You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 36: Jeannie

I’ve got my pajamas on and am brushing out my hair to get ready for bed when there’s a knock on my bedroom door. I don’t think anything of it, assuming it’s Stella or Mrs. Bentley, and go over to answer it, freezing with surprise when I open it and see who it is.

It’s Gabe. That might seem unsurprising considering that his wolf comes to me every night, but he’s about an hour early, and he’s not in his wolf form. Then there’s the fact that he’s holding a puppy. I can’t tell what breed exactly by how it’s all rolled into a ball and tucked into his armpit, but I can see some fuzzy white and tan fur and can already tell that whatever type of dog it is, it’s adorable.

“What’s going on? Who’s that?” I ask him, the surprise and eagerness pouring out of me. “How’s your leg?” I add once I remember that the last time I saw him, he could barely stand.

“Well, if I’d known that all it’d take to get you so excited to talk to me was this little girl, then I’d have picked her up days ago,” he says, chuckling nervously. “Is it okay if I come in?”

“Yeah, if you bring her,” I tease him, already changing my mind about him being the one to hold her before he’s taken a whole step into my room. I reach out for the puppy, wiggling my fingers to show him that I want him to hand her over instead.

“Yeah, I remember the rules,” he teases back, still smiling as he gently lifts the puppy away from his shoulder and armpit. “Gotta have four legs and a tail. I was hoping that just bringing someone who fits the bill might get me in, though.”

Tuning into my sense of the puppy he’s holding out to me, I can tell she’s nervous and a little bit uncomfortable after being held by someone who feels so strange to her undeveloped senses. Even though she’s too young to fully understand, she can sense that there’s something off about Gabe, and it’s scaring her that he’s been holding her for so long. I can tell even before he hands her to me that she’s shaking with fear.

But as soon as I have her, she starts to calm down, letting out an adorable little puppy sigh as she settles herself against my shoulder. Now that I have her up close, I’m starting to see more of her features. I’d almost mistake her for a wolf if I didn’t know better. There’s no way that Gabe would bring an actual wolf into werewolf territory.

“Is she a husky?” I wonder next, recognizing it to be the more likely scenario. I’m still surprised that he’s bringing a dog here, though.

“She’s a hybrid. Part husky, part wolf,” he explains, going over to grab one of the chairs so he can bring it over to sit by my bed, which is where I’ve gone with the puppy.

I’m not sure if a wolf hybrid makes anymore sense to bring here than a full wolf, though.

“Aren’t you afraid of there being any territorial issues with having a wolf-dog here?” I speak my concerns. “Not to mention how uneasy she seems to be around you. Isn’t it a problem to have dogs around werewolves?”

“It can be,” he reluctantly admits, “though I’d hoped that you could work your magic on her and keep everybody calm. And maybe in time, we’ll all adapt.”

I suppose that actually makes sense. For whatever reason, I hadn’t factored me into the situation, I guess because she’s Gabe’s and I’m not always going to be around to intervene. But maybe if I can develop a bond with her now, I’ll be able to sense and soothe her from a distance the same way that I do with my chickens.

He drops a shoulder bag I didn’t even notice him carrying on the floor beside his chair before he sits down and settles himself into it, leaning back to watch me with the puppy.

“What’s that?” I ask him, pointing at his bag.

Just seeing it makes me a little nervous, I guess because he doesn’t usually bring an overnight bag when he stays over. He just puts whatever he wore over here back on in the morning and goes home to get showered and dressed, so he doesn’t really need to bring anything for the night. Wolves don’t wear pajamas.

Whatever he’s thinking might happen tonight has me worried. I’m not ready for him to stay with me as a man, which is the only explanation I can think of for him packing a bag like that.

“It’s supplies for her,” he tells me, nodding at the puppy. “Food and water dishes, a little bag of food, a collar for if you’re into that sort of thing, piddle pads, the little scrap of quilt that she’s been using for a bed. Although, I’m assuming she’ll be sharing yours now.”

And then he lets out a quick, low growl, stopping himself when he hears the puppy whimpering.

I’m still processing what he’s telling me and coming to the realization that he intends for this puppy to be mine when it hits me what just happened.

“Did you just growl at yourself?” I laugh, beyond amused at how ridiculous that is.

“Yeah,” he sighs, blushing and giving me a shy, embarrassed smile like nothing I’ve ever seen from him before. “Simon’s still a little jealous at the idea of you sharing a bed with any other creature but him. I made sure to get a female pup, or else he wouldn’t have even let me bring it over. I want you to have another little companion like the one you grew up with, but he’s still on the fence about it. You’ll have to convince him.”

That’s actually really sweet that he remembered me telling him about the dog I used to share my bed with and thought to get me a puppy. I’m a little torn about whether it’s a good idea to accept his gift because I don’t want to give him the impression that he can just shower me with gifts whenever I’m upset with him and all will be forgiven, and it’s concerning that he’s going against Simon’s wishes again instead of working it out with him beforehand, but truth be told, I’m already in love with the little girl in my arms. There’s no way she’s leaving here now.

“Thank you, Gabe. This was really sweet and thoughtful of you,” I tell him truthfully, a strange warmth spreading through me when I see how that pleases him. “I’ll work it out with Simon. Maybe it will help if I tell him that he’ll always be my favorite snuggle buddy, because he is.”

“Yeah, he likes that quite a lot.”

He’s grinning at me now, and I can feel the warmth and glee from Simon himself to back it up.

“Are your parents okay with it though?” I ask when it suddenly occurs to me that Gabe isn’t in charge around here.

He can’t make decisions like this on his own if he’s not planning to keep the pup at his own house. Having her here at the packhouse is going to require an adjustment period for both her and all the werewolves who frequent this place, I’m betting.

“Yeah, I ran it by them the other day when I first thought of it, and though they were uncertain about it then, now that they know about your effect on animals it doesn’t seem like the problem that it did before. So yes, you’ve got the Alpha’s permission to keep her here.”

I suppose there isn’t any reason left for me to refuse this gift, not that I was going to anyway. It does make me feel better to know that no one will think it a burden, though.

Oh. But wait. There is one issue.

“Uh, so, I just promised the Beta that I’d mostly just hang out here at home except when I need to tend to my chickens,” I confess to him, noting his look of concerned confusion and maybe even a little bit of outrage. “He was concerned about me having anymore encounters with Gabby, and asked me to lay low until she leaves at the end of the week. So, I don’t know how I’m going to take this little girl outside for walks as often as she’ll need.”

He exhales a breath through his nose, his smile disappearing as he considers that. He seems annoyed more than anything.

“That’s ridiculous,” he grumbles, shaking his head. “She’s the one with the attitude problem, and you’re the one who gets punished?”

“No, it’s not like that. I was the one who offered to stay home. He just cautioned me to be careful because he fears she might get jealous that I’m with you now and ‘try something’ with me. Apparently, it’s something she’s done before?”

I throw that in there hoping that he’ll be more forthcoming with the details that the Beta was so tight-lipped about, but Gabe just sits there looking confused.

“She did? When? Who?”

“I was hoping you’d be the one to tell me that,” I laugh, shrugging it off. “The Beta wouldn’t say. He just admitted that his concern comes from experience.”

Though things between Gabe and I are still strained as far as I’m concerned, and I’m still deciding whether and how far I can trust him, I believe him about this. I don’t think he’s playing dumb just to get out of telling me about it.

“Alright, well, just take her with you whenever you go tend to your chickens, and I’ll take care of the rest of her potty breaks,” he tells me, sighing again.

I can tell it’s the Gabby thing on his mind, though, not the puppy. And then not even a second later, he perks up, grinning at me again.

“Wait, you’re with me now? Is that what you just said?” he asks, still smiling as he reaches over to give my knee a warm squeeze.

“Gabe,” I sigh. Of course he would catch something like that in what I said. It wasn’t what I meant, though, and I’m sure he knows it. “You know what I meant. And for the record, we still have a lot we need to talk about, though not right now. It’s late, and I’m tired.”

My sleeping puppy squirms a little in my arms, reminding me of why we’re even here to begin with.

“You tricked me with a puppy, which isn’t even playing fair,” I complain, pouting, though it’s half-hearted at best. I appreciate the gesture, even if the timing was off.

“It wasn’t meant to be a trick, and I’m not playing,” he chuckles, though the expression on his face shows that he’s worried that I might be genuinely upset. “It just felt like a good way to present myself when I came to apologize to you about earlier, and I’d already set it up days ago anyway.”

“Well, let’s hear it then,” I tease him, deciding to go the playful route and try to dissolve some of the tension between us.

As long as he knows that all that we talked about hasn’t just magically gone away and we still have some things to work out, I don’t see why we have to keep going on the way we have been the past couple days.

“Should I get on my knees to beg for your forgiveness?” he smirks back at me.

“Yes, definitely. On your knees, Alpha.”

I say it to be cute and tease him about how he’s a big, bad Alpha male about to drop to his knees to plead for my favor, but the way that he stiffens and gives me a surprised look tells me that I may have overstepped.

“Why is that kind of sexy to hear coming from you?” he asks, and I think it’s a genuine question.

One that makes me a little uncomfortable. I try to fight back my urge to squirm under his semi-heated gaze, though there’s nothing I can do about the blush automatically taking over my cheeks.

But even with the awkward moment I inadvertently created between us, he still gets on his knees, draping his arms over the side of my bed with his hands clasped together as though he’s begging.

“Now mind you, I’m playing along and making it seem like I’m not taking this seriously, but I assure you that I am, Jeannie,” he begins, and I have to admit that it’s not a bad start. There’s an openness and vulnerability in his eyes and expression that I don’t see from him very often. “I’m really sorry about getting so possessive and out of control earlier. I know it bothered you to see us like that, and I should have stopped it before it got to the point that it did.”

“No, you should have given Garrett and I a chance to explain before just jumping to conclusions,” I scold him, though I realize as soon as I’ve done it that it was kind of bratty of me. He’s admitting he was wrong, and I should take my own advice and hear him out before cutting him off.

But he takes it in stride, nodding thoughtfully at my outburst.

“You’re right. I should have,” he admits, far calmer and humbler than the Gabe I know. “And I did finally get a chance to talk to Garrett more over at the clinic. He explained what you guys were doing, and I really felt like an ass when he told me the part about how he even tried to defend me and help you understand where I’m coming from a bit more. But Jeannie, I need you to also understand how it feels to find out that my brother took my mate out behind my back, and you guys had lunch together. I haven’t even had the pleasure of doing that with you yet.”

I hadn’t even thought of it like that, though I did consider that he might be upset that we didn’t give him a heads up. We chose not to, anticipating that he’d get upset and try to prevent us, and I wanted to talk to Garrett privately, which to me includes without Gabe having knowledge of it. I didn’t want him prodding and questioning his brother to try to find out what we talked about. But he has a valid point about the lunch.

“You’re right, and I’m sorry that I went to lunch with him,” I concede after I’ve thought about it. “I didn’t think of it like something that you were missing out on, but I can see your point. I will say that I’m not sorry for not telling you, though. I didn’t want you to know, and you don’t get to decide how I spend my time and with whom.”

I notice his nostrils flare at that, and he clamps his jaw together so tightly that I can see a muscle twitching there, but to his credit, whatever angry thought he was having is kept to himself.

“I won’t argue with that, but I will politely state my preference for you not to see my brother behind my back. I’d rather if your time with him includes me,” he says calmly, though with obvious effort.

“Fair enough, and I’ll consider it.”

That’s the best I can do for him, though. Garrett is my only real confidant around here. Even after talking to Gabe about our conversation, it sounds like he only told his brother general things, and mostly about what he said. Gabe didn’t mention anything about the things I confided in Garrett, which probably means that Garrett never told him.

“That’s all I’m asking,” he says, his smile returning.

And when that smile morphs into his usual smirk, I know he’s about to say something that is probably going to make me want to roll my eyes.

“Mistress, can I stand up now?” he asks, giving me his best innocent, compliant expression, even fluttering his eyelids for added effect.

“Yes, and once you’re up, keep going. Take yourself right out of here,” I answer him, though I’m mostly teasing. I’m assuming he’s going to shift soon so Simon can sleep in the bed with me.

“Yes, Mistress,” he keeps his game going. “And if you’d like, I’ll take your puppy with me so she can go outside one last time before bed.”

That’s actually a good idea, so I gently stroke her face and ears to wake her from her little puppy nap, and focus on letting her know that she can trust Gabe as I pass her over to him. She doesn’t seem to be as fearful of him handling her when he has her tucked back under his arm, so I assume she understands.

“Be back in a few,” he tells me, turning to leave. But once he gets to the door, he turns back to add, “And by that, I mean it’s Simon who will be back, of course. I’d love to stay the night with you myself, but I’ll happily wait until I’m invited.”

Maybe someday, mate of mine, but not tonight.

While I wait for him to come back, I work on getting my puppy’s dishes and food and water all set up. I really hope I can figure out what her name is soon so I know what to call her. I also need to decide the best place to keep her in the bed so that Simon doesn’t accidentally roll over and squish her or something. It’s a big bed, but it doesn’t feel like it when there’s a big Alpha wolf in it.

But to my surprise, once Simon and my puppy are back and everyone is in the bed, he turns out to be extraordinarily protective of the little pup. I guess jealousy won’t be an issue after all. It’s as if he’s claimed her as his own, and she seems as calm and content as can be about it.

Just before I drift off to sleep, her name finally pops in my head. It’s Kira. I don't know why I couldn't sense it before, but now that I have, it makes me smile. It suits her.

With Kira on my mind, and with the comforting warmth of Simon beside me, I manage to find my way to sleep feeling far less troubled than I have in days.