Sequel: Slip

What We Left Unsaid

T H I R T E E N

“I love you.”

A soft, feminine laugh sounded in response, bringing a large smile to the male’s lips. That didn’t stop him from leaning forward and nipping at the skin on the female’s neck, his nose nudging her jaw as he looked up into her eyes, an eyebrow arched in question.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you tell me that every time you wake me up, as if--” she started to respond, her answer getting cut off by the soft moan that escaped from her lips when she felt the male’s lips pressing against the junction of her shoulder and her neck, right in the center of the mark he had left on her neck. He pulled his mouth away from her neck at the sound, dipping his head forward to press a quick kiss against the woman’s lips. “As if you think I’m going to be mad at you or something.”

“Mmm,” was all the man said in response, neither confirming nor denying her suspicion as he allowed his head to dip lower on his mate once again, his lips pressing this time against the small patch of her chest that was left exposed by the large button-up shirt of his that she was wearing. Then, with the hand that was cupped around her opposite hip, he gave her an affectionate squeeze, pausing in his motions and setting his chin down on her chest so that he could look up at her. “I tell you it because I mean it.”

His words and the sincerity and promise behind them brought a small smile to her lips, but more than anything, the dorky way he was half laying on top of her, chin on her chest, and just looking at her with those big eyes of his, that brought a warmness to her heart. “I know you do,” she told him, lifting a hand to run quickly through his short hair. “I love you too.”

“Oh, you’d better,” the male told her with a playful growl as he lifted his head and shifted himself upwards and attached his lips once again to hers. The playfulness in the growl shifted into contentment as their lips moved together, and then into irritation when a small, feminine hand pressed against the side of his face and pushed his head away from hers. Still, refusing to be deterred, he refocused his attention on her neck, leaving small nips along the way as he trailed his lips back down to the marking. That is, until his mate’s small hands made it to his head again managed -- with a small amount of a struggle -- to pull his head back from her skin. Huffing out an irritable groan, the man finally looked back up into her eyes. “What, Woman?”

His words had her arching an eyebrow in a dare, but she didn’t comment on it. “You woke me up for a reason,” she reminded him instead, looking at him with restrained curiosity. Though undoubtedly curious, she wasn’t demanding that he tell her anything, merely checking to make sure he wasn’t forgetting something he wanted to say.

Though he groaned again and looked anything but happy to be reminded, he didn’t deny her point. For a moment, though, he looked as if he was reconsidering the reason’s importance. “Fine,” he said in a huff, finally pulling away from his mate and shifting back into a seated position on the side of the bed. “I made us breakfast.”

“I didn’t hear the fire alarm...”

“Ohhhh, that’s how you’re going to play it? Well then, you just wait and see if I ever feel like doing it again.”

Laughing, the woman pulled herself up as well, wrapping her arms around the man’s large frame as she pressed her lips to his tattooed shoulder. Then, tugging the long shirt down to cover her upper thighs as she stood up, she pulled him to his feet and started toward the door. She got five steps before the male spoke up again.

“Oh, and by ‘I made us breakfast’, I meant ‘I made us breakfast, burned it, and now I’m hungry but there isn’t any food.’”

Slowly, the woman turned around and looked up at her mate, taking in the dimpled smile and begging hazel eyes before just laughing and nodding. “Okay, Matt. I’ll make you breakfast. Come on.”

“Have I told you lately that I love you, Kat?”

A small smirk on the woman’s lips, she only rolled her shoulder and started back on her way out of the room, knowing the male would be following happily behind her. She wasn’t surprised when his arm found its way around her waist, landing on the hip he seemed to always have a gentle grip on, or when his lips dipped down to press quickly against her temple.

“No one from the Council showed up after you went to bed,” he told her as they walked down the hall, “so that either means they’ll show up sometime in the next few days or in the next few years.” When his mate snorted in response, the vocalist only shrugged. “You never can tell with those guys.”

With one glance up at the man’s expression, the woman pursed her lips softly. “You’re hoping it’ll be later rather than sooner,” she observed, earning a nod in response even though it wasn’t a question.

“It’ll be nice to finally have the Council off of our backs and get those trespassers officially off of our lands, but as soon as the Council learns that Ava and Zacky are mated, her old pack and her brothers will, too. I’m just worried all hell will break loose when they do. But then again, nothing at all could happen; we just don’t know.” Though she didn’t speak up with a question, the vocalist could sense his mate’s confusion, so he continued his explanation as they made it into the kitchen, her moving over to the refrigerator and him dropping into one of the seats. “We talked about ‘bloods’ the other day, right? The Council doesn’t worry themselves over those titles -- at least not officially, but there are some elitist pure-bloods within the Council. Anyways, while the Council’s official job is to intervene and enforce the laws of the species, they have a tendency to... not intervene until it becomes so big of an issue that they have to. I’m just not sure the largest pack west of the Mississippi harassing one of the smallest -- especially when some of the Council members hear why -- will be a good enough reason for them to intervene.”

The redhead nodded her understanding as she began pulling out all of the ingredients for omelets, looking over her shoulder and taking in the burly man’s worried brow. “It sounds like Ava’s brought a number of issues with her, then.”

Hazel eyes widened as the man turned his full attention to the woman. “She’s worth it, Kitten,” he told her slowly, not quite sure how to take his mate’s words. “I know she comes off a bit... abrasive at times, but if you knew her family, you’d be amazed she’s capable of emotions at all. She’s like a sister to me, and she’s been everyone’s friend since we were pups.”

“Everyone except Zacky.”

The man’s expression softened as his eyes lit up in understanding. Pushing up from the seat, he moved across the kitchen to stand behind the redhead, his arms wrapping softly around her waist as he rested his chin on the top of her head. “I know you’re not used to seeing the violence,” he said softly, “and I’m sorry that I’ve made it so you’re constantly exposed to it now, but... we’re wolves, Kat; violence is in our nature, and it isn’t always a bad thing. Zacky and Ava fight a lot -- they always have -- but it really isn’t anything to be worried about. Their scuffles are nothing compared to what happens in other packs, and neither of them ever end up with anything worse than a broken rib or something. And you’re right, they’re not friends, but they’re also not going to kill each other or anything. It’s just how they are, and once you get used to it, you’ll probably find it just as amusing as the rest of us do.”

“If you say so,” the woman conceded. “I’m used to seeing fights, just not ones where everyone comes back covered in blood and with broken bones at least twice a day.”

A small chuckle escaped from the man. “It’ll calm down in a few days,” he told her, pressing a quick kiss to the back of her head as he pulled away from her. “Here,” he urged, slipping his hand around hers and giving the woman a small tug toward the living room, “let me show you something.”

Curious, the woman followed after the vocalist without complaint, watching as he lead her down the small hall and into the living room, turning when he directed her attention to the couch. There, five of their pack members were fast asleep, bodies completely intertwined. Ava lay strewn across the four males, her legs wrapping completely around Johnny’s waist and her feet on top of Jason’s back, as he lay forward on his stomach, half on Johnny and half hanging off of the couch’s side. His head was on her thigh, only a few inches from Johnny’s exposed stomach. Ava’s torso rested underneath Matt Berry, who appeared to only be balancing on the couch and not falling to the floor because one of his legs was somewhere hidden behind Johnny and one of his arms was wrapped around Brian’s torso in a sideways hug. Ava’s head then rested on Brian’s lap, and Brian’s rested atop Matt’s. All in all, Kat wasn’t entirely sure how they managed to fit on the couch together in the first place, let alone comfortably.

“They fell asleep like that last night,” the alpha explained with a twitch of his lips. “This is the kind of thing that would happen all of the time when we were pups, and it only ever seems to happen now when Ava’s in town. I know you’re concerned about her presence dividing the pack, but just remember this image every time you start to worry, alright? She might divide them on some issues, but she sure as hell brings them right back together more than they could ever be without her.”

The redhead nodded, wrapping an arm around the vocalist’s waist as she leaned into him, unable to help the smile that appeared on her lips as she looked at the group of tightly-knit pack members. A moment later, though, the smile faded a bit. “I still see someone missing, though, Matt.”

“That’s because he’s probably still up on the roof, drunk,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, only to sigh when he looked down and saw that his mate was only more concerned by that comment. Leaning down, he nudged the woman’s cheek with his nose, pressing his lips once again to her temple. “Zacky will be okay, Kitten. He’ll take a while to deal with his own demons, but he’ll get through it. And,” he said with amusement dancing in his voice and his eyes, “now that he’s marked her, I bet it won’t be long before he’s tangled up in that little mess right there with her. Probably kicking himself in the ass for doing it, but still.”

There was silence between them as the female nodded and then the pair resumed watching their sleeping friends. “So, what I’m getting from this,” the woman started after a moment, “is that as soon as I start cooking, all of these guys are going to wake up from the smell and demand food, so I might as well start cooking breakfast for the whole pack.”

With a dimpled smile, the alpha laughed. “Yeah, that’s basically what the take-away message was.”
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A great big GIGANTIC thank you to MoMo_92, pixiesticks650, trashlee_F, and SynysterVengeance13 for being super awesome and commenting on the last chapter!