Chapter 14: Everett

Chapter 14: Everett

I stood across the bedroom from Aislin, my firm stare warning her not to deviate from what we’d planned to tell Gavin as she spoke on the phone.

“Sorry for fucking off like that. I know you told me not to. Yes, I did manage to talk to Colt,” she began, catching my eye. “When I got there, it was only him. He seemed remorseful about what he did to Billie. Said that she and Muriel should be far away from here, which makes me think he doesn’t want David to get a hold of either of them.”

Vividly, I remembered glimpsing the young Hexen son attack Billie Jesper. He’d tried to mark the girl, drawing her blood and urging her to say the words that would bind them despite not sharing a fated bond. The marking ritual only worked on willing participants, and the fact that the lives of Billie’s loved ones were threatened in an attempt to force her to accept the ritual made me sick.

“But when I told him he could take out David and end all this, he wasn’t too keen on it,” continued Aislin. “…No, I obviously didn’t say it like that. But I guess the fact that you killed Cat and now we’re telling him David needs to die doesn’t sit well with him. He’s perfectly fine just hanging back and watching everything unfold. …Yeah, no, I agree he wouldn’t make a good replacement… We’ll have to find someone else.”

Colt was never in line to take over after David in the first place. It was always Catrina who was groomed and prepared for the role of Alpha, and although she’d planned to share the role with Gavin once their packs merged, I couldn’t imagine it would last long. Catrina’s stubborn, independent nature would have eventually dominated Gavin. She would have become an even more tyrannical leader than David was now, which was frightening to think about, given what David had already proven himself capable of.

“Yeah, I’m safe with Everett.” Mention of my name snapped me back to paying acute attention to Aislin, monitoring her facial expression, the crinkles in the corners of her eyes, the tone of her words. “I’ll be fine. We’re just…” She lowered her voice. “Figuring things out.”

That was probably the most honest way to put this. Neither of us could guarantee a positive outcome, but after realizing how irresistible she was, I knew I had to at least make some effort to appeal to her. I had to be nicer for the sake of this fated bond.

“I’ll have my phone soon. Just text or call me if you need me. You can still use my place, just somebody else will have to stay there. Get my mom to. Yeah, I know. I’ll be back soon. Say hi to Billie for me. Okay… bye.”

I’d noticed there was a different tinge to Aislin’s voice when she spoke to Gavin than I was used to hearing. It was softer and warmer, reaching heights of apologetic, or forgiving, rather than the brutal harshness she usually bared at me. Envy crackled dimly inside me and I shoved it down, unwilling to entertain the notion.

When Aislin put the phone down, she tipped her head back and sighed. “He’s pissed at both of us.”

“Understandably so.”

“I straight up did the complete opposite thing he told me to do,” said Aislin. “He warned me not to go meet Colt, and I ran off and did it anyway. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know you’d be there.”

“Mm.” I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but I was glad she had some backup anyway. If she’d been completely alone, she probably wouldn’t have survived. “I’m not going to enable your reckless behavior,” I added.

“I don’t expect you to.” There was that venomous tone again.

It drew me closer to Aislin, my hands fighting to stay by my side. She was dressed in one of my t-shirts and a pair of shorts this time, with no bare skin to tantalize me, yet I still wanted to touch her. Just looking at her made me tingle. She held her ground as I drifted closer, but I didn’t dare endanger the precarious progress I’d made by pushing too far into her personal space. “Can I ask what your relationship with Gavin is like?”

Aislin tilted her head, squinting suspiciously at me. “Why?”

“I just noticed the way you speak to him is different than how you speak to everyone else.”

“I talk that way to Billie too. And my parents. And Muriel. I talk that way to people I like.”

“Perhaps I’m reading too much into it then.”

Aislin scoffed. “You think I have feelings for Gavin?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. You’ve been close all your lives.”

“I don’t,” she said with a snort. Then her eyes lit up with a mischievous smirk. “Are you jealous?”

Weighing the value of my response, I coolly replied, “Yes.”

Her mischief became surprise with her eyebrows rising into her forehead. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” I took one more step closer, looking down at her. “You’re my fated mate. Not his.”

It hadn’t been my intention to butter her up, but seeing the smile fresh on her face filled me with unfamiliar satisfaction. I only meant to be honest, knowing that if I said I wasn’t jealous, it would maintain the emotional distance between us. I suppose she liked knowing that I felt possessive of her.

Before my hand could move to her side, the chimes of my office phone pealed out from down the hallway. I left her there in my bedroom, returning to my office and leaning over the desk as I held the receiver to my ear. “Good morning, this is Everett March.”

“Good morning, Mr. March,” chirped the receptionist from the lumber mill. “We have the first shipment of twenty-five 260-board-feet oak logs from Gold Timber Co. They can be processed today with your approval of the shipment within the next hour.”

“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Okay! We’ll see you soon.”

I still needed to keep an eye on Aislin. She appeared outside the office door a moment later. “You work today, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, from one to ten tonight.”

“I have to go to the mill. We’ll go to your apartment first so you can get dressed, then after we’ll come back here for lunch. I’ll drop you off and pick you up again later.”

“What happened to taking me to the hospital?”

“We won’t have time. And I’m still not sure I trust you.”

Aislin hummed. I did think her injury was healing, albeit slowly, by virtue of her wolf—the biological processes that allowed transformation also allowed the bodies of shifters to heal faster. But I wouldn’t be satisfied until she received proper medical attention.

We both got dressed and I noticed the way Aislin looked at me when I donned my denim and dark green button-up shirt, opened a button down from the collar, appraising me like she was trying to decide if I met her standards. I’d never had a reason to doubt my appearance before—I knew I was attractive, I never struggled with female attention—but suddenly, I found myself worried if she liked what she saw. Maybe she’d prefer if I looked cleaner. Had shorter hair. Shaved my beard. Looked a little more like Gavin.

I hated having these doubts.

Driving into Grandbay put me on edge. I expected to see the Grandbay wolves on the sidewalk, glaring at me, or to receive a text from somebody immediately aware that I was on their territory. Nothing happened. Standing inside Aislin’s apartment, I knew that whoever came inside next would know I was here. They’d smell me, my shoes by the front door, my socks on the carpet, my fingertips grazing the wall. Aislin’s apartment was small and shabby, but not unlivable. It smelled intensely of her, and I eagerly followed her to her bedroom even without invitation, standing just inside the door as she searched her drawers for clothes. Her bed with a black-and-white patterned comforter was unmade. A pink bra was slung over the side of her laundry basket. These nuances of her personal life drove me insane with the animalistic desire to let go of my own formalities, throw her on the bed and lose myself in her.

I wondered how much she’d enjoy it, if she knew how badly I wanted to ravage her right now.

Once Aislin was dressed in black leggings and a navy blouse, her hair tied up in a cute bun and dark sunglasses perched on her freckled nose, we were ready to hit the lumber mill. She brought a duffle bag of clothes, her purse, and her phone, so there would be no need to return to Grandbay again after this. We parked close to the entrance and she lingered in the passenger seat. “Come on,” I said.

“You want me to come in?”

“I’m not taking my eyes off you.”

Aislin got out of the car and joined my side. I didn’t think much of having her with me until we stepped inside and the receptionist smiled at me—then peered curiously at Aislin. “Good morning, Mr. March,” she said, looking back at me.

“Morning. Is that oak at the shipping bay?”

“Yes, we haven’t moved it yet.”

“Okay. This is Aislin,” I said, gesturing to the redhead beside me. “She’ll be on the floor with me. Can I get a visitor badge for her?”

“Certainly,” said the receptionist. She withdrew a lanyard with a plain white key card from one of her desk drawers and handed it to me. Without thinking, I slipped the lanyard over Aislin’s head for her. She caught my eye briefly, then glanced away, and I swore I saw a shade of red on her cheeks.

That might have been why, when we got to the doors leading onto the factory floor, I put on the high-visibility vest and hardhat for her, too. “I can dress myself,” she said defensively once I handed her the goggles.

“I’m just making sure it’s on right,” I said.

Having slipped her sunglasses into her pocket, Aislin put on the goggles and peered back at me. I adjusted them on her face, amused by her small smile.

On the way to the shipping bay, I pointed out the areas of the floor and the machines involved in stripping and processing lumber. To my pleasant surprise, she seemed interested in what I had to say, asking about the machines and how they worked, and how long I’d been involved in the mill, and if I’d ever worked on the floor myself. “Yes. This was my first job. I started when I was fifteen on the clean-up crew. There’s a lot of sawdust, bark, and dirt—so the factory has to be kept spotless to prevent product contamination and to keep the machines running smoothly. You’d be surprised how easily things catch fire around here.”

“You’ve never worked anywhere else?”

“I’ve had a lot of roles here at the mill. But this is the only company I’ve worked for.”

“Aww. That’s cute,” said Aislin.

I bristled, never once having considered anything about myself cute. Now I worried that I was lacking in worldly experience, compared to Aislin, who had suffered through many menial retail jobs in her life.

When we reached the shipping bay, I spoke with the receiving supervisor and assessed the logs with him. Aislin waited for me off to the side, and I would have liked to show her the process of assessing and approving these logs, but it required special attention since this was the first shipment from one of our newest lumber partners. We had to make sure it was up to standard. Once I signed off on the shipment, I continued touring Aislin around the floor, then by 11 a.m. we were back in the car heading home.

Enjoying a quick lunch of soup and sandwiches—which I quite enjoyed making for Aislin, since I usually only fed myself—we chatted amicably without any raised voices or angry, sarcastic comments, and then I dropped her off outside the strip mall where she worked.

By the time I was alone again, I felt restless. That morning with Aislin was refreshing. Sitting by myself in my office was a reminder of the solitude I condemned myself to and I couldn’t wait to see her again later tonight.

Distracting myself from her, I called up Sebastian. “Taylor informed you of our encounter with Dalesbloom last night, correct?”

“He sure did. A few of you intercepted Aislin meeting with Colt before he set the dragons after you all, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“But nobody was badly injured?”

“Right.”

“What did Aislin and Colt talk about?”

“Nothing that would change the situation,” I said. “She tried to get through to him to change his allegiance to David but wasn’t successful.”

“That’s not surprising.”

“It has resulted in Aislin being in my custody, however. I’m still working on getting her healed. Now we just need to get ahold of Muriel.”

“You have a pretty good access point then,” said Sebastian. “Aislin needs healed. Muriel can do that for her. Is it possible you can convince her to tell you where Muriel is? Then you can take Muriel from there and leave Aislin.”

My stomach twisted at the thought. “Yes, it’s possible. I’ll just have to ensure that nobody else is with Muriel.”

“Do you think you can do that within the next couple days?”

“It depends. Aislin seems more receptive of me now, but I’ll have to proceed carefully. I don’t want to upset her and lose my chance.”

“Of course. Just sweet talk her about the Mythguard or something.”

“I think she’s a bit disenchanted with the Mythguard right now.”

“Okay, well take her out on a date or something. You know shifters get stupid when they’re around their fated mates… Maybe she’ll loosen up.”

I grunted with annoyance at Sebastian. “Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I have it handled.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Keep me posted then. We can have transport vehicles ready for Muriel as soon as you have her.”

After ending the call, the conversation with Sebastian left me uneasy. I couldn’t expect him to know that my feelings for Aislin were changing, but I didn’t like how callous he was about her. I worried about getting stupid around her, too. More than that, I worried about completely sabotaging our relationship by betraying her to kidnap Muriel from Grandbay. She would never forgive me. In fact, she would hate me even worse than she did before, and I would have to live with the knowledge that I’d betrayed my fated mate for my entire life, forfeiting my opportunity to mark her. But… I had a plan with the Mythguard, and I couldn’t just drop it.

Maybe Aislin would understand.

More likely, I would have to sacrifice my happiness to keep Grandbay safe.