Chapter Four - Mason

My wolf broke free from his prison and darted through the swampy forest. It felt freeing to let him out, especially after his nonstop badgering the last day and a half. Sitting behind and touching Jessica had been enough for him to cool down for a little while. It’d given me a break from the constant commentary he had going on inside of me. Now I was dashing through trees, howling at the moon and scooping out our land. The moon was large and hung low to the Earth tonight. Nights like these were my favorite. My wolf had a special connection to the moon. It warmed us. Energized us. I stopped near a trickling stream and lapped at the earthy water. Jacob’s heavy footsteps fell close and I looked up to see him nearing us. Jacob was our alpha and I was our beta. We weren’t a stereotypical wolf pack by any means. We were here to protect our small town that drew in more supernaturals than most. We were families that had been deemed protectors decades before. There was nothing like the brotherly love of a pack. However, I’d never felt so eager to knock Seth on his hairy ass before. He volunteered to stay over with Jessica. Over my wolf's dead body, apparently. At least that's what he had said over and over to me for the past two hours. My wolf growled lowly, and thankfully, Jacob didn’t sense it as he stopped to drink beside me. I didn’t want him to know my wolf was attaching himself to Jessica. That was his cousin and I knew he’d be protective. That conversation needed to be delivered gently. Jacob looked up at me, his dark as midnight wolf blended into the darkness of the forest. His white eyes were vibrant against his midnight fur. My fur was gray and white, my paws as white as I imagined a housecat, but there was nothing feline about any of us. "I need to check the woods where Seth saw the beast," Jacob said through our mind link. "Do you mind watching Jessica until I finish?" "Of course, I don’t mind," I answered nonchalantly. Jacob bowed his head slightly and jetted off toward our pack house. It was three stories and had been passed down from generation to generation. The old brick looked plucked out of a storybook. Our families who knew about us, which wasn’t everyone, but the ones we could trust understood us moving in together. The other people in the town didn’t. There were relationship rumors. Vampires. Cult accusations. Especially the girls in our town. They assumed we weren’t interested in any of them since we lived together as five grown men. The rumors had mostly calmed down over the years. Thankfully. I ran toward the Lowery Estate, dodging trees and jumping over brush. My wolf was excited to be near her. Even if we couldn’t see her, or speak to her, knowing she was safe was enough at the moment. There were several lights on when I stopped by the tree line. I could sense her fear when she realized Tasha wasn’t staying with her. I didn’t blame her. One person in that giant house was scary. I walked slowly toward the house, and shifted when I got to the closest Cyprus tree. The insects that had quieted down at my entrance began to sing again once I shifted. I walked around toward the living room but didn’t see her anywhere. Then I walked toward the kitchen which was also empty. My wolf’s eagerness to get to her stopped me at the door. I was butt naked from my run and walking into this house with no clothes was stupid. It was also a death wish. Jacob would kill me and ask questions later. I backed away from the door and listened at the side of the house. Her breathing was labored and distant. She sounded close enough to be on the first floor. Walking around the house, I stopped at each window until I noticed her in the guest room. The blind was pulled down, she’d most likely pulled it before she went to bed. It was enough of a gap to see her sleeping, or trying to fall asleep. I placed my palms against each side of her window and closed my eyes tightly. There were so many emotions running crazily inside of me. There were stories of wolves having one mate they were destined to be with forever. My wolf thought Jessica was his. I wasn’t sure. I’d never seen any of the other boys claim to have a mate. It was all hearsay, especially since we were the only wolves we knew besides our grandfathers and random wolves that passed through our pack land. I pushed away from the window and dared a glance over my shoulder. The woods seemed noisy enough to say nothing watched the house from the depths. Insects sung and moved around in the night. Seth said he saw what he thought was a lycan. I’d never seen any here but I’d definitely heard of them. Being we lived in the bayou, the history here was thick with voodoo and spice. How much of the stories were true was the mystery. I stepped toward the forest, mud squishing between my toes when I heard her stir again. When I looked over and peeked through the slit, I saw her thrashing around. I wanted to go console her. I wanted to know about her dreams, what had her thrashing and so scared. When she woke up, she screamed and my heart raced inside of me. She swung her legs off the side of the bed and rubbed her face. She hadn’t been asleep long enough to have dreamed so deeply, but obviously, something scared her. She stood up and walked out of the room. I followed from window to window, stopping when I noticed her at the kitchen sink. Her gaze lifted as she looked out into the night. Her heart thumped quickly. Was she afraid of the dark? It seemed like it. "I found an unknown scent by the waterfall," Jacob said through our mind-link. "There are some clothes hidden in the bushes by Grandmother’s house. Get dressed and go sit with her, please." "Got it," I answered. He didn’t have to ask me twice. I rummaged through the bushes for the clothes, dressed in them and knocked on the front door. Jessica walked over, and I listened to her heart thumping. “Is someone there?” she asked. “It’s me, Mason,” I said. The front door unlocked and she opened it immediately. She was dressed in a pair of short pajama shorts and a long T-shirt. “Did Jacob send you over here?” she asked as she opened the door wider. I stepped inside. “Yes. He said he would stop by but he had some stuff to do first. Do you mind if I sit here so you aren’t afraid?” She laughed as she locked the door. “Not at all. I-I’ve been having these crazy dreams and I’m scared to death in here. Hence all of the lights,” she said, putting her hand on her hip. Her other hand held a glass of faucet water. I stepped into the kitchen and poured myself a glass. “What are you dreaming about?” I asked. Jessica lingered by the door and nibbled on her lip. I wanted so badly to do it for her. Everything about her at that moment had my body warm with desire. “It’s nothing,” she mumbled, pushing her toe against the tile of the kitchen. “Nothing doesn’t have your heart beating that quickly, does it?” She looked at me strangely. “You can hear my heart beating across the room?” Crap. Way to go, Mason. “I just meant you seem frightened.” She sighed and wiped her face with her palm. “I’ve been dreaming of wolves for weeks.” The water in my throat caught and I choked embarrassingly in front of her. “You okay?” she laughed. “Went down the wrong hole,” I said, placing my glass back into the sink. “Anything specific about the wolves?” She walked toward the hallway and looked over her shoulder. “You can come sit down if you like.” I followed behind her into the guest bedroom where I’d been spying on her as she sat down on the bed. “It’s one wolf in particular but it’s huge. He’s gray and…I dunno. Human-like? Is that weird?” My wolf began to pace inside of me. Was she dreaming of me? I tried not to get to wound up about it but I couldn’t stop him. “No, sometimes dreams mean nothing, and other times, they mean everything.” She twisted a piece of her hair around her finger and put her glass of water on her nightstand. “Right. It’s not just the wolf but this odd connection I have that’s making it hard to decide whether to stay or not. I know it's weird but it seems as if the wolf is here.” She looked around. “I could work from home, but this place isn’t my home.” “It could be,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I leaned back and ran my palm against my thigh to keep myself together. “I just mean it could be. This is a big house for you but we’d make sure you weren’t lonely.” She gave me a sheepish look before leaning back against her pillow. “I know you all would. It wouldn’t be the worst thing ever it’s just not what I had planned for my life." Make her stay, my wolf begged. I wanted to make her stay but I knew I couldn’t. “Maybe you should sleep on it. I can watch my phone and keep myself busy until Jacob gets here. Feel free to go to sleep.” She sighed heavily. “I’m exhausted from today. Sleep sounds good. If I start thrashing around, don’t be afraid. I’m not possessed.” I chuckled. “It takes more than that to scare me off.” Yeah, like losing your mate, my wolf grumbled.