Page 51

I don’t think it has really hit me yet that we’ll be together forever. It seems like forever is a long time, and it’s hard to promise each other forever in a relationship. There is marriage, but a piece of paper can change that. We are now connected; we can feel what the other person is feeling. That is strong.
Jaxon hugs me from behind and we both look at the mark and what it means. I lean back into his strong body without thinking about it, but now he’s wearing a shirt and sweats. He is at least a foot taller than me, and my head only reaches his chest.
I joke, “Did you unhinge your jaw like an anaconda?” while I trace the big bite mark on my neck. I can’t believe he could have done that because it’s so big. I guess he was partially shifted when his canines came out, which let him open his mouth wider.
“I’m sorry about that,” he says with a nervous smile. He rubs the back of his neck, which I’ve seen him do when he’s nervous or uncomfortable. “The size of the bite shows how strong a werewolf is. The bigger the bite, the bigger the wolf. I’m an Alpha, so it’s pretty big.”
I turn around and put my hands on his chest. When I look into his blue eyes, I feel so much love and gratitude for him, my wolf.
“I love you. I’m glad you marked me.” I hold his shirt in my hands and pull on it. He understands and bends down to erase the space between us. He holds my hips and growls in pleasure as he kisses me lightly and playfully. I stop kissing all of a sudden and cover my mouth with my hands.
“Ugh, I haven’t brushed my teeth yet! That’s so gross,” I say as I look through his bathroom for my toothbrush for when I stay over. I brush my teeth really fast while Jaxon laughs and starts to do the same.
He says, “Just so you know,” after he rinses his mouth, “I don’t care if you haven’t brushed your teeth. I’ll love you no matter how bad your morning breath is.”
“Hey!” I screamed at him and hit him on the arm. He pretends to be hurt, but we both know I couldn’t hurt him even if I wanted to.
“Just kidding!” He puts his hands up in a fake defense. “You don’t have morning breath. I could kiss you all morning. I could also do other things to you all morning…”
As I walk past him to the kitchen, I roll my eyes. He wants to have s*x so badly. I haven’t had coffee yet, and it’s almost ten in the morning. I need coffee to get up.
Jaxon always touching me makes it a little harder to walk down the stairs and make my coffee. He always touches me in some way, whether it’s with his hand on my hip, shoulder, or back. I hit his arm a few times, but he just found another way to attach himself to me. I give up on trying to stop him.
I choose cereal for breakfast because I don’t want to cook, and Jaxon doesn’t want to either. We can’t get anyone else to cook for us because the other pack members have already gotten up and eaten breakfast. Jaxon tried to say that he could just tell one of the guards to make our food, but I said that was mean and an abuse of power. That’s why the cereal.
Jaxon mumbles a quiet “sorry” to me halfway through my cereal. I’m about to ask him why he’s sorry when Skyler comes running around the corner, screaming with joy.
I jumped up a little because I wasn’t expecting the sudden change in pace. The coffee hasn’t fully settled in my stomach yet, so I’m still not fully awake and ready to be a productive member of society.
Skyler screams, “GIRLLLL,” with so much energy that I’m not sure it’s even legal. “Let me f*****g see it!” He half-yanks my neck into his line of sight, leaving me leaning uncomfortably over the counter on the tall stool.
Jaxon quickly slaps Skyler’s hand away and picks me up, putting me in his lap and holding me there with his strong arms.
“MINE!” he growls, and his eyes turn black right after another wolf touches me. Skyler backs up right away with his arms in the air to show that he has given up.
“Hey, tell your wolf side to calm the f**k down. I’m gay! Not interested, buddy. No offense, Calla. You’re hot, but I like d**k.” Skyler’s nervous rambling only makes Jaxon angrier. I don’t think the “hot” comment made him feel safe.
Being able to feel someone else’s feelings is so strange. It’s like there’s a part of my brain that can tell which feelings are his and which are mine, but they all still feel a little mixed up. I’m getting a little upset because Jaxon is really angry, and even though I know that what Skyler did was fine, I’m still feeling worked up. I’m going to have to get used to this.
Ezra is lucky that he turns the corner and sees the sad fight where Skyler is sweating a little bit because his Alpha is staring at him.
Ezra seems to know how to calm things down by hugging Skyler from behind and slowly backing away. Ezra asks Skyler, “What did you do now, baby?” Skyler squints his eyes at him and drops his jaw.
“Why the hell do you always think I did something wrong?”
“Because you usually do?” Ezra smirks and kisses the tip of his nose.
“I might have smelled Calla’s new scent mixed with Jaxon’s.”
Jaxon growls again. He’s still mad and wants to fight Skyler, who can’t do anything about it.
“FINE—Alpha Jaxon, and I may have… possibly… grabbed her neck so I could see the mark. But I only did that because I was so excited and couldn’t believe that they finally—” Ezra cuts off Skyler this time.
Ezra asks, “Never go in between newly-marked wolves. You should know how possessive they get. Remember what happened with us when you were newly marked?” Skyler’s reaction is anything but innocent, even though it seems like a simple comment. He turns red like a tomato, and I can’t help but think about what Ezra might be talking about. Skyler pulls his navy blue beanie down over his face and mumbles something that I can’t hear.
I don’t want to know what they’re talking about, so I snuggle up to Jaxon and run my fingers through his dark hair. It’s really soft, and the way he rumbles and his body heat make me feel so good that I almost fall asleep again.
While I finish my breakfast, Jaxon keeps giving me soft kisses. He ate five bowls of cereal while I was still working on my second. Skyler sighs loudly and gestures for me to get up when I’m done.
“Oh my Goddess, you are the slowest eater ever!” Skyler says, waggling his eyebrows. “Please go check on your pet warlock because he has been whining all night. Since the Alpha was a little busy last night, that responsibility fell on me and Ezra.”
As soon as I jump off of Jaxon’s lap, my heart drops because he can’t hold me still. I am the worst friend ever. I never checked in on Felix to see if he was in the pack hospital! I drove home with Jaxon while pack members who don’t care about Felix’s well-being moved him. Then I fought with Jaxon, which turned into us saying we loved each other and then he marked me. A lot has happened in the last 12 hours, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel really bad for not thinking of him.
Jaxon must know that my thoughts are racing because he puts a hand on my lower back and rubs it gently. He gives Skyler a death glare.
“Thanks for that reminder, Skyler. 0 for two this morning,” Jaxon grunts more than speaks, and then he looks at me. “Calm down, baby. He’s fine. I’ll take you to him right now, but I have some rules.”
I make fists with my hands and look at his face, which is kind but firm. What kinds of rules could he have?
I grind out, “What are your rules?” I’m a little annoyed that my boyfriend thinks he can tell me who I can and can’t see.
“It’s easy. You can only see him if I or a designated wolf is with you. You can’t see him alone, and you can’t touch him. I let him on our pack lands, which could have put our people in danger, all because you trust him. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for you to follow these simple rules.”
Jaxon seems proud of himself, as if he wrote a good, convincing speech. He crosses his big, strong arms over his chest and smirks at me like he’s the best boyfriend in the world. I bet he feels nice for letting me see him. But it’s not his job to let me do anything.
This is so dumb, but I know I won’t be able to see Felix unless I agree to his terms or at least act like I do. So I go along with it and nod my head. Jaxon smiles at how easy it is for me to give in and takes my hand to walk me to Felix.
For now, I’ll do what he says. But as soon as I can, I’m going to talk to Felix alone to find out what’s really going on in his coven. I think there’s more to this than meets the eye.
When I get to the infirmary in the pack house, I’m out of breath from running up the stairs and walking quickly there. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are standing guard outside the room. They are the same guards I had assigned to keep me safe yesterday. They really did a good job. I still got taken by a warlock, but it turned out well for me because it was Felix. But they’re not very good at their jobs.
When they see me and their Alpha coming into the room, they stand up a little straighter and face forward, like they’re guarding Buckingham Palace. I roll my eyes and try to open the door, but Graham stops me by putting his hand out. I cross my arms and glare at him.
“Let me pass.”
Graham looks at Jaxon, who is right next to me, to get his approval before letting me in. I can’t believe my boyfriend has to say yes before I can see my sick friend. I should be the Luna of this pack, and even though I don’t know what that means yet, I should be treated better than this. I need to talk to Jaxon about this, but not right now.
As soon as I walk into the room, I know it’s the same one I woke up in after the vampire attack. The same room where I finally figured out the big werewolf-supernatural puzzle. How things have changed.
Felix is lying in bed with an IV drip and slowly flipping through the channels on the TV across from him. When he sees me, the boring news sounds turn into background noise. He sits up a little straighter and smiles at me, then waves me over. Jaxon is following me as I walk in his direction.
When I see purple handprints on Felix’s neck, I frown. It’s another reminder of what happened yesterday. Once again, I feel guilty just thinking about what my friend did because of me and how I forgot to check on Felix sooner.
The strong feelings make my eyes fill with tears. Jaxon can tell how I feel because of the recent marking. He puts his arm around my shoulder to try to comfort me, but I just shrug it off and move closer to Felix.