Within the Sapphire Forest

Chapter 14

We had a few hours before dinner, so Caden and I spent some time planning out ways to save money and help the pack. I pointed out places to hunt and fish, to help stock up on meat, and helped him calculate how much it would be to start a garden. Initial costs for the garden were a bit much, but I showed him how it could save money in the long run, especially where non emergent medical supplies were considered. 

Then we calculated how much it would cost to buy fabric in place of clothing, reusable bags, bandages, cups, anything to cut down on waste, thus cutting costs. I also suggested more home made recipes in place of store bought food, and conserving energy by cutting power to unused buildings.

“If we talked to Melissa, she and I might be able to power the whole community with magic. That’s how I’m able to function in my cottage, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to do that here,” I suggested.

“That could definitely save us a lot in the long run, but how do we make up the money now to get all of this done?” Caden questioned.

He was dripping in frustration, trying desperately to figure it out.

“We can pull from my savings,” I offered. “I inherited a bit after my mom died, and I haven’t touched it since I first moved, so I should still have a decent amount in it.”

“I couldn’t, it wouldn’t feel right,” he replied, shaking his head.

“I insist. I’m not using it, so why not do something good with it, like help out my future pack.”

His eyes lit up as his gaze met mine.

“The only thing we have to figure out on my end is how we’re going to bring my creatures here. I have no intent to abandon them or turn anyone away, so we need to figure out how we’re going to make that work,” I stressed.

A smile stretched across his face and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead.

“Absolutely, you tell me what we need to make your creatures comfortable, and to help you care for them, and I’ll make it happen.”

I grinned like a schoolgirl as I wrote down everything I needed, from a solitary area away from the community, to a small isolated place in the house. I emphasized the need to save rotting food, and a place to put a fire breathing dragon.

When I finished, we had an hour before dinner, and I realized I was wearing an older, stained, t-shirt and my pajama shorts that were definitely too short for dinner.

“Um… I think I need to change,” I announced, looking down at myself.

“You and me both,” he sighed, as he rose to his feet.

He pushed me out of the room, and he and a pack member got me to the top floor. Goddess, I couldn’t wait until I could get up and down the steps by myself. Then he took me back to his impeccably clean bedroom, where he dug through his dresser and closet for his clothes. He settled on jeans, and a short sleeve, plaid, button up shirt.

He handed me his phone and said, “Call Elise and see if she can help you find something to wear. I don’t think we’ve gotten around to getting your clothes, but Melissa might have thought ahead and given some to Elise.”

I rolled my eyes at his bossy tone as I took the phone. He gave me the password, and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

I entered his contacts and scrolled through them quickly. I knew I should have just trusted him, but I was curious if he still had “Princess” in his contacts. He didn’t and I breathed a sigh of relief. I scrolled back to the E’s and found Elise’s number, dialing it quickly.

“Yes, Alpha,” she answered, her tone very business oriented.

“It’s just me. I was wondering if you had any of my clothes, or anything I could wear to dinner with Caden’s parents.”

Something thumped, and I heard scrambling on the other end.

“Hold up,” Melissa’s voice said, taking the place of Elise’s. “You’re meeting his parents?”

“Already met, and they don’t like me. They want to get to know me over dinner, so I thought I’d dress up a bit.”

There was silence, then the line went dead. I was confused, until I heard a knock on the door. I rolled over and opened it, finding an excited Melissa and a concerned Elise on the other side of the door.

“Come on, we’re getting you ready,” Melissa said, quickly pushing me to Elise’s room.

They wasted no time in pulling my braid out and scrubbing my face. Then while Elise curled my hair, Melissa applied makeup, a soft natural look with a light smokey eyeshadow look to bring out my green eyes. When Elise finished curling my hair, she gently pinned some front pieces back to open up my face. Then they helped me strip and dressed me in a beautiful lace blue dress that wasn’t mine. It was short, hitting just below my knee when I stood, with a flared skirt, and a form fitting bodice. It had a v-neck that was classy in hw it didn’t show off my cleavage, and cute three quarter lace sleeves. 

I looked really cute, and definitely appropriate to eat dinner with Caden’s parents.

The girls hugged me tight after helping me sit back down.

“I just know you’re going to knock them dead,” Melissa encouraged.

“Yeah, don’t take it personally that they don’t like you right now,” Elise said. “They’re just stuck in old ways. Be yourself, and they will fall for you the same way everyone else here has.”

“Well, not everyone,” I commented.

“Zoey doesn’t count. Everyone else adores you, they know you risked a lot to protect them, and they’re so thankful for that. Be patient and you’ll win everyone over,” Elise reasoned.

I nodded my head, and we sat waiting.

We didn’t have to wait long, as someone knocked on the door. Melissa jumped to her feet and positioned me so I was right in front of the door. Then she opened it and quickly stepped out of the way.

Caden stood in the hallway, his short white hair styled with gel in a side swept look. His shirt was buttoned and tucked into his jeans, and he wore black tennis shoes.

His gaze was frozen on me as soon as he looked down, and something flashed in his eyes, longing maybe, before he quickly regained control.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, taking his place behind my chair to push me out.

I quickly waived to the girls as I answered, “I’m not sure.”

He laughed as we approached the stairs. There was no one in sight, so he scooped me up in his arms carefully, and kicked my chair down the stairs. I giggled as it crashed to the bottom.

“Won’t that damage the chair?” I questioned.

“Nah, it's fine.”

When he made it to the bottom of the steps, he used the arm around my back to pick up the chair while I clung to his neck. Once it was straightened out, he set me in it and pushed me farther down the main hall than I’d been. The door he pushed me through opened up to a small dining table, already occupied by his mom, dad, sister, another man, and a small boy, who fidgeted in his chair. I was glad I changed as I saw everyone else in extravagant dining clothes.

The way everyone arranged themselves, Caden and I wouldn’t be able to sit next to each other. There were spaces on either end, or head, of the table but no spaces next to each other.

Caden saw this too, and turned to his sister.

“Would anyone mind moving, please. I think Evianna would be most comfortable next to me.”

His tone wasn’t so much asking as telling.

Carrie stood and shuffled the boy and the man around the table so that the man was at the other end and the boy was between them. Then she moved her previous seat to let Caden wheel me up to the table.

“I would like to mention that I said we should leave a space for her to sit next to you, but no one listened to me,” Carrie defended once we were all seated.

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t listening, I just wasn’t sure if Caden would be alright with me sitting at the head of the table,” the man argued.

“It’s okay with me,” Caden responded.

I sat quietly, unsure what to do, Caden carefully took my hand, almost unconsciously, and the touch was reassuring.

“Okay, let me introduce you to everyone,” he proposed. I nodded and he gestured to his mother and father. “I’m sure I’ve already told you but I just want to make sure you remember. This is my father, Jacob Matthews, and my mother Danielle. You’ve met my sister, Carrie Morgan, and this is her husband, Anthony, and her son, Thomas. This is Evianna Woods, the witch who saved the pack, and my future luna.”

I smiled shyly, and earned a few smiles from Carrier and her family. Then Thomas’s hand shot into the air.

“Thomas, you don’t have to raise your hand at dinner, just say what you need to say,” Anthony told him.

“Um, uh, can you do magic?” he asked, leaning over the table to look at me.

“Yes I can,” I answered.

“What kind of magic? Mommy says you have to be really powerful to save the Wyoming Mountain Pack.”

I blushed at the compliment.

“Well, I can do a lot of different kinds of magic.”

I explained them to him, and his eyes lit up.

“Wait, could you make me fly?” he asked standing on his chair.

“Maybe not at the dinner table,” I said, looking to Carrier for help.

“Thomas, sit down, dinner is almost ready,” she commanded.

He sat grumpily, and asked, “Well what about after dinner?”

Anthony rolled his eyes and said, “We’ll talk about it after dinner.”

He pouted, and I had to hide the amused grin that tried to cover my face.

A wolf that I recognized as someone I’d passed earlier in the hall quickly entered through a door I hadn’t seen. He pushed a cart with several drinks on it and stood next to Caden, waiting for his order.

“I’ll take a Redd’s, any one of them is fine,” Caden requested.

“Really?” Danielle asked, glaring at her son. “I don’t think that’s a very appropriate drink for dinner, why not a glass of pinot noir. It pairs perfectly with the blackened salmon dish we’re having tonight.” 

“Because I want a Redd’s, not wine,” Caden declared, “and I thought we were having ribeye steaks.”

I wished for a ribeye steak, since I hated fish, but I wasn’t about to make a fuss in front of everyone.

“You love salmon, so don’t make a scene over it,” she dismissed. “If you want your Redd’s, then fine, but I will have my wine.”

The poor waiter nodded and poured a glass for Danielle. Then he walked around the table, taking orders or pouring drinks, whatever he could do at that moment. Jacob settled on Pepsi, Anthony also wanted a Redd’s, Carrie chose milk for Thomas, who whined about it, and asked for a Dr. Pepper for herself. I followed her lead, not wanting to drink and lose control of myself, but needing something stronger than water.

Carrie’s gaze seemed stuck to me as I listened carefully to the conversations between Caden and Anthony. Then she leaned in really close to my ear and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “Are you okay?”

I leaned back and in the quietest voice possible, I answered, “Yeah, I’m just not a fan of fish, and I didn’t want to make a scene.”

Carrier smirked and then turned to her mother.

“You know, I’m not really feeling fish tonight, maybe I’ll ask if I can have steak instead,” she announced.

“I’d also love a steak,” Jacob said, shocking his wife. “Don’t know why you insist on everyone eating the same thing, but I don’t want fish.”

Our server returned and upon hearing our conversation, froze.

“Did we change our minds about dinner?” he asked.

Danielle and Caden answered at the same time.

“Yes,” Caden said, while Danielle responded, “No.”

“Not everyone likes fish, Mother. Maybe you should have asked before ordering for us,” Caden countered.

“I know you all eat fish, so who would you want me to ask, the witch?” Danielle sneered.

“She has a name,” Carrie snapped, scaring me.

“I don’t really care. It’s blasphemy for her to be here like she’s one of us.”

I couldn’t look up anymore. I dropped my gaze to the table and tried to fight back the tears of worthlessness that tried to escape my eyes. I didn’t understand how she could hate me so much without even knowing me.

“Danielle, that’s enough!” Jacob barked, freezing us all in our tracks. “She seems like a good girl who put her life on the line to protect what we built, to protect our son, and all you have are nasty, awful things to say about her. Either shut up and let's have dinner in peace, or go back to the room and pout. I want to get to know Evianna, not sit here and listen to you fight with everyone.”

His power oozed from him, settling over the table, demanding obedience. As strange as it was to feel the strength of his power, it was stranger that it didn’t feel like it was affecting me. I looked up to see everyone bowing to his will, except for Caden, who managed to just barely fight it off.

Danielle nodded, keeping her mouth shut as she looked at her plate.

“Now, Caden, what do you want to eat?” he asked, passing off control of the room back to the alpha of the pack.

“I’d love a ribeye, rare, with steamed vegetables and a baked potato,” he answered, turning back to the server, who nodded and quickly wrote it down on a little notebook he had with him.

Danielle stuck with her fish, choosing rice and asparagus with it. Jacob followed his son's lead, ordering the same thing. Anthony also chose a rare ribeye, but wanted mashed potatoes and asparagus, Thomas wanted macaroni and cheese, but Carrie pushed for him to have a side of green beans, and she ordered a rare ribeye for herself, with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Being the weirdo I was, I asked for a medium rare steak with broccoli and rice.

We spent the rest of dinner in fairly pleasant conversation. They asked me about my home life, my creatures, my family, my coven and anything else they could think to ask. It was fun to see the looks of shock on their faces when I mentioned all my creatures, and Thomas wanted to know if he could ride Manny. I wasn’t going to let that happen, but I didn’t say that out right to him.

Our meals took a little longer to cook, since we changed our orders, but when it came out, it was nice and hot, and absolutely delicious. I had to hold back from scarfing it down, I was so hungry. I finished it quickly, however, and sat back, completely stuffed and content.

“So, Evianna, I’m curious as to what your plan is regarding the pack,” Jacob said as he sat back from his meal.

“I’m not sure I have a plan. I mean, everything’s happening so fast, and I only just decided to move here today, so I don’t think I have a plan yet,” I replied.

“Well, are you planning on bringing your creatures, inviting other witches to join the pack, or will it just be you?”

“We were going to bring my creatures here so I could continue my work, and I’m not sure about other witches. I would hope that if other witches wanted to separate from the Red Heart Coven, then they would find a safe place here, but Caden and I haven’t had a chance to discuss that yet.”

Caden nodded while his father thought a bit longer.

“Caden, what’s your position on this? Are you okay with Evianna bringing her creatures? Would you be willing to let witches into the pack? How would you make that work?” Jacob asked.

Caden sighed before answering, “I want what’s best for the pack, and what makes Evianna happy. She’s passionate about helping creatures that can’t help themselves, which I absolutely adore about her. I also am not opposed to letting witches into the pack. Evianna and Melissa have become value members already, and I don’t see how adding to the pack will hurt it or diminish it in any way. I think it will only make us stronger if the opportunity ever arises.”

My heart skipped beats, loving how controlled and dedicated he was to me and the pack. 

Jacob smiled and nodded his approval. It felt good to be a part of the decision making instead of sitting around waiting for it. My grandmother and the coven never let me or the younger witches have our two cents about anything, so having them ask me questions and actually listen to my answers was a massive confidence boost.

“Well, whatever you decide to do, I’m sure it will benefit the pack,” Jacob commented.

The server quickly took our empty plates and offered us dessert, which I jumped on. There was a chocolate lava cake that was calling my name. Caden, Anthony, and Jacob opted out, but Thomas, Carrie, and Danielle were quick to order, Thomas wanting the chocolate lava cake as well, and the two women settling on cheesecakes.

I happily devoured half my dessert, before my stomach protested. Caden smirked and quickly pulled the other half to himself, finishing it for me.

Once we finished eating, and everyone got in their last comments and conversations, we quickly excused ourselves to go to bed. Caden’s family left the mansion, having temporary houses they were staying in, so when Caden pushed me toward the stairs, I realized there was no one to help him get my chair to the next floor.

“I’ll come get it later,” he commented as he carried me up the stairs and to his room. “I think it's best if you stay in my room, but if you’re not comfortable with sharing a bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I felt my face burning at the thought of sleeping in the same bed as him, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable at the thought. It actually seemed right, if a bit nerve wracking.

“It’s a big bed, I don’t see why you should have to sleep on the couch,” I reasoned, staring at my hands.

His chest vibrated softly, which caused me to look up at him through my lashes, not wanting to look directly at him, but needing to see his face. He seemed pleased, his face holding a soft smile, but his eyes glowed with need.

“If that’s what you want, Little Love,” he said, his eyes dropping to my face.

I nodded and looked back at my hands. 

We reached his bedroom, and I leaned down to open the door for us while he gripped my waist and legs tightly, like he was afraid I was going to drop out of his arms. Once the door was open, he rushed us in, and kicked it shut with his foot, before setting me down on the bed. He kneeled in front of me, his face inches from my, and my heart skipped a bit, my breathing becoming ragged.

“You are too much sometimes,” he remarked quietly, his breathing ragged, and his gaze fierce.

The longing and need in his eyes felt like too much, as I felt my stomach clench.

“You’re too cute, smell too good, look too amazing, are too strong, and too perfect. Sometimes I’m afraid I’m dreaming, and I’m just moments away from waking up and you’ll be gone,” he continued.

I could completely understand what he meant. I’d been struggling with similar feelings, that this was too good to be true, and he’d disappear at any moment.

I brought a shaking hand slowly to his cheek, cupping it while my thumb rubbed small circles on his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, but he only seemed to get wilder. I’d hoped to calm him down, but I only seemed to make it worse. I tried to remove my hand, but he grasped it and held it in place.

“Don’t go,” he whispered, almost begging me.

“I won’t,” I agreed, and he let go of my hand.

His head fell into my lap and all the tension of the day melted away. I ran my hands gently through his hair for a while, until a small yawn escaped me.

“Time for bed,” Caden announced with a smirk.

He rose to his feet and prepared the bed for me, pushing pillows to the foot of the bed for my cast to rest on. Then he walked back to me and tried to get me to lay down.

“Um, two things,” I said, halting him. “First, I can’t sleep with makeup on my face. It’s nasty and will get the bed dirty. Second, I can’t sleep in this dress.”

He nodded and hurried to the bathroom to grab a washcloth. I scrubbed my face clean and raw, feeling better with a fresh face. Then I stretched my arms out to my Wolfie, and he helped me up to balance delicately on my good leg.

“I’m going to need you to unzip my dress,” I instructed, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He obliged, slowly pulling the zipper down. I shrugged the sleeves off, and the dress fell away. Caden averted his eyes like a true gentleman, and set me back on the bed, before high tailing it to his dresser. With his back to me, I unlatched my bra hooks, and threw it to the floor.

Something hit my head, and I jumped, grabbing at the fabric quickly. It was a long t-shirt and basketball shorts. I discarded the shorts, since I very rarely slept in any pants, and quickly put on the shirt. I tucked myself under the blankets carefully, elevating my leg.

“I’m decent,” I announced, and Caden turned around, “but I don’t wear pants to bed.”

He growled, but quickly dismissed it. He stripped, and it was mine turn to close my eyes. He crawled into bed next to me, and positioned himself so I could lay on his chest if I wanted to, so I did. I quickly fell asleep to him stroking my hair.