Page 94 of Come for Me
Maybe I’m not as important as the Moon Goddess, but Dax worships me.
He perks up at my offer to show him my favorite spot, and I briefly feel his elation and surprise directed toward my proposition to share a part of myself. Surely, he is taken aback by my walls tumbling, as my vulnerability hasn’t been voluntarily offered up until I asked him to come with me to visit my old pack. I guess I could understand his shock, since this is the firsttime I’m letting him into something that isn’t my panties. I felt what I could’ve sworn was doubt before he shut off his feelings completely.
What would he have to doubt? Could it be that he’s doubting whether it’s safe to go to a place he’s not familiar with? Is he worried about the possibility of an attack?
That would make sense. Dax chooses overkill when it comes to protection.
Despite what he might be feeling regarding our safety, he accepts my offer.
Jemma gives Dax another order to help her with the dishes, explaining that if you don’t cook, you clean. He scrambles because he can’t follow her commands fast enough.
I smile, finding it humorous that this force of nature is taking orders from a woman twice his age, a third of his size, and who hasn’t shown her wolf in years, all because he’s worried about her approval.
All for me.
She gives me another tight hug and kisses Dax on the cheek before she embraces him. Dax reassures her that we’ll be back to visit. Jemma closes the door but not before she tells me to make sure I’m “nice” to Dax. I can’t help but scrunch my nose at that.
“Think she likes me?” he asks rhetorically, wearing a smug look.
Of course he knows Jemma liked him; she’s always been sweet and respectful toward others. But Dax received a completely different kind of welcome. She loved him.
“I think you’ve been replaced as the favorite child,” Dax says, walking in the wrong direction.
More confused than ever, I look at him. I don’t recognize the man in front of me who is doing dishes, taking orders, making plans to visit, and wanting to appease others.
Now he’s making jokes? Who is he? Where is the man that would kill any challenge to his rule? Had people for everything?
After his and Jemma’s interactions today, I realize I don’t really know Dax behind closed doors when he’s just Dax and not king to all.If things were different between us, would he be this carefree and pleasant?
“It’s this way, Your Highness,” I say, knowing the acknowledgment would irritate him.
He growls. “Dax.”
“KingDax... right?” I smile and tilt my head in question as I walk backward.
We laugh, and he chases me, and I break from his grasp, shifting. He follows suit. His wolf nips at my tail whenever he gets closer. He doesn’t surpass me but is careful to make sure he’s never too far behind, watching me run freely with my wolf.
Bliss rolls through me as I run through the forest of my old pack with my mate.
I never thought I would have this—sharing mine and my mother’s favorite place.
Tossing the clothes we carried in our mouths, I shift. Dax towers over me, taking in my naked form. His wolf looks at me up and down with a low growl of approval.
I roll my eyes, smiling, and throw my tank top and shorts on. Dax does the same with his clothes after shifting.
We keep running until I approach the bushes and brush that block my haven.
I push the bushes out of the way, separating their leaves so we can see behind them.
Dax steps onto the grassy cliff my mother used to frequent. There’s nothing surrounding it but a huge tree that twists and angles itself until its long branch overlooks the rest of the forest.
“We’re here,”I say.
Dax watches as I walk toward the tree in the clearing perched on the cliff.
It’s an old but sturdy tree. I graze my hands over and around the tree trunk and position myself on its branch that hovers close to the edge.
Dax climbs and sits on the branch with me. I tell him how my mother would come here, sit in this exact spot, and look out.
