Page 53 of Escaping Monsters

“Sweet dreams, Alpha.” I stepped before him and kissed the top of his head. “Thank you for doing so much to protect me, Jasper.”

The werewolf alpha leaned in and nuzzled his head against my stomach. “I didn’t protect you for three thousand six hundred fifty-two days.”

“That…” I paused to chew on my lip. I was going to tell Jasper that it wasn’t his responsibility to protect me, but, somehow, I knew that nothing I could say would convince him of that. Instead, I said, “Those years happened, and they’re gone. I’m trying to live in today and look forward to life tomorrow, and today…” I ran my fingers through his dark hair, “Today, I appreciate the hell out of you for protecting me.”

He gazed up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. “I appreciate the fuck out of you trusting me to protect you.”

“And now, I’m going to protect you by insisting you go to sleep before you go into recovery and end up saying embarrassing shit like I did.”

“I think you already know that there isn’t a moment that passes where I don’t want to be buried deep inside you, Mate.” As he spoke, he laid back across the bed and let his eyes slip closed.

I leaned over him and gave his lips a soft kiss. “See you when you wake up, Jasper.”

He hummed, and a smile tilted up the side of his full lips. The alpha murmured something unintelligible, and then his breaths evened out.

As I turned away, a strange, giddy feeling swelled up in me, and I realized I was happy. Not only was I happy, but I felt hope. My hand had mostly healed, and I had a thousand dollars cash, on hand, but somehow, I didn’t want to run.

The moment I stepped out of the bedroom, a giant wolf bounded up and collided with my legs, almost knocking me over.

“Holy shit, Chad,” I said through a laugh.

He wiped his jaw along my knee as I headed back toward the kitchen.

“I guess we should make something to eat and then get to work,” I said as I scratched behind his ears. My last two days were spent with Chad in his wolf form, working down a list that Jasper gave me of the supplies the fire station needed for their upcoming summer. The wolf had managed to help me find everything I’d asked for, even with our limited communication.

Getting an idea to sneak up on the creature in the fridge, and finally catch it, I raised my finger to my lips.

“Stay here,” I whispered down to Chad, and then I snuck forward on the pads of my feet, stalking toward the refrigerator. Careful not to make any noise, I wrapped my fingers around the handle and yanked it open.

A little man, the size of a rat, looked up at me with wide eyes. His face dripped with Ace’s sheep milk. He looked like a hairy, sharp-fanged, elf from the North Pole.

“Hello,” I said, and the creature squeaked and knocked over the bottle of milk, sending it spilling all over the clean shelf.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to…” I trailed off as the creature leaped out of the fridge, landed on the wood floor, and scampered for the stairway out of the firehouse.

Guilt pulsed in my heart for frightening the little man, even though he was the one caught stealing from the firehouse.

There was a loud click, and then I heard the firehouse door swing open so hard it hit something with a resounding boom.

Chad scrabbled forward, charging for the doorway as a low growl rattled from his throat.

“It’s okay. There was a little fae creature in here, and he ran down there and opened the door,” I said as I headed toward the stairwell. As Jasper was asleep and Chad had no hands, clearly, I’d have to be the one to lock the front door.

Chad’s growling echoed louder, and my heart leaped up into my throat. A scratching sound came from the stairs below, and that was my only warning before Chad lunged into the stairwell. There was a loud cracking sound through the air, and Chad collapsed, falling into the stairwell. It all happened in the space of a second, I reached for the wolf, as he flew forward, and then blood sprayed through the air. Warm liquid splashed up my front and neck.

“No!” I screamed and reached for Chad, but his body slid down the stairs, stopping before a pair of steel-toed boots. Oliver stepped over Chad, emerging from the shadows with a gun clutched in his hand

Oliver’s terrifying blue eyes found mine, and he called up, “Hello, Omega.”