The Circle Ch. 06

Fiona

When I finally collapsed into one of the plush couches in Margot and Gregory's upstairs sitting area, I couldn't feel my feet. Hours standing in those damn shoes had them numb, but aching at the same time, and I let out a snarl as I sank low in my seat, pushing them off and under the coffee table in front of me.

Wordlessly, Jeremy held a bottle of beer out above my head.

"I could kiss you," I said flatly, taking the cold bottle and chugging half of it in one go.

I was exhausted. More than exhausted. I was drained. The bloodletting, the bonding, the pledging, always took it out of me, but this one in particular left me feeling like I'd been in the sun too long - my skin sensitive, my mouth dry. The alcohol wouldn't help, but at this point, water seemed like a luxury compared to the promise of calming nerves.

"I'll warn you, he uses too much tongue," Beth called from her spot in a barstool in front of the rolling bar propped in the corner. Charlie was making some sort of batch cocktail. I pulled a face, taking another long sip of my drink.

I watched my inner Circle - my friends - mill about in the dim room, finally free to relax after a long day of doing what we did best. For my Circle, this was our job - the duty we'd sworn to the Moon Goddess when accepting these positions in the first place. But for the others, Gregory, for Jeremy, even Charlie, their loyalty to their partners, to me, kept them here, and I was grateful for that.

The sound of the door shutting downstairs caught my attention, and I kept my eyes on the door to the stairwell when Gavin appeared, changed out of his more formal clothes from the day and back into what he'd worn to help decorate my house.

I wanted to pout. I had thoroughly enjoyed watching the way broad shoulders tightened against the fabric of his deep red shirt. I wanted to pull him by a suspender and right into my waiting body all day.

Was I giving in to my lust? Maybe. After the conversation this morning in my kitchen, it was clear that there was no denying that attraction between us. But when that bond formed during his pledging, when our minds connected...

I had never experienced that before. In all of the people I had taken into this pack, it was a first. And it had terrified me, just like he had said - that uneasy feeling of not being in control of the situation.

When that heat coursed through me, coursed through us, the last thing I felt was control. It felt feral and wild, like a free run in wolf form with not a care in the world. It was letting go, and it felt so damn good.

When I made eye contact with Gavin, he shot me a warm smile, and I felt my cheeks flush. Before my face was the color of my outfit of the day, I bent over, massaging the arches of my feet as I winced.

I was overcompensating today with the heels - my nerves from the coming Equinox presentation, combined with court in a few weeks hitting my confidence, hard - and my feet were paying the price.

The couch dipped as someone sat next to me, and I looked up from my awkward position to find Gavin peering down at me. He raised his thick eyebrows, and his eyes flitted down to my feet.

"Regretting something?" he asked, a smirk playing on face. Oh, he wanted to play.

"Absolutely nothing," I said, and then sat up, angling myself into the corner of the couch and setting my feet on his thighs, which were covered with dark gym shorts. He didn't even pause a beat before his strong hands dug into one of my arches, and I let out a guttural moan before I could stop myself. I felt something below my feet twitch, and Gavin's focus on his task seemed sharper as he avoided my eyes. I wasn't sure whether it was because he was trying not to think about the sound I'd just made, or if he was embarrassed. Or both.

"Whoa there," Charlie called from the bar, where Carter was helping him pour a tray of drinks. I barked out a laugh, melting into the couch and finishing off my beer in a single swig. I held the bottle up to a passing Margot, who rolled her eyes but took it, tossing it in the trash halfway across the room. She found her seat in a double-wide armchair across the table, and folded her feet underneath herself. She'd changed out of her billowing pink dress and into what I wished I was wearing, leggings and an oversized tee shirt. I hadn't had the energy to peel off all the boob tape keeping the front of this jumpsuit in place, so just sauntered across the street still fully made up, the only one, it appeared.

Poppy found a spot on the couch next to Gavin, holding two of Charlie's drinks in her hand. She leaned forward, reaching out her arm and handing me one. It was dangerously clear, and when I took a sip, I nearly grimaced. Nearly straight gin, with a bit of lemon and honey. Not my favorite, but it'll do.

"I don't get one?" Gavin asked playfully, and Poppy looked up at him, batting her long lashes. He had a solid foot on her, even sitting down.

"You have to earn it," she said in her flirtiest voice, and I nearly choked on my drink. I watched Gavin's neck bob as he swallowed, and his eyes flitting back to me. And I just laughed.

Flirting was Poppy's third language - after English, and Yogi. There was always more than enough flirting to go around in the unmated part of this group - Carter, even, though he leaned more towards advances on Charlie than Poppy and I.

I prided myself on fostering a healthy relationship with sex, in this group and beyond. It's why we spoke so plainly about it at the Spring Pledge. It wasn't something we were ashamed of, like our nakedness. It was an intimacy we shared, like running through the forest in our raw, natural forms.

And even though I could feel the heat pulsing up my leg from where Gavin's skin made contact with mine, I wasn't about to be a giant fucking hypocrite and claim him as my own. Not when we had barely kissed just a few times.

Not yet, at least.

"She's worth earning," I responded, tipping my glass at her with a flirtatious smile of my own, taking another drink.

Everyone began to settle around the low table - Charlie on the other side of Poppy, his long arm resting along the back of the couch behind her. She cradled herself into his side and nodded her head to the music playing from the speaker on the bar, her bright red hair swaying in its high ponytail.

Gregory found his spot next to Margot, and I surveyed them for a moment - it had been a long time since I'd seen them well rested and at ease, and it made my heart happy. They both worked so hard to be the best in their careers, but it sometimes meant they sacrificed rest, and time together. Sacrifices I understood all too well.

Carter folded himself on the floor in front of the table, leaning back on his hands and watching everyone else with me. He was an observer - a spy in the making, taking in the scene around him like he did every day.

Jeremy and Beth settled into plush sofa chairs next to each other, their hands entangled on one of the arms. Beth's mom had taken the twins home for the evening so they could spend some much needed time together, and with us. Free time with both of them had been scarce, and I was thankful they chose to spend some of their time here.

We settled into an easy conversation, sharing drinks and laughing, all the while, that continual thrum of heat surged up one leg, and then the other as Gavin switched feet. And by the time both felt like jelly, loose and worked, that thrum had traveled higher and sat firmly between my legs.

"He said what?" Beth half-screeched, leaning forward in her seat and howling in laughter. Having finished the glorious massage, Gavin settled one hand across my ankles, and the other found its way on the back of the couch.

"I swear to God," Carter choked out, wiping below his eye. "This dude straight up had to ask why we couldn't use the term edging in a legal document." Everyone around the room laughed, but my mind was elsewhere.

Out of sight of the rest of the room, that other hand picked a spot on my shoulder, right next to my neck, and started tracing patterns like he was trying to spell something out. I let my eyes close, trying to keep myself from shuddering as heat bloomed across my back and up my neck.

Get a fucking room.

Margot's voice was as clear as if she'd said it out loud, and my eyes snapped back open, immediately making contact with her own wide brown ones. They were shining, mischievous, and she smirked at me over the rim of her cocktail. We were all several rounds in at this point, and the buzz through my body was from several sources. She must have said it to Gavin, too, because the patterns stopped momentarily.

She had cornered me after the last of the guests left, before we trudged to her house next door. I don't think many other people saw the way things had gone with GAvin - if anything, they probably thought it was some sort of effect of switching from one pack to another - but she noticed. She noticed so much that when she pulled me to my office, where Sophia curled up under my desk, her face was etched with concern as she whirled to face me after closing my door.

"What the fuck happened up there?" she asked, crossing her arms, not even bothering to sit in one of the chairs in front of me She intended to keep this short, her brevity one of the many reasons I chose her as my Beta.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I replied, leaning forward and hiding my face in my hands. "One minute, totally normal. The next..." I trailed off, and then looked back up at her. "Go, it was like being fucking microwaved. My whole body was on fire the second our blood touched." She raised a brow.

"And the link?"

"He walked through the entrance like there wasn't even a door there," I admitted, and her eyes widened.

Yeah. It had scared me too. Scared the shit out of me, in fact, because as Alpha, I was predisposed to shutting everyone else out. If I didn't I would go fucking insane. Hearing the thoughts of every pack member all the time? Absolutely not.

Margot's teeth found her bottom lip, and she seemed to think on it for a second before responding.

"I think we need to get to know him," she said finally. "All of us. There's something between the two of you, not just romantically." I gave her a withering look, but she pressed on. "If he's affecting you physically like that, we need to figure out why. I don't trust him. I don't trust George."

"No one trusts George," I countered, but her stare shut me up. Very few people could make my mouth shut that fast, and she was one of them.

"I don't want them using this connection to take advantage of you - of us. Or fucking anything up for us, accidentally or otherwise." I sighed, leaning back in my padded desk chair and staring at the screensaver of my computer - a photo of the four of us, taken long ago, on a beach far, far away from here. Smiling, mostly carefree, and still fresh off taking over the Circle. Days I missed.

"I'll be careful." Her look told me she didn't believe me. "I've been trying to avoid this for weeks, Go. But at this point, it's more distracting to ignore it." I paused, pondering. "Maybe I just need to sleep with him, get it out of my system. She snorted, shaking her head and looking up at the ceiling. "What?"

"That'll make things worse and you know it, Fi." One of her hands found the back of her neck, and she toyed with the tie of her halter dress. "He's not some rando from Paris. He's here. He's around you every day." A smile played on her lips. "Your heart lives in your vagina, and you fucking know it."

A beat.

"Did you just quote Grey's Anatomy?" And as we dissolved into laughter together, I was reminded of just why Margot was my Beta - and my best friend.

Which is why, as she stared at me, her playful glance was also laced with something else - concern, maybe. I shifted uncomfortably - the fabric of this outfit was starting to dig into my hips as I tried to bend at the waist.

"So," Charlie started, leaning forward and placing his empty glass on the table, rubbing his hands together. "What are we playing?" Gavin gave me a sideways glance.

"Playing?" he asked, speaking for the first time since sitting down.

"Poker?" Jeremy asked, and I could tell his tone was hopeful. Jeremy and George were both quiet, offsetting the loud personalities the women of my inner Circle all shared. Poker was strategic, a mindset both of them could fall into easily while taking us for all we were worth.

"Nah," Beth disagreed with him, giving me a pointed look and then sipping on the beer in her hand. She'd already pumped and dumped once, she'd probably have to do it again, so she was going all-in.

"Cards Against Humanity?" I offered, and Charlie stuck his thumb out, turning it down and blowing a raspberry.

"Boooring," he called.

"Fuck it," Poppy said lightly, "let's go with T.D.S."

Oh shit.

"Poppy, I'm not so sure -

Gavin cut off the start of Margot's concerned statement with "What's T.D.S.?"

"Truth or dare," I said, my gaze not meeting his.

"Or strip," Carter added from the ground, grinning. He lived for the drama, and this game inevitably ended in one of a few ways - sheer embarrassment, a near violent show of physical force, vomiting, or everyone leaving in a sexual haze. Sometimes all four, because my friends were professionals, but even the most buttoned-up of us needed to let loose in the safety of our homes.

Gavin didn't even miss a beat as he shrugged, downing the rest of his drink and gently moving my legs to stand up. He hend his hand out, and for a second I thought he was offering to help me off the couch - something I was not going to do - but then he nodded towards my empty glass, setting it on the table in front of us.

Thanks.

"What's a little truth or dare between werewolves?" he asked, moving towards the bar, where he grabbed a handle each of whiskey and vodka, coming to set them back down on the table with a handful of shot glasses while we all stared. He filled my glass with whiskey, then his own.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a cocky son of a bitch?" Margot mumbled.

"Oh, all the time." He grinned as he lifted my legs again, sitting back down and putting them where they had been.

"Fine then," Beth started, and leaned forward, filling her own glass with Vodka, passing the bottle to Poppy to do the same. "As our guest, Gavin, you get to select the first victim - I mean player." She grinned, tipping back her glass and downing at least two shots worth of vodka in one go. Jeremy let out a low whistle, his dark eyes watching his wife.

"Easy," Gavin said, and used his glass to point across from him. "Beta Aachari."

"Bastard Lightwell," Margot replied, and we all laughed. This was the start of a beautiful friendship. "Truth." He gave my face a quick once over, and I became more aware of his hand on my legs.

"Cabo 2017." I felt my eyes widen. "Please explain."

"Fuck," Gregory spluttered. "Right for the jugular." I looked wildly between Gavin and Beth, the latter of whom was glaring daggers. Clearly she'd mentioned something and he was about to get his ass whooped because of it.

Cabo 2017 was not my finest moment. Actually, it wasn't any of our finest moments.

Margot narrowed her eyes at Gavin before looking at me, and in solidarity, she leaned forward, peeling off her jacket. I noticed, for the first time, she didn't have a drink in her hand - just a bottle of water on the table next to her.

"Wait, wait, wait," Gavin said, holding up his hand. "What exactly are the rules here?"

"Truth or dare." Poppy's voice implied Gavin was incredibly stupid, but I knew she was teasing. "They don't do what you say, they get to chose the other option, or strip."

"Not up for a dare, Beta?" Gavin asked. He was playing with fire.

"You'll forgive me if I'd rather get naked than risk having to do whatever stupid idea pops into the head of George Lightwell's brother." Gregory's throat bobbed as he eyed his partner, and I wasn't sure whether the idea of her stripping in front of all of us was a turn on, or something that made him want to rip Gavin's heart out.

Gavin, unfazed, just shrugged. "Fair." Margot turned in her seat towards Beth.

"Truth or dare, bitch." Beth snickered - this was clearly payback for having uttered a word about the-trip-that-shall-not-be-named.

"Truth," Beth said, and Jeremy and Charlie booed together.

"Who's your hall pass?"

"Robert Pattinson," she said wistfully, leaning forward and pouring herself another drink. I couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped my lips. That was a stark, stark contrast to the dark skinned, short haired, bulky man that sat next to her. They were both British, though. Jeremy rolled his eyes at his wife as she turned to Charlie.

"Dare," he said with an "obviously" shrug before Beth could even ask. She pondered for a minute, clearly unprepared for his quick answer. Then, her eyes lit up, and she pointed behind us at the column on the side of the room by the bar, where a photo from her own wedding was hanging, the four of us smiling back. I love Beth, but those hot pink dresses were fucking disgusting.

"It's a pole," she started, grinning wickedly, "you're the dancer. Have at it. 60 seconds." The room cheered as Charlie, completely unabashed, reached forward, filling his glass with whiskey and downing it in a single gulp. He pushed himself up over the back of the couch, and I let out a loud whoop, turning with Gavin and Poppy to watch. Carter pushed himself to his feet, standing next to Beth. From Gregory's speaker, Pony started playing, and Margot snorted.

With a sinful wink back at all of us, Charlie wrapped his long arms around the column, which couldn't have been more than a foot wide, and pretended to let his weight fall as he swung freely around it.

"Oi!" Jeremy called, howling. "Pull that picture down before Go kills you."

"Fucking right," Margot agreed, and Charlie pulled it down, fanning his face with it and batting his eyes before setting it gingerly on the bartop. My entire body shook with laughter.

Charlie was younger than most of us, with the exception of Carter, and that boyish charm still clung to him. He was a fierce friend and protector, but he kept our group laughing at some of our darkest times - so much so that the girls and I had discussed creating a position within our Circle for him. We wanted to wait until Carter was official to iron it out.

He preened and pranced around the column, and reached down to the hem of his shirt, tearing it off and throwing it at Carter, who snatched it out of the air easily. I wolf-whistled, and Poppy shrieked. Even Gavin was laughing heartily.

I felt him on the edges of my mind, and looked over at him.

Is it always like this?

Not always. I paused as his eyes searched my face. It's been a long couple of months, I think this is the first chance we've had to blow off steam together since after Yule.

He nodded, and then smiled as he watched Charlie finish up his fabulous routine, followed by a ruckus round of applause. I reached out as we all returned to our previous positions.

Well, that was certainly something.

You like, Madame Alpha? He slid me a wicked grin, canines bared, when he bent over in front of me, still shirtless, and poured himself another drink. I felt Gavin's hand tighten on my ankle, and Charlie, still looking at me, cocked an eyebrow. Someone's peaked. I gave a small shrug, one that I hoped only Charlie would see. Want me to make this interesting?

I felt my face split into a sly grin, the warmth from Gavin's touch and the alcohol finally creating enough of a buzz through my body. I nodded, making a "have at it" hand gesture and leaning forward so he could fill my glass, trying to ignore Gavin's eyes on me.