Ever After (currently rewriting)

Part 12

"Matt, this is Aedan. Aedan, Matt." Liz introduces us. She pulls out of his reach and comes to my side. I snake an arm around her waist and pull her closer, silently staking my claim. 

"Hey." Matt greets me. He's looking me over with a calculating expression.

"Hey." I say back, trying to keep it together. Act human, I remind myself. My wolf is calmer now, but still on edge. There is an unknown male near our mate. Something he can barely tolerate. I feel Tye trying to contact me. I know he's probably heard her shriek and is worried. "It's ok," I send to him.

I come back to present in time to see Liz climbing the wagon load of hay. "You guys stack it in the barn, I'll throw it down to you," She calls down. I watch with concern as she scales the outside of the hay, and swings onto the top of the load. She must be 15 feet in the air, too high for my comfort.

She nonchalantly starts throwing the top bales of hay down to us. Matt grabs the first two and disappears into the barn. Not wanting to be outdone, I grab the next two and follow. These bales must be 75 pounds each. How is Liz moving them? I decide right then that I should probably never really tick her off. She's gotta be stronger than she looks. 

Inside the barn, I follow Matt to the stack of hay, and we add our bales to it.  "So, how long have you know Liz?" He's still giving me a slightly untrusting look.

How to answer that without it sounding creepy? A human won't understand the instant bond between mates. "We've been out a couple of times. She called me last night and asked for help." There. That could be interpreted in a more acceptable way.

"How about you?" I ask him. We are each carrying our next set of bales by now. 

"Oh, I've known Liz forever, it seems. She's best friends with my twin. Practically a second sister." I hear a hint of warning in his voice. He's warning me that if I hurt Liz, I will have him to answer to.

I smile to myself. I'm the last person on earth he needs to worry about. Even my wolf is slightly appeased. He feels like she's a sister, good, he huffs. 

We continue to move the hay, stacking it in a growing pile in the barn. Matt and I talk occasionally and I'm surprised to find that I like him. He comes off as friendly and honest.

Sooner than I'd anticipated, Liz throws the last bales off of the wagon. Matt grabs them and takes them into the barn. I reach up and grab her by the waist, swinging her to the ground. She has a piece of hay in her hair, her cheeks are red from the cold, and her hazel eyes dance happily. I smile at her and pull the hay out of her hair.

Matt comes back out of the barn. "Ok, all stacked." He tells her.

"Thanks guys." She tells us.

"Not a problem. I'll call you about bringing another load in a couple of weeks." He tells her. "Nice to meet you, Aedan." I must have passed some sort of test. He sounds genuine.

"You, too." Liz leans against me as we watch him drive away.

The rest of the day passes pleasantly. We eat lunch, watch a movie, talk, and go out together to feed the animals in the evening. Tye checks in to tell me that Keller is back and he's sending Braden home. 

I decide to cook dinner. Going to the kitchen, I'm looking through her pantry, deciding what to make. Liz comes in followed by Hope. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking for you." I tell her with a wicked smile. She blushes bright red. I know she's remembering our shared breakfast, and what came after. My wolf had demanded that we feed her. It had pleased him greatly when she accepted. I was surprised when she reciprocated.  There's no way she could know, but feeding your mate is an expression of love between wolves. 

I'm still thinking about breakfast as she opens the door and lets Hope out. She's standing in the doorway,  door cracked open, watching me with a  half smile on her face. I'm thinking how pretty she is like that, when a dog's scream rips through the night.

Liz is out the door, yelling for her dog at the top of her lungs, before I can stop her. 

I run outside and am immediately assaulted by the sound of a vicious dog fight. Liz is ahead of me, trying to follow the sounds to her dog, still blinded by her dash from the bright kitchen into the night and unable to see in the dark.

I'm glad she can't see. I can. Her 50 pound dog is putting up a good fight, but is no match for the 200 pound black wolf attacking her. 

Despite her inability to really see, she's runnng and getting closer to the fight. Too close. "Liz! Stay back!" I yell at her. I've almost caught up. But almost isn't good enough. 

The wolf turns baleful eyes to her, drops the dog, and lunges at her with a snarl.

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Thank you!!! To everyone who has liked, commented, and fanned. It amazes me that so many of you have taken the time out of your day to read my story. At the time of this edit, 16k and growing. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.