fortunately, Cali hadn’t noticed that one guy had just carried six bags and a suitcase up three flights of stairs all by himself, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat. He nodded to Vash when he entered and lingered in the doorway for a bit after his task was completed. Vash bobbed his head once; the servant left.
Someone’s cell went off, and we all dug around in our pockets, checking. No one had called or texted me, though. When I looked up, Vash was staring at Kieran. Without a word, he nodded.
“It’s mine,” Vash said, holding up his phone. “My dad’s running late. He said he’ll be by later this evening, and we should have dinner without him.”
“Were we waiting for your dad to have dinner with us?” Cali asked.
“Kieran’s dad and mine go way back, and he likes to meet all my friends,” he explained. “When I told him Kieran was coming over this weekend, he wanted to have dinner and catch up.”
“Sounds great,” she said, smiling up at him.
“So ...” Vash forced himself to look away from her gaze and over at us. “What do you guys want to do while we wait for dinner? It’ll probably be in another hour or so.”
“Should we pick out rooms and go on a tour of the estate?” I suggested.
“Great idea,” Vash said. “I don’t want any of you getting lost and withering away without food or water, so I’d better show you around. Plus, Mom’ll have my hide for not being a good host if I don’t.”
We picked up our bags—Kieran helped me with mine—and followed Vash back out into the hall and down to the second floor. As we passed some of the open doors, he told us what the space was and what they used it for. Across from his sister’s bedroom were three other rooms that Vash told us we could choose from. He said we could our own rooms, or we could share, whichever we preferred. We took turns opening every door and looking inside, admiring how each room was vastly different from the others, with its specific color scheme. Nothing was gaudy. Between the lavish artwork, the plush carpets, and thick, quality furniture, each room felt elegant and rich. When we opened the last door, which was in gold and white marble, I knew instantly the girls and I would share that room.
“We should use this one,” I said.
My girlfriends agreed, and we walked into the room, leaving the two boys in the hallway. I felt like I was staying in a fancy hotel suite for the weekend. We laid our bags on one of the couches, and I glanced back at Kieran and Vash. I hoped they were having the conversation about Cali.
“Oh, my gosh!” Cali exclaimed. “Hey, come look at this view of the lake. We even have our own private balcony.”
Sidelle and I joined her by the door, peering out. She was right. It was magnificent.
“Hey, Kieran, look at that view,” Vash said, chuckling behind us. “Looks good from here.”
We turned back to the boys and realized Vash was not looking at the lake; he was staring intently at Cali, and we all blushed.
“Hey, look,” Cali said, turning back to the window. “Is that a wolf out there?”
Vash was instantly at her side. “Yes. Actually, a pack of wolves lives on the land. My father says we should co-exist.”
“Aww, it’s kinda cute. Like a big dog.”
Vash had an amused expression on his face. He caught me smiling at him and looked away, but I thought his reaction was adorable. I turned back to the window and saw more wolves loitering outside. I wondered how many of them were out there, and how many were in the pack.
I nudged Sidelle with my elbow, catching her eye. I looked pointedly at Cali, and then Vash, and she immediately picked up on the hint.
“So, we should unpack some of our stuff and get organized,” Sidelle said. “Meet you back in your room, Vash?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want. Kieran and I can hang out for a while, right, Kieran?”
“Yep, we can find some trouble to get into,” he said. “We’ll come back to get you for dinner.”