“I can't find my underwear,” I confessed.
He shrugged. “So, go commando.”
“I can't do that.”
“Sure you can. Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll go commando, too.”
“What? How would that make me feel better?”
“Well, you'd know you weren't alone.”
“Yeah, but all I'd think about was how much less there was between the two of us. Not conducive for an important meeting like this.” With hands on my hips I demanded he help me find them.
He was fully dressed and we were still looking for my underwear when he burst out laughing. He pointed up and I followed his gaze. Hanging from the rafter beneath the loft were my panties.
“How the hell did you manage that?” he teased.
Chase
Chapter 15
Collette was waiting in the parking lot when we arrived at the address she had texted me.
“Wonderful, wonderful, you're both here. Thought for a moment you were going to stand me up,” she said dramatically.
“Collette, this is Jenna. Jenna, this is our realtor.” I quickly made the introductions.
The ladies seemed to size each other up. Jenna felt tense, and Collette seemed disappointed. I wondered briefly what the two women saw in each to cause those reactions, but I didn't dare ask. I had sisters, I knew better than to get in the way of a female territorial dispute.
I put my arm around Jenna's shoulders and pulled her to me, kissing her temple. “You ready to go buy a house?”
She took a deep, calming breath. “I'm ready.”
Collette seemed to snap out of whatever her issue was upon hearing that. Clearly dollar signs won.
On the ride up to the lawyer’s office, I wanted to make sure we were all set. “No surprises, right? You had no issues drawing up the amended files to include Jenna?”
“Everything is written exactly as you requested. The owners have already signed their part. This is truly just a formality. The cabin and all thirty-three acres are yours.”
The process went quickly, the papers were signed, and we were soon shaking hands and being congratulated as keys and copies of the documents were being thrust our way.
“How about an early lunch to celebrate?” I asked, including Collette in the offer.
“Sorry, I have another closing in ten minutes. It was nice to meet you, Jenna,” she said a little coldly, shaking my girl's hand. “And Chase, as always, the pleasure is all mine.”
I laughed. “Sure it is, but really, thanks for everything Collette.”
We said another round of goodbyes in the parking lot and I opened the door for Jenna to get in, but she turned and hugged me, pressing her lips briefly to mine.
“This is insane, you know that, right?”
“What?” I asked innocently.
“A house? Chase, we're homeowners!” she squealed in delight and I knew that there was absolutely nothing in this world I wouldn't give or do for this woman to keep her that happy forever.
We drove over towards the mall to grab some lunch. It was nice being able to touch Jenna, put my arm around her waist as we walked in, or hold her hand, waiting on our order without concern that someone would see us and say something.
With our stomachs full we headed off for Walmart, the big supercenter kind. I figured we could probably find most things we needed for the house there. Jenna was adorable with how excited she was to shop together for our home. It warmed my heart watching her and knowing it was the start of our life together.
I grabbed a cart and immediately turned towards the home goods section, while she made an abrupt left for pharmacy and personal care. I raised an eyebrow at her in question.
“First things first. There is no soap or shampoo at the house. I can't even believe I'm out in public looking like this,” she said, holding up a strand of her hair in disgust.
I laughed. She looked gorgeous to me, but if it meant that much to her, conditioner here we come.
I watched her fill the cart with all her favorite products before asking me what my preferences were. We stocked up on not just soap and shampoo, but deodorant, toothbrushes, and more toothpaste than I thought we'd consume in a year. I teased her, causing her to blush.
When she was certain we had enough to survive, because, you know, the store was only ten minutes from the house, so who knew when we'd get back there, we headed towards home goods.
“Did you take inventory of what was in the kitchen?” she asked.
“Not really. There are some mismatched dishes and small appliances. I'm sure it's enough to get by on, but we can donate whatever you don’t want and buy new,” I assured her.
She bit her bottom lip, causing my body to stir. I couldn't help it. She was mine now, and I didn't hesitate as I leaned in and sucked her lip out of her mouth and into mine. She was breathless and her cheeks were heated when I pulled back. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen us before smacking me playfully and scolding me about PDA.
I laughed at her as I grabbed two toasters off the shelf, one in black, one in stainless steel.
“Decision time,” I said, juggling them back and forth. “Pick a toaster.”
She surprised me by reaching for the black one.
“Black, huh?”
She nodded without hesitation. “All the appliances are already black, but stainless picks up fingerprints so easily it always looks dirty to me.”
“Black it is,” I said, adding it to the cart before pulling a matching black microwave off the shelf.
“I'm pretty sure there's already a microwave there,” she informed me.
I crinkled my nose in disgust. “There's just something wrong about a used microwave.”
She laughed. “If it's dirty it can be easily cleaned, you know?”
“No, just no. Sorry. I'm not giving up mine in the dorm, and I refuse to use the one left there. You have a fallout shelter's worth of beauty supplies, so I can have a new microwave.”
She laughed and nudged me, shaking her head. “You're so weird sometimes,” she teased.
We got through the kitchen aisle before attacking the linens. I left most of that up to her, insisting I didn't care. She picked out blankets and a new comforter for our bed, an extra set of sheets, towels, and even throw pillows for the couch. She fell in love with a particular lamp and so I added two to the mix.
When she reached the candles aisle, I had to tell her no. Apparently the smell of candles was not as awful for panthers as it was for wolves. She looked a tiny bit disappointed, but said she understood before heading off for my second biggest nightmare, cleaning supplies. We made some compromises there, but in the end, it seemed to work out.
We wandered through the food aisles, discussing our favorite and least favorite foods. It turned out to be a wonderful way of getting to know Jenna.
With an overflowing cart and one last stop in women's clothing for her to pick out a few items to keep at the house, we headed for checkout, paid, and headed home.
On the drive back to the house, Jenna's phone rang. She sighed heavily and I could feel her nervousness when she looked at the screen.
“Hey, Tessa,” she said, answering the phone. “Yeah . . . uh-huh . . . I know, sorry to worry you . . . I'm not on campus right now . . . Yes, I'm fine . . . No, you have your game tonight and I’ve got plans out of town this weekend and won't be back till Sunday evening . . . I understand what's expected of me, Tess, but I'm telling you I'm not going to make it to the party, I have other plans . . . It doesn't matter. Look, I'll talk to you on Sunday, have a good weekend.”
She hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment. “I wanted to tell her, Chase, but I'm not ready to lose her just yet. We're going to have to keep things a secret a little while longer.”
I felt a stab of disappointment, bordering on rejection, but mentally I understood where she was coming from. As I pulled up in front of the house and killed the engine, I pulled her towards me and kissed he
r temple.
“I know it's not always going to be easy for us. You take however long you need to tell her. We'll be careful on campus, but here, you're all mine.” I waggled my eyebrows up and down causing her to snort as she laughed. “Come on, we've got, um, a few bags to take in and put away.”
We both turned to look at the overflowing pile of bags in the back of the Jeep and groaned.
The next four hours were spent moving in and getting the place settled. Jenna scrubbed the floors and bathrooms, I hung new pictures she'd picked out and took down old ones we didn't want to keep. We rearranged the furniture the way we wanted it and stocked the kitchen. The pile of donations kept growing as we found more and more things stashed around the house neither of us wanted to keep, especially in the loft. There were four more bedrooms up there and one of them was crammed full of miscellaneous stuff. What the hell were we going to do with four extra bedrooms? My mind began to wander to all sorts of delicious thoughts.
“Look at this,” Jenna said, interrupting a scene playing out in my head. I turned to see her holding up an old typewriter.
I laughed. “Guess if the power ever goes out, we can still get our papers written.”
When we'd done as much as we could, we both collapsed onto the couch, exhausted. I was starving and suggested ordering pizza, but she was determined we were not wasting all the food we had just bought, and she stubbornly managed to drag herself into the kitchen to cook.
Watching my mate barefoot in our kitchen preparing our first meal in our first home overwhelmed me. I thought my heart would explode with happiness. I knew deep down that life wouldn't always be this simple and perfect, but it didn't stop me from wishing it would be.
My cell phone rang, and I smiled as I saw Kyle's face pop up on the screen.
“Hey, big brother,” I answered.
“Hey, yourself. Haven't heard from you in a while, just wanted to check in to make sure you're attending classes and keeping your nose clean.”
“Ha ha ha, very funny. I'm the least troublesome of the entire family.”
He laughed, but conceded it was the truth. “Seriously, everything's good?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Just been worried about you. You ever sort out that issue with the feline?”
“Jenna, Kyle. Her name is Jenna.”
“Jenna, huh? It's serious, isn't it?”
“Yup.”
“How serious?”
“Kyle, she's my true mate.”
“So, panther, is it?”
“Yeah.” A sinking feeling hit my stomach. “You got a problem with that?”
“Dude, if she's your true mate, you know I might not understand it, but of course I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd never deny anyone their one true mate.”
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. “Good.”
“That serious? You thinking about completing the bond with her?”
“I'm not thinking about it, Kyle,” I said, trying to relay to him the full impact of what I was trying to say.
“Shit, you already bonded? I'm your Alpha and you didn't think to call and tell me?”
I laughed. “Technically, Alpha,”—I exaggerated the name—“I have seven days to tell you, and it just happened.”
“Something like that doesn't just happen, Chase.”
“I don't mean it like that, I mean literally, Kyle, it just happened yesterday.” Before the shock of my words could fully sink in, I figured I might as well disclose it all. “Oh, and we bought a house, so we've been a little busy the last twenty-four hour.”
“You what? You seriously bought a house? Why? I thought you were just looking for a place to rent.”
“Because I want to spend time with my mate,” I said matter-of-factly. “And I didn’t like any of the rentals available.”
“Then you put a sock on your doorknob. You don't run out and buy a house.”
“Well I did, and I'm happy for it. If you have some free time you and Kelsey should drive up and check it out. It's a nice place and we have plenty of room. We'll be here another two years, Kyle, it just made sense. Plus, her family isn't exactly going to be thrilled with her taking a wolf for a mate.”
“You're telling me. King Lockhardt is pretty vocal on his stance of interspecies dating, let alone mating. He's going to flip when he hears one of his panthers bonded outside his circle—pure bloods and all that.”
I flinched. “Yeah, about that, it's a little worse than that.”
“What?”
“Um, okay, so Jenna isn't just some panther, she's Jenna Lockhardt. Her dad is the King.” There was silence on the other end. I gave it a moment and nothing. I thought maybe the call had dropped, but looking down, it still showed connected. “Kyle? You still there?”
“Tell me this is a joke, Chase.”
I growled. “I would never joke about something like this.”
“Chase, please tell me you did not mate Lockhardt's daughter without seeking permission first.”
“Why would I do that? We both know he wouldn't have granted it.”
“Chase!”
“Don't Chase me, Kyle. She's my one true mate, so I have every right to bond with her. There's nothing he or you can do about it. If you can't support that, then fine, we don't need you in our lives.”
I had never once considered that my family wouldn't back us one hundred percent. The pain and hurt that caused was almost unbearable.
“Simmer down, pup. That's not what I meant. It's just, dammit, Chase, do you have any idea the interspecies shitstorm this could stir up?”
“She's well aware her father will likely disown her. We're keeping things quiet through the remainder of the semester, or as quiet as possible to give her some more time with her sister.”
“I'm not talking about disowning—I'm talking about an all-out war, Chase.”
I hadn't even considered that as an impact. “I'm sure you're just overreacting, Kyle.”
“Just, keep a low profile, while we come up with a plan, okay?”
“Yeah, okay, if that's what you think is best. I had planned on bringing her home for spring break. Is that okay? I want to introduce her to the family.”
“Yeah, man, of course that's fine. And Chase?”
“Yeah?”
“Congratulations man. You must have balls of steel to go through with this, but I'm really happy you found your true mate, even though she is a cat.”
I laughed. “Thanks, bro,” I said, hanging up the phone.
Jenna looked at me sadly. “Not as happy about our bonding as you expected, huh?”
I looked up at her, knowing she had been listening to my conversation. “It’s not that. Actually, he was happy for us. He’s just worried about your dad.”
“My dad? Why?”
“Kyle seems to think he could cause some trouble and take it out on the pack.”
“What? He wouldn’t. At least I don’t think he would do anything that extreme. Never speak to me again, yes, but beyond that?” She chewed on her bottom lip.
“Hey, don’t worry. Jenna, I’m serious, you can’t stress over what he may or may not do. If anything happens we’ll deal with it, one step at a time.”
She nodded and collapsed onto the couch next to me, snuggling into my side. I knew that as long as we had each other, everything else would work itself out.
I skipped my Thursday classes and when we got word that our graphics class had canceled, we blew off our Friday classes, too. I knew we couldn’t make a habit of it, but right then it was what we needed.
The remainder of the weekend seemed to fly by and by Sunday afternoon we were both in denial that we had to return to school. The cabin was far better than I had ever hoped. It was secluded and quiet. We had enough land to roam freely in our animal forms whenever we felt like it, as we had the night before with only the crest of the moon to light our way.
If I didn’t want to dress at all, that was okay. I had spent most of the weeken
d naked as the day as I was born. No fear of someone walking in on us, or even coming to the door. We resided in our own perfect bubble without prejudice or worry and we would always have it as a safe haven to just love openly and freely.
I knew the life we were creating together would be wonderful, but we also still lived in a world that wouldn’t always see past our differences. My fraternity brothers loved Jenna and enjoyed having her hang out at the house, but even they thought we were only friends, because in our world, cats and dogs didn’t mix beyond that.
A part of me didn’t want to return. I had tasted something sweeter and I didn’t want to give it up. Sleeping without Jenna tucked into my side or sprawled out across my chest seemed cold and empty. I wanted to be with my mate.
We could have petitioned for a mated room. We weren’t the first couple at the ARC to bond before graduation, but to do so would be to confess what we’d done. I was okay with that. My family knew, and they were the only people I truly cared about. I knew if my frat brothers couldn’t get past it, then that would be okay. I’d be okay without them, but Jenna wasn’t ready to risk losing her sister.
I didn’t know how we were going to pull it off. Our combined smells alone would tip off anyone near us. My wolf would naturally put off a scent alerting other male wolves that I was newly mated. It warned them of potential instability and aggression. How would everyone not see it just in the grin I couldn’t keep from my face? I knew I’d do anything Jenna asked, but hiding our bond was going to require Academy Award-level acting skills I wasn’t sure I possessed.
Jenna’s phone rang again as I was locking the door behind us.
“Tessa,” she said. “That’s the eighth time she’s called today. I know she’s just worried about me, but she’s driving me nuts.”
“It’s not like you to run off alone for a long weekend, or skip classes. After a couple weeks, hopefully she’ll get a clue and calm down.”
“Or she’ll never let me out of her sight again,” she groaned.
“Not an option,” I said adamantly. “Keeping to ourselves during the week will be hard enough. There’s no way I’ll survive through the weekend without you.”
Confusing Hearts (Westin Pack Book 4) Page 13