AVA
Once we were sure neither Oscar or I were having any kind of immediate negative reaction to our mating, the three of us headed back to the pack house.
As we ran, I thought I saw something in the woods; someone watching us. I slowed to more of a trot, Callum slowing down to match my speed.
“Ava, you okay?” Callum’s voice through the mindlink was concerned.
“I thought I saw someone,” I replied. “Someone watching us.”
“Let me check it out.”
“Not on your own, Callum.”
“I’m literally your destined protector, Ava, I’ve got this.”
“I told you that I will not let you shove me away from danger forever, Callum. I’m not hiding behind a tree.”
Artemis hid our scent, and we crept forward into the woods, listening and looking out for trouble. There was the faint smell of a wood fire and meat cooking… Someone had set up a camp here recently. But they’d gone.
Then… the smell hit me.
“Rogues,” I growled through the mind link. “They know.”
“Know what?!” Callum’s voice was frantic.
“That I marked you and Oscar. They know I’ve got the first two marks.”
Callum swore repeatedly through the mind link. Normally I’d have laughed, but I agreed. Shit was about to get serious.
I slept in between Callum and Oscar that night, the three of us enjoying the buzz of being newly marked and mated. I felt like I was still missing something, and that would be because I still had two marks to get.
Soon.
Soon, I reassured Artemis. She didn’t like waiting, but she was with me when I said it was necessary. It wasn’t worth rushing to do the second two marks tonight when we didn’t know yet if there was going to be a fallout from my marking Oscar.
The next morning, I skipped my usual run with Alex and instead went straight to my office, calling the kitchen team and asking them to bring me up coffee and pancakes.
I’d had the room I commandeered as my office properly set up over the last day, so now I had a table big enough for the five of us plus guests, a desk with PC, and a massive whiteboard that spanned the length of one of the walls. I was just waiting for my bean-to-cup coffee machine to arrive and then it would be perfect.
I’d snuck out of bed away from Oscar and Callum when I woke up, and I’d left them to it because they looked so cute I couldn’t find it in myself to wake them up.
I sat at my desk enjoying my pancakes whilst watching the CCTV footage I’d found from the training ground. One of the cameras looked out over the forest, and I could just about see a wolf I didn’t recognise as being a member of our pack moving through the trees.
Better yet, I just about saw him shift.
I chuckled to myself under my breath. I might not have a clean shot of his face, but I had considerably more information than I had earlier.
Once I printed out the stills from the footage, marked where they were taken on my map and made notes about what we’d seen, I sat back to enjoy my coffee. And the chocolate muffin one of the bakers ran up to me. She knew I had a sweet tooth, and they were fresh. Orgasmically good.
“AVA!” Callum shouted in my head, making me wince.
“Jeez, Callum, it’s too early to be that loud.”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“One, don’t talk to me like that. Two, in my office.”
He stormed in a couple minutes later, his chest heaving with how hard he was breathing. “Don’t run off like that!”
“Callum, I get that you’re taking the protector thing seriously and I love that. But you cannot be attached to my hip all day every day. All I did was get dressed and come to my office. I even had kitchen staff bring me food up here.”
“I don’t want you running on your own, Ava, it’s not safe.” His voice was full of concern now.
“I didn’t go for a run, Callum. I came straight here, watched some CCTV footage and ate pancakes.”
He sighed, breathing settled. “I’m sorry, Ava. I freaked out when you weren’t there when we woke up this morning.”
I nodded. “Where is Oscar?”
“Having a shower then going to the dining room getting us both something to eat. He’s bringing it up here.”
“Tell him to come straight here, I’ll get someone to bring you both food up.”
Oscar joined us just a couple minutes later, and his backside hadn’t even touched the chair yet when someone knocked on the door.
Paula was a close friend of my mum’s, and was easily my favourite member of the kitchen staff because it’s her recipe that is used for the chocolate muffins, and she’d brought up not only breakfast for the boys and coffee, but she’d brought me up a tray of sweet snacks too.
“Paula, you really are my favourite,” I sighed as I bit into a bit of lemon cake.
“I know,” she smirked. “I know you don’t eat when you’re busy and distracted, so this way, I know you’re going to have eaten something and your mum won’t have to kill me just yet.” She turned to leave, giving us all a wave. Just before she left the room, she remembered something. “Oh! Before I forget. Your coffee machine is being delivered today, I’ll mindlink you when it’s here, and we can get someone to set it up whenever you’re ready.”
I grinned. “Thanks, Paula. Can’t wait!”
“You’ve got a coffee machine coming for your office, Ava?” Callum asked, incredulously.
“Yup!” I grinned. “Saves me having to trek downstairs or getting someone to bring it up everytime I want a coffee.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “What’s the plan for today, Ava?”
“Well…” I glanced at my board. “I managed to get stills of a rogue in the woods. But before I get too into that, I need to catch up with Jacob and your dad.”
UNKNOWN
We were nearly caught in the woods last night.
If we hadn’t had the help of a witch… she would definitely have seen us.
The boss was not going to be happy.
“What do you mean she already has two marks? She only found out about this yesterday!” he shouted down the phone. “She shouldn’t have been able to do them that close together.”
I winced as he got more irate and even started to growl down the phone.
“Swap to plan B. We need to move before the full moon. We can’t let her have all four marks, if she has all four, the King won’t be able to claim her. We’ll have to take out the weak link.”
“Of course, boss,” I replied, voice low.