Reaching You

Chapter 17: Paige

"Where are you taking me?" I asked as he takes me into the forest. Liam grins as he sees me pout. "You'll see, sweetheart." Is all he says in response. I watch in amazement as a waterfall comes into view. It was beautiful. "Wow," I said, staring. I shriek and cover my eyes as Liam strips. Liam pries my hands off my eyes. "I'm wearing boxers." He says as if that made a difference.

"I can take it off if you want." He says, his eyes glittering with glee. I shake my head as my wolf whistles. OFF OFF OFF! She demands, making me want to run away. Liam was undeniably attractive and it was natural for me to think dirty thoughts as his mate but I knew that I could not get too close to Liam.

I watch as he dives into the water. His head pops out of the water and he shakes his wet hair out. He grins at me. I take a deep breath as I take off my shirt and jeans. I step into the water. I ignore Liam's heated gaze as I get into the water. I make my way towards him. He pulls me closer to his chest. I splash water onto his face to get him out of his lust-filled gaze. His expression is priceless.

He splutters and coughs. He gasps as I begin to swim away. "You're gonna get it!" He declares, before swimming. He lifts me and tosses me into the water. I come up to the surface, laughing. We play in the water. He suggests we have a breath-holding contest. When he yells start, I pretend to put my head in. I watch as he starts to come up for air and stick my head in. I pull my face out and he stares at me dumbfounded.

"What the?" He says, looking impressed. I laughed and he pouts. He starts swimming away from me. I swim after him. He shoots me a look of mock betrayal. "How could you cheat?" He says. He was such a baby. I rolled my eyes and plant a kiss on his jaw. He grins. "Not bad. You should really cheat in games more." He says, looking smug.

After another hour of just messing around, Liam and I come out of the water. He tosses me a towel which he retrieves from a chest behind the waterfall. He passes me spare clothing. "When did you?" I asked, amazed by how prepared he was. He gives me a wink. My wolf rolls over and swoons. But I couldn't blame her. I smiled and go behind a tree to get dressed.

I return to my mate's side, my hair wrapped around a towel. "Do you come here a lot?" I asked as he dries his hair. "Yep. I come here to think about things." He answers, looking lost in thought. He waits as I dry my hair. After I'm done, he laces his fingers with mine and kisses the back of my hand. "Off to our next destination." He says, grinning.

We make our way through the town and he stops by a diner. He turns to me with an excited look. "They make the best sundaes." He says, pushing the door open. When we stepped in, I feel the stares of a few pack members. It was clear to the entire pack that I was Ryder's mate. At first, they were hostile as I endangered Ryder's life but after Liam woke up, they approached me with apologies. It was slightly overwhelming as I went from a nobody to the subject of the pack's gossip.

I feel someone tugging my shirt and look down to see Lucy, a shy child who often kept to herself. "Age. You should stay away from Alpha. He's scwary." She says, making me grin widely. There is a stern look on Liam's face. I kiss his cheek and he smiles. I lift Lucy in my arms. "Look, Alpha's smiling. He's just a grumpy old fart." I said, making Lucy giggle. Liam looks at me in pain. I put Lucy down and runs back to her parents who give us a warm smile.

"I'm not old," Liam grumbles, making me giggle. He leads me into a booth and I sit across from him. I still feel eyes on us. "Everyone is watching us," I whispered, trying to pretend that I was reading the menu. Liam snorts. "Why wouldn't they? My mate is gorgeous." He says, loudly. Embarrassed, I slap my hand over his mouth. I hear snickers. Liam licks my hand making me let out a humiliating little meep.

I hide my burning face behind the menu as Liam chuckles. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. "You can order for me," I whispered, lowering the menu. He nods and I watch as the waitress came over. "What would you like today, Luna? Alpha?" She says, pulling out a notepad. Liam glances at me and I nod in acknowledgment. "Two ice cream sundaes, please." He says, his thumb rubbing my hand. She nods and skips away.

"HOLY SHIT, THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE TOGETHER." I hear her scream as she enters the kitchen. I guess she thought she was out of earshot. Liam smirks as I facepalm myself. "Sweetheart, why don't we play a game." He asks, gently. I nodded, quickly. Anything to distract me from the stares. That's how I find myself in a heated debate with Liam.

"You would rather have arms as long as your fingers!" I exclaimed, shocked by Liam's stupidity. He nods. "If your fingers were as long as your arms, what can you do?" He asks, taking a bite of his sundae. "Anything! You can't do anything if your arms were as long as your fingers!" I said, frustrated by his question. "She's right! You'll be like T-Rex, Alpha!" Hollers one of the pack warriors from across the diner. "THANK YOU!" I said, feeling too heated to be embarrassed that everyone was hearing our debate.

Liam laughs. "I was just messing with you." He says, making me blush. I got fired up for nothing. I glare at him before finishing off my sundae. "Last question. How many pups would you like?" He asks suddenly. I nearly choke on my ice cream. I recover from my shock and look at him. "How many do you want?" I asked, his eyes light up. I pray to the Moon Goddess for mercy when I see his delighted expression. "Maybe 6." He says, my eyes widen in shock.

"Maybe 3. It's your body after all." He stammers, after seeing my reaction. I smiled at the thought of grey-eyed children. I shook my head. I wasn't his mate. Well, I was Liam's in Liam's eyes but not in Ryder's. "I'll think about it," I said, coyly. I knew that if I ever were to become a mother, I wanted my kids to have siblings. I smiled thinking about how close Lucas and Louise were. Being an only child was pretty lonely. "Come on, lets go to our final destination." He says as he pays for the two of us.