Chapter 13

Dean

I was actually nervous about this arrangement.

I'd never brought a woman home with me before. It was one of those unspoken cardinal rules. But if I were ever going to make an exception, it would be for Bailey.

Doc recommended we drop everything, do not return to the office, and go straight home. He was already on the phone with Patrick and by now would be selling the story to my dad. He'd even given us quarantine gear of a mask, hat, gloves, and gown to wear until we were home as a way to further sell the story.

I felt ridiculous walking two blocks back to the office to get into my car and drive home. If it weren't for Bailey, I'd have just flown, but I wasn't sure if Ravenden was quite ready to see a wolf running through town.

When we got into the car, she pulled down her mask and looked at me.

"Do you think there's any validity to Doc's superstition?"

"I don't know."

"Then why agree to this?"

I cringed guiltily. "Selfish reasons?"

She laughed. "That's why you agreed so quickly?"

"The rest of the week alone with you? Hell yes."

"Dean!"

"I know. I know. It really is selfish. But we can have Patrick email us everything we need to know, and we can work remote as necessary."

"I'm not arguing about it. If this morning was any indication, I'm pretty worthless to the team right now anyway. Maybe this will help save face. But it's still crazy."

I pulled up to the house, wondering what Bailey was thinking. She'd pulled her mask back over her face, so I couldn't tell.

A lot of people were quite intimidated by the Davenport Estate. I'd lived here my entire life, so to me it was just home.

Bailey didn't say anything as we exited the vehicle and walked inside. She hadn't been allowed to return to her hotel for her things or anything. I would ask Gia to go by and pack up her stuff to drop off later.

Dad was waiting at the far end of the hall when we arrived.

"Doc called. We've all been updated on what's going on. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I feel okay right now."

"You shouldn't have been driving. What if you had another spell?"

I was fairly certain that wasn't going to happen again, but I couldn't tell him that.

"Dad, we made it here safe and sound."

"I had Gia's room made up for Bailey. Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Bailey muttered.

I smiled behind my mask.

"If you could have some trays sent up, that would be great."

"They'll be on the table in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Go settle in. Hopefully Doc will get to the bottom of this quickly."

"Thanks, Dad."

I felt guilty for lying to them all. I could tell he was worried, but still, I selfishly was thrilled for this turn of events.

"Come on," I told Bailey as she followed me up the stairs. "This is Gia's old room. No one lives up on this floor anymore. Just me. So we're free to move about, and don't have to wear this stupid gear. If you need some privacy, that's your space. I won't go in there unless you ask me to. But you're welcome into my space anytime."

"Okay," she said softly.

She opened the door and disappeared into the room.

I waited for a few minutes and when she didn't return, I walked into my room and took the quarantine gear off, but made sure to leave my door open for her to find me.

She didn't return right away, but when I walked back out into the hallway, I found two trays of food waiting for us, plus a basket of snacks, a case of water, and a case of my favorite soda. I needed to find out what Bailey liked to drink so I could order a case of that up, too.

"Bailey? Lunch trays are here," I said through the door.

I was relieved when she opened the door.

"Thanks."

"Um, do you want to eat together?"

"Sure."

She seemed nervous, which made me oddly nervous. I couldn't ever remember being truly nervous in female company.

We sat down on the couch in the room where I spent most of my time at home gaming. I pulled over two TV trays to set our meals down.

"Thanks."

She started nibbling on her food, and I had the oddest sensation that she was trying not to freak out.

"Okay, spill it. What's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing?"

"Don't lie to me. What is bothering you?"

"It's nothing. Really. Just adjusting to a new place."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

"I don't know how I know it, but you're lying."

"Don't make a big deal out of it. I'm fine."

"Aren't wolves prone to scents? This place has to be crawling with mine. Shouldn't that make you relaxed or something?"

She sighed. "It's just all a little overwhelming. That's all. I'm okay, really. I just need time to adjust."

"Adjust to what?"

She stared at me and then shrugged. "This house. It's enormous. The house I grew up in is smaller than this room , Dean. I guess it just hit me hard that we are a lot more different than I could've imagined from just our species."

I reached for her hand, grateful when she didn't pull away from me.

"I don't care about any of that stuff."

"You say that because you've always had it. What happens if your parents freak out and kick you out?"

"First, they'd never do that. Second, there's not a ton that I spend money on, so my salary, bonuses, every extra penny I get goes into savings or stocks. You will never have to worry about finances, Bailey. Not ever."

"What if I want to work?"

"I'm not going to stop you."

"What if I want to go to college?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Unless you're talking online classes, it wouldn't be easy, but I had the privilege of going away to college and I wouldn't trade those years for anything. If that's important to you, then we'll find a way."

The fact that we were talking long term should have scared the shit out of me. Instead, the thought of her pulling away was far more terrifying.

"I've never had a girl over to the house. I mean, besides my sister. This is a first for me. And I've never seen the same girl two nights in a row. Another first. I could go on, but the point is, I want this to work and I know we come from two different worlds and the cards are stacked against us, but I know this can work. We can make it work. And if you agree, then this is going to be the first of many firsts."

A tear ran down her cheek. I reached out and swiped it away with the pad of my thumb.

I never really cared about having a mate, at least not at this stage of life. I considered that maybe Bailey felt the same. She was six years younger than me and some days I still felt like a kid.

"I've never really had anyone I could rely on. Well, that's not true. I have Oscar. But my family isn't like yours, Dean. I didn't have a picture perfect life with amazing siblings willing to support me through anything. My dad died when I was young. My mom mated his brother, who was a drunk and beat my mom on an almost daily basis. And my siblings all abandoned me the second they could get away from that house. I didn't blame them for it. But I'm ten years younger and have been stuck there. This is my first chance at freedom, and here you come along ready to settle down and plan for the rest of my life. It's all a bit overwhelming. I think I've been caught up in the emotions of mating and hadn't really thought about that until now."

I was shaking all over at the thought of her stepfather laying a hand on her.

"Dean?" she asked, but it was too late. I was ready to fly all the way to California and peck this asshole's eyes out. "Dean?"

"Did he hurt you?" I managed to say in a voice I didn't even recognize.

"No. Never. She made a deal with him to protect me. He never physically hurt me."

Still, I couldn't seem to calm down. It wasn't until she reached out and touched my arm that I began to calm. Bailey grounded me.

I crushed her to me in a big hug and hung on for dear life.

"I will never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. Do you understand?"

"I know. Oscar and his family helped me see just how dysfunctional my own family was. But they also showed me what a healthy relationship looks like. I've seen it with your siblings and their mates. That's got to be a testament to how you were raised and says a lot about your parents."

"They're they best. A bit judgy at times, but we're working on that."

She started to relax and followed my lead as I began to eat.

"You know, we don't have to figure it all out right this second, right?" I told her.

"I know. Honestly, it's been a long day already. Can we maybe do something mindless like play video games or something?"

"You like video games?"

"Sure. Who doesn't?"

This girl was truly too good to be true.

"Ever played Chaos?"

"Of course. Oscar's uncle hooked us up so we could BETA test it."

"No way."

"True story. Want me to log in? The newest version hasn't been out long enough for you to have gotten very far."

"I've done well enough, though I have had a few distractions to contend with this week."

I shot her a knowing look.

She smirked. When I handed her the control, she logged into her own account.

"Holy shit! Look at your ranking. You weren't kidding."

Almost immediately, JH and Wolfhunter pulled her into a group.

"Hey, you know those guys too? I play with them sometimes. Let me sign in and join you."

"Do I know these guys?" she chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that."

When I joined, she pulled me into their waiting room.

"Bails! Where have you been, girl?" JH said.

"Did you add Bird?" Wolfhunter asked.

"Yeah, he's with me."

"That's crazy. We've been playing with him this week, but I didn't see any connections back to you. Thought he was just a random we chose," JH admitted.

"You do like to do that."

"Heard you were out on a real-life mission," Wolfhunter said.

"Add us to a secure chat room if you want to talk. You know I won't in an open forum."

"This game isn't configured for private rooms. It's one of the flaws of this version."

Before I knew what was happening, JH opened a secure chat room with video and pulled Bailey into it.

"JH is Jackson freaking Holt? Are you kidding me right now?!"

"I swear I didn't add him. What the hell? Where is he even coming from?"

Bailey laughed.

"Relax, he's physically here next to me."

She hit some combination on her controller, and suddenly we were displayed on the screen too.

"Um, hi," the woman next to him said.

"Dean, this is Jackson and Tobi."

"I know who they are."

Damn, I was having a star struck moment.

"How exactly do you know who they are?"

"Jackson, we're secure, right?"

"As secure as it gets."

"Are you still on a mission in Ravenden?" Tobi asked.

"I am. Currently quarantined with this guy. This is Dean."

"Quarantined? What the hell, Bailey."

"We're going to be fine. It's just a precaution," she said, sticking to the script.

"Damn. What are the odds?" Tobi said.

"And why are you so surprised? I basically told you who I am the other night," Jackson reminded me.

"I didn't think you were serious."

"He's always doing stuff like that, and no one ever believes him," Tobi confessed.

"Wait. How did they know you're on a mission and in Ravenden? That's oddly specific," I asked Bailey.

"Jackson and Tobi are wolf shifters."

"Now I know you're messing with me."

"Should we shift to prove it? Bailey wouldn't be talking so candid if you weren't already in the know," Jackson said.

"Dean's a raven shifter," Bailey said.

My jaw dropped.

"I can't believe you just blurted that out."

"You're cute when you're flustered. We're in a secure room. Just the four of us. It's a safe space to talk. Westin Force actually uses the game sometimes to relay information."

"Um, Bails, that is not common knowledge, not even for a shifter."

"I know, but Dean is the head of security for Ravenden and working closely with Patrick. Plus, he's sort of my mate. But that is top secret information. No one here knows about it yet, so keep it to yourselves."