Chapter 43 ELLE
ELLE
Sabrina was so upset over my plan to move that she sent a club-wide alert. I received dozens of messages from my friends. Most asked if I had hit my head harder than they thought.
Clint arrived back at our parents’ house after speaking with the police. He was attacked by Sabrina’s frantic energy as soon as he walked through the door.
“She’s planning to live in a toilet city with an evil man,” Sabrina insisted as she crowded Clint on their way down the stairs. “You need to shake some sense into her.”
Clint met my gaze. I saw his pain over what happened today, and his fear of me leaving Little Memphis.
Yet, he only said, “I support Elle’s decision.”
My brother had always had my back. He supported me when I turned up pregnant with Sutter. He was patient again when I got pregnant by Zodiac. He kept my secret. Now, he said the words I needed to hear rather than admit his fears.
“No!” Sabrina screamed and ran upstairs and out of the house.
A minute later, Zodiac walked downstairs and muttered, “She’s handling it well.”
Zodiac stopped and eyed Clint, waiting for pushback.
“Doesn’t your apartment have just the one bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“Where will Sutter sleep?”
“On the couch,” Zodiac said immediately and winked at Sutter. “It’s a quality couch.”
“It is a nice couch,” I told Sutter.
Zodiac rubbed at his beard. “Or we could get one of those inflatable beds. Besides, once we buy a house, he’ll have his own room. Two of them, actually, since he’ll still have the one here.”
Clint looked at Sutter, who shrugged. “I can sleep on a couch.”
My brother asked, “When would this happen?”
Zodiac stroked my head and explained, “Ford and I discussed heading down to Baton Rouge in a few days when Elle’s feeling better. I can take your parents, Sutter, and Elle to a few touristy places. We can also look at places to buy.”
Clint hugged Ivy to him and asked her, “Do you want to visit Baton Rouge?”
“Yes,” Ivy said and grinned at me.
Later, as we sat upstairs, Ivy explained, “You helped me start over when I met Clint. Right now, you need people to believe in your dream to build a life in Baton Rouge with Zodiac. It’s my turn to be super supportive, even if I’ll miss you and wish you lived closer.”
I appreciated her calm demeanor since the rest of the foxes acted like I was fucking bonkers for moving.
Goldie and Vanessa tag-teamed me a day later. Goldie took the lead by pointing out, “Nova said she struggled to get along with the Black Rainbow old ladies.”
“Nova’s shy, and I’m not,” I said, having prepared for their concerns. “That Alabama chick is more scared of me than I am of her. There are only two other wives. I don’t need to be their best friend because I have my foxes back here.”
Goldie watched me with her soft brown eyes. “But you’ll be all alone there.”
“For now, but I believe with all my heart that some of you will end up moving to Baton Rouge. Lula already lives there part-time. More of you will follow. I’m the Pied Piper of Wetland Foxes. Hell, I’ll start my own chapter of the Crimson Guard. It’s all good.”
“She’s irrational,” Goldie said and sighed.
Vanessa smiled warmly, and her pale blue eyes were calm.
“No, Elle’s in love. That shit makes people dumb as fuck.
Look at Lula. She was all-in right from the start with Exile.
Meanwhile, Elle tried her damnedest to stay rational for months.
She kept her secrets from Zodiac. She pushed him away.
She only visited him with the hope to get over her feelings.
Eventually, though, she accepted what her heart needed.
We should do whatever we can to make the move easier for her. ”
Goldie gave Vanessa a death glare for a solid minute before smiling. “I see your point, but my heart needs my friends to keep their asses in Little Memphis.”
“But you spend half your time in Rawlins,” Vanessa pointed out. “You’re a fair-weather friend.”
“How dare you call me out?” Goldie hissed. “Well, then, I challenge you to a duel.”
After the women arm-wrestled to prove the tougher fox, a triumphant Goldie hugged me. “I promise to visit you plenty.”
One by one, my friends and family crumbled under the weight of my enthusiasm about starting a life with Zodiac. Even Sabrina finally stopped bitching long enough to say she wanted me to be happy.
“I plan to nitpick everything,” she warned, looking brokenhearted over my move. “But only because I love you so much.”
On the night before we drove to Baton Rouge, Zodiac joined me in bed and exhaled deeply.
“Your people are so fucking dramatic,” he whined while snuggling up to my belly to see if he could feel Trent kicking.
“I told my guys that I was moving Sutter and you to Baton Rouge and getting a place together. They just nodded. A few grunted. No tears. No screams of horror. No fucking interventions.”
Stroking his hair while he kissed my belly, I sighed. “I’m sorry your people don’t love you enough to pitch a fit. Though I must point out that you’re getting to stay in your hometown. What exactly do your guys have to spew drama over?”
“Are you having second thoughts?” Zodiac asked and cocked a blond brow.
“No, but be patient with my people. They have every reason to believe they’ll be absolutely lost without me.”
Zodiac chuckled at my bravado, but he also whispered reassurances as his fingers got frisky between my legs.
Despite my fears over moving, I needed to be brave. Zodiac was my guy. I didn’t want him to give up his club. If I could keep my emotions in check, I could help everyone adjust to our new beginning.