19. Luna
Luna
I ’ve just finished putting away the last of my new things in the closet when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in!” I say, stepping out from the walk-in closet and into the main bedroom.
I see Chase standing, leaning against my doorframe. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his slacks and a mischievous grin appears on his face.
“I know you probably just got all settled in,” Chase says. “But I was wondering whether you’d be interested in trying on your snow gear and heading outside with Madden and I. The snow’s perfect for a bit of fun right now.”
I blink at him in surprise. I’ve never played in the snow before. When I was younger, my family never spent money on winter clothing, so whenever it got too cold for my normal clothes, I’d just stay inside as long as I could.
Plus, it wasn’t like I had anyone to play with either.
“Fun?” I ask.
Despite my best attempts at trying to stay calm and collected, I’m sure Chase can tell how excited I am.
“Yeah! Some fun. We’ve got a couple of sleds stuck somewhere in the garage and a pretty nice hill in the backyard. I totally get if you wanna be careful considering?—”
“No! I’m fine. I feel great,” I say, interrupting him. I bounce lightly on my feet. “See? I’m basically good as new.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Chase laughs. “But we can still take it easy and still have fun. Just want to make sure you know that.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I—I really want to go, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay! We’re the ones asking you. You know which clothes to get on?” Chase asks.
“I think so, but can you—can you help me make sure? I don’t want to mess something up.”
Chase’s smirk grows. “You never have to ask me to help you get dressed, Moonlight. It would be my honor.”
I blush as he follows me into my closet. I think I did a pretty good job organizing everything, but I still point out to him where I put all of the winter clothes. He grabs a matching light blue parka and a pair of snow pants off a hanger and holds them out to me.
“You’re going to want layers underneath this. Where’d you put the thermal underwear I got you?”
For a split second, I almost open the drawer full of all the actual underwear Chase bought me, but luckily, I catch myself. I didn’t really know thermal underwear was a thing until I opened the labeled plastic packaging of the thin long-sleeved shirts and pants made of a smooth fabric.
The other kind of underwear Chase bought me has exponentially less coverage than the thermal underwear. He seems to have bought the entire store. There are underwear and bras of all sorts of styles, and surprisingly, they’re all my size.
I walk over to the built-in drawers of the winter section and pull open a drawer. “These?” I ask, holding up a matching white set of thermal underwear.
“Yeah,” Chase says. “I’d pair those with a turtleneck and a pair of leggings you like, and you should be all nice and toasty for going outside.”
“That’s a lot of layers.” I grab a black pair of leggings and a fleece turtleneck and tuck them under my arm along with the thermal underwear.
“Well, I’ve gotta make sure you don’t catch hypothermia, unlike the last time you went outside.”
I wince at the memory of the numbing cold of the train car.
“Hey,” Chase says, taking a step closer to me and tucking me into his chest. His chin rests on the top of my head as he wraps his arms around me. “You don’t have to worry about being cold ever again. I promise.”
“Thank—thank you.”
The sentiment is so simple, but my chest still squeezes. I’ve spent so much of my life cold. It wasn’t just the freezing basement I was kept in during my heats, but the people in my life who were supposed to be warm.
I can’t help but think he’s talking about more than the actual temperature.
I hope he’s talking about the pack’s warm presence in my life.
“Of course, no need to thank me,” Chase says.
He grabs me a pair of thick wool socks and gloves, along with a pair of snow boots from the collection of shoes I have on one of the shelves.
“I’ll let you get dressed,” Chase says, laying out all the clothes he has in his arms at the foot of my bed. With a smile and a wink, he closes the door behind him as he leaves. “See you soon.”
I’m quick to slip on all the layers of clothes. I don’t think I’ve ever worn this much clothing in my entire life.
I stuff the gloves in my jacket pocket and carry my snow boots in my hand as I leave my room. Even though they’re completely brand new, I don’t want to get in the habit of wearing shoes on the stunning carpet of this room .
In the hallway, Chase and Madden are clad in their own all-black winter gear. Their faces light up when they see me.
“You look so cute all bundled up!” Chase says.
“You do look wonderful,” Madden says softly as I near him.
A blush covers my cheeks that has nothing to do with me slightly overheating in these clothes indoors.
“Thank you,” I say, shuffling from side to side.
“Here, let me carry those for you,” Madden says, reaching for my boots. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah!”
They lead me down to the garage where we sit down on the steps and lace up our boots. By the time both of them are done with theirs and standing, I’m still struggling with my first one.
“Here,” Madden says. “Let me help you.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, embarrassed as he kneels in front of me and easily starts lacing them up.
“No need to apologize, Angel.”
“I—I’ve never had shoes like this before.”
“Ah, yeah, new boots can be hard to break in.”
He pats my leg and stands, extending a hand to me once he’s done.
“Thank you,” I say, as he pulls me up to my feet.
“Do they feel okay? Not too tight?”
“No, not at all.”
They’re surprisingly comfortable. I still have scabs on my feet and legs from running barefoot over gravel a few days ago, but they aren’t hurting very much at all.
Maybe it has something to do with them changing my bandages often and the creams they’ve been applying.
“Alrighty then, let’s get going!”
Madden reaches into one of the cabinets in the corner of the huge garage and pulls out two sleek plastic sleds.
“Have you ever used one of these?” Madden asks, extending his hand to me .
I shake my head as Chase opens the garage door for us. I take a deep breath when we step outside, the cold air stinging my nose.
“Here, let me help you put on your gloves. It’s pretty cold out,” Chase says, reaching into my pockets and pulling out my gloves.
Despite how quick and efficient his movements are, like he wants to make sure I’m covered up as soon as possible, I can’t help but blush again. The touches are brief, but they feel intimate.
I glance up at two of them, a smile I couldn’t keep hidden if I tried appearing on my face. Their consideration is making me melt, despite the cold.
More snow has fallen overnight, so it’s actually a bit of a struggle to walk. These boots are far heavier than any of the shoes I wore in my previous life before they rescued me, so it’s a bit hard to get used to them.
The two alphas by my side seem to sense that I want to at least try to make it up to the top of the hill in their enormous backyard without their help, because even though they stay close enough to catch me if I were to fall, they let me make the climb alone.
“Almost there,” Chase says as we near the top of the hill. “I promise the way down is a lot more fun than the way up.”
I clap my hands when we make it to the top. My breath fogs in front of my face, coming a lot more quickly than I would’ve liked. I need to get into better shape.
“We made it!” I pant out.
Madden’s not breathing hard at all, and he’s carrying both sleds. He’s not even dragging them on the ground. I wouldn’t expect anything less from him, considering he’s an absolute wall of muscle, but it’s still impressive to me nonetheless.
“I call first dibs,” Chase says, reaching up and tugging one of the sleds off Madden’s shoulder.
“First dibs?” I ask.
“I get to ride with you first,” Chase says, winking as he extends a hand to me. “We can race Madden.”
“Fine, you can ride with Luna first, but the winner gets to ride with her next,” Madden says, crossing his arms over his chest. The grin he’s wearing is confident. It tugs on the scar on his cheek, but that does nothing to take away from how handsome I find him.
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Chase says, rolling his eyes. “We’ll totally win, Luna.”
He sets down the sled at the top of the hill, gesturing for me to get in, his eyes twinkling with excitement.
It’s a bit scary when it shifts underneath me when I take my first step in, but Chase holds the sled steady as he slides in behind me.
His body presses against me, his legs and arms holding me tight to him.
“Ready, set—” Chase shoves us down the hill. “Go!” he yells, a good couple of seconds after we’ve already started barreling down the hill.
“You fucker!” I hear Madden call from behind us, laughter in his voice.
I let out a scream of surprise, the wind hitting my face so hard it feels like I’m flying. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this alive in my entire life.