Jaded Hearts
Chapter 72

Taylor

Tyson’s idea of “enjoying my company” was challenging me to a game of Mario Kart on the Wii.

As kids, we’d always play Super Nintendo with Morgan and Mitchell for hours while forging on junk food. Currently, Princess Peach was kicking Bowser’s a*s on the Rainbow Road track. When she easily came in first place, he tossed the controller down and jumped to his feet.

“You weren’t even using real combinations. You were just pressing random buttons!”

“Don’t judge me or my technique. A win is a win. Pay up!” I laughed.

He looked confused for a minute but dug in his pocket and handed me three dollars. Loser always had to pay the winner when we were kids, but I can’t remember how we settled on the three-dollar amount. I went to the kitchen to refill my wine, and Tyson came in right behind me.

“I want to ask you something, and I need you to think hard before you answer. Will you do that for me?”

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Why did you decide to just be friends? Was it because you could never see yourself with me that way, or was it something else?”

I really didn’t have to think about it much. It wasn’t like I hadn’t gone back and forth over it. Both decisions had their pros and cons, so what was it that made me make this one?

“It wasn’t you or a problem seeing a life with you. Imagining that was just as natural for me as imagining my future with Matt. But honestly, I’d say that it was part fear and part feelings of inadequacy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the fear was that I’d hurt Matt. I don’t think you want to listen to me tell you all about how incredible he is—”

“Please don’t.”

I waved him off as I continued, “Whatever. He’s the first guy I opened myself to after Drew. And for lack of a better word, he’s perfect. He’s always treated me like a queen and made sure I was happy, and he deserves the same in return. Matt says he’s okay with this triangle thing, but what if he’s really not? I’d never do anything to hurt him, no matter how much I may want it.”

“So, you did want to pursue the relationship?”

“Of course I did! I love you, but I love him more than I love myself. His feelings became the priority.”

“Wow. That’s deep. And the inadequacy?”

“Well, satisfying one man is hard enough. I don’t know if I can be a good mate and partner to two incredible men while still having time for myself and my daughter. I only have so many hours in the day. Plus, the thought of me screwing something up and ruining our friendship was too much. Now that I’ve got you back, I don’t want to do anything to push you away. This was the safest choice for all of us.”

Tyson walked over and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“One day, you’ll see just how strong and capable you are. It’s okay if you don’t quite see it now; it’ll probably take a little time. But you can do anything you want to do, especially if you have the right support.”

“I feel kind of selfish now. I didn’t consider you in my decision, and that was wrong of me.”

He laughed and pulled away. “Seriously? How can you be selfish when your decision was based on what would make someone else happy? You’re not selfish at all.”

I looked at Tyson and nodded. “I am, though. I don’t want to see you with anyone else, and that’s wrong.”

What the hell was in this wine? I was telling him everything; things I’d barely admitted to myself, let alone another person.

“I don’t want to see me with anyone else either, so what’s wrong with that?”

“A lot. I can’t keep you on the sidelines forever. That’s unfair to you.”

“Not forever. Just until you’re ready to put me in the game,” he replied with a wink.

He placed his hands on either side of my face, and my stomach began to do backflips. This was bad. So, so, bad.

“Neither of us wants me to, so I’m not giving up on us that easily.”

He rubbed his thumb along my lower l*p, and my eyes instinctively fluttered closed. My body was betraying my mind and responding to his touch. What was wrong with me? Before things could go any further, my phone shattered the silence, signaling an incoming FaceTime call.

I jumped back and looked at the screen. It was Matt.

“I have to take this. I’ll be right back,” I said as I walked to the living room.

I plopped down on the couch and answered. “Hey, handsome. Are you having a good time?”

“It’s miserable, and it hasn’t stopped raining since we got here. I really miss California and my girls. How are you?”

“I’m good. The girls and I had half-naked massages and drinks, but we got yelled at. Then I came to Tyson’s and kicked his a*s on the Wii, had more drinks, and divulged my innermost feelings,” I said with a smile.

He returned the smile until my words finally registered. “Half-naked massages? Please explain.”

I laughed, then told him about everything that went on.

“I would’ve loved to see Kade’s face, but he was right to kick them out. You three are terrible together. Only female masseuses from now on, got it?”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “Yes, I got it.”

“How are things with you and Tyson?”

“Interesting … and intense.”

“In a good way or bad way?”

“Uhm, a bit of both?”

“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything’s fine, baby.”

“Then tell me what’s going on.”

“Can we talk about it when you get home? Is that alright?”

“Sure, if you promise that you’re okay. I’ll come home right now if I need to.”

“Yes, I’m perfect. I promise. I’d just rather talk about everything when you’re here next to me. All three of us, maybe?”

“Sure thing, whatever you want. I’ll let you go now; I just wanted to see your face and hear that beautiful voice of yours. Call me tonight before you put the baby to sleep. I want to read her favorite bedtime story to her.”

“Ah, that’s why she was so fussy last night. She was missing her daddy.”

“I miss her too. I love you, baby. Talk to you later.”

“Love you too.”

Tyson came in and sat across from me, then passed me a glass of water.

“I figured you needed this. You’ve had almost an entire bottle of your wine already, plus all you drank at the house.”

“Thanks. So, I guess you heard that?”

“I did. You want all three of us to talk. The last time we tried that, I got kicked out of the room.”

“True, but he was caught off guard that time. That was my fault.”

“And what exactly would we be talking about?”

“Feelings. True and honest feelings. I want everything out on the table, so we can move forward. No more sitting on the sidelines, either. You’ll either be mine, or you’ll be free to be someone else’s.”

* * *

Tyson

After a not-so-sound sleep, I woke up at 4:18 a.m. to the sound of my computer screaming at me. I’d been running a search on the trace from Witt for almost forty-eight hours, and I’d finally nailed down the location the call came from.

“Maple Bark Lane. Looks like that concerned citizen was telling the truth after all,” I said as I scanned the screen.

The house was owned by EE Inc., which came back as a shell company. It would take a while longer to figure out who they really were, so I started a check on them as well. I’d peel back as many layers as I could to ensure we came out on top in all this.

I sent a text to the guys, letting them know what I’d found. Xander had me on the phone within seconds.

“Good morning, I didn’t expect you to be up this early. That’s why I sent the text,” I said when I picked up.

“I’m programmed for 5:00 a.m. training; we all are. Tell me what you’ve got,” he replied.

Before I could respond, Kade beeped in on my other line. “Let me set up a conference call with everyone. Give me a few minutes to pull it together,” I suggested.

“No need. Matt and Lex will be here in my room in a few minutes. Kade can hop in on a three-way or walk over to you.”

“Must be nice to be the boss and have everyone fall in line, huh?”

“You have no idea,” he answered with a laugh.

A few minutes later, we were all on the call, and I was briefing them on what I had.

“EE Inc. sounds familiar to me, but I can’t figure out why,” Alexi said.

“We’ll know soon once I get the background info on them. Following shell companies is like a trip down a rabbit hole, but what other choice do we have?” I said.

“We need to replace every property owned by them, starting on the west coast. It’s probable that whoever’s behind all of this won’t be sitting and waiting for us on Monday morning when we move in. If we have all their locations, we could hit them all at once and, hopefully, come out successful,” Matt chimed in.

“My thoughts exactly. Tyson, let me know what you need to get this done or if you need any help. I know it’s a lot to ask when you have no allegiances to Blue Moon, so whatever compensation you need is yours,” Xander stated.

“I don’t want your money; you should know that by now. After living life as a loner, moving from place to place for so long, I found a home with your pack. As strange as it sounds, you’ve become like family to me. That’s all the allegiance I need to do this. Whatever you need, it’s done.”

I didn’t need a b***d oath to validate my ties to this pack. They could have killed me when they first caught me, but they didn’t. Then they could have kicked me off their land and left me to live without Taylor for the rest of my days, but again, they didn’t.

I’d never liked wolves; I could never tolerate them at all. But these four had my trust and my respect, and that was something very few people in this world could claim.

“Aww, you love us, don’t you? Just say it, you big cuddly teddy bear!”

“f**k off, Kade. Seriously.”

The other three laughed into the phone before Matt spoke up. “You’re officially one of us now. Once you’ve told that jackass to ‘f**k off,’ there’s no turning back.”

“I happy my pain is such a monumental part of the initiation into the group, you dicks.”

“Get over yourself, man. You’re really not as important as you think you are,” Alexi told him.

“Let’s not all jump on Kade at once. He’s still looking after our women and kids, so he’s at least a little important,” Xander said.

“Yeah, and next time, you can take your women with you. I’ll keep the kids, though. Those three have lost their damn minds since you’ve been gone, and they’re a terrible influence on my sweet, innocent Morgan.”

“Oh, sure. We’re heading out for a morning shift and run now, so we’ll reconnect later this afternoon before we head home.”

“Sounds good. I could use a run myself, so I’ll probably join the pack this morning if that’s alright,” I said.

“Kade, make it happen. We’ll see you guys later,” Xander said before he clicked off.

“You’ve got about fifteen minutes to get down to the field. Henry will push you hard since it’s your first time with us. He’ll want to see what you can handle, but he’s a good guy. I’m sure you’ll wear him out well before he even gets you winded, so it should be a good time,” Kade stated.

“Works for me. I’ll see you out there.”

A year ago, I never would’ve thought that one day I would be living and training with wolves. Or be crazy in love with one. But sometimes you’ve just got to roll with the punches.

* * *

Kade

Down at the training field, I could feel the tension in the air. Wolves were always a little amped when the full moon was near, but add in a humongous bear that none of them directly knew, and it increased the stress tenfold.

But Tyson was one of us, even if he wasn’t an official member of the pack yet, so they were going to have to deal with it.

“Soldiers, this is Tyson Frederick. I’m sure you’ve seen him around over the past six months or so with our ranked members. Yes, he is a pureblood werebear, and a damn strong one at that. He was also Hades in another life. He’s going to train with us, and hopefully, we will all learn a few skills from him. He will help make our pack stronger, and that’s always the goal. Tyson has earned the trust and respect of your Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, along with our mates, so that means he’s earned it of all Blue Moon. Do you have any problems with this?” I asked.

There were a few suspicious faces, but they weren’t dumb enough to voice any opposition. “No, Beta!”

“For the few of you idiots who will still try to test him and end up getting your asses handed to you, don’t come to me looking for sympathy. You’ve been warned.”

“Yes, Beta!”

Henry walked up and looked Tyson over. “You’re a hell of a lot bigger than I would’ve guessed. I thought hitters were supposed to blend in and go unnoticed?”

“That’s what everyone thinks, which is why no one ever suspected the big guy in the corner.”

“Touché. Alright, let’s do this.” He turned to the group and began barking out orders. “Ten miles. I want to see sprinting. If any of you slow to a jog, it’s another five. Move out!”

He then looked back at Tyson. “A shifter of your caliber should be at the front, wouldn’t you agree?”

“And so, it begins. Let’s get a move on,” I said to Tyson before we both smoothly took off after the pack.