The Circle

Author's Note

Hi all, hope you enjoy this world-building piece.

Fiona

I heard the combination code whirring on the front door downstairs, and at the foot of my bed, Sophia perked up, her head nodding to one side as she stared at the doorway. I groaned, covering my face with a pillow.

"Your punk ass better be awake!" Beth called with a creak from the door. I heard a shuffling of bags, and Carter saying "ow!" and knew that I didn't have a choice - it was time to get up. My muscles ached from yesterday's early morning workout, and combined with a late night reviewing case notes for an upcoming court appearance, I was physically and mentally drained. But that didn't matter, because Beth and Carter were downstairs, expecting me to help setup for Spring Pledge.

It was my own fault, really, telling them they could come this early to set up. But I knew if I didn't, I would have to call in a whole team of reinforcements - and by reinforcements, I meant all of the inner Circle's significant others, plus Charlie's gym buddies - to make it happen.

No, Carter and Beth could accomplish what a small army handled in just a few hours, with enough caffeine and construction paper.

By the time I made it downstairs, hair wet from showering and Sophia frolicking behind me, the backyard was starting to come together. The weather had held out on us - one final weekend of sunshine before the impending snow coming in the following week. It was sunny and breezy, and the heart-shaped tissue paper ornaments blew from side to side where they hung off the patio cover. Carter was attaching foot-wide foam roses to the front of the stage at the corner of the large field.

"Good of you to show up," Beth hissed from her spot on a stepstool just to the side of the back door.

"Jesus," I muttered, and rushed over to spot her. She let out a snort.

"Could have used a spot when I was putting those up, this is easy." She nodded her head towards the display of pink and red streamers now hanging between the light in the kitchen and the top of the cabinets. I grimaced.

"This is a lot of...just a lot." Beth snorted, and continued pinning the paper hearts to the wall above the door leading to the backyard.

"You said pick a theme and run with it. This is running."

"This is marathoning."

The doorbell rang, and I opened my phone to see who it was.

Gavin stood at the door, a cardboard box in one hand, a suit bag over his shoulder in the other.

I looked up at Beth and narrowed my eyes, holding my phone out to her. The coy smile on her lips made me want to shove her off the step ladder.

"What? I told him he was required to come help. Part of pledging."

"You failed to mention he was the only one required?"

"Sure did." I closed my eyes, taking a deep, calming breath, before I navigated to the smart lock app and clicked unlock, and heard it whirring down the stairs. There were sounds of shuffling, the door closing swiftly, and then someone bounding up the stairs. I turned to look over my shoulder as Beth called "Morning, loser," above my head.

Gavin looked...just like he had the day before at work. Only his usual button up, suspenders and slacks were replaced with track shorts and a tee shirt, like he'd worn at the gym. His bulky torso was tight against the material, and his arms were flexed to hold up the items he held. His hair was still wet, too, and my brain swirled around, thinking about that day in the locker room.

Let's be honest. He'd probably heard everything. As quiet as Charlie and I tried to be, it was an echochamber in there. And I couldn't read the face he made when he realized who was walking out of that stall - shock, frustration. Maybe some lust?

And the two of them standing there, shirtless, dripping wet...where else was my brain supposed to go? Someplace squeaky clean and innocent? Absolutely fucking not. My hormones demanded that I know what it was like to have both of them - preferably, at the same time. But my head told me that anything lust-filled and quick to satiate with Gavin would likely end in disaster for both parties.

Gavin set his things down on the kitchen island and looked around, before his eyes landed back on Beth.

"Let me guess, I'm the only other one here to help right now?" I took another calming breath and looked back up at Beth between narrowed eyes, shaking my head.

"Well clearly we're going to put you to work, Pledge, how else will you pay me back for my decorating skills?" She was clearly balancing fine on the ladder, so I stepped away, towards the coffee station in the corner of my kitchen. I heard her step down behind me and swipe her hands together in finality. "This side is done." I glanced over my shoulder as she moved to open the door, and I clawed into our mindlink.

Don't you fucking dare.

Love you!

"I'm going to go help Carter with the stage, be back soon!" She closed the door with a resounding thud, and I sighed in resignation, reaching for the cabinet above the coffee pot and pulling out two cups.

"Her methods may be questionable," Gavin said behind me, and one of the bar stools at the island screeched as he pulled it backwards. There was a slapping sound as something hit the counter. "But she knows what she wants and how to get it." I snorted, pulling out the pot and pouring coffee into both cups. I filled his up all the way - he drank it black, right? At least, that's what I thought I'd noticed in the times I'd seen him make a cup at work.

"Wait until she's drunk at a bar and you're trying to cut her off. Those big eyes'll have you buying a round of shots before you can say Artemis." I turned as I finished my sentence, and see him leaning over the wide bar onto his forearms. He was clearly watching me scuttle around. Wordlessly, I pushed one cup across the bar, making my best attempt not to slosh hot liquid all over him. He pushed himself up, leaning across and grabbing it with one hand. I watched the muscles in his shoulders flex the entire time. A paper bag sat in front of him.

"From Silvie," he said, pointing to the bag and pushing it towards me. "Drunk Beth is a terrifying thought. She'd probably make me dance to Taylor Swift or something." I quirked my head at him. Clearly they had been talking more than I realized. Making my way to the fridge, I pulled out creamer and filled the rest of my cup, swirling it around before grabbing the bag of what I assumed were pastries and settling back on one of the countertops facing him.

"Or One Direction." It was his turn to snort over the top of his coffee cup. We both took long sips, probably longer than necessary.

"Can we talk?" His voice was quiet - not the normal, jovial tone I'd become accustomed to over the last few weeks at the office - and not the husky, deep drawl he'd used when we'd been alone.

"We are talking." He rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean, Fiona." I cleared my throat nervously, and set my coffee down, peeking into the bag Silvie sent with him. It was, in fact, a bag full of baked goods, and I tentatively pulled out a pumpkin kolache before shoving the bag back at him across the bar. "I just want to apologize." I was mid-bite when he said it, and froze in what I'm sure was an attractive look. I took a hard swallow.

"Apologize for what?" I asked around a dry mouth, which was followed by another long sip of coffee.

"For...fuck, I don't know." He ran his hand down the side of his damp hair, and I couldn't help but laugh. Great apology. "We haven't really had a chance to talk since..." I could let him flounder, or I could help him. Or I could rile him. And while helping was the kindest thing to do - I chose violence.

"When you pushed me up against a wall and told me how much of a fucking idiot your brother is?" His eyes widened, and I smiled to myself. "Or the kiss where I felt like my whole body was on fire?" In an instant, his face steeled, and the smolder in those blue-green eyes made me bite my lip.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" I asked, surprised.

"Bite your lip." I furrowed my brow. "Because it's making me want to kiss you again." He seemed to think further, and then continued, smirking. "No, it makes me want to do a lot more than that." I held back the squeak that sat at the back of my throat and settled for a resigned sigh.

"Lightwell..."

"Gavin," he corrected. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What? If we're going to be friends, you can't keep calling me Lightwell."

"We're not friends," I countered. "I'm your Alpha and-

"And you kissed me back," he cut me off quickly, leaning back over the bar and raising an eyebrow at me. "So here we are. We can't go back. We can't pretend it didn't happen." He gestured to the space between the two of us. "Maybe we're not friends, I don't know if I can be just friends with you after that." A lump rose in my throat at his words. "I don't think I want to be."

"Be friends?" I asked, but I knew I was playing dumb.

"

Just

friends." He sighed, his hands finding his hair again. "Fuck, I mean just seeing you at the office, keeping my distance." His eyes met mine, and they were different - softer, but determined. "I want to get to know you. Outside of work. Outside of this." He gestured above me, to the streamers, and then outside, to Beth and Carter, who I could see trying to pretend like they weren't constantly looking back at us.

"I hate to break it to you," I started, "but this," I gesture around me, "is who I am." His head cocked to one side, and he leaned back, crossing his arms.

"This isn't the only part of you that exists."

"See, you keep saying shit like that." I shook my head, and smiled as I took another bite of kolache, considering my words. "You don't know me." He just smirked, and I raised an eyebrow. "You disagree?"

"I mean I'm not going to say I'm a Fiona Parker expert," he started, shrugging, "but I'm observant as fuck, and I've been observing you."

"That's not creepy at all." He tipped his head, looking at me through his dark lashes.

"First of all, you deflect with humor when you're uncomfortable."

"Me?" I asked. "Never. Besides, I'm not uncomfortable."

"You chew your expensive ass pens when you're thinking." He was right. I did. I'd given myself black lips enough times to know that. But what a small thing to notice. "You pride yourself in being a resource for your clients, even if it's something that's not in your job description."

"I feel like that's every good-

"It's absolutely not every good attorney," he interrupted, pressing me with a look that bordered on admiration. "Do you think Oscar would help his client find affordable housing vouchers or walk them through the application?" My silence must have answered his question. "Exactly."

He took a deep sip of his coffee, seemingly draining the rest. I held my hand out for his cup to refill it, but he shook his head. Wordlessly, he pushed his chair back, and walked around the bar to the coffee pot, right by where I stood.

"You put the needs of the Circle," he gestured between us, and then refilled his cup. "And your clients above yourself, even if it hurts you."

"I'm an Alpha," I defended. "It's my job." He snorted, blowing on the coffee in his hand. His lips pursed, and I watched the hair on his upper lip crinkle together - remembering the rough feeling of it on my face.

"I think you know better than I do that not all alphas are created equal. The pack is not always a priority, much less any other endeavors." This was also true, especially considering the man whose brother stood in front of me. "You're also shit at taking compliments from me." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held his hand up, finishing another sip before putting it down on the counter. The fucking

audacity

.

Then, in a blink, he'd moved in front of me, his hands bracing on the cabinets on either side of my head. My lower back pushed into the edge of the countertop painfully, but I took one inhale of the man in front of me and felt myself laser focus on his face. The untamed, frazzled beard. The deep, almost teal eyes. The slight way his forehead creased as he looked down at me.

"For such a fucking powerful woman, you sure do squirm when I look at you." He glanced at my body, and I immediately registered that I'd thrown on a deep v-neck shirt with no bra since I was only expecting Carter and Beth this morning. When he glanced down, seeing the straight line of my tattooed breastbone, all the way to my navel, I felt him twitch against my leg. He looked me straight in the eyes, then.

"I think you're uncomfortable as hell." I opened my mouth again, but wordlessly, he brushed his lips against mine, and I froze. When he pulled back, he was smirking again, and took advantage of my shock by continuing. "And I think you hate it, because it means you have no control over what's happening." He kissed me again, more firm this time, and I felt warmth creeping across my face and down my neck. "I think you feel that too, whatever that is."

His eyes burned as he nodded to my face, where I was biting my lip again, trying not to say what I really wanted to. Because I wanted to agree with him. I was uncomfortable in this situation - not because

he

made me feel uneasy or scared. Because I wasn't in control of the way my body was reacting. Because I was-

"And I think it fucking terrifies you." As he captured my lips with his a third time, there wasn't anything rough or urgent about it. They moved slowly, sensually, his arms not moving from above my head, but his chest pressed into my own as my hands, the traitors they were, found the sides of his face and pulled him in closer.

When his tongue teased my bottom lip, I felt myself let out a soft moan, and that earned movement from his hands, one finding the base of my neck in my wet hair, the other digging into my hip, pulling me closer.

I lost myself - letting the world around us disappear more than it already had when I was just staring into those eyes.

It had been a long time since I'd felt a kiss like that. It made me feel more like we could take all the time in the world. Like we had all the time in the world.

"Before the two of you pop out a couple of pups of your own," I heard from behind Gavin, and he let out a low, frustrated groan that I could feel in my hands, still cupped around his bearded face, followed by a chuckle as we separated. If he could have mindlinked Beth, I'm pretty sure it would have been to tell her what a cockblock she was, and honestly, I wouldn't have blamed him. "We need Gavin's help outside."

I felt my cheeks flush, mostly because I was surprised at how I'd let myself fall into this situation - again. When Gavin let go, it felt like a rush of cold air had blasted into the room, and I crossed my arms over my chest, concerned that they might betray the way my temperature had dropped. He looked down at me one last time, his eyes the brightest I'd ever seen, before he turned back to Beth and headed for the door.

Before he reached it, he turned back to me.

"For the record, Fiona, you don't know me either - but I think you want to, and I think that terrifies you too."

Gavin

We finished getting the house ready just in time for people to start arriving - first Margot and Gregory, followed by some familiar faces - Kyle, Peter and Silvie, who greeted me warmly. We'd seen a lot of each other over the last week, and, as suspected, I had heard a few of their moments together through the worn floor of my new apartment. It was kind of refreshing, seeing the way the two of them doted over her, helping her up the stairs and finding a safe spot for her purse before escorting her outside and into a waiting folding chair in the beautiful spring air while Peter set up his table with sound equipment near the stage.

I was standing at the kitchen counter, helping Carter put together an intense spread of cheese, crackers, and all sorts of other snacks - Beth called it a

grazing table

, whatever the fuck that meant - when I heard footsteps clinking down the stairs. I looked up, and my breath hitched.

I'd seen Fiona in a lot of different outfits. Mostly work related, a few times at the gym before she realized my schedule and seemed to avoid me.

But when she came down the stairs, not even bothering with the handrail as she took her graceful steps, she was wearing a long red jumpsuit with a front that just barely swept the sides of her breasts, coming together around her neck in a tight collar. Her toned, strong arms were on full display. Her pants fit snugly over her hips before flaring out at the bottom, where she balanced effortlessly on platform heels much, much taller than I'd seen her wear at the office. Her long hair was pinned back on one side with a large clip - a gold crescent moon, surrounded by a circle of pearls.

She caught my eye when she made it down the last step, and smiled warmly, her eyes raking over me. I'd changed since finishing decor - into a deep burgundy shirt with dark pants and matching suspenders. I'd also managed to tame my beard down - thank God - because in the humidity outside I'd been a little concerned.

Behind her, the door opened, and she turned to watch Poppy and Jeremy, Beth's twins in tow, coming up the lower stairs.

She had a tattoo stretching across almost her entire back - broad and intricate, though from this far I could just barely make out the outline of celestial designs. I'd noticed that tattoo on her chest earlier today, too. Where else was she hiding them?

Before I made myself unfit for human interaction facing the front, I shook those thoughts away, returning to my work while people started to mill around in the living room, some taking their conversations outside to enjoy the music Peter was playing.

By the time the sun started to set, most people were outside, seated around long tables with plates of food, just talking to each other. While I spent the hours interacting with people, trying some of the desserts Silvie brought, my eyes were constantly searching for a flash of red. Fiona flitted from conversation to conversation, smiling broadly at the members of the Circle able to attend. I watched her from the corner of my eye, occasionally catching Margot looking at me suspiciously and then rolling her eyes.

The passion and love she shared for the people here - the people beyond this yard, too - was incredible. I don't think George could name more than 50 people in the North Texas pack, but here she was, greeting everyone individually and, from what I could overhear, bringing up specific things to each person. The way she glowed was enamoring. And the way she seemed to put each of the other pledges at ease made me swallow, my chest a little tight at the overt affection.

Everyone pledging had been given a silver pin, a crescent moon with a secondary outline of a circle, and by my count, there were five of us. Mine was firmly in place on one of my suspenders.

I was midway through a conversation with Gregory, Jeremy, and Kyle about the miserable season the Cowboys had just wrapped up when the music faded out and Fiona took the few steps up to the stage where she stood, hands clasped in front of her. Her inner Circle stood to the side, Carter finding a place next to me on the fringe of the crowd, knowing our time to join her on the stage was coming.

"Welcome, everyone," she said, not needing the microphone that Peter had put up out of caution. "As we start a new year under the blessings of the Moon Goddess, I wish to extend the deepest gratitude to you all for your immense support and loyalty, from myself, and my inner Circle." She gestured to the women to the side of the stage, who all gave wide grins, none a bit shy at the large crowd gathered.