Awake | Book 1 of the AWAKE Series | (BWWM)

Chapter Twenty-One

Dylan

I hit ignore on yet another call from my mom and slip my phone into my pocket before dropping a box full of my stuff into the trunk of Dean's Escalade. She's been calling me at least twice a day since Christmas but I always send her straight to voicemail, there's nothing to discuss. I'm just not in the right frame of mind to hash things out with her, not with everything going on.

Work has been crazy busy since Reed up and left the same day I threatened him. He didn't put in his two weeks or leave a letter of resignation. One of our coworkers he was close to ended up going by his place and came back to tell us his house was like a ghost town. He knocked and knocked but it was no use, Reed was just gone.

It's plenty satisfying to know my job isn't in jeopardy anymore but I didn't count on how much work would I would have to do to pick up the slack. Lydia won't come right out and accuse me of being the reason he left but I see it in her eyes every morning when she gives me not only my call list but Reed's as well. I'm bogged down until his replacement arrives. I hope it's a fûcking girl this time. So not only am I dealing with work drama but I decided to move in with Dean.

When we pulled into the long drive of the pack house I lost the ability to breathe. Thoughts about whether I'm doing the right thing flooded my mind and my heart thundered rapidly in my chest. Instead of stopping at the top of the gravel driveway, past the pack house and almost to the assembly building, we took a dirt path to the left and stopped in front of the cutest cabin I've ever seen. In fact it's the only cabin I've seen but it's still most definitely the cutest.

It's completely made of bright light brown wood and has a green roof. From outside it looks like it's two stories, and there's a beautiful wrap around porch already decorated with patio furniture for cook outs in the summer. I can see it in my mind, Dean on the stainless steel grill making burgers and me laying out with Andrea and her flavor of the month sipping margaritas while we wait.

"Are you done having 'make believe' time yet?" Dre asks, breezing past me with a box full of my belongings.

"Stay out of my thoughts bịtch," I snap back, causing her to laugh. I growl as I grab a box from the trunk. I hate it when she goes poking around in my head without my permission, it freaks me out.

Her comeback is cut short when a group of attractive men come barreling out of the house. They're all dressed relatively the same in white tanks, black cargo shorts. And black and white Nike running shoes. A few of them look alike but there's a good mix of races and heritages in the bunch.

"Please," a tall man with chocolate skin and milk chocolate eyes approaches me with his hands outstretched, "let us carry your things inside Luna. It would be our pleasure."

My eyes widen to the size of half dollars as I stand stock still not really sure of what to do or say in response.

He smiles and takes the box in my hands before going to the back of the Escalade and piling another two on top.

With one look over to Andrea I see she's in heaven. She's batting her eyelashes and moving like the seductive little vixen she is, her prior wariness of unfamiliar werewolves clearly gone the second she saw muscles.

"Whỏre," I joke mentally, knowing she's probably still in tune with me.

"Fûck off and go find your ball and chain," she sneers back, making me laugh out loud.

I decide to leave her to it and look for Dean like she said. The second we got out of the car he left, telling me he'd be right back but I haven't seen him since.

Walking around the parameter of the house I take in the surrounding woods. Off to the right there's a beautiful pond. The water is so clear I can see straight through to the different types of fish inside. I squat down beside it and touch my fingertips to the water, watching the ripple effect.