Page 79 of Outnumbered

Taking the icepack, I pressed it to my face and sighed.

“No more practice for you,” Caleb ordered me.

“I just need a short break and then I can –”

“We don’t know if you have a concussion or not. You hit the ground hard, too. We’ll take you to Nana if Dad doesn’t come back soon.”

“You’re worrying too much,” I said and shook my head.

“I’d rather be too cautious than not enough,” he said, stroked a hand down my hair, and walked out.

“He’s acting weird today,” Branson commented.

“I think he had a nightmare or something,” I told them.

“Twitching in his sleep?” Jolie asked.

“Woke up growling.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, that’s usually a sign they had a bad dream.” Her eyes widened and she turned in the direction he’d gone. “Oh. Um, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried away, wiping her hands on a dish towel as she left.

“Now she’s acting weird,” Branson said and laughed softly. “You sure you are okay?”

I nodded. “I’ll sit on the stool here so if I faint or something you are nearby, okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks.” Resuming doing the dishes, I watched him work and smiled. The shy, quiet bear had changed a lot recently. In doing jobs for Dan and spending time with alphas there, he was coming out of his shell bit by bit. I liked that he participated with us more, joking, and teasing.

“Are you excited for the house?” I asked. Rhys was an architect and with Caleb’s directions had drafted the plans for our house. They wouldn’t let me see them, but Dan had confirmed that construction had started on it not long after that and the house should be ready to move into in a month.

It was insane to think a year had already passed since I’d met Caleb and been dragged into all of this. Also frustrating that it was taking us so long to defeat the H.E.

“Yeah, I liked the apartments, but didn’t really like being in the city. It’s so noisy,” he said as he scrubbed a plate.

“It’s going to be great to be back in the trees,” I agreed. “Naps under the stars and in a hammock sound fantastic.”

He spun around. “No sleeping. If you have a concussion that –”

“I’m not tired right now, Branson. I was just saying I’m looking forward to that.”

He exhaled harshly and turned back around. “It’ll be nice to have true pack territory. Woods that are ours.”

“You think many other hybrids will join us?” It was something I’d been thinking about a lot since my birthday. No one really knew how many hybrids existed. It could be ten or ten thousand.

“I think a lot will join us,” he said with a nod. “We don’t really have a place elsewhere, and it’s nice to have somewhere to belong.”

My insecurities reared their heads. “You don’t think there might end up being a female hybrid that’s more suited for you out there, do you?”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “No, I don’t think there might be.”

Sighing, I put my elbow on the counter and said, “Sorry, insecurities acting up.”

“You are free to ask me for reinforcement compliments whenever you want, babe.”

“Reinforcement compliments?” I asked.

“Like, ‘yes, you are the most beautiful woman I know.’”

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