Allies

Chapter 28 #2

Titus kissed her again, then started walking, still holding her up off the ground and against his body.

“Wait! I have clothes and bags to get.”

“I got it,” he said, stopping at the Jeep they were approaching and putting her down.

Hail opened the back of the Jeep and started getting her things out.

Everything she took out, he took from her and looped over his shoulder.

When she was done, she slipped her hand in his and they started down the foot path that led around the side of Jack’s house.

Titus effortlessly swung her up in his arms and held her cradled against his body like a child holds a security blanket.

“And you were worried he wouldn’t want you,” Feral said.

Hail grinned at Feral from the shelter of Titus’ arms. “Thank you so very much for letting me tag along.”

“Congratulations, Hail. And Titus,” Feral said.

Titus grinned tiredly at him just before they disappeared from sight, hidden by the side of the house as he carried his mate toward his home, their home, far beyond Jack’s house.

“Go to sleep, Titus!” Jack called out, knowing full well that Titus would hear him. Then he looked at Feral. “And another happy mating is completed,” Jack said.

“Is it too much to hope for another?” Feral asked.

“Not if you’re patient. I don’t know if Alison will fall into your arms the way those two just did for each other. But she might,” Jack said.

“No time like the present to see,” Feral said.

“If she says no, Rance’s house is available until Titus and his crews finish this one, and start renovating it.

Titus hasn’t slept since Hail left, so you probably have more time than you think before we’ll have to move you if Alison won’t take you.

But either way, you won’t have to sleep outside at least.”

“Thank you, Jack. I’m going to go on over and see what she says.”

“Go back the way you came. When you get to the second turn off to your right, take that right. Follow it until it comes to a dead end. Alison’s house is at that dead end.

You’ll notice the road is more of a path there, grass covered, instead of dirt.

Nothing but golf carts drive on that area of the road now, and not very often, but your Jeep should make it.

Let me know how it goes with Alison. I’m invested,” Jack said.

“Will do,” Feral said. “Fingers crossed.”

Jack watched as Feral got back in his Jeep and drove back the way he’d come, on his way to Alison’s house.

As the shiny black Jeep passed the new build several hundred feet away from Jack’s house, Jack noticed Dane pause to watch it go by.

Dane looked over at Jack. “Thank God she came back! Titus was becoming nearly unbearable. I was about to put him to sleep.”

Jack held his coffee cup up in a quick toast to Dane. “You and me both. She is never allowed to leave him again.”

“Truth!” Dane said.

Jack laughed. “Y’all let me know if you need me for anything.”

“Will do,” Dane said.

Jack went back inside to prepare the morning pancakes that he always liked to have ready when his daughters got up. It was their ‘thing’. “And the Pride continues to grow…” he said to himself happily.

~~~

Feral parked his Jeep to the side of Alison’s porch, where it looked like there had at one time been a driveway before the grasses had overtaken the gravel spread there.

He got out of his Jeep and took his time walking up to the pale yellow house, taking a good look at it, noticing that it was in very good shape.

He smiled when he realized all the upkeep had probably been done by Alison herself, because she wasn’t the type to ask for or even accept help.

“She’s strong,” he said to himself with a smile.

Feral stepped up on the porch and took a deep breath before he knocked on the door.

“I came here for a reason, and I won’t get an answer standing here looking at the door,” he said to himself, as he finally lifted his hand and knocked five times in rapid succession.

He moved back several steps so he wouldn’t be crowding the door and waited, his hands clasped behind his back.

~~~

“I’ll get it,” Maeve called out. She hurried toward the front door, bending a little as she peeked out of the windows on her way to the door. “You know anybody that drives a black Jeep?” she called out.

“No, I don’t,” Alison answered.

Maeve got to the door and looked through the peephole, smiling to herself as she unlocked and opened the door. “Hey.”

“Hi. Is Alison home?” Feral asked.

“She is.”

“Can I speak to her?” Feral asked.

“Here’s the thing. I’ve become a little protective over her because she’s taken us in and made us not only friends, but family. So, I’m not sure.”

“Why would that matter?”

“She was very, very disappointed when you left. I don’t want to see her hurt again. Are you going to be leaving again anytime soon?” Maeve asked.

Feral smiled softly at Maeve, realizing she was protecting Alison. “As of about twenty minutes ago, I’m an actual approved member of the Laighin Pride. I live here now.”

“You do?” Maeve asked.

“I do. Can I talk to her? Please?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Maeve said. “Hang on just a second.” She closed the door and Feral could hear footsteps leading away from it.

A minute or so later, the door swung open and Alison stood there, a furrow between her brows that disappeared the moment she saw him. “Oh…”

“Hi,” Feral said.

Alison looked over her shoulder at Maeve.

Maeve stood just a few feet behind her with her chin tucked in, watching, but not directly so. “I knew if I said it was him that you might not come, and if you did you’d make yourself nervous. So, that’s why I said I didn’t know who the male was that was standing at your door.”

“Mmhmm,” Alison said, giving her a bit of side-eye.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t come back when Frenzy did. But I had to see my mission through to the end. Before it was even done and we had the males we’d taken into custody back in Alliance, I was already planning ways to get back here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I did. I told you I’d be back, but you’d already closed the door on me.

While I was here, I tried every way I knew to show you and tell you what you mean to me.

I really did, but you seemed to doubt what I was telling you.

So, I stopped trying to convince you because sometimes coming on so strong to someone who already isn’t sure of you, can have the opposite result.

And then the day I left when I realized you and Maeve were going into town alone, I panicked and just made the whole situation worse.

I’m sorry for that. Me, and others like me, we survived by controlling every aspect we could — every breath, every heartbeat, every step and thought of every moment.

We couldn’t control our own lives, we had no freedom, but we could control how we reacted to every situation we were placed in.

And that was with control of all the unexpected factors.

You going off alone was an unexpected factor.

Everything we showed any affinity for, even pillows or blankets, were taken from us so that we had nothing to cling to but survival.

You are my mate, regardless of the fact that you hadn’t accepted me, and you were leaving the mountain without me.

All I could see was you being taken from me and me not being here to protect you.

That tendency to control erupted. The need to hold tightly to you because for so long we had nothing, erupted.

And I reacted poorly. I am sorry if I offended you.

I’m sorry that I seemed to doubt you. I don’t doubt you.

You clearly can take care of yourself, and have been for a long time.

You are a very capable, very strong female.

You contribute to Pride functions, take care of anybody who needs an extra hand, prepare and donate food and your time.

You’ve even learned to take care of your own home,” he said gesturing toward the outside of her house.

“Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do.

I know you don’t need anyone to be at your side, but maybe you’d consider wanting someone at your side.

Maybe you’d consider that someone being me? ”

“Thank you for saying all that. I understand now some of why you react the way you do. But I won’t try to tell you that I wasn’t disappointed when Frenzy came back and you didn’t. It was hard. I felt like a fool for believing everything you’d said to me.”

“You are certainly not a fool. I’m sorry you felt that way, and I can see how you would. I would have, too. But here’s the God’s honest truth, Alison.”

She put her hand on her hip and relaxed a little, giving him the indication that this might be his one chance, so he better make it good.

“It’s been a very, very long time since I cared about anyone more than vengeance.

And since I cared about anyone more than myself.

I carried that focus like a weapon. I was accused of betraying my team and my people.

Falsely so, but still accusations that brought everyone else’s opinions and suppositions loudly to the forefront.

Once I was cleared, I made it a point to continue helping my team, and any other that needed help in an effort to prove that I was not anything like they assumed I was.

This last mission was a part of that, until I realized halfway through it that their opinions didn’t matter to me anymore.

If they don’t believe in me, I don’t care.

The only thing that matters to me is what you think.

What you believe. I never thought I had a chance at a happy life, a good future without battle, and killing, and revenge.

But then I came face to face with you. And my entire focus changed.

You’re all I want. Five minutes with you heals my soul more than any amount of freedom has.

All I see is you. All I feel is wanting you, needing you.

All I know is that you and I belong together. We belong to each other.”

Alison stood her ground, just watching him quietly.

“My past, my life is a very long story, and it’s not a happy one.

Unlike some of the Variant, I do remember it.

I’ll tell you anything you want to know, including about my ex-wife.

I have no secrets from you. I will never keep secrets from you.

And I hope one day that you’ll feel the same way.

Jack has welcomed me into the Pride. I’m one of you now.

I’ll be here from this point forward, and I’m not walking away.

I’ll do whatever it takes to convince you of my intentions and my sincerity.

We don’t have to make everything official immediately.

We’ll take things slow and let them develop as they should, naturally, as long as we both know where we’re going.

Just tell me what you need from me and that’s what you’ll have. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You mean that. All of that,” she finally said.

“Absolutely. All I need is a chance to prove myself. For you to get to know me, accept me, have faith in me.”

“And you don’t mind going slow? I mean, you’re kind of my first boyfriend.”

Feral nodded. “Nobody else has been good enough, that’s why you waited for me. And I’ll continue to wait for you until you’re as ready as I am.”

One side of Alison’s mouth turned up into a half smile and he couldn’t help but smile himself.

“What?” she asked.

“I love your smile.”

She smiled again, this time more shyly. “Would you like to come inside for a while?” she asked.

“I’d love nothing more.”

Alison stepped back out of the doorway to allow Feral to enter her home.

“Thank you for giving me a chance,” he said as he moved past her.

“Feral, I’m not giving you a chance. You don’t need a chance. I was just afraid to trust because of my own issues. But after everything you just said, they seem to have all disappeared,” she said as she closed the door and flipped the lock since they were still on high alert.

Feral waited, looking down at her until she turned back to him.

Alison stepped closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she looked up into his eyes.

“I’ll never, ever disappoint you. I’ll probably step on a nerve or two, because I am overprotective, but all you have to do is tell me to back off.”

“You won’t back off even if I do.”

“Probably true,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll follow you silently to watch over you while you do whatever it is that you want to do. You’ll never know I’m there.”

Alison laughed. “I can live with that.”

“I love everything about you, my mate,” Feral said. “Your quiet strength, your courage, your gentleness, your selflessness, your generosity. You’re the part of me that I’ve always been missing.”

“I love you, too. This is the first time in my life I’ve never felt alone.”

Feral kissed her lips chastely. “And you never will be alone again,” he said.

She reached up and kissed him again.

He closed his eyes, savoring her kiss. When he opened his eyes, she was looking up at him with so much emotion in her eyes.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Mine?” she asked shyly.

“Always yours, only yours,” he answered.