Chapter 37: Guard Dog

Mom eventually calmed down but kept sniffling now and then while she kept gazing between Jared and me. When we got up from our seats to go back to my room, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.

“I’ve never seen you like this before, Skylar. Oh, my gosh. You’re glowing!”

She pulled away just enough to look me in the eyes. “He makes you happy, right?”

It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded anyway, and it became impossible to hide my wide smile that stretched from ear to ear.

Dad looked more relaxed now, too, even though I saw him take a step back when Jared got up from his chair. I didn’t blame him. It took a while to get used to how tall he was.

They shook hands, and I felt confused. He wasn’t going to leave, was he?

“Again, nice to meet you both,” Jared said politely, and I felt a cold stone drop in my stomach. He nodded to Mom, who was quick to give him a hug. It was actually cute to see her standing on her toes to do that.

“And we’re so glad to meet you, too, Jared. Welcome to the family.”

Jared just smiled. Since I couldn’t read his expression, my anxiety went through the roof. However, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want him to leave, because Mom wouldn’t quite let go of him.

“So, where do you live?” she asked, and like always Jared replied with a calm, deep voice.

“Wrangell, St. Elias.”

“Ahh. That’s…” She stopped to think and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Wait. Isn’t that the…?”

“…national park, yes,” Jared finished. “But I’m staying at the Amber Inn while I’m here in Chicago.”

Dad scratched his neck, which was a clear sign that he wasn’t done with his interrogation. Right then, I was just glad as long as it kept Jared from leaving.

“So…You’re actually living ~in~ the national park? You’re not just working there? What exactly is it that you do for a living? Are you a ranger?”

“No, sir. I’m a hunter.”

“HE’S A SALESMAN!” I shouted over him. I felt my cheeks flush beet-red when I suddenly got everybody’s attention.

“I-I m-mean…He’s a…a hunter who…uhm…hunts for meat and…uhm…fur! Yes. Fur. And he…uhm…he travels…somewhere…and sells it.”

~If I could just…!~

“That’s actually true,” Jared said and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then he chuckled.

“But she was the one who brought me ~here~.”

I heard Mom try to stifle a squeal, and I felt so embarrassed I could die. At the same time, my heart swelled with love for each new thing I learned about him.

“Oh, Rick. This is just like a novel! He saves his damsel in distress and…”

“Mom! Please!” I exclaimed, and I’d never wished more for a hole in the ground to jump into.

Even Jared looked slightly uncomfortable, so he picked up his coat and started putting it on. I wanted to pull it right off again and lock him up in my room.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Mom asked in confusion, and I rushed right past her and straight into Jared’s arms. The thought of being without him now that we’d finally gotten together again was simply unbearable.

Also, I knew it wasn’t full moon until two days after Christmas, and I wanted so desperately to spend every waking hour with him as long as he was here.

“Please don’t leave me,” I whispered into his chest, and my voice became thick with emotion.

I clenched his shirt in my fists and inhaled his safe smell, and I wanted him to hold me tighter despite standing right in front of my parents.

“I don’t want to intrude,” he said, but I could both hear and feel that he didn’t want to go. Luckily, Mom seemed to agree with both of us.

“Nonsense!” my mom scoffed. “It’s late, and you’re not staying at a lousy hotel when you can stay here. As long as you keep making my daughter this happy, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want to.”

Then my dad coughed.

“Don’t! Uhm…you…Continue to make her happy, but not…~that~ happy…under my roof,” he mumbled.

But he sounded so awkward that it was hard to take his threat seriously. Still, Jared showed with his entire being that he accepted his rules.

“I’ll fix you guys something to eat!” Mom exclaimed and clapped her hands together.

“No, Mom. That’s not necessary.”

But she was already on her way back to the kitchen, giddy as a filly in the spring.

“Some toast will do good. You need to refill your energy after…you know. For the baby, I mean.”

I’m not sure which of us blushed the hardest, and I was relieved when she didn’t elaborate any further.

Things had been embarrassing enough as they were. But I was wrong. She just ~had~ to add something more.

“I’ll put it outside your room. And uhm…I think you should get some new bed sheets while you’re waiting, since…”

“Mom!” I scolded. Even Dad seemed beyond uncomfortable, because he kept scratching his neck, and I could even see him blush. He never blushed.

To end the excruciating awkwardness between us all, I grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him after me and up to my room. Then I slammed the door shut and wrapped myself into his embrace once again.

“Don’t ever leave me,” I repeated, with a voice so raw that it sounded like I’d been crying.

“I won’t. I wasn’t planning on going back to the hotel. I was going to stay behind the shed in your backyard just like I did last night.”

I gasped and turned my head to look at him. Was he serious? He’d been lying outside my room just the way he’d guarded the tent while I slept in the forest?

“I think I need to buy your mother some new plants, because some of them are a bit flat now,” he chuckled, and put on a sheepish face. However, I was too startled to laugh.

“Y-you slept in our garden?”

“Yeah,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But it’s cold outside! It’s close to freezing at night, and it even snowed a bit the other day.”

Jared pursed his lips and raised one eyebrow.

“You keep forgetting what I am, don’t you?” he said and kissed my forehead.

I opened my mouth to speak but closed it again when everything I wanted to say suddenly sounded silly. Instead, I let him hug me and cradle my head against his chest.

“Don’t werewolves ever get cold?” I mumbled against his shirt.

“We do. But not until it’s well below zero. And if we do, we dig ourselves into the snow and stay there until it gets warmer.”

“Like hibernation?”

“Well—not exactly that long, but close enough.”

He smelled my hair and let out his typical low long-drawn growl. It was a possessive sound, as if to make it clear to everybody around us that I belonged to him.

It was a sound that made me feel safe. He didn’t really need to say anything to tell me how he felt, because his body language was unmistakable.

“I’m forever yours, my Louve,” he murmured like he’d read my mind, and I giggled at his strange pronunciation of “love.”

And since my words failed, I cupped his cheeks and pulled his face down so I could kiss him. That wasn’t a very good idea, because when our lips connected, it was incredibly hard to pull away.

Nevertheless, Jared respected my dad’s rules and retracted with a gasp for air, but his eyes were begging for more.

It was strange. This tall, robust, and wild man had turned into a soft puppy in front of me, and I just couldn’t get enough of the magnetic pull that united us. I ended up kissing him again.

My arms found their way around his strong, masculine neck, and I dug my fingers into his hair just like I’d learned he loved, and he did the same with me.

Large hands caressed my body, from my hips, down to my butt cheeks, and up along my spine, until he hugged me impossibly closer with one arm around my lower waist and his hand cupping the back of my head as he deepened the kiss.

Our bodies moved perfectly in sync, and our breathing got heavier and seasoned with hushed moans. His typical growling became more distinct, and I could feel his erection straining in his pants.

Unfortunately, we were interrupted by Mom’s knock on the door and reluctantly stepped away from each other.

“Food’s ready! And uhm…sleep well!”