The Alpha's Call Book 2

LYLA

My body burned with longing for both of my mates.

They stood in front of me, their perfect forms emitting an intoxicating musk that drove me mad.

They exuded strength.

They were virile.

Teeming with hunger…

A hunger for me.

There was a part of me that yearned to sate their appetites, to let them ravish me right then.

It was only natural.

Sebastian’s chest huffed in and out as he ran his hand through his wavy blond hair. He sized me up, but didn’t say a word.

He was waiting for me to make the first move.

But what move am I going to make?

I wasn’t in my right frame of mind—I was wild, feral.

Caspian’s eyes looked exactly how I felt. They were savage, untamed, and locked directly on me.

He was so focused on me that he wasn’t even acting territorial toward Sebastian. It was like I was the only other person in the room.

Suddenly I had the urge to scream. I wanted to say, “Fuck me! Prove which one of you is worthy of being my mate!”

I nearly choked on the words as they entered my throat, but I shoved them back down.

What the hell has come over me?

But I knew deep down why I was feeling this way…

I had two mates, yet I was still unmated...and unmarked.

I was living in a carnal purgatory of my own making.

My body wanted both mates, but I could only have one.

I still had to make a choice, however impossible that would be.

DING-DONG!

The doorbell downstairs suddenly rang, pulling me from my enraptured state.

My animalistic urges subsided, and I finally felt normal again.

Sebastian and Caspian both looked like they’d just come out of a haze.

Oh, thank the Goddess…

Saved by the fucking bell.

***

“Coming, coming!” I shouted, still pulling my shirt over my head as my elbow got stuck in the sleeve.

I didn’t know who my savior at the door was, but they’d just majorly cockblocked me, and I couldn’t have been more grateful.

It’s probably Tiberius. I’m sure he could scent our sin from a hundred miles away…

As I managed to get all of my limbs into the correct holes of my clothing, I threw open the door.

“SURPRISE!”

Teresa was standing on the doorstep, her arms held wide open.

She immediately pulled me into a suffocating hug, but also one that felt oddly comforting.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, ushering her inside.

“I wanted to see the love shack that you were holed up in, but…”

Teresa wrinkled her nose as she looked around the dilapidated villa.

“I didn’t realize it was going to be an actual shack.”

“Hey, this place has great bones,” I said, leading Teresa into the kitchen. “She’s just been a little neglected.”

“And what about you?” Teresa asked with a mischievous grin. “Living with two mates… I’m sure you aren’t being neglected.”

“I can promise you that nothing has happened,” I said quickly, hoping she couldn’t read the guilt on my face. “Lemonade?”

I began to pour Teresa a glass as she eyed me suspiciously.

“I don’t buy it,” she said. “This whole house smells like raging hormones.”

I nearly spilled the lemonade all over the table.

“Girl, admit it! You’ve got it bad!” Teresa said, noticing my nerves. “You’re hornier than a bitch in heat!”

“Okay fine!” I shouted. “Yes, I’m going crazy being cooped up with my mates! I feel like my mating bonds are strangling me.”

“That might be hot if you’re into autoerotic asphyxiation,” Teresa joked.

“I’m not,” I responded dryly.

“So, what are you going to do?” Teresa said. “Do you think you can make it for a full moon cycle like this?”

It was a damned good question…

The moon was waning more and more each day, and so was my resistance to my mating pull.

“I’m not sure,” I responded. “I know my life would be easier if I made a choice, but I’m just not ready yet.”

“Which way are you leaning?” Teresa asked, propping herself up on her elbows and staring at me with wide, expectant eyes. “Sebastian or Caspian?”

“Oh Goddess, don’t start with me on that,” I sighed.

“Come on, if you can’t tell your best friend, then who can you tell?” Teresa said, prodding me.

“I’m serious when I say that I really don’t know. They’re both—”

Caspian and Sebastian walked into the kitchen, and I immediately shut up.

Thankfully they’d both managed to put on shirts.

Teresa gave Sebastian a charming smile and batted her lashes. “Hey, Seb! Good to see you!”

He nodded, but didn’t return her smile. “Welcome to hell—make yourself at home.”

Teresa turned her attention to Caspian and pursed her lips. “Hey, Asspian.”

“Oh, good…you’re here. I’ve missed you so much,” he responded, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Goddess, will those two ever get along?

“Your dad is here too,” Teresa said. “And mine. Most of the Blue Moon Pack will be here soon for Carnaval des Loups.”

Which meant that my family would be arriving soon as well.

I shuddered at the thought of Mom and Dad coming to check on my new living arrangement.

“Where’s Reed?” I asked, realizing that Teresa had shown up alone.

“Did he break your mating bond already?” Caspian joked.

Teresa glared at Caspian but then turned to me. “He’s back at our hotel room. He’s staying in tonight because we’re going out.”

“You and me?” I asked.

“Yeah, girls’ night!” Teresa squealed.

I noticed Sebastian stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

“Lyla needs to get out of Casa de Sexual Frustración for a night,” Teresa said, giving me a wink.

“Wait, you’re leaving us alone together?” Caspian balked, looking at Sebastian warily.

“No fucking way,” Sebastian growled, his eyes pleading with me to reconsider.

“Sorry boys…,” I said, shooting Caspian and Sebastian a smirk. “You’ll just have to play with yourselves tonight.”

***

Lively music seemed to be spilling out of every open window as I walked through the bustling French Quarter with Teresa.

The colorful buildings were adorned with lush greenery and hanging plants. They reminded me of the draping foliage of the weeping willows back at the Royal Pack.

“Goddess, I love this place,” Teresa said, looping her arm in mine. “Did you know I’m actually French Creole on my mother’s side?”

Teresa never spoke about her mother much, having lost her at such a young age, but I’d seen photos of her.

Her gorgeous dark skin, her luminous smile—it radiated from her eyes, and you could tell that she had a big personality.

Just like Teresa…

In fact, Teresa is the spitting image of her mother.

“It’s so cool that you have that connection to New Orleans,” I said.

“Yeah, I actually feel really in tune with my mother when I’m here,” Teresa said wistfully. “She was a very spiritual person. And not in the eye-rolling way that Tiberius is…”

“What do you mean?”

“She felt that the Moon Goddess is all around us… She shows herself in nature, in our connection to our ancestors, and even in magic.”

“Magic?” She was right, that didn’t sound like Tiberius, or the stuffy traditions of the Church.

Teresa grinned. “Around here, some might call it voodoo.”

That definitely didn’t sound like the Church.

Teresa elbowed me, likely sensing my apprehension. “Come on, open your mind a little.”

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, yanking me back. “Oh, I know what we have to do!”

Teresa pointed at a little hole-in-the-wall shop with a small painted sign in the window.

“Tarot readings,” I read out loud. “I don’t know, Teresa…”

But she was already pulling me toward the door. When we got closer, I noticed an assortment of ancestral masks hanging in the window, ominously staring at me.

“Do you really think we should be messing with witches?” I asked.

“Not all magic is bad, Lyla,” she said as we stopped at the entrance.

I bit my lip nervously, but I had to admit I was curious.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

Teresa clapped her hands excitedly, then opened the door for me. “Honestly girl…you need a spell to keep your legs closed.”

I was about to protest her remark when a voice interrupted, sending a chill down my spine.

“Ah, you’re here. Come in, girl. Make yourself comfortable. I sense a heavy burden is weighing you down.”

Why does she say that like she’s expecting me?

We entered the voodoo shop, passing through a heavy curtain to find a petite woman sitting behind a chipped wooden table.

It was my first time being so close to a witch… Assuming she’s the real deal.

Her eyes almost looked luminescent in the darkness of the room.

Teresa nudged me forward, and I sat down in front of the witch, who gave me a toothy smile.

“You’re here because you are stuck at a crossroads,” she said. “You have an impossible choice to make, but you don’t know which path to take.”

She’s probably just memorized lines, I thought, unconvinced of her connection to the other side. ~That could apply to anyone.~

The witch laid out her cards on the table, facedown. “Are you ready to look into your future?”

“Honestly, I don’t know if I want to know…,” I responded.

“It’s not about what you want, but what you need,” she said, smiling. “Pull your first card—it will be what centers you.”

Hesitantly, I turned over my first card. It depicted a naked man and woman, their limbs intertwined.

“The lovers,” the witch said, staring at me intensely. “Just as I expected. You’re tangled up in not one, but two men, am I right?”

I swallowed hard, nodding.

Maybe this isn’t just a parlor trick...

“By the end of the moon cycle, you’ll have definitively made your choice,” she said, her eyes starting to glaze over. “And your true love will be revealed.”

I gasped, clasping my hand over my mouth.

“Holy shit,” Teresa muttered from behind me.

Now this is WAY too specific.

“Turn over your next card and place it on top of your first,” the witch said. “This will be what covers you.”

I flipped over my next card and laid it on top of the lovers.

“Oh my Goddess!” My heart stopped when I saw what it was…

“Death,” the witch murmured.

I felt my whole body tense up, and my skin grew cold.

“True love comes with a price...,” the witch said, her voice suddenly becoming cold and unaffected as her eyes locked with mine.

“You’ll also lose someone you love...forever.”