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I look to the side and see that my mom is just as upset as I am. I didn’t even think about how Maisie would feel when I heard the news. I was just so happy that Mom said yes. Maisie must be sad, confused, and alone. But I’m not moving out today, so she will have time to get used to the idea. I think she’ll come around once she sees that we’ll still be together a lot.
Maisie is crying on my shoulder, and I keep rubbing her back. I rock her back and forth and sing one of her favorite songs from Frozen until she joins in.
When we sing “Let the storm rage on!” we’re belting out the notes and dancing around the kitchen. She isn’t crying anymore, but I can tell by the time that she has to go to school soon.
Maisie keeps jumping around the living room, pretending to have ice powers like Elise. “That was so fun, Calla!” I wonder what she would do if she found out that magic was real and not just in her head.
“Okay, munchkin. It’s time for school,” my mom says with a smile as she picks up Maisie and puts her on her hip. I put the dirty dishes in the sink and started washing them while she picked up Maisie’s bag.
“Wait! Are you leaving soon?” Maisie looked sad again, so I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Six-year-olds need a lot of care. I care about her, but she’s too young to fully understand what’s going on. My mom is nice enough to answer.
“Yes, she’ll be home for dinner tonight.” My mom looks at me in a way that makes it clear that I don’t have a choice. “And Jaxon will be there too to talk about her moving in with him.”
That’s new information for me. Just thinking about the interrogation that will happen tonight makes my palms sweat and get clammy. “Where do you live, Jaxon?” and “Tell me more about this ‘company’ you work at?” she will ask.
I’m really scared of all the questions that Jaxon will have to come up with answers to to make her happy. She’ll probably ask him to show her his house, but what will she say when she sees that other people live there with him? She won’t know how pack dynamics work, and that will make her very confused.
The buzzing of my phone in my back pocket reminds me that Jaxon and I will be able to work through all of this together. We’re all in this together, and he’ll know what to do. I quickly say yes to my mom about dinner and pull out my phone. You missed two calls and got nine texts. As he gets more worried, they get worse and worse.
Broody: Are you okay? I can feel your sadness.
Call me when you’re bored.
Broody: Honey, what’s wrong? Should I come?
Broody: Calla, answer me.
Broody: Are you happy now? I don’t get it.
Broody: I understand your fear. What the hell is going on?
Broody: I’m coming over if you don’t call me back.
Broody: I don’t like it when people don’t pay attention to me.
Broody: I’m outside now.
That last text made my eyes pop out of their sockets. Not really, though. It’s still crazy for him to drive all the way over here. He probably ran if he got here this quickly. The thought of a big black wolf sneaking through the suburbs makes me smile a little.
I send him a quick text to tell him to hide as my sister and mom come out of the house. I don’t get a text back, but I can only guess that he got it and is watching them leave the house. I say goodbye to Mom and Maisie as they drive away. As soon as their car turns the corner, Jaxon is pretty much all around me. He hugs me like he hasn’t seen me in years, but I saw him last night.
A werewolf that clings.
“Why were you ignoring me? And why were you upset earlier? I couldn’t figure you out because you kept going from happy to upset. You’re very confusing.” He grumbles his complaint while breathing in my scent to calm him down. His deep, rumbling voice is soothing to my ears, and I relax right away when he talks to me.
“I wasn’t ignoring you, Jaxon. I was talking to my mom and Maisie about the idea of moving in with you.”
He quickly backs up so he can see my face. He tries to read my mind by staring at my hazel eyes with his blue-Jaxon eyes. He can’t do it because he holds on to my sides too tightly.
“And?”
He has never reminded me of a puppy more than he does right now. He looks like a big, bad Alpha right now because his tight black shirt stretches across his biceps and abs and his joggers show the outline of something. But his behavior is anything but. His big, hopeful eyes and stopped breathing make him look so innocent right now. I ended his suffering.
“And I was telling Maisie that even though I’m moving in with you, she’ll still see me all the time when we play dolls and watch movies and-”
Jaxon picks me up and spins me around in circles, and I scream. I hold on for dear life by wrapping my arms and legs around him. My heart is racing because I can feel Jaxon’s complete happiness through the bond. I feel like I’m in the sun and I’m happy. He finally stops spinning me, but he doesn’t let me go. His hands move from my back to my b**t. He squeezes me lightly, which makes me let out a small surprised moan. My hips move forward on their own, which makes my center brush against his length.
Blue eyes get bigger right away, and before I know it, we’re kissing in my front yard. Not kissing, more like making out. I can’t keep up with him because his lips are eating mine. He leans to the side and kisses her more deeply. The butterflies are all over my body as soon as his tongue touches my lips. My hands automatically grab his hair, and he crushes my body even more against his by moving his hands in just the right places.
Even though I’m wearing clothes, I can feel the overwhelming warmth spreading through me as his hardening length rubs against my clit. I rub against him even more, and when Jaxon growls back, I know he’s feeling the same way I am. I don’t even care if I look desperate because I know I am. He is as well. We need each other so badly that nothing will stop us.
Well, nothing but my nosy neighbor.
“Calla Dalton! What are you doing with this guy? You two need to get a room!”
I feel bad as I look across the street and jump out of Jaxon’s arms. Ms. Diego, my nosy old neighbor from across the street, is standing in her ugly flower nightgown.
I wave my hand quickly in her direction. “Sorry, Ms. Diego.” I was sort of humping Jaxon in my driveway, but she shouldn’t be such a grumpy old lady. She used to be young. Can’t she just not be a bitch?
I grab Jaxon’s hand and grumble under my breath as I curse the woman who made me stop kissing him.
“Next time she asks me to water her plants, I’ll conveniently forget. Let’s see how she likes it.”
Jaxon makes fun of how upset I am, which only makes me more angry. I let go of his hand when we got inside and crossed my arms over my chest. I give him a mean look, but all he does is try harder not to laugh.
“You still look like a kitten, Kitten.” He stalks toward me, and I scream in horror and run the other way. He grabs me right away and puts us on the couch. I somehow end up sitting on his lap.
“Don’t be upset, baby.” He kisses me on the lips for a second, and I give him a serious look.
“Now I feel a little better. Can I have another kiss?”
He leans in close and kisses me again, this time for a little longer, while he smirks at me. I sit still on his lap while he playfully looks into my eyes to see what I’m thinking. “Better?”
“I still feel a little bad,” I say. He laughs and then finally kisses me for real, not the little sad kiss he gave me before. As we kiss, I let myself relax into his body. I lean my forehead against him when I finally come up for air. I know we need to stop unless we’re going to do more. I can tell he could make me feel great because of the bulge in his pants, but not right now.
We need to focus on the coven attack that is going to happen tomorrow. We can’t let him get even more possessive because we mated. We have to be smart. But there are times when I just want to be crazy.
I start talking about something else to get my mind off of the hard thing that is brushing against my thigh.
“Your mom wants you to come over for dinner tonight.”
He clears his throat and raises an eyebrow. “Really? Is this a test from my mom? If I fail, she won’t let you move in with me?”
“Basically,” I say with a smile.
He nods and pulls me close to him.
“Then I won’t fail.”
Why does it seem like this dinner is going to go wrong?
Jaxon and I cuddle on the couch for a little longer, but then he tells me, with a sigh, that he has to keep training. After I scolded him for not doing his job, he said that no matter how busy he was, he would come to me whenever he felt my pain, fear, or sadness.
That means I’ll give him kisses all the time.
I tell him what I’m worried about the plan Elise has made for tomorrow before he leaves.
“I’m just worried that you and the other pack members could get hurt while protecting me. I would be heartbroken if someone died in my place.”
Jaxon says, “No one’s dying,” and he holds me tighter. It seems like he’s trying to convince himself that I won’t get hurt. He is keeping me from going to work at Cafe tomorrow, so I really don’t see how I could be in danger. I worry about him.
I whisper, “Promise me you’ll be safe,” with my forehead on his chest. As he breathes out, his chin rests on the top of my head.
“I promise, baby. You can’t get rid of me.”
“Good,” I say with a smile and push him away. “Now go do Alpha things or something!” I push him out the door and into the street. He lets me tell him what to do, but the more I try to get him to leave my house, the more he digs his heels into the ground.
“Ugh, you’re so freaking heavy! Move you big giant!” I start pushing him away with my back, knowing that if I don’t send him away, he might spend the whole day with me. I thought he was a big deal, Alpha, but all he wanted to do was hang out with me. He needs to be working!