Her Brother, Her Mate

“You know, that’s all on you. Why would you go looking for trouble by looking through her phone?” Simone scolds me, drumming her manicured fingers on the arms of the couch.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. “I’m a f*****g idiot.”

“No arguments here,” she laughed softly, “So….Emma? Whose that?”

“Nobody!” I almost yelled, “I hooked up with the chick 2 years ago. She was a clinger and I sometimes get that s**t sent to me. She’s nothing. That’s why I forgot that it was there.”

“Hey, I believe you,” Simone held her hands up in surrender, “You don’t have to convince me. I don’t think you really need to convince Carli either. But, you rummaging through her phone looking for something to be pissed at, when you weren’t all pure and innocent either makes you look like a hypocrite. You accuse her of sending guys nudes, when you have them yourself.”

“I know that. It’s irritating as crap listening to y’all talk about tinder and your hook-ups though, and I let my curiosity and jealousy get the best of me,” I told her. Everything has been going so well too. Why the heck did I have to ask her about those pictures? I could have just deleted them all, then handed her phone back and she would have been none the wiser.

“Poor puppy,” Simone fake pouts.

“Why do you keep calling me puppy?”

She laughs softly, “Cuz that’s what you are. A lost puppy, trying to chase after his master. I’m calling you poor because you almost had her. 2 steps forward, 10 steps back,” she snickers, amused by my suffering.

I get up and knock on Carli’s door, but she doesn’t answer.

“Carli?” I called out, knocking again.

“f**k off,” she yells, throwing something so it bangs against the door.

I sighed, walking back out to the living room.

“No luck?” Simone asks, flipping through channels on the TV until she finds some trashy housewives show.

I shook my head, plopping down on the recliner.

“She will come around,” Simone offers me a sympathetic smile.

30 minutes later, knocking causes me and Simone to look at each other in confusion. I stand to answer the door, but Carli suddenly busts out of her room in a micro dress and heels, running to answer it.

I follow after her confused, but when I see who’s on the other side, a deep growl vibrates through me.

Mitch Meyers is standing there, a playful smirk on his lips while he checks my mate out, his eyes going up and down her exposed body. “Ready to go?” he asks her, looking at me briefly and giving me a quick nod.

“Ready,” she smiled seductively up at him.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I asked them in disbelief.

She doesn’t even turn to look at me, “Out. Don’t wait up.”

“You are not going out. You’re not leaving this packhouse, Carli. I don’t know what you’re playing at right now but-”

“I don’t know what you’re playing at, Parker,” she turns and glares at me, “You don’t want me because I’m not some naive, innocent little she-wolf, then fine. I’m just living up to what you think of me. I’m going out, and you can go f**k yourself.”

“That’s not why I won’t-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Parker.” she goes to leave, but I reach out to grab hold of her wrist. She turns around and punches me in the gut, then upper cuts me in the face, making me fall back in an agonized heap.

“I’ll text you,” she calls back to Simone, who is watching us in amazement and horror. She nods, then watches as Carli leaves with a frightened looking Mitch.

Carli POV

How dare he. How dare that a*****e go through my f*****g phone just to try and belittle and accuse me. f*****g hypocrite. Just like his f*****g father. No, I’m not some pure little b***h who waited their whole life for their mate. Neither is he. Who the f**k is he to judge me when he was sexting some w***e not even a week ago.

Abstinence my a*s. He probably just wanted me to feel like s**t. I lay in bed for just a few minutes before I decided I was done sitting around and playing house with that self-righteous jerk. I’m getting out of here, and he can stay home, agonizing over what I’m doing while I’m away, ignoring his calls like he did to me.

I was ready to accept him. I was so f*****g ready, even without the full mate bond, but he kept turning me down. Was he testing me to see if I could wait for it or something? Like he was worth the wait? f**k him. I’m not waiting around, begging him for it anymore. I was ready to accept him, but now I see he wasn’t ready to accept me.

The micro dress, bright red and skin tight that I borrowed from Simone just in case Parker and I got a chance to go out will finally be getting some use. I straighten my hair, shimmy in the stretchy fabric, then apply a little waterproof mascara and red l*p tint, ready for a night out on Miami beach.

Mitch was more than willing to come pick me up. I told him about the missing vamp, and he and Mark will be going with me, acting as bodyguards, boy toys, whatever I decide to use them as.

When I heard knocking at the door, I quickly finished buckling my strappy heels and ran out to answer it before Parker could. He would send Mitch away, probably with a black eye, before I could make it out the door.

Mitch is standing propped against the door, looking like s*x on legs in his half-buttoned shirt and dark jeans hugging his h**s in all the right places. “Ready to go?” he asks, then looks up momentarily, nodding to who I can only guess is Parker.

“Ready,” I smiled up at him, not giving Parker the time of day.

“Where the f**k do you think you’re going?”

I didn’t want to fight with Parker on my way out. Not really. I just wanted an escape to clear my head, and relieve some stress by dancing and letting loose. Maybe doing some investigating of my own; finding my own leads as to where the missing vampire went. I had no plans on sleeping with Mitch, or anyone else for that matter, but when Parker tries to demand I stay after he not only violated my privacy, but made me feel like s**t for my past, the thought of getting back at him crosses my mind. I would never do it, at least not unless I rejected him first, but the thought is there buzzing in the back of my mind like a busy bee.

When Parker tries to stop me from leaving, I punch him twice without really meaning to. Reflex. He shouldn’t have tried to grab me like that. I leave while he’s still in a crumpled heap on the ground, Simone standing there watching like I’m crazy.

“You alright?” Mitch asks me, walking me down the stairs.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Peachy,” I mutter, clutching a small bag with my phone and keys in it.

“You sure you should be going out? He seemed pretty pissed.”

“Yep,” I popped the ‘p’, “So sure. If I stay here another second I’m going to lose my mind.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” he snickers, “You would be left with nothing but your muscles and good looks.”

“Much like you,” I teased, allowing Mitch to guide me down the stairs with a steadying hand on my lower back.

I caught sight of my mom and Alpha Jared on the ground floor, and I tried my best to ignore them. No such luck.

“Where are you going? And what are you wearing?” my mother asked me in a disapproving tone.

I didn’t spare her a glance, “Out.”

“Where’s Parker?” she asks, eyeing Mitch suspiciously.

I ignored her and kept walking. I don’t want to deal with any more judgmental bullshit today. Even when Alpha Jared calls out for me, I don’t turn around.

“You’re just pissing all the higher ups off tonight, aren’t you?” Mitch asks with amusement, opening the passenger door for me to his Tesla. Mark is in the backseat, and gives me a friendly shoulder nudge after I buckle my seatbelt. When Mitch starts pulling out of the circular drive, Parker comes running out the packhouse doors.

The look of utter devastation and sorrow in his face eats away at me, making my stomach feel like it’s lodged in my throat. I swallow the feelings back down, block out my mind link, and tell myself not to look back and enjoy my freedom. Freedom has never tasted so bad, though.