Chapter Three

“You’ve done good,” Klaus said.

Dex looked around at the stacked piles of broken wood.

“Now, all you need to do is to take them into the storage shed, and we’ll distribute them.”

“Great,” Dex said.

“You got anything else you need to be doing?” Klaus asked.

“Nothing.”

“Good, let’s get started. Trust me, your grandfather did this to me, and your great-grandfather did it to him.”

“And when I have a son, I get to give this job to him?” Dex asked.

“Now you’re getting it.”

There was no smile on his father’s face. They lifted several pieces of splintered wood, and he followed his father over to the storage shed. He knew Klaus had done this multiple times over the years. Even before he turned into a wolf and was old enough to help his father, he’d come and join him. His job had been to get the logs ready for his father to chop, and then gather each piece. He had to be fast, as his father didn’t like waiting.

“What’s on your mind, son?” Klaus asked.

“Nothing. Just remembering what this was like when I was a kid. Running around, gathering the wood. I used to love it.”

His father laughed at this. “Ah, as a grown man, you’re going to hate it. It’s a job that needs doing. I don’t want the pack to get cold this coming winter.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “It’s going to be a cold one. I can sense it.”

Dex thought about Casey. After the kiss they shared, he walked her back home. Every window in her home had been dark, and she had no choice but to climb up the back to her bedroom window. He’d waited until she was safe in her home, and then she’d given him a wave, blew him a kiss, and he left.

All night long, he had a fucking hard-on that had taken multiple strokes to get rid of. He’d even tried a cold shower, but nothing stopped his raging erection. Eventually he did get to sleep, but by then, it was time for him to get back to work.

“Dad, what is going to happen with Casey?” Dex asked.

Klaus turned toward him. “Nothing. Why?”

“She’s worried that she won’t be able to join the pack,” he said.

“Casey will always be pack, son. You know that.”

“What if she doesn’t turn?”

“Then she doesn’t turn, and come the full moon, she won’t change into a wolf.”

“You know what the pack is like,” Dex said.

“The pack is a lot more accepting than you think. Only a few little young shits who think they know best have caused her a problem. I know for a fact she is very much loved by everyone in the pack.”

“And what about her position as my mate?”

Klaus looked at him. “Are you willing to accept it?”

“I’ve always accepted it,” he said.

Klaus raised a brow.

“I did, I just don’t want to scare her,” Dex said. “I’ve always known.”

“Do you feel it?” Klaus asked.

“Yeah, I felt it years ago.”

“That is what is going to make your mating unique. Some people don’t know who their mate is until after they are mated.”

“Was that the way for you and Mom?”

“Yes,” Klaus said. “I was always drawn to your mother, but never like when we finally transitioned, and as you know, we share the same birth month, so our joining came at the same time.”

Dex did know his parents had been together from the moment they transitioned into wolves. He also knew his father hadn’t been with another woman. His parents had been young sweethearts.

He, himself, hadn’t been with anyone else. He was a virgin, and he knew Casey was as well.

“Will Casey know I am her mate?” Dex asked.

“That I don’t know, son. You’re going to have to ask her how she feels.”

Dex gripped the back of his neck after he helped his father stack the chopped wood. “I can’t ask her that. She is already stressing out about this. Is there anything we can do to help her?”

“Time,” Klaus said. “She needs time.”

“Can you not call on her wolf?” Dex asked. “I know you can force wolves to change.”

“That is a punishment, Dex. If I call on her wolf, it is going to be painful. Even more so than if she allows the transition to happen on its own.”

Dex took a deep breath. “So, all I’ve got to do is wait?”

“Yeah, that is all you can do. Wait it out.”

He couldn’t help but think about the old witch at the secluded cabin on the edge of the forest. “What about … magic?” Dex asked.

“No, you do not go to Lucinda about this.”

“Why not?”

“Because Lucinda will not meddle with pack business, and you will have a price to pay. Trust me, there is no magic in this world that would be worth that price.”

“What about for the protection of humans? You paid that price,” Dex said.

“Yeah, I did,” Klaus said. “Do you want to know what price was paid?”

Dex didn’t know what price his father paid. The pack thrived. They were safe.

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” Klaus asked.

He didn’t have any.

“On the month you were born, we had hunters in the forest,” Klaus said. “Nothing seemed to be going right for your mother, with the pregnancy. She could only run, and one of the days she went running, heavily pregnant with you, she was naked. The men heard her, and then tried to go hunting. I took care of it. I always took care of it.” Klaus continued talking as he walked outside. “I knew hunters and humans were going to be a risk to us all. Lucinda moved onto the edge of the forest. She had lost her coven, and she wanted the protection of the pack, which I granted. I went to her, and she warned me that the cost of doing magic is … pricey. It affects you in ways you are not expecting.”

“How did she lose her coven?” Dex asked.

“She wouldn’t keep paying the price of the magic. She turned her back on helping people because it always came with a steep price. She warned me. She said what I asked for would come with a price, and I told her it was one I was willing to pay. The shields went up, and for two weeks, I thought I didn’t pay any price because I did the right thing. I was wrong, so wrong. On the night you were born, your mother started to hemorrhage. She nearly died giving birth to you. You lived, but her ability to have more children was taken from us. That was the cost I had to pay to keep the pack safe. Lucinda felt horrible. It’s why she remains at the edge of the forest, staying close but not too close to the pack. She also doesn’t practice magic anymore. You will not go to Lucinda, promise me.”

“I promise.”

He had no idea of the sacrifices his father had made. Or what his parents had suffered for the sake of the pack.

“Dad, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t. I do not regret my decisions. I preserved the pack, and it saved us. We do not have to fear humans nor hunters, and for that I am grateful. You will not go to Lucinda.”

“No, I won’t.”

He couldn’t do that. If the price had to be taken out on a loved one, he was not going to risk Casey being hurt. He’d take everything for her.

****

“Ouch.” Casey pulled her hands away from the rosebush and glared at the plant. She had a small droplet of blood on her finger, and she wrinkled her nose.

Sticking her finger into her mouth, she sat back on her heels and looked around the garden. She was starting to doubt her father’s assessment of trying to relax her.

“Are you okay, honey?”

She looked up to see her mother coming out of the kitchen, carrying a small pitcher of lemonade along with two glasses.

“How much do you like roses?” Casey asked, knowing it was a pointless question as her mother loved the prickly little plant.

Her mother was also called Rose. According to her grandparents, they didn’t know what to name their daughter, and it took them a long time, but noticed their little girl was always near the roses.

Casey wasn’t quite sure how accurate the story was, but they would claim her mother could crawl at a very young age. Either way, Rose Scott loved her garden, which is why her father planted them for her.

“Oh, sweetie. Your father plants them for me every year we’re together.”

“Mom, that is at least eighteen plants I know of,” Casey said.

Rose chuckled. “I know. I know. He can’t help himself and that is one of the many things I love about your father. Some of the early plants didn’t make it. Not because we had a bad relationship or anything, just because we didn’t know how to take care of the roses. Over time, we were able to learn, and since then, this garden has thrived.”

She knew her mother loved her garden. Not so much the gardening, but she would always spend a lot of time outside, especially in spring and summer.

“Dad loves you very much.”

“That he does. I would have to say I have a feeling Dex has quite a few feelings about you.”

“Mom, come on, stop it.”

“What? Can’t a mother ask about her daughter’s love life?”

“Your daughter doesn’t have a love life.”

“Okay, so what is Dex?” she asked.

Casey sighed and couldn’t help but giggle. “I don’t know, and I probably sound like a schoolgirl.”

“Honey, you are still a schoolgirl.”

“I care about Dex. I’ve always cared about him.”

“But?”

“Can I allow him to … you know, be with me?” Casey asked.

She moved from her muddy patch and joined her mother as she poured them both a glass of lemonade.

“Why can you not be with him?” Rose asked.

“Are you not worried about the giant problem right now?”

“You mean about you not turning into a wolf?”

“Yeah, it is a pretty big … problem.”

“Only if you make it one. I don’t see a problem. If you and Dex are in fact mates, then there is not, nor is there ever going to be, a problem with the two of you being together. Here you go, sweetheart. It is way too hot out here.”

Casey took the lemonade from her mother. “How can you be so positive?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it is because of … you know, Dex always showing up here. I also saw what he did to that Buddy boy, and now that I think about it, whenever you did come home with bruises and scratches, the people responsible were always joining you.” Rose shrugged. “You and Dex can make this work.”

She leaned back and took a long sip of her lemonade, not realizing how thirsty she had become.

“You’re not convinced?”

“It’s not that…” She pressed her lips together. “Just … what if I don’t feel quite as strongly as Dex?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said yourself that you and Dad struggled. You did the whole dancing around but when you both went through your transition, you knew without a shadow of a doubt, and no one could come between you.”

“I know where this is going, and you cannot allow that to hold you back. You’re mature, and I do not think you need to have a wolf transition to know in your heart if you love a man.”

Casey sighed and sat back. “What if I do?”

“You don’t. Love is all about the heart. It’s in here and I think what is happening here for you is you’re panicking. You want to transition. I know your father and everyone in the pack don’t know how excited you were for your transition night. I did. You talked about it all the time growing up, and I knew you were counting down the days. I also saw how gutted you were when it didn’t happen. Don’t let it affect your decisions. Your transition will happen.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I don’t believe that.”

She wanted to argue with her mother, but she also knew Rose had blind faith. Finishing off her lemonade, she glanced around the garden, feeling trapped. “Can I go for a walk?”

“Yes, go and relax. Calm that mind of yours. Everything will be okay.”

She smiled at her mother, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Getting to her feet, she stopped to hug her mother, and then made her way out of the garden and went straight toward the forest.

In the last five months, she had spent a lot of time here, trying to animate her wolf, to bring her to life, to do something, anything, that would wake her up. She meditated, did yoga, and tried to call on that part of her soul that was supposed to be connected to her wolf.

Nothing.

Not a damn thing.

Today, she kept walking as her thoughts drifted to Dex. The kiss they shared had been amazing. Even now, just thinking about it, her lips tingled. She had never told another living soul, but she did feel a connection to him. She didn’t know if it was as strong as the one he had for her.

All their lives, she’d been acutely aware of him when he entered a room. She saw how other pack females reacted, and she didn’t want to run with the crowd. It wasn’t about gaining his attention, she loved being his friend, and it made her feel calm just being with him.

This is what she feared for Dex. If he decided to mate with her, to declare her as his, then he might be living a second-best life. Casey might never turn, which meant she might not have the strongest feelings. He would have a mate who loved him but didn’t feel that consumption of love. It felt so wrong to her, because at the same time she felt that denial.

Her feelings for Dex were not flighty or light. They were strong and all-consuming.

Suddenly, Casey felt a chill come over her as she crossed a line. Wrapping her arms around herself, she glanced and sure enough, the sun was beaming down on her, and yet the cold swamped over her.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Casey spun around and there was Lucinda, the small witch that resided on the edge of the forest.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea where I was going.”

“No wolf should be wandering the forest this close to the edge.”

She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Well, you’re in luck, because I am no wolf.” She tried to keep her tone light and cheery, but that didn’t happen.

Lucinda didn’t laugh, nor did she smile. She kept staring at her. “You have a lot to learn. You must leave.”

“I am so sorry for breaching your … zone.”

“All pack are welcome, as long as you do not want anything from me, and then we’re good.”

Casey nodded. “Want anything from you?”

“A spell. A potion. Some kind of look into the future.”

She frowned. “Can you do all of that?”

Lucinda glared at her. “It is none of your business.”

She held her hands up in surrender. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Backing away, Lucinda made no movement but kept watching her. There was no way she was coming back here.

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