The Alpha Wants Everything Book 1 The King's Queen

Kane woke around two in the morning to an empty bed, he blinked a few times to bring the room into view. Sitting up he looked around the room. Where the fuck is she this time? He thought. Stretching out his back he got out of the bed, and looked in the closet first. Maybe she got hungry? Came Ky’s groggy voice. Maybe! He walked towards the bedroom door before he realized he was only in his underwear, pulling a pair of jeans on quickly he stepped into the hallway and was about to walk towards the stairs at the end of the hall when a light caught his eye. A small smile played on his lips. She was still in the attic. So much for not being up there long. He had a feeling he would find her up there a lot, judging by how excited she was when she first saw it. He quickly moved up the attic stairs to find her sleeping at one of the desks. Taking a quick look at the sketch she was working on, she had added something new to the lovers by the tree, she was now wearing bunny ears and he was dressed as a wolf, including a tail. His smile getting bigger, oh he definitely will be disappointed if this didn’t grace the walls of their bedroom, it was perfect. He flipped the page to see the same couple walking hand in hand through the forest, the only difference was she had a bunny tail on. He wanted this one on the walls as well. The more he flipped through her sketchbook the more he liked what he saw. An intimate kiss, an affectionate embrace, a gentle caress across her delicate cheek.

This was starting to feel familiar to him. Some of the sketches he was seeing were scenes from their life. Flipping back to the beginning of the book he looked at them again, their first kiss on the sidewalk, carrying her to the warehouse after her knee gave out. The night he scared her when he raised his voice and he held her in his arms. The more he flipped and looked the more he saw their life through her eyes, the more he saw the fear dissipate and the love between them growing. The night he claimed her as his, was the night she gave herself over to it, he wasn’t going anywhere and she didn’t want him too. When he realized she had almost filled the sketchbook with her drawings he was surprised. He’d have to pick her up some new ones. Turning off the lights, he scooped her into his arms and brought her back down to their room, their bed. Wrapping her in his embrace kissing her head a smile gracing his lips as she snuggled in close.

“I love you” she mumbled and drifted back into sleep.

“I love you too, little mouse” he whispered into the dark holding her to him.

Kane woke a few hours later to the familiar weight on his chest. The rays of the sun sneaking in through the cracks in the curtains he got a better look at her. Maybe he should have cleaned her up first before he brought her to bed. She had smudges of black all over her face and up her arm, he too now had them on him. Oops! Art was messy, he’d clean her up in the shower again and they would see the doctor before breakfast. Then she and Marco had their lunch date with Donny. Maybe he would meet them in town and he would pick up some more things for her art studio, get her to make him a list of the things she will need, maybe he would get her to do that at breakfast and give him something to do today that wasn’t obsessing about the two nut jobs and the approaching Blue Moon. Focus on something more normal? Exactly, it would be refreshing! They could meet at the warehouse and he would spend the day with her around town, picking out some furniture for the attic. Then maybe they could go out for dinner, they never did get their date. The pink dress was too much for lunch, but he could bring it with him, and they could head back to the warehouse where she could change into it. This was sounding like a good day to him, though he knew she wouldn’t want to stay away from her new studio for long, they needed a normal day.

Kissing her head, he held her close to him until he felt her starting to stir.

“Good morning beautiful! Guess where I found you!” Her head popped up and she looked at him with a smile pulling at her lips.

“Oops!” Was all Dax could say,

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” He asked, trying to hide the chuckle that was threatening him. The black smudges on her face were worse than he thought. Guess that’s what happens when you fall asleep with it on your hands.

“I was working on a sketch and it consumed me, and I lost track of time and I put my head down for a second. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to” she bit her lip as she looked at him, she really didn’t mean to fall asleep, she had every intention of coming back downstairs but she got lost in the sketch she was working on.

“Oh little mouse, I’m not mad. I saw the sketch you were working on. The couple with the tails, I would be disappointed if it didn’t grace our walls, and the one with the oak tree.” he replied brushing her hair out of her face.

“Really!? Cause they’re my favourite” it was both a question and a statement, but her face lit up when he said he liked them as well.

“Truly, it reminds me of us. This is our room and the art we put in it should embody us. There’s a few others I like as well, but not for this room, maybe my office.” she smiled brighter at him then furrowed her brow.

“Hmmm” she replied looking lost in thought

“What are you thinking about?” He asked,

“How much I should charge you?” She replied. She squealed out with laughter when he started tickling her and rolled her onto her back. He kissed down her jaw to her neck, resting on one arm as his other hand moved down her body.

“Would spending the whole day with me cover the cost?” He asked as he moved his mouth lower.

“Really? The whole day, but I have lunch with the hellspawn today” she asked,

“It’s one hour out of the day” he replied, kissing back up her neck.

“Then yes I think spending the day with you will cover the cost” she wrapped her arm around his neck as he lifted her up with him when he got up from the bed.

“Then I think I’d like to start our day with a shower.” he replied, moving them towards the bathroom.

Showered, dressed and heading towards the medical ward to talk to the doctor, they walked hand in hand. The bell around her ankle jingled with every step she took. They would walk past other pack members and he could see them fighting to hold back their laughter as her little jingle bell announced her arrival into any room. They all seemed to fully understand why she was wearing it, but it was funny nonetheless. She was becoming more and more familiar with names and said hi to a lot of people.

“Good morning Luna!” a smile spread across her face as she recognized the voices.

“Morning Magda, morning Katalina” she replied back,

“Girl we’re tired of those ears” Magda said cutting straight to the chase,

“Oh!” Dax arched her eyebrow as she looked back and forth between the two of them. Kane tried to hide the grin on his face.

“Pick a colour!” Katalina said,

“Pick a colour?” Dax asked, repeating what was just said to her.

“Yes, pick a colour, any colour” Magda repeated,

“Purple, dark purple” Dax said, big smiles spread across Katalina and Magda’s faces and they looked to their Alpha for permission. He nodded his head, curious as to what they were up to.

They pulled the ears off her head and the tail from around her waist. Replacing them with a dark purple tail and dark purple ears, with a shimmery center. Katalina fixed her hair to cover the headband and it now looked like the ears were coming out of her head. A grin spread across Kane’s face when he saw her. She looked behind her seeing the purple tail, her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

“Traitors!” She stated when she looked at them

“We have a whole bag” Katalina and Magda giggled as they held it up for her to see. She shook her head at them. They ran off laughing yelling bye over their shoulders, telling her she had to come back to the salon soon.

“Look what you let them do to me, I’m now a purple eared bunny with a jingle bell” she said looking at him.

“I’m not sorry!” Kane pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. “I’m wondering what other colours they have”

“I have a feeling I’ll be finding out for the rest of the week.” Dax stated, pressing her lips to his again.

“Let’s go see the doctor, get some breakfast, and we’ll meet the others in the office, go over the plan for lunch and then there’s somewhere I’d like to take you, you’ll want to bring your camera,” He said as he continued to lead them towards the medical ward.

Sitting in one of the cold rooms waiting for the doctor to show up, Dax tried to ward off the shiver that threatened to run up her back.

“Why are these rooms always so bloody cold, would it kill anybody to turn on some fucking heat down here? I’m gonna turn into a popsicle” she huffed, wrapping her arms around herself. Kane wrapped his arms around her as well to help keep her warm. He found the room quite comfortable, but his body ran hotter than hers.

“I don’t know, baby! But a Daxsicle sounds enticing” he whispered into her ear, with visions of running his tongue over her body flooding his mind. Maybe that was something they could do later.

“Horny mountain wolf!” She giggled,

“Stop saying things that make me horny” she tilted her head back to look up at him and he took the opportunity to kiss her. A knock came to the door, before things could get too heated between them and a slight blush spread across her cheeks. She knows what kissing her does to him, once he starts he doesn’t want to stop. Forcing his lips away from hers he moved to open the door.

“Good morning Alpha, Luna! How are you doing today?” The doctor asked as he walked into the room.

“Why are these rooms always cold?” She asked, the doctor laughed and shook his head.

“They’re actually not, they are designed to make it comfortable for a werewolf to be in here. Our bodies run hotter than humans and if we kept the rooms warmer, then I would have very angry wolves on my hands, every time they had to come here.” the doctor explained,

“Oh!” Was all she could say. She guessed that made sense, she wasn’t a real werewolf, so the rooms will always be cold to her. Yet! We’re not a real werewolf yet! Her wolf corrected her.

“Let’s take a look shall we” she nodded her head and turned to face him so he could check her forehead. He pulled the bandage and his eyes widened slightly.

“Interesting!” He said and he made notes in her file,

“How’s the vision in your left eye?” He asked,

“A lot better! Not such blurry blobs, more out of focus, but sharper” She responded,

“Hmmm!” Kane looked at the doctor questioning, he was usually more talkative than this.

“And your headaches?” He asked,

“I haven’t had one since yesterday” she replied, he wrote more in her chart and then he asked her to turn around so he could see her back. She looked up at Kane and he shrugged but helped her remove her shirt so he could see. Removing the bandage from her back his eyes shot wide.

“Fascinating!” He said, looking at her back. She again looked at Kane, concern building in her.

“What is so interesting and fascinating?” Kane asked,

“You might want to see this,” the doctor replied. Kane moved around to stand behind her and see her back.

“What am I looking at?” Kane asked, he saw a giant stitched diagonal line down her back.

“It’s healing….rapidly. These stitches can come out tomorrow” The doctor replied, “You’ll still need to be careful as any bumps can cause the wound to reopen, but they can come out.” The doctor said,

“How is that possible? I just saw her back yesterday” Kane asked, looking at the doctor.

“Luna, do you feel restless? Especially at night” The doctor asked her, instead of answering Kane’s question.

“Sometimes!” She replied, looking over her shoulder at Kane and then the doctor.

“A lot of the time, she’s restless at night.” Kane responded

“Your wolf is trying to wake up, this explains the headaches you’ve been getting. Between trying to wake her up and the more she is around others, the more she is starting to remember what she is and the stronger she is becoming.” the doctor said “Just be careful, don’t push yourself too hard. I think that is what caused your headaches, you need to slow down.” he cautioned her, she nodded.

“I want to do an eye exam, and run some x-rays tomorrow to see how your fractures and breaks are healing.” Dax nodded again, she didn’t trust herself to say anything. This was good news, now Kane doesn’t have to bite her. Truthfully she was starting to lose hope that that might be the only way to wake her up, she would slow down on what she was doing, but she wouldn’t stop. She wasn’t a real werewolf yet, but she will be one. She belongs to this world, she was fighting to belong in this world. Everything the doctor said to her after that she didn’t hear. Her wolf was waking up and she was gonna get to have a bath. It’s the little things! It really is! What scent are you going to try first? I don’t know there’s so many! Maybe a bubble bath, with rain and winter pine! That sounds good! Or oils, jasmine and magnolia might smell nice together! Apple blossom and lavender! When Dax heard Kane laughing she looked over her shoulder again at them.

“What?” She asked,

“Did you hear anything the doctor said to you?” He asked in return,

“Umm! No!” She could lie and say she was listening, but the look of amusement on Kane’s face said she was totally busted.

“I will fill her in and make sure she listens to orders, I think you lost her at, the stitches can come out.” Kane said, thanking the doctor. They watched him leave and she grinned at him.

“I get to have a bath” she whispered, if she said it too loud it might not happen.

“What scents are you going to try first?” Kane asked her as he put the bandage back on.

“I was just discussing that,” she replied.

“You can’t have a bath till Friday, after the stitches have been out for 24 hours. He also thinks you need to sleep more, your wolf seems to be more active at night with the moon, so he says nap during the day, when you start to feel tired. I’m all for napping” Kane helped her put her shirt back on.

“I don’t nap when you’re around, I end up naked instead” she looked up at him. Wrapping her in his arms he held her close to him,

“You could end up naked right now” he brushed his lips over hers and a grin spread across her face. The idea had merit, but his stomach had other plans, and decided to voice itself. She broke out laughing as hers joined in.

“Maybe breakfast first,” he pressed his lips to hers and helped her off the table.

“Maybe!” She said,

“Naked napping later” he added, giving her bottom a quick smack causing her to squeak.

“You’ll have to give me a list of what else you’re going to need for your art studio” he said to her as they walked back through the house. Before she could say anything, he added “Keep in mind, the attic might be big, but you only get half of it” Dax looked up at him, the wheels in her head turning. Half was still plenty big enough, she could paint, draw, use her resin, pottery….no not pottery no place for a kiln, well maybe a small one, glass blowing was out, so was woodworking, maybe her pendulum. She was starting to get excited all over again.

“Easy little mouse this is what kept you up last night, and the doctor said you need to take it easy and relax” Kane cautioned,

“When did he say that?” She didn’t remember him saying that, she looked up at him, her brows furrowing

“While you were dreaming of a bath” Kane replied,

“Oh!” Oooo woodburning can go! Watching her smile get bigger and bigger the more things she thought about made his get bigger as well. He should have done this weeks ago, she might have stayed out of trouble. Don’t count on it! Ky laughed in his head. He had to agree, she seemed to find trouble no matter how hard she tried to stay out of it.

Getting their breakfast and heading to the office they found the others waiting for them to go over what was happening today.

“New ears?” Johnny asked, laughing when he saw the dark purple ears on her head.

“Katalina and Magda got her on the way to the doctors, apparently they have a whole bag of different colours to put on her.” Kane replied laughing as he saw the look on her face.

“She’s got a matching tail” Damon broke out laughing. The others in the room tried to hide their amusement at the thought of her running around wearing different coloured ears and tails for the rest of the week.

“You should have made them dress up like cats anyway. A Johnny cat running around the house would have been funny, and Lydia would love to have a pretty paws” she said, sitting down in his lap at the desk. Kenneth and Carter cracked up at the looks on their faces, while Marco kept his head down trying to hide his laughter.

“Maybe next time I lose a bet, that’s what I’ll do, my little purple eared bunny” Kane said, smirking at them, she kept a smile on her face as she wiggled her nose. Serves them right for laughing at her! He thought.

“But I think we can come up with a better name for Johnny then Johnny cat, considering mine would have been Twinkletoes von Fur Foot” Kane added, her eyes lit up

“Mr. Whiskers the WiggleBottom” Dax smiled bigger at the horrified look on Johnny’s face.

“Did you make another bet? You asshole, did you make another bet with her?” Kane had to duck his head behind her shoulder, he was laughing too hard at how upset this was making him. The office erupted into laughter, and all Kane could do was shake his head.

“Don’t you dare lose anymore bets, I will not answer to Whiskers the Wiggle anything” Johnny warned him,

“I’ll take pretty paws and get damn secure with being a fucking cat, if it means I don’t have to have that as my name.” Damon choked out as he continued laughing.

“What is the plan today?” Kenneth asked, drawing attention away from the previous conversation. Kane had given her a pad of paper and a pen and she was making a list of things she would need for the art studio.

“Dax and Marco will go on their pending playdate, gather what information they can, Carter will be across the street waiting for a signal if need be and to keep an eye on them. I would prefer lunch done in an hour. They will meet at the warehouse, and Carter and Marco are free to carry on with the rest of their day. We will all meet back in the office after dinner.” Kane stated, as he watched her write more.

“You and feisty pants aint coming back with them?” Damon asked, trying to take a look at what she was doing.

“No, we are spending the day together. We all deserve a few days of normal” Kane replied,

“What the fuck is normal?” Johnny asked, laughing

“I agree with Johnny, I’m not sure we can normal, but I’m all for giving it a shot” Damon said.

“If that is what I think it is, that’s too big, and you’re not doing that in the house” He said looking down at her list. What’s a whooshy whooshy bucket thing? Ky asked, Kane could hear the confusion in his voice. Clearly she is a little too excited and forgot the name of the pendulum! Yeah, that’s not happening in the house! No, it’s not! She looked up at him, then down at her list.

“Ok!” Maybe the one at the warehouse was too big for the attic. Maybe she could build a smaller one.

“Outside!” He said over her shoulder.

“What’s a whooshy whooshy bucket thing?” Damon asked, looking at what she was doing.

“Isn’t that the thing she swings paint from?” Johnny asked,

“Like a pendulum?” Kenneth added,

“Yes, it’s too big and she’s not doing it in the house, even if she builds a smaller one” He replied looking down at her.

“What are you two doing?” Johnny asked,

“I cleaned out a portion of the attic to make an art studio, should have been done a week ago, she might not have caused as much trouble.” Kane said, grinning when he felt her huff against his chest. They all tried to hide their amusement at that.

“No, she’d still find trouble” they all looked towards Carter with wide eyed expressions,

“Carter! I’m not that bad” She said,

“Sorry Luna! That just popped out, but they put a bell on you, I don’t think you can make that claim anymore, and I’m really hoping they don’t take it off.” He said looking at her, he was just as surprised by what he said as everyone else. The room erupted into laughter, Kane ducked his head behind her, he had to hold her tighter to him to stop from knocking her to the floor with his laughter.

“Give the boy a rank and look what happens” Damon howled out.

“You should get that tattooed on your arm” Johnny said to Kane between fits of laughter,

“Followed by I can explain on the other one” Kane laughed back, making them all laugh harder. Maybe she caused a little trouble, not a lot. Who are you trying to fool? You be quiet! Right next to combative, trouble should be your middle name as well! You helped! Hey! Don’t throw stones Wolfie! She could hear her snickering in her head.

Their mini meeting in the office broke up and she went upstairs to get her camera and sneakers. She met him at the bottom and they went for a walk in the woods. She snapped photos along the way, she would also need a printer and her old tablet set up, up there so she could make pictures out of the photos she took. He brought her to a secluded area, a meadow of beautiful wildflowers, beyond that was a grove of large weeping willows showing the way to a small sandy beach. She could hear the lake lapping the shore and the sound welcomed her into the meadow. Her eyes were mesmerized by the sights she saw before her. The birds cheerfully chirped their songs as the sun shone down upon them. He watched her take in all the sights and sounds that were around her. He liked coming here, it was peaceful, it’s calm, it’s quiet. Before he found her this was where he would come to find calm.

“My father used to bring my mother here all the time” He spoke, she looked at him.

“It’s beautiful!” She said as she continued to look around. Positioning her camera to her eye, she started snapping photos, capturing purple, red and pink flowers. Bluebells and daisies, busy bees moving from flower to flower, floating butterflies. The willow branches dancing on the breeze. When he wasn’t looking she’d snapped a few pictures of him as well.

“It’s almost time to leave for your playdate little mouse” she was about to protest, when he added that they could come back as often as she wanted. Holding his hand out for her, they walked back out of the meadow, she spared one more glance at it over her shoulder, a million thoughts coming to her mind, and the one at the forefront, was watching their children run through it. Where did that thought come from? Umm….don’t look at me, I didn’t put it there!

“Tesoro, pronto per il nostro appuntamento di gioco? (ready for our playdate?)” Marco asked as he met them just outside the garage with Carter.

“Maybe he’ll forget and we’ll just get lunch” Kane couldn’t help but laugh at the hopeful note in her voice.

“Si può sperare (One could hope)” Marco replied, Kane was hoping Marco would forget and they wouldn’t be going, but he seems to have all his faculties about him today. Taking the camera bag from her and helping her into the truck he gave her a quick kiss and told them all to behave themselves. Though the warning was more for her then Marco or Carter, they all nodded their heads.

“Behave!” Kane called again as he watched the truck pull away.

“No promises!” She called back out the window.

Marco dropped Carter two blocks from the diner and he made his way to the square where he could find a spot to watch the diner but not look obvious. Kane wanted to put a few wolves in the diner, but she told him that was overboard and he needed to calm down. It was just lunch, in the diner, with Glenda and Murray keeping a watchful eye. When she put it like that, he realized that they were going to be fine, Glenda and Murray wouldn’t let anything happen to them. Besides, Donny was human and Marco was a wolf, a slightly neurotic wolf, but a wolf nonetheless. When they walked into the diner, they saw Donny waiting for them in one of the booths. He didn’t look up at them at first, but when he did a pleasant smile crossed his face. They gave him a smile in return and headed towards his booth, the other patrons in the diner fell silent as they passed their tables. She took a quick glance at Glenda behind the counter, and saw Murray watching from the kitchen. She felt safer knowing they were there to keep an eye on things as well.

****

He watched her walk towards him, the dark purple ears on her head popped against the white of her hair and the jingle bell she wore around her ankle was music to his ears. He would never allow her to take it off. He watched her scan the diner looking at the faces of the other patrons. Her bodyguard was on high alert for any danger, he was thankful that the tall one was smart enough to keep such a treasure protected at all times. His eyes moved up and down her body, taking in every sight of her. The way her hips swayed from side to side effortlessly. He didn’t like the injuries he was seeing, did the car further injure her arm as well. Last time he saw her it was just around the wrist, now the cast moved further up her arm ending past her elbow. Anger filled him at the memory of the way she flew over top of the car. If he could kill Kent all over again he would. He wanted to make him pay, to make him suffer for what he did, the stupid, stupid idiot. By the time he got to him he was blind with rage, filled with it that he just hit him and didn’t stop till Kent stopped moving. Thinking now he should have done so much worse to him to make him suffer. He wished he did, he deserved it.

****

“Hi Donny, how are you doing?” Dax greeted him when they stopped at his table, drawing him from his thoughts. He held the grimace, he had to keep up the ruse, but he wanted his angel to know him and call him by his name. He’s imagined several times the way it would sound coming from her and he couldn’t wait to hear it.

“All things considered, I’m doing as well as can be expected. Please sit down” Donny greeted them, keeping his smile on his face. The hair on the back of her neck bristled, and she fought off the shiver that wanted to rip down her back. She slid into the booth, doing a quick scan of the diner again before she turned her focus to Donny.

“This is my friend” Dax introduced, Marco to Donny

“Ciao, sono Marco” Marco looked at him, he extended his hand and Donny hesitated, but accepted it.

“My mother never told me your name” Donny replied, watching Marco as he took his seat next to her.

“She never asked, actually” Dax explained,

“Figures, she’ll do that” Donny mumbled, she furrowed her brows a bit, that was an odd thing to say. She thought he had a better relationship with his mom than that. Seemed like he did anyway.

“Are you sure you’re doing ok Donny?” When he looked up at her, he saw the look of concern on her face and his heart blossomed, his angel truly cared. He knew she would care for him, she was created for him, his gift. The only one that would ever care for him.

“Still processing actually, I don’t think it’s hit me yet. E….my mother has had me pretty busy helping make arrangements and phoning relatives and friends, I haven’t had a lot of time to dwell on it.” Donny responded, she nodded,

“Were….eri vicino a tuo padre? (were you close to your father?)” Marco asked. Dax put her phone on the table with the translation app open so Donny could understand what he was saying.

“Step-father!” Donny corrected him,

“Mi dispiace, non sapevo (I’m sorry, I didn’t know!)” Marco apologized,

“It’s alright. He saw me for me, he was the only one that saw me sometimes.” Again her brows furrowed, it didn’t seem like they had a good relationship, judging by the things she’s overheard both Donny and Mr. Morganson say about each other. Maybe they had a better relationship in private. Or maybe she overheard them on off days, everybody has them.

“Mi dispiace per la tua perdita, amico. (I’m sorry for your loss, friend!)” Marco said,

“Do you have a good relationship with your dad?” Donny asked Marco,

“Mio padre muore 13 anni fa, ma si l’ho fatto (My father died 13 years ago, but yes I did)” Marco replied,

“Oh, sorry I didn’t know” Donny looked down at the table, he didn’t want to like this bodyguard, but they seemed to have some things in common. Kent was the closest thing to a father he had, his idiot brother had Erin and he had Kent, and then Kent lied to him and he killed him.

“Va bene, questa è la vita” Marco said to him,

“That’s life! You’re speaking Italian?” Donny asked,

“Sì, mio padre non aveva molte regole, pensava fosse bello conoscere il nostro passato, e ci imprecava molto in italiano. Vogliamo sapere cosa dice, impariamo (Yes, my father didn’t have many rules, he thought it was nice to know our past and he cursed us a lot in Italian. We want to know what he says, we learn)” Marco replied,

“We?” Donny asked,

“Sì, io e mio fratello, Niccola, siamo morti 7 anni fa (Yes, my brother and I, Niccola, died 7 years ago)” Marco replied,

“Tragic!” was the only thing Donny could say, maybe he should have killed his brother. He threatened to, in order to get him to leave when he showed up a year ago and took over his life, but it might have been better to just end him. His life was pathetic, he was mommy’s little bitch boy, and he fucked some bleach blonde strumpet, who makes his angel’s life hell for the fun of it. He had no idea why his brother would fuck her, she wasn’t even a good lay. He felt dirty after he did it, and swore he’d never touch the whore again.

“Are you ok? The sheriff said you were the ones that found him like that.” Donny asked as he looked at her. He didn’t want to talk to the bodyguard, he wanted to talk to his angel. Marco and Dax shared a look and Donny watched as a small pink blush spread across the bridge of her nose. He was mesmerized by the colour, how perfectly it suited her angelic face.

“We might have freaked out a little bit” She replied, Marco just nodded.

“Well that’s understandable, it must have been terrifying. But I don’t understand something, the sheriff said Kent rented unit 217. Why would you open it?” Donny asked, looking at her, furrowing his brows.

“I was looking at storage units and the manager said I could open the ones that didn’t have a lock on them and it didn’t….it didn’t have a lock, so we opened it” She said, her skin slightly pale at the memory of the smell and the sight of the box. He wanted to reach across the table and hold her hand, but she kept her good one in her lap.

“Why were you interested in the storage units?” Donny asked, he was now growing concerned. What if she was no longer ever going to come to town? What if she was going to stay permanently wherever she was and he’d never see her again? What if he lost his chance? His heart started to hurt at the thought of never being able to see her again.

“I wanted to rearrange the warehouse around a bit, and it’s easier to do that when there is no product in there. I was looking to rent some to store it, but now I think I’ll wait….until never. I don’t think I’ll be going back to the storage units in the next foreseeable ever.” She replied, relief flooded through him. She was not shutting down and staying wherever she was.

“Sorry you had to be the one to find him,” Donny said to her.

With the last of his paperwork out of the way, Kane pushed himself away from his desk. He was mentally kicking himself for putting it off for so long, but it was done now and he still had some time to kill before he had to meet Dax and Marco at the warehouse. Maybe he would tackle more of the attic. He walked out of the office to find Johnny sitting in the kitchen staring at a bottle of whiskey on the breakfast bar.

“Having one or having another?” Kane asked from behind him.

“Thinking about it” Johnny never turned around. Kane sat beside him at the island and he too stared at the bottle.

“I’m a mate kinda guy, that was the one thing I wanted when we were little. And I got screwed” Kane just nodded, Johnny always wanted his mate, they had several conversations about it. Sure he dated and screwed around, but he always wanted his mate.

“I had a mate, but now I don’t. I never questioned anything the Moon Goddess did. If she paired you with someone, that was your forever. So what the fuck happened? How did my forever get so fucked up? Was I not good enough? What did I do wrong?” Johnny asked,

“Nothing brother, you did nothing wrong. She fucked up and threw forever away for some strange tail. She wasn’t good enough for you” Kane replied,

“Damon got a second chance for fuck sakes, only took 8 years. Maybe I’ll get one too. And I got my child” Johnny nodded his head, yet he still continued to stare at the bottle.

“Thinking of taking Damon up on his little black book?” Kane asked arching an eyebrow,

“I’m a mate kinda guy, but….” Johnny started to say,

“No one would say anything brother” Kane said,

“I’m fucking bored too. Damon’s with Lydia, Kenneth’s with Seraphine, finished all my paperwork and put the nursery together.” Johnny huffed,

“Should we have set you up on a playdate?” Kane asked, a grin spreading onto his face when Johnny glared at him.

“She might cause shit, but at least things are entertaining” Johnny replied, Kane had to admit doing the mundane normal shit he had to do was boring as fuck. He almost fell asleep twice completing all his paperwork.

“What did we do before her?” Johnny asked looking at him,

“Normal shit!” Kane replied,

“Normal fucking sucks!” Johnny shot back.

“You’re going to be a dad, you might miss normal and boring things when you’re up every night with a crying baby.” Kane countered,

“And I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, besides if the baby gets to be too much I’ll just drop them off with you for a few hours.” This time Johnny laughed when Kane glared at him.

Kane opened his mouth to say something, but Johnny cut him with a look.

“We don’t need to discuss that, I’ll do what I gotta do, but I don’t need to worry about it, cause we’ll figure this out.” Johnny said. With the Blue Moon fastly approaching and being no closer to figuring out what the tragedy was, they never discussed the possibility of not completing the third trial. They were banking on Magnus killing White being the tragedy, but with Kent potentially being White and turning up dead in a box, that wasn’t it.

“I’m going to clean more of the attic before I have to meet Dax and Marco” Kane got up from the island, and Johnny looked at him, getting up as well.

“What the fuck else am I gonna do?” He said, shrugging.