CHAPTER 37

Ifound myself getting ready to head to the club again, keen to laugh and drink with my friends and get out of the compound for a bit.

Today I wore a new little dress I'd bought on our last shopping spree. The black strapless mini was tight and figure-hugging, with two large triangular cut-outs; one on across my ribs and the other at my waist. I borrowed a pair of black chunky sock boots from Kit to complete the look. She herself was wearing a very bold matching two piece. The black, slinky material of the long sleeve turtleneck top clung to her and while it was quite modest for Kit, it was cropped just under her sternum. The skirt was not so modest, with a slit so high it almost came up to her pelvic bone, leaving me to wonder what type of underwear she'd be wearing. She of course enlightened me, showing me a specifically cut pair that was made for situations like this. Her outfit was finished off with super tall, super chunky black platform heels that buckled at her ankle.

For Billie it was a more laid back but super sexy choice. She wore a showstopping, Moulin Rouge type corset top with a beautiful sheer lace on the bodice and black boning. She toned the bottom half down with a pair of black, low-rise shiny cargo pants and small open-toe heels that complimented the look perfectly, making her look effortlessly risqué. I don't know how or why but we had somehow all chosen to wear black again. Our signature colour.

We'd be making the trip to the club ourselves tonight, the boys meeting us there. They'd been asked to check out an unusual sighting in Harlem earlier with a small task force. They'd texted saying they were done early and might as well head over for a few drinks. Which was probably good because boy it took us ages to get ready.

???

Entering the club, I scanned the room, looking for a certain pair of grey eyes. It didn't take me long to find them. Naturally, the boys were in our booth.

My breath hitched when I took in the ravishing sight of Griffin in a dark grey tee and black slacks with his go-to army boots and I had to count my lucky stars that I was blessed enough to be able to experience this boy in all his glory. He winked at me as I approached, appreciatively admiring my dress. I couldn't stop the coy smile from spreading across my face. He had that effect on me a lot. When he wasn't in his usual hoodies and cargo pants, he scrubbed up well. Even now, in this simple outfit that would have doubled as appropriate for their mission as well as going out, he looked casually put together and absolutely stunning.

I made a beeline for him and he stood to greet me, one hand going straight to cup my face and pull me into him. His soft lips were so at odds with the hard, passionate kiss but I loved everything about it. His other hand was strapped around my back, holding me against him. I felt lightheaded from the gesture.

When he finally let me breathe, his silver gaze was on my plump lips. A satisfied smile graced his own before he locked eyes with me.

"Hello, beautiful."

"Hey," I replied, my voice a mere breathless whisper.

"I still can't believe you two are like a thing now," Kit gushed as she stared at us from across the booth where she was sitting next to Carter. He was also in darker colours and a more casual attire, given their earlier activities. "It gets me every time. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I love it!"

"Kit–" I began to protest as I took my seat, worried that Griffin might not take well to the implication that we were more than … whatever this was. Although it did feel like more. Somewhere along the way, something seemed to have changed and Griff had started to look at me with softness in his eyes— or had at least stopped trying to hide it. That same loving look that Riv used to give me. One I'd never thought I'd see from the untouchable, stoic Griffin Gray. Not that I knew what it meant. But I noticed it. Noticed it every time he looked at me.

But Griff cut me off before I got the chance to finish my sentence.

"You're not the only one," he said in reply to her, then tucked my hair behind my ear and ran his lips along it, sending all the butterflies to my stomach. I leaned into it, wanting more.

Kit continued her babbling. "Honestly, like I knew it would happen, we all saw it coming. But also, I'm just glad you two were smart enough to stop playing dumb and just let go. You know?" She smiled and turned to Carter. "Aren't you happy for them?" She squealed.

"So happy," he laughed. "But equally as happy for us." He grabbed Kit's face in his hands and laid one on her. Her body tensed for a second and then she fell into it as they all but clawed at each other.

Billie was the first to laugh. "So, you two are officially a thing now too, I presume?"

Kit nodded and gave us a quick thumbs up, all without leaving the grasps of Carter's mouth.

The rest of us laughed at their intensity. "I guess we should expect nothing less from those two," I stated.

"What do you reckon, Cosmo? Should we join in the fun?" Griff's husky voice questioned against my ear. His fingers on my thigh were gaining confidence, creeping higher up my leg.

I all but whimpered under his touch but needed to remain strong for Billie's sake. "Maybe not while poor Billie is just sitting there," I managed to get out.

"Mmm fine." He replied in a rumble. "In that case, I'll get the three of us some more drinks so we can tolerate those two." I nodded and he gave me a quick but sexy as hell kiss before he got up, making sure to give my bottom lip a little nip so I knew what I was missing out on.

"Girl, I don't want to be a cock block. You know I'll be fine, I can entertain myself. I'm sure I can find someone to keep me occupied if I tried," my ever-caring friend said.

"No, you shouldn't have to just because of us. We all came out together. We can behave for a few hours while we have fun with our friends." I couldn't imagine it would be too enjoyable for her, literally sitting between two somewhat-couples-that-weren't-actually-couples that were basically eating each other"s faces. I wanted to make sure she still had a good time. "So, what do you want to do? Dance?"

I glanced at Carter and Kit, holding back a laugh at the way they were acting like we were invisible. They were so far gone in their bubble of lust that they wouldn't have even registered that we were talking. Especially when the music was so loud that it was already a struggle to hear each other.

Billie smiled at me. "Yes, always! But I need to pee first."

"A pee party then. To the toilets," I exclaimed in my best announcer impression.

God I was lame sometimes.

Thankfully Billie didn't seem to think so as she grabbed my outstretched hand laughing and I proceeded to lead her out.

After a little pee break, lipstick touch up and a quick mirror selfie, we forged a path through all the people to head back to the dancefloor. My heart sank as I spotted the one person I always dreaded to see. I swear I saw her more here than at the compound.

Sienna sauntered up to me. Her minions standing back near the bar where she came from, watching on with curious gazes.

I attempted to turn around. I was sick of her. She could fuck right off.

"Venus, can we talk?" Her voice had less ice to it than usual. Her question took me by surprise. Making me want to give her the benefit of the doubt. I looked at Billie who appeared equally concerned but did not seem to buy into the nice girl act like I was. Her face remained hard, not cutting Sienna any slack. After the last time I ran into this girl here, I understood why.

So I tried to avoid it. "I hardly think this is the place to talk, Sienna."

"Let's go outside then," she pleaded. "Please."

The pleading piqued my curiosity. "Fine."

Billie pulled my arm towards her. "I'm coming," she stated as she looked pointedly at Sienna, not hiding her distrust.

"It's okay, Billie. We'll be civil, won't we Sienna?" My gaze burned into hers, encouraging her to answer correctly if she really wanted to do this.

She nodded in a way that looked sincere. Billie held her ground for a moment longer before letting go of my arm. "Okay, Vee. We'll be close if you need us." I smiled in answer and then gestured to Sienna to lead the way. I may have been giving her a chance but there was no way I was turning my back to the girl.

Leading me outside, Sienna stopped at the end of the club on the corner of a small alleyway. I tried not to over analyse where she'd taken me, instead choosing to be grateful that she didn't lead us down the actual alleyway itself. At least here we were still on the street. Still out in the open where there would be plenty of witnesses if she tried to attack me.

When she stopped, I crossed my arms and looked at her, waiting for her to begin. When she didn't immediately start, I did. "Alright, so we're outside. Now talk."

She sighed, although her expression didn't soften. She still had that hard, predatory glance that had always intimidated me. No, the sigh was more like she was annoyed she had to be here and do this.

"Alright, look," she began. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you. I guess you don't really deserve it."

Was this her version of an apology?

"Gee. Thanks, Sienna."

She death stared me. "It's not fun when some new girl comes and steals your man. In fact, it's quite irritating when stupid guys find pretty new things to entertain themselves with," she continued, trying to somewhat explain herself. "Yes, Griffin had made it clear that we were always just a bit of fun. But this was always my territory. And things had never fully been off limits with us before you came along. He never fully shut the door. But then suddenly he didn't want to see me at all anymore. Even when he'd sleep with other girls in the past, which happened often by the way, he still would always come back to me. And yes, we were very on and off, but this felt different. Feels different, I guess." She crossed her arms defensively. "I just always assumed we'd continue on like that and eventually he'd come to his senses and when he did eventually date, it would be me. It was the logical thing to happen. So when you came along," her hand gestured towards me lazily as she rolled her eyes, "I got … territorial." Her fierce brown gaze locked on me. "It's not often we get new people in the academy, and I didn't like it. And I hated the attention he immediately gave you … that everyone immediately gave you. I assumed he'd eventually get bored and come back to me. But well … I guess you two are basically dating or whatever. And he's made it clear that we are fully done." Her eyes wandered again. "What a waste of time that was." She muttered the last bit mostly to herself. "But anyway, I had my fun I guess, and he doesn't deserve me. Any guy would be lucky to have me." She looked back at me. "So, I'll leave you alone now. I guess there's no getting rid of you, so I'll have to learn to tolerate and ignore your presence."

I didn't know what to make of her haphazard apology—or excuse. Whatever it was. But what stuck out was that she had said we were dating and he'd made it clear they were done. Did that mean he told her we were dating?

Sienna was looking at me like she was waiting for a response. I realised I hadn't said anything yet. I seemed to be doing that a lot these days. Since River, I'd felt the need to overthink everything. The broken trust had made me even more persnickety.

"Thanks, Sienna. I appreciate the … uh … apology? I'll try not to be offended by that last part," I somewhat snorted. "I just want you to know that obviously coming into here I had no idea that you two were … well whatever you two were. And I never meant for anything to happen with Griff. That wasn't my goal. I came here for a purpose, but things that I never expected happened along the way and one thing led to another. I apologise if I hurt you or overstepped or anything." I was starting to mumble, I could see it in her bored and uncomfortable expression. "I'd never want to hurt another woman. We probably should have had this conversation a lot earlier. I didn't mean to flaunt anything in front of you. So I'm sorry too."

She fidgeted uncomfortably like she wasn't used to being vulnerable with anyone. "Yeah … well … whatever, it's fine. I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." A small part of me wished we could be friendly but maybe it was too soon.

"Look, I feel the need to warn you. I wouldn't get too comfortable with Griffin if I was you," she added. "He clearly is very capable of throwing a girl away when he gets bored. And he may be trying now, but he doesn't date. He never has. He won't be a good boyfriend. He gets bored. So just don't get your hopes up and don't be surprised when he's eventually done with you—" she seemed to drift off.

Her words stung. They were an absolute slap to my face and only fuelled all the doubts and concerns I already had about Griff. About getting hurt and giving him too much of myself. But I couldn't dwell on them right now because either way, we hadn't agreed to be anything more than what we currently were. We hadn't discussed whether or not we were dating. We had left things as friends with benefits. Casual. No strings. So really, I had no right to expect anything else, even if it was seeming to feel like more.

But it was a good reminder to guard my heart.

I heard movement behind us and froze. If Sienna was still talking, I zoned out.

"Sienna, if those are your friends and this is some sort of cliché sneak attack I swear to God–"

"It's not." She stilled, cocking her head in a feline motion towards the alleyway. Listening—she was listening.

My heart stopped as a large shadow appeared in the dark depths of the alley. My heart continued its non-beating as the shadow prowled towards us and I took in the scruffy, tattered grey fur.

A wolf.

For a split-second my pulse raced as I wondered if it could be one of the pack members. But as this creature stalked closer, I immediately knew it wasn't the case. It"s almost red eyes were nothing like River's or any of the wolves I'd once called my friends. This beast looked more like the angry, feral wolf I saw in my dream. As it snarled at us, I saw the drool fall from it's razer sharp teeth. This wolf would kill without a doubt. There was no humanity in its eyes like I was used to seeing in the pack.

A rogue.

Just like the one who had killed my dad. Who had almost ripped my mum"s leg off. And just like that, all my training, all my reasonable thought, disappeared. And I froze.

The wolf barrelled down the alleyway, a predatory growl ripping from its mouth as it pounced and its body flew towards us. Towards the open city street and the innocent people.

That woke me up. But I was too late.

Sienna on the other hand was not. She spun, landing a kick right to the side of the suspended wolf's face. It whimpered as it fell to the ground further back in the alley. But it quickly got up.

Sienna was ready, taking out a concealed blade from her boot she ran towards it, knife out, prepared to attack. Somehow the wolf ducked and snapped at her ankle, grazing it as she shrieked and dropped the knife. I watched as it skidded along the ground, too far for her to reach as the wolf prowled back towards her.

My instincts kicked in and I ran towards the weapon on the floor.

"SIENNA!" I screamed as I spun the knife through the air like a dagger. It clanked as it hit the floor only a few centimetres away from her. She reached out and grabbed it, ready to stab it into the wolf. Only now I was the unarmed one—the easier target. And I had just gained its attention. It jumped over her and ran at me at full speed. There was nothing I could do, so I threw my arm up to block the brunt of the bite and kicked my leg out to keep it as far away as I could. I waited for the force of its body and the sting of its sharp teeth.

But instead, the wolf bellowed in pain as Griffin landed on its back, knocking its head to the ground with a silver blade pierced in its neck.

"You alright?" He grumbled. I nodded, feeling stunned at the encounter as well as extremely stupid for not being able to hold my own when it came down to it. For needing protection.

I looked down and noticed red dripping from my arm. The rogue had somehow grazed me but thankfully it was no way near as bad as it could have been. Griffin came just in time.

The wolf was not dead yet, still trying to fight with all its remaining energy. Blindly and ungainly snapping its jaw at anything it could. Carter was by Griffin's side in a moment, holding the wolf down as Griff took his blade out and this time stabbed it directly in its chest. Right through its heart. Blood sprayed onto his charcoal shirt but Griff's face was stone cold—a warrior.

Kitana and Billie appeared a second after, looking like they had followed the boys out only seconds later, but time seemed to act differently when your life was at stake. While it had only been a matter of minutes, if not seconds, the things that occurred in that time frame were monumental. They both looked at me, eyes wide with concern. It probably looked worse than it was; me on the floor against the alley wall with a bloodied arm, a dead wolf with two hunters not far off and Sienna on the other side on all fours trying to get herself up.

Kit ran to me, crouching down to inspect my arm. Leaving Billie to unwillingly check on Sienna. When the wolf ceased its struggling, Griff pulled the dagger out and proceeded to clean the silver blade on his top before wiping his hands on it too. Carter was already calling the compound for a squad truck to be sent when Griffin walked over to me, his eyes capturing mine as he rubbed the blood off his jaw with his thumb. His gaze roamed my form, looking me over for any other damage while Kit got up to check for witnesses.

This was my first real experience with a wolf. With me on the other side. And boy was this memorable.