Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Emery
I thought longingly of Poppy. My cute seventeen-year-old baby-blue Jeep Wrangler that I loved with a passion but knew she was getting ready for retirement.
Then I gasped. “Poppy!” I looked at Phoenix in horror.
“I left her at the motel.” I clutched at my shirt, imagining all sorts of horrors, and put out a hand to save myself as Phoenix braked hard.
“Poppy?” He pulled out a phone. “What is she? Dog? Cat?” He swore. “I never saw anything in the room, I—”
But I shut him up by leaning over and kissing him. He was adorable to be all frantic because he thought he’d abandoned a pet. I sighed, knowing I was getting in way too deep. “No emergency. Poppy is what I call my Jeep.”
He processed, then smiled. “That’s okay. Dad had someone collect it.”
It was my turn to be surprised.
“It will be ready on Friday,” he added and pulled away again.
“Ready for what?” I asked, completely confused.
“Trix texted me earlier. Suspension and cooling are two major issues, but the axel-shaft U joints all needed to be replaced. Then a general safety tune-up,” he added, as if I was supposed to know what he meant.
I mean, I gathered my baby was in some garage, but that all sounded really expensive, and with the knowledge I was homeless and jobless, it was the last thing I needed to pay for.
“Look,” I said, not wanting to throw the help in his face. “I know Poppy needs some work, and I was going to deal with that over the summer, but my financial priorities have kind of changed, and if no one’s started the work, maybe I can take a rain check?”
Phoenix slowed for a corner. “It isn’t going to cost you anything. Trix is pack. He mends all our vehicles.” He smiled, a hint of pride peeking out. “We have our own workshop.”
My immediate thought was to protest I wasn’t pack, but that seemed rude and ungrateful, so I went with, “But the parts have to be bought.”
“Pack funds,” Phoenix answered like that was normal.
I rubbed my head. Did I really want to get into this tonight? Again, that I wasn’t pack despite what delusions Phoenix was operating under.
He glanced over at me and smirked. “Maybe choose your battles?”
I arched an eyebrow but took his advice for the moment, and as Phoenix drew into a massive clearing as we exited the trees, I couldn’t help the gasp.
It was like something out of a lifestyle magazine.
A huge circle had been cut out and marked in the middle.
There was an assortment of different-sized cottages grouped haphazardly in sight, and an awful lot of people all stood together, all staring, then smiling and waving when we stopped.
Then they started cheering and clapping Phoenix as he got out.
At least I hoped it was at Phoenix. He walked around to my door, and before I even realized it, he was holding it open.
He clasped my hand just before I decided to jump down, his other arm circling my waist, and I was on the ground before I knew it.
Phoenix lifted his arm and waved, smiling at all the cheering people.
He didn’t stop; he simply guided me away from them.
I turned, and then my legs seemed to come to a halt.
Directly in front of the circle was probably the best house I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away even if I wanted to.
It was all one floor, built of wood, stone, and glass, and two wings jutted out with what looked like an adjoining space in between.
I could see the grassy areas to each side and a driveway containing three cars.
A paved area in front contained a bunch of seats and a huge firepit.
“Like it?” Phoenix asked quietly.
“It’s beautiful,” I said in awe. Phoenix lived here?
I nearly said the wolf shifter business must be paying well, but I managed to keep my mouth shut as Phoenix led me to the front door.
It opened into a hallway, and Phoenix kicked off his boots.
I copied, but then he picked both pairs up and deposited them on a rack in a small room in front that must’ve been what I considered a mud room.
He took my hand and propelled me forward until the space opened up into a kitchen.
Except calling this space a kitchen was too much like referring to the White House as a weekend retreat.
I gazed around in awe. But as I looked closer, I saw the well-worn butler’s sinks, the scratches on the cupboard doors, and the haphazard notes stuck to the fridge, I realized this wasn’t some show-home masterpiece. It was still a family home.
Phoenix walked to the counter and picked up a small piece of paper, smiled, then held it out. I took it and glanced down.
I’m spending a few days with Simeon. Talk to you tomorrow, and let me know how you want to handle the meeting. The fridge is stocked. And, Emery – it was really good to meet you.
I looked up. “Your dad?”
He nodded. “Let’s show you around, then you can decide if you want to watch a show, if you’re hungry, or you just want to sleep.
” He grinned. “There’s no wrong answer.” He paused.
“I know the last few days have been really hard on you.” He cupped my face but removed his hand just as quickly. “Let me show you around.”
“What about all those people outside?”
He shrugged. “They’ll go. They just wanted to welcome you.” Which was a hot iron I definitely wasn’t picking up.
The side of the house with the gorgeous kitchen also contained a huge dining room complete with a table that looked at least two hundred years old and probably sat twenty.
There was a wide-open space next to it that had about four separate groupings of sofas, a smaller lounge with a large TV, a study, two offices, and a bigger room that led out right to the yard at the back but was completely empty.
“What’s this for?” I asked, loving the space immediately.
“It used to be the playroom,” Phoenix said, and I glanced at him. His voice was almost expressionless, but he was leading me to the other side of the house before I could pluck up the courage to ask.
“This is one of the master suites,” Phoenix said and pushed a door open. I walked in but came to a stop when I saw the jacket casually draped over the chair and the book next to the bed.
“This is your dad’s room,” I said while backing out, uncomfortable with invading his private space when he wasn’t here.
Phoenix nodded and opened the doors of another couple of guest suites.
Then he pushed open a door, and I gasped.
A large empty space dominated the center, and from the three open doors, I could see the separate smaller bedrooms and bathrooms leading off it. “What’s this?”
“The nursery.”
I glanced at Phoenix’s face. He looked like he was operating on automatic pilot almost, and I felt a little out of my depth.
I knew there was something wrong, but a sex marathon didn’t mean we were suddenly best buds.
I rubbed the small ache that seemed to have developed in my chest, but I followed him to the other two rooms. The next was obviously Phoenix’s.
I could smell him almost, and while it was a smallish room compared to the others, it seemed crammed with photos.
I recognized his dad, and I thought I recognized the woman and assumed it was Esther.
There were a lot of photos with Phoenix and the two guys from the bar.
Kaylan and Bayer? An especially good one of the three of them with their arms slung around each other when they were, what?
Six, seven, maybe? They’d obviously been friends a long time.
But it was the last room that took my breath away, even more than the kitchen. It was furnished, but clearly unoccupied. I walked to the glass doors that looked out on the back and the stunning view of the forest. “This is beautiful,” I said.
Phoenix smiled. “It was my grandad’s room.
Grandma’s, as well, but she died first. New bed,” he added, flushing a little, and I wandered around looking at all the photos hung on the walls, some really old.
In the center was a picture of a young couple with a teenager.
The boy looked like Phoenix, but it wasn’t him.
“Is that your dad?” I guessed. Phoenix nodded, seeming pleased, and he pointed out other family members as I looked at them all.
“You can have either of the guest rooms you saw.”
I glanced at my phone. It was only a little after eight, but I was beat. “I’m pretty tired.” He nodded, and we walked back to the kitchen simply to orient me, I supposed, and pulled out a few bottles of water from the fridge. “Hungry?”
I shook my head, feeling suddenly awkward.
Phoenix didn’t try to change my mind, he simply picked up the small case from the motel that had somehow miraculously found its way here and led me to the first of the two spare rooms. He pointed to the fully kitted-out bathroom, placed two bottles of water on the nightstand, then bent and brushed a quick kiss on my cheek.
“You know where my room is if you wake up and simply want to talk, but I think you need sleep more than anything else right this moment.” Without giving me the chance to agree or not, he left, closing the door behind him.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to process everything that had happened, including but not limited to the fact that werewolves were real. Although, Phoenix referred to them as wolf shifters, which sounded like a much less scary title.
What am I doing here?
Phoenix hadn’t forced me to come. Unless he was the greatest manipulator on the planet, it had been my decision.
I had a million unanswered questions, and the teacher in me was tempted to write them down on my phone so I’d be sure to ask for answers tomorrow.
I unpacked my case and headed into the bathroom, sure that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would be out.
Or maybe not.
I was exhausted. But after a sleepless hour of tossing and turning and pummeling the pillow into submission, I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.
Yes, a lot had happened in the last few days, but I wasn’t scared.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid an axe murderer was going to burst into my room.
I thought hard and realized I was rubbing my chest again, trying to relieve the constant ache that had started a few hours ago but had rapidly gotten worse since I’d gotten into bed.
Hell. Was twenty-five too young to have a heart attack? But I didn’t have a sharp pain in my chest. It was more of a generalized body ache that centered in the general area of my heart. I scoffed into the silence. I wasn’t lovesick. There was no such thing, besides which, I wasn’t in love.
Absolutely not.
I’d known the man less than a week. I was just out of sorts because of everything else.
I lasted a whole forty minutes more, by which time I was convinced I was going to die, and I got out of bed to head for the bathroom for the third time, but my feet seemed to take me to my bedroom door.
And then the hallway. The quiet hallway.
Maybe Phoenix couldn’t sleep either and wanted to watch TV?
I sucked in a breath and carried on to the room he’d shown me.
I seemed to stand a really, really long time outside it, but then I clutched the handle, and it seemed to open of its own accord.
My eyes flew to the alpha sitting up in bed.
He wasn’t reading or watching TV. He was just sitting quietly, almost as if he was waiting for something, which made no sense.
He didn’t speak, just smiled as if I was the very best thing he’d ever seen, and lifted the covers in invitation.
I rushed over, a million questions and excuses fighting for dominance, but he simply slid down and pulled me into bed.
He rearranged me so my back was flush with his chest, the covers up, and a large arm wrapped around me, pinning me down.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered softly, brushing a kiss in my hair.
So I did.