He came up from behind her and pulled her close. She laid her head back and sighed. “I’m almost done, then the rolls will have to bake for twenty minutes. I know Brie is hungry now, but I was in the mood for something extra sweet.”
He nibbled at her neck and hummed against her. “Me too, love.”
Willow laughed and wiggled away, the motion only making his cock stand more at attention. “Shoo. Go get Brie her yogurt so she at least has something nutritious. She can have half a roll when they’re done.”
He did as he was told and sat next to his daughter as she ate, laughing and telling him a story about her cousin Finn and how he’d turned into his wolf then tried to climb on a picnic table but had forgotten he had four paws instead of two feet.
He leaned back, sipping on his coffee, trying to ignore the long list of items he needed to get through and just listened to his daughter ramble. When she finished her story and ate more of her yogurt, she danced in her seat, unable to keep still for even a moment.
Jasper ran a hand through his hair, noticing it was again reaching his shoulders. His mother would scold him in that sweet way of hers, but Willow seemed to like it. Still, he needed to start taking better care of himself.
“Hey, Willow, what do you say the three of us go for a picnic or something today?”
Willow came out of the kitchen to the dining room, a frown on her face as she dried her hands. “Don’t you have to go to Isaiah’s house today then Ms. Clerk’s? They need your help with fixing something or other. After that, you have that meeting with Adam about patrols. You have to make sure that people are getting their shifts worked out, so they have a breather like they should, even though I think Adam knows that already.”
Jasper shook his head and stood up so he could bring her closer. “I think everyone can handle a day without me. Right?” Before the war, before he’d had his family, he’d been able to do just that. Now, though, things were different.
Willow smiled, her eyes bright. “I’d love it if you could do that. I have people coming into the bakery today to work. I was planning on taking the day off to play with Brie anyway. We’d love it if you could come with us.”
He grinned, his body relaxing for the first time in too long. He brought his lips to hers and sank against his mate.
His cell phone rang on the counter, and he cursed. “Let’s hope that’s something I can ignore.”
Willow gave a sad smile, patted his cheek, and then shook her head. “I know you love your job as Beta, Jasper. No, that’s not right… It’s not a job; it’s your calling, your duty. Do what you need to. Brie and I will be here. I promise.”
He kissed her forehead then picked up his cell. Of course it wasn’t something he could ignore, as it was one of the newly widowed witches in the Pack, Calista, who’d lost her husband during one of the Centrals’ attacks. Emotionally, she was a wreck, but she was maintaining with Maddox’s help. Jasper also had a duty to her, to be there to make sure she had all she needed to raise her kids, live her life, and try to find a way to move on.
After dressing for the day, and following a regretful kiss goodbye to his girls, he made his way to Calista’s. She was in a rare position in that she didn’t have any family within the den to help with things like a leaky pipe in her basement—the current job Jasper had to help with. Yes, his actual job in the human world, when he could get to it, was a contractor, but he barely remembered that world these days. Calista, however, didn’t have a job in the human realm. She’d been a stay-at-home wife to her mate and mom to her six children, something she loved.
Mateo, her late husband, had been one of the Alpha’s enforcers, a bodyguard to the Alpha, and had died protecting the Pack on patrol. Now Calista was alone, with no family except for Mateo’s great aunt who, at four hundred and twelve, was long past the age of wanting to help raise kids. She did it though. Calista wasn’t alone and was a strong enough woman that her kids were in a better place than they would have been if she hadn’t had such a steely backbone.
The woman couldn’t fix a leaky pipe though—something that pissed her off.
“I don’t understand it, Jasper,” she said as she soothed her four-year-old and brushed her six-year-old’s hair at the same time. “If it was just a normal leak, I could fix it, but this? This looks big.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. The woman’s basement currently resembled a small lake. Since Calista wasn’t a wolf and didn’t have those extra senses, she hadn’t been able to hear the room filling with water. She’d caught it before it had gotten any worse only because one of her kids had noticed it.
“You could call it that,” Jasper answered easily. “I’m going to have to call Kade or someone else in to help me fix it.”
Calista sighed but nodded. “Is there something special I need to know about for cleanup?”
“Yeah, but I’ll bring people over to help. You’ve got enough on your plate to worry about mold.”
“Oh goddess. Mold?” Her voice rose to a squeak, and Jasper winced.
“We’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry.” He ran a hand over one of the little girls’ hair, missing his own Brie.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jasper. I don’t know what the Pack would do you without you. You’re a great Beta.”
Jasper gave a tight smile and got to work. Yes, he might have been a great Beta, but he was a fucking tired one. He’d wanted to spend time with his girls, and now he was knee-deep in murky water.
Oh, the joys of duty and fate.
He loved his job, he really did. He just wanted to go back to a time when he had something else…something that was just about him.
Something gurgled behind him, and he turned, only to find himself drenched and dripping with sewage.
Fuck it.
He looked down at what he hoped was mud on his shirt.
He needed a vacation.
Or at least a towel.
Jasper let out a breath then bent to pick up his tool box from the steps. Seeing how he was mired in his own head and not paying attention like he should have been, he didn’t see the rusty pipe sticking out of the wall.
His head slammed into it, and he saw stars, swallowing back bile as he fell to his knees, the water now up to his chest.
He blinked a couple times, and then, just as the darkness slid over him, he heard shouts and his name.
At least he wouldn’t drown alone. He definitely needed a break.
Chapter Two
The scent of cinnamon hung in the air and danced along her taste buds as Willow Jamenson snuck a bite of one of her buns after she’d iced it and the other forty in her bakery. The heat scorched the roof of her mouth, but she didn’t care. The sugar and sweet hit the spot, and she groaned. She hadn’t been this hungry and craving cinnamon like her mate tended to since she’d been pregnant with Brie. She was a hundred percent sure she wasn’t pregnant right then thanks to a home test and talking with Hannah, the Pack Healer, who was also her sister-in-law, so she was sure the craving had to come from stress.
Stress resulting from what her mate and love was going through at the moment. It had been four days since she’d gotten the frantic call from Calista saying that Willow had to come over and help Jasper because he’d knocked himself in the head, fallen over, and almost drowned. Luckily Kade had just shown up to help him out and had managed to pull Jasper out of the water before he went under fully, but it had been a close one.
The Beta of the Redwood Pack had almost drowned in a leaky basement, all because of a rusty pipe.
Gods, Willow couldn’t even think it. She shuddered, her skin going clammy as she tried to push away the memory of how pale he’d looked when she’d arrived at the house. She’d called Cailin on the way and met her outside so she could leave Brie with her. There was no hiding her tension and fear from her little girl, but at least she hadn’t had to bring her inside, which had kept her from seeing her daddy looking so…small…defeated.
Jasper had always bee
n bigger than life to her. He’d come into her bakery when she’d lived outside the den, unaware that the monsters that lived in closets were actually real, and had ordered a cinnamon roll and coffee. He’d known who she was to him through his wolf and the man. He’d wanted her to be his mate for no other reason than he loved who she was. It was icing on the cake that his wolf agreed. But he’d been taking his time, courting in a way she hadn’t understood until it had almost been too late.
Now they were fully mated, both wolves, and parents.
Yet her Jasper was floundering because the man didn’t know how to say no.
He’d hit his head on a damn rusty pipe—something he never would have done with a clear head—and had almost died. She still couldn’t believe it.
She hated feeling as though she was useless to help those she loved. She’d spent her entire human life not being able to do what she needed to do, so she refused to have her life as a wolf follow the same path.
However, this wasn’t a job just for her. The role as Beta was handed down from the moon goddess herself and couldn’t be refused. That didn’t mean, though, that Willow would stand back and watch her husband and mate drain himself to the point that he couldn’t function. He wasn’t happy, and they both knew it.
Things were going to have to change, but getting there wasn’t going to be easy.
The bell on top of the door rang, and she smiled, knowing who stood on the other side by their scents. She turned as a little ball of brown hair and spastic energy ran at her, jumping before Willow had even turned around fully.
Brie fell into her arms easily and screamed “Momma!” at the top of her lungs, the happiness and excitement of her day all but radiating off of her.
Willow blinked at the ringing in her ears then put her forehead to her daughter’s. “What did we say about screaming indoors?” There was no way they’d be able to contain her little girl’s excitement about life in general twenty-four hours a day, so they’d said she could yell and laugh all she wanted outdoors where it wouldn’t be as hard on a wolf’s hearing.
At least that was the idea.
Brie was one loud, exuberant little girl.
“Sorry,” her little girl whispered. “I just missed you.” Brie laid a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and Willow knew she was a goner for her daughter’s kisses and love. The Jamensons might joke that Jasper was wrapped around Brie’s little finger, but Willow was right there with her mate.
“I missed you too, darling,” Willow whispered back then moved so she could see the others who had come in with Brie.
Maddox wasn’t smiling, but she could see the laughter in his eyes. As the Omega, he didn’t smile often, considering he wore the weight of the Pack’s emotions on his shoulders, but since he’d mated with Ellie, he’d been much better about letting a little glimpse of what he was thinking and feeling shine through. He had his daughter, Charlotte, by his side, her face dimpled in a smile.
It was good to see her smile considering where she’d spent the first five years of her life. The Centrals had raised her to five, and thank God, she’d been left untainted.
Cailin stood beside Maddox, an odd expression on her face, almost one of intense longing, but she’d schooled her features back to her normal air of Aunt Cailin.
“The little munchkins wanted cookies, and who are we to deprive them of sugar?”
Maddox let out a little growl then picked up Charlotte so he could blow a raspberry on her stomach. The action brought out laughter from not only Charlotte, but Willow as well.
He set Charlotte down on her feet and glared at his sister. “Thank you for giving them sugar, considering you’re not going home with any of them to deal with the results before the crash.”
Again that expression of longing washed over her face, and Maddox let out a curse. Willow stayed back, knowing that whatever Cailin was feeling at the moment was between Maddox and her. Maddox only knew it because of his powers, and despite how close the Jamensons were, some things weren’t meant to be shared.
“Come on, Charlotte, let’s pick out what kind of cookie you’d like. We have the thick frosting sugar ones I know you’ve had before.” Charlotte, as usual, quietly walked to Willow’s side and held her hand.
Willow got both girls their cookies and corralled them in the corner play area that Jasper and Kade had designed for the numerous Pack children. When she was done, she sat down at a nearby table with Cailin and Maddox.
“So, why did you want Maddox and me here specifically?” Cailin asked, getting right to the point. Willow loved that about her sister-in-law.
“I need help.” She took a deep breath. “No, we need help.”
Maddox tilted his head, displaying that odd look he got on his face when he was reading another’s emotions. “This is about Jasper’s accident.”
“I can’t believe big brother did that.” Cailin ran a hand through her hair, her eyes wide.
Willow shook her head hard. “He did that because he’s exhausted and being pulled in a million directions.” She looked around her empty bakery, glad that it was the downtime of the day so they had privacy. “When we weren’t at war and everyone could come and go from the den in peace, it was different. He didn’t have to do everything for so many people. As more and more people get hurt, or just feel a need for comfort, to be closer to the powers that hold the Pack together, Jasper’s spreading himself too thin. I don’t know how to help my mate, and it’s killing me.”
Maddox gripped her hand, and she immediately felt relief. He was siphoning her fear and anger into himself, and while that was great, she needed those emotions to get the next part of her plan in place.
She pulled away, giving him a small smile. “Thanks for that, but what I really need is for some way to share Jasper’s duties with another person or find a way for him to have a break. I know he’ll be angry that I’m going behind his back on this, but I don’t know what else to do. He’s so stubborn when it comes to being the Beta. I get it. It’s his role and duty, and he loves it. I love that he loves it. I love that he puts his all into the Pack, but he’s killing himself over things that only matter day-to-day, but not in the grand scheme of things. There’s got to be a way to help him.”
Maddox tilted his head and studied her. Though she’d known the wolf, her brother-in-law, since she’d become part of the Redwoods, the way he stared still unnerved her. The man could sense every emotion she had, though she knew he tried to dampen his abilities from his family to give everyone a semblance of privacy.
As wolves, though, there wasn’t much of that, not with their heightened senses, bonds, and, as with the Jamensons, special connections through their roles and powers.
“You’re good for my brother,” he finally said.
Even though Willow wanted to roll her eyes at the statement, she still blushed. She’d grown up without family and sometimes forgot what it felt like to be with people who cared about each other beyond measure.
“He’s good for me,” she replied then stole a peek at Charlotte and Brie, who were playing with blocks. Or, rather, Brie was playing, trying to build something while Charlotte built a little wall around them both, protecting them with her fortress.
“What do you need from us?” Cailin asked, straight to the point as usual.
“I’m not sure. I do need your help, but I don’t know exactly what you can and cannot do when it comes to the moon goddess’s powers.”
Maddox nodded. “We can’t remove or change his powers. That’s not something within our grasp, nor is it something that any of us—including Jasper—would want to do.”
Willow shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t want that. Jasper loves his duties and knows it’s his calling. I know it is as well. We just need a breather. I know Kade and Mel found a way to do that before. Wow, was it over a year ago already? It seems like just yesterday, yet also like so long ago.”
Maddox grinned, the scar on his face tugging a bit. “I remember that vividly, considering I had to babysi
t Finn.” He looked over at Charlotte. “Though I never had to go through Charlotte’s diaper phase, I did help with Finn’s.” He shot a look at Cailin. “And yours too.” His sister punched him in the arm, hard from the way the Omega winced. “I suppose I will have to go through that phase again when Ellie and I have more children.”
Willow sighed. She wanted more children as well. She and Jasper had always planned on having another child close to Brie’s age. Though werewolves lived extremely long lives, most of them tried to have their children within short timeframes. That way their children could grow up as siblings to avoid a situation like Cailin’s. Given the age differences between her and her brothers, she had grown up surrounded by males who were almost like older uncles, although Edward and Pat had made it work.
Now with the war, the stresses of his position, and the fact that she never had time to make love with her mate, no matter how hard they tried, she didn’t see another baby on the way any time soon. Brie was enough to handle as it was.
However, discussion of babies was not on their agenda, even if in a roundabout way it was on the same general subject. She and Jasper wanted more children in the future and in order to do that, they needed time to breathe…together.
“I ask again, what can we do? Is there a way to relieve him of some of his duties? I don’t even think taking a weekend off would do it. He’d just get stressed all over again, and we’d end up in this situation within days. He almost drowned—literally—because he couldn’t handle it all. I do not want to lose my husband. Not for the Pack and not because of another Pack.”
The latter was a danger they all feared.
She prayed for a solution to the former.
Without living the life they desired, the war would be futile.
Cailin tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, that look telling Willow the woman was up to something. Her striking green eyes were even brighter than any of the Jamenson men. Though the men had varying shades of hair that ranged from sandy to back as coal, Cailin’s was in a league of its own, the blue-black seeming to shine in any lighting.
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