Jaded Hearts
Chapter 20

Matt

Finally, a stroke of luck. It was one of the pack warriors who was out with his family at the falls.

He gladly gave me some sweats for Taylor to put on so we wouldn’t have to wait for clothes to be brought from the house. If we had been on human territory, they would have just called the cops or ran away screaming, but werewolves aren’t squeamish about s*x and nudity at all, so our afternoon wasn’t ruined. Not completely.

“Sorry about Logan. Being outside in nature kind of brings him out.”

“There’s no need to apologize. He was the perfect gentleman,” Taylor said with a wink.

“I highly doubt that. We both know I’m the only gentleman in this body. So, have you told Morgan about what’s going on tonight?”

Taylor let out a deep breath and shook her head. “No. I don’t think I want to. She doesn’t seem too phased about the whole werewolf thing when it comes to Kade, but that may change with me. I don’t want her to try and talk me out of it.”

“Can she talk you out of it?”

She thought for a moment before answering. “No. Your opinion is the only one that matters to me on this. If you support my decision, then I’m doing it.”

“Okay, so tell her. She’s your best friend, and this is a big thing you’re doing, sweetheart. She deserves to know. She’ll want to be there with you.”

We walked hand in hand back to the house, and Taylor broke off to go replace Morgan. I went to replace Xander and fill him in on Taylor’s decision. He and Kade were out in the back yard, sitting by the pool.

“Kade, where’s Morgan? I’m surprised to see you two separated already.”

“She’s only human, Matt. She’s got to sleep sometime.”

“Right. Well, speaking of humans, I’m going to be unavailable tonight and tomorrow.”

“Is everything alright with Taylor?” Xander asked.

“She wants me to turn her. I’m doing it tonight.”

They both just sat there and looked at me for a moment. Finally, Xander spoke. “Why? Does she know how dangerous it could be?”

“She does. I made sure she knew. But after her heat, she could be pregnant, and there’s no way a human her size can carry my pups. Add the Drew bullshit to the mix, and it’s just safer this way.”

“And you’re sure about this?” Kade asked.

“It’s what she wants, and I want to give her whatever she wants. She’s strong; I have faith that she’ll pull through.”

“Alright. I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed for the next couple of days. Kade and I can handle your responsibilities around here for the time being, and it’s pretty quiet at the office, so I don’t see an issue there. Good luck, man. But I know she won’t need it.”

* * *

Taylor

I figured Morgan would be in Kade’s room, so I went straight there when I got home. Sure enough, she was just getting out of the shower when I knocked on the door. “Hey. Can I come in? I want to talk to you about something.”

“Can we actually go to your room? I don’t have any clothes here and need to borrow some until I go back home.”

Once we arrived, I pulled out some simple shorts and a top and tossed them over. “Didn’t really think this ‘sleeping over with the big bad wolf’ thing through, did you?”

“Nope. So, what’s up?

“So … a lot of s**t has happened since I’ve been here, and because of it, I’ve made a pretty big decision.”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

I told her about Drew and the fact that he was a wolf, that he had been here to talk with the guys, and that he was most likely gay. I then told her about going into heat and the high probability that I was knocked up with Matt’s child.

“Holy s**t, Tay! That’s f*****g huge. What are you going to do?”

“Well, if I am pregnant, we’re keeping it without a doubt. Matt has a really good job, and there’s plenty of space here to raise a child. But, trying to carry and give birth to a werewolf would probably kill me. So … I’m having Matt turn me.”

“Turn you? Into what, a soccer mom?”

“Turn me into a werewolf.”

“Stop playing games, Taylor. What’s really going on?”

“I just told you. I’m not f*****g around here. He’s doing it tonight. He says it’ll take about a day and a half before I fully change.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Is it safe?”

“It’s dangerous, but Matt is going to be with me the entire time. I can do this, Morgan. Then I can be with the man I love forever. That’s all I want.”

She looked at me for a while, and tears started to fall down her face. She then stood up and pulled me into a bear hug.

“I’m so proud of you, Tay. I thought that after all the s**t you went through with Drew, you’d never trust a man again, but you proved me wrong. I’m just so happy to see the smile he puts on your face. I’ve missed it so much.”

“So, you’ll support me on this?” I asked.

“Hell yeah, I will! And I want to be there too. I know there won’t be much I can do to help, but I want to be a part of it. I need to see just how f****d up it is, just in case I decide to make the same decision later on.”

“I’m honored to be your lab rat, babe.”

* * *

Matt got me set up with a room down in the pack hospital. Around 8:00, Morgan, he, and I went down so we could get this whole thing over and done with.

“You’re sure about this, right, Tay? I’m pretty sure there’s no turning back once he sinks those pearly whites into your skin,” Morgan asked.

“I’m sure.”

Matt sat on the bed and crossed his legs. He then held his hands out to me and pulled me over to straddle him with my legs wrapped around his waist. “Are you ready for this?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

He held my face and smiled down at me. “It’s going to hurt, tesoro, more than anything you’ve ever felt before, but I have to bite you deep and hard enough for the venom to penetrate. Just hold on to me as tight as you can. I’ll take care of you.”

I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and squeezed tight.

He moved my hair away from my neck and gently kissed the spot where he would mark me.

“You come back to me, okay?”

“Always.”

Matt closed his eyes, then sunk his teeth into my flesh so deep it felt like he hit bone.

He was right about one thing; I had never felt anything like this in my life. Acid and flames slowly burned me at the same time. Inside and out. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t even breathe. It was like a fist had entered my chest, took hold of my heart and lungs, and squeezed.

So, I just held on to Matt, my rock, the love of my life. I held on to thoughts of us making our family, waking up to him each morning and making love to him every night, and walking down the aisle to become his wife.

Those thoughts took over my mind, and eventually, I heard his voice in my ear. “Breathe, baby. Deep breaths, okay? The first part is over now, and you did so well, tesoro. I’m so proud of you.”

I inhaled as deep as I could, again and again. My lungs refused to fill, and I felt my eyes start to water. I gulped for air, but I was still suffocating. I didn’t know what was happening.

“Taylor, calm down. Look at my eyes and breathe. Come on, in and out.”

Matt held my face between his hands and locked eyes with me. Looking into those soft blue oceans, I saw so much love and compassion. This man was my world, and I refused to leave him. Not now, not ever.

One final gasp, and my lungs finally filled with air.

“Good girl, that’s it. Now slow it down a little. Your heart is racing way too fast. You can do this, baby.”

I focused on his face and his words; he always brought me back. My breathing slowed down, and soon, it was back to normal. “Please tell me that it only gets easier from here.”

He gave me a half-smile and wrapped me in a hug. “When I first saw you in that bunny costume, I promised myself that I’d never lie to you. I’m not quite ready to break that promise yet.”

About five minutes later, I could already feel the effects of the venom in my body. I felt a cold chill, and when I touched my forehead, I had beads of sweat beginning to form.

“You need to lay down now. It’s about to get pretty bad.”

I was still wrapped around Matt’s chest and sitting in his lap. I didn’t want to move, not yet. I laid my head on his shoulder. “Can I stay like this for a little while longer? Please?”

“As long as you want.” Matt grabbed one of my hair ties I kept on my wrist and pulled my hair up into a high bun. He then took a cool, damp towel and wiped my face and neck.

“How’d you get so good at doing hair? That was perfectly executed, babe,” I said as another chill washed over me. Matt pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around me.

“I watch everything you do, beautiful. Studying the movements of the most incredible woman I’ve ever known is my favorite pastime.” I was shivering, shaking from deep and violent tremors. My body had no idea what was happening as it tried to fight off the venom.

“I didn’t know a fever could hit this fast,” I whimpered.

“I’m here, tesoro. Lay down, baby. I’ll be right here.”

I unwrapped myself from around him and laid down. Being away from his warm body made the room feel frigid almost immediately, but he quickly laid behind me and pulled me against his chest. “So warm …”

“Is she alright?” Morgan asked from her spot across the room. Her face was a mask of worry.

“As good as she can be for now. Her body is registering that something’s going on, and it’s trying to fight it off. That will last about an hour or so until the venom takes over and starts the change. That’s when it’ll get bad.”

Morgan came over and held my hand as my body continued to shake. “Tell me something crazy to take my mind off things,” I asked.

“I can tell you about my favorite position with Kade. It’s called ‘head over heels’ and—”

“Please tell her anything else, Morgan. For f**k’s sake, Kade is like my brother. I do not want to hear this,” Matt begged behind me.

“Whatever, I’m just trying to expand some horizons in here.”

“He doesn’t need any help in that department, Morgan. Matt has twisted, bent, and folded me in every position imaginable.”

“Tesoro!”

Morgan and I just laughed at how easy it was to embarrass him.

There were two sides to my mate, one a rough and insatiable animal, and the other a complete and total gentleman. I adored him.

“Glad to know. Well, I’ve been thinking about letting Kade mark me. I know I’m still new to this world, but I’m so comfortable with him. It’s probably why none of my other relationships worked out. I was meant to be his.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” I said as I wrapped Matt’s arms tighter around my body.

Just then, as if he’d been summoned by her words, Kade burst into the room and scared the s**t out of me. “s**t! Sorry, Taylor, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. Matt, I’ve been linking you for the last twenty minutes, man, why are you blocking me?”

He looked at Kade as if the answer was obvious. “I told you guys that I need to be here tonight. I can’t focus on anything else but Taylor right now.”

Kade dropped his voice and stepped closer. “I get that, but we have a serious problem.”

I immediately got nervous. I could tell by the way he was looking around that he didn’t want to talk about this in front of Morgan and me, but Matt had left him no choice. “What is it, Kade? She’s about to start the transformation soon, so if it can wait—”

“Someone set their apartment on fire. The entire building’s in flames.”