Chapter 19

Lindsey

Shelby had just said Walker loves me and he hadn"t denied it. What could that possibly mean? Surely she hadn"t meant it literally. But why hadn"t he denied it?

"How are you feeling? Are you hungry?"

I allowed myself to shift. I still felt weak, but the pain was gone, and I was suddenly famished.

"Starving," I confessed.

He carefully checked my wound. "Hey, it"s almost fully healed now. I know the kids will be thrilled to see that."

I got up and gathered my clothes together and dressed. I felt gross and desperately wanted a shower, but first, I needed food.

Letting Walker lead me, I managed to walk up the stairs without him having to carry me. It was sad that it felt like such a huge accomplishment.

I wasn't certain he was going to let me out of arm"s reach, but when Maya and Dante saw me and came running to help, he gave me some space with them. I was happy he understood that I needed them too, but I was also a bit put off by him giving me so much space.

Shelby"s mate, Ben, stopped by after he got home and it was empty.

No one had to introduce him to me because I knew immediately who he was by the way Shelby"s face lit up and how the kids ran to hug him.

"I thought we agreed not to bother her right away when she woke up," he scolded Shelby.

"I haven"t bothered her. Have I Lindsey?"

"No. It"s been fine," I said, surprised to find I genuinely meant it.

My beast didn"t particularly like her, or at least she didn"t like how close she was with Walker. Sometimes they even finished each other"s sentences, which was super weird.

Maya hadn"t left my side in an hour and was currently snuggled up in my lap.

I had never really been much of a touchy-feely kind of person, not even with the twins. But lately that had been changing.

I glanced at Walker and felt myself sigh.

He was changing me. It was all happening too quickly for me to decide if it was a good or a bad thing.

When they left, Shelby walked over and hugged Walker and kissed his cheek. A loud growl bubbled out of me.

Ben grinned and then ran over and hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.

I froze and was about to knock him on his ass for touching me when Walker let out a menacing growl.

Ben pulled away with a satisfied smirk.

"You have no idea how long I"ve been waiting for him to find you. Payback"s a bitch, Walker. Just wait. I"m going to get you back for every growl you elicited from me. For every time you tried to make me second guess my mate thinking you two were involved or something even though I knew it was bullshit. And for all the times you touched my mate. Revenge will be sweet."

He wrapped an arm around me, and Walker snapped at him.

"Can"t you just beat the shit out of me and get it over with already?"

"Oh no, dear sir. This is gonna be so much more satisfying."

Before I could push him away, he kissed my temple and Walker lunged at him, claws shooting from his fingertips.

"Benjamin, knock it off. He"s still mating and has been very close to losing it watching his mate fight for her life. At least wait until they seal their bond before you torture him."

"I was kind enough to step down and allow you to have her when you were mating."

My head whipped towards Walker, who looked like he had just somehow gotten the upper hand.

I didn"t know what was going on, but I didn"t like what he was insinuating.

"Like I said, wait until they seal their bond. Then by all means torture him all you want. Get your payback, whatever."

"And you"d just be okay with that?" I blurted out.

"With what?" she asked.

"Walker bonding with me."

"Of course. You"re his true mate. That"s all I"ve ever wanted for him. He"s my best friend. Despite how these two act, that"s all he is to me. They both know it. And despite how it looks, they"re really good friends too. They just take sick pleasure in riling each other up. Please don"t take them seriously."

"But I"m a beast, a monster," I said.

Shelby growled. "Don't you dare call yourself that. You are a victim. What they did to you is disgusting. If we hadn"t already killed those responsible, I"d hunt them down and do it myself. You have survived what we thought was impossible. That makes you the strongest, most badass woman in the world as far as I"m concerned."

I stood there stunned.

Ben winked at his mate and grinned. "She turned into a mama bear quickly. This is a sensitive subject for us, but you"ve already had a long day and have much recovery still ahead to get you back to full strength. Besides, we said we weren"t going to burden her with this today. Remember, babe?"

Shelby sighed. "I"ll pick the kids up in the morning for school. Triplets, it"s time to go. Say goodbye."

They each took turns embracing Maya and Dante on their way out. It brought tears to my eyes.

Once they left, Walker took over.

"Wash your face and hands, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas. Then you can come down and say goodnight to Lindsey before bed. You know the routine by now. March."

They did as they were told without argument.

"Wow. You really have everything under control."

"I wouldn"t quite say that. The kids weren"t the only ones who needed to establish a bit of routine around here. I was pretty short-tempered and losing it while you were out. I pray I never have to go through that again."

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

This kiss wasn't all-consuming or demanding. It felt more possessive, as if he were claiming me with his lips.

I still wasn't used to this level of intimacy, but I couldn"t help but remember the way it had felt to make love to him.

My body betrayed me as I stared to yawn while we were still kissing. He immediately pulled away, giving me an apologetic look.

"I"m sorry," we said at the same time.

"I know you"re still run-down and despite sleeping for a week, I do realize you"re tired. Let"s get you to bed."

Before I could protest, he lifted me into his arms and carried me back to the bedroom I"d awoken in. The way he held me made me feel special and beautiful, cherished even. It invoked feelings within me that I never expected to feel.

I didn"t think it was really possible for Walker to love me, but how could I stop myself from falling in love with him?

*****

Waking up in Walker"s arms was amazing right up until Maya and Dante burst into the room and climbed in bed to join us.

They acted like this was our life and everything was perfectly normal.

"Wakey wakey," Dante said.

"Shh. Look Dante, Walker"s actually sleeping."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He hasn"t really slept since you were shot," she explained.

"Yeah, and he only leaves you to go to the bathroom or if we really need something, like taking us to our first day at school."

"I"m really sorry about the whole school thing. You don"t have to go today."

Sad faces stared back at me.

"You don"t want us to go to school?" he asked.

"What? No. That"s not what I meant. I grew up in a Pack. I know how awful it feels to go to a human school and keep the family secret. I was the weird kid, too. I would never put you guys through that."

"But there aren"t any humans there," Dante insisted.

"Yeah, it"s a Pack school."

"It is?"

They nodded.

"So all wolves? But we don"t even know if you two are wolves or not."

They shrugged.

"It"s not all wolves. I met a tiger yesterday."

"Yeah, and there"s a bear cub too," Maya said excitedly.

"Oh. Okay. So you like it there?"

I certainly couldn"t relate. I had hated school growing up.

"We love it there," she explained. "Mary Alice, Nathan, and Zachary are in our class too."

"And Vada. She"s really pretty," Dante told me.

"She is, huh?"

"Yup. And she's nice. She traded me a turkey sandwich yesterday for my peanut butter and jelly."

"Mrs. Shelby makes our lunches for us and picks us up and brings us home," Maya said. "She does a real good job. I like her."

"Me too. I love it here. Can we stay, Lindsey? Maya and I can even have our own rooms if we want, but she"s too scared to sleep alone right now."

"Me? You"re the scaredy cat."

"Shh. You"re going to wake Walker," I reminded them.

"Too late. Walker"s already awake." He roared and grabbed them both up in his arms as they squealed. "Good morning, munchkins. Are you ready for school?"

"Yes, sir. We had those muffins Mrs. Callie made for breakfast then brushed our teeth, washed our face and hands, and put our backpacks by the door for when Mrs. Shelby honks," Maya said.

"Who"s Mrs. Callie?" I was pretty certain I hadn"t heard that name before.

"She"s a police officer," Dante said.

"And she"s mated to Michael," Maya added.

"Then who"s Michael?"

"My team leader," Walker explained.

"Did we forget anything, Walker?" Maya asked

"Uh yeah, good morning hugs."

They both squealed again and tackled him, then gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and scurried off at the sound of a horn outside.

"Have a good day at school," Walker yelled after them.

"We will," Dante yelled back.

I laid there wondering what had just happened.

"Uh-oh. What"s that look for?"

"I don"t know. They just ran in here and saw us in bed together but acted like it was no big deal."

"Yeah, about that. The kids and I sort of had a talk. Are you aware of just how overly protective they are of you? Neither of them liked the idea of me laying in bed with you, so I had to tell them the truth."

"What sort of truth? They"re five and six."

"The ‘Lindsey's my true mate' truth and I need to be by her to keep my wolf calm."

"You told them I"m your mate?"

"Well yeah. Pretty much everyone in my life knows that by now. Hell, I even called my parents and let them know."

"Walker, are you insane? People will never understand."

He snorted. "We cherish true mates around here, babe. Everyone is happy for me, for us."

"So you"re just not telling them what I am then?"

"They know. I"m not embarrassed by what you are. I love you exactly the way you are."

I froze and stared at him, blinking a few times as I struggled to reconcile what he just said.

"You love me?" I blurted out.

He smiled and kissed me. "Is that really so shocking?"

"Yes!"