She hit him in the arm and said, "Next time,
tell me. That's the point of having a pack. We're here to support
and help each other."
"Yah, OK. But hopefully there won't be a next
time," he said with a half smile.
Breck approached and gave him a pat on the
back. "The boys and I will head back to your house. We'll see you
soon."
"Thanks Breck, for everything. I don't know
how you ended up in a fight, but I can't tell you how glad I am you
are all OK." He nodded to Jasper and Chase.
They all smiled and shifted as they ran
towards home. He turned back to Ryan and held his arms out for his
Kismet. "Thanks Ryan. Ya know, I kinda hated you, but I guess
you're alright," he said with a smile.
Ryan broke out in laughter. "Thanks Garrett.
Felt the same way about you. I guess I find you to be alright too,"
he chuckled.
"Be warned, if I ever scent your lust near
her again I'll change my opinion," he said with hardened eyes.
"What do you mean? I'm not attracted to Riley
- she's more of a sister than anything."
"When you entered the clinic Wednesday, I
smelled it on you - don't lie."
"Oh." Ryan looked at his feet and back up to
meet Garrett's eyes. "When I entered the clinic, I saw Sam," he
said sheepishly.
Smiling, Garrett said, "Glad to hear it." He
snuggled Riley in tight to his chest and turned around to head
home.
They followed Jason to the motorcycles.
Jeremiah and the elders left to deal with Garth's remains as the
rest headed towards Garrett's house. He rode on the back of Jason's
bike with Riley cradled in his arms. He hoped the sleep Ryan put
her in would last until morning so she could get some much-needed
rest. Tonight she would sleep in his bed with his arms around her
for safety. His wolf was content for the first time in a week.
When they reached his house, he carried Riley
upstairs to their bed, laying her under the covers and tucking her
in snugly. He sat next to her, holding her hand as she slept. He
was ecstatic, having her safely in their bed where she
belonged.
"Hey Buddy, how are you?" Jason asked from
the doorway.
"Never better," he smiled.
"Sorry I couldn't reach you about her being
Rapha before you had the fight with Jack. You must have had your
phone on silent after you went in to get her. Apparently, Ryan
tracked down John to tell him about her being Rapha. John called
Jeremiah and you right away, but when he couldn't reach you, he
called me."
"I was wondering why you showed up with them,
that all makes sense. No worries about not catching me in time, it
gave me a chance to have retribution on Garth and expend some
left-over anger on Jack," he winked.
"I would have loved to see the fight between
you and Garth. It must have been epic."
Garrett's smile dimmed. "I went feral, Jas.
He got what he deserved, but I'm not proud of losing control."
"In my book, I don't care how it happened, he
deserved what he got. He beat the hell out of her," Jason
growled.
"Thanks for having my back, man. I hope you
can forgive me for being closed off the last few years."
"No forgiveness needed. Hey, everyone is
downstairs. By everyone, I mean the entire pack. They all want to
meet our resident Rapha. You better come down, or they'll be coming
up," he laughed.
He couldn't believe the pack was at his
house. He supposed it was amazing to have two Rapha's under the
same roof, an attraction they couldn't pass up. He went down to
answer questions and make sure they didn't disturb Riley as she
slept.
"We'll need to light the grill and order some
pizzas. It'll be a long night," he said to Jason as they headed
down the hall.
She woke
slowly, feeling as if she were in a dream; not wanting to open her
eyes for fear it would wash away with a new day. In her dream, she
felt safe, cozy, free of pain, and refreshed. There was a ghost of
bad memories haunting her, but the feeling of security kept those
fears at bay.
Were the horrible memories an insanely realistic
nightmare? Of course it was, in what world were werewolves and
glowing blue hands a reality?
As she became more aware, she
realized she was tucked into a large bed with a thick comforter and
a very large, warm arm around her. She could feel the rise and fall
of someone's chest as they breathed. The soothing current in the
air confirmed who was cuddling her. This is where she had wanted to
be since he left after their date. Was that only four days ago?
She cracked an eye open and didn't recognize
her surroundings. Directly ahead was a set of French doors, which
led to a balcony with an amazing view of a valley. She turned her
head to the left slightly and looked over her shoulder. There he
was, asleep on top of the covers. He was clothed in jeans, flannel
shirt, and boots. From the dark circles under his eyes, it looked
like he had been up all night and had recently fallen asleep.
He was beautiful. His eyelashes were thick
and dark, brushing his olive skin. He had more than a five o'clock
shadow sprouting from his strong, square chin; looking like he
hadn't shaved in days. His hair was sticking in every direction as
if he had spent a lot of time running his hands through it. His
mouth was slightly open, while slowly breathing in and out, and she
wanted to kiss those lips, but didn't want to wake him. She slowly
turned her body to get a better look at him, and his eyes sprang
wide. Their faces were inches apart and they stared into each
other's eyes without saying a word. Their emotions clashed,
coalesced, and flowed through their bodies.
She saw his lips rise into a smile and he
wrapped his arms around her and crushed his lips to hers. His
emotions were cascading over her and she wanted to rip his clothes
off and make him hers, or was it his emotions she was reading? She
couldn't figure out where she ended and he began, almost as if they
were one person.
I'm not sure when I became so possessive, but I
know he is MINE and no one else can have him.
Garrett could feel himself losing control,
knowing she wanted the claiming to happen as well, made it almost
impossible to stop, but he had to let her know what was happening
and what it all meant. He couldn't claim her without her full
knowledge of the facts. He pulled away, panting. He saw a look of
disappointment in her eyes as he ended the kiss, but he wrapped his
arms around her and held her tightly to his chest.
"Good morning and happy birthday, my Kismet.
I'm so glad you're safe and in my arms." He'd never felt so happy
and complete in his life. He could feel their bonded energy
thrumming through his body.
As she came down from her hormone induced
high, her mind was working hard at cramming the pieces of her
memory into a believable story. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to
find a reasonable explanation for half of what she remembered.
"Garrett?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes, my Kismet?"
Not wanting to sound like an idiot, but
needing to verify the most crucial piece of information her brain
was trying to assimilate she asked, "Did you really turn into a
giant wolf yesterday, or did I have the most bizarre dream in
history?" She could feel his chest rumble with laughter.
"Sweetheart, we both experienced some
surprises yesterday. But to answer your question, yes, you saw me
as my wolf." He could feel a jolt of surprise, but not fear, which
was incredible to him. He knew she'd be waking up with tons of
questions. He spent the majority of the night talking with John and
the others about how to approach her new knowledge. They all
decided to let her be in charge of how much or little she could
handle.
"So, you're a werewolf?" she squeaked. Her
face buried into his chest with his arms wrapped around her and she
felt like an idiot when asking the question. It seemed so
absurd.
"We actually prefer the term shifter, but
essentially, yes. We're not bloodthirsty monsters though. I hope
you know that. You are perfectly safe with anyone in the pack. I
have so much to share with you I don't know where to begin. But
first, I'm sure you want to take a shower. Why don't you do that
while I go make some breakfast? The bathroom is right through the
door. When you're ready, head down the stairs at the end of the
hall and we'll have breakfast for you."
"We?"
"Yes, Ryan and Sam are here. We thought you
might have a bunch of questions and thought it'd be better if they
were here to help with information overload."
"Does Sam know, you know, about you?" She
asked.
"Yes, she knows about me. We'll discuss that
too." He squeezed her shoulders in comfort and released her. He
didn't want to let go, but she would need to take a shower and have
a few moments to process her thoughts.
"Good, one less person to keep a secret from.
And I can definitely use a shower." She realized she was still in
the clothes she was wearing last night and grimaced at the mess she
made of the bedding. "Your bedding i
s
ruined. I'm so sorry."
He barked laughter, "Sweetheart, that is the
absolute last of my concerns."
She chuckled, knowing it was true after the
events of the last few days. She felt shallow thinking about
showers, clothes, and food under the circumstances, but it was
probably how her mind was handling the impossible knowledge. She
crawled out of bed and walked towards the bathroom, stopping to
enjoy the beautiful view. Opening the doors, she stepped onto the
balcony and breathed in the fresh forest air. She felt Garrett walk
up behind her and wrap his arms around her, pulling her to lean
against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Do you like the view?" He asked.
"Yes, it's beautiful. Is this your home?"
"It is. This may be too much for you to hear
right now, but this home is also yours. You're my Kismet. Would you
like me to explain exactly what it is now?" He felt spikes of
surprise followed by happiness.
"I thought I wanted a shower first, but yes,
I'd prefer to have an explanation about what’s been going on with
us," she said.
"In the shifter community, Kismet is what we
call our soul mate. It goes beyond what humans believe the word to
mean and it's more than the word love. Our lives intertwine,
requiring the other to survive. Our bond was strengthened when we
kissed, which is why you were so uncomfortable when I was in
Maine." He waited for her to assimilate all the information before
continuing.
"So, you're saying I'm your Kismet even
though I'm human?"
"Without going down a rabbit trail, yes,
you're my Kismet, but you're not human." He felt her fear and he
wrapped his arms around her tightly, reassuring her with his love
and compassion. "It's alright, sweetheart. We're all here to help
you through this transition."
"Am I turning into a shifter too?" she
asked.
Smiling he answered, "No, you're not a
shifter. You're something much more precious. We can talk about it
with Ryan when you're ready. Why don't you go take your shower? Sam
brought a change of clothes for you as well. They're in the
bathroom."
She nodded. "OK, thanks. A hot shower might
help."
He released her from his hold and she headed
for the bathroom. Walking through the bedroom she noticed it was
huge, with vaulted ceilings and thick, rustic looking furniture. As
she entered the massive bathroom, the beautiful rock shower and
large jetted tub astounded her. She saw an equally stunning view of
the valley through the window near the tub. The marble vanity was
in cream colors she'd pick out herself. Her clothes were on the
counter; Sam was a saint. She hoped Sam had taken care of Wolf and
Oscar as well. She froze, thinking about Garrett meeting Wolf, his
time in the clinic, that poor dog, Dude, and it all made since. She
suddenly started laughing about all of it, Wolf's name, their
introduction, her acting as if he didn't know anything about
animals. She had tears streaming down her face. It was almost
impossible to stop the giggles once they began. She was laughing so
hysterically she wondered if maybe she was in shock. She knew she'd
need to address the fact she brought Garrett back from the brink of
death with glowing blue hands, but she didn't want to deal with
that now. She turned the shower on and stepped under the strong
jets, letting them knead her tension away and wash the streaming
tears from her laughter off her face.
A rejuvenating thirty minutes later, she
stepped out of the shower feeling much better. She toweled her hair
dry and used Garrett's comb to remove the tangles. She didn't have
any make-up, but she figured after he saw her yesterday, caked in
blood, snot, and tears, he could take her without the little bit of
make-up she normally wore. Her face was another miracle as she
looked in the mirror. There wasn't a scratch or bruise on it. Her
finger she swore was broken was perfectly fine, as were the cuts
around her wrists. Her leg and ribs were all healed as well. She
chalked it up to another mystery, which she hoped to solve over
breakfast.
*
Garrett heard her laughing hysterically in
the bathroom. He hoped it wasn't out of emotional trauma. He could
feel her emotions, but they were all over the place and there was
definitely humor in there. He went downstairs to make her some
food, knowing she'd be hungry after her ordeal. As he was making
bacon and toast, Sam and Wolf walked in from the spare bedroom.
Wolf came over and nudged his hand for a pet. He obliged and then
opened the back door so he could go outside.
"Would you like me to start some coffee?" she
asked.
"Sure. The coffee is directly above the pot.
She's awake and seems to be doing all right, although she just had
a hysterical laughing fit in the bathroom," he said with a quirk of
his lips.