Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series (16 page)

Cady grabbed the drink and took a swig. “I don’t see you drinking! I thought this was a girl’s night!”

“Ugh, no. I must be getting a cold or something, because whiskey, vodka, and beer seem to be making me nauseous!” She grabbed a nacho from their plate and scooped up extra cheese onto the chip before popping it in her mouth.

“You’re certainly not that sick! That’s your second plate,” Cady took another piece of nacho for herself and then took another sip of her vodka as Sean refilled her glass. “Whoah…a little heavy handed there, Sean?”

The handsome bartender winked at her. “Alynna said you needed to loosen up!”

“Alynna!” Cady exclaimed. “That was my third drink!”

Alynna laughed. “C’mon, you needed to loosen up as much as I did. You know, I’ve never thanked you for helping me all those times.”

“You’re very welcome,” Cady crooned. “Wow, it’s getting hot here, isn’t it?”

“Not as hot as you ladies,” a voice said from behind. Cady turned to see a guy standing right behind them at the bar. He gave them a big smile, his eyes lingering on the redhead.

Alynna rolled her eyes. This guy wasn’t the first to approach them, but he was the first non-Lycan to do so. She could (literally) smell them a mile away. Cady had gone to the bathroom and she was sitting there alone. Two Lycans came up to her and asked if they could buy her a drink, but when Cady came back, they seemed to recognize who she was and apologized, practically slinking away from them.
 

“Hi, I’m Joseph,” he said, putting his hand out. Joseph was handsome, with short, dark hair and a wore a tight-fitting t-shirt that showed off his well-muscled shoulders and arms. Alynna fanned herself mentally.
 

“Alynna,” she shook his hand. “And my friend here is Cady.”

“That’s a pretty name, very unusual,” Joseph remarked. “What are you ladies drinking? Can I buy you another one?”

Cady tried to protest, but Alynna answered for her. “She’s having a vodka tonic and just a coke for me.” Joseph nodded thanks and signaled to Sean.

“So, where you ladies from?” he asked as he paid for the drinks.

For the next hour, Joseph stayed with them, and Alynna was happy to see her friend letting her hair down. Unlike most guys she’d met at bars in Manhattan, Joseph seemed nice. He was from Brooklyn and recently started working as a foreman at a construction site in a major shopping development downtown. He had heard from other people at work that Blood Moon was one of the hottest clubs in New York, so he thought he’d check it out.

“And are you liking it?” Alynna asked.

Joseph gave Cady one of many meaningful glances. “I am so far.”

Alynna stifled a laugh. If he only knew that he was in a Lycan club, he might change his mind. It wasn’t like they were unwelcoming to non-Lycans, but there definitely were very few human regulars at Blood Moon. “Excuse me,” Alynna said. “Gotta go to the ladies!” she said, hoping to give her friend (and
her
new friend) some time alone.
 

Alynna took her time taking care of nature’s call and fixing her makeup. She was glad she did as when she began to walk back to the bar, Joseph and Cady were definitely getting very cozy.
You go girl
, she said to herself, giving Cady a mental high five. Joseph was hot and seemed like a real nice guy. At least someone would be getting some tonight. As she was exiting the bathroom, she nearly fell back as someone bumped into her – a tall, leggy blonde who gave her a slight sneer.
 

“Excuse me,” Alynna said. The blonde’s scent tickled her nose – strong, flowery perfume on top of a sugary, sickly fragrance that made her stomach roil. The blonde looked down at her and flipped her hair, walking away without another word. Alynna shrugged. Lycan or human, some girls were just born bitches.

“Alynna!” Cady called out as she came near to them. “Guess who I found lurking here?”
 

The guy beside Cady and Joseph turned around. Alynna stopped, her heart jumping into her throat. Of course. Just her luck. “Hello Alex,” she greeted weakly. She really wished she could have a drink right now.
 

Alex gave her a nod. He leaned back against the bar, taking a sip of his beer.
 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, babe!” a perky voice from behind chirped. Alynna turned around. It was the haughty blonde Lycan from the bathroom. “Had to go powder my nose!” The tall, sleek blonde snaked her arm around Alex’s neck and pushed her body against his possessively. Alex said nothing, though he put a hand around her waist. She ignored the rest of them, focusing her gaze up at Alex instead.

“A glass of red, please,” Alynna said to Sean. Fuck this sickness, she needed alcohol now. Something seethed and raged inside of her, and she struggled to keep it under wraps. She didn’t know what it was, but it made her want claw the other woman’s eyes out and rip her hair out of her scalp. She had to calm down.
 

“How was your trip to Chicago, Alex?” Cady asked, breaking the silence.

“It was ok, thanks for asking, Cady.”

The blonde seemed to perk up when she heard the name. She finally looked away from Alex, her head turning towards Cady. “Oh my! You’re…the Regal’s…” she cleared her throat. “I’m Jenna,” she said, her eyes directed at Cady. “I work down on the 20th floor. Ms. Gray, it’s finally nice to meet you,” she crooned, her voice sweet as sugar.

“Oh, uhm,” Cady mumbled, a little embarrassed. “Yes, uhm, nice to meet you Jenna!”

“Alex told me he worked closely with you. And the Regal of course,” she looked up at Alex, her eyes devouring him. Alynna gagged mentally, then swallowed half the glass of wine Sean put in front of her. It wasn’t as bad as hard liquor, but drinking it quickly, before she could smell or taste it, helped.

“This is Joseph,” Cady nodded towards the man beside her. “And uh, Alynna.”
 

“Yup, still here,” Alynna snarked. “The reports about my disappearance have been greatly exaggerated.” She downed the rest of the glass and motioned to Sean for another.

Jenna looked down at her as if she wanted her to disappear. Her eyes flashed recognition for a second, taking a shallow breath as if to sniff our her scent. “Alynna…I’ve never seen you around here before…” she looked at Joseph for a brief moment, assessing if he was human or Lycan. “Did you….transfer or are you just visiting?”

Alynna laughed. “I guess a little bit of both,” she winked at Cady . No one was supposed to know about her existence yet, at least not before the ball.

“She’s a consultant for Fenrir,” Cady explained. “Brought in by…the team to help with a special project.”
 

“Oh, how nice,” she said, then turned back to fawning over Alex.
 

Sean returned with another beer for Alex and Alynna’s wine.. “Why don’t we move over there?” Jenna suggested. “It’s getting a little…crowded over here,” she said, her eyes flickering to Alynna briefly.
 

Alex picked up his beer. “Cady, Joseph,” he turned around. “Alynna.”
 

Alynna gave a noncommittal sound, instead taking another sip of her second glass of wine. “Jerk,” she said under her breath. When both Alex and Jenna were out of sight, she breathed a sigh.

“Are you alright?” Joseph asked. “You should….slow down maybe? That’s your second glass in ten minutes.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, sipping her wine. “I had a lot of food.”

Cady looked at her with concern in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
 

“Yeah, I’m good.”
 

“Uhm, maybe you’d like to come out for a smoke,” Joseph took some cigarettes out of his pocket. “Or fresh air for you girls, if you don’t smoke?”

“No, you guys go,” Alynna said, motioning to Cady. “I’m gonna stay here for a bit.”

Cady hopped off the bar and followed Joseph out of the bar. Alynna did her best to stop herself from looking across the room, but it was like her eyes were drawn towards Alex and Jenna. They were talking (or at least Jenna was), with her whispering and giggling into his ear while his hand rubbed her lower back.
 

Alynna watched them from another minute, her blood boiling as she watched, the tall, svelte Lycan tugged at his arm, signaling for them to leave. Alex drank the rest of his drink, then followed Jenna as she led him towards the exit.

She threw her head back and took the rest of the wine in one gulp. As soon as she put the glass down, she instantly regretted it. “Oh fuck!” The world began to spin and she held onto the counter for support.

“Alynna, are you ok?” Sean asked. Alynna looked at him, his voice seemed to be drowned out by the loud thrumming in her brain.
 

“I…I…” she felt nauseous. “I need…” she spun around, placing her hands on her mouth to try and stop herself from vomiting all over the floor. She ran across the room, bumping into other patrons. She didn’t care, pushing past them as fast as she could. She barely made it to the last stall, as she lost her dinner and drinks right into the ceramic bowl.

She knelt on the floor, her stomach rolling as it emptied its contents. Finally, when she was dry heaving into the bowl, she stood up weakly, grabbing a few
 
to wash her mouth.

“Ms. Chase! Ms. Chase!” a voice outside said with alarm.

Heath! She thought. She almost forgot about him. Damn. “I’m ok! No worries.”

“Are you sure?”

She turned on the sink and scooped up some water to wash out the acidic taste in her mouth. “Mmm-hmmm!” She spit out the water, then wet some more tissues to wipe up her face. What a mess, she thought as she looked at her face. “I just want to go home,” she said softly, placing her head on sink.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have left.”

Alynna nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice. She turned and saw Nick Vrost standing at the doorway. “I’m not a prisoner, I can go where I want and Heath was with me. And so was Cady.”

A brief, inscrutable look passed on his face. “Cady? I wasn’t told she was here.”

“Do you know whenever I pee too?” Alynna asked sarcastically as she threw the wet tissues into the trashcan.

“I review all the report logs every few hours,” Nick said nonchalantly. “I saw that you had left to go to Blood Moon and I was concerned as you didn’t mention anything.”

“I can go where I want,” she said petulantly. “As long as I have my security with me.”

“And Cady?”
 

“Oh shit.” Alynna said the words before she could stop them. Cady was probably somewhere making out with Joseph and with Nick’s weird vibe around Cady, she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that.
 

Nick suddenly came up to her, grabbing her arm firmly. “Is she ok? Has she been hurt?” His eyes literally glowed at her, his face a mask of restrained concern.

“Jeeze, Nicky boy, tone down the whole protective Lycan thing, ok?” she jerked her arm back. “She’s fine, I’m pretty sure. She might be a little tipsy, but she’s ok.”
 

Nick straightened his posture, smoothing down his jacket. “I think it’s time we go home. And maybe we can go find Ms. Gray and take her home too.”

I bet you do
, she said to herself. She hoped they wouldn’t run into Joseph and Cady in some…compromising position, as she wasn’t sure what Nick’s reaction would be. She followed him out of the bathroom and nodded to Heath who was keeping guard.
 

As they were walking towards the door, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Cady enter the bar. That relief was short-lived however, when she saw Joseph following closely behind her. The handsome man grabbed her hand and whispered something in her ear that made her blush prettily.

“Ms. Gray,” Nick said they approached the couple.

Cady’s eyes grew wide at the sight of Nick Vrost. “Mr. Vrost! What are you…I mean…” She slurred her words slightly, unable to complete the rest of her sentence.

“I was passing by and I saw Ms. Chase,” Nick said coolly, his eyes raking over her appearance. Cady’s usually immaculate hair was mussed and her lips were pink and swollen, her lipstick practically gone. She blushed heatedly at Nick’s appraisal. “She was sick. In the bathroom.” His voice was cold and almost accusing.

“Alynna!” Cady exclaimed, going to the younger girl’s side. “Are you alright? You should have told me! Let’s get you home.”

“Perhaps you should go home as well, Ms. Gray,” Nick observed. “Don’t you have the early meeting tomorrow?”

Cady shot him back an angry look. “Mr. Vrost, I-”

“You should stay,” Alynna said, glancing at Joseph, who seemed confused at what was happening. “Fenrir doesn’t own you,” she said, emphasizing ‘own’. “You can do what you want on your off time, without having bullheaded men pushing you around.”

The redhead looked torn, glancing at Joseph and then Alynna, while Nick continued to give her a steely stare. “Will you wait for me? I’ll settle my bill with Sean and be right out, ok?” The younger woman nodded, then walked outside, Nick and Heath hot on her heels.

As soon as they were outside, Alynna breathed in the fresh, cool air into her lungs. She was already feeling better, getting out of the hot, stuffy bar. Cady didn’t take too long and soon joined them.
 

“Glad you could join us, Ms. Gray,” Nick said icily.
 

“Mr. Vrost, I assure you that Alynna was in no danger at any point. Heath was with her the entire time,” Cady explained.

“And you? Were you with her the whole night or just with your…friend?” he sneered.
 

Cady was obviously stung at the acidity dripping from his voice. Alynna had just about had enough. “Whoa, Nicky-boy, calm yo tits, will ya?” she said, poking him in the chest. Nick whipped his head towards her, his steely gaze holding her. “So I threw up a little in the bathroom! I just drank a little too much wine and I think the cheese on those nachos were old or something. Cady’s not to blame, it’s all me!”

The redhead looked at her gratefully and cleared her throat. “Thank you Alynna. I didn’t mean to leave her and she was fine when I, uh, went out for some fresh air,” Cady explained. “Now, maybe you should go and get some rest? I’ll take you home.”