Page 29

I stir in some cream and sugar after the coffee is done brewing. I choose to sit down at the huge kitchen table that looks like it could hold an entire army. I pick a seat near the end. I only have a few sips before I hear footsteps. There are more than one pair of footsteps. I start to sweat and my heart races as I realize that this is the pack house. I was too tired this morning to think about how other people live here, like other werewolves. What will they say when they see a random girl sitting at their table and drinking coffee? Did Jaxon tell them about me?
As they get closer to me, their talking gets louder. I know I don’t have time to run away to a different part of the house. I would probably get lost anyway. So, I sit and shake in my seat as I finally see people walking into the kitchen. I see them before they see me, and they all seem too busy talking to each other to notice me.
I should also say that they’re all ripped. I see seven men and four girls, and they all have a lot of muscles, just like Jaxon. It looks like they all just worked out because the bright lights in the room make their skin shine. The guys are all shirtless, and the girls are all in shorts and sports bras.
When the man in front of me sees me, he stops, and the two people behind him run into his back. When they look up and see me, they look like they’re about to complain, and the same curious looks appear on their faces.
Everyone has stopped talking and is now thinking about what to do. I don’t know if they think I’m a stranger or if they just don’t know how to deal with me. I keep looking back at them, not knowing what to do or say. I don’t make any sudden moves because I hope they won’t hurt me or do anything out of fear or confusion.
“Hey guys! Why isn’t anyone making the waffles? I’m starving!” a voice I know calls out from the hallway, and I relax. “What’s going on, Williams?” Skyler’s head pops out from the crowd in the kitchen, and a big smile spreads across his face. He is also shirtless and sweaty, just like the others. I would give him a big hug right now if it weren’t for the sweat.
“Calla? What the hell are you doing here?” he yells with excitement as he runs over to me and gives me a bear hug, or a wolf hug, I should say. As soon as I smell his bad smell, I push him away from me. He lets me go without a fight, thank goodness.
“Ew, you smell!” I say, scrunching my nose up in disgust as I try to breathe normally.
He whines at me, “No, you smell!” That was the worst thing he could have said to me, but it still makes me smile. Skyler being here makes me feel a lot less anxious.
A guy with dark skin asks jokingly, “Who is this? Your girlfriend?” He was the one in charge of taking the group to the kitchen, and he turned to Skyler for an explanation. He seems happy, but there’s something dangerous about him that makes me a little nervous. His dark brown eyes scan my small body, not in a creepy way, but more like he’s trying to figure out if I’m a threat, which I could never be. He looks like he’s in his twenties, but I’m not sure how old he really is.
Skyler says, “This is my best friend Calla. And before you ask, yes, she knows we’re werewolves.” He pats my shoulder to make me feel better. Skyler yells, “Ooh, coffee!” and jumps for the pot to pour himself some. He puts in some cream and sugar while the other men and women slowly start to talk again and get ready for breakfast. Some people are nice enough to wave or smile at me, which makes me feel better. I still don’t know where Jaxon is, though.
Skyler sits down next to me and says, “Wow! This stuff is strong!” I try to ignore how bad he smells and think about how happy I am to see him.
I mumble, “Sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night,” as I drink my coffee. I sigh because the drink is so sweet that it coats my tongue. I put in a lot of sugar.
“I bet,” Skyler raises his eyebrows at me in a suggestive way. “I knew you two would get back together soon. It was only a matter of time before one of you gave in.”
“Oh my god! No! We didn’t…” I look around to see if anyone is listening to us. I lean in and whisper when I’m sure no one is paying attention to us. “Have s*x.” I back up and tell the rest of the story of how I got here in a normal voice. As I’m finishing the story, a few more people come to the table. By the time I’m done, breakfast is ready and being served.
Skyler makes sure I get a lot of food, and even though I tell him I can’t eat it all, he doesn’t listen. He even puts more food on after. He says, “I’m glad you two worked it out.” Then he eats a quarter of a Belgian waffle. I don’t even know how he got it all in his mouth in the first place, but I’m seeing it with my own eyes.
Ignoring Skyler’s big feat, I ask him the question that has been bothering me for the last 20 minutes. “Where’s Jaxon?” I ask, and everyone at the table stops talking and looks at me. I feel like I’m being watched very closely right now. Why is everyone looking at me?
Skyler finishes swallowing without seeming to notice that others are watching. “He is finishing up training some other wolves. He wanted to give them a little extra training. He should be here soon, Calla.”
I nod my head and keep eating. I take small bites of the food and eat slowly so I don’t make a mess like I usually do when I eat.
“Do you all live here?” I ask Skyler, but a guy with shoulder-length blonde hair answers me instead. “Yeah, we do. It’s easier to follow Alpha Jaxon’s orders right away when we’re all here.”
I nod shyly at him, hoping he’ll stop talking to me and go back to eating his breakfast. But I’m not so lucky. The man asks, “What’s your name, little human?” The way he talks and the way he smiles at me tell me that he’s flirting with me. I don’t like how he talks to me, but I still go to answer his question. I can’t avoid his question because he’s looking right at me.
“I told you her name was Calla. And Elliot, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Skyler jumps in to save me from unwanted attention once more, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Elliot just smirks at Skyler and keeps talking about me.
“Aw, why not? She’s so small and cute. I bet she’d feel great around my-
Someone grabs Elliot by the throat and lifts him out of his seat before he can finish his sentence. I can’t make out any details until I hear a growl. When I realize that Jaxon is growling as he hits Elliot, my eyes widen. I get up from my chair and run over to Jaxon’s side. I stay far away from him so that I don’t get hit by an angry Alpha by mistake. I think that werewolves calm down when they are with their mates, so I just need to find a way to calm him down enough so that he doesn’t kill Elliot. I didn’t like how he talked to me, but he didn’t deserve to die.
“Don’t you dare f*****g talk like that about my mate? Your LUNA!” Jaxon yells at Elliot, only stopping to talk when he is done attacking. No one helps Elliot, and when Jaxon says I’m his mate, everyone looks shocked, like they’re in a movie. I guess he hasn’t told anyone yet.
“Jaxon, please stop. You’re going to kill him,” I say in a calm voice. I try to say it calmly, but how can I stay calm when Jaxon keeps hitting a guy who is already bleeding and passed out?
“Jaxon,” I say in a low voice. He suddenly stops hitting Elliot and tightens his jaw. He stands up straight and growls. He turns around and walks straight toward me. If this were any other man walking toward me like this, I would be running away. I trust Jaxon not to hurt me.
As soon as he gets to me, his hands go right to my waist and he pulls me in for a hug. He immediately puts his face on my neck and sniffs me, maybe to calm himself down by taking in my scent. I believe that’s what Skyler told me once…
I don’t care that he’s sweaty as I hug him back because I know he needs it right now. At least he’s not beating Elliot to death, even though he’s still breathing heavily. He picks me up and sits down in the chair I was in before when he calms down. He puts me on his lap and rests his chin on the top of my head.
Jaxon growls, “I’m going to rip his tongue out for what he said to you.” It’s not even eight o’clock yet, and he’s already growling a lot!
No one at the table moves a muscle because they’re all scared of their Alpha, who just went crazy and attacked someone for saying something mean about me. I choose to talk to calm everyone down.
“He’s just kidding,” I say with a laugh, and a few other people at the table join in. I turn my head to look at Jaxon, and his eyes are blue again. “Right?” I whisper, but everyone at the table seems to have heard me because they all start laughing at my question. Super hearing is dumb…
I can tell by looking at Jaxon’s face that he wasn’t joking.
During the rest of breakfast, the other pack members ask me questions about my life. Some of the questions were innocent, like asking about my family, what I like to do, and what my favorite food is. When people asked me about my relationship with Jaxon, he started to growl at them until they left me alone. When people asked about our relationship, it was kind of cute to see him get all broody. Some people might think he’s just easily annoyed, but I know what it really is. He wants to keep our relationship private. How can I complain about that?
He finally calmed down after the whole “punching Elliot until he’s almost dead” thing. It seemed to help him that I was sitting on his lap. I’m not okay with all that violence, and we will talk about how he can’t control his anger, but for now, I just let him hug me. I could feel his tense body slowly relax against mine during the meal.
Ezra came to the table and sat down next to Skyler while the other members were questioning me, which is what it felt like. Ezra wanted Skyler to sit on his lap, but Skyler kept saying that they couldn’t eat at the same time and that he wouldn’t stop eating to sit on him. I don’t know what Ezra meant when he said he would pay for that later.
Williams is actually the Gamma of the pack, as it turns out. That means “third in command” in werewolf language, and he is in charge of getting the warriors ready for battle. I don’t know what kind of fighting they need to get ready for, but I guess that’s not my problem. Williams was very nice, and he wouldn’t stop talking about how I should meet his friend who was away for the weekend. I think I learned more about her than about him, even though she wasn’t there!
Jaxon thanks everyone for the meal and then takes us back to his room so he can shower. He closes the door and walks toward me until my back is against it. He seems to enjoy pinning me down on different things…
He puts both hands on the door and cages me between his arms. He looks down at me with a soft smile. “So,” he says, stretching out the word and raising an eyebrow. “How are you feeling?”
He changes his question when I don’t answer him. I think he knows that I’m having trouble with his question.
“How do you feel about the pack? Was it too much? If I had known you would be down there, I would have come right away.” He seems worried about how I’ll react. I guess it’s smart to be careful because the last time he surprised me, I didn’t talk to him for three days. He did show that he was supernatural, but it still makes sense for him to be worried about how I would react.