Finding My Pack (37 page)

I show Finn the card after his head perks up at my giggling. He snorts and rolls his eyes, which I, of course, find adorable. I pat his head and get up. After waving to Finn one last time, I make my way to Ash's bedroom. I knock on the door and he answers, pulling it open and taking a step back. When he does, I get a view of his bed.

  I let out a girly squeal that I'm not proud of, and run to the end of the bed.

  Ash chuckles. “Just the reaction I wanted from you." I rush back to him and hug him tightly. He strokes my hair with his large hand. "I love AJ so much that I thought he could use a few brothers." His voice is more gruff than normal, so I look up at him. He's staring at the assortment of stuffed wolves in the middle of his bed longingly.

"Are you okay Ash?" He isn't outwardly sad, but I think he might be on the inside. Why would seeing the stuffed animals make him sad?

  "I'm fine Little One, go check them out," He tells me. "I had to get some girly hair shit to make Little Logan have a blue streak. My fucking fingers are still blue. I wouldn't get that one wet." He shakes his head.

I run my hand over each one. The reddish colored one with gray eyes, the twin black ones with green eyes, the light brown one with brown eyes, yes, they're all here.

  "You could take them each to their perspective rooms if you'd like...." Ash trails off as I shake my head no.

  "They should stay together. They're a set."

  "Yes they are, and they all belong to you," Ash says so quietly I'm not sure I was supposed to hear. Louder he says. "I would love to keep you here with me all day, but you should go. The others will be waiting on you."

I thank him, kissing each cute little wolf before kissing my giant Shadow properly. When we're both breathless, he hands me a small white card, folded in half. 'Meet me where the pure meets the chaotic'. Hmm...Now, what could that mean? I run through a mental list of my boys that are left.  I slowly walk the hallways, wondering who I'm supposed to search for now. Pure...Pure...Pure white! Reed! The chaos is his art room.

  When I reach Reed's studio the door is open and Reed is standing in front of one of the stands. His white button-up shirt has splotches and smears of color all over it and so do his light wash jeans, even his bare feet. Reed is simply stunning. I can't believe I get to be around these attractive boys. And this one loves me. My heart swells at that thought. I'm loved. By Reed, by Finn. I love all of them so much. I wasn't sure that what I was feeling was love, but I can't imagine feeling more strongly for another person than I do for them. It must be what this is.

"I love you," I whisper out. I don't think I meant to say it out loud, but the smile my words create on his handsome face tells me they were welcomed.

  "I love you too Kitten. Are you having fun?" I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Considering how I attacked Tristan, maybe a bit too much fun. I don't tell him that though, I just nod.

  Reed extends his hand, wordlessly calling for me. I cross the room to him and he positions me in front of him to look at his work, his chin resting atop my head. "It's beautiful Reed. How did you manage so much detail with paint?" I ask stupidly.

  I feel his laugh on my back. "Practice Kitten. And the use of different brushes." He tells me. That makes sense. I had only used one. I study the painting, feeling lost in it. Reed made a perfect sunrise over a dark lake. It looks so real that I want to touch the dark blues and run my hand through the water.

  "Come on," Reed says. "I have some things to show you. I think you'll like them." He takes my arm gently in his hand and pulls me to a table area in the corner. On it, is several framed pictures. Each of them is me with one of the guys, from the night we went to the restaurant. I'm so happy he took these, the boys look just as good here as they did then. I smile down at them, brushing my fingers over the silver frame.

  "I got this for you too," Reed says as he holds out a box to me. I unwrap it quickly. There's a picture of someone holding a camera on the outside of the box. "I thought you might want to start taking your own pictures too. I'd love to see the world through your eyes, Kitten." He whispers the last part in my ear. I shiver.

  "Thank you so much. I love it. I love all of it." I refuse to cry again so I press my lips gently to his, finding a different emotion. Reed kisses me slowly, lovingly. His hand caressing the side of my face. When we pull apart to breath, his mysterious eyes are brimming with happiness. Reed is no longer my sad boy. That was gift enough.

After leaving Reed, the next card talked about puzzle pieces and I knew that was Remy telling me to meet him in his bedroom. As soon as I had the door open, Remy spread his arms wide in invitation. Naturally, I ran and jumped on him.

Remy chuckled deeply. "Happy to see me, yes?"

  "Oh yes! Today has been so exciting. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you." I press my nose into his neck, inhaling him as he takes a seat on the bed with me in his arms. I snuggle in deeper.

"I have something for you as well, but I'm not ready to let you go just yet." His rumbly voice tells me. I'm not ready yet either. Eventually, though, he does pull back. He reaches for two small boxes and places one by his side, bringing the other in front of me.

  He flips the top of it open, revealing a pendant with eight shiny stones in different colors, or well, two of them are the same color. "This one I bought for you. It's Cartier, you deserve the best. I had them add each of our birthstones, or as close to them as we know, into it. I wanted you to know that we are always with you."

  I stroke my fingers over the delicate looking chain. It's so shiny and pretty. "I already have the best Rem. I have you guys." I tell him. I mean it too. I may not have had much interaction with guys before, but I know there can be no better out there. Not for me.

I lift my eyes to Remy's. His copper hair looks like fire in this lighting. "I hope you know that you guys don't have to give me things. I love all of your gifts, I really do. But it's you I want. Just the eight of you. I wouldn't trade you guys for all the Cart-tee-ya necklaces and cameras in the world. You know that don't you?"

Remy leans down and presses a kiss to my temple. "We know that beautiful girl. We like spoiling you, just let us." He commands. I giggle at him and his eyes darken. "I love that sound," He tells me.

He brings out the second box. "I had Ash make this for you, so really, it's from the both of us." He opens it and pulls out a copper circle. "In our time, women wore arm cuffs to show that they were taken, later women wore them to show that they were warriors, and even later, such in Tristan's time, they were a sign of status." Remy pulls at it and it opens a bit. It's then that I notice the head of a wolf engraved into it. It's beautifully crafted.

  He lifts my arm and slides the band slowly up it. "You, dear Kitten, are all of those things. You are our Princess, our warrior, and most certainly taken." My breath hitches once he gets it closed. It fits perfectly. I look back to his serious eyes. He means every word.

I have no words for him. I don't think a simple 'thank you' will be enough. I crush my lips to his, trying to tell him with my lips what he means to me. I shift until I'm straddling his legs, my hands going straight for his fiery hair. Remy kisses me back, taking control of the kiss until I'm whimpering in his mouth. His hands grip mine, bringing them both behind my back. With one of his hands holding mine in place, he pulls away from the kiss, his other hand tracing my neck. I whine at the loss of his mouth.

"Ah ah young lady. You don't yet know what you are asking for." His voice is deeper than normal and I swear his words are reverberating straight through me. I don't? I thought I was asking him to kiss me? Remy's fingers find the pulse point on my neck. It's beating erratically, I know. "So responsive....so delicate," He says lightly. He starts to lean forward but stops himself.

  Before I know it, I've been released and am standing. Remy stands too, his tall frame towering over me. "Off you go." He turns me, swatting my behind harshly. I yelp in surprise, turning to see him smirking. "Logan will be in the basement, he's quite impatient, hurry along."

I walk on shaky legs through the house. I shake my head, trying to clear the fog that has taken up residence there. When I get to the bottom of the steps in the basement, Logan excitedly shows me all of the things he's gotten for me. I should have known if anyone was to go overboard, it would be Logan. His excitement infects me and before I know it, I'm modeling all the clothes he's gotten for me. Most are made for skating, and some are just for fun, as Logan says. He even got me custom made Leo's.

  Once I'm in a black flirty skirt that flares out then I twirl and a tight pink t-shirt that's gathered on the sides and spiky boots, Logan sits me down and hands me two boxes. The paper is a shiny blue, like his hair. The bigger box contains a brand new pair of white ice skates. I squeal and Logan mocks me, squealing too. We both laugh at that. He also got me a music player called an IPod. I've seen the advertisements for these before. He shows me how to turn it on and shows me how to get to playlist he already set up for me. Including the song he played for me at the rink.

  I reluctantly leave Logan and go in search of Kellan.  When I find him in the living room, he looks sleepy. I wonder if he nodded off while he was waiting on me. "Hi, Kellan," I say shyly as I take a seat next to him on the couch.

He scoots up, running a hand through his hair like he's trying to fix it. The shiny black locks look perfect to me. "Hey there. It's good to see you, Kitten."

"It's good to see you too. I feel like I barely to get to spend time with you."

  Kellan sighs. "I know, the clinic has been busy lately," He tells me.

  "I could always go with you. I mean, if you wanted me to. I'd like to see what you do." I bite my lip. I shouldn't have said that. I practically just invited myself to his work.

Kellan's grassy eyes light up. "You'd want to?" I nod excitedly.

"Well...I've always wanted a lovely little assistant," He says, grinning widely. He'd let me help? Yay! I wonder if he'd call me Dr. Kitten. How cool would that be?

  "Ha! I can tell you really like the thought of that if the dreamy look on your face is any indication." He smirks at me. I blush at being caught.

Kellan reaches a hand into his pocket in the front of his black jeans. When he pulls it back, I see something that looks old and worn. "Since we don't get much time together, I wasn't sure what you would want. This necklace belonged to my and Finn's mother. As the first born son, she gave it to me to give to the woman I wanted to spend my life with." He smiles sadly down at the necklace.

"It's not designer or fashionable or whatever, but if you would...I'd like you to wear it. I've discussed it with Finn and he agrees that you should have it.” Kellan motions for me to turn around, so I do. He sweeps my hair to the side, placing the old leather band around my throat and tying it in the back. I pick up the pendant, the silver is bumpy, not smooth. It looks like a bunch of shapes locked together. I love it.

  Kellan turns me back to him, his arm going around my shoulders as we cuddle together on the couch. "I know we haven't known you long Kitten, but you're a part of us now. I know my brother loves you wholeheartedly and I think you love him too, yes?" He quirks an eyebrow at me. I nod.

  "Yes well, I don't know if I'm there yet, or if you are with me. But I know that I want to get there. I want to love you. I want to be loved by you. I never imagined sharing a girl with my brothers, but in a way, I think it will be better." He continues.

I peek up at him. "How will it be better?" I ask.

  Kellan chews on his pouty bottom lip, thinking. "Because the others can be there for you when I can't. When I'm at work, or anytime I'm away...you won't be lonely, you'll always have someone there for you. When I'm too tired to play, you will have Tristan or Logan. When I'm not strong enough to protect you, you'll have Remington and Ash. I don't really get art, but you seem to enjoy it. Reed's here for that." I get what he's saying, but it still bothers me at how he is saying it.

  "Kellan...I don't care if you are tired sometimes. I understand that and there's nothing wrong with it. You work hard. You don't have to 'get' art for me to like you, or be as strong as Remy, or as playful as Logan. I like you the way you are. You know that right?" I ask him.