Page 23 of Wolf's Son
“What?” I didn’t understand why that would mean I was his. It doesn’t make sense. I shove at his chest, moot as it is. “That does not make me yours.”
“It does, but if you don’t think so, then the moment I had my mouth on yours and your body pressed against the goddamn wall you sure enough became mine.”
“This is not something I want to be walking in on to hear.”
I nearly jump out of my skin at the sound of my big brother’s voice. That is, until I heard Kale’s whimpering cry. Guess all the commotion woke him up. Thankfully, Wolf let me go. Before he can do it, I cross the room and gather the little boy out of the pack ‘n play, cuddling him to my chest.
I don’t know what it is about the little boy, but it’s as if I have a strong connection to him, just like with Wolf.
Kale calms down, and I turn to look at the others staring at me. “What?”
Wolf doesn’t say anything. Instead, he shakes his head and grabs the bag. “We’ll do this conversation over at my place.”
Instead of taking his son from my arms, he wraps an arm around my waist and guides me toward the door, through and across the yard to his house. He stops us long enough to unlock and open the door.
Inside, he sets the bag down, and I grab out the bottle and formula for Kale. Wolf can handle whatever. I’d prefer to hang with Kale and feed him.
Once I get the bottle prepared, I quickly change his diaper, give the dirty one to Wolf to throw away, and sit on the couch to feed the Kale.
I’m surprised when I look up to find my brother watching me closely. His expression is unreadable. No one had started talking. I guess they were waiting for me.
“Well?” I probe.
“Your place was broken into,” my brother states.
“We’ve got to get wiring fixed before even thinking of updating the security system. The person ripped it all out and cut it up. It’ll take a few days to fix,” Wolf states, standing right next to where I was sitting. His legs were close to touching mine. “Jacqueline will be staying here.”
“I gathered that from what I heard in her studio,” Izaiah grunts, nodding.
Is my brother seriously agreeing to this? Like he has a choice in it. It’s my choice where I want to go, not his. Not Wolf’s.
“I’ll get my men to pack her stuff and bring it over.”
“No, you won’t,” I snap, only to look down as I see Kale’s little arms jump at the sudden sound. Lifting my gaze back to my brother, I continue, “I can get my own things. I don’t need anyone else doing something that I can do.”
“You don’t need to be inside and seeing . . .”
“Yes, I do.” I glare up at Wolf.
I’m not about to let anyone else handle me like I can’t do things myself. It was my place that was broken into. My things that were gone through. I need to see it. Just because it was dark the night before doesn’t mean I didn’t feel how wrong something was about my place.
“Just let her go get her stuff.” I’m surprised when it’s Viper who speaks up. “You’ll be with her while she goes in and there’s nothing that can happen to her while y’all are there.”
At least he’s being reasonable.
“Fine. Once Kale finishes, I’ll take you over there. Viper, you mind?—”
“Don’t even have to ask, brother,” Viper grunts, interrupting Wolf. “Just give him to me and I’ll finish feeding him.”
Viper moves around the couch, dips down, and with practiced ease, takes Kale from me. I immediately feel the loss of the little boy but instantly feel the warmth of the little boy’s father as he helps me off the couch.
“Let’s go get this over with,” Wolf states and guides me back out of the house.
I glance over at my brother, wishing I knew what he was thinking. I don’t understand any of this right now. My brother is always the overbearing, protective person who refuses to let anyone step in and do anything like this. The two of us fight about it, and he typically wins. Why the sudden change? It’s confusing, and I want answers from him. I’ll have to question him once Wolf and I get back from getting my stuff.
We need to get this over with, though, because if I don’t, I might end up losing my mind completely with all that’s happening. Mostly because it’s all happening at once. I don’t do well with things coming at me all at once. I need to be able to process things, and I haven’t been able to. It’s not like I need a lot of time, but I need to be able to think.
My life has always been about structure. That’sthe way my brother made it for me. And until this moment, I didn’t realize just how much I depended on structure in my life. I live the artist life, but there’s still that structure in my life.
