Bryce Evans (9 page)

Lexy drove down the long driveway the next morning leading to Adrianna’s home.  The closer she got to the house the view became more and more beautiful.  The trees seemed to be greener and the flowers seemed to have darker vibrant colors.  When she drove around the corner, she stared in awe as the log cabin house came into view.  The cabin was something one would see the rich and famous living in.  It was simply gorgeous with lots of wild flowers growing everywhere around the house.  Lexy could see Jacob’s truck sitting to the side of the house.  She didn’t know where to park her car so she pulled beside Jacob’s truck until they told her different.  She got out of her car and walked toward the front door when the door opened and Jacob came outside to meet her.

“
Hey, Little Brown Riding Hood.” 

Lexy smiled at Jacob
’s nickname for her. 

Jacob made her feel safe and finally like a real person
, not someone who was running from her past. “What’s up, hot stuff?” 

Adrianna walked out the door laughing at Lexy
’s nickname for Jacob.  “She has you pegged already, Jacob.  Hey, Lexy, how are you?” Adrianna asked.

“
Hey, Adrianna.  I’m great, and thanks again for this opportunity to work for you,” Lexy answered quietly.  She couldn’t let Adrianna see how tired she was from tossing and turning, thinking about Mace. 
Plus you can’t just come out and tell Adrianna that you almost had sex with her brother last night.  No, just act normal, Lexy.  Your whole life depends on making this work for you and your family.  Pull up your big girl panties and get it together.   

Adrianna walked down the stairs and hugged Lexy. 
“Welcome to my home.  So let’s give you the grand tour.” 

Lexy loved how loving Adrianna was.  She didn
’t expect her to be so nice.  Lexy never had friends or a long-term job so she really didn’t know what to expect from everyone.  Lexy walked behind Adrianna into the house and gasped as she looked around at the beautiful living room.  It had a huge fireplace made of stones.  Pictures of her family were placed over the mantel, including Jacob.   

Jacob walked closer and saw that Lexy was looking at his picture. 
“I’m part of their family, Lexy, just like you are.  Adrianna and this pack are different.  We are considered family, too.  Wait until you see the wall of fame,” Jacob informed Lexy.

“
What’s the wall of fame?” Lexy asked.  Jacob smiled and grabbed Lexy’s hand, dragging her into a room to the right.  When Lexy walked in, she couldn’t take her eyes off the board on the wall. 

Jacob walked over and pulled the board out so Lexy could see it.  At the top of the board was a title:  THE ASHLAND PACK.  Then under it was a picture of Mace and under his name was his title, Mace McDonald, Alpha.
Then under his name was Damen McDonald and then under his name where other pictures and names and people’s names split off from each other.  Jacob turned the pages on the board until he turned to the last page and on the last page was a picture of Lexy and her parents. 

“
You see, Lexy, you are part of our family now and we’re not letting you go.  Adrianna had this made so we could keep up with everyone moving into town and which pack or clan they are in.  Or maybe they are in the Twisters Council like you.  You are part of the Ward Clan and the Twisters Council.  So you see, you are part of a lot of families,” Jacob explained as Adrianna walked over and put her hand on Lexy’s shoulder. 

“
Welcome to the family, Lexy.”  Lexy looked at Adrianna with tears in her eyes.

“
Thank you, Adrianna.  You don’t know how much that means to me.” 

Adrianna turned around, walked over to a desk, and sat on the edge of the desk watching
Lexy.  She noticed that Lexy had flipped the chart back to the first page. 

Lexy, not knowing that Adrianna was watching, stroked her fingers over Mace
’s picture. 

“
Here is your desk, Lexy.  We moved it in yesterday for you.  This is Jacob’s desk.  It will be the two of you in here.  The kitchen is for everyone so don’t forget to use it.  We eat together and we snack together, too, so feel free to get what you want out of the fridge.”  Adrianna grinned as she showed her the desk.

“
Oh, Adrianna, I wouldn’t expect you to pay for my food.  I brought my lunch.  So—”  Lexy didn’t have time to finish her sentence.

“
You brought your lunch?  Well that just won’t do.  Jacob, I think you need to talk to Lexy and explain to her how things are around here and how we expect them,” Adrianna argued. 

Lexy looked down worried that she had already offended Adrianna and Jacob.  Adrianna winked at Jacob when she was finished.

“Well, Little Brown, this is how it is here.  We eat together here so you will be expected to eat with us and you are not to bring your own lunch.  We cook here, girl.  Adrianna gets a budget from all the packs, clans, and the Twisters Council and part of that money is for feeding the staff, so you see, Little Brown, no more bringing lunches.  We all chip in and cook and today you are getting broken in right, girl.  It is you, me, and Damen who are cooking lunch today,” Jacob instructed Lexy on how the job worked. 

Lexy laughed.  These people had to be part of a dream because people were never this nice and good to her. 

“So do you think you can handle that?” Adrianna asked Lexy as she smiled and winked at her.

“
Yes, ma’am.  I think I can handle that.”  Adrianna watched as Lexy smiled. 

Adrianna knew that Lexy had had a hard life and she was going to do everything she could to make her life happier.  Now, she had an Alpha to invite for lunch and start her plan at getting Mace and Lexy together.  She knew now that Mace was waiting for Lexy, but she could already tell they both would fight it, so she would work a little bit of the love magic.

“Adrianna, where are you, my mate?”  Lexy smiled when Samson walked into the room.

“
Well there you are, angel.”  Samson hugged Adrianna, then looked over and saw Lexy smiling at him.

“
Well look who is finally here.”  Samson reached over and hugged Lexy.  “We have been waiting for you.  Welcome to our home.”

“
Thanks, Samson.  I appreciate everything you, the Alpha, and Adrianna have done for me,” Lexy replied.

“
Hey, what about me.”  Jacob stuck his lip out and acted as if he was pouting.

“
Well of course.  Thank you, too, hot stuff.”  Samson started laughing at the nickname Lexy called Jacob.

“
Shit, what in the hell did she just call you?” Samson asked laughing hard.

“
Hey, she knows a hot man when she sees one.”  Jacob chuckled along with Samson.

“
You two men.  Come on, Lexy, I will finish showing you around while these two clowns go get breakfast on the table.”  Adrianna grabbed Lexy’s hand, pulling her toward the door.  “See ya later, hot stuff.”  Adrianna yelled over her shoulder as she and Lexy laughed while walking out of the door.

“
Okay, Lexy, here is my office.  I share it with Samson and Cade.  There is the bathroom over there, now let’s go see the kitchen because I’m starving.  Cade is cooking breakfast today with Declan and they sure can cook some bacon and eggs.” 

Lexy giggled as they walked toward the kitchen. 

“Oh, one more thing,” said Adrianna.

Adrianna stopped and held Lexy
’s hands out, looking at her clothes.  Lexy bit her lip wondering if she was dressed appropriate.  She knew she needed new clothes, but she would have to wait until her first paycheck before going to the thrift stores.  Lexy didn’t have a lot of money saved so she would try out the thrift stores first. 

“
I have just cleaned out my closets and we look about the same size, that is before I started growing, and the boys have promised me a whole new wardrobe so I have a lot of clothes to give away and since you look about my size, you can have them if you want.  I can have the guys put them in your car.  Hell, it may take a truck, too.  Yeah, I’m a clothes whore,” Adrianna said. 

Lexy couldn
’t believe it, a whole bunch of new clothes. 

“
So can I tell them to put them in your car?” Adrianna asked.

“
Yeah, I mean yes, thank you so much, Adrianna,” Lexy said politely, trying not to squeal from the excitement.

“
Don’t thank me, girl.  You are doing me a favor by taking them.  Some are really new, but I’m waiting for the guys to spend some money,” Adrianna explained.

Lexy followed Adrianna as she pushed the swinging door open into a kitchen of her dreams.  It was huge and had one of those fridges that looked like it came from a restaurant.  Stainless steel appliances, dark cherry cabinets, and the biggest kitchen table she had ever seen.

“Wow,” Lexy muttered as Cade turned around and smiled at her.

“
Hey, Lexy.  How are you?”  Cade came around the countertop and hugged Lexy.  She noticed a good-looking man looking at her when she hugged Cade back. 

“
Sorry about my manners, Lexy.  You see this wolf here, well, he is my Second, and a pain in my ass.”  Cade gestured to Declan, who came around the counter with his hand out.

“
Hey, Lexy, I’m Declan Maxwell and unfortunately this ass is my Alpha and my cousin.  So I will go ahead and apologize now that you have to work around him, too.  All I can say is that I feel your pain.”  Cade pushed Declan in the shoulder playing around with him. 

“
I’m starving.  Your babies are starving.  When are we going to eat?” Adrianna asked as she held her hands protectively over her stomach. 

Lexy smiled as she hoped one day that she too would find
a mate and have some babies. 

Cade grabbed Adrianna around the waist placing his hands over her hands then started kissing on her neck. 
“Well, we can’t have my babies starving now, can we,” Cade commented.

“
Hey, you two can do that later, let’s eat,” Declan responded then picked up a big platter, toting it to the big table.  Lexy picked up another platter of bacon and carried it to the table.  The table was packed full of food.  Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and fruit were stacked in the middle of the table.

Jacob and Samson walked into the kitchen pushing each other, laughing.  Damen, Antoine, and Sleepy walked in the back door.

“Perfect timing as always,” Declan yelled out.

“
Shut up, like you’re any different,” Damen muttered as he looked down at Lexy.

“
Hey, Lexy.  Ready for your first day with all these scandalous people.”  Lexy giggled as Damen teased her.

“
Hey, Damen.  Everyone has been great,” Lexy replied.

“
Well, if they’re not, you just let me know.  I will take care of everything.”  Everybody in the room laughed at Damen’s comment.

“
Okay, everyone sit down and let’s eat,” Adrianna said.

Lexy ate in silence listening to everyone talk.  She loved the bantering among each other.  But she noticed that Declan kept staring at her and winking.  Lexy couldn
’t help but blush every time she caught him staring.  Damen also noticed it and frowned at Declan when he caught his eye.

“
Hey, Damen, are you still going to see dad today for that paperwork?” Adrianna asked.

“
Sure, you need me to pick up something for you?” Damen responded.

“
Yeah, Selena has some stuff for me.  If you don’t mind, can you take Lexy with you and introduce her to dad and Selena.  Plus she needs to know where it is in case she needs to go there and meet with Felix,” Adrianna asked.

“
Okay, Lexy, today it’s you and me then,” Damen replied as he took Lexy by the hand.

“
And remember, it is your turn to fix lunch today so be back in time for that.” Adrianna laughed softly knowing that Damen would need all the help he could get in the kitchen. 

“
Yes, mistress of the world.”  Damen smiled at Adrianna. 

“
And don’t you forget it,” Adrianna bellowed.  Lexy loved how they horsed around with each other, but they all loved each other, too.  That was obvious. 

After breakfast was over, Damen grabbed some papers. 
“Hey, Lex, you ready?”

“
I’m ready, Damen.”  Lexy grabbed her coat and was about to put it on when Declan came up behind her, helping her.  Declan pulled her hair out of her coat, letting it flow down her back.  She smiled then blushed as Declan winked at her again.

"I'll
see you both there. I need to deliver a couple of items there," said Declan.

Damen grabbed Lexy
’s hand and dragged her out the door.  Damen frowned at Declan as he came outside onto the porch and watched them leave.