Chapter 130: Chapter 24

COLE

“Ethan!” Lexi nearly yells, jumping into her brother’s arms. His other hand is holding Rosalie’s.

“Rosalie! Goddess, I’m so glad to see you. What are you doing here?”

Ethan looks between the women. “Lexi. Rosalie and I are… engaged.”

“What!” Her mouth drops open as she looks between the two. I guess that’s better than saying they’re married.

They’ve been mated for almost a month. In human terms, that’s fast.

“I told you your brother was the one for me when you first showed me his picture,” Rosalie says as she steps inside.

“Cole. It’s good to see you again.”

“Wait, you know Cole?” Lexi looks between us.

Rosalie answers her question. “He was the trainer I told you about. Ironically, Ethan also works for Cole’s family.”

Lexi nods. “That part I knew.”

“Cole.” Ethan greets me with a nod. “Glad you could make it. We can start loading the furniture into the back of my truck, then yours. Anything else can go in the back of Emmett’s truck when he gets here.”

I give the orders and the wolves begin working.

“Who is Emmett?” Lexi asks as she pulls her painting from the wall.

“He’s my best friend. He and his mate…” Ethan clears his throat. “… wife, Josie went to New York. They’ll be here later.”

Shit. That’s the first time I’ve slipped since meeting Lexi. I still don’t know how to tell her, which is what I tell Ethan as we load her couch into the back of the truck.

Thankfully she didn’t pay much attention to the slip up.

“I guess just tell her straight out?” Ethan suggests.

“Right. That could work if I want her running away from me to never be seen or heard from again,” I bluntly state.

“Maybe you should be the one to tell her. She is your sister.”

“Fuck that. She’s your mate. I can be her brother whether she knows about our kind or not. You’re the one that needs her to be a wolf.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks a lot. Some brother you are. I’d tell my sisters.”

Ethan gets a big ass mocking smile. “No you wouldn’t. You’d make their alpha mates do it just to fuck with them.”

“Is that why you’re not being helpful, just to fuck with me?” I ask as we get back inside to grab the rest of her living room furniture.

“Of course not… maybe a little… How else can I fuck with you? You outrank me.”

“That’s an excellent point. I could just order you to tell her,” I mock as we wrap the cords around Lexi’s table lamps.

“Tell who what?” Lexi asks.

She’s carrying a huge box in her arms. I take the box from her. “Ethan wants to tell you something.”

“Fuck no I don’t. That’s all Cole.” He takes the lamps and walks out of the apartment.

Lexi knits her brows. “I’ll tell you later. Right now we need to get you moved.”

I kiss her quickly. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Okay…?” she mumbles.

I take the box to Ethan’s truck and place it in the back. Moving goes much faster once Emmett arrives. Josie stays with the pup, and the little girl distracts Lexi enough to keep her from asking questions about what I need to tell her.

Once everything is packed, Lexi turns the keys in, and we drive off, leaving New Jersey behind.

Lexi turns the radio down just outside of Richmond. “So what is it you wanted to tell me earlier?”

I reach over to take her hand. “That you’re amazing and I’m so happy that you’re coming to my territory.”

“Your territory?” She laughs. “I guess your family owns the place, right?”

“Yeah… They do.” I clear my throat. “My parents own a huge chunk of land, but it’s not just their place on it. We have over one hundred and fifteen families living on the land.”

“That’s a lot of people. Do I need to worry about the Koolaid?”

I chuckle at her little joke. “No, we’re not a cult. We all believe in the Moon Goddess though.”

“That’s comforting. At least I won’t be made fun of. So what is it?” she asks again.

I’m trying so hard to avoid the question, but I no longer have a choice. “Lexi.” I start, but don’t quite get it out.

“You’re not going to believe me,” I mumble to myself.

She squeezes my hand in encouragement. “Just tell me, Cole. It’s getting really frustrating not knowing.”

I let out a deep breath. “Have you ever wondered why your senses are so much better than everyone else’s?”

Lexi just looks at me with a soft smile, so I keep talking. “It’s because you’re different than most people. You’re the same as me and Ethan. Rosalie, Emmett, and Josie too. You’re the same as us... We’re shifters.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’re not human. We’re Wolves. Werewolves to be exact.”

There, I said it. It’s out. The truth is out, finally. I side glance at Lexi, but her face is blank until suddenly she starts laughing.

“The look on your face and you sounded so serious. That was a good one.”

“Lexi, I am serious. We are werewolves.”

She stops laughing, then rolls her eyes as she shakes her head.

“Lexi, please believe me. I’m not kidding. I had to tell you before we get to my territory in case you see someone shift. I don’t want you freaking out.”

“Come on, Cole. Why do you keep joking around about that? I know it sounded ridiculous when I told you about my crazy fantasy, but you don’t need to keep making fun of me.”

“Lexi, I’m not making fun of you. We’re wolves and you’re my mate.”

“Stop it, Cole. It’s not funny anymore. In fact, it hurts that you would keep this up.”

She crosses her arms and looks out the window. I’m so frustrated that I growl deep and menacingly.

“Pull over!” she firmly yells, catching me off guard.

“What?” I look at her face, and her cheeks are lined with tears.

I pull over but lock the doors to keep her from leaving. “Lexi.” My voice is soft, but she refuses to look at me.

I reach for her hand, but she pulls away.

“Let me out, Cole.” Her voice cracks, and she sniffles.

I unlock the doors, then follow along as she gets out of the truck.

Ethan and Emmett both pull in behind us. Lexi hugs herself and stubbornly walks away from me.

“What’s going on? Why are we stopped?” Ethan asks once he steps out of his truck.

“I’m riding with you,” Lexi tells him.

He knits his brows and looks at me in question.

“She’s mad because she thinks I’m making fun of her,” I inform him.

“No. I’m mad because I told you something private, something that I’ve wished for since I was a little kid, and you turned it into a joke.”

“Pup,” Ethan quietly corrects her.

“Huh?” She turns to her brother.

“Pup. Something you’ve wished for since we were pups. Cole is telling you the truth, Lex.”

Lexi glares at Ethan, dumbfounded.

“You might as well just show her,” he tells me.

“Fine, but if she gets scared and runs, you better bring her back.”

“I’m right here. Go ahead, Cole. Show me. Show me how stupid I am for agreeing to dishevel my life to be with someone that enjoys making me into a laughing stock.”

“You asked for it,” I mumble as I strip out of my clothes.

She turns around with her eyes closed.

“Oh, Goddess, are you seriously getting naked right now?”

Ethan turns her around. “Watch. You need to see it for yourself.”

“Oh come on, Ethan, not you too.”

I growl to get her attention. She looks up just in time for me to shift. I make sure to shift slower than I normally do so she can’t say I’m pulling some trick on her.

Her mouth drops open and she backs up away from me. Ethan wraps his arm around her shoulders and grabs her wrist with his other hand.

“See. Not joking. Not making fun of you. Cole is the alpha prince. He’s the second strongest werewolf there is, only outmatched by his dad, the alpha king. His mom is the Oracle and his other mate is the Starlight Sister Dara.”

I really didn’t want her knowing that last part quite yet, but I’ll take what I can.

Lexi’s body is stiff. I step closer to her and she steps back into Ethan. He holds her steady as I boop her belly with my nose.

“Touch him, Lex,” Rosalie tells her from the cab of Ethan’s truck. “It’s Cole. He’s not going to hurt you.”

Ethan stretches out her shaking arm just above my head.

“He’s your mate, Lex. That’s why you’re so drawn to him. Touch his fur. I know your fingers are aching to feel how soft he is.”

Lexi swallows, then closes her eyes as she drops her hand to touch my head. I crane my head up to get more of her magical touch. I grumble in contentment, feeling her fingers digging deeper into my hair.

She opens her eyes to see that she is, in fact, petting me. Her eyes look into mine.

“Cole?”

I grumble in response.

“It, it’s, it’s really you?”

“He’s a werewolf, Lex. Just like all the rest of us, even the pup in the backseat of Emmett’s truck. She’s a half breed, but we all have a wolf,” Ethan continues, trying to convince her.

I lick her hand and she giggles in surprise, then gets serious again.

“You’re a wolf, Cole.”

I nod my head.

“Oh, Goddess. He understands me.”

I snort at her comment.

I look up to Ethan and paw my clothes. He gives me a nod. I step back, but Lex steps forward.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“He’s shifting back.”

Lexi looks up at Ethan.

By the time she looks back at me, I’m standing in front of her with my clothes covering my front.

Lexi turns away so I can get dressed. I step behind her and take her waist.

“Lexi?”

She turns back around to face me. Her mouth is slack, but she holds onto my forearms.

“It’s still me, my magnolia.”

She slowly steps closer into my embrace.

I finally relax as I quietly sniff her neck while holding her on the side of the dark and empty road.