7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Bellarose
I was waiting outside after being told the convoy of vehicles being led by Cade was approaching. I hadn’t seen the man in eight years, and I didn’t understand why I was nervous or why Coyo was pacing in my head.
She didn’t speak to me very often anymore, but she was still there, ready to protect me and lend me her strength. Losing our pup had done something to her, broken her heart and made her quiet. I thought for a bit I would lose her when Brandon and our pup died, but she was still there, so I counted my lucky stars and gave her the space she needed to heal.
Were we sensing danger from Cade’s pack? I didn’t know, and I didn’t push her to explain. A dark gray, heavy-duty truck appeared and slowed as it got closer to the pack grounds. I couldn’t see the driver, as he was wearing a cowboy hat, but if I were to hazard a guess, it was Cade, leading the group. A flash of memory came to mind of standing on a platform and him smiling up at me, but every thought left my brain, and my body froze on the spot, when I watched the man in the driver’s seat exit his truck and come around the front.
I don’t remember Cade looking so damn hot, Coyo spoke for the first time this week, peering at the man approaching appreciatively.
Fuck, neither did I. The tall slim man I knew had been replaced with a broad-shouldered, muscled god. His sandy blonde hair was peeking from under his hat and the light stubble shone almost angelically against the sun. The cowboy shirt, jeans and boots only accentuated his new muscles as he walked. Can a man walk sensually? Because I think that’s exactly what he’s doing right now.
His brilliant blue eyes looked me over, but before I could figure out if he liked what he saw, he engulfed me in a giant hug.
“It’s been a long time, Princess,” he whispered in my ear.
Right, that stupid nickname. Any lust I was feeling toward the man I was just ogling, flamed out as soon as Cade uttered that stupid nickname.
“Don’t call me a fucking princess,” I hissed, pulling back and saw that Cade was smirking down at me.
“That sassy mouth hasn’t changed a bit, I see.”
“Neither has your annoying ass,” I grumbled back.
As more cars started parking, he asked, “Where can we park all the vehicles?”
“There’s parking around the corner. You can park in the garage there, too. I’ve already sold Brandon’s cars.”
Why he needed three muscle cars when he rarely left the pack grounds, I’ll never know. At least, I found quick buyers for them.
“I’m sorry about what happened,” Cade mentioned more somberly.
“You too... with your pack grounds,” I replied awkwardly. I didn’t want to talk about Brandon. There were too many bad memories attached to that night.
“It’s a good chance to start over. I’m trying to look at it as an opportunity. We were too isolated there, surrounded by national forests on three sides. We had no neighbors, no allies but Crescent Moon and the neighboring pack. This is forcing us to consider what I want our future to look like.”
“That’s going around,” I mumbled and smiled a little when Cade gave my shoulder a quick reassuring squeeze.
“I’ll go direct traffic for a bit. Can we meet after and discuss where everyone’s going?” he asked.
“Of course. There’s lunch available, too, though it’s pretty simple.”
“We’re simple people, Bells,” he chuckled, ruffling my hair like he did when we were young and making me bristle.
“Goddess, you’re still annoying,” I mumbled, pulling my fingers through my straightened hair.
“And, I liked your hair better when it was curly.” He shrugged, walking toward the vehicle where another bulky man stepped out. “This is John, my beta. I left my gamma in Crescent Moon with his mate.
“Luna, pleasure to meet you,” he said. The attractive dark-haired man was dressed similarly to Cade, and had the body to fill it well, too.
“Likewise. I’ll let you get your people together and meet you both inside,” I said quickly, turning around and walking inside to busy myself helping the cook with lunch.
Seeing the gorgeous man standing next to Cade made me realize my reaction to his alpha wasn’t just because the man looked good in cowboy clothes; it was to the man himself. John was just as good-looking as Cade, yet it did nothing for me other than allow me to appreciate a well-made man.
We were done preparing lunch by the time Cade shuffled inside with his people. I sent a text to Chris to let him know I had some wraps ready for them, then guided Cade and John to my office, calling Hugh via mind-link to join us. He showed up twenty minutes later, and much to my annoyance, without a shirt and sweating profusely.
“Apologies, Rose. I was in the middle of training.”
Cade raised his eyebrow at the name, and a corner of his mouth quirked when he noticed how much it annoyed me.
‘There was no training today,’ I hissed via mind-link.
‘I wasn’t about to tell them I was tending grapes,’ he replied.
“This is Beta Hugh,” I introduced him instead of giving him a piece of my mind.
Cade and John shook his hand. Hugh came around the desk and tossed a hand over my shoulder. I pushed it off, starting to lose my cool.
‘You’re fucking pushing it,’ I growled.
‘I’m just trying to make sure they know you’re not alone, Luna. Make sure they see they can’t step all over you.’
I would feel touched if I didn’t know it was absolute and total bullshit. Hugh just wanted to make it seem like he had more power than he had.
“As I was saying, we’ve got about a hundred and thirty beds if your unmated wolves don’t mind the dorm style bedrooms we set up in the pack house, and I have another 30 houses ready for any families—”
“I didn’t bring any families,” Cade interrupted.
“What?”
“I left all the families in Crescent Moon. I only brought unmated wolves. They’ve got less shit to haul around, and Crescent Moon has a school the little ones can attend.”
“Then, I guess you can decide who bunks together in the houses,” I said, pushing over the maps I had printed and marked all the empty, habitable houses around the pack. “Most of the pack house is empty, so first come first serve on rooms unless you want to organize them yourself. I marked Hugh’s apartment, so they know to stay away from his wing and I’ve got a room ready for you on the alpha floor.” I told him and then hesitated.
“But?” Cade asked, seeing the hesitation reflected on my face.
“Violet is up there. Two doors down from yours. Some... things, happened to her last year. She’s uncomfortable with people approaching her, men especially. I’d prefer if you didn’t wander around up there too much.”
“If she remembers m—”
“It’s not just strangers, Cade. It’s almost everyone. It took our family months to be able to hug her again.”
“I understand. I’ll be mindful.” Cade answered, sitting back with a frown.
I was thankful he didn’t ask me what happened. It wasn’t my story to tell.
“Dinner is at six, but it might be a little late while my staff gets used to the added people.”
“I brought our chef. He’s ready to jump in and help if he’s shown where everything is.”
“Tomorrow. He should settle in first. I’m sure it was a long drive.”
“Patrol schedules next?”
We spent the next few hours deciding on a plan for the next few months, though Cade was honest and stated he was already looking for his new pack grounds and was hoping it wouldn’t take more than a couple of months to find a decent place for his people. He had three real estate agents competing against each other for the commission, so he was hopeful.
A few months was enough to get through the worst, and I was more than grateful that he was willing to help with the harvest.
“I run training every day in the mornings,” Hugh stated when Cade asked how we wanted to divide his people. “Your people can join, and we can assess them and see where they place.”
Cade’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked over at me. “I was under the impression that you needed help with harvesting and processing the grapes, not training.”
“That’s correct. However, if you want your people to train, I can work with a few less each morning. We do have rogues occasionally pushing through the borders, so anyone patrolling needs to be able to protect themselves.”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. What time do you start your day?”
“Six in the morning. Usually, it’s everyone on their own for breakfast, but since we’ll have the pack house full, I’ll make sure there’s stuff available for them.”
“You don’t have to try so hard, Princess. We’ll be fine.” Cade smirked, standing. “I’ll go get everyone settled, and we’ll see you at dinner.”
I nodded, ignoring the nickname, even when John coughed to cover a laugh because my cheeks pinked at Cade using it so publicly and during an official meeting.
“Princess?” Hugh crossed his arms with a frown as he watched Cade and John’s retreating backs in the hallway.
“Shut up, Hugh, and don’t think we’re not going to talk about you getting out of work again. I still expect you to work the evenings.”
“A beta shouldn’t be doing manual labor. I bet neither of them will be out there tomorrow.”
I ignored his ridiculous comment, left the office and went to check in with Eric. He was ready and eager to teach the new workers. Checks on the crops earlier this week determined we were ready to begin harvesting, but I told him to hold off. Everyone could get started together tomorrow.
’Why are there so many strangers in my house! Martha screeched at me via mind link. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. I had enjoyed how quiet and absent she was in the days Cory had stayed here.
‘I told you last week we were hosting a pack needing a place to stay; in exchange, they were helping us with the harvest.’
‘They’re homeless? Are we that desperate? What would my Brandon say to see the state of the pack now.’
‘Brandon’s dead, and we’re in this predicament because of his lack of proper paperwork.’ The words sounded harsher than I meant, but they were true, nonetheless. ‘These people were displaced in the California wildfires. They are a pack, and their alpha and beta are here, too. You’re leaving tomorrow anyway.’
Martha gasped and shut down the mind-link, making me sigh. I probably shouldn’t have said anything.
It was overdue, Coyo mentioned, surprising me. This was the second time she talked today, a record over the last year. I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more present.
Her guilt wasn’t necessary, and I was simply happy to see her being more vocal.
A few hours later, I went to the kitchen to see Lindsay giggling with a young, gorgeous African American man. I waited by the door, watching my part-time cook smile for the first time in almost a year. At only twenty-two, Lindsay lost both her parents and her little sister in the attack while they were trying to get to the pack house. She suddenly turned and blushed when she noticed me watching, and I grinned at both of them.
“Need help with anything?” I asked, walking closer.
“No, Luna. We’re almost done,” she answered.
“My name is Charles, Luna. Pleasure to meet you.” The young guy began to bow, but I waved my hand away.
“No need for that. You’re helping out the pack in one of the most important ways. If anything, I should be bowing to you. I’m mediocre in the kitchen at best,” I joked, trying to ease his nerves.
Thankfully, it worked, and I helped them cut up a few fresh veggies and make the dip while they handled the heavy dishes. It was something seeing them move around each other in the kitchen. It was like they had worked together for years.
When the dinner prep was done, I went to shower and change but decided to check on Adam and Violet first. My anger bubbled to the surface when I saw Cade leaning against Violet’s door. If he scared her...
But, after seeing Violet calm and relaxed with Cade, I was a little jealous of the ease with which he managed to get her comfortable. It took me a full week when I visited the twins to get her to look that comfortable in my presence, and earlier this week was the first time she’d hugged me.
I showered and changed, then grabbed two plates of food on a tray. On the way up, I ran into Cade, who promptly took the tray from me.
“I can carry it,” I said, somehow annoyed.
Aside from calling me a princess, he’d been nothing but a gentleman since he arrived. I didn’t understand why I was feeling so defensive around him. Old habits died hard, I guess.
“I know you can, Princess,” he answered me from in front. “But just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you should.”
“Oh...”
His response caught me by surprise. I had been playing a bit of every role for almost a full year now and forcing others to do the same. It didn’t occur to me I had a little more help now, at least for the next two or three months.
I walked behind him up to the alpha floor, and I couldn’t figure out why he started stomping angrily, until I saw Chris’ head pop out of the room momentarily. He came and grabbed the tray, and Cade and I walked into the room behind him.
“Had fun today?” I asked Adam, brushing his hair back. His smile and the way his brown eyes looked happily up at me made my heart melt. His fingers were covered in chocolate smudges, and there were a ton of candy bar wrappers on the nightstand next to his side of the room.
“We watched so many movies, and Chris and Violet sang with me!” he answered excitedly. I smiled and looked over at Chris, his usually stoic face tinted pink. Adam could charm anyone, it seemed.
“You ready to get cleaned up? It’s time for dinner and we need to meet the new people,” I explained.
“Okay! Thanks for spending time with me.”
He hugged Violet and kissed her cheek before he dashed out of the room. Violet chuckled as she began cleaning up the wrappers.
“One day, he’ll realize he’s the one that did me the favor today.”
I left my sister’s room to follow Adam. I ensured he got into the bath, taking away his toys because we didn’t have much time. When I walked out of Adam’s room to finish getting myself ready, I found Cade waiting for me, confusion written on his face. He frowned when he heard Adam giggling from his open door.
“What?” I asked.
“I didn’t know you had a pup. Mom never said anything.”
I shook my head as I walked toward my room. Cade followed behind me as I explained, “Adam isn’t mine. He was orphaned in the attack a year ago and I’m taking care of him until I can find him a permanent home.”
“You wouldn’t adopt him?” he asked.
“No. I won’t,” I answered firmly, not letting myself think about it.
“Why won’t you? What’s wrong with adopting?” he asked, and I stopped abruptly. Cade slammed into my back, and we went sprawling to the wall. I felt the heat of his body against mine, making my body react instantly.
“Shit, sorry,” Cade said, taking a step back.
I could still hear the hurt in his voice, so I turned around and looked him in the eye so he could see the sincerity in my response.
“There’s nothing wrong with adopting, Cade. I won’t adopt him because he needs a home with two parents or at least one stable one. I’ve got neither of those requirements to offer him,” I said, making sure he understood my reasonings.
Cade took in a deep breath, which felt more emotional than calming. Adoption was a sensitive subject for him. Always had been, considering he was adopted by Alpha Troy and Luna Kiera when he was four.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“It’s okay. I love Adam. He’s a wonderful little boy, with a lot of joy and love in his heart despite what happened to him. Believe me, if I thought it was good for him, I would adopt him in a heartbeat, but as it is, I’d be doing Adam more harm than good. He doesn’t deserve to be stuck with a broken woman.” It was the first time I admitted to anyone how I felt about the prospect of adopting Adam, and I didn’t know why I was explaining my decision to Cade.
“All a little boy needs is love, Bells,” Cade said, sincerity shining from his blue eyes.
I looked away, unable to keep eye contact with him.
“I don’t even know that I can do that properly,” I mumbled. “We’ll be downstairs in a few,” I added quickly and left him standing in the hall.
I dressed Adam nicely after we were done with his bath. He may not be mine, but I wanted people to know he was not to be messed with. He was under the protection of the highest- ranking member of Redmon Moon and was to be treated as if he were my son.
I walked downstairs with Adam to find the entire dining room buzzing with activity.
“Welcome, everyone. I hope you’re all settled in. I’m Bellarose, and this is Adam. I hope we get to know each other over the next few months. Consider this your home.”
Dinner began, and it wasn’t until we were almost done, that Cade called for his people’s attention.
“We have an early day tomorrow and we’ve had a long drive. I know you want to get to know our new friends, but I want everyone getting their rest and making a good impression tomorrow. This is our home for the next few months, make sure you treat it such, and let’s give Charles and Lindsay a round of applause for the first home-cooked meal we’ve had in a while.”
“You haven’t had a home-cooked meal?” I asked once he sat back down.
“Not since the fires. We‘ve been living in hotels.”
“Didn’t you head down to Crescent Moon?” I asked.
Mom would have cooked for him.
“I did, but once everyone settled, I had to fly back and start moving the rest here.”
“How long have you been awake, Cade?” I asked.
“I caught a nap on the flight,” he argued.
“When was the last time you slept in a bed?” I amended my question.
“Tuesday, I think?” he asked.
“Goddess, how the fuck are you standing? Go to bed. I’ll take your plate to the kitchen.”
Cade laughed as I did my best to push the man toward the stairs, more so when Adam joined in my efforts.
“Alright, you win, Princess,” he chuckled low enough that people in the dining room didn’t hear at least.
I mocked a growl, more annoyed than angry.
“I’m going to assume you keep calling me a princess even though you know I hate it because you’re exhausted and keep forgetting. Go to sleep, Alpha Cade,” I whisper-yelled at him.
“You will always be Princess to me, Bells,” Cade winked.
My heart thundered in my chest, but Cade didn’t notice because he was too busy yawning and walking up the stairs.
Adam and I helped clean the dining room as people left to rest, and then I tucked him into bed and went to mine. I spent a few minutes talking to Cory about my day, then scrolled on my phone until I fell asleep around one.
I struggled to stand, the wound on my shoulder trying to mend itself. My hand slipped on the hardwood floor covered in blood, so I crawled toward my mate, pulled out the blade from his chest and plunged it into the body of our attacker.
Once I was sure there was no threat to us anymore, I let the tears fall from my eyes, wetting my shirt as I moved to cradle my mate’s head in my lap and watched the light leave his eyes. A sudden sharp pain rippled through my abdomen. Coyo’s howl as I felt blood soaking my pants was deafening, as was the sob that tore from my throat.
My heart was racing when I woke up and I could feel the wet tears soaking my lashes. I looked around the room to reorient myself.
‘You’re okay, Bells, ’ Cory’s soothing voice flittered into my head, and I hated that I was still waking him after all these months.
‘I‘m okay. I know, Cory. It just hurts so fucking much at night.’
We talked for a little while before he was satisfied I was okay. I tried to apologize for always waking him, but he reminded me that he was always awake with the pups these days. I tried going back to sleep, but it was just past four in the morning, so I decided to head down and start getting breakfast ready. Lindsay was on her last semester of school and couldn’t cook in the mornings. I wasn’t going to ask her to quit so close to finishing her degree.
When I made it down, I was surprised to see Charles already working in the kitchen.
“Good morning, Luna.”
“Good morning, Charles. I didn’t expect to see you here this early.”
“Lindsay mentioned she had class, so I figured I was on my own this morning.”
“You should be resting after the long day you had yesterday,” I chided.
“I’m alright. I went to sleep early.”
“Well, then, put me to work. Where can I help?” I asked, not wanting to mess with the organization of ingredients he had on the table.
“Luna?” he asked, and I almost rolled my eyes at the disbelief in his voice.
Instead, I smiled.
“Put me to work, Charles. I thought I was going to be doing this alone, so you‘re already saving my hide. What can I take away from your master plan?”
Charles chuckled.
“Are you good with baking?”
“Ehhh...” I stammered, feeling my face heat.
“Here, cut up all the ingredients for omelets,” he replied, chuckling as he pushed a few packages of deli and veggies.
“You got it, boss,” I saluted.
Chopping, I could do. It required a knife, which I knew how to do, and anger, which I had in spades. We worked comfortably for the next hour, and I learned a little more about Charles.
He was twenty-four. His parents were in Crescent Moon. He had another little brother who was still in high school. Cade gave him the option of staying with his family instead of coming here, but he wanted to help.
“I love grapes, so maybe I won’t be so much of a help getting it all into the processing plants as you might hope, Luna,” he joked.
“I probably eat a few bushels myself through the harvesting, but don’t tell anyone I said that.” I winked.
Somehow, we had all the chafing dishes filled with an incredible amount of food for people to devour by the time the pack house came to life around us.
“We did it, buddy!” I said, high-fiving him.
“Having fun so early?” Cade asked from behind me. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. He held his cowboy hat in his hand. The man was a walking romance book cover.
“We’ve been up cooking for a while, sleepy head,” I teased.
“ You made breakfast?” he asked, suddenly looking at the food with skeptical eyes.
“I helped. Yes,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Who cooked the eggs?” he asked, lifting the lid as if it was going to explode.
“I did. Luna Bellarose makes a good sous chef, though, Alpha.” Charles came to my defense.
I sent him a grateful nod before I glared at Cade again.
“Don’t give me that look, Princess. I was sick for a week.”
“It was one time. I didn’t know eggs could go bad,” I defended.
“A week, Bells. I had fluids coming out of every hole in my body except my ears,” he emphasized, making one of the warriors grabbing eggs put them down with a groan. “Sorry, Derek,” Cade said sheepishly.
I started making plates for Chris and Violet, and when I was done, I put them on a platter. Cade came over and took it from me.
“I’ll take this to Violet. Why don’t you go wake your son up. You have to take him to a daycare, right?”
I nodded, and with only a bit of hesitation, let him take the food up to my sister, ignoring how good it felt to have Adam being called my son.
After breakfast, I was halfway on the way to the daycare to drop off Adam when things went to shit.
‘Rogues on the south borders. There’s like ten of them,’ Brianna, one of the patrol wolves on shift, mind-linked.
‘Don’t engage if you can. I’ll be right there,’ I ordered.
I picked up Adam and ran back. I burst through the double doors of the pack house and put Adam down.
“Go to Violet. You hear me? I want you to go to Violet and stay with her and Chris.”
When he nodded, I shifted, tearing through my clothes. I thought I heard someone call my name, but I was too far away by then. Five wolves were waiting for me at the borders, their hackles raised as a few rogues were stutter-stepping in and out of the pack borders. Coyo growled and moved into place in front of our pack members protectively.
The rogues looked confused and desperate, and this wasn’t the first time they’d done this. After a few moments of this standoff, Coyo cocked her head and watched the rogues do the same.
‘Don’t move,’ I instructed to the patrol, and Coyo walked over to the nearest tree with bags of clothes. She receded and I grabbed one of the shirts, pulled it on and walked back over to stand in front of my patrol, facing the rogues.
“What are you doing? Why do you keep trying to cross our borders?” I asked.
Some of the rogues took a few steps back, uncertain.
“Will one of you shift and talk to me?” I called out.
The wolves appeared to talk to each other through grunts and whimpers. One of them finally took a step forward, and my heart raced, thinking I might finally get some answers. But then growling sounded from behind me. A large dark brindle wolf, almost all black, jumped over everyone, standing protectively in front of me and snarling viciously at the rogues.
“Wait!” I called out when the rogues ran away, but they didn’t turn around. The dark brindle wolf turned to look at me, confusion in its crystal blue eyes. “Cade?” I asked it, but by the way Coyo was reacting to his wolf, I didn’t need the nod he gave me to confirm it.
I walked over to the tree and grabbed a pair of shorts. Cade took the hint and shifted back. It took all of my self-restraint not to follow the muscles down to the promised land.
“What’s going on, Bells?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out, but you came in barging like a brute and they ran away.” The words came out harsher than I meant them, and I saw the hurt flash past his eyes before his jaw tightened.
“I was trying to protect you,” he seethed.
“If I needed help, I would’ve asked for it. What I needed was answers and you stopped me from being able to get them.”
“Asked for it? Did you learn how to ask for help in the last ten years? Because as far as I remember, you were too stubborn to ever ask anyone for anything.”
"I’ve made it twenty-seven years without yours,” I spat back.
“You’re right, Luna Bellarose. My apologies.” Cade gave a deep bow and turned to his pack. “Let’s head back. We’ve got to get to work.” He addressed the wolves that came with him before he shifted to his wolf and took off, his pack following behind.
I stood there, looking at the spot Cade just vacated, wondering how the hell I managed to fuck that up so quickly. Not finding any answers, I turned to the patrol to see them waiting for instructions.
“Get back to your patrol. Let me know if they come back.”
I returned the reigns to Coyo as I continued to replay our interactions. Cade and I never had the closest relationship. I was always annoyed by the way he treated me like the little sister while he was thick as thieves with Cory. He liked pushing my buttons and getting under my skin. Despite that, he was friendly and protective. Cade was a kind man, and I just took all of my frustrations out on him. I was so close though... so close to having answers.
I arrived back at the pack house and retrieved a frightened Adam. After I reassured him and Violet that everything was okay, I dropped him off at daycare and went to join the harvest. I was surprised to see both Cade and John working the fields. When they saw me approaching, though, Cade turned away, but not before I noticed his jaw ticking again. John shot me a quick smile, letting me know he wasn’t as mad as Cade. Not wanting to make matters worse, I walked to the opposite end of the area we were processing this morning and got to work.