CHAPTER 38: TRUTH OR DARE III - SEDUCTION

Students were gonna have so much to talk about tomorrow. The wind had picked up around them a bit, and dark clouds were gathering above. It wouldn’t stop anyone from enjoying the night.

And what everyone was enjoying currently were two guys standing in the middle of the clearing.

"Those cards need to be burned before the night ends," Theo murmured.

"I don’t know if I agree anymore," Aurelius replied, his eyes now unreadable. The moment they had begun to sway, the amused look in his eyes had disappeared.

"Then I’ll have to take matters into my own hands," She looked up at his eyes, "How long are we supposed to do this for?"

"A few minutes,"

"The card didn’t say," She frowned.

"Then why did you ask me?"

"We should break away now, that’s enough," She scowled and made to leave, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled her even closer.

The movement drew her closer to him, and now, their chests weren’t just brushing anymore.

"What do you think you’re doing?!" She demanded, her chest rising and falling quickly.

"It hasn’t been up to a minute, redhead," He answered.

"Doesn’t matter, Aurelius. Let go of me!"

"Why do you look flushed?" He gave her that annoying smug face again.

"I’ll be flushing your face down the toilet, if you do not let go,"

His grip got even more secure, more... possessive. It was almost as if he was trying to pass a message to everyone present here, especially the guys over there.

Footsteps approached them quickly, and Theodora looked just in time to see a fist slamming into Aurelius’s face.

Aurelius stumbled back a bit, a bruise forming on his jaw with blood staining his teeth as he smiled again.

Liam stood there, his expression hardened as a rock and his eyes glowing golden, "Times up, Aurelius. Dancing over!" He growled, both hands fisted tightly.

Aurelius laughed, a kind of noise that was restrained and loaded with profound amusement at the same time.

He looked at Liam with a little too much relaxation behind the stare, "Your Punch has gotten stronger over the year, Liam. You did the same thing for almost the same reason back at Alpha camp,"

"Yeah," Liam grabbed Theo’s hand tightly, "You should be glad I was holding back!"

He pulled her back to where they were seated, and they both dropped on the log of wood. Zeke was holding another bottle of whiskey and had lit a new smoke.

His gaze was on the fire, eyes narrowed dangerously at it with calculating efficiency. He didn’t seem to give a shit about what just happened, lost in his thoughts of something else.

Good. That was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

Her chest tightened, and she hated herself for not being happy with the thought.

Whatever. Zeke didn’t matter. What he thinks doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t.

"It’s my turn," Zeke stated, his eyes finally leaving the fire.

"Truth or dare," He asked, and he looked at someone in the gathering, "Truth or dare... Celeste,"

Theodora released a huge breath.

"Truth," Celeste replied.

"Tell us, Celeste," Zeke’s eyes seemed to bore into his like he was staring into his soul, "What kind of a monster would you be without your Pack rules?"

Celeste’s toes curled inside his shoes, and Theo caught the motion of a vein straining along his neck. That question had meant more to him than just the surface, and Zeke was well aware of that.

It had Theodora realising that everyone in this group was twisted in their own mental way, but she was very sure that no one else’s secret would be as shocking and as terrifying as hers.

Instinctively, her hands flew up to feel her pendant and she gently caressed it.

Liam secretly glanced at her. So did Aurelius.

Celeste didn’t answer. He picked up a card, veins still strained and read out, "Ask the person sitting opposite you to do something to seduce the person who spoke to you last. If the seducer fails to get a reaction from the person, they’ll have to take the fall and answer the questions you were asked. If the person does flinch, you’re to kiss the seducer on the cheek and whisper a Thank you in their ear,"

Theo’s throat went dry.

She was the one sitting opposite Celeste. How on earth did it get to this?!

"What in the absolute fuck!" Liam roared and snatched the deck of cards, "That’s it. I’m throwing this shit away,"

"No, you won’t," Celeste replied.

Theo was expecting Aurelius to say ’ Rules are Rules ’ but he was unusually silent this time.

"Enough with that shit. It keeps telling us to do gay shit. And none of us here is gay!"

Zeke whistled a bit, "You have no idea,"

She knew he was referring to her and Eric, and rolled her eyes.

"I know enough," He spat back, squeezing the deck of cards.

"Drop it, William," Celeste warned this time.

"Or what?"

"It’s fine," Theo finally spoke, holding his arm and taking the deck away. She kept it back where it was, and turned to Liam with a soft smile, "I can handle myself, remember?"

Then, she turned to Zeke. The cigarette was hanging from the corner of his lips when she came to him, squatting so their faces were close.

"Are you ready?"

"I don’t do guys, Hellcat,"

"We’ll see, then,"

He shrugged.

Her fingers moved first, reaching for the cigarette. She plucked it from his mouth and placed it aside, the brief touch of her fingers against his skin a flicker of heat neither acknowledged. Then, she began tracing a slow, unhurried path from the hollow of his throat upward.

Her touch wasn’t heavy. It barely even existed but it was just enough for him to feel it. It was a whisper of skin against skin that could have been mistaken for nothing if not for the silence that followed it.

She moved along the sharp line of his jaw, across the faint stubble, over the corner of his lips. Her gaze never broke from his.

Zeke didn’t move. He didn’t blink. But something shifted.

That imperceptible tightening of his jaw. The smallest hitch in his breathing. The muscle just beneath his eye flickered once, betraying a current he didn’t mean to show.

Her hand slid up to his hair, fingers brushing through the dark strands, following them to the back of his neck. And that’s where she caught him firmly enough that it made him draw in a silent breath.

A silent breath she didn’t notice.

And then she pulled him in.

Close.

Too close.

So close the air between them grew heavy and uneven.

The smell of whiskey, blood and smoke filled her nostrils, and every other sense of hers blurred.

No one said anything. No one dared to.

Zeke’s lips curved, just slightly, almost invisible. A reaction too subtle for even her to notice.

He didn’t pull away.

He just stared into her soft eyes. Too soft.

He quickly noticed her trembling lips that he could only see at this distance, and her dilated eyes.

Bingo.

He only whispered, voice low enough for her alone, "Looks like you’re the one getting affected, Hellcat,"

Theodora wasn’t the type to back out of a fight...or a dare. She’s tried her best to keep her cool while touching him, but some parts of her body have betrayed her.

His eyes, his scent, his face, everything about him, pulled her toward her. She could run from it all she wanted, but she couldn’t hide.

But what really hurt, was the fact that he didn’t feel anything back.

Zeke was in a class of his own. One day, he was gonna become an Alpha that would completely dominate, and she - she would have no place in this world.

But like she said, she wasn’t the type to give up.

"Looks like you’re the one getting affected, Hellcat,"

She arched a brow, and her eyes danced with tease, "Oh yeah?"

Then, she tilted her head a bit and moved closer to his face. Her eyes fell on his perfect lips, and she eyed them with hunger as she came just close enough, till there was barely any space left between their faces.

She slowly, teasingly, and deliberately looked up to his eyes, gently caressed the back of his hair while keeping eye contact, then she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips with it.

Then, her other hand gently traced a fiery path up his shirt, into his shirt, tracing her trembling hands over every corner of his chest. Those muscles she had always ached to touch were hers to explore tonight, as much as she wanted, till he gave her some kind of reaction.

Zeke stared right back. He still wasn’t reacting.

And if he did feel anything, he must be very good at hiding it.

"Give up, yet?" He almost grinned, as if he was enjoying watching the struggle in her eyes.

"No," She said and placed both hands around his shoulders, her face still too close. Her heart was racing so fast, and she could feel that electricity crackling.

One he couldn’t feel.

"How long are you gonna keep trying?" He asked, "I told you, I don’t do guys,"

She was almost tempted to ask Seraphina to release her true scent a bit, to see if that would stir him. But it wasn’t an option. She and Zeke barely see eye to eye.

"There wasn’t a time limit," She replied, running a hand through her hair a little recklessly, "So let me enjoy myself, okay?"

She traced every angle of his face with her finger, memorising every trace, every little scar, the shape of everything. This was the closest she’s ever been with a man, and he just happened to be the forbidden fruit her best friend had warned her several times to stay away from.

The bastard whom she hated, but was undeniably attracted to at the same time.

Eric didn’t want her. Zeke didn’t want her. But their father did. Thinking about it made her heart ache and her body curl with disgust.

Just then, a voice called from behind, "Teddy?!"