Casper
"Orion, I'm not going to tell you again, get into bed!"
Orion just sat there looking at me. It was a look that said, "Why should I?"
Lyra was lying beautifully in her bed, in her human form I should add, while her brother was still in his wolf form refusing to sleep.
"Joel!!" I shouted.
Orion didn't move.
"JOEL!!!!"
"Yes?" he replied, sticking his head round the door.
"Orion's being hard work again," I said walking out of the room and joining Joel in the hallway. "You know he listens better to you."
"Really?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.
"Yes really," I said, kissing him quickly on the cheek before hightailing it towards the lounge.
I heard Joel sigh before going into the bedroom.
I plopped down on the sofa and started flicking through the TV channels.
Orion wasn't even two yet and he was already proving to be difficult.
I had a worrying feeling that he might be taking after his uncle Percy, but Joel's mother assured me that Joel was exactly the same at this age. Both mothers said that as well!
I know Orion wasn't a blood relation to Joel, but the way Orion instantly took to him, made me believe that there was some sort of bond there.
Lyra, well she was exactly like Emily. Everything from her sparkling, bright, blue eyes to the way she would make everyone smile. Whenever I got sad thinking about Emily, one cuddle from Lyra and everything was ok again.
I suddenly felt incredibly guilty for leaving Joel to put the kids to bed, so I dropped the remote and quietly crept out of the lounge and back towards the bedroom.
I could hear Joel talking in a hushed voice as I peeked through the crack in the door.
As expected Joel had managed to get Orion to change back into his human form, and he was now lying in his bed which was next to Lyra's.
They were both staring up at Joel with wide eyes as he spoke.
".....she'll be watching you both now and she'll be saying how amazing you both are, and how proud she is of you. And do you know what I think? I think that you are the luckiest pups in the world to have her as your mum, because although she's gone, she'll always be with you in here," and he placed his hand gently over Lyra's heart, "and here," he said doing the same to Orion.
"And do you know what? I'm also incredibly lucky too. Because she may not be my mum, but she's my guardian angel. Because she looked after me while I was here, and she looked after all the people I loved the most when I was gone. And while she's up in heaven watching over us, I'm going to do my best to look after all the people who she loved the most too."
I felt my throat burn as I tried to swallow away the tears threatening to spill out from my eyes.
"So I want you to close your eyes now and go to sleep, and dream happy dreams."
I quickly tiptoed back towards the lounge, not wanting to be caught spying on that private moment.
I sat back on the sofa and just a few seconds later Joel walked in.
I turned to him and opened my mouth to ask him what he'd like to watch, but before I could even get a word out, he engulfed my body with a hug, sending me sprawling back on the sofa.
It wasn't a playful hug, or a restful hug. It was the kind of hug that let you know that the person would always be there for you. The kind of hug that told me he knew I was listening.
"I love you," I whispered into his ear, squeezing him back just as hard. "Sometimes I feel guilty about it, but I can't help it. I just love you so much."
"It's ok to feel guilty," Joel said, pulling back a little so he could look me in the eyes. "But you also need know that she would be happy for you. If it had been the other way round, you'd have wanted Emily to find her mate."
"I know, I know," I replied. "I just can't believe how lucky I am sometimes. I don't think I deserve it."
"Now you listen to me Casper Bournville," he said, putting his hands on both sides of my face. "You are an amazing person. You are the best alpha and the best dad.."
"Yes, but I let you go and I said some horrible things," I interrupted, the guilt forming a knot in my stomach.
"Casper Bournville, did I say I'd finished?" he said interrupting me right back.
I smiled but glanced down nervously.
Joel gave me a quick kiss on the lips before continuing.
"You treated me like an equal. You opened up my eyes and made me realise that things were not always as they first appeared. I was young, naive and stupid, and you took all of that in your stride. You were patient with me, and kind, and I loved every minute we were together.
"And yes," he hurried to say on seeing I was about to argue back, "you said some hurtful things on that day, and yes unfortunately there were consequences, but you couldn't have known that. It was just a row. That's all. You were upset, you were unbelievably stressed, you had the pressure of a whole pack on your shoulders, and you'd had about 2 hours sleep. It was not your fault."
I hung my head down. It didn't really matter how many times he would say it, I don't think I would ever stop feeling guilty.
"And anyway," he continued, "some good did come out of me going away. I got to find out who I really was. And I got to spend time with my birth mum. And I met Sebastian and was able to help our pack, and Ronan's pack to get rid of the hunters.
"Sometimes you just have to look for the good to realise that all the bad was worth it. I know I wouldn't change any of it."
I looked up at him in surprise.
"It wasn't our time back then," he said, "if we had been mates it would have ruined everything. But now, now everything is perfect. Your home is safe, the link between the two packs is as strong as ever, and things are changing. And changing for the better."
This time I nodded in agreement.
Things were beginning to change. And it was about time too. One of the pack had mated with a human last year, and now she was pregnant. I'd reassured her that whatever it turned out to be, the whole family would always be welcomed into the pack. There would be no more split families if I could help it. No family should have to go through what Cole and Lyla's did, just because they were different species.
We lay there in silence for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
"Can we do something tomorrow?" I asked him. "Just the two of us?"
"Yeah, sure," he said, running his hands through my hair. "But it'll have to be in the afternoon, I have something to do in the morning."
"What?" I asked, lifting my head to try to look at him.
"Never you mind," he said, pushing my head back down onto his chest.
I chuckled lightly and let it go, feeling totally at peace.
"I love you," I said, shutting my eyes to take a quick nap.
"I love you too," he replied, as I felt myself drift off to sleep.
________________________________
Joel
The plastic, olive green chair creaked underneath me as I shuffled positions to try to get more comfortable.
The noise seemed to echo around the long empty corridor.
Why was I here? Was I doing the right thing? Or was I crossing an invisible line that should never be crossed?
The door at the end of the corridor to the left of me swung open and a woman walked through and headed towards me. She nodded in greeting, but carried on straight passed and exited through the double doors at the other end.
I looked down and noticed that my right leg was bouncing with nervous apprehension. I forced myself to stop the movement. Why was I even nervous? It was just an interview for god's sake.
I'd prepped for it. My dad had even done a mock interview with me this morning, so I knew it would go fine. And it didn't really matter in the scheme of things if I didn't get it.
The door next to me suddenly opened and a bald head popped round to look at me. "Joel, I'll be with you shortly, I just need to make a quick call."
"Sure, that's ok," I said, trying to smile but failing to hide the grimace caused by the thought of being forced to sit in this awful chair for any longer than necessary.
The bald man disappeared back into his office and my leg resumed it's bouncing. I couldn't be bothered to stop it this time.
A loud crash from the end of the corridor made my head snap to the right.
It sounded like someone had dropped a tray of cutlery.
I stood up and took a few footsteps towards the noise, then thought again and went and sat back down in the chair.
Everyday we made decisions in our life. Tiny little decisions that on the face of it didn't seem to matter at all. But when you could see the whole picture, each one of those little decisions had the potential to change your life forever.
Would my life be any different if I chose to go and check out that noise?
I chuckled at the thought.
The door opened again and I was ushered through for my interview.
I sat down on the other side of the large mahogany desk, and briefly wondered how they got such a large desk into this relatively small room.
"Right Joel," the man said putting on his glasses so he could read what was on the paper in his hands.
I surreptitiously wiped my sweaty hands on my trousers
"Oh, just while I remember," he said taking his glasses back off to look at me, "are you coming for dinner on..."
"No!" I interrupted, slamming my hands on the desk. "This is my interview Uncle. You can ask me about anything else once it's over."
"Ok, ok," he said, smiling guiltily, as he put his glasses back on.
He coughed as if to clear his throat.
"So then, Joel. Why do you.."
The door burst open and a gorgeous man with shiny dark brown hair and perfectly sculpted features suddenly appeared in the room.
"Duncan have you seen........oh," he trailed off as his deep brown eyes met mine.
"Dear lord," I said throwing my head back.
"What are you doing here?" Casper asked me.
"I'm being interviewed, what does it look like?!" I snapped back.
Casper's mouth twitched upwards. "Ahh, so that's what the nerves were about," he said clearly amused.
"Yes, now can you please get out so we can carry on?"
His face suddenly fell. "Hang on, interview? What are you interviewing for?"
I just stared back at him.
"For my job," Duncan filled in.
"What?" Casper said, his gaze flicking between me and Duncan. "You can't work here, you're my mate!"
"What so just because I'm your mate I'm supposed to sit around all day and do nothing?"
"Well no, of course not, you could.....well I'm sure you could....ok, so what about training? You could help Jamie."
I screwed my nose up in disgust.
"It's bad enough that Sebastian keeps calling me for favours, I don't want to have to deal with Jamie and his training as well."
"Yeah, but working here..." Casper said, trailing off.
"I think he'd be perfect for the job," Duncan piped up.
Casper snapped his head round to look at him.
Duncan sighed, "You need someone who you can trust, someone who knows how the manor runs, who gets on well with the staff, but who also commands their respect. They need to have good people and organisational skills, but they also need to know how to lead. And most importantly of all, they need to have a good relationship with the Alpha, because quite frankly he can be hard work at times!"
Casper just stared at him open mouthed.
The phone on the desk sprung to life and Duncan picked it up in one fluid movement.
"Duncan speaking..........yes..............ah ha.................but it...............of course, I'll be right there."
Duncan replaced the phone with a sigh.
"There's been a delivery that needs signing for. I'll be back in a minute."
And with that he got up from the desk and walked out of the door.
Casper turned to face me, his jaw still hanging open slightly.
"Right, just run it by me one more time. Why are you applying for this job again?"
"Why?" I said, getting up out of the chair and pushing my body into Casper's, "because I want to be the new boss of Blackwood Manor, that's why" I said with a huge grin across my face.
Casper let out a sigh and smiled, probably feeling the excitement that was now fluttering around in my chest.
"And why would that be a good thing?" he said with a slight smirk.
"Because....." I said, quickly scanning the table in front of us. "Because I can do this..."
And with one sweep of my arm I sent the few items on the desk scattering across the floor
I hopped onto the desk and gave him my best 'come hither look'.
"You're crazy," he said shaking his head.
"Oh come on, it's always been a fantasy of mine to do it on a desk."
"Seriously, you're an idiot," he said, opening the door and walking out of the room.
I quickly hopped off the desk to follow him.
"Yes, but I'm your idiot," I shouted after him.
He stopped in his tracks, but kept his back to me.
I watched as Casper dropped his head down and sighed heavily.
Then he abruptly turned on his heels and marched back passed me and into the office.
I quickly followed him in, trying to hide the smile on my face but failing miserably.
Casper reached round and locked the door behind us.
"You do realise that if anyone catches us, I'm going to have to sack you even if you don't have the job yet?" Casper said with a slight smirk.
"But surely pleasing the Alpha would be part of my job?" I said while closing the space between us, sliding my hand under his t-shirt and running my fingers over his rippling back.
"Mmm," he hummed back, slightly distracted by where my hand was travelling, "but since when have you stuck to your job description?"
A noise somewhere outside in the corridor made Casper jump back away from me, and I quickly hopped off the desk and started picking up the items that I had just swept onto the floor.
Casper quickly unlocked the door and I'd just sat back down when the door opened and a flustered looking Duncan came strolling back in.
My body was so tense I was sat bolt upright like I had a pole inserted somewhere it shouldn't be.
That very thought just made me blush all the harder, and I forced my body to relax.
"They've sent the wrong thing after all that!" Duncan huffed. "If you get the job Joel, the first thing you might want to do is look for a new supplier!"
I nodded my head at him, still waiting for my heart rate to return back to normal.
I risked a glance at Casper and saw that he was biting his lip in an attempt not to laugh.
"Right, where were we?" Duncan asked, now he was seated again behind his desk.
"Umm, Casper, I think you need to leave now," I said, not wanting to put the interview off for any longer.
"No, no, I'm staying right here," he said, grinning evilly.
"No, you can't do that," I said, slightly horrified at the idea of having to be interviewed in front of him.
"Oh yes I can," he replied while grinning. "I have an invested interest in who takes the job, so I have every right to be here."
"Really?" I said, turning to Duncan with pleading eyes.
"I'm afraid he's right Joel," Duncan replied apologetically. "If Casper wants to have an input then he has every right to stay."
Casper threw me a victorious smile.
"But..." Duncan added, "I would have to insist that you also sit in on the other three interviews too," he said turning to Casper. "It would hardly be fair if you only sat in on Joel's interview."
Casper's face immediately fell and I suppressed the smile that was working its way onto my face.
"Uugghhh," Casper huffed. "Fine, have it your way," he said before standing up and walking to the door.
He was about to walk out when he suddenly turned to Duncan.
"I'm trusting you Duncan to make the right decision," he said, "I want the best person for the job, whoever that may be."
I wasn't sure if that meant he wanted me to get the job or he was giving Duncan the go ahead to turn me down if I wasn't the best.
"Of course you can trust me," Duncan replied.
I crossed my arms feeling a little put out.
The door closed behind Casper but then bounced back open abruptly.
"Sorry, I almost forgot," Casper said addressing Duncan, then he turned and walked over to me.
He bent down close to my ear then quietly said, "Good luck my little Cub, you're going to be amazing, I just know."
Then he kissed me on my cheek and hurried out of the room.
I felt my face warm up. I wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or whether it was just an extension of the warm fluttery feeling that was currently whirling round my stomach.
Duncan smiled briefly before putting on his glasses to look back down at his notes.
"Three more people?" I asked.
"Hmmm, I might have got mixed up with my figures there," he said smiling back at me.
I chuckled and shook my head at the amazing man in front of me.
He straightened out his notes and coughed again to clear his throat.
Finally he looked up at me and smiled. "Ok Joel, so why do you want to work at Blackwood Manor?"
Finish
A/N So that's it guys........ If anything about that chapter confused you, I recommend you read the first chapter of Touch Me again and it might make more sense. I know it may have been a long time since some of you read it!!
So if you don't like reading Author's Notes, I'll say goodbye now, but if you do, see you on the next page.....