Mateo, her late husband, had been one of the Alpha’s
enforcers, a bodyguard to the Alpha, and had died protecting the Pack on
patrol. Now Calista was alone, with no family except for Mateo’s great aunt who,
at four hundred and twelve, was long past the age of wanting to help raise
kids. She did it though. Calista wasn’t alone and was a strong enough woman
that her kids were in a better place than they would have been if she hadn’t
had such a steely backbone.
The woman couldn’t fix a leaky pipe though—something that
pissed her off.
“I don’t understand it, Jasper,” she said as she soothed her
four-year-old and brushed her six-year-old’s hair at the same time. “If it was
just a normal leak, I could fix it, but this? This looks big.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. The woman’s basement currently
resembled a small lake. Since Calista wasn’t a wolf and didn’t have those extra
senses, she hadn’t been able to hear the room filling with water. She’d caught
it before it had gotten any worse only because one of her kids had noticed it.
“You could call it that,” Jasper answered easily. “I’m going
to have to call Kade or someone else in to help me fix it.”
Calista sighed but nodded. “Is there something special I
need to know about for cleanup?”
“Yeah, but I’ll bring people over to help. You’ve got enough
on your plate to worry about mold.”
“Oh goddess. Mold?” Her voice rose to a squeak, and Jasper
winced.
“We’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry.” He ran a hand over
one of the little girls’ hair, missing his own Brie.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jasper. I don’t know
what the Pack would do you without you. You’re a great Beta.”
Jasper gave a tight smile and got to work. Yes, he might
have been a great Beta, but he was a fucking tired one. He’d wanted to spend
time with his girls, and now he was knee-deep in murky water.
Oh, the joys of duty and fate.
He loved his job, he really did. He just wanted to go back
to a time when he had something else…something that was just about him.
Something gurgled behind him, and he turned, only to find
himself drenched and dripping with sewage.
Fuck it.
He looked down at what he hoped was mud on his shirt.
He needed a vacation.
Or at least a towel.
Jasper let out a breath then bent to pick up his tool box
from the steps. Seeing how he was mired in his own head and not paying
attention like he should have been, he didn’t see the rusty pipe sticking out
of the wall.
His head slammed into it, and he saw stars, swallowing back
bile as he fell to his knees, the water now up to his chest.
He blinked a couple times, and then, just as the darkness
slid over him, he heard shouts and his name.
At least he wouldn’t drown alone. He definitely needed a
break.
The scent of cinnamon hung in the air and danced along her
taste buds as Willow Jamenson snuck a bite of one of her buns after she’d iced
it and the other forty in her bakery. The heat scorched the roof of her mouth,
but she didn’t care. The sugar and sweet hit the spot, and she groaned. She
hadn’t been this hungry and craving cinnamon like her mate tended to since she’d
been pregnant with Brie. She was a hundred percent sure she wasn’t pregnant
right then thanks to a home test and talking with Hannah, the Pack Healer, who
was also her sister-in-law, so she was sure the craving had to come from stress.
Stress resulting from what her mate and love was going
through at the moment. It had been four days since she’d gotten the frantic
call from Calista saying that Willow had to come over and help Jasper because
he’d knocked himself in the head, fallen over, and almost drowned. Luckily Kade
had just shown up to help him out and had managed to pull Jasper out of the
water before he went under fully, but it had been a close one.
The Beta of the Redwood Pack had almost drowned in a leaky
basement, all because of a rusty pipe.
Gods, Willow couldn’t even think it. She shuddered, her skin
going clammy as she tried to push away the memory of how pale he’d looked when
she’d arrived at the house. She’d called Cailin on the way and met her outside
so she could leave Brie with her. There was no hiding her tension and fear from
her little girl, but at least she hadn’t had to bring her inside, which had
kept her from seeing her daddy looking so…small…defeated.
Jasper had always been bigger than life to her. He’d come
into her bakery when she’d lived outside the den, unaware that the monsters
that lived in closets were actually real, and had ordered a cinnamon roll and
coffee. He’d known who she was to him through his wolf and the man. He’d wanted
her to be his mate for no other reason than he loved who she was. It was icing
on the cake that his wolf agreed. But he’d been taking his time, courting in a
way she hadn’t understood until it had almost been too late.
Now they were fully mated, both wolves, and parents.
Yet her Jasper was floundering because the man didn’t know
how to say no.
He’d hit his head on a damn rusty pipe—something he never
would have done with a clear head—and had almost died. She still couldn’t
believe it.
She hated feeling as though she was useless to help those
she loved. She’d spent her entire human life not being able to do what she
needed to do, so she refused to have her life as a wolf follow the same path.
However, this wasn’t a job just for her. The role as Beta was
handed down from the moon goddess herself and couldn’t be refused. That didn’t
mean, though, that Willow would stand back and watch her husband and mate drain
himself to the point that he couldn’t function. He wasn’t happy, and they both
knew it.
Things were going to have to change, but getting there
wasn’t going to be easy.
The bell on top of the door rang, and she smiled, knowing who
stood on the other side by their scents. She turned as a little ball of brown
hair and spastic energy ran at her, jumping before Willow had even turned around
fully.
Brie fell into her arms easily and screamed “Momma!” at the
top of her lungs, the happiness and excitement of her day all but radiating off
of her.
Willow blinked at the ringing in her ears then put her
forehead to her daughter’s. “What did we say about screaming indoors?” There
was no way they’d be able to contain her little girl’s excitement about life in
general twenty-four hours a day, so they’d said she could yell and laugh all
she wanted outdoors where it wouldn’t be as hard on a wolf’s hearing.
At least that was the idea.
Brie was one loud, exuberant little girl.
“Sorry,” her little girl whispered. “I just missed you.”
Brie laid a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and Willow knew she was a goner for her
daughter’s kisses and love. The Jamensons might joke that Jasper was wrapped
around Brie’s little finger, but Willow was right there with her mate.
“I missed you too, darling,” Willow whispered back then moved
so she could see the others who had come in with Brie.
Maddox wasn’t smiling, but she could see the laughter in his
eyes. As the Omega, he didn’t smile often, considering he wore the weight of
the Pack’s emotions on his shoulders, but since he’d mated with Ellie, he’d
been much better about letting a little glimpse of what he was thinking and
feeling shine through. He had his daughter, Charlotte, by his side, her face
dimpled in a smile.
It was good to see her smile considering where she’d spent
the first five years of her life. The Centrals had raised her to five, and
thank God, she’d been left untainted.
Cailin stood beside Maddox, an odd expression on her face,
almost one of intense longing, but she’d schooled her features back to her
normal air of Aunt Cailin.
“The little munchkins wanted cookies, and who are we to
deprive them of sugar?”
Maddox let out a little growl then picked up Charlotte so he
could blow a raspberry on her stomach. The action brought out laughter from not
only Charlotte, but Willow as well.
He set Charlotte down on her feet and glared at his sister.
“Thank you for giving them sugar, considering you’re not going home with any of
them to deal with the results before the crash.”
Again that expression of longing washed over her face, and
Maddox let out a curse. Willow stayed back, knowing that whatever Cailin was
feeling at the moment was between Maddox and her. Maddox only knew it because
of his powers, and despite how close the Jamensons were, some things weren’t
meant to be shared.
“Come on, Charlotte, let’s pick out what kind of cookie
you’d like. We have the thick frosting sugar ones I know you’ve had before.”
Charlotte, as usual, quietly walked to Willow’s side and held her hand.
Willow got both girls their cookies and corralled them in
the corner play area that Jasper and Kade had designed for the numerous Pack
children. When she was done, she sat down at a nearby table with Cailin and
Maddox.
“So, why did you want Maddox and me here specifically?”
Cailin asked, getting right to the point. Willow loved that about her
sister-in-law.
“I need help.” She took a deep breath. “No,
we
need
help.”
Maddox tilted his head, displaying that odd look he got on
his face when he was reading another’s emotions. “This is about Jasper’s
accident.”
“I can’t believe big brother did that.” Cailin ran a hand
through her hair, her eyes wide.
Willow shook her head hard. “He did that because he’s
exhausted and being pulled in a million directions.” She looked around her empty
bakery, glad that it was the downtime of the day so they had privacy. “When we
weren’t at war and everyone could come and go from the den in peace, it was
different. He didn’t have to do
everything
for so many people. As more
and more people get hurt, or just feel a need for comfort, to be closer to the
powers that hold the Pack together, Jasper’s spreading himself too thin. I
don’t know how to help my mate, and it’s killing me.”
Maddox gripped her hand, and she immediately felt relief. He
was siphoning her fear and anger into himself, and while that was great, she
needed
those emotions to get the next part of her plan in place.
She pulled away, giving him a small smile. “Thanks for that,
but what I really need is for some way to share Jasper’s duties with another
person or find a way for him to have a break. I know he’ll be angry that I’m
going behind his back on this, but I don’t know what else to do. He’s so stubborn
when it comes to being the Beta. I get it. It’s his role and duty, and he loves
it. I love that he loves it. I love that he puts his all into the Pack, but
he’s killing himself over things that only matter day-to-day, but not in the
grand scheme of things. There’s got to be a way to help him.”
Maddox tilted his head and studied her. Though she’d known
the wolf, her brother-in-law, since she’d become part of the Redwoods, the way
he stared still unnerved her. The man could sense every emotion she had, though
she knew he tried to dampen his abilities from his family to give everyone a
semblance of privacy.
As wolves, though, there wasn’t much of that, not with their
heightened senses, bonds, and, as with the Jamensons, special connections
through their roles and powers.
“You’re good for my brother,” he finally said.
Even though Willow wanted to roll her eyes at the statement,
she still blushed. She’d grown up without family and sometimes forgot what it
felt like to be with people who cared about each other beyond measure.
“He’s good for me,” she replied then stole a peek at
Charlotte and Brie, who were playing with blocks. Or, rather, Brie was playing,
trying to build something while Charlotte built a little wall around them both,
protecting them with her fortress.
“What do you need from us?” Cailin asked, straight to the
point as usual.
“I’m not sure. I do need your help, but I don’t know exactly
what you can and cannot do when it comes to the moon goddess’s powers.”
Maddox nodded. “We can’t remove or change his powers. That’s
not something within our grasp, nor is it something that any of us—including
Jasper—would want to do.”
Willow shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t want that. Jasper
loves his duties and knows it’s his calling. I know it is as well. We just need
a breather. I know Kade and Mel found a way to do that before. Wow, was it over
a year ago already? It seems like just yesterday, yet also like so long ago.”
Maddox grinned, the scar on his face tugging a bit. “I
remember that vividly, considering I had to babysit Finn.” He looked over at
Charlotte. “Though I never had to go through Charlotte’s diaper phase, I did
help with Finn’s.” He shot a look at Cailin. “And yours too.” His sister
punched him in the arm, hard from the way the Omega winced. “I suppose I will
have to go through that phase again when Ellie and I have more children.”
Willow sighed. She wanted more children as well. She and Jasper
had always planned on having another child close to Brie’s age. Though
werewolves lived extremely long lives, most of them tried to have their
children within short timeframes. That way their children could grow up as
siblings to avoid a situation like Cailin’s. Given the age differences between
her and her brothers, she had grown up surrounded by males who were almost like
older uncles, although Edward and Pat had made it work.
Now with the war, the stresses of his position, and the fact
that she never had time to make love with her mate, no matter how hard they
tried, she didn’t see another baby on the way any time soon. Brie was enough to
handle as it was.
However, discussion of babies was not on their agenda, even
if in a roundabout way it was on the same general subject. She and Jasper
wanted more children in the future and in order to do that, they needed time to
breathe…together.
“I ask again, what can we do? Is there a way to relieve him
of some of his duties? I don’t even think taking a weekend off would do it.
He’d just get stressed all over again, and we’d end up in this situation within
days. He almost drowned—literally—because he couldn’t handle it all. I do not
want to lose my husband. Not for the Pack and not because of another Pack.”
The latter was a danger they all feared.
She prayed for a solution to the former.
Without living the life they desired, the war would be
futile.
Cailin tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, that look
telling Willow the woman was up to something. Her striking green eyes were even
brighter than any of the Jamenson men. Though the men had varying shades of
hair that ranged from sandy to back as coal, Cailin’s was in a league of its
own, the blue-black seeming to shine in any lighting.
“What if I helped?” she finally asked, and Willow felt that
knot in her stomach relax somewhat.
“How?” she asked. She needed plans. She wasn’t as obsessive
about lists as her sister-in-law Melanie, but she needed concrete plans if she was
going to find a way to help Jasper.
“I’m not connected to the Pack like he is, but I can help
anyway.”
Cailin shrugged, but Willow could tell from the way she tried
to blink it away, that the lack of a special bond bothered Caitlin, even if she
tried to hide it. One day, if Willow was ever able to breathe normally again,
she’d talk with her sister-in-law about it. Right now, though, she needed to think
about her mate.
“I know you can, Cailin,” Willow said. “I’m sorry I sounded
snippy just then with asking how, but I need to know. I need to go back to him
with a plan, or he’ll just tell me he has everything under control. We all know
he doesn’t. At least not right now.”
“No, that’s okay. What I can do, though, is take some of his
responsibilities. He might
need
to care for the Pack, but he doesn’t
need to do every little thing himself. We can force the Pack to start calling
me or someone else if they need things. I know Jasper also knows when Pack
members need help before even they know it, so I can’t help there, but I can
help with the others. He doesn’t and
shouldn’t
have to do everything on
his own. So I’ll help. I need something to do anyway because, as much as I love
babysitting my nieces and nephews, I need a purpose that’s more than that. I
need a goal and plan just for me.” She gave a small smile. “And then, when I have
one, I can help my family and Pack out at the same time. It’s a win-win.”
Willow sucked in a shaky breath then launched herself around
the table, wrapping her arms around Cailin. “Oh my God, thank you so much.”
Cailin hugged her back. Hard. The woman might look
standoffish to others sometimes, but she loved to hug just like the rest of the
Jamensons. She also did it with all of her heart.