SWNOVELS Chapter 10: I’ll give him a mate!
A few hours had passed and they were finally finished cleaning the mess they made in the warehouse. Kane sat on the edge of a desk looking around making sure they got it all. Johnny had just got back from throwing out the rest of the broken paper weights, when they heard her pull up. She breezed right into the warehouse and didn’t even look over at them once. She walked to the back and disappeared for a few minutes. They both looked at each other. When she came back she was carrying a crow bar, a little more concern on their faces when she stopped in front of them.
“You, your pieces are boxed up over there” she said looking at Johnny and motioning with the crowbar. Johnny’s eyes went wide and he was on his feet moving in that direction. Her gaze settled on Kane, he swallowed hard.
“You, come with me” He nodded, getting up and followed her immediately. She better not hit me with that thing! You’d have it coming if she did! Shut up, asshole!
“Tell me about this piece you want commissioned” she said leading him outside to her truck, she dropped down the tailgate and he saw six large crates sitting in the back.
“What do you mean?” He asked, she grabbed onto his arm and pulled herself into the truck. His hands moved to her waist to make sure she didn’t fall back out of the truck. Her body tensed at the contact and she moved away from him quickly, this action saddened him a little, he would have to work harder than he thought to get her to trust him.
“Is it for inside or outside?” She asked as she used the crowbar to pry a lid off one of the crates, she quickly examined the contents of the crate before she moved on to the next one.
“Inside” getting the lid off the second one she examined it as well, a frown crossed her face, and she cursed under breath about fucking ametures packing crates. She pulled out a cracked mould, inspected it, cursed again and dropped it in the back of the truck, and moved on.
“Is it free standing or wall mounted?” And then on to the third one, repeating the same process.
“Uh...wall mounted” she looked at him and raised her eyebrow
“Do you want a painting, epoxy, pyrography, sketch, photo?” She asked as she was prying the lid off the fourth crate, she moved with purpose around the back of the truck. He watched the muscles work in her back as she pried the lids off the crates, he thought it was adorable that she had to use her whole body to be able to do it.
“Pyrography?”
“Wood burning” she answered, she had her back to him, working on the fifth crate. He took the opportunity to admire her backside, letting his eyes linger on her bottom. He couldn’t help but wonder if her panties said anything and what colour they were. Maybe they were red, he didn’t know why but he had a feeling red would look really good on her.
“It takes a bit longer, but the details are cleaner” her voice drew him from his thoughts and he had to concentrate on what she was saying.
“That sounds good”
“Wooden canvas or wooden panel” she was struggling with the fifth lid, he watched as she tried to use her body as leverage but the lid wouldn’t budge. A string of curses left her mouth as she tried again. He had to bite back a laugh when she told the crate to fuck off.
“Canvas, do you need help?”
“No, thank you!” She said as she moved onto the sixth crate, she would come back to that one.
“Just the burn, or do you want it coloured?” With the sixth lid off and a quick examination of the contents, she moved back to the fifth one, trying again to get the lid off, when it still wouldn’t budge she hit it with the crowbar.
“Coloured”
“Lacquer or stain?”
“What’s the difference?” He asked, she stopped and turned to face him, he could see the frustration on her face and was thankful that it wasn’t directed at him, at least not all of it.
“With lacquer I am limited to specific colours, neutrals mostly browns, some greys. With stain, it’s an open pallet. It does take longer, but I can add shading and more detail”
“Then I think stain” she nodded her head and turned back around
“How big, and what shape?” She asked
“That’s the thing I don’t know how big” she was still struggling with the lid, her feet lifting off the bed of the truck to get it open, he climbed into the back of the truck, wrapped his arms around either side of her he took the crowbar in his hands and one fluid movement popped the lid off the crate.
“Thank you” she looked up at him standing over her, she could feel the warmth coming off of him, the sparks and tingles were shooting up her back and down her arms at how close he was to her. She fought to control herself, keep her breathing steady, but he heard the hitch in her breath. He wanted to touch her, run his hands over her, but her rigid posture told him he would get the crowbar she had a death grip on up the side of his head.
She glanced at his lips briefly and then looked away. No Dax, keep it professional, he is now a customer! He could be a very happy customer! You be quiet, I don’t want your help today! She snapped at her subconscious. Being that close to her took everything in Kane’s power not to wrap his arms around her, he could tell she was trying to be professional, but when she looked at him with those eyes he almost lost it. She lingered on his lips, and he could see the wheels turning in her head, but she looked away.
“No touching!” She startled him,
“What?” She moved away from him
“If I agree to this commission, there will be no touching, no kissing, and absolutely no sexual innuendos. Is that understood?” He took a deep breath, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought, it seemed she was ready for war as well.
“I will keep my hands to myself for the most part, I won’t kiss you unless you ask me too, and I will….try to keep the suggestive nature of some of my comments to a minimum” That was the best he was going to offer her. He didn’t want to keep his hands off, he wanted to kiss her and turn her every shade of red imaginable with his suggestive comments. She narrowed her eyes at him, biting her lip, she needed the commission that would have to do.
“Deal, while you are unloading these crates, I am going to get something to eat, I’m starving” she hopped out of the back of the truck, grabbed the bag from her front seat and headed into the warehouse. He just stared after her mouth opened.
As she walked into the warehouse, she saw Johnny, waiting for her. He looked sad, and she realized she didn’t like seeing him like this, she liked a happy Johnny.
“Hungry?” She asked him, he looked up at her and he was very upset.
“I’m sorry!” He whispered. “You are my friend, I didn’t mean to hurt you”
“Johnny….” she started and looked at her feet, trying to figure out how to put into words what she was thinking. “A ton of bricks,” she said.
“What?” He looked at her confused.
“The last few days, it crashed down on me like a ton of bricks. I got….consumed by my thoughts. You are not a bad friend, and I am sorry I insinuated that. Now I am hungry and I bought chocolate pie” she held up the bag for him to see. The smile came back to his face as he walked towards her, taking the bag from her hand as they headed to the break room.
When Kane walked in the sight he saw took his breath away, Johnny was animatedly telling her a story, she was laughing so hard her face was red and she was clutching her sides. He strode over to where they were sitting and perched on the edge of the desk beside her. Johnny looked at him
“Where the fuck have you been?” He asked, still laughing.
“I was unloading crates, very heavy crates from the back of a truck” he calmly said looking at Dax.
“You’re a big guy, you can handle it” She just shrugged and ate a bite of pie.
“So you used me for my muscles!” He feigned shock,
“You trashed my warehouse” she blinked at him, daring him to argue.
“Touché! Please tell me that’s not your lunch” Kane asked looking at the pie.
“Oh but it is” she proudly said as she took another bite.
“You can’t be serious?” He asked in disbelief
“Oh but I am” eating another bite.
“I didn’t believe her either, but she had a valid argument,” Johnny added, eating his own bite. “And it’s really good pie,” he added with a mouthful. Kane looked from his best friend to his mate, absolute shock on his face.
“You two are adults, you both should know better. Chocolate pie is not lunch” He argued
“Exactly, we’re adults. The first 18 years you’re told you can’t do that cause you’re not an adult. So you wait 18 years and become an adult and guess what, that rule no longer applies, you make the rules. So now you have two choices Mr. McKenna, a) you can judge us, secretly wanting the pie while you sit there or b) you can say ‘fuck it’ join us and eat the pie. What’s it gonna be? The choice is yours” she said looking up at him, challenging him, daring him to break the rules. Shaking his head, he gave a half laugh.
“Fuck it, give me the pie” and he held out his hand. She started laughing and gave him the last third.
“Fuck! You son of a bitch, I bet her twenty bucks she couldn’t get you to eat the pie” Johnny cried reaching into his wallet to pay up.
“What can I say, it was a valid argument” Kane said taking a big bite “That is good pie” his mouthful, causing her to laugh again.
Kane and Johnny helped bring the crates inside, even though she said they didn’t have to, she could manage it, but they both insisted. While they were doing that she pulled different sized wooden canvas panels. She wrote down the requirements for the commission Kane ordered but she still needed more, like the size and probably the most important one. She needed to know what he wanted. Lacey had called Johnny and he was busy talking to her on the phone when Kane made his way over to her.
“Which size?” She asked when he stood beside her, he looked at the different sizes and thought about it for a minute.
“I think the big one,” he said. She wrote that down,
“And finally, what do you want the picture to be?” She asked her final question.
“I saw one, a wolf, it was baying at the moon.” He replied. She nodded and searched through her stack of sketchbooks until she located the right one. She started flipping through the pages until she landed on the picture he was talking about. Just the head and the neck of the wolf was visible in the front as the focal point. The moon hung high in the background with a bit of cloud coverage that overlooked a tree lined rock face.
“Do you think there would be enough room to put a second wolf in the front? A mate?” He asked, staring at the sketch.
“A mate?” She looked at him with her eyebrow arched.
“Yeah! Wolves have mates, soul mates, one that is created just for them, and it’s for life. They complete each other, make each other whole. When he’s whole, it makes him stronger, makes his pack stronger. So he howls at the moon, he calls out for her in hopes she’ll howl back so they can find each other. When they howl together, it’s like a song they sing, but only they know the words. No one else can sing that song.” Kane was transfixed by the sketch in her book. It was him, it’s what he’s been doing for the last eight years. He’s been calling out to her and waiting to hear if she’ll call back.
“What happens if…if he doesn’t find her?” She asked,
“One of two things, he can take another mate, a chosen mate, but they won’t be able to sing their song, the bond between them won’t be as strong as the one with his actual mate or….” He paused there,
“What’s the second thing?” She looked from him to the sketch then back to him.
“He’ll die unloved and alone” sadness laced his words.
“How do you know that?” She looked at the sketch
“Um….Discovery Channel” he said looking away blinking back a tear. She wiped a tear from her eye that threatened to fall,
“Ok, I’ll give him a mate” she whispered and looked away so he wouldn’t see her tears. Listening to him describe how important a mate was, filled her with emotion, she was eager to start sketching. He looked at her, at his mate. She was fighting to keep control of herself, like he was. Did she ‘howl’ at the moon as well hoping someone would hear her?
After exchanging numbers with her and saying she would call him when she had something for him to look at, though he had no intention of waiting for her to call, he would see her again before that. Kane walked out of the warehouse, he couldn’t believe he was so raw with her. The first time he saw the lone wolf sketch it hit him hard. It was like looking in a mirror, he waited years for his mate, howling at the moon listening for her to call back, but she never did. He thought he was destined to be unloved and alone. He would only consider a chosen mate for the good of his pack, but he would rather be alone if he couldn’t have the one that was created for him. He will admit, he lost hope of ever finding her, he had looked everywhere for her, then he smelled her at the art show, Johnny had to talk him down before he ripped through there trying to find her. Might have freaked a few people out, but he would have found her. He was lost in thought the whole drive back to the house.
“HEY! Kane, earth to Kane. Where are you brother?” Johnny asked.
“What?” Kane blinked at him.
“What’s up?” Johnny asked, concern washing over his face as he looked at him.
“Just lost in thought” he said,
“About what?” Johnny inquired
“If I never found her” Kane looked out the window and watched the trees whip by in a blur. That made Johnny quiet for a moment.
“Would you have chosen?” He asked
“For the good of the pack and a possible heir yes, but she would never have been my mate” Johnny just nodded, it was times like this he was thankful he wasn’t the Alpha, the choices his friend had to make since he took control of the Blood Howlers when his parents died from a rogue attack must weigh heavy on his heart. He knew Kane at one point gave up on ever finding his mate, that was a tough year, they saw a lot of bloodshed as Ky ripped his way through the upper eastern states. Johnny knew he was lucky to have found Lacey at 16, most wolves do. But it took his friend 8 years to find her, he can’t say he wouldn’t have given up hope if the roles were reversed.
“Well you found her now, so don’t fuck it up” Johnny grinned,
“Right! No pressure or anything,” Kane said, looking out the window again.