by Paige Taylor
“Thank you for coming for me, Zane.” My arm painfully makes its way across his torso and holds on for dear life.
“Anytime, Angel.” Just his touch soothes my soul, and my eyes begin to close, the sobs starting to ebb away until I fall asleep listening to my Mate’s heartbeat.
Chapter Twelve
I’m awake long before I’m ready for it. Not prepared to face the world yet after yesterday, I continue to keep my eyes closed. I try to focus on what my body can feel from my toes up, trying to ground myself to reality and not slip back into the anxiety and panic edging into the forefront of my mind. I’m asleep on my side with my body covered in a blanket, my toes just a little chilly, dammit I really need a pair of socks. I’m not wearing any pants, but it feels like I’m wearing someone’s long t-shirt, I breathe in focusing on the intoxicating smell of vanilla and soap. I must be in one of Wade’s shirts; just his smell brings tears running out of the corner of my eyes and slipping onto my pillow. Get your shit together, Ava. I mentally chastise myself, before I go back to my injury inventory. My legs feel stiff but not torn apart like they had yesterday; thank you shifter healing. I don’t want to look like a half-eaten piece of meat for the rest of my life. Moving further up, a heavy weight that could only be an arm is wrapped around my hip and stomach. I forcefully swallow to see if my throat still feels like it’s been sat on by a porcupine. Thankfully, it feels all healed. My head feels like it’s resting on a very warm pillow. My body tenses when I realise that my very warm pillow smells suspiciously like Wade.
“Finally awake, Ava?” the baritone voice of my behemoth of a Mate asks into the silence.
“No, I’m not. If I’m asleep, I don’t have to ever deal with yesterday. I can stay in my dream, where everything is rainbows and sunshine, and my toes are perpetually warm,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Ava, I need you to turn around. Please?” I want to turn around and see his face so badly, and yet, I can’t bring myself to turn, either. I don’t know if I can deal with watching him walk out the door again. I can feel his strong arms pulling me closer into the crook of his body, trying to roll me closer into his warmth.
I finally give in and slowly spin my body around to face him, my face so close to his neck that I could practically feel the blood pumping through his arteries. The arm that I must have been sleeping on hooks around my back to keep me from rolling away again, his fingertips brushing against my ass which sends tingles up my spine. I slowly start to lift my head until I am nose to nose with Wade, my eyes flicking to his, searching for any of the forgiveness I am craving.
“I am sorry, Ava. I’m sorry for the way that I reacted. You didn’t deserve the things I said to you, I never should have been that cruel. The only excuse I have is that I was upset, hurt, and beyond worried for not only my Pack, but for my mate who not only got hurt under my care but just woke up from what we suspect was brain damage. To then find out everything you had been keeping from us, I snapped. I’m sorry,” Wade murmurs in hushed tones, his forehead leaning down to touch mine, his eyes closing. I can feel his emotions pulsing through our bond like a kickdrum, so much sincerity and guilt.
“No, you were right to call me a coward. I was a coward for not coming forward, for going on the run, and mostly for not trusting my Mates with something that affected their safety.” Guilt still eats through my nervous system.
“I can understand why you did what you did, in fact all of us have had a talk, and none of us are angry at you. But, I need you to understand something, Ava. We are your Mates, and you are ours. We cannot have a proper relationship if there are secrets between us. All secrets do is make us unprepared for all possible circumstances, and, on top of that, it breeds unhappiness. We are not going to hold back from you, and we want the same from you.” Wade’s beautiful blue eyes stare into mine, his free hand coming up to cup my face softly.
“I think I can live with that,” I half chuckle, half cry. The absolute, utter relief flowing through my body has me near blubbering again. The relief perfusing through every muscle, the tension ebbing away with every heartbeat. My eyes close, and I mirror the position Wade had been in moments before, I press my forehead to his and just enjoy the proximity.
“How long was I asleep for?” I ask after a few minutes of silence.
“We were approaching thirty-two hours. We’ve each been laying with you, we swap every three hours or so, none of us wanted to be away for very long. It’s been a long, fucking thirty-two hours, Baby.”
“Guess I needed the sleep, then. So, what day is it? The last week has all kind of blended together,” I say, chuckling.
“It’s Pack Challenges in the morning. We wanted to change it, but both the packs are feeling very disjointed at the moment, and putting these off is just going to make the discontent grow. We brought in a shifter healer to see how you are doing, and if there would be any lasting damage, but the healer gave you the all clear. You are the picture of health,” Wade says before trailing his hands to my neck and down my shoulder to grasp my hand.
“The silver they put in your hands has scarred; it’s about the size of a penny on both sides of your hand. No fragments were left in your hand, so there shouldn’t be any pain or further injury,” he says with a slight squeeze of the hand to demonstrate his point.
I let go of his hand to bring mine up to my face. I was expecting some disgusting mutilated piece of skin, what I saw was more of a colour mutation. There was a jagged circle on both sides of my hand, the circle itself was a slightly pinker and puckered version of the skin around the rest of the hand. I had a weird feeling of both happiness and disappointed in it not being a more brutal scar.
“Well, that was anti-climactic. Here I was thinking I’d have this kick-ass scar on both hands, and what I actually got are these little things,” I say, still flipping my hand over rapidly.
“But, they are permanent scars, Ava, you do realise that, right?” His eyebrows rise with his question.
“I’m not stupid, I realise this. But, you do remember where I spent a good portion of my year, right? In the underground. Fighting in a cage. I’m actually surprised no one’s pulled silver on me, yet. At least, there is a decent story to go with my scars,” I say before a yawn takes over.
“Okay, Baby, time for you to go back to sleep. We need you rested for tomorrow.” His head comes down to give me the briefest of kisses, before flipping me around with no warning and pulling me tight against his chest. Aww, we’re spooning, isn’t this cute?
I wriggle in closer to him still, my head coming to rest on the pillow that’s on top of his arm. We’re connected from shoulders down to the toes that I’ve tucked under his legs to help warm them up. I close my eyes and open my bonds, letting the love that is growing for each of them seek them out and bloom with in them. The last day has seen me almost lose my mates in at least two different ways, I will not let my past control me any longer, I will protect my Mates with everything in me.
I wake up and stretch out my body, my toes curling, and my arms splaying out sideways. Starfish mode activated. Wait, why is the bed cold? Wasn’t there someone in with me last night? Oh well, more bed for me! I snuggle further into the blankets I’m tucked into, trying to pretend I didn’t just wake up.
The sun is shining so brightly, which ordinarily wouldn’t be a problem, except I was trying to enjoy my post-sleep relaxation. God, it’s like someone shining a fucking torch into my face. Dammit, I’m never going to be able to relax under these conditions! I throw my blankets off me, my legs kicking up in the air spasmodically in my frustration until not an inch of blanket is covering me. My temper tantrum continues as I stomp my way towards the bathroom to pee and shower off the two days’ worth of bed grime. It’s disgusting how many skin cells you leave lying around on beds, in clothes, and just sticking to your skin when you don’t wash; so gross.
After all the basic bathroom needs are met, I look over the counter and notice that a pair of my black, boy shorts and a sin
glet top have been laid out with a pair of sneakers placed on the floor as well. Why would I need my fighting gear today? I strip off and prepare to get in the shower. It’s not until I have shampoo running down my face, and my hands tangled in my blonde mess that it dawns on me. The pack challenges are today.
“Shit! How could I forget that?” I exclaim. Well, that explains why one of the guys brought in my fight gear, more than likely Marco considering he is the only one to see me fight so far.
I quickly finish my hair and scrub off my body. How could I forget about the challenges? I grab the fluffy, white towel from the handle and wipe myself dry before jumping into my clothes, at least the guys remembered to give me underwear, that’s always a positive. Before I step from the bathroom, I step up to the full-length mirror that stands alone next to the bath, inspecting myself from head to toe. I gather my long, wavy, blond hair up into a tight bun like I do before any fight, my face and skull no longer bruised, but still slightly swollen around my eyes. My eyes travel down my ample chest that is tightly constricted within a sports bra and singlet top. The black slimming my chest and waist to make them look smaller. My waist flaring to my hips, giving me an hour glass figure, the stubborn bump of stomach fat hidden under the tightness of the clothing. My muscle-bound legs look so tan in comparison to the white marble of this room, the black shorts and shoes only enhancing that tanned look. It looks like I am going for a run rather than about to take on any women who want to take my place in my Mates lives.
Well, no time like the present to put your big girl panties on, Ava. With my very short pep talk done, I square up my shoulders, raise my chin, and set off to find my mates. I’m not even one foot out of the bathroom before my stomach starts growling at me like a T-rex has taken up residence inside of it.
“Oh, calm down. We’re getting food in a few minutes, calm your farm,” I respond to the noise emanating from my stomach, my hand rubbing over my poor empty stomach.
I work my way through the upper level of Wade’s house, manoeuvring myself towards the stairs which are the only obstacle between me and food. I start to hear murmuring voices chatting away, totally oblivious to my presence. Any other time I would stop and listen, but right now, my stomach feels like it’s eating itself. I walk down the stairs, and around the corner, expecting to see maybe two of my mates sharing breakfast and going over a game plan. What I didn’t expect to see was all four of my mates flitting around the kitchen, all working harmoniously to get breakfast ready. I stand there just observing them, trying to prolong the moment.
“How can you believe that Manning is better than Brady?! Brady has a better completion rate, a better passing rating, more win’s head-to-head, and has been in five, winning Super bowl games, against Manning’s two!” I hear Wade exclaim.
“Because Manning is the better player! He’s got a better passing yard count, more touchdown passes, more intercepts. Manning is a better individual player, Brady relies on his team to boost his player stats,” the gravelly voice I’m now associating with Zane replies.
“Are you two honestly telling me that both Manning and Brady are better than Joe Montana?” Dylan yells with his head inside the fridge, rummaging for something.
“Oh, come on, if you’re going for all-time best players, no one is better than Jerry Rice. The man was an absolute weapon on the field!” Marco insists from across the room, his body straightening after getting plates from the kitchen.
“Okay, I will concede to Jerry Rice, but none of the others,” Zane says, his body turning away from the table.
“Agreed, Rice was just perfection on the field,” Wade replies with his body still facing the stove he is cooking at, the smell of sausage, eggs, and bacon wafting over to me. My body moves forward without my permission.
“Good morning. How is everyone?” I ask tentatively. Looking between each of my Mates who have now angled their bodies and faces towards me. I’m swooped up into a hug by Dylan so fast that I don’t even see him nearing me, his arm banding so tightly around me that I struggle to get the air in and out of my lungs.
“It’s so good to hear your voice. How are you, Beautiful?” he breathes into my ear.
“I’m hungry. Like very, very hungry. But, apart from that, just relieved to have all of you here and not killing each other, or me, for that matter. I know I’ve said it to Wade already, but I’m so sorry for putting your Pack in danger, Dyl,” I say with no small dose of disgrace.
“You’ve learnt your lesson, I think. As long as we have honesty from here on out, I don’t mind. We’re all safe, our Packs are safe, and we have you, that’s all that matters to me, right now.” His mouth closes over mine when he finishes speaking. I open my mouth immediately and slide my tongue into his mouth, wanting to get closer to him, needing to feel him invade every single one of my senses. Long before I’m ready, he pulls back and settles my feet on the floor once again.
I don’t even have time to turn around before I’m swept into another set of strong, tanned arms, crossing over my back.
“Good to see you awake, Sweetheart,” Marco utters, rocking me backwards and forwards. His delicious mint-chocolate scent causes me to nuzzle into his neck, breathing in that sweetness deeply. I trace my nose up his neck and across his cheek, my mouth brushing over his, before his lips dominate mine in every way. I moan into his mouth, wanting more and more of him, but once again, I’m pushed away too soon.
I look around the room waiting for the next hugging attack but see my other two mates still going about their business. I walk over to Zane, he is even bigger than what I thought he was. He is around the same height as my other mates; all over six foot, but his body is packed with muscles. The man looks like an honest-to-god body builder. I sneak my arms around his waist and snuggle into his chest, his arms wrapping around my neck and holding my head to him.
“Good morning, Angel.” Zane’s head comes down to mine, holding a kiss to the top of my head for a few seconds, before releasing his arms and stepping aside so that I can get access to the kitchen.
I wander around the kitchen, my hand dragging along the side of the island and coming to a stop behind the stove. I move myself backwards and push myself up onto the counter waiting for Wade to turn around. A minute or two of waiting later, I see him turn the stove off before turning and closing the few steps between us, his body fitting tightly between my legs. His hands grasp my hips tightly as I lean my head towards his, our foreheads resting against each other’s. He moves his head away to start peppering kisses from my forehead, down my temples, both of my closed eye lids, the end of my nose, and finally landing on my lips. I am given one passionate kiss and then, once again, my Mate pulls away from me.
“Fucking hell, can none of you just give me a longer kiss?!” I yell out into the room, my hands flopping to my sides.
“Nope, if we let it go further than that, you, baby, will be late and won’t get breakfast. This was our compromise. Now, go sit down for breakfast.” He chuckles, before kissing me on the nose one more time and lifting me from the counter. His strong, toned arms flexing under his tight shirt, threatening to rip the fabric. These men will be the death of me, they are too hot for their own good.
“Before we sit down for breakfast, I need to know what we are going to do about the vampire attack and my old pack’s involvement,” I say as I slowly move towards the table. I don’t want this conversation to continue once my ass is on that seat, but I need to know what the next step is.
“Wade and I are going to be reaching out to other packs that we know and trust from across the country. We’re going to figure out what packs have been attacked and how far it’s gotten. On top of that, were going to start joining the two packs during runs to get the wolves used to being in close proximity. It will be a lot easier to run border patrols with more numbers and a lot easier to keep track of everyone,” Dylan explains succinctly.
“Well, okay then. But, I want to help. I can’t help much with the other Alphas, but I can help wi
th the defence of the pack. We can figure it out later, but please don’t exclude me from this. I am the Mate of four Alphas, I am dominant in my own right, and this is my new family. I won’t let them take anything else from me,” I say, looking each one in the eye, waiting for their acknowledgment before sitting down.
The table is lined with plates of all different foods stacked high with every breakfast staple you could think of. My mouth salivates at the smell and look of all the foods around me, my brain can’t settle on which plate to grab food from first, there’s too many options. I grab the plate of eggs in front of me, deciding to just work my way down the table taking a bit of food from each plate. Surely, we didn’t need all this food for just a few challengers, it literally can’t be this hard, I don’t even eat this much before my underground fights. Not that I’m complaining because what kind of idiot complains about bacon being made for them?
“I can’t seriously need this much food for a few challengers,” the words mirror my thoughts as the fork full of sausage moves toward my mouth. The stagnant silence I hear has me looking up and eyeing my Mates. Why are they all looking a little queasy? Shit, is the food bad? I quickly drop my fork to the plate, the clanging reverberating through the room. It’s not until I hear Zane’s low sniggering that I realise I’ve misunderstood their looks in a very big way.
“Just how many women between these two packs have you slept with?” My voice rises at the end of the question. They cannot have slept with that many people! Surely, they weren’t stupid enough to shit where they eat more than a few times?
