The Darkness Within

09 - Late Night Adventures

Three nights later, as she was getting ready for bed, Ciara heard a knock at the door. Curious, she opened the door to reveal a happy-looking Evelyn.

"Hey," Ciara greeted, looking curiously at her friend.

"Hello," the future alpha greeted sweetly, "I was wondering if you wanted to spend some time with the rest of us teens. We're going to hang out in the library."

Ciara smiled at the invitation. "Yes, I'd like to come."

When they reached the library, Lila, Ajax, James, and Liam were waiting in one of the small sitting areas. As usual, Lila was practically sitting in Ajax's lap, and once again James and Liam were seated close together.

"Hey, guys!" Evelyn greeted, plopping down onto an empty spot on the couch. Ciara sat in an empty spot next to her, careful not to accidentally touch Evelyn, and Tala laid sleepily at her feet.

"Ciara," Lila said, getting the black-haired girl's attention, "I never thanked you for protecting me from that male the other day."

Ciara gave her a warm smile, glad to have friends to smile with again. "You're my friend, of course I protected you."

"I wish I had seen it," Liam said, "I heard it was badass."

Ciara laughed at that. "Tala did most of the work to be fair."

"Still though you dislocated a werewolf's wrist, that's some tough shit," James joined in.

"He deserved it." A familiar rage bubbled up inside Ciara at the thought of males like Mark.

"He deserved worse," Ajax growled. The male's tone and aura were more threatening than Ciara had ever seen and her eyebrows rose, expressing her light shock at his toe.

"Mates," Evelyn muttered with a light laugh.

"Hey!" the four other werewolves called out, offended.

"I'd do anything for my mate," James said, looking at Liam dreamily.

Ciara blinked and then realized. "Wait, you two are mates?"

"Yep," Liam chirped, and the two males pulled down the collar of their shirt to reveal their neck. Each male had a scarred-over bite mark from a werewolf's canines on their neck, likely given by their mate.

"You... bit each other?" Ciara's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes," Evelyn jumped in to explain, "it's something creatures of light and darkness do. It provides a mental connection with one another and ties your scents together. And I've heard it's supposed to be an extremely pleasurable experience."

"Oh it is," Lila chuckled before realizing what she said and her face went red.

"So you two have bitten each other," Ciara asked, looking at Lila and Ajax.

They pulled their collars down to reveal bite marks on their necks as well.

"That's why the male hitting on Lila makes Ajax so angry," Evelyn commented, "Lila is marked, the male could smell that, and he did what he did anyway. But, mates are naturally protective of one another regardless, and even if she wasn't mated the male's actions were inexcusable."

Ciara gritted her teeth letting out a slight growl thinking about people like that Mark werewolf before forcing her thoughts somewhere else with the memories that flared up.

"Werewolves are really accepting," Ciara said, somewhat changing the topic of the conversation and commenting on the fact that none of the werewolves hated on James and Liam for being in a same-sex relationship.