Chapter 13
Rafe
I had never considered myself a romantic. I had never had the most romantic thoughts or actions. All I had been worried about was a quickie. As Knox called them-hump and dumps. Honestly, I never thought there would be something like love within my grasp. But as I watched Jade turn toward me with the moon illuminating her light hair, I wanted to write poetry. I leaned against the railing and about fell right over it.
There was nothing more beautiful than her in the water. Everything else faded around me. I couldn’t hear Knox’s singing or Archer’s fart noises. Gabriel’s complaining faded into the background. Nothing mattered except her. The wind picked up the hair around her shoulders and my fingers itched to brush it away. Her eyes glowed in the night and I wanted nothing more than to watch them close as I kissed her body.
“You’ve got it bad,” Mav interrupted my thoughts and leaned against the railing beside me.
Jade’s face turned pink under Mav’s gaze and a possessive jealousness rose up inside of me unbidden. I rolled my shoulders to try to ease some of the tension inside of me.
“I don’t want her, I hope you know that.” His whisper barely soothed the animal within me. “I know I spend a lot of time with her, but I feel like I finally have someone around that understands what I went through.”
Mav had been changed against his will too but it was from a psycho girlfriend that thought she was his mate. She had changed him and her wolf went insane. She had claimed him too. He didn’t try to hide the scarring on his neck either. When it was summertime, he wore it with pride and hardly ever covered up. She had eventually killed herself and the fact that Mav was still alive proved that there had just been something wrong with her, rather than them being mates.
Jade wrapped her arms around herself as she continued into the ocean. Knox’s yelling inside was barely a whisper as I watched her. She calmed something within me and my animal. I didn’t know how to explain it and I didn’t know if I wanted to. Her silver scars shimmered in the moonlight and I wondered if they still bothered her. She had refused therapy and said she was fine. I couldn’t force her and neither could my mom but we still worried. She hadn’t shown any signs of it bothering her but it was hard to tell with it still being winter.
Her fingers trembled slightly as they made contact with the scarred skin. I wouldn’t have noticed it but my wolf sure did. He zeroed in on it and forced me to take a deep inhale. There were slight hints of desire on the wind but there was also fear. I couldn’t force her to open up to me, but damn it if I didn’t want that.
With grace like no other, Tracey stomped through the waves and threw her arms around my mate. They both tumbled over in the dark water. Little gasps and laughter met my ears- my heart did a summersault. Everyone else had been right, this was what we needed. I hadn’t known it, but this was what I needed. I needed to hear her laugh and live without fear. It reminded me of what I was fighting for.
Even though I didn’t want to turn away from her and go back into the rambunctious house, I knew she needed her time alone. I respected that, even as my heart left my chest when the door clicked closed behind me and the sounds amplified around me.
