Page 5 of Scapegoat

For just a second, I let myself enjoy that, the moment when they chose me, not three of the higher ranked girls from school. Amber was strong, vicious and had enough dominance to ensure she would rise high within pack ranks. And she’d bring her minions with her. But Amber was effective in more than just hand-to-hand fighting, as she proceeded to show as she looked me up and down insultingly slowly, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Oh. You’ll be bringing your little sister with you?” Her perfectly shaped brow rose, her lips twisting into a sneer. My throat worked as my mind raced, wanting to come up with something just as smart, just as cutting, but instead was hit by a wave of defeat. There’d be no way I’d be allowed to go to the party without Anna in tow. Amber’s focus shifted back to the guys. “Let me know if you want to have an actual good time, not just spend the night babysitting.”

And with that, she sailed past, her friends casting scathing looks our way until it was just us left on the concrete footpath.

“C’mon,” Xavier said, bestowing a golden smile upon me. “Don’t worry about those bitches.”

“We’ve got a plan,” Atlas assured me, but they didn’t share it with me, not when we reached the movie theatre, nor when we snuck in.

Chapter 4

“How’s it going, Ashley?” Xavier had drawn the short straw and was responsible for keeping the girl at the ticket booth busy as we snuck in. She looked up from the displays of snacks she was organising, then flushed when she saw him.

“Good, Xavier. Long time, no see?” Ashley was a few years older than us, so it felt weird to see a girl who was a recognised adult get all flustered when she spoke to him. But that was the way of alphas. They ruled with a combination of charisma and iron will. “Going to the party at Granville tomorrow night?”

“Sure am. Might see you there.” He leaned over the counter, closing the gap between them and Ashley’s eyes widened with hope.

“So where are your brothers at?” she asked. That was a natural question, because where one was, so were the rest. Xavier stiffened.

Jayden was usually the one who tried to charm the movie theatre attendant, bullshit falling from his lips as naturally as rain. Atlas could even do it if he had to, the naturally quieter brother saying little, which made it harder to catch him in a lie. But Xavier? He liked to do things right, always going along with that shit under duress.

“Ahh…” He waved furtively for us to get moving, his hand hidden by the counter. We crept forward, keeping our heads out of view. “I just wanted a break from my brothers, y’know, do something on my own for once. Thought I’d catch the new action movie…”

We didn’t catch the rest of his lies, instead scuttling past the counter and into the theatre, barely stifling chuckles as the thrill of doing something we shouldn’t pounded in our veins.

“Tickets?”

John had been working at the theatre for years and he looked us over with a weary eye. I was wondering what the fuck we were going to use when Jayden fished out some old ticket stubs.

“Just come back from the toilets,” he said, walking forward, dragging us with him.

“All of you?” John frowned slightly, but as we walked past, he just shrugged. “Whatever. Enjoy your movie.”

And we did.

We slunk into the darkened theatre, just as an explosion was taking place on the big screen. Jayden led us right up the back to a row of empty seats. He went first, grabbing my hand and sitting me down beside him as Atlas settled down on my right. But as I was getting comfortable, I felt it: Jayden’s arm around my shoulders, a welcome weight that seemed to always instantly soothe me. And then there was Atlas. His fingers brushed against mine in the darkness, then he grabbed my hand.

And any hope I had of watching the movie was gone.

It was dark. I could hear their breaths, coming in slower and slower as their heart rates settled. But mine spiked. I felt the shift of Atlas’ fingers, the rasp of the calluses against mine, then the play of Jayden’s in my hair, the feeling making me all shivery. People spoke intently on the screen, shooting guns and then throwing themselves into fast cars, taking off with a squeal.

And I felt like I was right there with them.

Why else would my heart be racing, thudding bunny-fast inside my chest? The POV shot of the driver swerving around corners as they fought to get away from the bad guys was apt, because that dizzying, disorientating feeling, our eyes thinking we were doing something we weren’t, was a close approximation of what I felt every time I was with them.

I was in love with the Campbell boys.

In the dark, divorced from my family, my town, my pack, I could admit that. I felt a thrill each time they touched me, my whole body crying out for more. My thighs shifted now, rubbing slightly together, the feeling of tension, of excitement, of pleasure rising and rising until—

“Move over!”

We all looked up to see Xavier hissing at us.

“Nah, we’re good,” Jayden replied and snickered as his brother’s eyes narrowed. Xavier’s eyes took in everywhere his brothers’ bodies touched mine. Jayden’s hand curled upwards, stroking through my hair until his brother let out a growl of discontent.

“Guess I’m not giving you any of the snacks or drinks I bought,” Xavier whispered back, flumping down beside Atlas.

“How’d you get them?” Jayden demanded.

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