Chapter Chapter Thirty-Nine - Ashley's P.O.V
The entire car ride to Prestonville has me on edge. The twins try their hardest to keep me occupied; they can see that I am lost in my mind, genuinely worried about Zac. The fierce urgency and worry that had coated the brief conversation that I had had with him earlier.
As it was, I was already worried out of my mind about him as he was supposed to meet us earlier in the day along with his father. Weird, it didn’t sound like he had been with his father now that I think about it.
Rayne and Kane, seeing or maybe feeling, my distress decided to have one of their Betas Will drive us. Our Beta I correct myself. It is so strange thinking that my life was now tied to theirs for life and that we would rule the largest wolfpack in the world.
Looking at Rayne and Kane sitting beside me, I can’t help but smile. Rayne has a strong arm resting behind my shoulders and is gently stroking my hair as he looks out the window, his expressive eyebrows drawn. He is obviously lost in thought. Looking to my right, I am delightfully surprised to find Kane looking into my eyes, a small smile hovering on his lips as he absentmindedly traces circles on my thigh with long, beautiful fingers.
Sighing wistfully, I don’t think I will ever get tired of how my mates look at and touch me. They make me feel alive and loved. Over the last few weeks, I have inevitably come to discover that while the twins may be identical, Rayne is slightly more serious, a little more broody but still light-hearted and good-natured like Kane.
They are both strong, fair Alphas who command the respect that they have earned. When the door closes to our house of a night, though, it is as if a considerable weight is shifted off their shoulders, and they both come truly alive. It is what makes me love them. No matter how bad their day has been, they both leave the tension at the door and can unwind and enjoy their nights with me.
“Penny, for your thoughts,” Rayne says in a gentle voice, promptly pulling me out of myself. “I am just worried about Zac,” I confess, peeking up from underneath my lashes, trying to gauge Rayne and Kane’s possible reactions to my candid confession. Kane’s hand stills momentarily on my thigh but then continues as if I had imagined it.
“Whatever is going on, we will sort it out, Ash,” Kane says solemnly with a nod to Rayne. “We don’t expect you to suddenly not have any feelings for Zac considering your history with him,” he continues thoughtfully. “And as much as I want to kill him for having that history with you, I don’t want to see any harm come to him for your sake”, Rayne chimes in, lips pursed tightly.
Whacking him lightly on the shoulder, I snort. “Thanks,” I say grimly, not knowing what else to say. Naturally, I don’t want Rayne and Kane to be fighting with Zac, but I can understand jealousy. I still wasn’t sure how I would handle seeing Zac with Mia, let alone live with them in the Blood Moon packhouse.
Maybe this would be one tradition that might have to be broken, naturally depending on how things went. I knew the twins would try their hardest and be professional around Zac but how Zac and I interacted around each other along with Mia still had to be seen. Sighing once more, I decided that maybe it would be for the best if Zac and Mia moved to another house.
Perhaps we could move Will and his mate in with us instead, along with Tobias from the Midnight pack. Having two Betas living in the packhouse wasn’t unheard of. Maybe I will broach the subject tonight at the meeting while all Betas were present.
The drive is a long one, and I find myself drifting off more than once, much to the considerable amusement of the twins. The assholes thought it was hilarious every time a soft snore escaped my lips, their snickering startling me awake more than once. I got mine back, though, when I laid my head in Rayne’s lap and perched my feet onto Kane’s lap, letting my body rub suggestively onto their crotches.
I eagerly watched their smiles fall, and their faces redden, trying to keep steady breathing in front of Will. Checkmate, I think with a snicker and drift off to sleep, the feeling of huge bulges and two men squirming uncomfortably underneath me.
Initially, my sleep is filled with pleasant dreams of the twin’s experienced hands and lips all over me, but then it takes a sinister turn, and all I can see is Zac lying in a pool of blood. The dreadful sight has me sitting bolt upright, scrambling for air as it feels like I can’t breathe.
In seconds the twins have their arms wrapped protectively around me.
Taking a few steadying breaths, I ask where we are to try and take the focus of my considerable embarrassment at being caught having a nightmare. I bitterly hated displaying any sign of weakness, and lately, that is all I seemed to do. I hated being weak.
Especially since the twins always looked at me with awe, and more than once, I had overheard them proudly informing people that I was a fearless warrior and the only female Beta slash Luna in the world. Being Luna now, I guess I will lose the title of Beta, but at least I know I earned that title once and would do everything in my power to prove that I was still a badass Luna who could hold her own in the face of danger.
“We are about an hour away,” Rayne says, taking my chin in his large hands and leaning in for a kiss. One that has me humming in the back of my throat. Kane clears his on the other side of me, and I feel Rayne’s grin beneath my lips. Pulling away from Rayne, he winks at me, which has my insides liquifying.
Slowly turning to Kane, I undo my seatbelt and hoist myself onto his lap, much to the minor annoyance of Rayne as he lets out a low rumble, making Kane laugh so loud that Will is looking at us with one eyebrow cocked in the rearview mirror.
Suddenly a fierce pang of guilt runs through my chest, and I hurriedly climb off Kane’s lap. I feel sick thinking about the possibility of Zac needing me while I was enjoying myself. “I’m sorry”, I all but whisper passionately to no one in particular.
The twins had been nothing but supportive of my feelings for Zac, and that made the ache in my heart worse, knowing that I was the sole reason why three men were jealous and were wary of each other. How could I expect them to ever get along? Should I even expect them to get along was the better question?
I had no way of knowing how things stood between Zac and me now that we were both mated. It would be selfish of me to think that I could still have any sort of relationship with Zac, especially in front of the twins and Mia. They knew what Zac meant to me, but I would never flaunt my feelings for Zac in front of them. Ever.
In the few short weeks that I had met the twins, I can sincerely say that I have fallen head of heels in love with them. The thought thrilled me and scared me in equal measures. The love I had for Zac was as deep and ingrained that it hurt so badly. Tossing the thought aside, I squared my shoulders and sat up straighter in my seat.
Looking first at Rayne and then at Kane, “I don’t know how to say this, but I think we need to talk before we see Zac,” I say in a small voice, hoping that the sound of the radio would offer us some privacy from Will overhearing our conversation. Rayne and Kane nod at each other, gently squeezing my hands in theirs and wait for me to continue.
“I love Zac, and I don’t know how to make things less awkward between us. I don’t want anything to come between us, ever, but I don’t want to upset anyone with my feelings either,” I continue. “If you don’t want me talking to Zac, I will also understand,” I say, hoping that they can see how genuine my words are.
No matter how much it would kill me not to speak to Zac, I would do it for them. “We know you love Zac,” they say in unison. “But we trust you, Ashley, and will try to respect your feelings towards Zac,” Kane says, kissing my forehead tenderly. “I mean, I will always want to kick his arse, though,” Rayne says with a snicker, earning another play slap from me.
I can always count on him to lighten the mood with a thinly veiled threat. Leaning over, I press my lips to Raynes first and then Kane’s “I love you both,” I reply breathlessly to the bewildered astonishment of the twins. Looking between them, I can see my words have taken them both by suprise. “We love you too,” they reply breathlessly after a few minutes of shocked silence, eyes shining brilliantly with unbridled lust.
The rest of the drive is spent thwarting the twin’s attempts of getting it on in the car, professing my love, evidently having turned their brains into mush. Not that I minded the attention. On the contrary, the feel of their hands and mouths all over me had me squirming in my seat and blushing as Will tried to keep his eyes on the road, more than once having to swerve the vehicle back between the lines making me chuckle.
I wasn’t a prude by any means and found him sneaking peeks a bit of a turn on. Who would have guessed that keeping the twins dicks in their pants on long road trips was going to be a thing? Trying to distract them, I ask once more how far away we are from Prestonville. Kane sighs gently and pulls his phone from his jeans pocket, and looks at his map.“We are about ten kilometres from the meeting point,” he replies promptly.
“Thanks,” I reply. The closer we get, the more I am unconsciously bouncing in my seat. I am nervous and excited about seeing Zac. We have never gone this long without seeing one another, and I want to know how he is and how things are going with Mia. Sensing the twins stiffening beside me, I realize how I must look to them and instantly hate myself. “I’m sorry,” I say once again. “Don’t be?” they say in unison; I am not sure I will ever get used to this twin thing but can’t help but find them so adorable when they speak as one.
“We may be jealous, possessive assholes, but we love and trust you,” Rayne continues thoughtfully with a gentle smile. “We understand that Zac means something to you,” Kane says, stroking my thigh once more. “Thank you,” I reply instantly. “I truly mean it. I don’t know what I did to ever deserve having two wonderful men in my life,” I sigh contentedly, and I mean it. I feel so blessed right now.
Looking out the window, I realize that we are pulling off the highway and into the parking lot of the meeting place. “Zac,” I whisper via mind link and watch as a dirty, blood-soaked Zac turns to look in our direction, sending my heart into my throat. What. The Fuck. Is my first thought, taking in Zac’s grotesque appearance.
Before Will has a chance to stop the car, I am sliding myself over the top of Raynes lap and am out the door running. “Ashley”, Rayne growls via mind-link, going into Alpha mode but I don’t stop. I know what he is thinking, we have no idea what is going on, and I just jumped out of a moving vehicle to run towards a blood-soaked male.
Zac’s shoulders slump as he notices me, his tense features melting into something softer as I embrace him.
Sensing the twins approaching us, I slightly stiffen in Zac’s comforting embrace, waiting for the fallout. Once it starts, it takes several minutes to get the situation under control.
No matter how much I tried to prepare the twins, they still can not help themselves, not that I blamed them. They would always protect what was theirs. I hadn’t expected Zac’s reaction though. To be honest, by all reports, his relationship with Mia had gotten off to a good start. With the tense standoff, Zac finally blurts out everything that has happened since I left and how things between him and Mia are strained and wasn’t going to plan.
My face turns to horror when he gets to the part about Mia and Tobias working together to try and bring us down. Her connection to Alpha Dante and the Midnight pack has me reeling. The more I hear what Zac has to say, the more my heart breaks for him. I can’t help myself, so I wrap my arms around him once more, inhaling his familiar scent deeply to help calm my nerves.
If Mia thought she was safe, she was fucking wrong. She may have deceived me once, but she won’t decieve me twice. I am going to make her pay for what she has done to Zac. Removing myself from the one-sided embrace, I search Zac’s eyes and can tell that he is a broken man. “I am so sorry, Zac,” I say via mind-link. “I will kill Mia for what she has done to you,” I continue earnestly.
“Time to make some plans,” I say, turning to look at the twins. “No one fucks with Zac and tries to take what is ours,” I say, heat creeping up my face and a hoarse growl escaping my lips. “No one”.“That’s our girl” the twins reply together, a twinkle in their eyes as we stride toward the waiting SUV. Time to take out the trash.