We Saved Two Werewolves And Now Our Possessive Mates Won’t Let Us Go Chapter 09
After the rain stopped, Hadrian and Jacob stayed in Lark Bay.
They gave up their place in Greyhaven and started traveling back and forth instead.
Fiona and I still lived in the seaside cabin.
Only now, there were two men in the yard constantly competing over who got to do the chores.
In the mornings, Jacob made breakfast in the kitchen. It still wasn’t very good, but at least he had stopped nearly setting the kitchen on fire.
Hadrian rebuilt the garden wall, fixed the roof and the back door, and built a long table by the window where Fiona could keep her research materials and coffee.
Sometimes I’d stand in the kitchen doorway and watch Jacob roll up his sleeves to chop vegetables. In the morning light, his profile looked so calm that it was hard to believe he was the same wolf who had once pinned me to a wall with madness in his eyes.
Sometimes he’d glance back, catch me staring, and pause.
“What?”
I’d tease him. “Just checking whether you’re sneaking in extra salt.”
He’d laugh. “Then come taste it.”
Little by little, life really did settle down.
Then, just before spring, the Foxmoon Pack released an official statement.
For manipulating public opinion and using someone else’s account to incite attacks against the mates of Blackmoon Pack core members, Hailey had been stripped of her position within the pack and removed from the line of succession.
The day the news broke, Hadrian silently handed his phone to Fiona so she could read it, without saying a word.
She read it and handed it back.
“Not bad.”
It was only two words, but Hadrian looked like he’d just been personally blessed by heaven. Even his wolf tail was wagging.
I almost laughed and turned to look for Jacob.
He was crouched in the yard repairing the flower stand I’d broken a few days before. He heard my footsteps and looked up.
Sunlight fell across his silver-gray hair, soft enough to look unreal.
I walked over and crouched beside him.
“Jacob.”
“Hm?”
“What if one day I’m still scared, and I still want to leave?”
He was quiet for a while before answering.
“Then I’ll wait. Until you want to come back.”
Then, as if he were afraid I wouldn’t believe him, he added, “I’m not just saying that because it sounds right. I mean it.”
I looked at him and suddenly laughed.
“That’s real progress.”
The tips of his ears turned a little red.
“You taught me well.”
I gave his shoulder a light pat.
“Stop that.”
A short distance away, Fiona stood on the porch talking to Hadrian. The sea breeze lifted her long hair. Hadrian stood beside her, leaning toward her without even realizing it, like a wolf who had finally learned to keep his teeth to himself.
I suddenly thought back to that snowy night years ago, when Fiona and I dragged those two badly injured young men in out of the snow. Neither of us could have imagined it would end like this.
We gave them one winter of firelight, and it took them a very long time to learn how to come close without burning us.
At dusk, Fiona and I walked along the shore together.
A short distance behind us, Hadrian and Jacob followed.
After a while, I hooked my arm through Fiona’s and asked, “Fi, are we really stuck with these two wolves forever now?”
Fiona looked out at the sea, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.
“That depends on how they behave.”
She paused, then turned to me.
“But one thing will never change.”
“No matter what happens, we’ll always be each other’s last refuge.”
I nodded hard.
“Of course.”
The second the words left my mouth, both men behind us went quiet.
I looked back and caught the wounded look in Jacob’s eyes.
Clearly, he was not thrilled to be pushed down the list again.
I couldn’t help laughing.
The wind blew in off the sea, salty and free.
And this time, no one was trying to trap anyone.
We walked forward together.