Wolf Bait (Perry and Jonas)

Chapter 214

Christmas dinner is very formal and as I stand in front of my floor–length mirror in the baby blue dress that was brought up for me, I can’t help but laugh at the turn my life has taken. This year has been insane. My heels echo against the carpet as I make my way over to my room which will belong to Natalie for the night. Her eyes light up when she sees me and she runs up to me spinning around to show me we’re wearing the same colors.

“You look amazing.” I crouch down and give her an extra twirl.

-Jordan said I’m not allowed to stay with him and Tulip while we’re here-

“Yeah, but we can all still hang out, 1 cup her little face. She hugs my arm and nods, James and Valentina are here with her.

He’s staying upstairs, but since he’s technically her guardian now, he’s been going where she goes. When I straightened up. she skips over to him to take the little monster doll from him.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Waiting on the King.” I sit at the edge of the bed,

I look down at the spot where I was held down and marked as a slave. The very same place where I broke free and marked up the King’s face. That memory doesn’t feel real to me. Yet, I think about it often. Even dream about it.

One of the accessories falls from Natalie’s toy and rolls under the bed. I slide off the bed to get it for her. When I reach for it. I find one of the boxes I brought with me when I first moved here. I hand Natalie the toy and reach for the box

-What’s that?– she asks when I set it on the bed,

“Dunno,” I say and help her up to sit with me.

Using my thumb’s claw I cut the seals around the box and open it. It’s full of old pictures. I reach inside to get a handful of them. Natalie does the same. She holds up one of my favorite pictures of Darren and me and points at him.

“That’s Darren. He was mate before I married the King.” I tell her. She looks down at him and signs.

-Like Hunter?–

“Exactly,” I nod going through them all.

He printed every picture we ever took together and not just after we found out we were mates, but pictures of us as kids as well. I didn’t know I had this or that it existed at all,

at the King as he lifts Natalie onto his

-Mate.- she tells him.

tiny Perry,” he laughs taking some of the pictures from her. “Your

Mackenzie and me with my mom. She couldn’t be older than three. “I grew it out because I wanted to look just

too. I want long hair- Natalie

forever for it

-Worth it-

two met, the King holds up the

0

14:56 Sat, Jan 4

Chapter 214

my mom took of all of us. My mom and Darren’s parents are standing behind us in the mirror of our building’s lobby, Mrs. Phurry is holding a baby Mackenzie in her arms. Morgan and I are both squeezing Darren’s chubby cheeks teasingly. We had been competing to see who could carry the most boxes up

should go James

hand on top and it’s a picture of me standing on the

paying attention to him. I was already pregnant here, but I didn’t know. I remember that day early. We had gotten

convince him that it would be the loophole he had been

had been my mentor. He taught me alpha–level strategies that helped me in my beta training. I told him that it was none of his business what I chose to help my friends with. He said these people weren’t

didn’t want to leave the apartment like that. I’d end up fighting or worse. So, I grabbed a bottle of water and got some fresh air. I was watching the pups below play. One of them got hit in the

because he often wrote the dates on the back. The words I’m sorry are scribbled in his chicken scratch along with the date. It was two days before his birthday. I drop it back

I nod and help Natalie off the bed so

can’t help the smile on my Some of my favorite parts about him were his competitiveness and the way he snapped. He treated me as an equal. He didn’t want to give me the world he wanted to sit there and watch me

get over it. Darren Phurry and our family will always be

out. The King reaches for my hand and I look up at him so he can see that I’m not upset. “On a scale from one

of jewelry boxes. Big ones. “Also, this is a formal event so you have to look the

“Will it be live?”

They don’t release anything

“Sweet,

curtsies. We both laugh as we’re escorted over to the

all opened and placed on the coffee table in front of us. My eyes wander the spectacular display here. The walls have icicle lights that are draped over the winter wonderland decor. Now I know why my

with you?” the King asks. 1 didn’t catch what he said