Chapter 36
Jake
“A re you sure she’s coming?” Walker’s mother asks as she steps out onto the front step. Their house is decked out in Halloween decorations. His sisters take it very seriously.
They’re twenty-one and twenty-two, still living at home while they go to school. Good kids. Look, just like their brother. Sun-kissed skin and dark hair.
His mother, on the other hand, looks nothing like her children. She’s got long blonde hair, looks like she’s only in her early thirties, when really she’s older than Leroy. Something Caleb loves to tease him about.
“Yes,” I reassure. “She just texted. She got held up with a friend, but she’s on her way.”
“Good, good,” Elena, his mother, says. She looks at Athena and grins. “You are the cutest little thing ever,” she gushes.
We’ve decided to go as the characters from The Wizard of Oz. Athena is Dorothy. She’s got the little dress and a stuffed dog that looks like the one from the movie.
Walker walks out of the house, and my eyes widen. “Oh my god,” I snort. Trying to hold back my laughter.
Caleb doesn’t even bother. “You look so stupid,” he wheezes.
“Fuck you,” Walker growls.
“Language,” Elena scolds her son. “And he does not look stupid.” She glances at Caleb. “He looks adorable.”
At the look on Walker's face, I’m unable to hold back my laughter. I bend over, laughing so hard I nearly piss myself, Caleb howling alongside me.
He looks ridiculous. The damn thing hardly fits him.
“You told me you got the biggest size,” Walker growls at Caleb.
“I did.” Caleb wipes at his face. “I did, I promise. Not my fault your big-ass can’t fit inside it.”
Walker points to Caleb. “Don’t even start. Like you can talk. You look like a fucking tool. What are you even supposed to be? You look like something out of a horror movie. I’m surprised you haven’t made the baby cry yet.”
Caleb is dressed as a flying monkey, and I kind of have to agree with Walker.
“Hey.” Caleb sobers up and glares at Walker. “I look amazing.” He pulls down his monkey mask. “Don’t I, baby girl.”
Athena looks at Caleb and bursts into tears, clinging to her grandmother for dear life.
“Shit.” Caleb pulls his mask off. “It’s okay, Little Bug. It’s just me, Daddy Caleb.”
“I’m gonna go inside and calm her down. You, get rid of that damn mask,” Elena hisses before taking the baby inside the house.
“You were saying?” Walker crosses his arms, trying to look all big and intimidating, but he nearly rips his costume.
“Why did you waste so much money on that costume?” Leroy asks. “It’s twice as much as ours.”
“It was the damn mask,” Caleb mutters. “It was handmade.”
“What’s it made out of? Human skin?” Leroy raises a brow.
“Whatever, old man,” Caleb grumbles. “At least we saved a few bucks from not having to dye your hair to match your costume.” Leroy is going as the Tin Man. “Already have the silver to match.”
Leroy glowers at him. “Make all the old man jokes you want, but my age isn’t an issue where it counts.”
“Where's that? Getting the senior discount?” Caleb grins.
“The bedroom.” Leroy smirks. “You know, the place where I fuck our Omega into a coma and have her begging for more?”
“Touche, my friend, touche.” Caleb chuckles, patting him on the back.
“The only one who actually looks like he’s supposed to is Jake,” Walker mutters. “How do you look so much better than us?”
Me? I’m dressed as the scarecrow. And the damn thing is itchy but it does look a lot better than theirs.
I grin. “Years of working in the theater back in high school. I learned to do costume makeup pretty well. Also, when I saw what Caleb ordered, I knew I couldn’t wear it, so I called up one of my theater buddies from the city and asked to raid his company's wardrobe. They’ve done The Wizard of Oz, and their costume selection is amazing.”
“Wait!” Caleb glares at me. “You mean we could have all had better costumes than these?”
“No. Because I don’t trust you not to ruin them.” I raise a brow.
“Betrayal, man. I feel betrayed.”
“It’s okay,” Alexis, Walker’s youngest sister, says as she steps outside. “You all look stupid together . That’s what matters.”
The only reason why we’re dressing up as a group is because it’s Athena’s first Halloween. And both Caleb and Savannah guilt-tripped us into it.
And because, in a way, it’s Savannah’s first Halloween too. We didn’t have it in us to put up a fight and so we went along with their plans.
“Thanks,” Walker deadpans. “I feel the love.”
“Good.” She pats his arm. “That's what I was going for.
His other sister, Hayley, follows behind her. “Looks like your Omega is here,” she says, nodding towards the car that's pulling up.
Savannah gets out, slams the door, and rushes over to us. “I’m so sorry I’m late,” she says in a rush. “Things ran longer than I wanted, and I ran into a few issues, but everything is good now,” she pants, putting her hands on her hips as she catches her breath.
My eyes widen as my lips part. We all just stare at her in horror.
“What?” she asks, looking between all of us, brows furrowed. “What's wrong?”
“Cool Carrie costume,” Alexis compliments. “It looks so real.”
“Ahhh.” Savannah’s eyes widen as she looks down at her dress, seeming to realize that she‘s covered in blood. “Thanks,” she laughs. “Wanted to go as realistically as possible.”
Hayley goes over to her and reaches out to touch. “That looks like real blood.”
Savannah steps back and laughs. “Trust me, you don't wanna touch it. This dye is hard to get out of skin. Gonna be a bitch to get off later.”
Hayley pulls her hand back. “Good point. I do not want to stain my wings.” Haley is dressed up as an angel while Alexis is dressed as a devil.
“I’m gonna go get Mom and tell her we can go now,” Alexis says, and Haley follows her in.
“Why did you change outfits?” Walker asks, not seeming to see what I’m seeing. Is he for real right now? “I thought you were going as Glinda to match with us.”
“I didn’t change, silly,” she laughs. “Because I was supposed to meet you all here after I was done with work. I wore my costume to save time so I didn't have to go back home to change. I thought it would be a quick in and out thing, you know? Boy, was I wrong.” She laughs. “Things got messy. Not my original plan, but I kind of got carried away.” She shrugs. “Oh well, it all worked out, right? I mean, the dress does kind of look like the one from the movie.”
“Hold the fuck up,” Caleb asks. “This blood is real?”
“Yup.” Savannah grins, then her eyes widen as she squeals. “There’s my baby!”
Elena and the girls join us on the front lawn. “Savannah, honey, we’re so glad you could make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“That's an... interesting costume choice.” Elena gives her a friendly smile. Poor woman looks so confused. Trust me, we all are.
Walker’s sisters and Savannah walk ahead, the girls chatting Savannah up as she pushes the stroller. Surprisingly, the only thing clean on her was her hands.
“She really got into the spirit of Halloween,” Elena comments as she walks next to us. “I know your sisters love it. They think her costume is cool.”
“Yeah.” Walker shoots us a look. “It’s something else.”
Still not sure how to feel about the fact that she’s covered head-to-toe in real human blood. It’s not surprising, just unexpected.
But hey, that’s our life.
Walker’s family wouldn’t be so chill if only they knew the truth. He never plans on telling them, and from how Savannah is acting, she’s making sure to hide the fact, too.
“I like her,” Elena says. “She’s a bit of an oddball, but she’s really good with Athena. And the way she looks at you.” Elena smiles up at her son. “I can tell she loves you.”
“Thanks.” Walker’s smile is genuine. “She’s my everything.”
“I’m happy for you.” Elena holds her son's arm. “All I ever wanted was for you to find someone who loved you for you.”
“I did,” Walker tells her. “She didn’t know anything about my life or where I came from when we first met. When I told her, she brushed it off and couldn’t care less.” Walker laughs. “She told me, ‘Don’t start acting like a spoiled rich boy. That’s not my thing.’ And I knew everything was going to be just fine.”
“Does she know?” Elena asks. “About the women in your past?”
“No,” Walker grunts. “I don’t want to upset her. She’s really possessive of me.”
“As she should be.” Elena laughs. “Any Omega who truly loves their Alpha is.”
The real reason why Walker hasn’t given too many details other than he’s been hurt in the past is because if she knew names, they would pop up dead.
It’s not that the girls from Walker’s past were evil, just very self-centered and greedy.
His first real girlfriend pushed for marriage after only being together for a few months. He found out she was pushing because her father wanted to do business with his. She was trying to trap him so they could use his connections to better her family.
After that, he stayed single for a while. Thought he found ‘the one’ a few years later. Was with her for two years.
He was set to marry her. Then he found out she was in debt for millions before they even got together and wanted him to pay it off for her.
He gave up for a long time, only having meaningless hookups here and there. Until Savvy.
She really has changed all of our lives for the better.
The night turns out to be amazing. Savannah Trick-Or-Treats for Athena because she’s just a baby and can’t have candy.
Savannah’s costume scares a few children, but over all, she gets complimented on it. The smile she gives when she thanks them is pure joy, and I can’t find it in me to be grossed out anymore.
We stay out a few hours longer than expected and Leroy takes Athena home when we make our way back to Walker’s parents’ place.
His sisters leave to go to a party while we go to some more houses. Savannah wanted to stay in the rich neighbourhood because they give out the good stuff. Her words, not mine.
When we get back home, she is vibrating with excitement at how much candy she got.
“Before you dig into all of this and put yourself into a sugar coma,” Walker says, stopping her from dumping everything on the living room floor. “Please go shower and put something else on. Maybe burn that dress while you're at it.”
Savannah stops and looks down. “Oh, shit.” She laughs. “I totally forgot. Also, don’t be so dramatic.” She rolls her eyes. “This is a nice dress. I’m not going to burn it.”
“Are you even able to get the blood stains out?” I ask.
“Yes,” she and Caleb answer at the same time, grinning at each other.
“I don’t even wanna know.” I chuckle.
Savannah blows us a kiss before bouncing up the stairs.
The moment she’s gone, we all rip our costumes off. “Maybe we should shower too.” I give myself a sniff and grimace.
“It was like a fucking hot box in there,” Walker groans, pulling the head piece off.
“Dude, your hair is dripping in sweat.” Caleb laughs.
Walker runs his hand through his hair and cringes. “Yeah, I’m taking a shower.”
“Good idea.” I chuckle.
We all take showers and meet up back in the living room.
When we get there, Savannah is sitting in a pile of candy, arguing with Thor.
“If you touch the Mars bar, I will bite you,” she threatens in a very serious tone.
Thor chitters and Savannah gasps before he snatches the bar they’re both reaching for and runs off with it.
“Not so fast.” I grab Thor by the scruff as he goes to run past me.
“My hero,” Savannah says dramatically.
Bringing Thor back over to Savannah, I hand him to her.
She takes him and holds him up in front of her face. “You need a friend. You're getting bored too easily,” she huffs before letting Thor go. He chitters as he takes off again.
“I’m going to go make sure he’s all settled in his house,” Leroy says, turning around and following after the raccoon. Of all the pets in the world we could have had, a raccoon was not one that ever came to mind.
Caleb hates him and the feeling is mutual on Thor’s end, but the little bugger seems to like the rest of us. I don’t mind him. He’s nice to me, cuddles on my lap, but I don’t like the way he snuggles into Savannah’s boobs and then evil eyes all of us as if he’s staking a claim on her.
“I think the last thing we need is another rat in this house,” Caleb grumbles as he leans against the wall, running a hand through his dark locks.
“I don’t know.” I chuckle, moving to take a seat on the ground next to Savannah. Leaning back against the chair, I pull her between my legs. She tilts her head back and smiles up at me. I grin, pressing a kiss to her lips, and she snuggles into me, picking at a little baggy of candy. “I’ve always wanted a hedgehog.”
“You mean a smaller, spikier version of a rat,” Caleb deadpans.
“What's a hedgehog?” Savannah asks, looking between the three of us.
“How do you not know what a hedgehog is?” Caleb snorts, putting a foot in his damn mouth.
He seems to realize his mistake instantly.
“Shit, baby, I’m sorry.” Caleb’s face falls, any trace of humor gone.
Savannah buries deeper into my hold and I glare at Caleb. “Sorry I was kidnapped and lost my memory,” she mutters. “How dare I not remember every animal in the world.”
“Savvy, baby, I’m so fucking sorry.” Caleb looks gutted, and I can’t help but feel bad for the guy. Sometimes he speaks before thinking.
“Here,” I say, pulling up a photo of one on my phone and showing it to her, hoping to make light of the situation.
She takes the phone from me. “Awe, they’re so cute!” she gushes. “I want one.”
“I’ll buy you twenty,” Caleb blurts.
“Thought you didn’t want any more pets,” Walker snorts from his spot on the lounge chair.
“Can it,” Caleb hisses.
I chuckle. “You used to have one.”
“I did?” Savannah looks back at me with wide eyes.
Smiling, I nod and scroll through my photos until I find one of the three of us. “Wow, we look like babies.” She laughs softly. She stares at the photo for a long time, and with each passing second my heart beats faster. Will bringing up the past upset her? Make her sad?
“She’s cute,” she whispers. “What was her name?”
“Him,” I correct. “And you named it Sonic.”
“Wait.” Her brows furrow as her blue eyes meet mine. “Like the video game?
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “You— we —used to play all the time.”
She’s silent for a moment, and for a second I’m afraid I’ve said something wrong.
“Jake,” she whispers.
“Yes, Sweet Girl,” I murmur, kissing the top of her head.
“Can you tell me more?”
My body stiffens. “More about what?”
“Us. Our past. How things were after I was gone.”
My eyes shut, and I swallow down emotion. As much as I want to talk about the old times, I didn’t think about how much it’s going to hurt me to bring up the past.
But for her, I’ll suck it up and push through. She wants this, she’s asking this of me, and I’ll do it for her.
Walker and Caleb take this as their cue to leave, giving Savannah and me some alone time.
“What do you want to know?” My voice cracks as I hold her tighter.
“Everything.”
A few hours later, we’re in my room, tangled in each other's arms. We’re still dressed, but my stomach hurts from laughing and my cheeks ache from smiling.
I didn’t know how healing talking about all of this with her would be. While she might not remember the things I told her, how she reacted and the way we joked around was exactly how she would have back then.
It was a small glimpse of the girl I fell in love with, and if that’s all I ever get, I’ll be okay.
Because I love this version of her just as much. We grow, life happens. Even if Savannah wasn’t kidnapped, there’s no guarantee life would have ended up the way I wanted.
The only reason I’d want to change the past would be so that she was never taken in the first place, not to better my chance of ending up with her.
But I can’t. And dwelling on it won’t change anything.
“I have something to show you,” I murmur, my heart racing a little bit faster as I reach into my bedside table.
“What is it?” she asks, lifting her head off my chest.
“You wanted to know what my life was like after you were taken. I know for a fact I wouldn’t be able to tell you, not right now, not in words. But this...” I hold up my journal. “This, I think, will give you the best understanding of how things were for me.”
She takes the book gently and sits up. Licking her lips, she looks my way. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I smile up at her softly.
I’m a complete and utter mess as I lie there next to her, watching the different emotions take over her face as she reads. She’s good at hiding them, but I can see the smallest of changes. They’re there.
She pauses a few times to take a deep breath and collect herself before continuing.
By the time she’s done, there are tears in her eyes, running down her cheeks. Placing the book on the bed beside her, she turns onto her side and lowers herself onto the bed until she’s face-to-face with me.
“Thank you,” she whispers, her voice shaky. “For sharing that with me.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I brush the tears from her eyes. “I’ll share everything with you, Savannah. My heart, my soul. My life. It’s all yours.”
“I’m sorry,” she rasps. “I’m sorry for not remembering. I hate it. I want to. I do. Not just for you. But for me.”
“I don’t want you to be upset. If you ever need a reminder, I’ll tell you stories. Want to watch videos, look at photos? I have millions of those.”
“You do?” Her eyes light up. “I’d love to see them.”
“You might not be able to remember, but I do. And I won’t let those memories die. I’ll keep them alive for the both of us,” I whisper, my voice shaking as I struggle to keep it together.
“Thank you,” she repeats.
“For what?” I whisper.
“For never giving up on me. I will never stop thanking you. You will never understand how much it means to me that you fought so hard for me,” her voice breaks. “For years, I thought no one cared. I know now everything my dad did, and I know what he lost. But down there, I didn’t. I thought that I was going to die alone in that cell, and no one would remember who I was. That I was so unimportant that I wouldn’t have left an impression on the world.”
I roll over until my body blankets hers. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes. “That couldn’t have been further from the truth,” I murmur against her lips. “You left a big impression on a lot of people, Savannah. The biggest one of all was with me. You might have been someone to others, but you were everything to me. I need you to know this, and I mean it with every ounce of my soul. If I never found you, even if you never came back to me, I would have spent the rest of my life looking. And when I died, it would have been with you consuming my heart and soul. There was no option to move on, to find someone else. Because the moment I locked eyes with you the first day we met, before I even knew who we were destined to be for one another, you were it for me. Nothing else could ever compare or compete. It’s always been you, it will always be you.”
My breathing is labored, my heart is at risk of bursting out of my chest, and my body shakes with the confession I’ve been holding in for so long. But every word was the truth.
“Alpha,” she sobs, tears spilling from her eyes. “I need you.”
“I’ve got you, Sweet Girl.”
My lips crash down onto hers. The kiss is unlike any of the others we shared before.
It’s like she wraps around my very essence, feeding me everything I need to keep breathing.
We’re both crying, our salty tears coating our lips, but it only makes us deepen the kiss.
We grab at one another, pulling at clothes until we’re both naked, pressed against each other.
Savannah opens her legs as she claws at my back. I know what she wants, and I don’t make her wait for it.
Lining my cock up with her slick soaked entrance, I slide inside her. We moan into the kiss, but don’t dare break our lips apart.
I make love to my Omega. It’s slow, deep, and so much more powerful than anything I’ve felt before.
When we bit one another, I could feel our souls connecting, but right now, it’s like they’re entangling together, molding into one.
“I love you,” I pant. “I love you so fucking much. Thank you.” I thrust inside her, loving the way her eyes roll back. “Thank you for loving me back, for picking me.”
“I love you, Jake,” she sobs out, and I groan, shuddering with pleasure as she digs her nails into my back. “Loving you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I’ll always pick you. Every time.”
The growl that leaves me is low and possessive.
Locking eyes with the woman who’s the very reason I live and breathe, I thrust into her a little faster, going harder.
The sounds she makes are music to my ears, and I engrave every single one to memory.
I’ll never get enough of her. Her touch, her taste, her scent.
She’s like the sweetest drug, and I’m unashamedly an addict.
It’s pure, raw emotion, more intimate than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
Savannah looks at me with pleading eyes, her body trembling under me as she whimpers and whines; I know what she wants. Pressing a kiss to my bite mark, that she wears so proudly, I suck hard before thrusting deeper inside her.
Our orgasms crash into us in waves as my knot pops into place, locking us together.
I could live like this. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Watching her lose herself in ecstasy, knowing I’m the one who made her feel this way, that I make her feel loved, safe, and wanted, makes me feel things I don’t think I could ever explain.
I’ve always been afraid to disappoint others; my parents, my friends, my pack.
When I care about someone, I care with everything that I have.
And for years, I’ve felt like Savannah’s biggest disappointment. I was her Alpha, and I couldn’t protect her. All the logical things people told me didn’t matter. Because in my mind, I failed her.
But right here, right now, our bodies locked together, lost in nothing but each other, I feel a part of me heal. The part I hated myself for, beat myself up over every day. The part that told me I wasn't good enough, that I’ll never be. That no one needed or wanted me.
She does. She needs me and wants me. She thinks I’m good enough.
And because of that, I think I’ll be able to accept that too.