Chapter 48
BAILEY
I have the goofiest smile on my face as I examine my mate mark in the mirror. Not only do I have Jason’s teeth prints on my skin after giving him my virginity, after becoming his lifelong mate… I also have a wolf.
I have a wolf! Nerdy, clumsy little half-blood Bailey Blackwood has an actual wolf!
I could bawl some more right now. I have Jase. I have a mate mark. My introduction to sex was better than I could’ve ever hoped for.
Like… seriously… if you’re going to wait twenty-five years and fill your life with spicy romance novels, it’s best to make sure that when you finally give it away, it goes to someone who knows what they’re doing.
And though I have no frame of reference not having been with anybody but Jase, I do believe his skills in the sex department are stellar.
I’m a lucky girl to get the guy of my dreams and have everything be as dreamy as it was.
But to find out tonight that I have a wolf, too? It’s the cherry on top and I couldn’t be any happier.
And strangely, it’s as if I’ve got perfect vision. My glasses make me feel woozy, but when I remove them, everything looks like it does when I have them on! Did Jase’s knot give me twenty-twenty vision and a wolf of my very own?
Okay, maybe shifting fixed my less than perfect eyes. Oh! This might mean I can heal with shifting!
No wonder my wolf was trying to communicate me whenever I pushed away my emotions.
I examine and brush my mate mark with my fingertips and…oh wow! Now my nipples instantly harden. And how I felt when he purred? Wow. I never thought I’d get to experience that for myself. It’s better than I imagined.
When Dr. Blakely mentioned using medication to wake a latent wolf, I was equal parts excited and terrified, worrying it would confirm what I’ve suspected for more than a decade – that I’m wolfless.
I’ve spent countless hours digging for signs of half-blooded shifters meeting their wolves after adolescence and found nothing.
So, I might be a first. And I might be a case of hope for some other half-blooded shifters in the future. This is one of the reasons I make sure I document stuff about our pack. Documentation of the past is essential for future generations.
Yup, I’m an anomaly. Not a shock. But then again, this is Arcana Falls.
And it feels like our motto should be that anything is possible here.
Dreams come true here. You might have to fight through the worst storm of your life to get to the rainbow, but while Fate wants you to work for it, Fate also really means for you to have it.
And when you get it, it’s better than you could have fathomed.
I have it.
I have Jase. I have a wolf.
I’m going to have babies.
Mom and Dad are themselves again.
My best friend Cicely has her happily-ever-after.
Grey and Stacy have babies coming.
We’re down to two council alpha matings to go.
The only negative thing happening right now is that Sherry is unconscious and suicidal.
But I’ll hope it’ll turn out okay. For her son, Jase’s nephew. Stacy’s nephew. And for the rest of Jase’s family, which is now also my family.
I think it’ll turn out okay.
Because Fate really does seem to have an eye on as well as plans for our pack.
***
I put on Jase’s soft blue checkered flannel, one he’s had forever, and luxuriate in the sensation of his clothing, his scent, and his mark on my skin.
We change the sheets together and we’ve both got silly grins on our faces.
Then, while he runs the vacuum, I put stain remover down and scrub the steak stain from the rug.
I save a handful of rose petals with plans to press them in a scrapbook.
We don the his and hers bathrobes that were generously left for us with JC and BC monogrammed.
Jase ran to the basement to throw the sheets in the laundry machines, and this thrills me, because he knows how to use laundry machines, unlike many males from what I’ve heard.
I can hardly wait for my wolf to run with his. I’m also excited to be out in public with him, at Roxy’s, in town, at pack events.
But also, I’m really looking forward to doing nothing but being alone with him for a few days in our own private bubble.
I already had a congratulatory text from Mom that was full of heart and happy face emojis as well as from Audrey who informed me that she, Leona, and Misty will look after the library until I’m ready to emerge.
***
“You want to move?” Jase asks while flipping the frozen burgers on the grill out back.
I’ve just created a new group chat called Council Chicks for the moment, unless one of us thinks of a better name. I added Stacy, Ivy, Amie, and Erica and sent my first message, a series of emojis: a wolf, a knotted rope, a moon, and a big heart.
Ivy: YAY YAY YAY!!!
Erica: Congrats, babe!
Amie: Woo hoo! Council Chicks! Love it maybe it’ll help her grow quickly to adult size.
Then she’ll be able to run with Jase. And so I can feel her as part of me instead of being a spectator.
“I own this house fifty-fifty with your brother,” he replies. “I pay our company the rent we’d charge for it every month. I told him if my mate wanted to live here, I’d buy him out. If you want, we’ll move.”
“Move where?” I ask.
“We can build like Linc’s doing. There’s a vacant building lot three houses from your parents. Or there are two houses for sale here on this street. Linc’s mother’s old place is one of them. There are a few other places up for grabs too since a couple betas are goin’ with Brody.”
“Where’d Julia go?”
Julia is Linc’s mom.
“Florida.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“How did I not know about this?”
“Guessin’ you’ve been a little distracted, Bay.”
“Maybe a little,” I muse.
Smiling, he goes on. “There’s a little holiday settlement started up a few years ago with a bunch of other retired shifters.
A whack of retired alphas. That’s a big house if you want that one.
There’s also the Dougherty farm right at the end of this street.
Not yet for sale, but I was out there a few weeks back fixing their roof and it’s getting to be too much now that Jacob is getting up there in years.
The place is a lot of work. They’re thinking about selling the farmhouse and half the land, just keeping part of it where they’ll hire Savage Construction to build them something smaller, all on one level.
Also heard Matt and Lauren’s house will be going up for sale soon.
They’re joining the Moonshine Springs pack so Matt can be one of Brody’s betas.
Heard you saying you loved their house once. ”
“What do you want to do?” I ask.
“I want you to pick where you want to live, Bay. Pick where we’ll raise our family. Somewhere you’ll be happy.” He kisses my hand.
“You said you’d build me a reading nook upstairs.”
“I did.”
“With a rolling ladder.”
His shoulders shake with silent laughter. “Can build that for you anywhere. Can build you the house of your dreams if you want.”
“I imagined it up there,” I tell him.
“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”
“There’s lots of room here. Many great memories,” I say.
“Didn’t know if you’d want a clean slate.”
I shake my head. “Nope. This house is part of our story. I love this house.”
“Then it’s settled,” he says with a big smile.
“You like it here? Because if you want a fresh start–”
“Love it here,” he tells me.
“Well… good. But we’re throwing that ugly-old beer-stained couch in the trash.”
He laughs. “Or I’ll make a man cave in my garage and put it there.”
“As long as I don’t have to smell it on a daily basis.”
“Done,” he says, then goes on, “So, this is home. Good.”
He moves the burgers to the hamburger buns he already defrosted and toasted. “I’ll change anything you want. New furniture, too. Whatever you want, you tell me.”
“All I need is a place to sleep, shower, and of course… a reading nook,” I tell him.
“I’ll start on that tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to start on it tomorrow, Jase.”
“Your new chair is coming tomorrow.”
“Then you can start on my reading nook tomorrow,” I say with enthusiasm.
He laughs. ‘Yes, ma’am.”
“I guess I should learn to cook,” I inform.
He laughs harder. “That’s not necessary.”
“I really should learn,” I state, sliding the patio door back open so we can go inside with the burgers.
“I take it I gotta be your test subject?” he asks, looking horrified.
I pout.
He sets the plate of meat on the table before he wraps me up in his arms, kissing me while chuckling.
“You’re lucky I’m in such a good mood tonight or I might be tempted to cook something right now!” I threaten.
He laughs harder and kisses me some more. Feeling Jase laugh against my mouth is pretty awesome.
“That’s it! I’m making dinner tomorrow night!”
“Oh shit,” he mutters. “Wait. You can’t. My parents sent over a mountain of food. Freezer is full enough, we don’t have to cook for at least two weeks.”
“Then… you’ll have a two-week reprieve,” I tell him.
“Didn’t I hear your mother say she’s looking for us for the following two weeks?”
I roll my eyes. He laughs again and then takes my hand to walk me in to the dining room. I sit.
“Open your presents while you eat,” he tells me, then fetches the mead.
I look around. Our house. I’m so glad he brought me here to make things official. I’ve spent countless hours here, particularly when Grey lived here, fantasizing about living here with Jase, raising a family.
Home. The place where my mate will build me a reading nook, where I’ll hang out in my big, soft, pink reading chair.
The place where we can look out the window to see who’s out by the bonfire at Roxy’s.
We can walk there to have meals, drinks, or to dance on the dancefloor in less than five minutes.
It’s walking distance to my parents’ place. To Grey and Stacy’s. And it’s not much of a walk to the library, either.
And that’s a good thing, because my car certainly needs to go in the shop.