Hi guys. :) I decided to alternate between Ana & Anne in each chapter. Anne first... we'll see about Ana!
For updates, very rough sketches and other stuff, I'll put them on the facebook page, link on profile.
You don't have to join if you're not interested, but sometimes I see a photo or sketch something and decide to put it up to be seen. Or music. Music is always good.
I spent time in the living room, sitting on the ground with the babies, talking with the triplets as they played and asked questions, deciding to worry about cakes later. Lily and Susie's hair, silvery blonde like mine had been, required some combing. Dominic needed lots of kisses. I watched them play with the crayons, endlessly fascinated with them, with their little world.
If they knew I was upset with their daddy they didn't care. They crawled on top of us, showing us things, and Nick sat behind me on the couch. Now that I'd 'half-forgiven' him he was working hard on making it up, sucking me when I sat still long enough to be caught. That might have also had something to do with the call he'd gotten from Reece, who was still working in New York in Antonio's business, and the blasting he'd gotten.
"Do you need to go to the shops?" Antonio asked as I teased and played with their toys, holding up the keys.
"Probably." I nodded.
"Car?" Lily asked, glancing from me to the keys, half hopful, half threatening to burst into tears all of a sudden. "Go car?"
"Give me a list and I'll see if someone can pick it up." Antonio glanced at Lily's face. I could see his willpower melting, as her big blue eyes met his brown eyes, working on her grandpa's heart...
"No. We're staying here, Lily." I picked her up and turned her to face me instead.
"You can go. We'll stay here." Nick called.
I stood up, lifting Lily up with me, and headed into the kitchen to make a list as I held her, letting her scribble with the crayon as I wrote it.
"Chocolate."
"Yes." She agreed, very serious, pushing the green crayon down where my pen was righting. "Cwayon."
"Icing sugar."
"Cookies." She agreed again, scribbling it down, or her version of it. "Gween?" She asked, holding up the green crayon.
"Yes, green. Food colouring too. Organic." I added that part. As useless as it probably was, I'd kept that up since the pregnant, trusting my instincts during the pregnancy. It probably made very little difference... but who cared. Half the vegetables we ate now I grew anyway in the garden outside Forestwatch.
We kept making the list and Antonio came to collect it as Lily held her arms out to him, delighted by the sound of the keys.
"Car?" Lily's face lit up, dimples in both cheeks, silvery curls framing cute face, blue eyes wide and full of sheer joy. She loved cars. Or maybe she just loved the attention she got in town. Susie was, thankfully, less interested, but Lily was the boss of the three. What she wanted, all three wanted, and when she was upset, all three was upset.
"Sorry sweetie."
The look on Lily's face when she knew she wasn't going was heartbreaking. Tragic. The world had ended, there was no more joy in the world, and the sky was falling. Lips turned down, face fell, eyes darkened, dimples vanished, and she was about to break his heart some more...
"All right. All right. You can come in the car." Antonio threw his hands up. The darkness and threat of tears suddenly vanished as she beamed at him, dimples back, all silver hair and blue eyes, adorable angel face returning. "I'll take them. Clayton can come." He took her from me, brushing his fingers over the dimples, shaking his head.
"I don't know where she and Susie got those." I muttered. "Tools of manipulation."
"Her grandmother had them." Antonio replied quietly. Stroked her face again, the cheeks, and sighed. He glanced up. "I'll get you some wrapping paper too."
"What about the two of us?" I didn't mind, exactly, I wanted time with Nick...
"Gween." Lily pushed the crayon against Antonio's cheek. "Paper."
"Elena's coming to enforce her punishment." Antonio snuggled Lily closer, one of her hands grabbing the paper off the table as she kissed his cheek. "I can't resist you. Ever."
"She's her pop wrapped around her finger." I smiled as he snuggled her. "She has the list."
"I want cookie." She held it up to him, trying to show him the drawing and the words. "I want gween."
"I hope you can read the list."
"I can read it." Antonio took it out of her hands and flattened it against the counter. "Help me get their stuff ready."
No trip easy or small with three little ones. They had a special 'three baby' pram, a prepacked bag of nappies, toys tied to the pram, everything always left packed to make it faster, but it was an hour before he was ready to head off, Nick and I changing the triplets just in case, putting them in clean clothing, giving them a snack before they headed off so they weren't too obsessed with food. After last night they were cranky, grumpy, and I suspected they'd probably just fall asleep while Antonio and Clayton wandered around.
"Hey." Clayton spoke up as we packed things in the car. "You all right?"
He glanced at me, at the bruises, a little less angry than he had when he'd come to pick me up. Just a tiny bit. Clayton still made it clear he wasn't impressed.
"Yeah."
"Talked with Nick?"
"A little." I glanced back at Nick who was giving one of the exhausted toddlers an aeroplane ride. "He's wearing them out for you. Or making them cranky. Bring them home if they're too tired."
"I will. Got presents for them?"
"A few but ..."
"I'll get some more things then." He sighed, relaxed, and strode over to give me a quick reluctant hug. "You look like shit."
"Thanks."
He stepped back. "Get some sleep while we're gone. We've got it."
"Bring them back if you struggle."
"We will. We'll race back." Antonio nodded and turned. "Right. All into the car!"
Three little bodies pushed past us, trying to climb up into the same door, and we grabbed them, putting them into the seats and buckling them up. Susie already had mud smeared across one cheek and I had no clue, in this summer heat, how she'd found it. I hoped it was mud. A quick inhale and confirmed it was mud. Phew.
"Elena's coming over from Forestwatch now. You've got about two minutes." Clayton called as he slid into the car.
I was yanked into the house, sudden, Nick laughing, as they pulled away. He kissed me hard, over and over, stroking my face, trying to get my legs around his waist.
"Stop that." I pushed at him. The hurt was still there, it hadn't just gone away because I'd started to forgive him. "Put me down."
"We've got two minutes." Nick blinked at me.
"I'm still not happy with you."
He pulled my legs up, sliding my skirt up, pushing himself into me so fast that I gasped. I hadn't even realised he'd been ...out. Already.
"I love you." He breathed against my ear. "Love you. No one else."
"Ask me before you kiss anyone." I muttered, giving in again, wrapping my arms around him. Shut my eyes as our bodies moved against each other, putting our emotion and frustration into it, Nick's arms wrapping around me when we heard a car approach. He headed upstairs, still deep inside me, kissing my neck and ear, locking the door behind us as we went into the guest bedroom and dropped onto the bed in there.
"Mine." He growled, leaning up to gaze down at me, affection. "Yours."
We heard Elena call, Nick coming back down to move harder and faster, low growls as he claimed me again, my own body claiming his, owning it, refusing to let anyone else separate us till we'd finished what we intended on starting. Not even the alpha banging on the door.
It only took a few minutes of this before we both found release in each other, skin slippery with sweat and sliding against each other in the hot summer day, our muscles and limbs flopping with the effort of it.
"Mine." I reached up to touch his face. "No more kissing without permission."
"I'll come ask you every time." He agreed, breathing hard, his nose against my neck. "Introduce you. Give you her medical background before a dance. Anything you want."
"Dance lessons?" I asked, and Nick lifted his head, gazing down at me. "I want dance lessons. Private ones with you."
"You got it." He grinned. "Private dance lessons."
The door threatened to break now. Elena didn't sound impressed. Nick slid up, pulling me with him, trying to get our clothing back into place. Nick put a hand to his mouth, slid over to the window, and jumped out of it just as Elena got the door open.
She raised an eyebrow at me, lips swollen, hair messed up, skirt still rumpled. Looked around.
"Yoga."
"Sure." Elena rolled her eyes. "I can smell that. Come on."
"Can I kiss her?" Nick called from downstairs, running up them several at a time. "Can I kiss Elena?"
"You don't need to ask me with her." I brushed my hands over the skirt, legs trembling, wishing I could ...just for another hour. Or three. Just be alone with him. This punishment was suddenly getting harder and we were only on day one.
Nick kissed Elena, swinging her around, clearly happy now. He yanked me over to wrap his arms around us both.
"I'm still not happy with you." I muttered.
"That's okay. I'm not happy either." He pulled back.
Ana watched us from downstairs, arms crossed, her eyes tracing over my bruises. "You got hurt?"
"Nothing bad. How do you like your room?" I jumped down, separating from Nick's smell. "We can fix it up when we go back to the city, get some other stuff if you need it."
"I have a book list to get and need some things." She admitted. Smiled, relaxed, when she saw there wasn't really any problems. "Can we go get them soon?"
"I'll take you shopping. You and me. No babies and no Nick." I promised. It'd been so long since High School that I had no clue what the hell Ana needed. She had to be nervous though. "Does it have a uniform?"
She shook her head. "No, but they're pretty strict about clothing. I might need to get something. Dad thought I would buy it here."
I nodded. We headed into the kitchen with her list. We still had a couple of weeks before she had to go back to New York and live there so she could get to the school, thankfully, it'd give her time to get used to the time difference, we could go there on public transport so she got used to that, and get everything she needed. A laptop? Not what I needed at school. Books of various kinds, not all of them cheap either, some sports equipment, a deposit for the daily 'dining service', as they put it, and a bunch of other stuff.
"You nervous?"
Ana nodded. "Dad says it is the best here. He wants me to go to University. No one in our family has. They're all paying for this. When I get a job then I help them pay for my little brother to go to school like this."
"I don't blame him for wanting that." I'd want it too for my babies. Private school? I wondered about that, all of a sudden, where and what and when... and what the hell I'd do with that spare time when it came.
Matt, Logan and Kate appeared then, the three of them covered in mud and dirt, not even seeing us as they headed for the fridge. They'd been up to something. You could see it from their grins, the hard breathing, glances back at us as we watched them.
"Hi Liz. We're getting a picnic for lunch." Matt told me. "Okay?"
"Do you need help?"
"We can do it." Kate called. She was, more or less, just making sandwiches, not caring that she had dirty hands, while Logan grabbed stuff and put it into containers. Matt was heading for the tins of food in the pantry.
"There's a box of stuff in there that's for the party tomorrow. Don't touch that."
"We know. We already looked." Matt called.
"Can we have this?" Kate held up half a cold chicken. I nodded and she started to strip the meat off it. Matt needed more food than they did so they may as well do it right.
"Who are you?" Logan suddenly blinked, noticing Ana beside me.
"That's Ana. She's going to school in the city. Ana, this is Logan, Kate and Matt. I think you met Matt."
"I met him last night. Hi."
"Are you human?" Logan asked.
"I'm a were-jaguar."
"What's that?" Kate stopped trying to get the last of the meat off the frame as she turned around, blinking.
"I could show you." Ana offered.
"You could take her with you on the picnic if you wanted." I suggested, careful, not sure how they'd take that. But they seemed to like that idea, and Ana relaxed a little too.
"If you want me..."
"Yeah, you can come. We'll need more food." Logan decided. He headed for the fridge again. "All the stuff in the other kitchen is for tomorrow, isn't it?"
"Yes, so don't touch that."
"We won't. Ana, coming?" They stuffed tins, sandwiches, and other stuff in the bags.
"Yep. Can we talk about this stuff later?" She glanced at me and I nodded. Ana stood up and headed outside with the younger kids. I went back to reading the information the school had given her.
Nick's hands traced over the back of my neck, Elena nearby too, I wondered if they'd had a talk. He stroked my hair as I read, tracing bruises.
"I wish I'd been there to beat them up for you." He muttered. Fingers moved across the outline of a boot.
"My fault for getting too drunk."
"No." He muttered. Wrapped arms around me, chin resting on my shoulder. "Mine. Dad told me that was your first time drunk."
"I spoke with Nick." Elena moved around the front. She glanced at the disaster left behind by the kids and sighed. "Did you see the kids?"
"They took Ana on a picnic. I'll clean it up."
"It's okay." She shrugged. "I'll make them do it when they get back. They can't expect the pack to clean up after them all the time."
"Can I take her upstairs for a nap now? No sex."
"Leave the door open." Elena turned around to Nick. "Rules are rules. Door open, so we can see you at any time. I'll be checking."
"Door open." Nick agreed. He lifted me up, not waiting to ask, and headed upstairs.
"Call us when they get back. I'll start the cooking." I called, as we headed out of the kitchen and upstairs into the guest bedroom. Nick glared at the door, leaving it open, dropping me onto the bed.
He kicked off shoes and crawled on top of the sheets beside me, groaning, tugging a pillow under his head.
"Tough night?" I asked. Not sympathetic at all.
"They wouldn't go to sleep." He muttered. "All night."
"No more things with sugar after six."
He nodded. Groaned, tugged me against him, the smell of him calming me down. No matter what he'd done, who he'd kissed, all he had to do was get me like this. Close to him. One look at that face, or his smell wrapped around me, and I was putty.
"Those lesbians were terrible at kissing." He complained. "Terrible."
"Good." I muttered.
He opened one eye, smiling at my reply, tracing my face with a thumb. "They thought you were cute. Wanted a foursome."
"I don't share you."
"That's exactly what I told them." He snuggled into my back. "I don't share you."
We fell asleep, side by side, his heart thumping hard against my back. I woke a few hours later by the sound of quiet feet in the room, seeing Clayton and Antonio lowering sleeping toddlers into the crib in the corner.
"Wore them out?"
"They fell asleep in the car back." Clayton told me softly. "Forgot how babies attract humans. Middle aged human women." His eyes went from my face to where Nick was still asleep. "Forgiven him already?"
I shrugged and yawned. "How can I stay mad at that face?"
"Easily." Antonio replied. He made sure the fan was on the three babies, so that they weren't too hot, and sat down on the bed beside us. "I was worried when you vanished."
"Sorry. I was ...not thinking."
"First time drunk." He corrected me. Laughed softly when I flushed. "You can come back there if you get drunk. I won't give you a hard time."
"She was being groped all over the place" Nick muttered from behind me, lifting his head, resting his chin on my shoulder. "You should have come there faster."
"Huh?" I blinked.
"Nick called me. I didn't rush there." Antonio explained.
"You were drunk too, Nick." Clayton yanked Nick off the bed by his foot, tugging him, clamping a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't wake the sleeping toddlers. "Come out. Need your help."
Antonio watched him go.
"I wasn't being groped. I was making him jealous." I muttered. Sat up slowly. The three slept on, not caring about us talking, or where they'd been carried to, so content and safe in their perfect world. "How was it with them so tired?"
"Probably long over due for it too." Antonio glanced at them and rubbed his eyes. "Tiring. We had plenty of people to distract them though. You all right?"
"Yeah. I feel a bit sheepish now. I think I drank too much." I admitted. He laughed. "Did I really hurt those men badly?"
"That was why I came to talk to you." He slid over, tucking his legs under him. "You might have to avoid New York for a few weeks. They reported being assaulted by a single drunk woman. No one took them seriously, I think, but one of them is in hospital. They don't seem to have a good picture of your face."
"It wasn't my face they were interested in." I replied, rubbing my own head. "Guess I might have been a bit too much."
"They'll survive. They claimed that you lured them into the park, drunk, promising sexual favours in exchange for alcohol, and then attacked them. Stole their money."
"What!" I cringed as I saw one of the babies shift. Lowered my voice. "What? That's ridiculous. I'd never do that. They were trying to make me do stuff. I just lost my temper."
"I know you wouldn't. We all know." Antonio sighed. "No witnesses. Like I said, no one seems to take them seriously at the moment, the idea that two men were overpowered by one drunk woman is a bit far fetched. But I thought you better hear it now."
"Yeah. Thanks." We sat there quietly, the rage still in me, the idea that anyone would think I'd do that... Or that they'd lie. At least people here believed me. I stood up, tugging Antonio with me. "C-a-k-e making time."
"Got you. I'll help out." He nodded. Glanced at his grand kids one last time, then followed me downstairs.
Making the cake was pretty simple. I was going to make a snake and a crocodile, the snake a sea-snake, and they were pretty easy. Just some bunt cakes cut up and arranged on a tray. Icing made it look right. But I got help from Nick anyway, simply for the chance to bark orders at him, making him work.
"We let Ray know you were safe." Antonio informed me as he put away groceries. Clayton and Nick sat at the table, Clayton reading something, Nick trying to measure out ingredients for me. Dry in one bowl and wet in the other.
"I don't like him." Nick muttered.
"Why?"
Antonio grinned at that, eyes going to me, and he leaned closer. "Because he's jealous. He reminds Nick of a younger version of himself."
"Oh." That sort of made sense. "Except that Ray can dance and has an accent."
"I can dance and I have an accent. American." Nick muttered. He stood up, sliding the bowls to me, his fingers coming over to tease my neck. "And I don't think he's younger than me."
"Clay has an American accent." I reminded Nick. Clayton glanced up, not sure how to take that, then back at his book. "Ray's thirty. Twenty years younger." I confirmed. Ray was thirty. This did not help Nick relax. I leaned against him when he pressed against my back. A little teasing wouldn't hurt after Nick's behaviour. "So Nick really was..."
"A womanising flirt who didn't want long term relationships? Now you know why we thought he'd gone insane when he thought he was in love." Antonio called from inside the pantry. "What you saw was normal. After years of giving advice to everyone about how to avoid getting tied up in a relationship and how to have one night stands..."
"Hey, it was no different from Clay going from a human hating werewolf to suddenly being engaged to a human woman." Nick protested. "I just saw her and..."
"Got obsessed. You don't remember it yet but we do. It was sweet." Antonio replied from inside the pantry. "Need me to do anything?"
"I did get her."
"Can you mix some icing, following that recipe on the back of the pack? May as well make it now." I asked as I nudged Nick backwards off me. "Ray's not interested in me, Nick, calm down."
"You couldn't get her in your usual way." Antonio corrected himself. "He used to give advice to Clayton that went along the lines of get in, have fun, then run away."
"I gave good advice. At the time."
"You hired him a hooker for his birthday and took him to a gay bar."
"Clayton needed to get laid." Nick glanced to me, as if he was hoping I'd back him up, but I just shrugged at him, returning Antonio's smile. It always amused me to hear about Nick's past when I wasn't staring at examples slapping me in the face.
"You were my first, remember?" I reminded Nick and he frowned as if I'd betrayed him. Antonio grinned at me as I gave Nick the bowl of dry ingredients and an empty one, with a sive in it. "You need to sift them three times."
He scowled at me and took the bowl. The first attempt was a disaster, flour going all over Nick's face as he tipped it in too fast, shaking it too hard, too rushed.
"Slow down."
"Why do I need to sift them?" He shook his head, hair white with the flour, specks of cocoa all over his face. "We could have bought a cake."
"Get lumps out. I'm not buying them a cake. Clay-"
"I ain't helping you cook. I'll help you eat." Clayton glanced up. This was clearly not negotiable. "I'll help with throwing some streamers. That's about as much as you're getting out of me."
I shrugged, turned back to the whisking of the wet stuff. Fair enough. I had Nick to push around.
Once that was done, I had Nick do the 'add dry to wet slowly', knowing it'd be a disaster, but it didn't bother me too much. I wanted to make sausage rolls, lots of tiny ones, finger food that the triplets could easily consume. Adults too. It wasn't hard, though you'd have thought so by the way they hovered over to watch, just some egg, onion, grated carrot and sausage meat. If I mixed it today I'd just have to put it in the pastry tomorrow. I hid the carrot adding though. No one needed to know these had a vegetable in them.
"There was a witness." Elena came into the kitchen as we were pouring the batter into the cakes. She was lowering a phone. "Did you see anyone in the park with you, Anne?"
"A witness?" I blinked as I raised my head to see her. "I wasn't really focused. So they saw how it really went?"
She shook her head. "The witness saw it how they said it went. Exactly. Almost word for word. I know." She cut me off as my mouth opened. "Complete and utter bullshit. No one believes you'd trade sex for alcohol."
"Wait, what?" Nick glanced up from his careful pouring, almost tipping it on the bench. "What are people saying she'd do?"
"The men I beat up in the park." I replied, sliding the cake mold under his moving bowl. "Focus on that. Said I offered sex for booze then I robbed them."
"The thing is, whoever it was, they saw your face." She hesitated. "Face shown briefly. Apparently there's been calls from people in the club about you and Nick dancing. That got attention."
"What was wrong with how we were dancing?" I vaguely remembered being really pissed off with him, and him being really insistent we dance anyway, the two of us jealous of everyone else.
She held up the phone. There we were, on you tube, practically beating each other up by human standards, as we took out our jealousy on each other, claiming each other with bites, and Nick trying to kiss me with kisses that were more angry and possessive than sweet. Clayton stood up to look as well. I flushed, crossing my arms. Okay. So it looked more violent than it actually had been. Nick only gave me a few bruises and broke the skin with his teeth only once. He looked as furious and turned on as I did. Anyone who didn't know us wouldn't have a clue we were married.
"She's hot dancing, isn't she?" Nick grinned. Jumped as batter hit his foot. "Ah shit." He dropped the bowl on the counter and grabbed a tea towel to mop it up. "Can you send that to me?"
"Humans might think you two were attacking each other." Clayton shook his head. "Is it too late to try another honeymoon? I think you might have gotten her pregnant there again, Nick."
"It's popular. People are debating about whether you're able to beat up two men or not. Police might be considering it now." Elena slid the phone on the bench. "You can't go back to New York for a while."
"Ana's going to school though. I promised to take her shopping." I felt my heart sink a bit at that. "Take her on the public transport to see her school early. She needs a lot of stuff."
"I know. We'll have to take her and she'll have to stay with Antonio and Nick." She sighed. "We'll fly her home every weekend if you and the triplets can't spend the three days with Nick. It's the best we can do. I'm more concerned about what to do if the police come to question you."
"I had to defend myself." I protested.
"Yes, you did, but you weren't thinking. The damage you inflicted was a little ...over the top." She hesitated. "Do you remember when a mutt knocked you and Jamie off the road a few years back, and tried to get you to touch him?"
Oh shit. Blood drained a little out of my face. Yeah, I remembered that.
"You may have done a little more damage this time."
"Shit. They were trying to-"
"I know." Elena held up her hands. "I know. But you'll have to stay here a while."
"Yeah. I know." I took the bowl Nick had abandoned and went to pour it myself. Small tasks and chores. They always made stress easier. I suddenly had an urge to go do the laundry too. "I have to say here."
"What did she do to the mutt?" Nick was glancing from me, to Elena, to Clayton, to Antonio, confused. I remembered that he had huge gaps still.
"Let's just say, if we told you, there'd be no sausages tomorrow." Antonio shook his head.
"Let's have no sausages tomorrow anyway." Clayton suggested. Cringed slightly. "The memory's bad enough."
"Maybe I better not make a snake cake."
Clayton laughed then. "Maybe not."
Nick seemed to get it then. His eyes caught on me, face paling, but there was a little amusement there too. He shook his head slightly. "What did I marry?"
"A wolf." Clayton slapped him on the back. His head twitched in the direction of the guest room, at the same time mine did, as we heard a small voice call out. "Think the puppies are up."
"Nick, go on up." Elena turned to me. "If they come, just tell them what happened. That you were drunk, they tried to make you do things, and you fought back. The witness didn't seem to mention Ray and he'll be your witness. But I want to take photos."
"Photos?"
"Of your bruises. Just in case."
I nodded and put the bowl down.
"How long in the oven, how hot?" Antonio asked.
"Bang it on the counter a few times first to get air out." I read out the temperature for the American temperature, the time, and followed Elena into the study.
For the next half hour she had me bend, stand, bend, twist and stand there while she took photos. We healed much faster than others, they were already feeling a little better, but even our fast healing struggled with the extent of the bruising, one of the ribs maybe injured, the slice along one of my sides. She used a ruler for some of them. I hoped it wasn't needed.
"How do I explain what I did?" I asked as I dressed again in the skirt and the thin tank top.
"Couple of men tried to attack you. You got scared and defended yourself." Elena shrugged. She hooked the camera into the computer. "Women can lift cars off babies. Don't worry about it now. We've got what we need."
"Elena?"
She glanced up from me.
"Can Nick come over tonight for a date?"
"He's not allowed to."
"Just for a few hours. You can send a chaperone." That last part made Elena's lips twitch in a smile.
"A chaperone?" She laughed. "Okay. You can have him as long as he's home by eleven."
I nodded and headed back into the kitchen.
"Catch!"
I spun around as I passed the stairs, Susie thrown at me again, my arms grabbing her before she slipped. Nick stood there, grinning down at me, before he vanished. Hadn't we done this before? Christmas? I had to kick him.
"I fly." Susie grinned at me, her silvery curls all over the place, as she grabbed onto me. "I fly!"
"So does daddy when Mama gets him." I informed her. I headed into the living room before he could throw another toddler at me.
I slid onto the couch with Susie, tugging a book open for her, letting her push the pages with her palms. She hadn't quite got that pages turned, not got pushed, but Lily had started to try 'turning' pages. She usually tore paper doing that.
"Have you seen where the kids and Ana went to?" I called as Clayton jumped over the toddler barrier to come flop beside me.
"They're still on their picnic." Elena called. "Clay, think we should round them up?"
"Na. Let them stay there for a while." He shrugged. "They might try and pinch the cakes if we let them in too soon."
"Cake?" Susie's head went for Clayton then. She dropped the book and held her arms out to the big guy. "Cake?" Her eyes went to me. "Cake."
"No cake." I shook my head.
"Here." Clayton took her from me, the book, and opened it up for her. "I'll read and you do that stuff in the kitchen."
"Call me if she needs changing."
"I changed them." Nick called. He lowered Lily and Dominic over the barrier, holding them by the backs of their tops, till their feet were steady on the ground. "They're okay for a while."
I headed back into the kitchen and went back to work, glad to watch my kids roll around nearby, slipping them icecream in the hot summer afternoon. Nick wasn't the only one who spoiled them... I just was more sneaky about it. Little sticks with icecream frozen on them were usually gone in seconds. While they wandered around with sticky hands and tormented Nick, I got the cakes out, cooled them, and iced them.
Then icing, coloured that, trying to make three crocodiles, using a large metal tray. They could go in the other fridge till tomorrow.
"Yum." Nick stole some of the green icing, pressing up behind me, his free arm sneaking around my waist. "Can I have some?"
"Tomorrow." I slid the cake safely to the side and turned around, jumping up onto the bench, pulling him closer. "Nick?"
"I'll have some of you too." He grinned. "Yeah?"
"Want to come over for a date tonight when the triplets are in bed? Elena said you had to be home by eleven."
"How old are we, fifteen?" He scowled.
"She can take it back." Clayton called.
"What are we doing on this date?" Nick ignored Clayton. He ran his hands up my legs, pushing the skirt out of his way again, a hand sliding between my legs. I blocked him. "No one can see."
"They can hear though." Clayton's voice again.
"Watch a movie." I replied, sliding my legs to one of his sides to remove that temptation, which Nick took as 'pick her up'. He picked me up, carrying me into the living room, dumping me on the couch and jumping on top. "I've got a cake to make."
Someone else joined us, climbing up, Dominic trying to get on top of Nick. Copying him. Nick had to slid to my side, the two of us almost falling off the couch, so that Dominic could sit on my stomach and rest against Nick. It was only seconds before Lily and Susie tried it out too, legs claimed.
I groaned and flopped back. Impossible. They were too strong.
"So date. What movie?" Nick asked, nuzzling my neck. "Why?"
"You don't remember me well so ...we date." I replied, turning my head to him, smiling weakly and ignoring the pain the three babies caused on bruises. "You have to dress nicely."
"Will you?"
I nodded.
Nick rested down beside me, arm across me. The toddlers got off after another half minute- it was really too hot for cuddles. They preferred to sit under the ceiling fan and play.
After a while I had to get up and resume crocodile building, putting on music as I did, the windows open to let in a wind that'd come up. Nick watched me, his eyes not leaving me from the couch, not until the toddlers got his attention.
The three kids and Ana reappeared an hour later, twice as muddy as before, wet, dumping their stuff on the table. Only for a second though. Elena appeared and one look from her had them backing out the door so they could change the muddy wet stuff, then at the sink rinsing and stacking it all in the dishwasher.
Finally they were done- three crocodiles, all ready for the 'slime' I'd made earlier, which was more or less just green jelly, and I carried them into the newer part of Stonehaven in order to put them safely away.
It was then that I heard two cars pull up outside. Luca's voice, two strange men with him, and Jeremy. Jeremy? He hadn't been here for a while. Jamie was there too.
"Anne? Can you come here? Elena?" Jeremy called as he opened the door and stepped inside. "Lucas needs to talk with you."
Nick appeared as I made my way back into Stonehaven, Elena coming down the stairs. She looked surprised to see Lucas.
"Didn't expect to see you till tomorrow." Elena's eyes went past him to the two men behind him. Body guards?
"I need to talk with Anne in private." Lucas explained, eyes going to me, tense. "Mind if I stay overnight tonight? These two go back to town when I'm done and Paige is coming in tomorrow."
"Of course."
"You can talk in the study." Jeremy said quietly. Jamie moved past him to put her bags down in another room, a quick greeting called. "Everyone else has to leave them."
Nick stepped closer, arm brushing hard against mine, his muscles tense. "I'm going in."
"He's my husband." I added, quickly, as the two 'bodyguards' glanced at each other.
"The man from the video was your husband?" They glanced at each other. We heard a car skidding down the driveway fast.
I nodded. "Is it all right if he stays?"
"I'm staying." Nick muttered, nudged me.
"I'm coming as well." Elena added.
"No, you can't-"
"Alpha." Lucas hissed. They hesitated.
"All right. Where can we talk in private?"
I led them down into the study, Nick's hand curling around my waist, casting a glance back at them.
"Am I in trouble for something?" I asked as we sat, Nick tugging me into his lap, refusing to separate.
"Just questions right now." Lucas reassured me, as the two men glanced at each other again. "No trouble. My father hasn't yet found Demetruis, the father of Aaron, but he was seen in Central park."
"Central park?" I blinked. The old man had been seen?
"Do you recall seeing the witness that saw your attack?"
"No, I wasn't really able to see anyone except the humans." I admitted. "I was drunk."
"I know. My father's investigating the connection between the two incidents." Lucas leaned back. "It's probably nothing but he asked me to let you know that, due to your assistance capturing Aaron, he'll keep it quiet. You won't get any police questioning you."
I wondered if that was the full truth. Lucas didn't seem to think so, from the stiffness in his voice when he spoke, the way he sat up. "Really?"
"That's what his message was." He paused. "After Demetruis's overreaction, we're not keen on letting him show up again like that, we're trying to find him. He's not easy to find." This was saying something, coming from Lucas, who with Paige tended to track people down. If magic and skilled investigators couldn't find him, that was saying something. "We think he might be the witness to your attack."
"The one that agreed with my attackers?"
"Exactly." Lucas went quiet a moment. "I thought I better come tell you myself. Just keep an eye out. Call if you need us. No one expects you to handle him on your own. He's not like his son."
I nodded. "Trust me. I don't want to attack someone with magic. He's all yours."
Lucas relaxed and smiled a little then. He glanced behind him. "You two can head back now. I'm having dinner here, if that's fine?" He glanced at Elena who nodded.
"But your father-"
"Told you to protect me. I'm now safe in a house full of werewolves. You can wait in town and make sure Paige gets here too." Lucas's look showed he wasn't kidding, either about them leaving or making sure Paige got there. "My father wouldn't be impressed if his daughter-in-law got attacked while you were protecting me in a safe place."
That got them to leave.
"How is Paige?" Elena relaxed, leaning back, and we left to leave them to talk.
I headed back to Forestwatch then. Nick had to get into the evening routine with the triplets and I had to get ready for his 'date'.
I'd promised Nick I'd dress up. Jeans and a peasant top were about as far as I got, admittedly, but I could have shown up naked and he'd be happy. I wore heels for him though- that way I was closer to his height. The part he'd really like was being saved for later.
It was a movie night, our 'first date', but not one like he'd expected. It was stinking hot still, the insects loud outside, the kind of night that a person would spend in front of a fan or in air conditioning. As Forestwatch still had no air conditioning it was going to be one of those 'sit in front of a fan' nights. That was why it was perfect for an outdoor viewing.
Antonio had been told to go 'chaperone'. Werewolf hearing was both a curse and a blessing- he didn't have to be in the backyard with us to 'watch', but it also meant he heard everything said. Mostly.
I lay there, half asleep in the heat, stretched out on one of the banana lounges, the TV sitting at one end of the pool, candles on the fence around it. It was growing dark now, the insects getting louder, the soft hum of a TV inside as Antonio watched his own movie.
Nick was trying to sneak up, I could hear him, smell him grow closer, jump across the fence to the pool. Just as he was about to pounce, his breathing slow and quiet, I opened my eyes and shoved him into the pool.
He fell with a splash, and I stood up, standing there above him as he spluttered and flopped around, grabbing for the edge. He had dressed up. Like I'd told him. I grinned down at him as he glared at me, breathing hard, his clothing sticking to him.
"What was that for?"
"Dinner in the pool." I told him, stepping back as he grabbed for my feet, careful to not slip on the tiles in the heels.
"You told me to get dressed up." Nick pouted, but he grinned as I threw board shorts at him. "In these?" He held them up.
"Unless you want to swim in those?" I glanced at the long pants and tshirt.
He stripped as I watched, my hands on my hips, grinning as my eyes traced every last item of clothing.
"I could just stay like this..." He offered, throwing his pants over my head, glancing down at his naked body.
"You put them on or I don't get in. This is your punishment from me."
Nick pouted, glanced at the house, one of the curtains shifting, and slid them over his bare legs and up. They were a cover, sort of, but they weren't much of one. They were loose and baggy, down to his knees, the Velcro right in a handy spot... I smiled, watching him tie it under his bellybutton, eyes over the muscles that curved down on his hips.
"So are you getting in wearing that?" He glanced up at me when they were in place, catching my eyes low down on his stomach, that grin returning. It had gotten slightly predatory now, his own eyes tracing over my bare shoulders, trying to grab for an ankle. "Or taking it off?"
"Taking it off."
"Oh?" He swam backwards a bit, resting on his back, arms coming under his head. "Let's see."
I glanced up, seeing the first firefly of the night fly past, and smiled. Eyes went back to Nick's eyes, locking in his, as i slowly unbuttoned my jeans. His eyes traced down, watching, his breathing a little faster.
There was something incredibly powerful about this, about a man being so attracted to you that you affected his breathing just by touching the button on the jeans, that you made him slide up a bit straighter, come a little closer as the zip was pulled down slowly. I slid it down my legs, careful in the heels to not fall over, bending forward so he couldn't see what was underneath. Then I stood up again, the long peasant top covering my hips, making him swim closer, trying to see if I was naked underneath or not.
"Back up or they go back on." I ordered. He grinned, swam back a metre, and waited. "Eyes closed."
Nick closed his eyes.
"Turn around."
He turned around, obedient, his heart racing. I tugged my shirt off, throwing it aside, and slowly climbed into the pool behind him. I wasn't naked, of course, this was just the first date. I stood there, heels still on, the bikini bottom and top not leaving much to the imagination, ignoring the urge to cover myself up. Instead I took the straps of the bikini top and tied them up around my neck. I'd considered a strapless bikini top but with larger heavier breasts it hadn't worked, it just kept sliding down. The '70s halter' worked better. My legs were shaved, which wasn't something I did often for anyone.
"Can I look yet?"
"In twenty seconds." I pulled the little waterproof box closer to the edge of the pool, with the remote, and stood back up, hands on hips, as he counted.
He turned around and gazed up at me, not hiding his approval as he slid closer, pulling me close. One of Nick's hands traced down my bare back and over my behind, fingers sliding into the bikini bottom, only to be pushed away.
"Take off my shoes?" I asked, lowering myself in the water, raising a leg up to him. Nick raised an eyebrow, standing above me as he unstrapped them, throwing them to one side, fingers tracing up my legs.
"Is this my movie?" He knelt down, sliding closer, pulling me through the water into his lap.
"No. This is." I pulled back to grab the remote. Turned the DVD on and slid back into his lap, letting him wrap his arms around me for it, relaxing against him. "So no groping."
"Come on." Nick groaned, his hand getting slapped away when he tried, chin flopping onto my shoulder. "After that tease?"
"First date." I reminded him. I slid out of his grip to get the food on a floating tray, sliding his across on the water, and relaxed beside him in the shallow water. "What do people usually do on the first date?"
"Me?" He grinned. Ignored the food and headed straight for me. "I have all kinds of things I like to do on the first date. Want me to demonstrate?"
"Maybe."
Lips crashed onto mine, water flying, food falling into the pool. Nick grabbed me and pushed me up against the side of the pool, one of his arms behind me to protect me from the edge, the other pulling my leg around his hips. It was pretty clear what he intended when I felt his hands try and tug the bottoms down.
"This isn't what we did on our first date." I told him when he let me breathe, our faces flushed, his body clearly
"What did we do?" He blinked at me, a little groggy.
"Watched that movie." I pointed at Suckerpunch. "Didn't even kiss."
"We didn't kiss?" He shook his head. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "You can have me on the third date."
Nick scowled and tried to grab for me, trying, ignoring the movie as I slipped away.
"In a month." I added, teasing him now. "When Elena lets you back home."
Nick really grabbed me then, dragging me against him, trying to pull fabric off. We struggled against each other, the movie forgotten, kissing and biting, as we teased each other. He wouldn't force me, I knew that, but he gladly tested my resolve as much as he could. When I told him no kissing till the second date he firmly ignored that order.
Somehow though we managed to settle, calming down, watching the movie as we tried to eat and pretend we didn't want to tear each other's clothing off then and there. Then when it was over we floated, talked, pretending we were getting to know each other. The sad part was, with Nick's memory half gone, it wasn't a lie. He still had a lot he wanted to know.
After a while he was trembling. That made me feel a bit strange- I was still pretty hot in the hot summer night- but I agreed to get out and we dried off.
"I'm late." Nick realised, swearing, as he glanced at his watch. "It's midnight."
"Say the car broke down." I grinned. "Or you got lost again."
"Ha ha. I'll see you tomorrow." He moved closer, hands stroking down my back, one last attempt to pull the bikini apart as I slapped him away. "You're so warm. I could stand here against you all night..."
"Get going or she'll ban you from the next date!" I laughed, pushing him back, and watched him as he got into his car and reluctantly drove away, still damp from the pool, glancing back at me until we could no longer stare at each other.
"Anne?" A timid voice woke me, the door partly open, Ana's head poking in. "Sorry. But your alarm's been going for an hour."
I blinked and sat up, groggy, the fan still on me. It was just as hot now as it'd been last night. I'd been sweating all night too. "Ah. Sorry. Thanks." I reached out for the alarm as it went off again in my phone. Turned it off. It was nearly nine. I had too much to do to sleep in. Why hadn't I woken? That was not a good way to start the day.
"Are you going early?"
"Yes, lots to cook. You can stay here if you want, sleep a bit more. Antonio wanted to drop by to pick up some things so he'll take you over."
"Okay, cool." Ana vanished again and I heard her head for her bedroom.
I stood up, slowly, legs shaking, and went for the shower. Cold water seemed to help refresh me from the bad night's sleep, soaking me to the bone, washing my skin clean of the sweat. This was one element of summer I'd always hated in Australia in any climate- the nights that were so hot it was nearly impossible to get a good night's sleep. But it was two years since the babies had come! They were two years old today!
This made me move a little bit faster, missing them, wishing I could have gotten up early enough to be there when they woke. That had been the original plan. Get there early, say good morning to them, snuggles in bed with them and Nick, help him change them and feed them and then I'd cook. If it was nine already then he'd already be up to the feeding part.
I sighed and hurried as I dressed, tugging on a dress and shorts, thongs on feet, and hurried out the door, a bag of food over one shoulder. It wasn't that far of a walk.
It seemed to take forever though. The heat, the sweat, my aching head, all of it, I seemed to struggle to hurry like I usually did. By the time I got there a twenty minute walk had turned into a forty minute walk and I was late. Ten thirty. We needed everything ready by twelve.
"Hi!" I called, waving, hurrying into the other kitchen and dumping the food down. I went straight for the tap, cold water, trying to re-hydrate myself. My head felt a bit light and dizzy. No problem. It'd been a hot night.
"You cooking already?" Nick asked, yawning, one baby under arm. "It's still early."
"Yeah. Hi baby." I turned to hug Nick and Susie.
"Hi baby." Nick grinned, kissing me, pressing me gently against the kitchen bench. "I like that greeting."
"I was talking to our baby." I yawned, head resting against his chest as I stroked Susie's face. "All fed?"
Susie yawned back at me and shut her eyes.
"You're still pretty hot." Nick muttered, I felt his hand stroke down an arm.
"Summer." I reminded him. "Where they setting it up?"
"In the other living room." He answered, still stroking my bare arm. "You okay?"
"Great. Lots to do." I stood up.
"I'll go help in there then. Call if you need me." Nick kissed me again, backing up, and heading away through the door.
I worked hard, turning the fan on at one point, tying my hair back so that the sweat didn't keep catching on it, glad that the dress and shorts weren't too long. Most things were just waiting to be heated up, so that was easy, things sliced up heated in oven, pastry lined out so it'd defrost...
"Need any help?" A familiar voice came from the doorway.
I blinked and looked up. Clayton stood there, leaning against the door, his own sweat glistening in the light. He looked just as hot as I was feeling.
"Yeah. I'd love some help." Hadn't he said he wouldn't help? That was strange. I pushed the bowl in his direction. "You all right?"
Clayton glanced up at me. It took him a moment to register what I'd said. "Yeah, why?"
"You're offering to help."
He shrugged, rubbed his head, and glanced up at the ceiling fan. "It's hot. You're the only one with the sense to have that thing on and you look tired." Clayton took the bowl off me. "So what do we do with this meat stuff?"
I showed him how to stuff sausage rolls, still a bit suspicious by this offer of help, and went to do something else, heating up some other food, getting things together, washing my arms every now and then to get rid of the sweat. Again. The fan helped mostly but even Clayton looked hot. Once the stuff was in the oven I grabbed cold drinks and slid one across to Clayton, who was starting to sweat too, his face pale.
"Wish we had air conditioning now." I muttered and he nodded.
"All done?"
"Yeah. Most of it just needs putting out now." I rubbed my head, hairline damp with the sweat, shutting my eyes. I couldn't believe how exhausted I was starting to feel.
"Didn't you sleep?" He asked. I could feel his eyes on me.
"Yeah. Guess I didn't sleep well. It's been strange- sleeping in a nearly empty house, heat, could barely get up by morning. Everyone slept here except Ana."
"They did. It was hard to sleep here. Noise everywhere. I should have gone to your house for a good sleep." Clayton yawned. "What's this I'm making?"
He gestured at the rolls he hadn't yet sealed up.
"Sausage rolls."
"Sound good."
I shut my eyes and rested my head on my arms. The bright light was getting to me, the heat, all of it. I wanted another cold shower.
"You okay?"
"I think I need another cold shower." I muttered and stood up. "Can you ...they only need fifteen minutes. The ones in the oven should be done soon, the timer's on, so just put them in the fridge."
"I can handle it. Go have a shower." He nodded. "I'll get some extra hands. Reece is complaining he has nothing to do."
"Reece is here?" My head shot up then, sudden.
"Can't you hear him?" He blinked at me.
I shook my head and hurried through the door, trying to see the other Australian, hearing him as I got closer. He was making lion noises at one of the girls, making her giggle.
"Reece?"
"Anne!" Reece grabbed me in a huge hug, spinning me around. "They let you of the kitchen."
"When did you get here?"
"An hour ago. You seemed busy so..." He shrugged. "You're a bit hot." Reece blinked down at me.
"I'm going up to have another shower. Clayton wants your help in the kitchen."
"I bet he does." He grinned. "Dani, let's go rescue him."
Daniella glanced up from where she was swamped with two of the three toddlers, her face flushed. "I'll be there in a second."
I headed upstairs and stripped off, sliding into the cold water, shuddering as the relief of it hit my hot skin. The day was so warm. Nick came into the bathroom, locking hte door behind us.
"They won't notice I'm here with you." He grinned, stripping, and went to step in. "Fuck! It's cold. Put on the hot water."
"I'm hot." I muttered. He frowned at me, reaching out to touch my forehead again, cringing as he did.
"You're still hot? Get out of that water." He yanked me out, not much resistance as he did, wrapping a towel around me. "It's not a hot day."
"Yes it is. I needed the fan all night."
"It was cool last night. Clayton complained of the same thing." Nick rubbed the cold water off me. Any romantic thoughts were gone now, he just looked concerned. "I think you're sick."
"I can't be sick. It's their birthday." I pulled away and dressed again, slowly, my head not liking it when I moved too fast. "Dehydration. That's it." I vaguely remembered this excuse being used once before.
"Have you got a strange bite again?" Nick seemed to remember that too. "One you haven't noticed?"
"No. I just feel hot. Nick? Leave it alone. We've got a party downstairs." I tugged the dress over my head. "Later. Worry about it later."
"I'll be keeping an eye on you." Nick re-dressed reluctantly. "I wonder if Clayton's sick too? That'd be a first."
"I doubt it. I think I'm just not as good with heat as you." I shrugged it off. Now that I'd cooled down in the shower, now that my hair was wet, I felt better. "It's not that bad. No bites, just thirsty."
"Good." He smiled, clearly trying to believe me, stepping closer when his pants were on. Nick pinned me against the wall, licking the wet skin, brushing hair out of his way, teasing my throat with his lips. "You worked hard so you can relax."
"How did they sleep last night?" I asked, as he lifted me up onto the bench, fingers stroking between my legs, slipping under the panties.
"Very well." Nick replied, teasing me, watching my face as I breathed a little harder. "Can I have you yet?"
I shook my head. He pouted and continued to run his fingers against the damp hairs there, teasing my poor body. It wanted him. I had to ...stay strong. Or something. I inhaled as he slid one finger inside me, slowly, his lips curving up in a grin as he watched my reaction.
"You sure?" He pressed his palm against me as it inched in, making me shudder. "You don't feel so sure."
"Not till the third date."
"Aww." Nick withdrew his hand and bent down to pick up the shorts, sliding them up my legs. "If you say so."
Damn him. I wanted him now.
"Nick?"
Nick turned around, a hopeful look on his face. I nipped him hard and he grinned. "Yes now?"
"Screw you." I headed for the door only to be yanked back. I grabbed for his shirt and tried to push it at him. "Dress."
"No. Screw each other." He laughed, wrapping his arms around me, nuzzling against the back of my head. "Time for party. Food's done. Yum. Smells like Clayton burnt some."
I couldn't smell it. This vague thought drifted through my head, a moment, but it was blocked by the sound of someone banging on the door.
Nick glanced at the open bathroom window, kissed the back of my neck again, and was out of it as fast as he could move. I opened it to see Elena there, sweating a little too, arms crossed, an amused look on her face. Nick's shirt was still in my hands.
"Yoga again?"
"Not even yoga. Just a stretch." I muttered. Threw the shirt at the laundry basket. She laughed.
"Food's all set out. We're just waiting for you and looking for Nick."
"He's-" I glanced back at the window. "Probably there."
"He is."
We headed downstairs and into the living room. Jungle was right, it had 'vines' everywhere, streamers, food, jungle toys dangling, their birthday presents covered in vines and up on a table safely out of their grabby hands. The triplets had already started to eat, wandering around with tiny sausage rolls, tomato sauce dripping from them, the bigger kids eating too. Luckily Nick had thought ahead enough to not dress them in anything that nice.
Nick lifted me up. "Where's my shirt?"
"You're Tarzan. Go shirtless."
"If you want." He grinned, flexing his muscles at me, before flopping back on the couch with me in his lap. "Hungry?"
I blinked and shook my head. Nick stared at me like I was mad.
"Really not hungry?"
"Not really." I hadn't even eaten breakfast. That was strange.
"You better eat anyway." Elena offered me a plate. "It'll vanish if you don't eat it now."
I ate slowly, finding that I just didn't care much about the food, watching the toddlers race around as they played with the big kids, play games, vanish for a few minutes to get cleaned up and changed. Reece flopped beside me and snuggled me into his side while Nick was gone.
"You've been quiet."
"Just watching them."
"Can't believe how much they talk now." He stared at them. "They were barely talking at Christmas last year."
"I know." I watched Lily try to explain why she wanted another sasuage roll to an amused Clayton, half undressed, clearly having escaped Nick's clutches long enough to return for more food. She was trying to pull the rest of the annoying clothing off as she spoke to him. "They can even undress themselves. Can't wait till they can put it back on again. Be back in a second."
I stood up, blinked as the world spun, falling back down.
"Changed your mind?"
"I ..." I stood up again, slower, more careful. "Na. I'll be back."
I hoisted her up as she got her pants off, carrying her back out of the room to where her daddy was probably trying to hold the other two down. Nick glanced up as I came in.
"Found our runaway?"
"She was telling Clayton how hungry she is. Weren't you?"
Lily nodded, wriggling. "I want food."
"Mama caught you a whole crocodile each." Nick told her as he took her. He grinned at me. "She's a good hunter."
"We open presents then we get your crocodiles out." I promised them as I took Susie, buttoning up her clothing again, stroking her hair.
"Presents?" Susie gazed up at me.
"Lots of them." Nick called. He released Dominic, now dressed, who hurried over to me and tried to help me dress Susie. It wasn't helpful but it was cute.
Once the three of them were somewhat clean we headed back into the living room. They were sat down, cameras reappeared, and the three were offered presents. We watched as they tore into them, throwing paper everywhere, enjoying the tearing as much as they enjoyed the things inside. Toys, tricycles from their grandpa, things that flashed, beeped and made noise, books, clothing, all kind of stuff. Probably too much but no one was complaining.
I started to get hot again, leaning against Reece's free side, Daniella helping Nick give them the toys, aware that my head was going fuzzy again. I felt sick too. I wasn't going to try eating the cakes.
"You okay?" Reece asked, quietly.
I'd heard that query too many times to day to go 'Yes' so I answered, "I don't know."
Clayton wasn't looking too hot either. He looked pale, shiny with sweat, his eyes shut as he leaned on Elena's side.
"Maybe we're sick." I muttered. Reece followed my eyes to Clayton. "I should get him some water."
"Want me to get the cakes and some water?"
I nodded and he stood up. Reece headed into the kitchen, glancing to Daniella, who hurried after him. She came in with the tray of crocodiles 'swimming' in the green jelly I'd put all over it this morning and Reece handed me the water, offering some to Clayton too.
Elena took it, fanning herself a moment, before she offered it to Clayton. He blinked and sipped it.
The triplets didn't know anything was wrong. The moment they squealed, we all focused on them, watching them as Nick stuck the two candles in each crocodile and lit them. Video cameras on them, kids sliding closer to admire the crocodiles, as everyone sang happy birthday, Lily already breaking off a bit of the tail and eating it, Dominic prodding the eyeball of his, Susie waiting patiently.
I remembered, two years ago, remembered the craziness that'd been around their birth. Making me think they'd cut them out of me, so that the alpha got distance and didn't come back too fast, coming out of some spell to find out that I had to go through birth all over again...
Nick going comatose after he saw Lily's birth, and Antonio having to catch Susie. Dominic showing up when everyone thought it was over, coming in from his hiding place, pushed down feet first. It was lucky he hadn't come out first. He was smaller and the breech birth hadn't been as dangerous. By then I'd been so wide open that it'd barely taken much at all to get him out after the big girls.
I did not want to do that again. I loved them, I loved kids, but I did not want to do that again. Pav had been there, she'd been the one to get him out safely, and now she was in Russia with her own twin boys. She couldn't bring them out here, not till they were three, the rules of the Russian pack- no children were allowed to leave the property till they were three. Good rule. She sent me videos all the time of her boys, two little dark haired light eyed babies, and apparently Vi was considering having a baby too. It would be amusing to see that.
I'd promised to fly over soon.
I blinked as cake was offered to me. I hadn't even seen them cut the crocodiles. I shook my head. Nick blinked down at me, his hand pressed against my head, and said something about putting it in the fridge. I shut my eyes.
Then Jeremy appeared. I wasn't sure when, the room was empty when I opened my eyes again, mess everywhere, the sounds of noise in another room. Had he been here all this time? Probably. Jamie too. Everyone had been here. I hadn't really focused on them.
"Right. Up to bed." He was saying, taking away a thin glass object. "Why didn't you tell me she was sick, Nick?"
"She kept saying she was fine."
"Clayton's sick." I muttered. "Triplets."
"He's in bed." Jeremy pocketed the thermometer and lifted me up. "Triplets are being watched. No excuses."
Then I blinked and I was in bed. That was fast. I wasn't sure when we'd gone upstairs. We were in Stonehaven, I could tell, it was the guest room. Nick stood at the window, arms crossed, that line between his eyes again as he frowned out the window. His worried look. It was dark, fireflies dancing outside, I could see one resting on the glass near him.
"When did it get dark?" I tried to sit up. My body wasn't responding.
"A few hours ago." He turned to look at me, sitting down on the bed beside me, reaching out to touch my arm. "I wish you'd tell me when you're not well. You don't have to pretend to be strong with me."
"I didn't know."
He shrugged, a mixture of annoyance and worry there, clearly not believing me. "Clayton's bad too."
"What is it?" I shut my eyes. When I opened them again, struggling to do so, fighting a haze of heat and nausea and grogginess, he was somewhere else, reading a book at the edge of the bed, glancing back at me the second I'd woken. "What is it?"
"You asked that an hour ago. We don't know. Jeremy's called Amar. Vi's flying over with Amar now." Pav's father. If he called Amar and got Vi to come over then he was worried, Jeremy didn't usually bother him. Amar was now the doctor for the Russian pack.
"It's just a fever." I muttered. As I shut my eyes, I heard him say something about Elena and Daniella.
Elena? Daniella?
After that, things got odd. I slept, I think, but I saw faces. Vi. Amar. I felt hot, and feverish, and swore I saw other things too, wolves, and faces of things, the sense of being chased, jaguars dancing around the room, hallucinations, and heat, and the taste of vomit, arms holding me down as I thrashed and struggled, trying to get up, the sudden shock of freezing cold something, and then heat again.
Blood. I smelt a lot of that.
Silence. For a long time, even with all the faces, and the words, and the arms holding me down, I heard silence. It felt like seconds, sometimes, these periods between sleep, these times when I saw things that I no longer knew were real or not, and then sometimes it felt like weeks. Months, stretching out.
Then one day I woke and ... I felt okay. Weak. Warm. But I felt okay. It was like I'd just slipped back into reality and out of dreams. Opening my eyes and ...and it was normal again. The whole world was normal.
Sunlight was coming in the window through the shades. I could smell cut grass drifting in. My arms and legs were free, I lifted my head slowly, seeing raw skin around the wrists and ankles. It was still Stonehaven.
"Nick?" I tried to call, voice protesting, dry and tickly. What I'd do for water right now.
Feet pounded up the stairs and I saw him. Unwashed, unshaved, exhausted looking, rushing. He skidded to a halt as my eyes met his.
"Beard?" I asked.
Nick blinked. He took a step closer, careful, as if he was afraid I'd lash out at him. "You awake?"
"Water." I shut my eyes, head flopping back. The taste of water woke me again, a hand gentle under my head. The hand was trembling.
"Are you awake?" He asked again as my eyes opened. "Jeremy, I swear, she asked me if I had a beard."
"You do have a beard." A voice came from the doorway. I realised that my arms and legs were tied down now. "That doesn't mean she's awake yet."
"I'm awake." I was able to speak now, the water soothing my throat, trying to lift my head again. "Why bondage and a beard? Where's the babies?"
Jeremy stepped closer then, surprise echoing across his face a moment, and went to check my eyes. "You're back with us?"
"I think so." I shut my eyes and opened them. Experimenting. When I opened them and Jeremy and Nick were still in the same place, I nodded. "I'm here."
Nick's legs seemed to give way, his reaction surprising me, as he flopped down on the floor, a long shuddering sigh. He was already undoing the restraints before Jeremy could stop him.
"Let me check your temperature." Jeremy disappeared for a few minutes, jogging back into the room with the Indian doctor close behind, something pressed into my ear. "It's normal."
"We should check Clayton then. They both went down at the same time." Amar suggested and Jeremy nodded.
"You can let her up." Jeremy called as they vanished into the hallway.
"Bad fever?" I asked as Nick climbed to his feet, his legs shaking under the pants, leaning over me to undo the other restraints.
"It was like you were bitten."
"Like the snake?"
"Like a werewolf bite."
I blinked at him and let him help me up into a sitting position. "Did I change?"
"A lot." Nick grabbed me hard, hugging me, the beard tickling my face as he shuddered, breathing in my smell.
"Clayton's still sick?" My body alerted me to something then, a need I'd probably ignored a while. "Help me to the bathroom?"
"Clayton, Elena, Matt, Daniella and Vi. Everyone who was bitten." Nick looped an arm under my shoulders and helped me stand. "It spread through all of you. We're okay. The triplets are okay. Matt's already awake, he got through it easily, he's already back at school."
"Weird." I muttered. He waited, refusing to leave while I relieved myself, arms crossing and a stubborn shake of the head when I suggested it.
"You might ..." Nick hesitated. "Have some troubles."
"Troubles?"
"Matt can't smell like us. He can't hear like us. He's not strong now." He wasn't looking at me.
It took me a few seconds to get this into my head. Couldn't smell, hear ,wasn't strong? What ... "He's not a werewolf?"
"No, he is. He still can change, it takes longer, and he's still eating enough for six kids. You're still a werewolf." Nick's head shot up to me, sudden. There was grief there. Grief? "You're still one."
I breathed in slowly, trying to understand. Then it hit me what he was saying.
I couldn't smell him. I couldn't smell Nick's scent. I couldn't hear his heart, or his body, or ..."I'm not a werewolf?"
"You're still one." Nick's nostrils flared slowly, stepping closer, arms wrapping around me. "Still one. Amar's trying to figure out what's wrong. The disease seems to ...restrict you. Suppress some things. He's going to cure it." He stepped closer, helping me dress. "It's not permanent."
"I'm not strong?"
"We'll defend you." He was upset, I could see it in his face, so upset.
"I can't smell you." I breathed in slowly, trying, trying so hard. I smelt his scent, sort of, the faint smell of it against his skin, but it was nothing like it used to be. Before, it'd been rich, strong, as detailed and exposing about him as a masterpiece painting. Now, compared to then, it was like one or two smears of paint. Slightly different but not much. "Not like before."
"I know. Matt said the same thing." He muttered against my neck. "You smell exactly the same. Exactly."
We stood there, as I tried to get my body to stand without his help.
"Can Matt walk?"
"He was weak for a day but he's fine now." Nick muttered against my neck. "I made sure. He's fine."
"How long was I sick?"
"Two weeks. Matt was sick for five days." Nick leaned back. "You hungry now?"
I nodded. My stomach growled and he glanced down, the first hint of amusement there.
"You've still got cake. We'll start with that."
I let him left me onto his back, piggybacking me down, reaching out to stroke the hair he hadn't shaved. Ungroomed Nick was always a bad sign. It wasn't just me either, I knew, Clayton was sick. Elena was sick. Everyone was sick. His pack was sick.
Jeremy was downstairs and at the stove cooking as we came in. He glanced up at me. "I thought you'd be hungry."
"I'm starving." I tried to inhale it, the smell, but ...it wasn't the same anymore.
"We're figuring out a way to get your smell back." Amar's voice startled me. He was right there at the table and I hadn't heard or smelt him there.
Food was offered and I tried to eat. It was still good, somehow, but without the smell I had before...
As a human it hadn't mattered. It was like being born with no hearing and being used to that, until someone cured that, and suddenly I could hear symphonies, only to loose my hearing again after getting used to live life with sound.
Now it was gone.
But I was hungry and my body still wanted the vast amount it'd wanted before, so I ate, it getting easier as I stopped thinking about what was lacking. Nick's hand stayed in mine, clutching, his eyes on me, but I knew his ears were somewhere else. He stiffened, eyes going to Jeremy, as if they'd heard something. Jeremy nodded a stiff nod and vanished upstairs at a run.
"What is it?" I tried to hear it. I couldn't hear anything.
Nick blinked. "Clayton."
"He isn't well?"
"No." Amar said from his newspaper. "He's still feverish."
Nick's head twisted up then, suddenly, again hearing something I hadn't. He kissed the back of my hand and sped upstairs, suddenly, and then I heard it. A muffled bang, a shout.
Amar stood up and hurried upstairs, leaving me downstairs, Karl close behind him. I hadn't even heard him. I didn't know he was here. Who else was here that I couldn't hear or smell anymore? It was scary, frightening, suddenly not knowing what or who was around you. They may as well have blinded me. I tried to not panic at this. Tried, anyway, the reality was different. Where were my babies? Were they in the house? Before, when I could hear and smell like a wolf, I didn't have to be in the same room as them. I could hear them from any point in the house, smell them, know the second they needed me.
Now I didn't even know if they were in the house.
The urge to call for 'anyone there?' rose and I shoved it down. Of course people were here. Reece wouldn't have gone far from Daniella, or if he had to work, he would come back as frequently as he could. I glanced at a phone to check the day. Thursday. He might have had to go back to work.
I stood up and made my way through Stonehaven, some strength returning with food in me now, exploring. I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Maybe I was just trying to figure out where everyone was. upstairs the thumps and muffled voices were a bit louder now.
A hand closed on my shoulder and I jumped, spinning around, heart hammering hard as Reece stared at me. He was looking as awful as Nick had, though he appeared to have shaved, dark shadows under his arms.
"Did you escape your bed?" He asked, trying to smile, but there was a caution there. Like Reece was concerned I had- that maybe I was hallucinating, or something.
"I didn't hear you come. Hi."
"Hi." He hugged me, hard, lifting me up.
"Daniella still sick?"
A stiff nod and he let me back down carefully. "Everyone is. We're not sure if the mutts have it too."
The mutts? The realisation of this, of how far this was going to go, suddenly hit me. It wasn't just us. If this also attacked any bitten mutts, they'd be helpless like we were.
Elena would be helpless. Well, not really, but if mutts caught wind of her suddenly being 'human' again... and Clayton. Clayton would be especially fucked- he'd spent his entire life, almost, being able to hear, see and smell like a wolf. Daniella and myself, we'd only had three or four years, Matt the same, but those two... the alpha and the pack's enforcer, knocked out.
"This is pretty bad, isn't it?"
"We're keeping it secret for now." Reece's face answered me. "Jeremy's taking over unofficially. But we're going to have to find out if the bitten mutts have it."
"How many are there?"
"Only a few. Most mutts are hereditary." Reece glanced up. "It's not good."
I wondered if it had something to do with Demetruis showing up. He'd been gone for a good two years, then he showed up, closely followed by Lucas on orders from his father and...
"How are you feeling?"
"Weak. A little jumpy." I admitted. Glanced around. "I can't ...smell anyone. Hear where everyone is. Are my babies here?"
"In the study having a nap. Come on." Reece took my hand and led me to the study. My heart twisted painfully as he opened the door and ...no scent washed over me. No smell of my babies. They were there, asleep, curled up side by side against each other, but I couldn't smell them.
After five minutes I backed out, not wanting to wake them, glancing up at Reece who was waiting outside. I slid the door shut quietly.
"They look happy."
"We've been spoiling them rotten while you were sick." Reece replied quietly. "They knew something was wrong."
"What about Ana?"
"She had to go to school. Antonio's in New York." He replied. "She's been calling."
"I wanted to be there for her." I felt disappointed then. I knew she'd probably been nervous.
"She's okay. Tough kid." Reece reached out to pat my shoulder. "Call her tonight and she'll tell you what's been going on. Come on. Let me show you the roses. They started to bloom finally."