Chapter Twelve

Karter

I awake to the loudness that is my family. A remixed version of happy birthday is being sang at the wide open door of my room courtesy of Grey beat-boxing the rhythm. As irritated as I want to be, I can’t be. These people are the reason I am the man I am today and I love them more than anything. They all hold the last ‘to you’ in the song way to long and start to sound like the howling wolves they are so I tell them so.

“You’re a dick man,” Grey laughs.

My mom pops him in the back of the head, “Language Greyson!”

“Sorry Mama Lydia,” he grumbles rubbing the back of his head.

I laugh out loud and he glares at me. Ever since I’ve known Grey he’s called my mom by that nickname and she treats him just like she treats me. I think since his parents aren’t around anymore he was looking for parental figures and found mine.

“Happy Birthday baby,” my mom says and I can hear the tears in her voice.

“Come on ma don’t cry, you know we hate it when you cry,” I peek over her head for some support from Grey but he just smirks at me. Bastard.

“I know, I know,” she cries, “It’s just so hard seeing you grow up right before my eyes. You’re twenty-six Karter, soon you’ll be taking a wife and you won’t need your old mama anymore.”

The mention of marriage makes me think of Dylan, my sexy little mate. She invited me over later tonight and I can’t wait to get there. Spending time with her has easily become my favorite pastime.

“Oh ma don’t worry you’ll always have Greyson. We all know how big of a titty-baby he is,” I joke, trying to make her smile.

She glares instead. “Language Karter Dean! You better be glad it’s your birthday or you’d get what he got,” she smirks, gesturing over her shoulder to Grey.

After breakfast we all head to the family area to watch some television before I make my rounds. Since it’s my birthday no one will be expecting me to do my normal routine but I’ve shirked my responsibilities as Alpha long enough. With things looking up for the pack these last few days I don’t want to give anyone reason to doubt that I can handle the position.

“Who erased the last episode of NCIS: Los Angeles?” I ask with an attitude. I see my dad avert his eyes and I know it was him. Instead of yelling I just stare at him.

“Fine! It was me!” he finally confesses, “It was an accident. I was watching it and just routinely deleted it.”

I feign shock, clutching my chest dramatically, “You watched it without me?”

He hangs his head in mock shame until we both burst into laughter.

When we aren’t kicking ass together or training he and I like to spend our time watching other people kick ass and take names. Whether it’s an action movie, MMA, boxing, or our favorite NCIS: LA.

Grey comes downstairs helping Grandma Mae and I rush over to help out.

She smiles up at me, “Happy Birthday Karter.”

“Thanks G-Mizzle,” I joke as I help her to her favorite chair.

She laughs as she eases down into the seat, “You and that nickname!” she leans in closer and I do the same, “Your grandpa says Happy Birthday and to remember what he told you.”

I nod and try to hold back a laugh. I remember the conversation with Grandpa well. There were plenty of references to the speech Uncle Ben gave in Spiderman. The man was a superhero fiend.

Family time was great and much needed. Spending time with the people that mean the most to me always makes me feel fuller, more grounded somehow. As great as it was I have to focus on the task at hand. Everyone has been a little on edge since the full moon a week ago, including me. It’s my duty to check on the members of my pack to make sure they’re handling things well.

“Hello Alpha, Happy Birthday.” Each person I speak to greets me the same way. It warms my heart that they all remembered but I got the feeling with some that when I asked if they were okay they were lying just to ease my workload. However after a little persistent prodding I was able to get the truth out of them. I had to send four people to the clinic for evaluation due to stomach cramps and dizziness. I’m not sure what it has to do with the last effects of the last full moon but everyone’s change effects them differently.

After making my rounds and having cake with everyone I have a hard work out and a shower. I check the time to make sure I’m still on schedule to hang out with Rose and decide to take a quick nap to recharge.

She’s as beautiful as ever, I decide, looking her up and down. Her pretty toes are painted fire engine red and her milk chocolate skin is smooth and glistens from the oil she just put on her body. This is my favorite time to watch her, when she’s just out of the shower and oiling her beautiful body. Strong calves lead up to the thick toned thighs I love to kiss and suck and they lead up to that round ass I love to smack and caress. Her hips have widened and she’s gained a little extra stomach from the babies but the changes have only enhanced her beauty.

Her breasts have gotten bigger and although she hates it, I love it. They’re heavier and feel amazing under my hands. Through all of the changes since we’ve gotten older the one thing that hasn’t changed is the way she can get me rock hard just by a look from those hazel eyes.

She knows I’m watching her now and bends over even more to finish oiling her feet. I get a clear view of my favorite place in the entire world and the woody in my pants grows at the sight. She’s ready for me, I can see the glistening from here so I get ready for her and slip out of the boxers I have on. The woman lives to tease me but when she turns around I’m going to have a surprise for her ass.

“Dean!” she laughs, the most beautiful sound, and covers her eyes, “Put that thing away!”

I continue stroking myself and shake my head no. It’s only a matter of time before she gives in she’s never been one for will power.

“Fine then, you have fun!” she says smugly and walks over to her side of the bed, getting in.

I slide to the head of the bed beside her and hear her sigh. Knowing in this proximity me pleasing myself is going to be hard for her to ignore.

“I had to get my back comfortable,” I explain, holding back a laugh.

She sighs again and cocoons herself deeper into the covers mumbling something about bullshit.

Surprising us both she makes no moves to stop me and I finally give up and get under the covers for bed. I guess she has more willpower than I think.

I eat those words when I feel a tugging on my member down below. A lazy smile spreads across my face but I don’t say a word. When I go to pull the cover back I feel her hold it firmly in place.

“Leave it and close your eyes,” she breathes over the head of my dĩck making a shiver go up my spine.

I do as I’m told and relish in the idea of relinquishing control over to her. I use the many memories I have to fuel my need for a visual.

She licks from my balls up the length of my shaft before engulfing my head in her warm mouth. I imagine her honey hazel eyes flicker up to meet mine for approval as her tongue swirls around the tip of my cŏck forcing a growl from my throat. I can hear her moan as I place a hand under the cover to grip her hair slightly and guide her although she’s doing a hell of a job on her own.

One hand jerking me while her mouth is focused on swallowing me up whole combined with the erotic atmosphere of not seeing her and the feel of the soft covers against my sensitive skin have me on the edge. I feel myself getting closer and closer and start to pump into he, earning a moan from her that doesn’t sound like her but I’m too lost in the sensation to question it. The tingling in my spine and tightening in my body alerts me of the fast approach of my orgasm and I breathe out a warning to the love of my life. She doesn’t stop and neither do I as I fall off of that cliff and spray down her throat with a loud groan.

My eyes slowly open from their closed state and I comprehend I’m still pumping my fucking hips like a dog in heat. It isn’t until I stop that I understand why that dream felt so fucking real.

“Zoe what the fuck?” I yell and slide back to the top of the bed away from her and her treacherous mouth.

“Happy Birthday Karter,” she breathes then licks her lips removing the evidence of her dirty trick.

“You can’t do that Zoe! I told you we’re not seeing each other like that anymore,” I reply rushing to find my boxers. When I told her a few days after meeting Dylan that things were over she took them well, or so I thought. Now I realize she was just biding her time.

“Karter are you kidding me? What we just had was awesome! Are you seriously going to give that up? For what? Celibacy? No other she-wolf in this pack will fucking touch you! They know you’re mine,” she snaps stands to get in my face.

“Get. Out. Zoe. And don’t come back,” I say through gritted teeth. I can feel my wolf coming out from her disrespect to me and my mate by claiming to own me.

She continues to stare at me, speechless, until I turn away from her and continue getting dressed like she isn’t even there. I hear her leave the room and slam the door behind her.

How in the fuck am I going to explain this to Rose?

“Fuck!” I groan and lunge for my phone, I’m an hour late and she’s text and called me three times. I rush downstairs and grab my keys, thankful no one is down here to see me or Zoe leave for that matter.

The drive to Rose’s is faster than ever and I run up the steps and beat on the door loudly. She’s going to be so pissed and I can’t even blame her.

When she opens the door she doesn’t even spare me a glance before pointing to a suit on her bed and walking to the kitchen. She’s definitely pissed. However, the dress she has on has me in a daze. The red fabric holds onto her curves for dear life and the way it molds her ass just right is absolutely tantalizing. The silhouette is classy and yet so fucking sexy, I have to remind myself that she isn’t the Rose from my dream. That Rose was my wife whom I obviously made love to on the regular. This Rose is my little innocent vixen of a mate.

I dress quickly and walk to meet her in the kitchen for what I assume is a Birthday shot. As soon as I see her I pick up on the fact that she’s checking me out and walk a little slower. Her eyes linger on every part of my body and as silly as it sounds it makes me feel proud and very turned on. Her eyes remain on the growing appreciation for the way she looks and makes me feel forcing me to interrupt her unless she wants to be fucked on her kitchen counter.

“You like what you see?” I ask, a grin threatening to break through.

She rolls her eyes, “You’re okay I guess.”

I can’t stop my smile now as I retort, “Says the woman who was just eye molesting me.”

I grab my shot glass from her and decide to make a toast, “To me and my twenty-sixth birthday.”

“And may you have many more,” she finishes and we throw the tequila back.

We end up taking her car wherever it is we’re going and I thank her for the suit and this surprise. Eventually we pull up outside of Lemont, one of the few nice restaurants we have in town. I make up in my mind that she won’t be paying for this, this place is expensive as all hell.

As soon as we walk in I see the restaurant is empty aside from a tall African American man with caramel colored skin. He walks over to us and speaks directly to Rose.

“Hello Ms. Trevino, don’t you look absolutely ravishing,” he says, kissing the back of her hand. I growl, wanting to rip his damn lips off.

“Lemont you’re too kind. Thank you so much for doing all of this, I appreciate it so much,” she replies. I try to control my body’s vibrations but it’s hard to keep my wolf at bay.

“It’s no problem really. You took such good care of my mother while I was overseas, this is the least I could do. I assume this is the birthday boy? Lemont Freeman I own this place, nice to meet you,” he extends his hand to me and I reluctantly shake it, miffed about him calling me a boy.

“Karter Jarreau, likewise,” I reply, shaking his hand tighter than I should. Instinctively I grip Rose’s waist. He looks down at my hand on her and I see a flash of jealousy making my control on my wolf slip slightly.

He leads us to our table and leaves right before our waiter comes over to take the drink order. I’m still irritated by that shit with Lemont and itching to establish some form of control so I order a glass of Moscato for the both of us.

“So are you going to explain why you showed up to my house an hour late or?” she lets the question hang between us, and my heart rate speeds up.

“You do look absolutely ravishing tonight,” I reply, trying to buy myself some time to calm down before I accidentally wolf out in front of her.

She rolls her eyes at me before staring at her menu, I sigh, glad she’s complacent with that answer.

“You don’t want to be upfront with me then cool, don’t expect any conversation from me tonight. I’m going to sit my ravishing ass here, eat my free food, and then you can take my ravishing, silent ass home,” she sasses suddenly.

She remains looking at her menu but her outburst makes me grin. I guess she’s finally getting sick of me hiding things from her. I get that, but this is one thing I can’t tell her, not now. We’re so close to being something and she trusts me as much as she can, I don’t want to break that trust by telling her about Zoe’s dumb ass foolery.

“Can I see your pretty hazel eyes,” I stop to click my tongue, “or nah?”

I hope my lame attempt at the overused joke will break her down but it doesn’t. There’s just no getting around it this time.

Sighing I decide on telling a half-truth over a lie, “Fine. The truth is, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until someone woke me up.”

She drops her menu and gapes at me. “That’s it? You fell asleep?”

Reluctantly, I nod my head yes.

Her beautiful laughter fills the room. “Why are you acting like that’s a crime against humanity? It’s okay to be tired especially at your age old man,” she jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

As much as I want to wallow in the guilt of my dishonesty she went through a lot of trouble to put this night together for me so I push it to the back of my mind and remain my natural charming self. We dive into conversation and I tell her about my day today and about hanging out with my family. I can tell she misses her mother by how many questions she asks about mine and it makes me wonder how long it’s been since she last saw her.

Halfway through dinner I feel what feels like ice shoot down my spine. Initially I try to ignore it but when it happens again, stronger this time I know what’s about to happen. I get this same feeling every time the full moon forces me to change. It’s a different feeling from when I change on my own accord, it’s almost as painful as the very first change. I immediately dive into my food and finish it all, I’ll need the strength. Our waiter comes over a few times asking if we need anything and each time Rose stops eating to address him. I need her to finish eating so I can get her home so I snap at the man and he leaves just as quickly as he came.

I mind link with my dad but his mind is blocked the same way it is whenever I go through the moon induced change, alerting me that I have no idea if I’m the only one of my pack that’s effected by whatever’s happening.

“I’ve been feeling this weird like surge of energy lately. It’s like I have this ball of electricity inside of me and I just have to move. I’ve worked out almost every morning and every evening because I just can’t rest until I do something,” Rose rambles on completely oblivious to the beast I’m trying to control across the table, “and sometimes when I really need a good energy drain I fuck the alien next door.”

My eyes quickly meet hers and I nearly growl, “What?” I know what she said couldn’t possibly be true but to my wolf that’s a whole other story.

“You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said,” she responds with a laugh.

I want to explain what in the hell is going on and why I’m so distracted. I want to tell her that I’m having a great time with her and that my attitude has nothing to do with her. That she’s beautiful and wonderful and way too good for me, but I don’t.

“Sorry, I just…are you done?” I ask pointing to her plate. I quickly pull my hand back when I see the nail start to extend. It’s over half full but she nods anyway and I get the waiter to bring her a to-go box.

After a tense drive back to her place I rush to get out of her car. Normally I would walk her to the door, maybe even come in, but instead I get in my car and wait until she gets her apartment open before damn near flying out of her driveway. I’ll have to explain it all to her later but right now I have to get the hell out of her so I can change. If I were to turn around her my wolf would immediately mark her. She’d be terrified of me because I turned into a fucking dog before her eyes and bit her and then she’d go through her first change alone. I won’t do that to her.

The farther I get away from Rose’s place the less the need to change is. I feel my claws retracting and my incisors shrinking back. Pulling my car over to stop and catch my breath, what sounds like a million different voices flood my mind as the block that was there is lifted. The floodgates open and I hold my head before mentally and audibly screaming, “ONE AT A TIME!”

My mother’s voice comes through softly, “Karter, get home now. Something terrible is happening.”

*****

A/N

Hello my good people!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I decided to give you guys a little smexy time and a nice little cliff hanger. It seems every week I’m apologizing for a late chapter but here I am again! My brother has been in and out of the hospital all week with his stomach. He has ulcers that are horribly painful and if you end up at the ER at one in the morning enough in one week you’d be tired too XD He’s doing better however, thank God!

Now onto business….

The amount of support I’ve been getting on my stories is amazing! 200 reads on my short story Our Little Secret and 190 on Awake! Thank you so much to everyone who reads and enjoys! The next few chapters will get into the story more thank God because the build up is always my least favorite part lol

I will try to keep to my schedule and in return all I ask for is that you guys continue being boss ass people with your commenting, voting, and reading!

Now I’m off to eat something because I’ve spent all morning writing XD

FAN! VOTE! SHARE! COMMENT! Please :)

Until Next Time,

WBN