Cry Wolf, Cry [Welcome To Wolf's Peak] (manxman)

Chapter 12 - Big Yellow Flowers

Jason's POV

I was beginning to see a side of Bram that I'd never even contemplated could exist. I was horrified to learn that the Alpha couple were not truly mates and the way that Bram had learned this was appalling. The Alpha was sinking lower in my view of him. Who could hit their eight year old child for stumbling upon something like that accidentally? Had the man never heard of a lock if he didn't want to be caught? What would something like that do to such a young mind?

Listening to Bram talking about his mother with such affection showed how much he obviously loved the woman. He could understand that he didn't want to hurt her by telling her what her husband was doing. But in the long term wasn't it just prolonging the deceit and making things worse for when she inevitably did find out?

Things were starting to make sense now. His obsession with people using him to further themselves and his feelings of not being good enough. His father had changed Bram's views of people. The one man who was supposed to be trustworthy in his life had proven to be anything but. His father had also taught him about abuse. Hitting his young child had obviously left a permanent mark, not physically but both mentally and emotionally.

These thoughts kept haunting me as we visited the other dogs and a few cats. It was after one in the afternoon when we finally left and Bram drove back in the direction of the pack house.

"Today is not over yet but I thought you might be hungry after running around all morning with the animals." He smiled over at me and I couldn't help but notice a difference in him.

His features were more relaxed than normal, softer. I could see a true happiness surrounding him and he practically glowed with it. There was hope and affection shining in his eyes and I wasn't sure if it was for the animals we'd just left behind or for me. I was slightly scared that it was for me but at the same time I was incredibly hopeful that it was.

"I'm starving." I admitted. "Thank you for taking me there with you. Who knew that you could have a fun first date at the pound." And surprisingly it had been a fun first date.

"The date's not over yet. I have more planned, starting with lunch." He indicated and turned off for the driveway to the house. I happily rested my head against the headrest and closed my eyes.

"Jason?" Fingers gently caressed my cheek and I sighed while nuzzling closer to them. A chuckle sounded near my ear moments before a warm breath of air gusted over its sensitive surface. "Wake up, beautiful." My eyes flickered open to find Bram's face mere inches away from my own. "Hi." The word was a whisper on his lips.

"Hi." I replied in a voice heavy from sleep.

Bram groaned his eyes trained on my lips. I self-consciously licked them and sat up straighter in my seat. Bram seemed to pull himself from his trance and moved back. Looking out the window I saw that we were parked in the rear of the pack house.

"Let's go. I have everything set up down by the creek."

Bram cleared his throat and got out of the car. I opened my door and stepped out, stretching my arms over my head to work out the kinks caused by sleeping in such a cramped position.

"What do you have set up?" I asked hurrying to catch up with him as he made his way into the woods behind the house.

"You'll see." He winked at me and took my hand.

I looked down at our hands, fingers entwined around each other and smiled at how right it felt. His hand was warm in mine and his grip was enough to let me know that he was there without being too firm.

I couldn't suppress my gasp when we got the creek. It was transformed from just hours earlier. A parasol was sprouting from the grass covered ground above a yellow blanket that was laid out and topped with a large wicker basket in the centre and two place settings set to one side. on the other side lay two swimming trunks and towels.