Jaded Hearts
Chapter 8

Matt

I left Taylor to her bath and went to replace Xander. I had pretty much promised war to a rival pack, so I should probably let my Alpha know. I found him in his office with Kade and Alexi. This was perfect.

“Hey guys, what did I miss?” I asked when I noticed the maps spread on the desk.

“Nothing. We’re just looking over border patrols. Better safe than sorry,” Kade told me.

“Cool. So, I’m glad you’re all here because I’ve got an issue.” I sat down and filled them in on everything I had learned and everything that had happened at Taylor’s apartment.

“So, Taylor never knew he was wolf?” Xander asked.

“Nope. Not until tonight when I confirmed it.”

“Did he try to claim her? Is this a challenge-type situation?”

“No. I think he just wants to possess her like she’s a f*****g pet. He knows that I’ve claimed her as my mate, but he doesn’t seem to care. We will need to call Alpha Daniel to the table. I fully intend to kill his son, so he should be prepared for it.”

The guys all set back in their chairs, deep in thought. “We’ve been rivals with Dark Woods for decades, but it’s always been a quiet rivalry. If my Gamma kills one of their Alpha’s sons, even if he holds no rank, that would absolutely start a war,” Xander thought out loud.

“But it is what it is, and you have every right to defend your mate, so I’ll request the meeting. How’s Taylor taking everything?” he asked.

“She’s confused and scared. It’s hard replaceing out the a*****e who beat you and tried to rape you is a wolf, and now your new boyfriend is also a wolf. This was a major backslide in getting her to trust wolves and feel safe around them, but she’s going to stay here with us this week. At least she knows that no one here will hurt her. Hopefully, we can get Drew taken care of soon so she can feel safe again.”

“I’ll give Dark Woods a call now. The sooner we all sit down, the better. Go take care of your mate. I’ll take care of things on this end and update you tomorrow,” Xander stated. He immediately picked up his phone and made the call. I knew he would get this done, so I left him to it and went back to my room.

* * *

I walked in to replace Taylor standing in the middle of the room in just a towel.

Every time I saw her body was a blessing. There was no other way to describe it. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her, wanting to touch her smooth skin and smell her thick, dark hair.

She seemed surprised by my sudden display of affection, but soon enough, she returned the hug. “It should be illegal for someone to smell as good as you do,” I said while lowering my face to her neck. “It’s addictive and intoxicating. I love it.”

I felt Logan begin to stir, and I immediately took a step back to calm us both down. The mixture of her scent, warm touch, and the fact that she was basically naked in front of me was a recipe for disaster, but I wouldn’t do anything until she was ready.

“I’m sorry, baby. I almost lost myself for a minute, but I’ll do better, I promise.”

She tilted her head to the side slightly and bit her bottom l*p. “What do you mean? Can you not give me hugs? I love hugs.” She gave me that beautiful, heart-melting smile of hers.

“Of course, I can hug you. I just shouldn’t hug you when you’re naked. I’m only a man, baby. I don’t have endless amounts of self-control.”

Her lips formed a small “o” shape, and she walked over to the dresser to grab some clothes. “Have we missed dinner? I’m starving,” she said while rummaging around.

“We did, but I can bring something up for us to eat. Or we can go down and replace something in the kitchen.”

“Can we stay up here, please?”

“If that’s what you want. I’ll go replace something to eat and be right back. Find us something to watch on TV while I’m gone.”

I really hoped Taylor had brought her thickest, baggiest pajamas for the week. Otherwise, I’d get no sleep at all. I’d just be fighting with Logan to keep him at bay. Down in the kitchen, I found our head Omega, Mrs. Dyson, cleaning away the last of the dinner dishes.

“Good evening, Gamma. Can I help you with something?”

She refused to call me Matt, no many how many times I asked. It was either Gamma or Mr. Stone, which was completely out of the question. “Hi, Mrs. Dyson. My girlfriend Taylor and I missed dinner, and I was just looking for something small to take up to her.”

Her eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “Did you replace your mate, Sir?”

Ugh! She’s old enough to be my grandmother. Why does she have to call me “sir”?!

“I did. I found her a while ago, actually, but she’s human, so I took my time bringing her home. Do you think I could just throw together a couple of sandwiches or something?”

“Nonsense. I’ll take care of it. Go on up; I’ll have your dinner to you in twenty minutes.”

“Really, sandwiches are fine. Peanut butter and jelly is pretty awesome.”

The disgusted look on her face was pretty damn funny. “We will not feed our Gamma female peanut butter and jelly for her first dinner here, Mr. Stone. Now go, I’ll take it from here.”

I knew that saying “Mr. Stone” was her underhanded way of chastising me. “I see I won’t win this argument. Thank you, Mrs. Dyson.” I walked away as she started up a flurry of activity behind me.

* * *

When I made it back to the room, it was clear that I wasn’t winning anything tonight. Taylor had on a red lace camisole and shorts pajama set. The shorts were more like panties if I’m honest, and the top was insanely low cut.

“Nope. Nope, nope, nope.” I walked to my dresser and grabbed the first T-shirt I could replace, then pulled it over her head.

“You can not wear that, tesoro. Have mercy on me, please!”

“You don’t like it?”

“Do I like it? I f*****g love it. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m this close to ripping it off of you. So, let’s just save it for some other time.”

She looked up at me suspiciously. “You’re really okay with waiting? Because I can try to just—”

“If you have to ‘try to just’ do anything, it’s not right. I’m honored that you want to give yourself to me, but you were violated in the worst way. You need to heal first. I promise I can wait.”

She smiled at me for a second before she asked, “You called it ‘our’ room. When did that happen?”

“The second I emptied out drawers and closet space.”

She nodded and looked around. “So, where’s the food?”

“Right. I was basically kicked out of the kitchen for suggesting that we feed you peanut butter and jelly.”

“But peanut butter and jelly is awesome.”

“That’s what I said too! But I was overruled and kicked out. Dinner should be up soon.” I gave her the remote, and she flicked through the stations until she landed on something called Snapped. It was basically a show about women who lost their minds and killed their husbands. When she crossed her legs and snuggled in, I knew she was excited over the replace.

“You like this show?”

“I love it. It’s my guilty pleasure. I could watch it for hours.”

I leaned away and looked her over. She was maybe one hundred twenty pounds tops, and a full foot shorter than me. I was sure I could take her if she decided to snap on me one day.

“Don’t worry, handsome. This is purely for entertainment. I don’t watch for educational purposes,” she assured me, throwing a wink in for good measure.

“Good to know.”

Halfway through some woman putting antifreeze in her husband’s Gatorade, there was a knock on the door. Taylor didn’t even register the sound, so I got up to go answer it. Mrs. Dyson handed me a large tray with two domed covers, two huge slices of apple pie, and two neat sets of silverware.

“Would Ms. Taylor like wine or something nonalcoholic?”

“Nonalcoholic, definitely.”

She raised an eyebrow at me, and I just sighed. Not this again. “We had an incident this afternoon with wine. So soda, juice, or water, please.”

She placed two Sprites and two bottles of water on the tray. “You let me know if she needs anything else. Goodnight, Gamma.”

I backed into the room, and she closed the door behind me. “Dinner’s here, babe.”

“Yay! What is it?” She was so cute and excited.

“Let’s see.”

I placed the tray on the bed and lifted one of the domes. Mrs. Dyson had made her lobster garlic noodles. Thin spaghetti noodles tossed in garlic butter with chunks of lobster, crab, shrimp, and some sliced mushrooms. Parmesan cheese was sprinkled on top to finish it off.

“Damn. Peanut butter and jelly is awesome and all, but this is so much better. And I haven’t even tasted it yet.” She lifted a giant fork full and shoved it in her mouth. The m**n that escaped her instantly made me smile.

“Just FYI, my PB&J is just as good,” I told her.

“Sure, it is.

Taylor wasn’t kidding when she said she could watch that show for hours. Three hours in, I had to admit it had my full attention as well. That was until I felt Taylor stretch and lay her head on my shoulder.

“Are you sleepy, sweetheart? We can turn this off and call it a night.”

She released a huge yawn.“No, I’m alright. We can keep watching. I want to see how she kills the mistress.”

I chuckled and turned my attention back to the screen. Exactly two minutes later, I could hear how her breathing had calmed and slowed. She had fallen asleep. I gently shifted my body and laid her down on the pillow. Her soft snores and the flutter of her eyelashes made me fall even deeper in love with her. Taylor didn’t even have to try to pull my heartstrings—she just needed to wake up each morning. That was all I needed to make myself whole.

After all the lights were turned down, I got in bed behind her and pulled her body against mine. I’d wait for her a million years if I got to spend every night with her body pressed against mine. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I drifted off into the best night of sleep I’d ever had in my life, and it was all because I finally had her beside me.

* * *

Four hours later, I woke up to the strangest feeling. At some point during the night, Taylor had crawled onto my back and completely stretched out. I had no idea how I was supposed to get her off without waking her up or scaring the hell out of her. I needed to figure it out soon, though. I had combat training in fifteen minutes, and our lead trainer, Henry, made you run an extra ten miles if you were late.

Maybe …

I did a quick push-up, which slightly launched her into the air. Before she came back down, I spun onto my back and caught her, letting her fall softly onto my chest.

This werewolf speed really was good for something.

She barely registered what had just happened, so she just snuggled down into me and kept on dreaming. I kissed her forehead before I rolled to my side and laid her on the pillow.

I had to get dressed and get to training now.

A quick trip to the closet, and I was dressed and ready to go. I doubted she’d be awake before I got back, but I still wrote her a note just in case. I rushed out of the house and made it to the training grounds with three minutes to spare. Kade saw me run up and laughed.

“Did you have a long and busy night with your mate?” He waggled his eyebrows and laughed again.

“f**k off, Kade.”

He laughed even louder, then walked off towards the circle. Training started at 5:30 on the dot and ran nonstop until we were unexpectedly interrupted. I could see that damn near all the unmated males were distracted and no longer sparring like we were supposed to be. When I smelled the air, I immediately understood why.

I turned around and saw Taylor walking towards us in a small pair of shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Her outfit was modest, but there was no hiding the body underneath it, and wolves have damn good vision. When the whispers started up, I let out a deep growl and stepped over to them.

“Do not look at her. She is mine!”

They quickly bowed their heads and mumbled their apologies. “Sorry, Gamma!”

I then rushed over towards Taylor, meeting her halfway. “Is everything alright, tesoro? Did you need something?”

“No, I’m fine. I couldn’t sleep after you left, and for some reason, I was really hot and uncomfortable, so I decided to take a walk and come replace you. Is that alright?”

“Of course, it is. You can—”

Then another scent hit me, and I felt like I had to have been cursed. How many trials were going to be thrown at me? It made so much more sense why all of the unmated males instantly noticed her even before she had stepped into the clearing.

Somehow, someway, she was in heat.

Great.