The Little Wolf and Her Demon King

Chapter 13: Bonding

I woke up and immediately started patting the bed next to me. When I didn't feel Jeriah next to me, I sat up in a panic. Please tell me last night wasn't a dream. I jumped up from the bed to check the bathroom but he wasn't there. I started to run out of the room and down the hall when I heard him. His little giggle came from the room next to mine. I eased around the door frame and almost melted at what I saw.

Nik and Jeriah were in the empty room sitting on opposite sides and were bouncing a ball back and forth while they talked.

"So what kind of bed are you thinking, bud?" Nik asked, tossing the ball across the room. Neither one of them noticed I was standing there, watching them. It was good to see them bonding.

"I think I want a racecar bed." Jeriah told him. "A kid in my pack had one and it was really cool."

"A racecar bed?" Nik asked with a laugh. "I definitely think we can find one of those in the city. What about paint? What color do you want the room to be?"

"Do I only have to pick one color?" Jeriah asked. Nik smiled and shook his head. "Well I want that wall to be blue. That wall to be green. And that wall to be grey. I just can't decide on this wall."

"I think I have a good idea for that one. Do you know what a chalk board is?" He asked. Jeriah nodded, crinkling his eyebrows in confusion. "Well they make chalkboard paint and when it dries, you can write all over the wall in chalk. How does that sound?"

"I love that idea! I can draw whatever I want!" Jeriah yelled, throwing the ball up in the air. "And I can't wait for my cool bed."

"I bet, bud. We'll go to the city today." Nik laughed. "And I will buy you a tv and more clothes. I'll even buy you all the toys you want."

"All the toys I want?" He asked in disbelief. I smiled as Jeriah got up and ran to hug him.

"You bet, kiddo." He said, hugging him tight. "Your sister will probably get mad at how much I'm going to spoil you."

"Maybe not as mad as you think." I said, finally walking into the room. They both smiled as I sat down next to them. "Sounds like we're going to have a busy day."

"Nik says that I get to have a racecar bed and a tv!" Jeriah yelled, jumping in my lap. "Can we hurry so we can go to the city?"

"Absolutely." I said, ruffling his hair. "Go to the bathroom and then go get dressed. We'll get breakfast and go."

He squealed and ran from the room. Nik laughed and stood up, offering me his hand. I smiled up at him as I stood.

"You're really good with him, you know that?" I said, wrapping my arms around his middle. "I've never seen him warm up to someone so fast."

"He's a great kid. And he deserves a great life." He said, kissing me on the nose. "Come on. Let's get going."

We all quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. To no surprise, Ella had already snagged Skylar and was deep in conversation. Looks like they were already friends. We let them know that we would be going shopping and they begged to join us. Nik and Luka gave each other a look and rolled their eyes. I nudged Ella and we both gave them puppy dog eyes. They both sighed in sync and nodded, causing all of us to squeal. I laughed as they both grumbled about the unfairness of us teaming up against them.

I laughed and patted Nik on the cheek. He was cute when he pretended to be grumpy.