Always You (Oak Woods Book 1)

33

"Are you sure you are okay? Do you need anything from me?" Connor asked. Once they were home, and Rebecca was down for her nap.

"I am fine, more worried Wesley won't ever let us go and will constantly send his goons out here until he takes Rebecca and me." She worried a fingernail as she sat on the couch, her feet in Connor's lap. They were waiting for Zach and Patrick to get to the house to talk strategy to deal with Jorge.

"Nothing will happen to you two. I will get in touch with Roger the pride leader out in LA and get this taken care of. Besides, maybe Max could catch up with Jorge."

"Wrong," Max called from the front door, they had left it open with the screen door keeping bugs out.

"Come on, tell me what happened." Connor waved him in, behind him stood Zach and a taller broader man with black hair and serious gray eyes.

"Annaleigh, you met Zack Nichols. The tall dark and silent one is Patrick Royce he helped paint the house."

"Are you both bears like Connor?" Annaleigh asked, slipping her feet off of Connor's lap. Catching his dark look, she could tell he did not like the loss of contact. She didn't want to appear lazy to the three other men by keeping her feet in his lap.

"Yes, though I am a black bear, they are both grizzly bears," Zack replied, sitting in a large recliner. Patrick and Max sat on the other couch. All men had a dangerous aura about them as they settled down ready to get to business.

"Would you like anything to drink? Coffee, water, soda?" she asked getting up. She didn't want to be in the way of their conversation, but she also wanted to be a part of it because it had to do with her and Rebecca.

"Water," Patrick replied in a deep rumble, Annaleigh nodded.

"Same here," Zack and Max said she smiled and left to grab several bottles of water from the fridge.

"Here you go." She handed everyone their drinks and settled next to Connor, putting his arm over her shoulder wanting to feel him close to her.

"Tell me exactly what happened with Jorge." Connor rubbed her arm and kissed her temple, he made her feel so loved.

"When you, Max, and Rebecca went on the rollercoaster, Jorge came up to me and told me he'd been looking for me. He wanted me and Rebecca to go back with him. Wesley is angry with me for moving away with Rebecca and not letting him mark me as his mate. He said Wesley needed to have a talk with me about being a good mate. In other words, he wants to finish the job he started eight months ago and kill me," Annaleigh explained.

"He must have left his truck nearby after he ran off," Max added.

"I could scent him until the road and then it disappeared. I saw a spot of oil left behind by a car that had sat on the side of the road," Max continued. Connor nodded his understanding and looked over at Zack and Patrick.

"I want you two to work with Max and get rid of Jorge Mendes. We don't know what he will do to an innocent trying to get to Annaleigh and Rebecca. I want one of you at the school and one at the preschool monitoring Annaleigh and Rebecca. I will get in touch with Roger the pride leader in LA and see what he will do about Wesley," Connor explained.

"Roger has a hit out on Wes, but Wes is a fighter and won't go down easily. I think he will break parole and make his way out here as soon as they release him. I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago and he seemed to have lost control of his jaguar. He kept going on about getting what was his back and how dare anyone think they could take it away from him. When they lose control of the animal, the shifter needs to be put down to save innocents," Max shared, Patrick and Zack nodded their understanding.

"Please be careful," Annaleigh begged all four men. She didn't want to see any of them get hurt on her account.

"Don't worry my love. We are all bears and Max can hold his own against his brother." Connor kissed her gently. She relaxed into his arms and tried not to let everything get to her.

"We should get going. I want to see if we can't find Jorge before they release Wes on Monday. If we can get rid of one jaguar before Wes gets out here, the better." Max stood, Zack and Patrick, followed heading out the door to their cars.

"I never should have slept with Wesley," Annaleigh burst out, finally letting all the emotions built up from the past eight months out. She cried into Connor's shirt for twenty minutes, before she succumbed to small hiccups as her body calmed down. Connor held her the entire time, rubbing her back not saying a word, she knew he agreed with her about sleeping with Wesley but wouldn't add to her pain.

"Mama?" Rebecca called from her room, Annaleigh jumped up and Connor pushed her back down.

"I'll go get her, you stay here and calm down or you'll just worry her." She nodded and took a tissue to dab at her eyes. She was grateful she never looked terrible after she cried, unlike her mother. She managed to get that from her dad, he could cry and no one would be the wiser. She only knew because he cried once when her grandfather had died. She caught him in the backyard of their large home weeping on the patio holding a picture of him and his dad after a fishing trip.

"Can we go back to the fair now that I took a nap?" Rebecca asked, with a big smile, her hair was in disarray and her face still covered in chocolate.

"I don't see why not. Our tickets are good for the whole day and we never got to go on the carousel or Ferris wheel," Annaleigh said with a smile. Rebecca whooped and jumped into her arms.

"We do need to wash your face and comb your hair before we go," Annaleigh explained and hugged her daughter tight.

"Okay, lets hurry." Rebecca bounced in her lap and Annaleigh laughed, she loved how carefree her daughter had become upon moving to Oak Woods. She stood and they went off to the bathroom so she could fix Rebecca's hair. Connor followed and leaned against the door watching them both. 

A/N: Please let me know how you like the story, any suggestions or feedback would be much appreciated. Don't forget to vote!