Trashed & Treasured

35

The guys have been gone for nearly two hours now and thankfully I haven't felt a thing. I'm thankful for that and pray that it will stay that way. To anyone who doesn't truly understand this situation, I probably look like a worry wart or whining bitch, but that's just it . . . they don't understand. Dominic and I are considered the strongest wolves of all, but Cameron was my first mate. He was made for me which means that if I was always destined to be the powerful wolf that I am, he was designed to be one too. To top it all off, he has my blood running through him. Trent seemed very certain that Cameron's powers are dwindling, but that doesn't mean that Cameron's wolf has weakened. All we know is that he gained the ability to strip wolves through the small ingestion of my blood. What if he has some other power we have yet to see?

Sensing my slight moment of distress, Kayla reached over and grabbed my hand, rubbing soothing circles into the back of it. I placed my other hand over hers, smiling as best I could as thanks for her comfort. We'd decided to sit outside and watch the kids play in hopes that they'd keep us smiling and for the most part, it worked. There was this one little boy about maybe five-years-old with long brown hair that seemed to be flirting with Kayla. Each time he looked her way he was smiling. She waved 'hello' to him and his cheeks tinted bright pink. He became our focal point and remained as such as he bound over to the bushes on the other side of the stairs.

"He is crushing on you so hard!" I nudged her with my elbow.

She smiled sweetly glancing over at him then back at me, "If only he were twenty years older . . ."

"If he were, you'd have one pissed off royal Beta at your side every second of the day!"

She shook her head with a slight chuckle, "Jaxon isn't like that."

"My brother Jaxon? Yes, he is! Did you not see the eye he was giving the males here when we first arrived? I'm honestly surprised he didn't try to claim you yet."

Suddenly her smile fell and a look of uncertainty replaced it. "He's still attached to his original mate. I know what you said you saw Jade, but . . . I don't know."

I slid closer to her on the cool pavement, draping my arm around her shoulder, "There are a lot of things I'm not sure of, but one thing I do know is that you had Jax from the start. The day I marked you as my Beta was the first time I've ever seen him be so gentle with a female aside from me and Kenya. He stayed by your side the whole time determined to see you through the change. You're going to have a happily ever after Kayla and I'm just throwing in my bid now . . . Jade would be a wonderful name for my first niece!"

The smile was back and accompanied by laughter that increased with the cute little boy approached us with pink gardenias in his hand. The roots of the flowers were still attached and covered with dirt, but neither one of us could bring ourselves to stop smiling.

"This one is for you," he handed me the first then turned to Kayla, once again blushing, "and these are for you." While I got one flower, Kayla was given three.

"Thank you, Sweetheart. What's your name?"

"Kris!" A beautiful redhead who looked to be about my age ran up from the end of the yard and clasped him by the shoulders. "I'm so sorry about him! I promise he won't bother you again!"

"Oh no, he wasn't bothering us at all." I waved her off with a gentle smile. As she relaxed I turned my attention back to the little boy who now looked worried. "Thank you very much, Kris. I'm Jade and this is Kayla." I held out my hand to him and he took it right away and gave it a small shake. Without hesitation, he held his hand out for Kayla, but she surprised him with a quick kiss on his cheek. We thought we saw him blush before, but that was nothing compared to this. As we laughed, the pretty redhead cracked a smile along with us. I extended my hand to her next.