Chapter Forty-Three
Caleb
Jay is blindfolded as we walk through the woods. I told her a surprise awaited her. The blindfold seemed a big ask, but she didn’t fight it. Holding her hands, I walk backward to guide her and keep her from tripping. It feels good to know she can trust me.
“Can I take my blindfold off?”
“Not yet . . .” I singsong. “Almost there.”
“Can you at least give me a hint?”
“No way. You’ll have to wait and see.”
“Ugh.”
I chuckle. “It seems I need to teach you patience.”
Her ears perk up at the waterfall roaring in the back.
“Oh, I know where we are. We’re at the cave.”
“Nope. You’re wrong. Seems we need to work on your tracking skills, too.”
I finally get her positioned in the spot I want her in. “Okay. Now you can look.”
Jay wastes no time removing her blindfold. She takes in her surroundings. Being the person she is, Jay is grateful for the simple things. “Wow, it’s so beautiful. I love waterfalls. Thank you, Caleb, for bringing me here.”
Jay doesn’t question it.
I appreciate her excitement, which I believe to be genuine, but I don’t miss the tinge of confusion in her voice.
“That’s not the surprise.”
“It’s not?”
“No, this is.” I whistle loudly and on my signal, Jeff and Casey step out of the forest.
Jeff lets go of Casey’s hand, and she runs to Jay. “Princess Jay!”
Jay’s eyes go wide. Her smile and surprise melt me. She covers her mouth, then holds out her arms. Jay drops to her knees and squeezes Casey tight. “Oh my goddess, I missed you so much!”
Holding Casey at arm’s length, Jay asks, “What’re you doing here?” She stands when Jeff approaches, and they embrace.
My wolf growls. He’s touching mate!
I know. It’s fine, I tell him. But it’s taking everything in me not to tear him apart limb from limb. I don’t want to ruin her birthday. I’m able to breathe again when they step out of their hug. And I thank the Moon Goddess it’s over.
“Caleb invited us.”
She shoots her head at me, shocked. “You did this? For me?”
“Happy birthday.”
Her freckles dance across her cheeks as she breaks into a smile.
It takes my breath away. She doesn’t smile often—I mean truly smile.
But man, when she does, I’m powerless to her.
I grow weak in the knees and want to ask her to be my mate right then and there.
Beautiful doesn’t do her justice. It actually reminds me of a common saying in our realm, “Beauty is common, substance is rare.” Jay is the rarest of them all.
There’s no denying her good looks, but it’s everything else that makes her shine.
She rushes to hug me, and I breathe in her honey scent, inhaling and adding to the high.
Dammit, I’m lucky.
“Well, I’m sure you and Jeff have lots to catch up on. Captain Wee Bit here and I can go play in the water. Hey, maybe we can even find buried treasure.”
Casey gasps. “Yeah!”
I overhear Jay mutter, “Wee Bit?”
I laugh at Casey’s excitement as she runs to me with open arms.
While Casey and I play mermaids and other water games, I’m keeping my ears out to listen in on Jeff and Jay’s conversation. I tried to give them privacy, but I can’t help it. I’m too possessive.
Jay tells Jeff how she’s being tried for restorative justice. She explains to him what pack life is like and food seems to be a main topic.
“Steaks for everyone? That could feed our entire horde!”
Jay shushes him. “I know. I had the same reaction at first, but they do work for it, same as us.”
“And here I was worried about you.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m okay. Caleb’s been taking care of me.”
“Yeah, I noticed. So, are you two a thing or—”
She shushes him. “Jeff, please. Don’t embarrass me.”
“What? He can’t hear us.”
With a playful growl, I toss Casey into the water. She resurfaces giggling and asking me to do it again. I pretend I’m not paying attention, but I couldn’t be more intrigued.
“My question still stands.”
“I don’t know . . . It’s complicated.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s working.”
“Huh?”
“He’s clearly falling for you.”
Oh, fuck. Maybe tying him up and playing a pirate to get him to come to her birthday celebration wasn’t so subtle. I mean I am falling for her, but I’d rather tell her that than have Jeff do it.
Falling or fallen? My wolf snarks.
Don’t you have a tail to chase or genitals to lick? Whose side are you on? I ask him.
“No, he’s not—Do you think?”
My heart thumps wildly at her hopeful tone. Could it be that she’s fallen for me, too?
You said fallen, my wolf teases.
There’s no point in denying it.
I love her. This vegetarian eats with her hands, hasn’t heard of a napkin, refuses to hunt, stabbed me once, tried to kill me at least twice and killed my father.
. . . And with her show-stopping smile that could halt an army, her scars that she wears like armor, the way she cares for animals, her moral compass and integrity, the way she can jump from very questionable smut and deep philosophical literature .
. . whether she has forty-six freckles when she’s lacking sun exposure or fifty-eight when she’s not . . . I never had a prayer.
I am madly in love with her.
“Oh, for sure. So, what’s the plan?” he asks.
“Plan? What do you mean?”
“To get them? Attack? Take their stuff? The plan, Jay,” Jeff says like she should know what he’s talking about.
“There is no plan.”
“Come on. Don’t be coy. Clearly, you’re trying to get the future alpha to fall for you, so we can take over.”
No. That’s not her.
But Jeff’s damage is done—the thought is planted in my mind, and it infects me. The very idea would crush me. If this is true, consider her successful.
“I’m not planning anything. Wait, you’re not considering another attack, are you?”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on it, but . . .”
“Jeff, don’t. Whatever you’re thinking, just don’t. They’ve suffered enough.”
He scoffs. “They’ve suffered?”
“What do you want from them that we haven’t taken already? They don’t have anything we want.”
“Are you joking? They have everything we could want.”
“I am telling you right now: Don’t do it.”
“Hey, whose side are you on? Have you forgotten who you are? What? You think you’re some pack wolf now? You don’t fit in with them, Jay. You never will.”
Jeff’s words are harsh. Worried about how she might be taking it, I check on her from a distance. If it’s bothering her, she does a great job hiding it. She can handle herself well, like a leader should—composed.
Some truth underlies Jeff’s words. Jay was never meant to be just a pack wolf but destined for more, not to fit in, but to stand out as my pack’s luna. If any remnants of his words hide beneath her tough exterior, I’ll rectify them later in private.
“Jeff, do not attack Bloodhound.”
“I don’t take orders from you.”
I don’t like him challenging my mate like that. Who does this guy think he is?
She growls. “Do you want me to show you why you do?”
My wolf and I swell with pride.
That’s my girl.
I can hear his whimper. To her, he’s a beta. He backs down. “So . . . what? Do you like him or something?” Jeff asks with such distaste.
He’s judging her.
I have to remind myself that if she needs me, I’ll know. And only then will I step in.
Jay remains silent.
“No . . .” Jeff says, the disappointment in his voice is evident. “Are you in love with him?”
My heart races as I wait for her answer, but she doesn’t. I grab Casey and spin her around, trying my best to get a quick glance, so I read Jay’s facial expression. With her hair covering her profile, and I can’t tell.
Frustrated, I curse to myself. Unfortunately, I do this out loud enough where little ears can still hear.
“Hey! You said a bad word. Now you have to walk the plank,” Casey says.
Thankfully, she storms from the water toward Jeff and Jay, so I can pretend to watch Casey.
“You can’t love him.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s the future alpha and you’re . . .”
A surge of protectiveness ripples through me at the possibility of what he might say. I hold my wolf back, so I can hear how this plays out.
“The rogue who killed his father.”
My wolf relaxes.
It’s been a long journey, but I got the closure I needed to move past it.
Her book provided me with different perspectives.
There will still be days I have to work through it more than others and at the end of the day, I want to move forward.
I am moving forward. Hopefully with Jay—the woman strong enough to take on an alpha and live.
I understand her decisions and her actions.
Even though I forgive her, the reminder isn’t helpful.
A sharp poke at my back causes me to yelp. “Ow!” I peer over my shoulder to see it’s Casey with a big stick poking at my back.
“Come on. Walk the plank!” She urges me forward. With the pup holding me hostage, I reluctantly walk slowly. Then she says, “Okay. Now you have to pretend you died.”
Their conversation turned heated suddenly.
“. . . He was going to kill you!”
That was all I can make out from Jay’s exchange.
I wish I had heard what Jeff had said.
I put part of my attention back on Casey. “Uh . . . what? Oh. Okay. Sure, yeah.” I make a quick fake dying sound, trying to hear what they’re saying.
“Nooo. That’s not how you do it. You have to do it like the alpha did.”
I whip my head at her. What did she just say?
“See? Like this!” She flails her arms and falls, roaring on the way down. “Rawrhhh! Like that, see?”
With my hands on my knees, I bend down slowly to her level. On the verge of losing it, I manage to ask calmly, “Who taught you that?”
“Daddy. When he slayed the alpha.”
My wolf howls. That’s when it all hits me—I know exactly why my wolf can’t stand this guy.
He was the other wolf.
My nostrils flare when I look from Casey to Jeff. I charge him, and in one punch, his head whips to the side. He falls from the impact.
Casey screams.
It’s enough to force my wolf and me to accept that one punch is all I can allow myself to have. For her sake—not his.
Jeff stands in a huff and charges me, but Jay holds her hands out, standing between us to stop him.