Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Adeline
“You shower, then I scent you, no whining,” he says.
I sigh, but nod.
“Fine, come here,” he says, standing up.
“I can walk, Eli. It is embarrassing that you keep carrying me everywhere. Please, just let me walk.”
He growls but lets me up. Cyrus chuckles at him and his moody ways but follows me through the little house. Before I can walk out the door though Eli shoves me behind him. I huff, annoyed, before following him out. Cyrus follows behind me with some towels.
I walk outside and around the side to the small bathroom. Eli opens the door, and I step in before flicking on the dim light when Eli steps in, followed by Cyrus.
“Ah, what are you doing?”
“Showering,” Eli says, stripping his clothes off.
The room is not big enough for three adults to stand in. It consists of a toilet jammed in the corner and a shower in the other. You can actually sit on the toilet and shower at the same time. They are that close with no shower screen and a porcelain sink next to the door.
“It’s too small in here.”
“I fit in smaller places,” Cyrus says, and I hear Eli chuckle.
“That is true,” Eli replies to him, obviously thinking of some memory.
I shake my head, tugging off my clothes. Eli hangs the towels on the hook behind the door. Everywhere we move, one of us is bumping the other, and being the shortest, I nearly get elbowed three times in the head while they get undressed. They care nothing for privacy.
Showering in that small bathroom is like playing a game of Tetris.
They seem to have no problem moving, probably because they just keep bumping me out of the way.
So, I shower super quickly; pretty sure I’ve broken a record for the fastest shower.
I dress before hopping out. I go to close the door while they get changed, but Eli pushes it open.
“Leave it open, so I can see you,” he tells me, and I sigh, tapping my foot.
No one has tried anything; in fact, they won’t even come near me.
He is a little overprotective—well, a lot—but I do as he asks.
Eli is first to be one, stepping out in just his shorts, his chest bare.
Cyrus is wearing shorts and a singlet before slipping some crocs on.
It is the first time I have ever seen him wear crocs.
“What?” he asks when he catches me staring at his feet.
“Nothing, just admiring your old man’s shoes,” I tell him.
“They are comfy.”
“Wouldn’t be caught dead in those,” Eli chuckles.
Cyrus growls at him, shutting the bathroom door and walking past us and toward the house.
“Nice shoes,” Emery comments as she walks past him with a towel over her shoulder. She winks at me when I laugh at his ridiculous shoes.
Walking to the front door, I see the gathering place has lanterns lit everywhere and is bustling with pack members.
Eli tugs on my arm when I stare a little too long at the people before I turn and walk inside.
He closes the door, and I follow Cyrus into the bedroom.
As soon as he gets into the room, he closes the door before taking off his pants.
“Ah, come on, they aren’t going to do anything, Eli,” I whine when he starts shifting.
Cyrus laughs when suddenly Eli turns toward him. “No! I am not breakable like she is. Scent her. I am done with your protectiveness.”
Eli growls at him before sitting in front of me, expecting me to sit down. I groan but do what he wants, and Eli climbs on the bed, the mesh breath groaning when he forces me to lie down.
“This is so embarrassing,” I tell him, folding my arms across my chest, annoyed at his behavior.
“Endure it, and I will let you ring your mother,” Cyrus says, holding up a phone.
It resembles more of a brick than a phone, but I will use it if it means being able to call home. Eli drops his big furry body on top of me, his paws beside my head.
He licks my neck, and I swear I feel him laugh when he licks my face, making me cringe and push him away.
He rubs his face all over me, his fur tickling my exposed skin.
I feel him nudge my arms with his nose wanting me to move them, and I lift my arms. He pushes my shirt up with his cold nose before rubbing his face all over my belly.
He licks my belly button, and I feel our baby nudge him.
Eli sticks the tip of his nose in my belly button, and it kicks again, making me smile and lift my head to peer down at my stomach.
Cyrus wanders over to me, and Eli sits back while Cyrus places his hand on the bump. I hear Eli shift back but is absorbed by the weird sensation I feel as my belly bumps against Cyrus’s hand. Eli’s hands go to the bottom of my belly before he leans down, kissing it.
“Hello, baby,” he whispers to it before kissing my bump. I run my fingers through his hair, and he looks up at me.
“Another month, and we will get to meet him or her. My guess is a boy, though,” Cyrus says, making me look up at him.
“Why a boy?”
“Smells like a boy,” he says with a shrug.
“Smells like a boy?”
“Noticed it over the years. Pregnant women’s scent is usually stronger when carrying a boy.”
Eli nods, and I rub my fingers across his face, his stubble scratching my palm.
“Come on, you should eat,” Eli says, and Cyrus reaches down, grabs Eli’s shorts from the floor, and hands them to him.
We walk out to where everyone is gathering, and Eli pulls me along to a table where his sister and father are talking to Porter; the move-over allows us to sit down when Eli pulls me on his lap.
I try to sit beside him, but he isn’t having it.
I do notice, however, that everyone present keeps glancing in our direction; some even outright stare, making me feel uncomfortable.
A few people do approach, but one growl from Eli sends them on their way.
Maverick, I can tell, is becoming annoyed at his son’s behavior, and so am I.
It is rather embarrassing, but Eli doesn’t care for my embarrassment or his father’s growing anger.
After about twenty minutes, everyone that’s tried to approach Maverick to talk to him stops coming over, and Maverick turns his glare on Eli.
“Son, they are going to approach. Will you stop scaring them off? They just want to talk to me and meet Addie. You are being a little too domineering. They have every right to approach the table.”
“Not while Addie is at it, they won’t.”
“They mean no harm. They just want to meet the future mother of my grandchild,” Maverick tells him.
Suddenly a fight breaks out at one of the tables between two men. The woman in between jumps out of their way as they start trading blows.
“Exactly why I don’t want them near her,” Eli says, glaring at his father.
“They are just settling a disagreement. You know this will be over soon. It always is.”
“Yes, but it is barbaric that you let this go on,” Eli tells him.
Maverick sighs. “Best they deal with it at the gathering, so it is done with, Eli. In the forest, there is no one to break it up if they get out of hand.”
And sure enough, as soon as one of them shifts, a few other men get up and separate the two; one of them is hauled away while he spits out blood, growling at the younger-looking man.
“Why are they fighting, though?” I ask.
“Just a show of power. Here we have a hierarchy. The younger-looking one has been fighting for third in command. The man hauled away is my current third,” Maverick explains.
“So, they fight?”
“Yes, it’s how we settle differences and to see who is more worthy,” Porter tells me, which would explain the number of scars that litters his body, making me wonder how many times he has been challenged.
Maverick notices my stare and chuckles. “No one has beaten Porter in two hundred and fifty years. They stopped trying for his title. He is one of my most trained men. Don’t worry. No one will come over to challenge him.”
Eli presses his face in my hair, inhaling my scent.
We eat dinner, and the wild boar isn’t at all like I expected it to be, though the burned hair is rather disgusting when I get some in my mouth before spitting it out.
For the most part, people chat and eat. A few more fights break out, but toward the end of the night, I am kind of growing used to it.
As everyone is finishing, one of the pack members raises his hand like they do in school.
Maverick turns his head in his direction, and everyone falls quiet, listening to what he want to ask.
The man stands up after Maverick nods to him.
His long dark hair hangs over one of his shoulders, and he flicks it back. “Rumors have been spreading that your son has challenged you, Alpha.”
Maverick nods while Eli growls at the man, and he quickly drops his gaze and sits down.
“Yes, it is true. Eli has challenged me for the title. It will be held in the arena on Friday unless Eli wants to revoke the challenge,” Maverick says.
“Not a chance,” Eli snaps at his father, who sighs before shaking his head.
“You dare challenge your own father?” Porter says, and I can tell he is trying to push Eli’s buttons by the smug look on his face.
Before Eli can retort, though, Emery does. “Careful what you say, Porter, or I may just challenge your position.”
Porter scoffs at her threat. “You are a woman. No match for me, Emery. It would be an easy win.”
“Really? Set the time and the place, Porter. I will show you what an easy win is. I have dealt with men in my own pack a lot more intimidating than you. You wouldn’t last five seconds in the arena with my Beta.”
I hear a few murmurs between themselves, all staring at Emery like she is insane.
“Pack? You don’t have a pack.”
Yet it is Maverick who actually grows angry at his Beta. “Then accept the challenge. My daughter’s pack is five times the size of ours, and she could probably show me a thing or two,” Maverick says, and I notice all the women looking at her in awe, making me smile.
Porter, though, looks outraged. “Female Alpha, pfft…”