~Ariana's POV~
Getting out of the shower, I wrapped a huge towel around myself, before going into the room, my eyes were immediately drawn to my bed and the figure seated on top,
"what the hell are you doing in here?" I asked, my features taking on a cold and deadly look, she rolled her eyes at me
"The name is Claire." she said cockily, I raised a brow,
"and I would care because......?" I asked blankly, she growled at me,
"I don't believe you want to test me girl, some wolves bite and they bite hard." she threatened, I scoffed
"I've got teeth too lady, maybe not as sharp as a wolf's but they can do some pretty good damage of their own, now get the fuck out of my room!" I replied harshly, she chuckled darkly,
"you're an interesting little girl, for that single reason, I'll give you a much needed advice, Im not really sure you actually understand the situation around here, notwithstanding, the fact is, a human isn't wanted here, what I'm trying to say in essence is, I'll take good care of Talon and Jaylen for you, so back off." she said in a deadly tone
I stared at her quietly before bursting out into laughter, she gave me a confused look,
"I couldn't help it, damn, that was really funny, back off, jeez girl you're hilarious, I'm guessing you're supposed to be the love rival, like in all those cute romance novels." I said chuckling lightly before my features hardened,
"sadly, this is not a novel dearest, coming into my room and telling me to back off, honey, you just got me a whole lot more interested, I'm not wanted here?, like I care about that, ion give a fuck if I'm wanted or not, I didn't come here to be wanted, I'm here cause I wanna be here and that's all that fucking matters, you dig?" I asked with a glare that could freeze her where she stood.
All facades of friendliness left her features as she stood up, staring me down, I didn't back down from her stare, after a moment she smirked,
"I should've known you wouldn't appreciate my good intentions, this is the problem with humans." she said, I rolled my eyes,
"if by good intentions you mean threats then no, I do not appreciate being threatened, your the one who needs something from me, you need me out of the picture, you should ask nicely don't you think?" I said with a tight smile, she chuckled again, looking down,
"nicely huh, I can do that, I'll be sure to be really nice." she replied,
"yeah hon, you should do that, now if you didn't notice, the door is that way." I said with a wink, she glared angrily at me, before stomping out, slamming my door shut behind her.
I rolled my eyes with a slight chuckle, 'I'm in for one fun ride' I thought amused, getting a round neck t-shirt and some black skinny jeans, I pulled them on after my underwear, putting on a hair band to push my tight curls back, I grabbed my phone before shoving my feet into my bunny slippers and heading to the kitchen.
"Hey." Dan said as soon as he caught sight of me, the table I had sat at the last time I was here was occupied by, Jay, Leo and the pretty girl I didn't know yet, a seat in between seperated them from Talon, Cain, Grey and the twins, I rolled my eyes at their childishness, as if an empty chair in between makes any difference, I stated as much,
"leaving an empty chair between doesn't make a difference you know, y'all rivals are sitting at the same table and that's that." I said with a smirk as I sat at the empty chair, everyone threw me a glare and I laughed,
"let's just eat." Talon grumbled and I nudged him smiling, and he chuckled before I turned to a frowning Jay,
"so Jay honey, are you gonna introduce me to your pretty friend?" I asked wiggling my brows, he tried to keep the frown on but soon enough I noticed a small smile,
"I'm Kayla, Jaylen's third in command, Leo Reginae." she said blankly, whilst addressing me formally.
I tilted my head slightly before replying in the same tone, not bothering to correct her address, it seems she wanted to establish boundaries early, I would oblige.
"Nice to meet you Kayla " I said and then I turned my attention elsewhere, as the nice girl I met earlier served us pancakes, eggs, bacons and sausages, she waved at me shyly and I waved back with a smile and she shuffled away excitedly.
We ate quietly, apart from I, the twins and Grey engaging in slight conversation the rest seemed keen on not mixing up, I wouldn't push just yet, we had a whole month to fix that, I mostly ignored Kayla throughout the meal and soon enough I could feel her eyes on me, I still ignored her though until Jay sighed,
"Ana, do you not like Kayla?" He asked me, I turned to him raising a brow,
"why would you say that?" I asked, he shrugged,
"well she believes so and asked me to find out from you." he said honestly, I chuckled turning to her,
"I think you've misunderstood me." I said,
"well considering you've pointedly ignored me after our introduction, I don't know what to think, I apologise for displeasing you in anyway that I have, if my presence is not okay with you, I will leave at your orders Leo Reginae." she said respectfully and I sighed rubbing my temples
"that, that there, that Leo Reginae stuff is the problem." I said,
"you do not wish for me to address you with your position?" She asked, I nodded,
"so far, everyone has avoided doing that since I asked them to take it easy with me, hearing you address me as such, I actually took it as you were making the boundaries clear between us and I was only keeping my distance, like I felt you wanted me to." I explained, she smiled shaking her head,
"I didn't mean to make it seem like that Ana, I just didn't want to take liberties without your permission." she replied, I laughed,
"don't worry about that Kayla, just treat me normally, btw I wished everyone was like you when it came to liberties." I said frowning as I recalled that Claire lady in my room, they all gave me questioning looks,
"y'all do me a favour and tell your friend Claire that I don't appreciate people coming into my room uninvited." I said and everyone's expression changed at the sound of her name,
"she was in your room?" Mia asked and I nodded,
"I got out the shower and met her there, although it's kinda my fault for not locking my door." I replied, Jay growled lowly,
"locked door or not, it's not her room, you should teach your bitch some manners Talon." Jay said and Talon glared at him,
"she's not my bitch and I'll talk to her, did she say anything to you?", Talon asked and I chuckled softly,
"nothing much." I replied with a shrug, he scanned my expression before nodding and we all went back to our food.
After breakfast it was just 8:00, I still had five hours to spare,
"I don't have classes till one, what do I do with five good hours?" I asked and Jay laughed, standing up,
"you can take a tour round the mansion or whatever you fancy, your card grants you access everywhere, I'll be in my office if you need anything, Talon and I have some pack stuff to sort out." he said with a tight smile, I nodded before letting out a yawn,
"you know what, I think I'll rather catch up on some sleep, I noticed your office has this really nice and comfy looking couch." I said with a smirk, he chuckled and nodded,
"it does, after you." he said politely and I smiled moving towards the office with Jay and Talon in tow, a glance over my shoulder showed me the shit eating grins and thumbs up my friends were giving me.
Getting into the office, I headed straight for the couch and settled into it, laying my head on the arm rest, the guys took their seats at opposite ends of the desk, I had actually doubted I'd be able to get any sleep but soon enough, I felt my eyelids drooping as I drifted off to sleep, a realization hitting me, somehow, I felt absolutely safe in their presence.
~Talon's POV~
Jaylen and I had just finished discussing the details of the packs renovation and expansion, it was already 10:00, he wanted to know exactly what it entailed and ultimately how long we'd be here, I sighed,
"apart from that, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about." I said, he raised a brow at me, his expression cold and emotionless,
"concerning the renovation and expansion, I would really like your construction company to take on the project." I informed him, and he scoffed
"no thank you, we have our hands full.", he declined immediately, I sighed again,
"I know that, it wouldn't be one of the top construction companies if it didn't have a constant work load but the expansion project is a huge one." I explained, he glared at me,
"and you seem to believe we're lacking major projects?" He questioned,
"no, you know I didn't mean it like that." I said annoyed,
"how exactly did you mean it then Alpha?" He asked, I winced at his harsh tone and sighed,
"My pack has only ever used your construction company from day one, you have all the building history." I began, he shrugged,
"I'll tell Leo to fax you all the files then, you can pass them to another company." he said nonchalantly,
"let me finish Jay, mom and Dad won't trust anyone else with the job and honestly, neither will I, I'll really appreciate it if you can put our differences aside and handle this project, before you answer, at least think about it Jay." I said.
He grunted in response, standing up and moving to take a seat on the couch closest to the one our mate was currently curled on, sleeping soundly, I stood, moving closer to her and squatting, I watched entranced as she took soft breaths and her eyes lids fluttered, she looked so peaceful, my eyes flickered to those cute bunny slippers and I smiled, I couldn't help but wonder how someone could be so perfect, she and Jay both, they were too good for a man like me
I'd do them more harm than good, I was a curse to whoever was unlucky enough to have me as a mate, feeling Jay's eyes on me, I turned to meet his eyes and he moved his gaze away from me, I sighed standing up straight and walking to the door, but stopped halfway
"I'm sorry Jaylen." I said sadly, I heard his cold chuckle before he replied emotionlessly,
"I'm sorry too Alpha." Were his cold words, walking out the door I felt the pain in my heart kick up again at his words because I knew Jaylen enough to know exactly what he meant, just like he had said that night, he was done with me, and this time, it was for good.
~Ariana's POV~
"I'm sorry Jaylen." I heard Talon's voice as I woke up,
"I'm sorry too Alpha." I heard Jaylen's emotionless reply, I couldn't help the frown at the finality of Jay's words,
'well I'm also sorry because I don't intend to let this be.' I thought with a huff, before stretching and standing up, Jaylen turned to me with a smile,
"did you rest well?" He asked and I nodded,
"you done here?" I questioned,
"no, not yet." he replied heading back to his desk, I nodded, glancing at the clock, 10:20
"alright then, I'll just go hang out with the twins for a bit and then go get ready, I'll drop by before I leave." I promised, he smiled up at me,
"please do.", I nodded again and headed out.
I had been in Mia's room for the past hour, I met her doing her school work and I decided to help out, we were done now. We chatted for a bit before I noticed it was 12pm already,
"I'm going to go get ready." I informed her and she nodded. Getting to my room, which was just next door, I headed straight for the closet, pulling out a high waisted black skinny jean, a black crop top, and a yellow leather jacket with black heeled boots, after quickly styling my hair, I grabbed my phone, backpack, and key card before leaving my room and locking it.
Mia and Dan were having lunch at the kitchen, I handed Mia my key card before realizing something,
"Dan, my car!" I groaned,
"how the hell am I gonna get to school now?" I asked aloud,
"you could use one of mine if you don't mind?" Jaylen offered, walking into the kitchen and seating beside me, I sighed in relief,
"thanks Jay, you're a life saver." I said gratefully before turning to Dan with a glare,
"and you, your lazy ass had better
go get my car over from the apartment before I'm back." I said, he rolled his eyes but nodded and Jaylen lead the way to the garage.
Once the garage door was opened my jaws dropped again, I gave Jay a 'what the fuck' look and he grinned,
"do you sell cars by any chance?" I asked and he laughed,
"nah, they're mostly pride property, that line over there are my personal cars but you can use whichever you want." he replied and I grinned, I could get used to this, I didn't even want to start exploring the rows of cars right now, it'd only make choosing one difficult, my eyes had already spotted a black Aston Martin One-77, he notice my gaze and smirked,
"good taste in cars I see." he said, I turned to him with a grin,
"oh, you don't know the half of it." I replied mysteriously, he laughed and headed to a numbered rack of keys, grabbing a key and tossing it to me, I caught it, before running to the car, unlocking it and getting in, I put the key in the ignition and turned, the car roared to life and I smiled, before pulling out the garage, I stopped the car once I was out, running to him excitedly and placing a quick peck on his lips,
"I'll be a little late, see you later."I said before getting back in the car and driving down the long winding driveway that led out of the massive property, once out of the gate,and hopefully out of sight, I stepped on the accelerator, effectively increasing the speed and zooming away, whilst laughing maniacally, however I had failed to realize that I had left my dearest Jay rooted in spot at the feel of my lips.