Chapter 2

2

PRESENT DAY

" A very!" my twin's voice roars from the hall, followed by the thunder of his footsteps stomping toward my room. I glance at the open doorway from my spot on my bed, and when he comes into view, I choke on a laugh at the sight of him. My brother- the big bad Alpha wolf, covered in muscle and ink with a permanent scowl- is sporting bright blue hair . It's definitely a look .

"Bold choice, but I kinda like it," I comment with a smirk.

Madd cuts me a glare that's as cold as ice, his voice low and menacing. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you."

He dashes toward me and I roll off the opposite side of the bed with a laugh, putting the furniture between us.

"C'mon, I think it's a good look," I tease, stifling another laugh as I tilt my head in consideration. "You never take risks with fashion, good for you for stepping out of your comfort zone."

A threatening growl rumbles from his chest as he darts around the end of the bed, circling it to get to me. I jump back on it to dodge him, running across the mattress with a scream before hopping down safely on the other side.

"What's going…?" I hear Sloane start to ask as she appears in the doorway, her voice trailing off when she sees my brother. She slaps a hand over her mouth to cover her giggle, but it slips free anyways, Madd's head snapping in her direction.

He clocks his mate's reaction to his new look, then returns his glare to me with even more intensity.

"You're fucking dead," Madd snarls, lunging across the bed and trying to grab for me.

I leap back with a shriek. "Save me, Sloane!" I wail dramatically, rushing her way and ducking behind her for cover.

Love the girl, but at five foot nothing, she makes for a terrible human shield. Madd rolls off my bed and storms in our direction, still seething as he approaches. He stops right in front of Sloane, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he stares down at his mate. " Move ."

She folds her arms over her chest and lifts her chin, holding her ground. "Remember when you said you'd never make me choose between you and my best friend?"

Girl's got a point. The three of us have been inseparable since birth, but when the two of them started dating at sixteen, some solid rules had to be put into place. Their relationship is completely their business- I'd rather not know about my brother's sex life, thank you very much- and my friendship with Sloane will never be compromised by one of me and Madd's feuds. I mean, it's not like we have many of those anyways. We occasionally rile each other up like this, but there's no question that my twin is my ride or die. He was my first best friend.

Though you wouldn't know it right now judging by the scowl on his face. He narrows his eyes on his mate, staring her down.

" Sloane ," Madd warns.

"I like the hair," she insists, pushing up on her toes and reaching to ruffle his bright blue tresses with her fingers.

His surly demeanor softens for a moment, the corner of his mouth lifting as he gazes back at his mate. "You do?" he asks with hearts in his eyes.

Gag.

"Yeah, she's always wondered what it'd be like to fuck a smurf," I snicker.

Madd's expression immediately hardens again, his eyes darkening as they snap back to mine. He makes a move to grab for me, but I just dance around Sloane, keeping her planted firmly between us as a buffer and taunting him with my evasive maneuvers.

I knew full well that he would blow a gasket in response to this prank, which is exactly why I did it. Because I was bored, and I hate being bored. It's so much more fun to be diabolical; stir the pot a little. Live, laugh, love, or some shit.

Sloane's head moves back and forth between me and my brother as we circle her. "Ugh, can you two just call a truce already?" she groans, obviously fed up with our antics. She should really be used to them by now, though, since she's been a fixture in our lives for the past twenty-five years.

"Look what she did to my fucking hair!" Madd snarls. He stabs his fingers into the strands to emphasize his point and I can't help but snort another laugh.

Sloane heaves an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. "Babe, I told you, I like the hair. Does anyone else's opinion really matter?"

He stops circling her for a moment, meeting her gaze. "No," he concedes, frowning. "But I'm gonna catch so much shit from the guys for this and you know it."

"It'll wash out in a couple days, you big baby," I giggle, waving him off. "Honestly, Madd, you're way too dramatic."

"And you're a damn menace," he fires back.

"Tell me something I don't know," I scoff. "Just wait till you see what color I put in Sloane's shampoo."

She whips her head around to gape at me. "You didn't!" she gasps.

I shrug a shoulder, the picture of nonchalance. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," I tease, waggling my brows. "Only one way to find out…"

"Go ahead, Madd," Sloane huffs, a mischievous glint in her green eyes as she flicks him a glance. "Destroy her."

I open my mouth to protest, but then she steps aside, giving my brother a clear path to me. Damn traitor. I try to make a run for it to save my own skin, but the next thing I know, Madd's grabbing me around the waist and slinging me over his shoulder, carrying me out of my room in the Goldenleaf packhouse and down the hall to the one he shares with Sloane. She trails eagerly behind as Madd marches me straight into their attached bathroom, dumping me in the shower and cranking on the water.

I shriek as the spray drenches my hair and clothes while Madd orders Sloane to hand him the shampoo bottle.

"No, don't!" I laugh, barely able to catch my breath as I try to squirm past him and escape. He's so damn big , though. At over six feet tall and built like a brick shithouse, I'm no physical match for my brother, and he damn well knows it. He's got me exactly where he wants me in order to exact his revenge.

Restraining my wrists behind my back with one hand, he uses the other to pop open the cap on the bottle, squeezing globs of blue-tinted shampoo all over my head. How he didn't notice the color when he put it on his own hair, I'll never know. My bare feet slide against the tile as I fight to get away from him, but his partner in crime steps in to block my path of retreat, smiling gleefully as she reaches over to lather it up.

Being confined to a small space like this is typically panic inducing for me; a fun little quirk that Madd is fully aware of. But he also knows that his presence negates that effect, which is why he can get away with it- and why he and Sloane don't seem to care that their clothes are getting drenched, my own now fully soaked through.

"Still think it's funny?" Madd taunts as Sloane rubs the shampoo through my long blonde hair.

I'm laughing so hard that I can barely catch my breath, my giggles turning to a scream when he pushes me under the cold shower stream to wash the shampoo out. Then he turns off the water, rocking back on his heels to give me a smug once-over.

"There," he says, nodding at my blue-tinted tresses in satisfaction. "Now we're even."

"I'm gonna kill you," I growl, wicking the water off my face with a palm. Safe bet that I probably look like a drowned rat right about now, so I doubt that threat was even half as intimidating as I intended it to be.

Madd chuckles lowly, his arms folded across his chest and lips drawn in a smirk. "Not if I kill you first, sis."

"Please," Sloane scoffs, glancing between us with a knowing smile. "As if you two could ever live without each other."