As soon as Andrei pulls his car into the driveway, everyone gets to their feet and rushes toward the car. Malik nearly rips the rear door off, reaching into the car and pulls Jonah out. He dangles Jonah upside down by his foot, and scolds him, yet, I can’t catch even a hint of anger in his words, just immense relief that the boy was ok and safe.
Jonah squeals, probably thinking it is hilarious as he dangles from Malik’s grip and tells everyone he ate berries and went on some adventure with Mr. Andrei and Mr. Andrei’s Dad. Derrick tells him to call him Derrick, but I suppose this has been quite an issue for a while already, so he just gives up on repeating himself with a shake of his head and a laugh.
Andrei is trapped in his car, still unable to get out while the pack members crowd around it. Jonah is hugged, crushed and tossed in the air by everyone. His laughter is contagious, exciting the pack even more.
It is truly amazing to see how one little boy can instill such fear and happiness in a pack full of only warriors. Grown, tough men gather around him as if their life could lose purpose if it weren’t for Jonah.
My eyes dart back to Andrei and I can’t help but chuckle at the annoyed look on his face. In fact, he is so over it that after another unsuccessful attempt to get out, he climbs over to the passenger side and finally escapes out of the car.
Andrei makes his way over, and stops next to me. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders we both stand aside, watching the pack members swoon over the boy.
Despite how visibly annoyed Andrei feels for the time he had to spend trapped inside his own car, something else surges through our bond, happiness. True, raw, bubbling happiness that I don’t think either of us have felt in a long time. He is over the moon to see his pack this happy.
And all it takes to reach this point in life is a little boy. A rogue boy who keeps cheering as he retells everything about the adventure he had with Mr. Andrei.
“And how are you, Mr. Andrei?” I chuckle, wondering if he will ever live down the nickname given by Jonah. It seems the little boy doesn’t want to drop it, and it’s yet another thing for me to use to annoy my mate a little.
Andrei growls as he presses his nose into my neck. “Can honestly say he is the only person that actually calls me that instead of Alpha,” he grumbles.
And yet again, here he is, the grumpy Alpha Andrei. Or should I say it’s a role he’s trying to play? In fact, regardless of what my mate claims, I know he secretly likes Jonah and his attention. No matter how much he whines about how naughty and annoying the boy is.
Andrei stuffs his hand in his pocket and pulls out a plastic card to hand it to me. “That was Jonah’s father. Unfortunately, there is no date of birth, but I already sent someone to the city to go to that casino and look up his information.”
I nod, glancing at the card.
“What’s wrong?” Andrei asks.
“Nothing,” I lie. Having a mate is the most wonderful feeling until the moment they want to keep something a secret. Andrei feels my deceit and growls at me, nipping at my neck.
“What’s wrong, little wolf?” He whispers against my skin. I can feel the waves of worry surge though our bond, which makes me feel so freaking bad that I hate it.
“Nothing, Andrei, it is selfish.” I admit, embarrassed about even thinking about it.
He is about to press the issue and force me to tell him everything, but my little savior Jonah skips over to us, as excited as ever.
Andrei snorts as Jonah skips over to me and stops. “Hi, Mr. Andrei’s wife, I got you something,” he chirps.
I glance at Andrei, who clearly is having the time of his life since he knows something I don’t and focus my gaze back on Jonah. The little boy jams his hand in his tanned shorts pocket. I furrow my brows once I notice the pocket is stained purple, just like his lips.
“Her name is Sage, and you need to stop calling us that,” Andrei tells him.
“But you are Mr. Andrei?” Jonah pouts.
Andrei chuckles and shakes his head. Just like Derrick, Andrei realizes it’s time to give up. There is no point in trying to correct the boy if he isn’t listening, no matter how many times he is being told the same thing.
Andrei leans in a little closer to me. “He makes me sound so old,” he grumbles as Jonah finally fishes out what he was looking for.
With the widest smile I have ever seen on someone’s lips, Jonah opens his hand and raises it up for me. He is holding squashed berries, a rock, some leftover marshmallows from a couple of days ago, and some pocket lint.
“Look, I brought you some berries back so that you could try some,” he chirps, shoving his hand toward me. “You can have some too, Mr. Andrei,” Jonah adds excitedly.
“Oh, no.” Andrei shakes his head. “Those berries are Sage’s favorite, she won’t want to share,” Andrei grins as he nudges my side and laughs at my misery.
I huff but still hold my hand out for the mushy blob and whatever else he crammed in that tiny pocket. “Ah, thanks,” I tell him.
“Don’t they look great? You will love that, try some.” Andrei snickers behind me. I glance over my shoulder and glare at him. How did he manage to get away from me that quick?
I look back at Jonah and realize he is looking up expectantly, waiting for me to try his delicious pocket gunk. Andrei nudges my back, still laughing like the traitor he truly is.
“We have eaten worse,” Sierra reminds me. I don’t want to remember anything before my pack, but she has a point.
Sierra is also very fond of the little boy. So I sigh, grab the tiniest chunk that looks the cleanest and close my eyes as I pop it in my mouth. I force it down before I can catch any trace of the actual taste of the berries and whatever else I just swallowed.
While I am trying to be nice, Andrei is trying to stifle his laughter behind me. He thinks he’s so smart and funny, huh?