Chapter 14
JASE
Her scent invades my system the instant Joel and me hit the four corners. Strangely, I also smell someone else almost as strong as I smell Bailey.
“Cicely?” I ask.
“Weird, right? Jared has no scent so it’s her scent in the area.”
“Stop, I need out.”
My wolf is chomping at the bit. My mate’s here. It’s time. Fucking finally…
He says, “Your girl’s probably at her parents. You’ll get to her faster if I drop you at the house.”
A responding grunt from me, realizing Bailey’s scent isn’t close enough to mean she’s in the library, means Joel continues through the intersection and thankfully he correctly reads the situation and speeds up.
I don’t think I’ve voiced much more than a couple grunts since he picked me up from the airport.
He already knew, from Grey, and didn’t ask about that when I got into his ride.
First, he congratulated me, but correctly read my reaction and launched into an immediate update on what’s happening with Jared and Cicely.
The rest of the council is focused on that at the moment.
I wasn’t surprised there was something up with Jared’s wolf.
Linc did a good job of deflecting all that shit.
He vouched for Jared, and I can’t help but feel annoyed that he didn’t level with us. Joel says nobody is as pissed off as Linc is. He’s beating himself up that shit could’ve gone even worse than it did, that Cicely could’ve been killed.
Joel told me he got the call on the way to get me that some of the Young sisters are already out there trying to get a read on that situation but that they dropped Bailey off first, which is a relief.
I’m also glad I won’t have to deal with those Young sisters when I pick her up. That’s what I need right now. To pick Bailey up, bring her home, and work this shit out.
Joel stops in the Blackwood driveway and Graydon has his eyes pointed at me from the open garage where he’s polishing his sweet fire engine red convertible muscle car.
“Thanks, bro,” I say as I open the door.
“Congrats again. Want me to drop your bag on your front step on my way past?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Joel.”
“Best of luck, my man,” Joel says and pulls away immediately, which is good, because an unmated alpha near my mate? No. Not all right.
It dawns all I know means Jared has a gaggle of pack members out there and frankly I have no clue how that’d make me feel right now.
Not good, that’s for sure. He already claimed Cicely, and now it’s my time to claim Bailey, so we’ll see if it settles me.
Because I’ve been amped for days, more amped than I can remember feeling.
“Graydon,” I greet.
He stuffs the polishing cloth into his back pocket and extends his hand as I approach.
We shake hands and his free hand lands on my shoulder.
“Congratulations, Jase. Glad it’s you.”
I blow out a hard exhale, letting that settle in my bones. “Thank you, sir,” I say. “That means a lot.”
Concern etches his features. “Always wanted her claimed by someone that can look after her, keep her safe and make her happy. Even better that she won’t have to move away. Gotta say though, she’s not too happy with you, but I’m shocked as shit she left you behind. That’s not Bailey.”
“No sir. It’s not.” Shocked the shit out of me that she did it, too.
“Maybe you fucked up before realizing who she is to you, and I don’t give a shit about that compared to what’s ahead. I know you’ll treat her right, Jase. Gonna level with you here, though, it’ll ease my mind to hear those words, too.”
“Despite that I’m a little fucked up from what we just went through, not to mention pissed that she took off and made it so I couldn’t protect her, that won’t color how this goes for very long. I’m here to take her home and work it out. And I will absolutely treat her right, Graydon.”
Graydon slaps my shoulder and gestures toward the house. “Welcome to the family, Jase. Though you know you’ve already been part of ours since you were a kid. Go on in.”
That feels good.
The front door opens and here she is, looking angry, smelling incredible, and she’s trembling, which doesn’t feel good.
Her mother stands behind her, looking like… not like Carrie Blackwood, really, which is concerning, but my eyes focus on Bailey.
She’s wearing a denim skirt and a frilly white blouse. Her hair is loose, falling down her back. Her legs are bare and so are her feet.
She holds her hand up. “If you’re here to talk to me, no.”
“If I’m here to talk to you? If?” I pull in a breath and exhale before adding, “Hello, Mrs. Blackwood.”
“Hi Jase,” Carrie says softly. “You know you don’t have to call me that. Um, why don’t you come on in, and we’ll have something to eat. Talk, maybe?”
“Please don’t take offense to this, Carrie, I’ve got nothing but respect for you and your home. But I can’t stay. I’m here to pick up Bailey. I’m sure you heard by now that Bailey is mine.”
“Yes, I’ve heard,” Carrie Blackwood says softly, but her eyes look troubled.
“And it’s been days since I knew this and yet I haven’t even been able to as much as hold her hand, let alone keep her safe in some very dodgy circumstances.
We need our time together. And then after that, I’d be more than happy to have a place at your dinner table as often as you want to invite me over. ”
For some levity, I throw in, “We both know the food will be better at your house than ours, right, Bay?”
I’ve always teased her about her inability to cook anything edible. Usually, she looks embarrassed when I do, but right now, she looks at me like I’ve just called her actual character into question instead of teasing about her cooking skills like I’ve done for the past decade.
Carrie opens her mouth to respond but before she gets a word out, Bailey says, “I’m not going home with you, Jason.”
“Babe,” I reply simply.
Her eyes narrow. “I am not your babe.”
“Let’s give them space,” Graydon suggests, walking inside, past me.
Carrie looks worried, but follows him.
“Actually, you are,” I advise, taking a step forward, but Bailey lifts her hand to try to halt me.
I speak quickly. “I’m sorry, Bailey. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t…” I rake my hand through my hair, looking for the words. They’re not easy to find because she’s here, in front of me, smelling delicious, looking angry. And pale. And not smelling like me. Not wearing my mark.
I sigh. “I didn’t know it’d be you. I didn’t want you being sad when it wasn’t you, so I made sure I never sent any mixed signals.”
“No, no mixed signals. Your feelings about me were crystal clear.”
“I didn’t know who it’d be. I just knew you wanted it to be you.”
“Yet you had no problem flirting with Dani repeatedly, knowing your time was coming, didn’t you? Even after Grey and Stacy mated, meaning your own mating was imminent.”
Shit.
Yeah, I was thinking with my dick that night, thinking one last fling before mating sounded victimless, suspecting some female from outside the pack would be who I identified, like with the other guys. But I’m not about to say that right now. Fate really threw a monkey wrench at me, didn’t it?
“Let’s go to the house. I need to shower, I’ll make us some food, and–”
“Absolutely not.”
“Bailey,” I say and move in, needing to touch her, feeling like she’ll melt into me once I finally pull her close.
All those times she looked at me like she wanted nothing more than to curl up and rest her head on my chest. All those times I caught her staring at me like I was her dream man. I want that now.
“Don’t,” she warns, her voice quivering, but I advance and reach for her face with both hands.
The second my fingertips connect with her jaw, a painful jolt like nothing I’ve ever felt sends me flying backwards, landing on my ass on the grass in front of the steps to the Blackwood house.
I’ve been blown back at least ten fucking feet.
What the fuck?
Those meddling fucking witches!
The burn in my hands is intense, but quickly fades.
Staring at my hands, I’m shocked. I look at her and she’s dumbfounded, too. And now she looks relieved as she sinks to the floor of the porch and starts laughing. It doesn’t look like a calculated and evil laugh, more like shock and relief. But laughter quickly turns to tears from her.
She’s bawling, face buried in her hands.
Anger blended with disbelief floods my system and I’m pissed. Fucking Danica, telling me I’ll regret laying a hand on my mate.
Bailey gets to her feet, about to say something, but I’m beyond pissed so I’m rushing her, intent on throwing her over my shoulder to take her home.
She cowers, but it doesn’t matter because the second my shoulder connects with her midsection so I can lift her up and over my shoulder without technically laying hands on her, I’m blown back, this time landing on the road flat on my stomach, twenty feet further from where I landed the first time.
“That bitch!” I shout, rubbing my burned shoulder.
I throw my shirt off while stepping out of my shoes and socks in double-time, grab the fly of my jeans, and shift.
Bailey stands there with her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide, a horrible fear scent coming from her, filling the air around me and making me feel both angry and nauseous.
As wolf, I rush her, intent on finding out if that spell or potion applies to my two-legged form and the second my nose touches her chin, the pain is even worse this time. I yelp as my wolf is blown back, the yelp sounding like a pup got his tail stepped on.
I shift back to two feet and I’m growling.
My nose still feels like it’s on fucking fire.
I’m growling and Bailey is cowering now on the porch, hands over her mouth, eyes wide.
“Fuck!” I shout before I shift and shift back to halt the pain.
Graydon and Carrie are with her now and Graydon demands, “What the fuck?”
People next door and across the street are on their porches and in their driveways.
While getting dressed, I clip, “That Young witch told me not to touch Bailey for three days! Didn’t tell me if I did, I’d get fuckin’ electrocuted!”
Bailey hurries into the house, out of my sight. And that won’t do, so I storm after her, surprised when I can get through the doorframe. Because this feels like it did in that basement – like there’s a shield between me and her.
She’s running up the stairs, so I follow, hearing Graydon cuss behind me.
She tries to slam her door, but as soon as she’s clear of it, my palm slapping it makes it fly open. She whirls to face me, red-faced.
“No! Leave!”
“Not without you!”
I advance.
She backs up into her closed closet door and I cage her in, a hand on either side of her.
I take several deep breaths in an effort to calm myself down, barely taking in the space, the frilly girlie décor, the jam-packed bookshelves, the flowers on the bedspread and on the wallpaper.
Stuffed animals in a hammock suspended from the ceiling.
I haven’t been in this room in at least a decade.
I don’t remember why I was here the last time, but I do take something in.
My eyes zoom in on the photo of me on Bailey Blackwood’s dresser.
Me and her, my arm around her. It’s in a silver frame and it’s the only one displayed on the dresser.
She’s got a bunch of other framed photos on top of her bookshelf, but the one on her dresser is us.
And beside it, a stuffed wolf that rings a vague bell.
“What the fuck is that?” I point to it. “That’s how you feel about me, right?”
She ducks under my arm, stomps to the dresser and grabs the frame before she opens the window and hurls it. I hear glass smash as it hits the ground.
“Not fucking okay,” I growl and advance until she’s against the wall and I’m again caging her in.
“No, it’s really, really not, Jason,” she says, voice and chin both trembling.
I know I can’t get any closer, which guts me. Beyond that, the look in her eyes is making my chest feel like it’s caving in.
“You need to go,” she says.
“Not without you, Bay. Let’s sit down and talk this out.”
“Please leave.” She ducks and sidesteps.
I advance. She backs up and falls onto the bed. “No!” she warns, pointing.
“Jase,” Graydon says from behind me.
“I don’t want to hear any bullshit from you, Jason,” she says.
“Bullshit?”
“Anything that comes out of your mouth right now is based on one thing and one thing only. I’m not interested, so please leave me alone.”
“I’m not leaving without you.”
“Jase.” Graydon slaps my back to get my attention.
I turn around and he’s up in my space. But he doesn’t look pissed, doesn’t look like he wants to beat my ass. He looks concerned.
“Walk with me, son.”
Out of respect for the man, I follow, but I’m not happy about it.