Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Ethan Gots a Aath Jane If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was five years ago.

I’m standing in the hallway with tears streaming down my face, feeling every bit as weak and powerless as I did when Ethan and I were married. How does this man always do this to me? Why do I fall for it every time? He wasn’t even sober! I was, and he still got the better of me.

Stars, it makes me so angry. It isn’t fair. It isn’t right that I’m still helpless to resist him after all this time.

I’ve been telling my self for years now that I’d be immune to his charms if we ever met again, that I’d learned my lesson the hard way and wouldn’t soon forget it. So much for that.

I’m still wallowing in my self-imposed misery when I hear a chair scrape across the floor on the other side of the door. Smashing the vase must have made too much noise and woken the pups. I know my sons, and I’m certain they’re currently clam bering onto the chair to spy on us.

I run off before they can see me crying, darting away down the stairs without a single thought for my ex-

husband. It’s only lat er, after my senses return and logic sinks in, that I realize they’ll have seen Ehan and run for Linda. The knowledge keeps me away from the house for much longer than I would otherwise considered hiding. I can only pray that he’s gone by the time I get home.

3rd Person As soon as Jane ran away down the stairs, Ryder and Parker yanked the door open and rushed over to Ethan, looking down at him in confusion. The planter Jane smashed over his head lay in shards beneath him, the flowers it once held crumpled and crushed by his big body. His clothes were covered in dirt, still damp from being watered a few hours earlier.

“What happened?” Parker asked his brother, bending over the handsome alpha and studying him intently. “Why’d Mommy do that?”

“I guess she didn’ like the kiss.” Ryder shrugged forlornly, “she seemed really sad.”

“I heard her and Auntie Linda talking the other day.” Parker frowned, “parently Linda thinks Mommy should give Daddy ‘nother chance, so we can be one big family.”

“I want that too.” Ryder admitted, .

“Uh-huh,” Parker nodded in agreement, “but Mommy was scared.”

“Of Daddy?” Ryder exclaimed, “Why?”

“I dunno,” Parker shared, “they moved ‘way afore I could hear more.”

“Poor Mommy.” Ryder reflected softly, “we have ta help her, maybe we can show her she doesn’ need ta be scared.”

“Like she does for us when we have nightmares!” Parker rea soned, getting more excited by the moment.

“Let’s get him ‘nside.” Ryder suggested, brushing some of the dirt from Ethan’s shirt. “Then Mommy will have to take care of him.”

“Good idea!” Parker approved, bending down and taking hold of Ethan’s ankle.

Ryder moved to stand at his brother’s side, taking the Alpha’s other ankle in his small hands. “On three okay?” He instructed, “One, two, three!”

Both boys grunted and strained with all their might, trying to pull the huge alpha into the house.

Unfortunately even their bud ding shifter strength couldn’t budge the man, and they gave up with a pair of identical huffs.

“He’s too big!” Parker assessed in disappointment.

“So what’d we do?” Ryder asked.

Parker rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to figure out how they could possibly make their plan succeed.

After a moment the answer came to him like a lightbulb jolted with electricity, “our skateboards!”

Together they ran back to their temporary room and grabbed their favorite toys, suddenly feeling very thankful they convinced Mommy to let them bring them on the trip. Returning to the hall, they worked together to heft Ethan’s limbs onto the three skate boards, then quietly rolled him into the house and shut the door behind them, completely oblivious to the tracks of mud they were leaving in their wake.

“What now?” Ryder questioned, looking a bit stumped. They hadn’t thought this far ahead.

“He’s really dirty.” Parker observed, crinkling his nose.

“Yeah,” Ryder concurred, “he needs a bath. Mommy hates messes, it’d probly be better if he’s clean when she comes home.

“Good idea.” Parker confirmed, directing Ethan’s body to wards the bathroom.

Unfortunately for the boys, Jane had already thought better of running away and leaving the Alpha knocked out for her spy ing pups to find. Tears banished, she was already on her way back upstairs as the boys rolled Ethan towards Linda’s pristine minat bathroom When they heard her footsteps outside the door, Ryder and Parker exchanged a startled glance and dropped the Alpha’s un conscious limbs like a pair of bricks, darting away to their bed room before they could be caught.

When Jane reached the landing she immediately noticed that Ethan was missing, as well as the muddy skateboard tracks leading into the house. “Oh boys.” She sighed, shaking her head. She wasn’t sure if she should be annoyed or proud. She would want any of her pups to help someone in a medical emergency, which they probably imagined this was, but she also thought they should know better than to bring strange men into the house.

When she opened the door she saw Linda standing over Ethan’s prone body with her arms crossed over her chest, looking perplexed. She looked up when Jane entered. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.” Jane grumbled, sidestepping the trail of mud her children left behind and moving to stand beside her friend.

“But Lowe you a new plant.”

“Are those skateboards?” Her friend asked, lifting one of Ethan’s arms.

“Yes.” Jane confirmed with a low chuckle, “clearly my boys have been playing ‘search and rescue’.” She raised her voice to wards the bedroom door that she was sure they were listening behind. “And they better be back in bed and sound asleep by now!”

The she-wolves could hear the soft pitter patter of tiny feet as they run back to bed. Once it fell silent, Jane glanced at Linda, “Sorry for the mess.”

“Oh don’t worry about it.” Linda brushed aside her apology, “What are we going to do with him?”

Dropping her head back in exasperation, Jane decided her pups had the right idea. “Let’s get him cleaned up. The sooner we do, the sooner we can get rid of him.”

Together Linda and Jane dragged Ethan the rest of the way into the bathroom, though it was no easy feat to wrangle his body into the bathtub. When Jane begin unbuttoning his shirt, Linda backed away and said, “Alright, you clean the wolf, I’ll clean the floors.”

Jane was about to agree, understanding how awkward it 62704 might be for her friend to help bathe her ex-husband – not that she particularly wanted to do it either, but it was her fault he was here. Instead she cursed under her breath as his shirt ripped when she tried to pull it out from under him.

That was when she saw the blood on his collar. Reaching around the back of his head, she felt a swollen lump where she must have struck him, and when she withdrew her hand, her fin gers were stained crimson. “Or maybe I’ll call the doctor.” Linda amended, looking on in concern.

Jane nodded in agreement, guilt and worry stealing her voice. She finished undressing Ethan, using the detachable shower head to rinse off most of the mud before filling the tub with steaming water. Though she tried to focus on her task and not get distracted, it wasn’t easy.

Ethan had always been too attractive for his own good, and he’d only gotten more handsome with age.

Somehow he seemed even more muscular now than he had when they were married, and his bronze skin practically glowed with health. Her eyes kept trailing to the ripping contours of his abs, gradually drifting lower and making her insides turn to jelly.

Needing to protect herself from the sight of his naked body, Jane poured bubble bath into the water, breathing a sigh of relief when his limbs disappeared beneath a thick layer of foam. Turn ing to his wounded head, Jane tried to clean it as gently as she could, but it seemed her best efforts weren’t enough.

Ethan stirred with a groan, flinching away from her hands. “Shhh,” Jane murmured soothingly, turning his head back into position. The next thing she knew Ethan had latched onto her arm, holding her tightly but not using any true force as muttered incoherently.

“Your okay.” She promised him, trying to pull her hand away.

To her surprise, he held her tighter, actually pulling her to ward him. This time she was able to make out his words just fine. “No, mine.”

Typical Ethan, she thought derisively, he sees something he likes and just decides it belongs to him, even when he’s mostly unconscious.

“Actually, it’s mine.” She informed him coolly, tugging at his hold more forcefully now.

Ethan offered her a sultry growl and tugged back, his im mense strength yanking Jane forward – and right into the bath.