Rogue

Chapter 18

"I'm Julian." He says clearly.

"You shake it." I say quickly before demonstrating with dad and nudging him afterward. J copies my actions absentmindedly, a frown still lacing his features as he tucks himself into my side.

"Its nice to meet you J." He says despite J's silence. "You weren't kidding about the communication barrier." Dad comments with noticeable amusement in his tone.

"He's getting better." I promise a little defensively. He nods cautiously sending me a look that made me blush with embarrassment.

"He makes you snappish." He comments approvingly before turning on his heels and walking. "Alright, let's go before someone becomes nosey."

I follow behind him, dragging J along quickly. J looks at me worriedly so I press a comforting kiss to his hand as we walk.

"Your father would go grey if he knew what was happening." Dad says with a sigh that spoke of future exhaustion.

"We don't have to tell him J is the beast, we can just say he's s-"

"You never lie about or to your mate." He says cutting me off quickly. "It just leads to future problems. Pretty hypocritical considering what I'm doing right now."

"I'm sorry." I say with building guilt. The last thing I wanted to do was break down my parents' relationship building up my own. But even though I said that a piece of me knew I was already doing that, whether or not I wanted to.

He stops walking to look at me. He shifts his gaze between J and I, the small wrinkles formed by his frown fading as a smile takes its place.

"You deserve a chance." He says finally. "I had mine, there's no reason why you should be denied yours."

J pulls me closer, glaring at dad with radiating waves of warning, an action which makes dad laugh. He laughs so much that his stiffen form relaxes completely as he stares at J with a growing fondness.

"Very protective," He comments joyously. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He starts back walking and soon enough we're emerging from the woods to the back of the old house I'd visited many times in my childhood.
It'd always been a secret escape of mine and I couldn't have imagined anywhere better to start building a life with J.

J stops me when his eyes land on the house, panic quickly flooding them as he looks around unsurely.

"It's okay baby." I say facing him as I held his face in my hands. He was shaking slightly, his racing heart easily susceptible to my sensitive ears. Instead of using words he probably didn't understand, I pull him into a tight hug. I begin swaying us a little while rubbing his broad back soothingly as I pressed kisses to all the skin accessible to me. 

Slowly but steadily, he begins to sink into me, his inhales of my scentless desperate as he breathed easily. I continue the soothing actions, letting myself fade in the calming bubble we'd created for ourselves, the world around us escaping me as I swayed my beautiful mate to a state of comfort. 

"We're going to stay here." I say once I pulled back just enough to see his face. "No one will be around, nothing will bother or hurt us and we'll be together."

He looks at me with puzzlement for a long moment before glancing at the house behind me and then down at dad before returning his gaze to me. The glimmer of unwavering discomfort and hesitance doesn't fade but he nods anyway, I press a kiss to his lips in hopes of calming him a little.

"I love you." I whisper and a small smile forms on his lips as he kisses me on my nose in response. I can't help the childish giggle which escapes me as he layers kisses all over my faces. I break away from him with a large smile that freezes in its place when I turn back to see dad staring in disbelief, only then does the bubble pop and I remember that he was still there.