Always You (Oak Woods Book 1)

31

"I feel a migraine coming." She rubbed her temples, and Max gave her a sympathetic look.

"Still getting those?"

"Only when I am overly tired or stressed," she replied.

"Get some sleep. I'll be over around ten tomorrow morning." Max patted her shoulder and held out a hand for Connor to shake.

"Thank you, Sheriff, for taking such good care of these two. Annaleigh is like a sister to me and I love Becca more than anything."

"They are very special to me too. Let me know if my deputies or I can do anything to aid in your hunt for Jorge Mendes." Connor shook his hand and showed Max out.

"Annaleigh told me to ask you if you knew of a realtor in town who could rent me an apartment. I am leaving the enforcer business of my pride and moving out here. Annaleigh suggested I become a park ranger with all my skills."

"I'll see about getting you in touch with my cousin Mitch. He will know if there are any places for rent and I think you would make a good park ranger or a police officer."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night." Connor shut the door and locked it, he turned to find Annaleigh head down on the kitchen table, her eyes closed. He picked her up in his arms and carried her up to their bedroom, he kept the room dark and found her medicine.

"Baby, take one of these please," Connor coaxed, helping her sit up and held a glass of water to her lips after she took her pill. He laid her back down and went into Rebecca's room where she stood trying to wrestle her dress over her head.

"Can I help you? Your mama is down for the count with a migraine," Connor explained, coming into her room.

"Yes," Rebecca huffed, letting the dress fall back down.

"Do you have your pajamas?" he asked looking around for her nightgown.

"On my bed." Rebecca pointed, and he saw the light blue princess nightgown sitting there. He walked over to her and in one swift movement he had her dress off and the nightgown down before he saw any of Rebecca's body. He wasn't sure how comfortable Rebecca was around him and he didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Can we read tonight?" she asked pointing to the book the three had been reading all week.

"Twenty minutes." Connor set the timer and pulled over his customary chair while Rebecca climbed into her bed.

"Is Mama going to be okay?" Rebecca asked, looking up at him with her bright blue eyes filled with worry.

"Yes, she just got a headache from working so hard all week."

"It wasn't because I made her mad?"

"Oh, heavens no baby doll, she just overdid it today with working long hours and Uncle Max coming to visit. You are never the cause of her migraines," Connor tried to reassure the little girl, but she just shook her head.

"I made her yell." Rebecca started to cry and Connor sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her into his arms.

"You are four. If you don't make your mama yell at least once a day you are doing something wrong," Connor joked, Rebecca snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes.

"Do you love me?" she asked.

"Of course I do. I think of you as my very own daughter." Connor hugged her tight.

"I love you too," she sighed. Connor could tell she had fallen asleep when her breathing evened out and her arms went slack around him. He laid her back down and tucked her in. Kissing her forehead, he left her room turning off the lights and making sure the night light was on.

He padded down the hall softly smiling. Rebecca loved him and he would do anything to protect that little girl. When Max had shared why he was in town and what Wesley was up to, he saw red. There was no way he would let some no good, ganged up jaguar, hurt his mate and leave Rebecca without her mother. He walked around the house making sure all the doors were locked and the windows shut. There was no sign of the white truck he had seen earlier, but he kept on alert. It had worried him when he got a call from Kari Montoya at the preschool about a white truck sitting in the back of the parking lot. It apparently tore off when Annaleigh pointed it out to Kari. He had sent a squad car to do a lap around the area to check it out, but the truck was long gone.

He went into his bedroom with Annaleigh and saw her curled up into a small ball with a pillow over her head blocking out all light.

"Kitten, how ya feeling?" he whispered and in response, she groaned. He stripped down to his boxers and crawled into the bed behind her holding her close. He rubbed her shoulders and neck trying to ease some of the tension. He remembered she had gotten them at the end of every summer when she had to go back to her parent's home. She never spoke about her school years except to tell him how she had done in school. She never talked about what her parents and she did on their weekends or any vacations they took. He wanted her to open up to him more, maybe he could ask questions to learn more about her time in California. He fell asleep with her pressed against his body, perfectly content in his lot in life with his mate in his arms and a stepdaughter down the hall.

A/N: Please let me know how you like the story, any suggestions or feedback would be much appreciated.