Imprint.

Twenty Four

Carter, Evan, and Noah were sitting at the kitchen table playing cards when Dean and I showed up. Carter had a full bag of chips beside him, stuffing his face like he hadn't eaten in days. He nodded toward the hallway where the bedrooms were.

"He's in the shower."

"Hey, V." Evan said, laying down four fives and a three. "Five fives."

Carter threw his cards down and sighed.

Noah put his cards down, revealing a royal flush. He grinned and pulled the money towards him. "Thanks, boys."

I left them and went to Gage's room. The bed wasn't made and there were clothes tossed on the floor in various places. I rolled my eyes and tossed the clothes into the hamper. I was making the bed when the door opened behind me.

"Victoria, what are you doing here?" It was Gage and he sounded surprised. Very surprised, actually.

I bit my lip to stop myself from my smiling like an idiot. "Carter said it was okay if I came back."

"Back? You left? I thought you were here the whole time."

I shook my head and put the pillowcase on the pillow. "I went home last night. I just got back a few minutes ago."

He didn't say anything and it worried me. Was he mad at me for leaving him?

"Gage, I-" I turned around and met his gaze. My words dropped off and my brain turned to mush. He only had a towel around his waist. His hair was dripping water on his bare chest and there was a faint hint of scars on his right side. But his nakedness wasn't what caught my eye. It was the fact that everything else in the room went away and my mind turned off. Everything was focused solely on him.

I was his imprint.

And he was mine.

I ran to him and enveloped him in my arms, breathing in his scent. Everything was new. He smelled good before but he smelled even better now. It was a sweet smell with earthy tones. It was unlike anything I'd smelled before.

"V, is there something you're not telling me?"

I took a deep breath. I knew I'd have to tell him sooner or later. I thought I would have more time.

Rather than say the words, I pulled my shirt away from my shoulder, revealing the bite marks that were permanently scarred into my skin.

He ran his thumb over the scars. "Who did this to you?"

I swallowed. Gage sounded calm but the way he looked at the scars said otherwise. He was angry. He was livid. "Uh - I don't know. I only saw him as a wolf."

A growl escaped his chest and his hand dropped to his side, his fingers curling into a fist.

I cupped his cheek in my hand. "Hey, it's okay."

"Victoria-"

I kissed him, shutting him up quickly. "I'm okay. I promise."

He pulled me back into his arms. "I can't believe Carter made you leave."

"I almost attacked Dean."

He laughed. "I can't believe I missed that." He glanced over my shoulder and his eyes widened. "You cleaned up?"

"Did you expect anyone else to?"

"You just got here."

"It was bothering me."

He kissed my cheek. "Let me get dressed then you can fill me in on everything I missed."

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Dean elbowed Gage as he sat down, a beer in his hand. "Looks like I lost in the poll."

"What poll?" I asked, glancing between the two of them.

Gage took a bite of his pizza to prevent him from answering.

Dean tried not to laugh as he did. "We had a poll to see who would imprint next. There was also a fifty dollar prize for whoever got imprinted on back."

"Who won the first poll?"

Bentley tossed in his chips. "I bet on Gage, not myself. So I lost. But I got fifty bucks so it makes up for it."

I raised my eyebrows at Gage. "Who'd you bet on?"

He nodded his head at Carter. "I thought it was a safe bet."

Carter laughed and tossed his chips in. "I could've told you that was stupid. It's never going to happen."

"That's what I said. And it did. Twice."

Gage tossed his cards down, having a bunch of random cards that gave him nothing. "For which I'm thankful for."

Carter threw a pepperoni at Gage. "Knock it off. Some of us are trying to keep our food down."

Bentley smiled and glanced down at his phone. It was a message from Audrey, saying she wished she was with him.

"How come she isn't here?" I asked softly, not wanting the others to get on his case about his own love life.

"She's spending more time with her family." He said, meeting my gaze. "She hasn't told them what happened yet."

"She's going to?" If mom didn't already know, I wouldn't have told her that werewolves were real and I was one of them. I wouldn't have entrusted such a heavy secret on her when it wasn't necessary. I couldn't imagine having to do that.

"She said she's thinking about it. It's a lot for someone to handle."

I nodded. I struggled to understand what had happened when Carter was bit. Part of the reason was because he was the alpha of the pack. Nothing made sense. My imprint to Will took that to a whole other level.

"Are you two going to talk or are you going to play poker?" Dean asked, tossing a card at my face.

I grabbed it before it could hit me and glared at him. "I hope you cry when I beat you."

"Not a chance in Hell."