Published: July 12th 2023, 2:00:05 pm
I lean back against Caleb’s chest with a content smile, beyond happy as I sit between his thighs. It’s beautiful out today, and I enjoy the warmth of the sun on my face as we relax on the park bench.
There’s no way Caleb’s comfortable with a metal armrest digging into his back, but he pretends otherwise as he smooths my hair out of my face and kisses the top of my head. I attempt to shift into a more comfortable position for him, but he holds my shoulders and wraps his heavy thigh around mine until I give up trying.
“Jack’s late,” he eventually says.
Caleb’s been careful to stay away from the marked humans and let them have their space, and we were both surprised when Jack decided he wanted to meet with Caleb. The humans have been anxious since the announcement on Wednesday that HPAW is being shut down, and I’m sure they’re full of questions.
Jack made it clear he’d only meet with Caleb in a public space, hence the park bench we’re currently sitting at.
“About eight humans are hiding around us,” Caleb continues.
Despite my best attempts to keep my face emotionless, my lips twitch upward at that. Jack would come with backup.
“They’re scared of you,” I say.
Caleb knows that. They don’t trust his motives, and despite them warming up to their mates, they’re still hesitant around wolves they don’t know. I don’t blame them.
“Well, if he’s not here in five minutes, we’re leaving,” Caleb huffs. “I have a surprise for you, and it doesn’t involve sitting at a park waiting for some ornery man to voice his complaints.”
Smiling, I turn and peer at Caleb over my shoulders. He’s pouting, and his eyes dart around the park as he waits for Jack to appear. If the humans are already hiding out to eavesdrop, I imagine he isn’t far behind.
“HPAW’s officially being shut down today,” I say. “He’s probably got a lot on his mind.”
I know I do. It’s all I can think about. Every day I’ve been waiting for the human government to turn around and change their mind, but they haven’t. They even went as far as to release a report of their investigation into HPAW’s treatment of marked humans.
It confirmed that HPAW had launched a breeding program and was impregnating marked women against their will. Naturally, there was no mention of government involvement, any hint of it erased and removed, but it’s a nail in the coffin for HPAW.
The humans are furious, and despite their hatred of the wolves, they’re still demanding the organization be shut down for good.
Even I’m surprised by their level of anger.
I figured they’d be aggravated, but I assumed nobody would genuinely care since the humans HPAW experimented on were marked.
“Four minutes,” Caleb says.
Is he counting down the minutes?
I pinch the back of his hand, lightly teasing him for his impatience.
What is taking Jack so long? He’s arguably become the most vocal of the humans, and he has no problems letting me know when he or another human is upset, but he’s polite. Despite his general dislike for Caleb, I don’t see him going out of his way to waste Caleb’s time.
Especially not today.
Caleb’s spent countless hours in meetings with the human government these past two days. It seems like most of the calls are going well and they’re finding agreements, but occasionally I catch Caleb angrily pacing around the living room.
It takes him precisely twenty-four steps to circle the large table, twenty-eight if it’s full of wolves and he has to maneuver around chairs.
Nothing has been made official yet, but Caleb thinks we’re reaching an end.
We both assumed this meeting with Jack would be regarding that. The marked humans love giving their input, and I’m sure they have a long list of things they want Caleb to discuss with the human government.
Caleb trails his fingers over my collarbone, entirely relaxed even as a large wolf comes running out of the woods. Several leaves are stuck in his brown fur, and he angrily shakes them free as he approaches us.
The wolves tend to look similar in their animal form, but I’ve seen Cole enough that I can pretty confidently pick him out of a lineup. The very tips of his front legs are a darker brown than the rest of his body, and he’s got one sharp tooth that always pops out from behind his lips.
I tried teasing him for it once, and I potentially even compared him to a bulldog, but all that earned me was a pair of jaws snapped in my direction.
“Yes?” Caleb asks as Cole reaches our bench.
I shut my eyes and relax against Caleb’s chest, but my muscles instinctively tense as I hear bone and ligament shifting underneath skin. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that noise.
“Jack’s not coming,” Cole says.
I peek open my eye, but I immediately clamp it shut when I realize Cole’s confidently standing a foot in front of us, butt naked, with his hands on his hips. Caleb and Cole chuckle, the pair finding humor in my discomfort.
The wolves seem to find it hilarious how awkward I am regarding something so natural to them.
“And why is that?” Caleb asks.
His fingers travel from my collarbone to my cheek, and I huff when his palm playfully covers my eyes a second later. Caleb’s not nearly as funny as he thinks he is.
“His mate’s cramping, and he’s decided to stay with her,” Cole explains.
Oh. That’s so sweet.
Caleb sighs, clearly not finding Jack’s actions as romantic as I do.
“And I suppose none of the other humans wish to speak with me?” Caleb asks.
Cole doesn’t verbally respond, and I assume his answer is in his expression.
“Very well,” Caleb says, shifting underneath me. His lips brush my ear a second later. “Are you ready for your surprise, baby?”
Always.
The sound of breaking bone reaches my ears again, and I wait until it’s finished before opening my eyes. Cole is already halfway across the park, and I watch him disappear into the treelike before climbing off the bench.
Caleb’s quick to follow, and his nose crinkles as he stretches his back and takes my hand. I love surprises, and I can tell Caleb’s extra excited about this one. He’s been hinting at it since yesterday.
“Are we walking there?” I ask.
Caleb shakes his head. “It’s too far. I’ll drive.”
My car keys are safely secured in my pocket, just where I like them to be, but after a moment’s hesitation, I pull them out and hand them over. I’ll let Caleb drive just this once, but I’m only letting him do it because I don’t want to ruin the surprise.
Caleb shoots me a cocky smirk as he takes the keys from me, giving me the feeling that I will have to fight with him later to get them back. That’s fine, though. It’s a fight we’ve had before, and I always win.
We make our way to the car in comfortable silence, but my excitement grows with each passing second. I have no idea what this surprise is, but I’m sure I’ll love it.
Maybe it has something to do with Chunks.
I’ve been doing my best to find a house so he can finally move in with us, but our search isn’t going so well. I’m having trouble finding something I love and fear I will have to settle.
“Close your eyes,” Caleb orders as we climb into the car.
My lips spread into a broad smile, and I dip my head before placing my hands over my eyes. The car engine starts a moment later, and I happily tap my toes against the floor as Caleb begins driving to our destination.
The park we were supposed to meet Jack at is in the center of the pack, so hopefully we aren’t too far.
I don’t think I can handle a long wait.
It’s about ten minutes before the car slows to a stop, and I listen to my quiet breathing as Caleb kills the engine. We’re here.
“Keep your eyes shut,” Caleb says.
I nod, and the driver’s side door opens before slamming shut. The silence is deafening, and I jolt when my car door is opened a second later.
Caleb unbuckles my seatbelt before helping me step out of the car. Wherever we are, the ground is rocky, and I move slowly so I don’t trip as I’m led forward.
“Okay,” Caleb says, urging me to stand still. “You can open your eyes now.”
Finally.
I open my eyes, pause, rub my eyes, blink, and cock my head to the side.
Then I repeat.
Caleb takes great pleasure in watching my dumbfounded actions, but I don’t pay him any mind. There’s no way I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing. I spin around, doing a complete 360 before facing the house again. Am I hallucinating?
“That’s our house,” I eventually say. We haven’t returned since officially leaving for the safe house, but I’d recognize it anywhere.
Even if it’s not where it’s supposed to be.
Caleb steps behind me and plants his hands on my shoulders. His palms are warm, and the exposed skin above the neckline of my shirt tingles as his bare fingers brush against it.
I pay it no mind.
“It is,” Caleb confirms.
I don’t understand. Standing before me is our home, the one we had no choice but to abandon. The one I fell in love with and was devastated to leave. But it’s not where it belongs.
It’s like it was picked up and dropped in a new location, which is impossible. Did Caleb have a replica built? I’m pretty sure that would take months, and there’s no way they’d have been able to replicate it so perfectly.
The smallest imperfections, down to the scuff mark on the bottom of the front door from me kicking it shut every time I leave, are here.
“How?” I ask.
Caleb’s breath brushes against my shoulder, and I tilt my head back just in case he’s going to try and kiss me.
“I know how much you love this house,” he explains. “So I had it moved to a new location. Everything inside was boxed up and removed, and my wolves separated the house from the foundation and had it brought here.”
Caleb pauses before continuing. “We couldn’t transport the porch, though, so that’s new.”
My eyes fill with tears, and I dab at the corners when it makes my vision blurry.
“I didn’t even know this was possible,” I admit.
Caleb makes a quiet noise in the back of his throat. “It’s not easy, but it’s doable.”
I continue to stare at the house in awe, still struggling to wrap my head around this. He just…picked up our house and moved it. How does that even happen?
“A lot of trees had to be cleared to make room for it to be brought in, but we’re having new ones replanted in a few days,” Caleb says. “They’re fast-growing, so hopefully the land doesn’t look this empty for too long. I don’t like the idea of our home being seen from above, and the trees will help obscure the view.”
I nod, not having any words.
What do I say to this?
Caleb doesn’t push me to speak, and he gives me a few more minutes to ogle and stare before gently nudging me forward. It takes a moment for my legs to work, and my first few steps are awkward as we head toward the house.
I can’t believe this is happening.
Traitorous tears continue to obscure my vision as Caleb leads me up the porch steps and pushes open the front door. My hands shake, and I unthinkingly reach behind and grab onto Caleb’s wrists as I step inside.
Our furniture is scattered, and hundreds of packed boxes are sitting on the floor, but it’s definitely our home.
I kick off my shoes and nudge them against the wall. We have a small shoe rack, but it seems to be packed in a box right now. It appears everything is packed away, but I don’t mind. I’ll happily spend days digging through boxes if it means we can keep our house.
“I don’t know what to say,” I finally admit. My voice cracks, and I clear my throat before continuing. “I’m so happy.”
Caleb lets out a relieved sigh, and I give his wrist a tight squeeze before releasing him and walking further into the house. It looks like most of our furniture and boxes were brought into the living room, and I can’t help but smile when I see our couch pushed up against the wall.
Fuck. I missed this thing.
It’s so big and comfortable, and I have hundreds of fond memories of Caleb and I cuddling up on it. Almost every day, we’d find ourselves tangled up on the cushions after he got home from work, and we’d watch TV until I inevitably fell asleep in his arms.
We don’t even have a couch at the safe house. The living room was turned into a makeshift office, and even though it’s probably safe for Caleb and the others to return to their office building, they still choose to work out of the house.
I think it’s because Caleb’s afraid of being away from me for too long.
I flop down on the couch before rolling onto my back and spreading my arms.
“Come cuddle,” I say.
Caleb sinks his teeth into his bottom lip in a sad attempt to hide his smile. It doesn’t work, and I open and shut my fists as I urge him to join me.
It doesn’t take much convincing for him to hurry over, and I let out a loud laugh as he lays on top of me. Caleb’s heavy, but I don’t mind, and I wrap my arms around his waist as he rolls to the side so I can breathe.
I bury my face in his chest and breathe in his comforting smell, beyond fucking happy.
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We finally get some sexy time next chapter