Hood

My head was in Phillip’s lap as he leaned down, aiming for my lips. His glasses fell and hit my neck and I coughed, sitting up and knocking my head into his.

Both of us groaned from the pain and I shook my head. “We are super bad at this kissing thing.” I turned back to look at him.

He put his glasses back on, nodding. “We are terrible at it. We can’t seem to make our lips meet.”

Jason shook his head from the kitchen and pushing himself off the counter he was once leaning on. “You two are ridiculous. It’s not that hard. You make it seem so complicated.”

I glared at him, flipping him off. “It’s hard to get it right.”

“Maybe if you can’t get it right, you shouldn’t be together.” He shrugged and came over, sitting on the other end of the couch.

“Take that back!” I reached over, hitting his shoulder. He tried to shield himself but didn’t do so well. “Take it back, Jason. Phillip and I are meant to be together and you know it for a fact.”

He chuckled, turning his face away from mine. “I’m not even sorry.”

Phillip wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back. “Shani, it’s okay. It’s a joke.”

I looked at Phillip and crossed my arms. “I know and hitting him is my form of a joke, too. We are twins after all. This is what we do.”

“Damnit, Jason, you promised to only be gone a minute,” a girl whined as she came from his room in just a robe.

Jason frowned and looked at Jessie, grabbed her hand and pulling her onto his lap. “I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you later.”

I gagged, looking the other way. “This is absolutely disgusting. Do not give me images. Keep it PG, children.”

Jessie giggled and looked at both of us. “I hear you guys are failing at kissing.”

My head snapped in her direction. “We are not failing. It’s just...a few mishaps.”

She wrapped her arms around Jason’s neck. “Sounds like failing to me.”

Phillip tightened his arms around me to keep me from jumping at her. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll make sure we prove them wrong.”

I sighed to myself. “We’re going to have the best damn kiss ever and we’re going yo be the cutest couple to exist in the pack. Trust me. We will make sure of it. And the sex will be ten times better than theirs. They’re going to be jealous. After all, we are technically forbidden to be together. And that is far better than two werewolves following the laws. Our love is extra passionate. We have to go against the crowd.”

Phillip chuckled and resting his head on mine. “That’s right. We are better already.”

Jessie gasped as she stood up from the couch. “Excuse me! I will fight you on that.”

I looked at her. “Do it. I’ll win.”

Jason frowned and he grabbed her waist. “I like you on my lap.”

I groaned. “Why are you two so nasty? My innocent brain is now full of you two. Jason is my brother!” I gestured.

Jason chuckled. “We’ll take it to the bedroom.” He stood up and scooped up Jessie. He ran back to his room and closed the door.

“The fact that they’re actually having sex with us in the other room is just inconsiderate.” I shifted my eyes towards Phillip’s.

He kissed my forehead. “It’s a werewolf thing. A lot of mates will do it because they don’t care. The pack house has a lot of mates going at it. You just don’t notice it.”

“Are you serious? Do they actually do that? Why? Do they not give a shit about those who can hear them?” I dropped my jaw.

He shrugged, keeping his hands around my waist. My back was pressed against his chest. I liked this position. It wasn’t because of doggy style. I like this because I could feel the comfort of being in his arms. I knew I was the only mate for him and that made me extremely happy.

“They’re still wolves and wolves are animals. Animals don’t care who sees them. Animals have no shame.” He laid his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes.

“Well, I’m not an animal in any way and I have shame. I’d like our sex life to be between us and only us. We will always make sure it’s a private matter.”

His chuckle moved against my shoulder, sending a small vibration. “I’m perfectly happy with that.”

I put my hands on top of his, interlocking our fingers. “Good. It’s something I will never change my mind on. I don’t need sickos listening to us. I want it to just be about us.”

I heard a knock and I squinted before realizing I couldn’t see through the door. “Come in.”

I was surprised at the person who walked through my door. “Travis? What are you doing here?”

He looked around the place before responding, “I’m here to help you guys plan to get back at Sawyer and Whitney or whatever it is you want to do.”

“Kill them. I want to kill them,” the words rolled off my tongue with ease. “They tried to kill me. This is war now.”

“They did? How so?”

“They exposed me to peanuts somehow. I’m deathly allergic to peanuts.” I took a deep breath.

Travis nodded a bit. “You haven’t found the source?”

“Nope.”

“What were you doing before it happened?” he asked as he sat down.

“I was getting Phillip out of jail and we came back to my cabin. That was when I went into my allergic reaction. We searched this place already.”

Travis tapped his chin. “Sounds like you may have gotten it before coming here. Maybe it was the jail.”

“Jail? Why?”

“We know Sawyer and Whitney want you two dead. It’s easier to kill you when you’re vulnerable. You were vulnerable when you both were fighting and hating each other. They were trying to get you then. However, when Phillip turned himself in, they knew what this would lead to. You wouldn’t actually let him get the death penalty. So you freed him and you guys made up, which ultimately made you stronger. But what would weaken you again? An allergy. So, between the jail and arriving home, you were somehow exposed to peanuts,” he finished.

I looked at Phillip and nodded. “He’s right. It had to be at the jail.”

Phillip looked at Travis. “You make this seem so easy.”

Travis shrugged and smiled a bit. “It is easy. I never trusted those two loonies.”

I thought back to visiting the jail. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was right there the whole time. “When we were leaving the jail. I remember something poking me but I shrugged it off as a nail. That’s how it got in. I’m allergic to peanuts but a small amount on the tip of a sharp object would take a bit to register with my body. Holy shit.”

Phillip frowned. “So they were at the jail?”

“Did they visit you?” I asked him.

“No.”

I tapped my chin. “But Sheriff Rockefer still knew they were there. This is bad. We need to definitely come up with a plan to expose them first so everyone knows their plan for when we kill them, and then we aren’t the bad guys.”

Travis and Phillip nodded.

Travis looked at my brother’s door and narrowed his eyes. “Are they having sex? Really? When we need to save your guys’ lives?”

Phillip shrugged. “Yeah.”

Travis marched to the door and started pounding on it. “Get your horny asses our here! We need to save our friends before we make babies.”

Travis stepped back as the two of them emerged from the room, grumbling and mumbling curses. They all came to sit down on the floor. Travis smiled like a proud father. “Now that we are all present, let’s get down to business.”

I nodded and yawned. “Just make sure I don’t fall asleep. It’s been tough trying to sleep these past few days, knowing what could possibly come to kill me. Sleeping makes us vulnerable.”

Phillip looked at them and gripped my hand. “What can we do to expose them?”

Travis went into his thoughts.

Jessie leaned back and looked at both of us. “I say we record them. But we have to do it in a way that they don’t know. We have to leave the camera because they will hear our heartbeats and smell our scents if we are with the camera. It’s a simple method and it’s effective to expose their plans. Once that is exposed, everyone will know that they have gone against the code. They will be shamed and imprisoned.”

“And killed by me,” I added on.

Everyone looked at me, not saying a word.

I shivered, clearing my throat. “They tried to kill me. They’ve sent many wolves after me. The only way to stop them is death. I want to do it because they have hurt me. They have threatened my life and Phillip’s. I have a better stance to kill them than Phillip. I have no happy memories with them to hold me back from the goal.” I nodded my head

Travis clapped his hands. “Good news! We now have a good plan. When they are exposed, they will be vulnerable. That will be our chance to take them out. This is good. I like this. I like this a lot.”

I gave Travis a weird look and shook my head. “I’m curious as to who your mate is going to be.”

Travis leaned back, averting his eyes to the floor.

I looked at Phillip. “Did I say something wrong?”

Phillip shook his head and kissed my cheek. “Travis is older than I am. He’s thirty-two. He’s long surpassed the age of finding a mate. Travis is one of the mateless wolves.”

I frowned. “Why? I mean, he’s a little weird but he deserves love.”

“He does but the Mood Goddess doesn’t agree.”

“He can find a good woman. He can find one who’s also mateless. That’s allowed.” I pointed out.

“He could. But the few mateless wolves in this town are not for him. He’s tried. He has,” Phillip whispered.

I looked down at the tangled arms around my waist. “I’m really sorry. I can’t imagine that. But I’m glad you’re trying to find things to keep you happy in the meantime. Maybe she’s out there. Maybe she’s just hiding.”

“Hiding from me?” Travis crossed his arms, giving me a look.

I shook my head, sighing to myself. “That came out wrong. I mean maybe she’s hiding. Maybe she’s in a bad situation and struggling to get out and therefore she can’t meet you yet. When she does, it’ll be the right time.”

The silence filled the room when my words ended. Nobody was sure of what else to say. Travis was mateless and we had a plan set in place now. All that was missing was the successful kiss between Phillip and I.

“I am on the verge of passing out so if all of you wolves could like...let your fellow human friend get some shut-eye, that would be fantastic.”

They all nodded their heads as Travis stood up and left the cabin. Phillip let go of me and I went to my room, falling onto my bed. My eyes gave out and the darkness took me under.

In here, I was vulnerable and susceptible to any harm Sawyer or Whitney planned. In here, I was at risk of giving up my own life and everything I knew. In here, I could lose Phillip forever.

I couldn’t care. I didn’t have the change to care. Sleep controlled my body and I gave in. It was pathetic and weak of me but my human side loved sleep more than living and what other choice did I have?

There was a high chance I wouldn’t see light ever again.