A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 16

"She's a really sweet kid, Lexi," he smiles as I walk back in my room from putting her in her bed.

"She is, and she took a liking to you," I beam and he sits up.

"It was meant to be," he adds, sincerely.

"Come, sit. Let's get this whole situation figured out, it's stressing me out," he says with a pat on my bed. I sit, and I tell him about how I don't want to just uproot Molly's life. "She has an aunt and uncles here, and she has little friends. It's just hard," I admit.

"I get that, but at the end of the day, whether you prolong it or rip the band-aid off, it's still going to be a drastic change and adjustment for her. I know I don't want to be away from you, but if you're not ready, or if you don't think it's what's best for Molly, I'll wait... very impatiently, but I will," he confesses with a small smile.

The fact he's so sweet just makes it even harder to think about staying away from him. "Okay, so what does moving to Black Moon look like? Where would we stay?"

"Well, I'm not sure what you're comfortable with. At our pack, I don't live in the packhouse. I live in a house beside the packhouse. I live there alone, it has 5 bedrooms. I would like it if you both would live there with me, but if you're not comfortable, then I can set you up in a house on the packlands." His green eyes are staring at me intently, trying to figure me out, and what I'm thinking. "And if you live in my house with me, you can still have your own room, if that's what you want," he adds. "And Molly?" I ask.

"She'll have a room of her own, of course... So?" he asks.

"So what?"

"Do you want to live together or apart?"

I can tell he is nervous about my reply. "I think it would be pointless to live separately, I don't think it would stick," I smirk. His megawatt smile is so beautiful. He moves in and gives me a little kiss.

"I'm so happy to hear you say that. I don't want to live apart from you," he adds.

"So the big question... When?" He presses. He's looking at me with such tender eyes.

"Why don't you let me sleep on it, and I'll let you know tomorrow?" "Sure," he agrees.

I asked lots of questions about Black Moon. I found out they have a child care center too, and I got lots of information about Jack's pack in general. Black Moon is a large pack as well, and they are probably the only pack as big and strong as Cold Moon. Jack insists they're the strongest. It'd be a safe place for Molly, and it sounds like it'll be a great place to live. It has a large park on the packlands, a splash pad, and also a lake where the pack gets together for parties and BBQS in the summer.

It sounds great, but I'll really miss my family and friends. I see Jack looking at me, and the way he's looking at me, makes me feel so beautiful and loved. I scoot closer to him and slowly place my lips on his. He kisses me slowly and passionately. It makes me feel weak in the knees. I pull his shirt, as I lay down, taking him with me. I feel a mind-link coming through,

-Lex, Sophie's at the door for you, I'm leaving for a few minutes but she's in the house waiting.- Lev tells me.

I break the kiss and groan "I'll be back," I tell him. I walk downstairs, and I see Sophie standing at my front door.

"Hey, Sophie, what's up?"

"Are you seriously going to act all innocent with me? You steal my man, and then you talk to me like everything is peachy," she asks, her tone laced with anger and disgust.

"He's my mate Sophie, I didn't plan this," I try and stay calm. I remind myself of who her father and brother are, and that I can't lose it on her a*s for talking about my man like this.

"Sure... Maybe that's why you didn't make me a better fighter. You planned this all along. And look at your neck. You're such a slut."

"First off, I didn't plan this. Second of all, your ability to fight is based on the work you put in. You went to group classes, and one-on-one classes, but you refused to take it seriously, and you paid the price for it. As for the hickey, let's be honest, if Jack gave it to you, you'd be wearing it with pride. You're just bitter, you need to move on." I say calmly but firmly.

"Bitter? Maybe I am. He's mine!" She raises her voice, and I'm starting to not care who her family is.

"NO, he's not." I raise my voice.

"What? Do you think he's yours? You're a Gamma's daughter. There is some sort of mistake. You can't be mated to Jack, he's supposed to be with me." She's pissing me off, but before I can respond, I hear Jack's deep voice cut through the tension.

"I'm hers, and she is mine," he says firmly while walking down the stairs. The sight of my sexy mate, coming down the stairs and declaring our claim on each other has me beaming with pride... and [**t.

"Jack, I didn't know you were here. Baby, can we go for a walk and talk? I think there is a mistake," she uses a cutesy voice. Instantly, I want to kill her.

"Call him Baby one more time and see what happens," I growl. She takes a step back from me and Jack wraps his arm around my waist.

"Listen, and listen carefully. I knew I couldn't be with you before I even found out Lexi was my mate. You're selfish and spoiled, so stop blaming her. There is nothing between us. There never was. Leave my mate alone, and go home, you're embarrassing yourself," he orders, calmly.

Her face is red. If she wasn't embarrassed before, she is now. She shoots me a dirty look, probably trying to mask the embarrassment, and hesitantly leaves.

As soon as the door closes, "I like seeing you all possessive and jealous," he whispers in my ear, while still holding me close. He nips at my neck and then leans in to kiss me. I smile into the kiss, feeling my cheeks burn with a pink of their own. Our kiss went from sweet to hot very quickly, and then I heard the door open beside me. I break the kiss, and look over at a disgusted Lev, "Gross, Lex!" He groans. Lev quickly runs upstairs, trying to get away from the image that seems to have burned his eyes.

"I should go," Jack whispers.

"Don't go, stay the night," I ask sweetly.

Our foreheads are touching and we have our arms wrapped around each other. "Things seem to escalate quickly with us, and I don't think it's a good idea," he says quietly.

"What if you just sleep here, and I promise not to even kiss you, so we don't lose control. We can just sleep together? Just cuddle and talk?" I ask. I did use the sweetest possible voice I could muster, and I did stoop so low as to use puppy dog eyes. But it worked, so I have no remorse. His face slowly starts to soften, and then he groans. I can't even help it. I chuckle and pull him close into my arms. I'm falling so hard for him.

I pull him upstairs, and when we get to my room I close the door. "Don't close the door," Jack instructs me.

"You're not going to sleep in all those clothes, you'll probably just sleep in your underwear, so I should still close the door," I tell him. Part of me thinks maybe it's too soon to have s*x with him, and another part of me really wants to jump him. So maybe I'm setting us up for failure by telling him to get down to his underwear, but I'm okay with that.

"I'm not going to sleep in my underwear, Lexi," he tells me with one eyebrow raised.

"Why not?"

"Because that's a recipe for disaster," he states.

"Disaster?" I smirk.

"You know what I mean," he responds.

"Well you won't sleep well in jeans, so how about we both turn around, and I'll get my PJ's on, and you can take off your pants and then get into bed, and I won't look," I tell him. You'd think this conversation would be the other way around. "Fine, but I'm keeping my shirt on," he remarks.

"Fine!" I agree, but I wish he would take it off. We both turn around, and I get naked and put on a navy blue camisole and navy blue shorts.

"Are you done?" He asks, waiting to be able to turn around.

"Yup," I agree. I turn around and he does the same. I see his eyes scanning my body, and I do the same to him, even though I told him I wouldn't look. I see the bulge in his boxer briefs and it's big.

"f**k, Lex... Put something else on," he groans.

"Why?" I ask.

"That's too sexy, I can see... too much," he says while biting his lip. Okay the way he's looking at me turns me on.

"This isn't even sexy. I would wear this around the house in front of my brother," I remark.

"Well, that's wildly inappropriate!"

"What's sexy about this?"

"Are you serious?" He asks and I nod, wide-eyed.

"Well, I can see the shape of all your body," he tells me, but I see his eyes land on my chest for a second. I'm guessing the no bra, and thin tank top is what he's referring to.

"Is it just the top that bothers you?" I ask, with a smirk. I'm trying to contain how giddy it makes me, knowing that I have this effect on this gorgeous man.

"It doesn't bother me. It's just, I... It's distracting," he admits and I smile.

"Ok, I'll put a different shirt on... or do you just want me to wear a bra?" I ask.

"Either, or both." I turn around, and grab a baggy grey t-shirt, and change my top.

"Better?"

་་།

I guess. Just get under the blankets, and hide," he chuckles. I do as I'm told, but snuggle close to him.

Our legs are intertwined together, my head is on his shoulder, and I put one hand on his hip, and slip my hand under his shirt, and rest my hand on his bare stomach. I feel the definition of his hard stomach, and with all this skin-to-skin contact, I replace the sparks are erupting all over my body. He smells and feels so good, and with his body so close to mine, while being in bed under the blankets, I feel like it's so intimate, and I replace myself wanting him so much more.

"Babe, you're not helping me at all right now," he says in his huskier voice. "What? Why?" I ask.

"I'm struggling, and then I can smell your arousal," he groans.

"I'm sorry, my sexy mate arouses me," I whisper, breathing a little bit faster.

"I should go. I told you this was a bad idea." I really don't want him to go.

"Don't say that... but why can't we... have s*x?" I ask him. He groans in pain again.

"Your brother and you share a wall, and Molly is down the hall. It's not a good idea."

"Molly is sleeping in her room. If we only ever had s*x when Molly was out of the house, I have a feeling we'd have a pretty scarce s*x life," I respond.

"Okay, but your brother... at least we know Molly is sleeping, but I don't want your brother to hear us," he explains. I understand that because I would be mortified if he did. He'd call me out on it too.

"You're right about Lev. I'll move away a little and cool off, and we can talk, and then when we're dead tired, we can snuggle. I promise I'll try harder at containing my thoughts," I admit.

He agrees and we spend over two hours talking and getting to know each other better. I feel so much closer to him now that I'm learning more and more about him. We spent the whole time talking, laying in bed facing each other, with over a foot between us, but Jack held my hand the whole time; often giving it little kisses. Finally, we were dead tired, and we cuddled up to each other and fell fast asleep.