by Belle Harper
“I get to take you dress shopping, Lex. But please, please don’t kill me with any girl talk. I have no idea why Saint did what he did, Noah is at home crying in his room, —” he was what? My mouth fell open. “— yeah, like full-on crying. Zara had to tell him it was normal and shit. But yeah, I left. The boy had no idea that girl was flirting with him, and I wasn’t sticking around to explain that to him.”
Aww I felt for Noah, shit I really hoped Ada didn’t ask Ranger any questions about him. I didn’t think she would do well knowing he is crying. She would be upset with herself and I wanted her to have a nice day. I wasn’t going to tell him there would be no girl talk. That was what we did.
“Dress shopping, and lunch?” He held up Galen’s credit card.
Dress shopping was so much better with a credit card with no limit. Galen had told us both to use it. So all the good dresses were still here, just no one from Port Willow High could afford them. I was feeling better today about spending money on a nice dress. Galen had explained that it was important for him to provide for me. And after being around for over three-hundred years, he had raked up a decent portfolio. Basically, my mate was a multi-millionaire with no need for it.
“There is a cute little place in Watson that serves burgers and fries, let’s go eat there. Then you can just drop me off after,” Ada suggested. So, we hopped in the Jeep and Ranger drove us there as we discuss our dresses, in code of course because Ranger wasn’t going to see it until prom night like the others.
The burger place was busy, but we got seats outside. Ranger started telling us how he was going to find his fireworks and steal them back from his father. I really hoped that Alaric was smart enough to have got rid of them. I knew Ranger could heal super-fast, just didn’t know if he blew a finger off how that would work. And I didn’t want to find out.
“Oh, what?” Ranger turned and started waving to a girl with long black hair. She wore a yellow dress that made her golden skin almost glow, and a guy who had a shaved head, and this scruffy short facial hair. The way he carried himself was what I would say looked just like Ranger swagger. He was attractive, and Ada had noticed too.
“Oh my god. Clare, Clare.” She called out waving to her, Clare… Jett and Mekhi’s Clare. Oh shit, she had moved on. I felt bad for them, but I really didn’t understand their break up.
Ranger growled low and shifted in his seat. The guy Clare was with. His eyes flashed as he did the same. I felt like I was in a movie, and this was the standoff. I didn’t know what to do; she was dating a shifter. Did she know? Like, did she just trade up now that she had left?
“Hey Ada, how have you been?” She dragged the guy over to our table. She didn’t seem to notice the way he was acting, so I guessed she didn’t know he was a shifter.
Ranger jumped up, and I thought he was going to hit the guy. But instead he wrapped his arms around Clare. I didn’t feel jealous, not at all. The fact that she looked really uncomfortable with Ranger made me feel bad for him. He had looked up to this girl and now she was acting like he was a stranger.
“Oh, hi.” She patted his back, and he pulled away. “Ah… you’re Jett’s brother, right?” Her brows raised. And even Ada dropped her fry.
“What?” Ranger looked taken back. “Am I Jett’s brother?” He cracked up laughing, but she didn’t laugh if anything she just looked puzzled.
“Well, it was, ah… nice seeing you, and Ada, we should catch up. I’m here for the week. My parents were having their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, so we flew in. This is my boyfriend, Frankie.” The guy nodded to us. His eyes stayed trained on Ranger, though. And he sensed this. He was getting worked up, so I needed this to end fast so I could take him home.
“Hi, I’m Lexi. It’s nice meeting you, I think it’s time we were going.” I got up and took Ranger's arm and Ada followed, calling out that she would call her.
When we got to the car, that’s when Ada stopped and said.
“Holy shit… Galen. Galen compelled her.” Ranger and I turned, and Ada nodded.
“It makes perfect sense. She had no idea who you were, Ranger. She was going to skip college and stay here, with Jett and Mekhi. They broke up with her… and she was upset. For only a few days. Then she was super happy, like crazy happy. I always thought it was strange. And now.” She pointed to where they just were.
“Why the hell would Galen do that?” Ranger asked.
“So she was happy… so she would leave,” that was my guess, and Ada nodded.
I guess the only way to find out was by asking the people who would know the truth.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Lexi
I was nervous; I didn’t want to open my eyes. I heard the guys get up early, but I pretended that I was sleeping. They tried to be quiet, but Maverick fell onto the floor which had made me wake, I would have gone back to sleep if it wasn’t for all their hissing and whispers about being quiet that had me alert. It had to be the crack of dawn when they got up. I just wanted to get ready. I had never celebrated my birthday before, and I couldn’t afford that luxury or the foster parents forgot or couldn’t spare money for a cake.
I had told them not to make a big deal. And they promised, I guess that was why they did the big prom and claiming speeches on Saturday night. When I wasn’t expecting it because if I knew… well, I guess I would have overworked it in my mind and hid somewhere.
“I know you’re awake, I can tell by your breathing and your heartrate. I just didn’t tell the boys, love.” I stretched and yawned, and Galen chuckled. A smile crept over my face as I cracked open an eye and saw him standing in the doorway, a mug in his hand and a bowl in the other.
“Happy birthday.” He was wearing blue denim jeans and a white tee, like he was actually wearing a short-sleeved top. I was taken aback; I blinked a few times to see if I was really awake. He smirked and cocked his head. He hadn’t shown off his arms before, ever, and I had never seen him wear a t-shirt. It was fitted, moulded tight to his body… oh, he looked so fine. Like Ryan Gosling from The Notebook. I loved the knitted sweater Galen, he was hot in his own right, but this Galen…
“You’re thinking naughty thoughts, aren’t you?” I laughed and nodded as he crossed the room and bent down, his lips brushing lightly over mine.
“Here is breakfast in bed for a very special birthday girl.” He handed me a warm mug of tea and bowl of cereal… that was new. I looked inside.
“Lucky charms?” He shrugged as his eyes darted to the door. I could hear the others, but I was glad they weren’t all busting down the door to see me. I was still taking in the fact someone wished me a happy birthday.
“I saw them a few times when I was shopping. They seemed like a birthday type cereal and I didn’t want you to have the same as you have every day. But I can make bacon and eggs for you if you prefer. The boys ate the rest of it. Pigs.”
“Wolves!” Ranger yelled from the kitchen and I laughed. I had never had lucky charms before. I smiled.
“Thank you, Galen.” He nodded and left the room, and I rested the bowl on my lap as I drank the hot tea. He knew how to make great tea, must be the English in him. No one else came in for a while, and I settled back and relaxed. There was no point in school today, I went yesterday but it was so boring, and Galen said he would fix the whole “passing” thing for me. And for Ada, who was even more bored than me, she was used to doing so much. But he seemed to be magically busy most days and didn’t have time.
He was just stalling me, and now there really was no point. After this week, there wasn’t much left I could do to change my grades, anyway.
It didn’t take long before I could hear their harsh whispers, who was going in next. Raff and Ranger were arguing that they wanted to be next, and Galen was trying to get them to stop. I shook my head and chuckled when Maverick appeared at the door; he put his finger to his lips as his dimples appeared with his huge grin. I held in a snort of laughter as he quickly closed the door behind him and the guys yelled out.
I laughed, “that was sneaky, but I’m glad you’re next.” And I was. He seemed to always go last for things, I didn’t know if he thought it was because he deserved last or just who he was. But I wanted him to feel equal, that was the most important thing to me. I put the mug and bowl on the side table and reached out to him.
“Happy birthday, Lexi.” He pressed me into a huge weighted hug, and I breathed him in. Always so fresh, pine and all man. I’d better get wolves today. It was my birthday, and I wanted a puppy pile. He pulled back, and I kissed him.
“I got you a gift, I actually bought it a while ago, I was going to give it to you so many times but so much happened that I just pushed it to the side for the right time.” He handed me a small wrapped package that was hidden in a drawer. It felt like a book, I laughed.
“A book? I you know me too well.” I loved the kindle he bought, but nothing was better than the smell of a real book. I peeled off the red paper and saw it was a black leather hardback, the gold detail very familiar as I stroked the lines, I flipped it over and my heart hammered. It was the one I had seen in his room when I first moved here to the Lovell’s, well, when I thought it was Lyell’s room and borrowed his sweats. I forgot about all that. And now… oh emotions, hold it together, Lexi.
Maverick cleared his throat. And in a terrible English accent I had ever heard said.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that four single men in possession of good looks and skills, must be in want of a mate… and that is true.” I laughed at how he knew the words… well, he adlibbed most of them that suited us.
“I love it, thank you Maverick.” I felt teary. He bought me a beautiful copy of Pride and Prejudice, even before he was mine.
He bowed and tipped an imaginary hat. “You are welcome, my dear.” I shook my head. Oh boy, yep, that was the worst accent I had ever heard.
Raff and Ranger came in together, and I laughed as they jumped onto the bed and wrapped me up like a burrito. Ranger peppered kisses all over my face as I tried to squirm away, and Raff tickled me through the blankets.
“Happy, happy birthday.” They were singing over and over, out of turn and over the top of one another. Until they finally let up and with huge smiles and looked down at me.
“I have a gift for you, Lex, but I can't give mine until Galen gives his big gift. And I can't wait… you’re gonna be so excited.” I looked to Raff, and he chuckled.
“Don’t look so worried, it’s not like he bought you a horse.” Ranger cracked up laughing… what did that mean? Ranger winked at me, then jumped off the bed.
“I will leave you lovebirds for a moment, then you better get your ass up so Galen and I can give you our gifts.” He closed the door behind him. And I pulled the blankets off, I was wearing shorts and a tank. I had found out that even though I loved to wear their t-shirts, they were big and if you try to roll over, you get tangled or someone is laying on it and you have to pull it. I was finding I was waking up more than I should be, so the tighter the clothes, the better.
“Lexi, I had thought long and hard what I wanted to get you. If I could give you everything in the world, I would. But I knew even then that wasn’t enough.” I reached out to hold his hand. Our fingers interlaced and he let out a slow breath. I didn’t want the world. I just wanted him.
“When I was little, my mom had a special bracelet made. It is a memory that I remember really well. She took me to the store every week until she paid it off. Then she had it engraved. She wore it every day until my uncles got mad and took it from her.
“They locked me in my room a lot for breaking their rules. She would always come to me and repeat. ‘Be wild, be free. Rafferty’s rules.’ I was young, too young to fully understand what that meant. It wasn’t until we went back there that it came back to me, the way she would chant it through the bedroom door.
“Galen heard me, chanting to it to myself last week. He asked if I knew what it meant— Rafferty’s rules. I just thought it was my rules that my uncles had given me, that my mom was meaning for me to be wild and free but to listen to the rules.” My heart thumped wildly, and a tear rolled down my cheek. His thumb gently wiped the tear away. And he gave me a small smile.
“He said it meant, ‘no rules at all.’” He laughed, “It was some old saying. I had stolen it back from them that same week, — the bracelet. I found where they had hidden it and I took it. I broke the rules. And gave it back to my mom. She told me to keep it hidden until the day we could run away, and then she would wear it again to let me know I was safe.”
My throat was thick, I was so choked up from his story, his mom.
“Don’t cry, oh Lexi. I didn’t want to make you cry on your birthday. I just wanted to tell you, so when I gave you this, you would understand—” He pulled out a little gold chain with a small gold plate, he turned my hand over and gently placed it my palm. It was so delicate, it was beautiful. And there was the name Rafferty engraved with a rose beside it.
My hand went to my throat; I couldn’t accept this. This was too much.
“I want you to have it, Lexi. For you to wear it.” His voice wavered a little, I closed my hand on it and when I looked up his eyes were glassy. More tears fell, but they weren’t full of sadness, just hope, love. I would wear it every day. And let him know he was safe.
“Thank you, for sharing that story, the meaning of this gift is one I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
Our kiss was slow and sweet. He then placed it on my wrist and we held each other for a while. I felt closer to Raff; I understood him more and what he had been through, the pain, the love for his mom, the young rulebreaker that he was, Rafferty King.
How fate had set us on a course, that would lead us to this very moment.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Lexi
Ranger couldn’t wait for me to get dressed, he came and smuggled me away from Raff. I giggled when he jumped around,
“I just want to give you mine now. But you were taking sooooo long. So close your eyes.” I did, and he wrapped his hand across them. “Galen,” he shouted out, and I could hear them moving around.
“Okay, we have to walk outside.” Ranger started to move me. My hands went up to his arm that was holding my eyes as I stumbled over a few things.
“Don’t break her,” Maverick teased, and I laughed when I bumped into something again.
“Shit, Sorry, I was distracted… you know I can see right down your— hey.” I was jolted slightly. As Ranger grumbled, “asshole.”
“That’s no way to talk to your mate, let me do this.” I laughed, Maverick. My hero took over from Ranger, but instead of leading me, he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me to his chest.
“Close your eyes… are you ready for a big surprise?”
Ranger snorted, and I couldn’t help the giggles at what he had said.
“Maverick is now rhyming about Galen’s big surprise. How big is his, surprise?” I shook my head as Maverick growled at Ranger. I don’t think he meant it in that way. But Ranger… well, he was being Ranger. And I loved that about him.
When we got outside, I felt the warm sun kiss my skin, it felt amazing. Yesterday had rained, I loved the sun. So, I was glad it was here for my birthday.
“I’m going to put you on your feet but keep your eyes closed.” I nodded, “promise.” I giggled.
“I promise, eyes closed.” I felt giddy and nervous. What the hell did Galen buy that was so big it couldn’t come in the cottage? It wasn’t a horse… that was what Raff said.
“Okay, love. Open your eyes.” I slowly opened my eyes, squinting at first, and when I saw the sparkly white and big red bow, I opened them wide and stood straighter.
“You… you bought me a car? I can’t even drive?” My hand on my chest, he bought me a car, a big car. That was huge. I looked over to Galen, his brows were furrowed but he had a hopeful smile that I wasn’t about to kill him. I was going to kill him, but not for this. He promised me nothing expen
sive, and that looked brand-new.
“It’s an Audi Q7, it has seven seats, so we can all fit and be comfortable and fit two more people if we need. And the driving part. Well, here—” he handed me a licence. A freaking driver’s license with my photo and all my details.
“What the hell, Galen. I haven’t driven a car in my life, and I told you I didn’t want you to cheat with this.”
Ranger stepped forwarded and wrapped me up in his arm.
“Lex, I told him to. Because your birthday gift from me is driving lessons. I will teach you everything you need to know.” My mouth dropped open. “Hey, you will catch flies like that.” He pushed my chin until my mouth closed, “the license it was my idea, I wanted to coordinate with him, and especially after Saturday night I wanted to make sure my gift worked.” I turned in his arms and gave him my best. “Don’t you start now,” look.
He had been upset that he didn’t give some amazing speech like the others did. He thought it was just a, “will you go to prom and can I claim you.” I had told him so many times since then, that I got the best Ranger public speech and that I would take all dirty talk he could give me in private. That seemed to have kept him happy. He was happy last night when he went down on me. Using his tongue for more than just dirty words.
I turned to Galen. His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“I love it, it’s big, but you’re right, we can all fit in. And we can take Ada or Josh with us to places over the summer. Like… our trip to Forks?” I may have mentioned I wanted to go there. And Galen told me he really didn’t know any vamps who actually lived there. That it was now a no vamp zone, because so many people went there, hoping to meet one. I didn’t need to… I already had one.
“I love you.” I kissed Galen, running my fingers through his soft curls. “Thank you, I was sorry, it was just bigger than I had expected.”
