Tasting The Enemy

“Where do you think you’re going?” Opal popped her head into my room.

“To a party,” I lied.

“On a Wednesday night?” She raised her right brow and crossed her arms.

“It’s a senior’s thing. You wouldn’t remember what it’s like.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “I’m not that old, Elaine. You’re going to the meeting, aren’t you?”

“Of course not. Nik told me not to.”

She closed the door behind her and sighed. “Since when do you do things that Nik says? Come on I’ll drive you.”

I could have taken an SUV but Opal’s car wasn’t monitored like the others.

Opal was the daughter of the late Luna’s best friend. She lived in the mansion next door but she hung out here frequently. She practically grew up here so the guys and I referred to her as our cousin.

We climbed into Opal’s blue mini-cooper and buckled up.

“Why won’t your brother let you go to the meeting? As the Alpha’s daughter surely, you’re allowed.”

“Long story,” I mumbled. “I guess it’s a good time to tell you about my engagement.”

Opal slammed on the brakes. I lurched forward and scanned the dark road for animals or stray bikes.

“What?!” I gasped.

“You’re getting married? To who?”

I groaned. “I’m not sure if it’s something I’m going to do yet.”

“Oh, you haven’t said yes yet. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

When your brothers are two brooding Alphas the offers are few and the ones that come are just to prove they’re good enough to conquer the Alpha’s daughter. So I’ve only had a few real boyfriends and a lot of mistakes.

“It’s an arranged marriage, Opal.”

My eyes stung. This didn’t feel real.

“Oh… maybe he isn’t horrible.”

“It’s Neel,” I deadpanned.

“From the White Mountain Pack? Eww!”

Thank you! Someone who gets it.

“I mean, I’m sure he cleaned up.”

I laughed. We neared city hall. Opal drove passed it and parked in front of a cafe.

“Bentleys,” I whispered as we climbed out of the car.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“The Shaw boys are here.”

The large and commanding red truck was parked next to the black Bentley. Azaire was here.

“Oh. Since Richmond became Alpha, Azaire came back and became Beta.”

“What? Azaire’s the oldest.”

“I know, but who knows what happens on Blood Moon territory? I know where we get to hear everything.”

Opal led me to the back of the building where a set of stairs took us to the basement. I could smell the rats and the roaches. Eavesdropping wasn’t worth this much. Opal opened another door leading to a tight room with air vents in the walls.

“How did you find this place?” I asked.

“Shh… they’ll hear us.”

The shifters on the other side of the wall yelled and spoke over one another. It was impossible to make sense of things.

“This has gone on long enough!” A seasoned male voice yelled followed by a fist on a table. “We have lines for a reason. The Black Claw boys were wrong for crossing them.”

“Hey! Lake Ion is neutral territory just because Blood Moon shifters dominate it doesn’t make it yours. Another reason why this town’s not big enough for the two of us.” Nik’s voice was laced with venom.

“Watch it kid, don’t start a fight you can’t win,” Azaire said calmly.

Black Claw has great shifters. Dad drilled them to be the best it was Blood Claw who needed to be worried. If Dad’s plan to join with The White Mountain pack worked then our pack would only get stronger.

I wished they’d do it without involving me.

“I’m not going to take shit from a beta,” Nik spat.

“Take it from the Alpha, you don’t want to fight us. We’ll take apart your shiny pack in seconds.” I assumed that was Azaire’s brother Richmond.

“We’re not here to fight we’re here about the increasing number of wolf’s bane popping up in town and the stupid fight that broke out at the high school.”

“Wolf bane?” I whispered.

Opal frowned. “A friend of mine barely made it after an incident in a bar she worked at.”

“So far the Blood Moon pack hasn’t had any cases but my pack’s had the highest numbers.” A chill ran up my spine and my blood turned cold. That voice was familiar but I couldn’t place a face to a voice.

“It’s Neel,” Opal hissed.

I bit my tongue. “I have to get out of here.”

I shuffled out of the little room and tripped over a box in the basement. Opal called but I didn’t stop until I was out of the building.

“Don’t you want to see him?” Opal asked.

“What? No! How could he agree to this?”

“You don’t know that he has. Give him a chance to explain himself.”

I sighed. Opal was too nice but she was right maybe Neel has grown up since I last saw him and he wasn’t keen on this engagement.

I crossed my fingers.

***

I worked at Hannman’s Lodge on the weekends. I planned to extend my working hours since summer break was coming up. Quin pranced into the lodge wearing a grey bodysuit with shorts and flops. She looked awesome compared to my baggy pants, small company shirt and messy bun. I was on clean-up duty.

“I can’t believe you skipped a party to work,” she said.

“I had the night shift and I couldn’t get out of it.” It wasn’t a total lie. Quin knew parties weren’t my thing.

She rolled her eyes. “The Shaws were there. Turned out to be an awesome party.”

“I’m sure you had fun with Jenifer and Helen.” The other cheerleaders on the team.

Even after all the years of high school Jenifer, Helen and I never achieved best friend status but Quin was adamant about keeping me around so we had to put up with each other.

“Why were the Shaws there? Wasn’t it a Black Claw party?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Neutral ground. We’ll be seeing a lot of Lucas Shaw,” she smirked deviously.

“Quin…” she knew the consequences of getting involved with them.

She turned her glare on me. “Stop. How could you not tell me about your engagement? I had to find out from an invite. What the hell Elaine?”

“What?” I exclaimed.

They sent out invites without my permission.

“You heard me. You’re engaged to one of the strongest Alpha’s around. Not even Alpha Richmond can compare.”

He’s also a big oaf, who loves booze and women.

“It’s arranged,” I protested.

“Doesn’t matter just means your Dad has good taste. I want in on this wedding. Maid of honour?” Her eyes beamed with excitement.

At least one of us was excited about this forced marriage.

How could they do this? They wanted me to dress up and move like a puppet. My Father’s puppet. The full moon was in a few days I couldn’t run and I couldn’t fight my fate. As Quin spoke, defeat settled into my soul.