I felt the bed dip behind me and through my pillow the sound of Dominic moving closer to me. I don't care how long it's been or how often this happens, his scent and the fact alone that I have him still brings a smile to my face. I rolled onto my side to greet him just as he threaded his fingers with mine. This is my favorite place now, in his arms with my eyes level to his. I feel like an equal this way. His equal and no longer that scared defect that I let people label me. As his hand cupped my cheek I let my eyes flutter open but instead of their being a smile there was a look of concern.
"What's the matter? Did something happen during the run?"
Dominic's frown deepened and a single brow rose above the other.
"We took that run a whole day ago Jade. You've been asleep since." His eyes raked over me and still, that concern was present.
A tiny ounce of shock curbed my facial features, I'm sure, but I'm not all that surprised at what he'd said. The last thing I remember after leaving my in-laws' house was coming in, taking a long shower, and snuggling under the blankets. I don't think I was in bed a full minute before I fell asleep.
"I'm not going to lie to you Dominic, I'm tired. I guess restoring all those wolves took a lot out of me. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," he shrugged still caressing my cheek. The concerned expression never faltered but seem to increase as he looked over me. "I'm worried about you though. I came in feeling so energized that I watched you sleep all night. When you didn't wake up I called Hemming and practically screamed for him to come and check you out. You slept through everyone surrounding you and him examining you. I mean, you didn't move once. He said you were probably just drained but to keep you in bed until you felt up to getting up on your own." At that, he rolled his eyes and I laughed. Even if I weren't feeling up to getting out of bed I'd pretend I was. We both know that and by now, Hemming should too. "So we put off the meeting and trip to Redford until you're strong enough to come down and sit in."
I shook my head fighting the urge to close my eyes again. "That could be days from now and we need to bring the rest of the pack home as soon as possible. We're not going to be able to rest until we know that Cameron is no longer a threat. Have the meeting and leave right away."
"You sound like you're saying we should leave you behind. I'll admit that the idea of you being a safe distance away from Cameron makes me breathe a lot easier but I need you there Jade. You said we weren't winning before because we were standing alone and you were right. I need you there to help me restore those wolves or we'll never get them to trust us enough to come back."
Hearing him say that made my heart beat faster. "You want me there?"
"Not in the line of fire, but yes, I do."
"Maybe I could just stay at the Redford packhouse and help them prepare for the pack while you, Jax, Daddy, and Kayla take care of Cam? Then when you get back we can restore the wolves together."
Dominic smiled as he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "Sounds like a plan. For now, get some more sleep and I'll fill you in on the details when the meeting is over. And you," he brushed the blankets back pressing his lips to my stomach, "don't be in there dancing around too much. Mommy's sleepy."
Silly mate of mine. What makes the fact that he actually said that to my stomach even funnier is that right on cue the baby began to move around. I noticed before that when Dominic spoke I'd feel a flutter—the same flutter that has grown a little more noticeable and feels like actual movement. Maybe he was right about them bonding. That would be so cool but yeah . . . still a little jealous about that.
I got one last kiss from my mate before he inched off the bed and as soon as he closed the door behind him, I was drifting back to sleep.
What seemed like a short while later I felt the bed sink in around me again. Assuming it was just Dominic, I kept my eyes closed. A hand moving slowly across my stomach forced them back open, however. If that had been my mate, my wolf would've been prancing around inside of me or purring like a contented cat yet she's silent. I turned over and looked down and instead of seeing my mate beside me, I was staring at the smiling profile of Kenya.
"No no, you go back to sleep! If your mate senses that you're awake he'll come up here and ruin baby and Aunt Kenny time."
I laughed lightly hoping my twinge of amusement didn't alert Dominic. "He doesn't know you're up here?"
She smirked, repositioning herself on the bed until she was laying beside me on her back. "Girl, Braden and I have been here since first thing this morning. I planned to spend some time with you while he sat in on the meeting, but Dominic said you seemed drained and he didn't want anyone to disturb you. He's been practically guarding the stairs to make sure no one could come in here, but since I'm the best top secret spy in the world, I got around him."
"You threatened his life?" I laughed just picturing his face as she told him off. Dominic is a live wire now that we are who we are, but I don't even think the dominant alpha in him could take her on when she's upset.
"No, I hid in the shadows and as soon as he went for a bathroom break I ran like hell up the stairs."
Pulling in my lips to stop what was sure to be a serious bout of laughter she looked at me and grinned from ear to ear.
"I had to get up here. We haven't had a lot of time to spend together and with you going away with them anything could happen, you know. Plus I'm not seeing you all that much these days." She pouted, turning onto her side propping up her elbow and resting her head on her hand. "This marriage of ours is on the rocks. We should probably seek counseling."
That did it for me. I burst into laughter not because of what she said, but how she said it. To anyone who doesn't understand the extent of our friendship, they'd think we were really lovers or in some kind of relationship. Let her tell it, we are and the seriousness of her tone makes it evident.
Throwing my hand over my mouth to try and muffle the sound as I continued laughing, I barely noticed the sudden change in her mood. Kenya's eyes were lowered to my stomach and the playful glint in her eyes were replaced with a question that I would've missed if I hadn't looked at her when I did. She must've sensed me looking at her questionably because she looked up at me like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have.
"Something's bothering you, Kenny. Tell me." She shook her head 'no', but something is clearly sitting on her mind and weighing heavily on her heart. I can see it and even feel it despite how hard she's trying to cover it with a soft smile. I've been around Kenya long enough to know when her smile is real and when it's nothing more than a mask.
"I'm fine," she waved me off. I held my gaze until I saw the wall of her defenses beginning to crack. With a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes, she lowered her head to break our contact. "Braden and I have been mated for years now so why haven't I—" she paused looked over at my stomach and sighed again, "What if I can't give him pups? He's going to take over as alpha soon and he's going to need an heir. He hasn't questioned why it hasn't happened yet, but I can see in his eyes that he's ready and after he saw your belly the other night I could sense his desire to have one of his own."
As she concluded and the room grew silent, I found myself mulling over the right thing to tell her. For a future Luna, it is important to be able to produce an heir for your mate and the fact that they have been mated for years now and don't have one is a valid cause for concern. We're still young and it may just be a matter of timing. Maybe. Before I had my wolf — when people thought I was just a late bloomer — I would always hear that the Moon Goddess places things in your life when she feels you're ready for it. No matter how true that maybe, I refuse to look my friend in the face and tell her that.
I sat up slowly bringing Kenya with me but made sure I wasn't touching her skin until we were both in a sitting position. I've never intentionally tried to spark up a vision so I didn't tell Kenya that that was my intention. When nothing happened right away I was actually glad that I hadn't said anything. This happened when it came to restoring the wolves and in turn, I had to think about what I wanted for it to happen . . . so this is what I did. The familiar feeling of being dizzy and lightheaded overtook me and soon everything that I needed — wanted to see was right in front of me.
"What? What? Why are you smiling?!"
"Because," I taunted her with a huge grin, "you really should enjoy your rest now because those boys plus Braden are going to be a handful."
"Boys?"
"Twin boys. It's going to be like having Jax and Braden together every second of the day." While my face was twisted into a scowl she was grinning like a maniac. Her hand absently covered her stomach and with a burst of excitement, she fell back on the kicking her legs. I joined her in laughed laying back down beside her. Sleep is calling me, but for Kenny, I'm going to fight it off.
***
To my surprise, I stayed awake the entire ride to Redford territory. I think that has a lot to do with the deafening silence filling the cars and heads of everyone that came along. The strangest part of all this is that not once since my father helped me into the car have I heard the thoughts of anyone. I have no doubt in my mind that either my Dad or Dominic probably warned them against thinking too much about the task at hand to avoid any chances of me hearing it and stressing out. Little do they know, I'm going to stress anyway. I woke up before the sun made its a debut to find my mate laying on his side watching me. The excuse he gave me was that he just wanted to look at me and doing so brought him peace. Not wanting to argue over the fact that he was blocking me out of his mind and obviously trying to hide something, I let it go and snuggled up against his chest.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that his silence and need to have up a wall is due to what was supposed to happen later today. That's where my current stress is coming from. After telling me that they'd planned out the whole trip and what they planned to do with Cameron when they got a hold of him, why would there be a need for him to close me out? That could only mean that there are details he purposely withheld, but rather than confront him over it my wolf wanted to enjoy the peace between us.
I couldn't and can't help but wreck my brain over this now that I know my pup is fine. As a precaution, I asked Hemming to come and check me out before we left. Turns out he was right about my pup's rate of growth. While the baby is slightly bigger than a normal pup during this stage of pregnancy, everything is pretty much developed already. He still thinks I'll carry to term, but we realize now that when it comes to us, you never really know. Being able to see my baby's heart beating put me at ease, but only for a minute. Now that I'm sitting in this truck with a bunch of quiet people that level of comfort has dropped.
The rest of the ride I remained silent until we pulled up in from of the three-story house. There were kids chasing each other around out front and I have to admit that the sound of it lightened my mood a little. At least I know that while they're away, I'll have something to make me smile. As we got out of the trucks people began coming out of the packhouse forming a huge crowd on the lawn. Trent and Brenna climbed out of the truck in front of us and approached the crowd.
"If you have not heard yet, The King and Queen Alphas will be staying with us for a few days or so. Some of us will be leaving with The King and his royal court shortly, but Queen Jade and her Grand Beta will be here with you. I'm expecting all of you to allow them both the proper time to rest and see to their every need. Any mishaps and there will be consequences."
For a douche, I have to say that he seems like a pretty firm Alpha. Maybe he was serious about changing. I mentally shrugged at the thought slipping my hand into Dominic's as he leaned over and kissed my forehead whispering into my mind.
"My thoughts exactly."
I stifled my laughter by biting my lower lip. This would be the perfect time for me to jump all over him for listening in on me while he has a wall up against me, but I'm going to keep that to myself...for now.
We were led into the house and given a full tour that eventually ended with bedrooms that closely resembled hotel rooms. The furniture was all made of dark wood like in my bedroom at home and decorated with warm colors. Considering how tired I still am, part of my mind is on sinking into that bed while the other realizes where we are. We came here to end this thing with Cameron and it just hits me that this situation could be dangerous for my mate.
"Don't." Dominic huffed as he dropped his suitcase on the bed, "Don't start worrying Jade."
I snorted plopping down on the bed with my hand over my stomach and a scowl on my face, "That's the second time you were in my head yet you have me closed out of yours."
"That's exactly why. I don't want you to worry."
"What is there for me to worry about if you told me everything?" He didn't reply but did look away from me. As if we hadn't been talking seconds ago, he opens his suitcase and started pulling through it like he was looking for something. "You did tell me everything, didn't you?" Still, he said nothing. "Ok then."
I'm not going to push it anymore. The last thing I want is to have a fallout fight with him hours before he's set to leave. Pushing off the bed I took quick steps toward the door. Dominic followed behind me placing his hand over it. Seconds later I felt his chest against my back then his free hand wrap around my stomach. He lowered his head onto my shoulder then sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry, ok? I had to keep you from worrying and blocking you was the only way... or so I thought."
I turned to face him resting my back against the door, "I'm sure you've heard my thoughts all this time, Dominic, so you've seen for yourself what little good that's done."
"Yeah, but it's not just my thoughts that I'm trying to spare you from. It's my emotions too. Jade, there's no telling what's going to happen today and it just dawned on me last night that no matter what, you'll probably feel everything. You're already exhausted and this is going to make it worse." I don't know why I didn't put two and two together myself. This is the very reason why he didn't claim and mate Alice. He wanted to make sure she couldn't feel his emotions or pain. Being completely mated and connected mentally the way we are, the chances of me experiencing everything he does even as I stay behind are very high.
He paused for a moment like he was debating on if he should continue, then with another sigh, shook his head.
"I have a bad feeling. Deep inside me, there is this sense that something is going to go wrong. What, I don't know, but I had this feeling before and I ignored it. In the end, I suffered for it . . . until I found you."
In an attempt to comfort him I raised my hand to cup his cheek enjoying the feel of his stubble brushing against my fingers. What do I say to that? Telling a man who has lost once before not to worry is like telling someone that was almost hit by a car that it's safe to walk in the street. I can't say that for sure and don't want to give him false hope. While I have no plans to go out with them to seek out Cameron, I don't know what the feeling he has could translate into.
"I need you to promise me that no matter what you feel, you won't come after me."
I know that this is the only way he'll actually have peace of mind so I nodded my head slowly but enough for him to see my answer. I dropped my arms and wrapped them around his waist. I should say something to address the very visible fear I saw in his eyes, but I know that there is nothing in the world I can say that will take it away. I have fears of my own that I purposely kept off my mind just to avoid this kind of talk and even though we just had it, I rather not voice them. Instead, I'm doing the one thing I know for sure that can and will calm us both at this moment while blocking him from my growing thoughts of 'what if'.
We're going to make it through this. I have to have faith that we will.