24. Charlie

24

Charlie

My eyes are still heavy as I try to wake up. I can sense Jackson’s large body next to mine, and his arm flexes as he pulls me closer. Forgiving him for his words and actions seemed easy. I couldn’t survive without him in my life despite how hurt I was. Our baby needs him. I need him.

As if he can read my mind he says, ‘I love you, Charlie.’ His soft voice echoes through my mind, and I feel him press a kiss on my head.

I kiss his bicep and nuzzle his big chest, breathing him in. My eyes are still too heavy to open, but I enjoy the darkness; I haven’t felt this safe in my life. I trust that Jackson will keep me safe.

I wake up again to Jackson’s large head resting on my stomach. His ear is pressed to my womb, and his scratchy, sleepy voice is melodic as he talks to our baby.

“I’m grateful you chose us,” his hand runs over my lower stomach. “Your momma is so strong, and she’s the safest place for you, little guy. I’ll keep you both safe with my life. You only need to worry about growing big and strong.”

Tears leak from my eyes at his gentle words. The promises he whispers to both of us. I can’t help but run my fingers through his thick brown hair.

“Jackson?” I ask.

He lifts his head, looks at me with a goofy, lazy grin, and gently kisses my stomach. “I meant every word, Charlie. You both are mine, and I may not be the best mate. I may be selfish, hard-headed, and a bit of a grump, but I can protect you both. I want to keep you both safe.” His large body drags up the bed to pull me into his chest. “I love you, Charlie; thank you for giving me a second chance to prove I can be the best for both of you.”

I can’t help the soft sob that has me breathing in his love. “I love you too, big guy.” I breathe away the lump of emotions, “Do you want to spend the day with me?”

The anticipation of him having to deal with Pack stuff nags at the back of my mind. I feel selfish for even asking him to spend time with me and pulling his focus away from everything going on with the Pack.

“Charlie, I would love to spend the day with you.”

I can hear the ‘but’ coming, and my heart sinks.

“But?” The insecurities start to peel away as he kisses my forehead and sits up.

“No, but. Me and you all day,” he says.

I purr, taking in his body. This position allows me to admire his broad chest and shoulders. My hand comes up to trace another scar on his chest just below his pec. “What’s this from?”

His eyes drag to the spot I’m touching. “Bullet,” he says as if it’s nothing.

My eyes widen at the thought of him casually surviving a bullet wound. The emotion floods me again as I think if my brother could’ve survived his bullet wounds.

“Do you…do you think my brother could’ve survived being shot?” My words are shaking as I press my hand to his scar.

Jackson’s hand meets mine on his chest, and my eyes drag to his deep blues. The color is the perfect mix of light and dark. “I don’t know, little mate.” His lips roll into his mouth. I can tell he is trying to protect me even now.

‘Be honest,’ I push into his mind.

“I don’t know. I had a team with me, people who were determined to keep me alive. And well…” His words slide off as he feels the shift in my body. My wolf prickles at the assumption that we wouldn’t keep our Pack safe—our brother.

‘I didn’t stay to keep him alive.’ The thought rushes through our bond, and I don’t mean to share it as I try to shift from the bed.

‘Little mate, if you would’ve stayed, if you could have tried to help him, you would’ve met a much worse fate than death.’ He presses his lips to my forehead, tenderly wrapping me up in his arms as I let the grief and reality of my life pulse through our bond.

My wolf relaxes into Jackson’s hold. I think back to that night. My wolf took over, and at one point, I felt like she saved us because I couldn’t leave him.

I’m so tired of crying and feeling like I messed up, and my greatest accomplishment is running from my past. I want to be the person who would die for another. I don’t want to have anyone else die for me. The real fear is if I love Jackson the same way, he will be taken from me.

‘I can’t lose you, please. I would rather have fate worse than death than to lose you too.’

‘I will never leave you, Charlie; you have my word.’

I nod into his chest, wrap my arms around his neck, and pull his mouth to mine. The kiss is like a seal on my promise to myself and the ones I love. I’ll do anything to save Jackson and our baby. “About those self-defense lessons, when can we start?”

“So eager to fight suddenly,” he chuckles while his hand pulls gently through my black hair.

“Let’s go to the bakery and spend the day together, and I’ll teach you something.”

The excitement of that sounds good: to show Jackson my one true passion, the place I’ve felt most at home, and for him to meet Lola as my official mate.

My wolf paces quickly, and her tail wags as we get ready to leave. “I must admit I’m excited to have you meet Lola,” I say while pulling up my leggings.

“Charlie, you know I’ve known Lola my entire life?” He chuckles.

I swat at his chest, “Well, I guess she’s been kind of like a mom to me, so this is exciting for me; don’t diminish that.”

His hands go up in surrender. “I’d love to meet Lola for the first time,” he teases. I roll my eyes at his sarcasm.

Once we are both dressed, I follow Jackson down to his office. Killian and two other men I haven’t met sit around the large oak desk as Jackson presses into the room. Their banter dies as I follow Jackson in. “Alpha,” they all mutter while dipping their heads.

“Stop with that shit, guys; I wanted to introduce you to Charlie.” My face flames as I realize this is his team.

This is his Lola.

My hands come in front of my body and anxiously wrap around each other. My finger slowly starts to pick at my cuticles.

“Hi,” I say quietly.

All three men stand up and start approaching us.

The first is Killian, who I do recognize; he pats Jackson on the back, “Glad you figured your shit out, man.” He turns to me, “Charlie, congrats, you have a good one here.”

I want to say thank you. Instead, I smile shyly.

The next man is taller than Jackson, with dark black hair and broad shoulders. He takes a couple steps closer to us, and my wolf starts to growl as she pulls our body back behind Jackson’s. The stranger’s forest-green eyes glow in the room as he takes me in. His hands go up in the air, and he doesn’t step any closer; somehow, he senses my anxiety and my wolf.

I nod to him and step even closer to Jackson. I haven’t met a bear shifter, but they used to border our lands in Umbra, and I was told they are vicious beasts who would tear a wolf apart. His voice is deep and rich, “I’m no threat, Luna.” He addresses me as Luna, a title I don’t feel I’ve earned.

“Charlie, this is Reacher. He’s a bear shifter.” Jackson says as Reacher stays standing a few feet away. Jackson’s arm wraps around my body, and my wolf stops growling.

My eyes flit to the last man in the room, sitting again, which is good his size is intimidating. He was easily the largest out of the three, with thick, curly, dirty blond hair and tattoos covering his entire arm. He says, “Luna, we’re no threat to you; in fact, we would gladly lay down our lives for you.”

I nod.

“I’m Wyatt.”

Jackson’s large hand spans my back as he tenderly rubs.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I… Thank you for keeping Jackson safe all this time.” I think of the bullet wound or the bear attack. I know this is part of the team that kept him safe and brought him to me.

“We’d do anything for this guy,” Wyatt says, pressing to stand.

My wolf bristles at his advances. I look up to Jackson, I’ve always responded like this, but my wolf seems even more aggressive now.

‘Jackson, what’s wrong with me?’

‘Your wolf is more tense. She’s carrying a child now, and she’s just protecting you. It’s okay.’

Jackson continues to talk to his team as I think about my wolf. She has been more aggressive since we lost Ryan, and maybe she has been protecting us. The Pack we grew up in, well, no one was safe. Ax often sought out and took what he wanted. He ruled with fear. Ryan always shielded me from the darker aspects of Umbra. Maybe my wolf took over his overprotectiveness once he died. Perhaps we aren’t as broken as we’d thought all these years.We were keeping ourselves safe.

I hear Jackson say, “We should have an evening together for Charlie to get more comfortable with you all. Put together a bonfire, yeah, Wyatt?” Jackson asks the team.

A series of hell yah’s chorus through the room. I smile that his little Pack here is eager to spend time together. I need to get my wolf on board that they’re our pack, too.

“Good, we’ll see you all tonight. If you need anything, call Hunt. I’m going to spend the day with my mate.” Jackson nuzzles the top of my head and turns my body to leave.

I give an awkward wave over my shoulder as we head out of his office.

‘Do you think I’m broken? ’ I can’t help but ask through our bond.

Jackson’s head shakes as we step out onto the veranda and walk down to his truck.

“No, Charlie, your wolf has spent most of her life protecting you. She’s not felt safe in a long time, and now…” His eyes drag down to my stomach. “Now she has even more reason to be protective.” He helps me into the tall truck, and I sigh as his pine scent again surrounds me.

The ride to the Bakery is quick and quiet, but I can’t help but see the smile that overtakes my face as Jackson helps me out of his truck in front of the Bakery. I shake my head at the size of vehicles these alpha males feel like they need to drive. “So why do you have such a big truck?” I turn and gesture to the old behemoth.

Jackson’s hand flies to his chest. “Big Red is not a big truck, Charlie. She’s a Chevy K5 Blazer and the most reliable vehicle in the world.” He taps the hood proudly, and I roll my eyes.

‘Men, ’ I say.

‘I heard that.’

The bell on the bakery door rings out, and I cringe at the sound.

Jackson’s large hand gently rubs my back; I say, “We need to finish that appointment with Emma and determine if these symptoms will persist throughout the pregnancy.”

Mmm, Jackson growls.

“Charlie, beautiful!” Lola’s lovely voice fills the small Bakery as she rushes towards us. “Alpha,” she respectfully adds, taking in Jackson’s large form behind me. “What a pleasure to have you both here!”

“Lola, this is Jackson, my mate.” I know it’s obvious, but saying it out loud feels like I just won the lottery, which I did. The man is a beast. It’s also my first time owning my life, love, and reality. “And,” I drawl out, “I’m pregnant.”

Lola’s hands fly to her mouth in shock and surprise, and tears fill her eyes. She says something in Russian as she gently takes my hands and brings both our hands down to my stomach. “This is a great blessing, Charlie. The spirits shine brightly on this bond to already bless you with a child. Many are not so lucky.”

I don’t miss the fact that Jackson stiffens behind me. But Lola pulls me into a hug, distracting me from his weird response. “Thank you, beautiful, for blessing me with this news. What a happy day! Shall we bake something delicious for this, hmmm?”

Her eyes flick up to Jackson, who still stands stiffly behind me. I turn back to Lola, “I think we should, and Jackson’s going to help.”