CHAPTER 9

Drew

Maybe I underestimated Scarlett. She seemed to think that she had everything under control, and seeing the way she looked tonight, I couldn’t argue. When we arrived, Luke was nowhere in sight, but Scarlett was sure that he would show up.

Since Luke wasn’t my problem, I told Scar good luck and made my way toward the crowd. It was time for me to get to work. Step One – make my rounds. I needed everyone here to know my name and recognize my face. Just as I was getting a bit too flirty with some girl named Becca, I saw Aiden walk up and join the party. Step Two – befriend Aiden. Lucky for me, this step turned out to be a no-brainer. The guy was pretty cool.

After shooting the shit for a while, I finally said, “So…I heard a rumor.”

“Oh hell, which one?” Aiden asked laughing.

“That many…huh? Well, I heard that you grew up thinking you were human. Is that true?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, that rumor is true. Pretty messed up, huh?” Aiden laughed, probably at the absurdity of it all.

“That’s fucking awesome! I can’t believe that. So, how did you find out? Did you wolf out in the middle of school or something?” I asked, feigning interest.

“No, thank God! Actually, it was my sister, Alli, who started to experience things first. Things were getting pretty bad for her back in Texas so Mom told us what we were becoming and moved us here,” Aiden explained, not really going into detail.

Even I had to admit that was fucked up. I almost felt bad for the guy. I couldn’t even begin to imagine growing up never knowing that I was really a werewolf. I thought my dad was an ass, but he had nothing on Aiden’s mom. I mean, that’s not even the worst of it. His mother never bothered to tell him who his real father was until the lie finally bit her in the ass. That was a topic I’d have to save for another day.

Looking over my shoulder, Aiden’s eyes lit up. “There’s my girl,” Aiden said. I turned around to see Teagan headed our way. He pulled her against him and nuzzled his face in her hair.

“Hi, Gavin,” Teagan said, barely taking her eyes off Aiden to acknowledge me.

“Hey, Teagan, how’s it goin’?”

“I’m good, but it’s freezing out here. Hey, I hate to steal Aiden away, but I need his help with something.”

Aiden didn’t argue. Instead, he patted me on the shoulder and said, “Well, nice talkin’ to you, man. I’ll see ya later.” Then he followed his human back toward his house.

Once again, luck was on my side because just as Aiden and Teagan left the party, Cade and Alli showed up. I didn’t like Cade, but I could fake it with the best of them, so I put my feelings aside and walked over to him and his mate.

One brother down. One to go.