Chapter 2

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*Corey*

I stared at the brown-eyed, dark-skinned boy that had literally sent my heart into a frenzy just by stepping into the room as he stared back at me, his round eyes wide in surprise. My stare turned to a burning glare within just a second and he dropped his gaze to avoid mine.

"I'll be in the same guest room I was in last time if anyone needs me," I announced grabbing my bag.

"Actually, everyone under twenty-five and above thirteen will be sleeping in the ballroom this week." Alexis smiled.

"Yeah, apparently we need to 'connect as a pack'. Whatever that means." Tyler rolled his eyes.

"It means, you kids have cliques and you can't successfully run a pack that is divided within itself." Joe, the current Inferno Alpha and Izabella's uncle said as he walked in.

"Well, since I'm not part of Inferno, that means I don't have to –" I was saying.

"But you are mated to someone in Inferno. Aren't you, Corey?" Joe smiled after he cut me off.

"No. No, I'm not." I replied not glancing in Jayden's direction, but I could feel the knot in his throat giving me the same choked-up feeling he currently felt. Did I care? Of course not. Joe raised his eyebrows surprised by my answer.

"You're not?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm not. Or maybe I am; point me to the ballroom and I'll go find her."

"Corey –" Hayley began in a hiss.

"Hayley." I gave her a look that told her not to continue that sentence. She glared at me before sighing as she crossed her arms and shook her head in defeat.

"Uh... It's straight down the hall, opposite of the basement." Trent explained awkwardly.

"Thanks, man," I left the room.

The hallway was pretty empty considering that their pack lived in one house, but I brushed by how odd that was and instead headed straight to the ballroom. Once reaching it, I pushed the door open my brows rise in surprise as my eyes moved over the large room. There were mattresses scattered all over one half of the floor leaving the other half completely clear. I chuckled when seeing what looked like a thirteen-year-old girl throw glitter at another as they chased each other around the room. I guess the floor wasn't all that clear.

"Corey!" The voice made a smile spread across my face as my eyes followed to Samantha as she jogged up to me, "Oh my Gosh! Did you grow?! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Yeah, actually I did. Can't say the same for you though." I teased lifting my hand above her head.

"Jerk!" She smacked my arm before hugging me tightly. I chuckled squeezing her back.

"You still look gorgeous, I see you cut your hair." It was very noticeable because it used to reach her lower back and she had cut it to her shoulders.

"You noticed!" She smiled twirling to show off the cut.

"Of course, I did..." I grabbed her waist to pull her to me before giving a suggestive smirk, "We should catch up sometime." She blushed biting her lip as she glanced down shyly. She wasn't mated and as far as I was concerned, neither was I so it was okay for us to mess around.

"Yeah? Tomorrow night?" She smiled as her eyes met mine again.

"Perfect." I planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, right beside her lips to lease her a little. It worked, earning a dissatisfied frown from her.

Maybe I was a little bit of a player, Izabella and Hayley were oblivious to that side of me though. I mean, they knew I was with a lot of girls, I just never introduced any of them to my friends. Why would I? The pair were like sisters to me and these girls changed constantly, it would be pointless introducing them. Besides, they would probably make me look weird to my conquests, I loved them all the same though.

"What kind of kiss is that?" I raised my eyebrows when Samantha's hands cupped my cheeks pulling my face down so her lips could meet mine. I chuckled pulling her against me as I kissed her back passionately.

"Better?" I smiled once we broke apart.

She nodded a little dazed. I glanced at the door and frowned seeing Jayden and the others. Izabella and Hayley's glaring eyes just made me roll mine.

"I have to set up and then catch up with the guys. I see you later, okay?" I gave Samantha a peck on her lips before letting her go and walked over to the side of the room where the mattresses were against the stage. I considered where each was situated before dropping my bags on one.

I then sat down on the edge of the stage and took time to process how large the Inferno mansion actually was while studying the huge ballroom. How did they build this place?! Who built it? And could they be sent over to Galaxy because my house could seriously use some of this. Inferno's entire pack lived in this one massive mansion. At our pack, Galaxy, each family had separate houses on our plot of land.

"Corey!" I looked up and frowned at whoever took me out of my trance but a smile crossed my face as my eyes landed on Jason.

Up until Izabella and Sean found out they were mated, Sean and I barely spoke even though Alphas and Betas were supposed to be close, we were now since Izabella and Sean were together but Jason and I had been making trouble all through high school together despite him being one of Sean's best friends.

"'Sup man?" I greeted as he jumped onto the stage beside me.

"What's up with you running away from us? And who's the girl? She's hot." He nodded his head in the direction Samantha was with a couple of her friends.

"Back off, she's mine." Samantha blushed my way when she heard that, "And I'm not running from anyone." I added.

"You're running from who?" I sighed when Tyler and the other guys joined us because how many people were going to ask about that? But seeing Sean's sad face quickly brightened my mood.

"Izzy tell you to get away from her again?" I asked smirking at him.

Before they found that they were mates, Sean and Izabella had absolutely hated each other... Well, almost absolutely. It wasn't absolute on Sean's side, though it probably was on Izabella's and even though they got along fine now, Izabella would always be Izabella and it creeped her out when someone never left her alone. Sean was beyond whipped, it even creeped me out sometimes. Plus, she had not let him mark her completely yet so I guessed that she was not completely comfortable with him yet. Marking was like a permanent marriage, it was how werewolves accepted their mate and it amplified everything they felt for each other to begin with – which amounted to something more than an obsession and the need to protect each other at all cost.

"Shut up." Sean snapped at me as he fell back onto my mattress before he smirked, "Izzy told me to nag until you tell us who your mate is. She says you have found your mate and you're hiding her from us." He said. Her. Ha. What a joke...

"Is she going to give you doggy treats for obeying her orders?" I frowned down at him.

"No, she's going to give me so much more." I lowered my brows at him confused before cringing as I realised what he meant.

"Oh God no, don't talk to me about that shit and mention Izzy," He laughed at my reaction.

"Wait, she's going to let you mark her?" Jason asked. I snorted and Sean glared at me. Not even if his life depended on it.

"No, she –" Sean was interrupted by a massive bang from above us.

I looked up and gasped seeing what looked like a huge black hole above us.

My thoughts were summed into a simple sentence Matt managed to utter; "What the hell is happening?"

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