8. Charlie

8

Charlie

‘I am so sore,’ I say and my wolf purrs pleasantly in response. I roll over to find Jackson gone a sense of unease sweeps through me that maybe he didn’t want to wake up with me. I shake the thought as I sit up and look around his massive bedroom.

My legs fall to the side of the bed, and I remember every delectable touch from last night. Jackson destroyed my virginity and then spent hours touching me, teasing me, and tasting me. I don’t think it gets better than a man willing to worship you all night. He pushed away every fear, sadness, or pain that seems to swallow me at night.

Yet, every action coming from a sense of devotion. Even if it’s too soon to say the words, the bond allows us to feel connected in ways I’ve never experienced before. That realization terrifies me because even in the short twelve hours, you shouldn’t feel so—so consumed by someone.

I slowly wobble into his bathroom. The entire room is covered in dark tile, and the coldness is welcome on my hot skin.

I take in my reflection. My flushed cheeks are a stark contrast to my normally sallow skin color. My fingers drag from my cheeks down my neck over each small purple mark to his claiming bite. The puncture wounds are raised slightly, and just the lightest touch sends a thrill straight to my center.

“Holy shit,” I say, pinching my legs together, “This is going to be a problem.”

‘A delicious problem,’ my wolf purrs.

I shake my head and run my hand over my hair, taming some of the strands sticking up in different directions, before walking back out to the bedroom.

My ears perk up as I hear Jackson coming up the stairs, and then Holly’s voice startles me as she stops him to talk. Panic pulses through my body. I just slept with my best friend’s older brother with the Alpha of the Pack.

He took my virginity. How am I going to tell Holly?

“Shit, shit, shit.” I grab his oversized shirt from the duffel bag on the floor, throwing the shirt over my head.

I lift my arms up to smooth through my hair again and smile at the absurdity of his shirt. The sleeves are so long they touch my elbows. “Oh my,” I laugh at the ridiculousness, holding my arms out to the side. The oversized garment hits my knees, and I probably look ridiculous being swallowed by this shirt. And yet, there is something about being wrapped in Jackson’s scent, his clothes—it feels like home. And it brings a sense of peace to my panic. I breathe deeply. Jackson’s pine and rain scent fills my body, calming some dark part of me. I take one more big breath as he pushes into our room with a large tray of food.

His voice is husky as he takes me in wearing his shirt. “Charlie, I had thoughts of locking you up in my room and having my fill of you, and then I walk in with you swallowed by my shirt—” he cocks his head to the side and steps closer, his voice dropping, “I might just do that.”

My body shivers from his words, and my wolf purrs.

His laugh pulls a smile to my lips. He quickly clears the space between us and says, “Your wolf likes the idea of being mine.”He takes my lips in a hot kiss.

‘Only in the bedroom,’ she growls through our bond.

‘Perfect mate,’ he says back.

My eyes widen as I get used to this new mind link. “I don’t know if I’ll get used to that,” the humor in my voice has him pressing his body into mine, pushing me back towards the bed.

He hums in response. “You will.” His lips take mine again as he pushes me down on the bed.

I crawl to the middle and sit up on my knees. Still absolutely swallowed by his shirt, the only part of my body showing is my forearms. I look down at myself and secretly enjoy it.

“Fuck, Charlie, I wanted to talk and get to know you this morning.” His hand, not holding food, runs through his shaggy hair, pushing it off his forehead, “But you keep looking at me with those big brown eyes, on your knees in the middle of my bed…” His words are cut off as he sets the food on the side table, leans onto the bed, and wraps his big hand around the back of my neck, pulling my mouth to his.

I moan into his touch, into his dominance. I hear his wolf in my mind as he says, ‘Mate.’

The word is reverent, filling me with a passion that has me clawing at his body.

Jackson tries to break our kiss, but I pull him closer. He mumbles between kisses, “I need to feed you first.”

My stomach chooses that moment to interrupt the kissing. “I guess I could eat,” I say.

“Good,” is his only response as he reaches for a grape and brings it to my mouth.

I’ve never been fed before. And had you asked me a year ago, heck yesterday, if I’d let a man feed me, the answer would’ve been no, hard pass. But Jackson has my entire body melting into his demands.

I suck the grape from his fingers and bite into it playfully, loving the pop it elicits across my tongue.

He continues to pass me little treats and says, “So I ran into my mom downstairs, and she saw my mark.”

I feel a tinge of anxiety pulse through us, not knowing if it’s from me or him. “Okay,” I say.

“Well, I didn’t know what to tell her.”

My eyes drop to my fingers, tearing at the skin along my nails. The skin had just started to heal from my last assault on the cuticle. Now I know the anxiety is coming from me because Jackson didn’t want to tell his mom about me. What does that say about me? My fingers work faster.

“Charlie, look at me, little mate,” Jackson says.

Why is it so hard to meet his eyes when I feel like this? I try to say something, anything, but I can’t. The skin on my finger breaks free, and the sting is welcome over the one of never being wanted.

‘Mate.’ His wolf’s growl in the mind link breaking my spiral. My eyes jump to his.

“Don’t do that,” Jackson says, his deep timbre rattling me.

“I…I don’t want to, but?—“

“No, beautiful. You are the perfect woman for me, and we will continue to heal. I need you not to lock me out. Now, tell me what was going through your head.”

Without overthinking it, I blurt out, “You didn’t want to tell your mom about me.”

The softness that fills his eyes makes tears fill mine, “No, Charlie, I just didn’t know if you were ready to be presented to the Pack. Becoming the Luna of Solaris is—a job. I didn’t want to rush it. Had I told my mom about you this morning, she would’ve pushed us to uphold cultural norms and be presented as a couple.” He runs his hand through the thick brown locks again and scoots to the top of the bed, pulling my body between his thick thighs, so I’m tucked in safely.His hands slide gently down my arms as he says, “Charlie, I want to do right by you, and if that means we wait to announce our mating, then we’ll wait.”

“I know you’re not telling me something,” I say as I pull another grape into my mouth.

“It’s just the things going on with Emma and the Pack.” He hesitates again, as if he’s going to add more, but then decides not to.

I nod because I don’t know what is happening with Emma, so I say, “Do you want to tell me about the Pack stuff? Maybe I can help?”

His sigh is weighted. “Well, you know about the sickness and my sister.”

I nod again. Holly is my best friend, and she’s been hiding the fact that she’s sick really well that only a few of us know. The girl is a beast on the best day, and she hasn’t let it slip that her wolf is not okay.

“Then you know that most sick wolves seem to disappear.”

My head falls in a yes.

“Well, my dad has done little to help, and we don’t have the right security set up as a Pack. I think I’m going call the friends in my unit that didn’t re-enlist and start an enforcer squad.”

“That sounds nice. Were they good guys? Are they shifters?”

Jackson squeezes my body to his again, feeds me some meat, and then says, “They were the best guys, my brothers. All three are shifters, two bears, and one wolf.”

My eyes widen as I look up at him, “Bear shifters?”

Jackson laughs and kisses my nose. “Yes, and they’re intense, the best kind of men to have your back. I probably will have Killian come just to be your bodyguard.”

“Excuse me?” I huff. “That seems a little extra.” Yet a tiny part of me is reminded of Ryan and how he always protected me.

“Little Mate, I can’t be with you all the time. You’re my mate. You’re my world. We can not have you working or out in the Pack alone.” His voice turns more firm. “This is non-negotiable. If I’m busy, you have Killian with you.”

Relenting to this one concession, I tease him, “Yes, sir.” However, Jackson’s response is immediate. His large hand wraps around my neck, pulling my head back to his chest and tilting my head to look into his eyes.

He growls, “Say that again, little mate.”

“Sir.” I purr, and he sweeps his thumb up my jaw, eyes blazing as he takes my mouth. My tongue slips out and licks along my bottom lip, wanting to taste him again. He releases my neck, and instead of stealing the kiss I want. I scurry to the other side of his giant bed, “Sir?” I taunt.

“Oh, Little mate, you want to be chased?”

I want to be claimed by him, I want him to own me, I want him to wipe away every pain and fear that swallows me whenever I’m alone.

‘Yes, we do,’ my wolf purrs to his.

‘I heard that.’ Then Jackson says aloud, “I’ll give you a ten-second head start, and when I catch you, ’cause I will catch you, I fuck you.”