Moon Dancer - Hidden Wolf 1

Jagger

Grayson had insisted on a nap before eating anything. Insisted being flat out refused. She was currently curled up on the couch, her bad shoulder re-bandaged.

One of my blankets was pulled over her head, her arms wrapping around it and smooshing it directly into her face. I snort looking at her. "Ares was right. She's going to suffocate herself."

Finn was watching her from the stairs, leaning against the railing. "I think it's funny how everything is covered except her feet."

I take another look and notice her toes sticking out from the pile of blankets. I roll my eyes. "She's a dork."

Ryker stops in the entry way. "She's an Omega."

Finn and I look to him.

"She needs a nest." He says. "She should have had a nest years ago."

Finn nods. "I agree. I was thinking, if we revamp the walk-in closet, it could be a perfect space. And it connects to both Ares and Jagger's rooms."

"That sounds like a solid plan." Area says as he enters the room. "I think we also need to talk about what Larkin said about her power. We had no idea she was an Acrobat."

"An Omega Acrobat? They're so rare, of course we didn't know." Ryker says.

"What Class do you think she is?" Finn asks.

I smirk. "Earth. Did you feel that barrier she threw up? That was Earth."

Ares rolls his eyes. "No wonder. You guys are two fucking peas in a pod."

I flash him a shit eating grin.

"She hasn't eaten all day. And her hair is still wet. She's going to get a cold."

Ryker cuffs him on the shoulder as he walks past. "You hear that? Our glorious leader is turning into a mother hen."

Ares scowls. "I'm being realistic."

Ryker laughs, his face lighting up. I smile along with him. Since Grayson came along, I think I'd heard him laugh more times than the last 10 years. "She ate a banana this morning."

Ares cuts a glare to him. "You watched her eat a banana?"

Ry's cheeks tint with a blush and brings a hand to the back of his head. "Yeah."

"Dude." Finn says, a laugh in his voice.

Ryker shakes his head. "That's not even the part I remember most about that. That was when she smiled at me for the first time."

"You only saw because you were watching her mouth so closely." Finn teased.

I laugh at Ryker's slightly guilty expression. When I look back to sleeping Gray, the sound dies in my throat.

My pack looks over at me in question.

"What is it?" Ares asks.

I shake my head. "Just a feeling." Leaning against the wall, I cross my arms on my chest. "I have a feeling she's going to run."

Ares studies my expression. "Why would she do that?"

I shrug. "Lots of reasons. But probably because she's used to being on her own. I can tell this is really freaking her out."

Ryker's eyebrows furrow. "She seems fine to me. She seemed okay enough accepting our help earlier."

Finn nods. "Yeah. Gray is obviously not in an okay place, but I don't think she is going to run."

I stare all of them down. "It's not about her accepting our help. Gray is used to keeping herself in solitude. Now she suddenly has four mates. And I don't know if you guys have noticed, but we apparently aren't the best at keeping our instincts in check. We've been smothering her."

Ryker chuckles. "I can't help myself."

"I've never felt this protective over someone before." Ares says softly and then looks to us. "I thought I was protective over you guys. But that one-" he points to Gray, "I want to lock her up so no one can hurt her ever again."

We let that sink in for a moment.

Finn let's out a breathy laugh. "A few hours in and we're fucked."

I can't help but laugh with him. "Yeah." I say, running a hand through my hair.

Ares has a look on his face that I don't like. His anxiety shoots from him in tight pangs. And I know exactly what is causing it.

I walk over to him and pull him into a hug. "Hey." I whisper. "It's just a feeling."

Ares huffs against me. "Your feelings have the tendency to come true."

I slide a hand up and down his back. "If she does run, it isn't because of us. She has reasons that we just don't understand yet. Tomorrow, we can all sit down and talk."

"But what if-" Ares starts.

"It will be okay Ares." I soothe. "If she does run, it's only because all of this is new to her. We will just go pick her up and keep teaching her. It might take awhile before she is comfortable living here. We don't even know if that's what she wants right now."

Ares grumbles. "I can't imagine her not staying with us. I don't think I can bare the thought of her being somewhere else."

Finn steps toward us and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Jagger and I were talking about starting sleeping as a pack again."

Ryker nods across from us. "I would like that. With everything happening, I think we could all use a good sleep."

Ares steps back from me and looks to Grayson. "You guys go up there. I'm going to watch over Gray and give her a snack when she wakes up. Then when she is asleep I'll come up and join you."

I eye him for a moment. "It's been a long day. The sun is already coming up. Don't be long."

Still looking at Grayson, Ares doesn't respond to me.

I give him a long look before I start walking up the stairs, Finn falling into step beside me.

We walk in silence until we are in Ares' room, Ryker shutting the door behind us.

"I'm worried about him." Finn says.

I let out a sigh. "Yeah. We need to watch both of them carefully."

Ryker moves to the huge ass bed and peels back the covers. "You think leaving them down there alone is okay?"

I shrug. "You want to try to swap places with him?"

"Hell no." Ryker scoffs. "He would bite my head off."

Finn flops onto the bed before Ryker is done with the covers. "I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. I can tell that Gray is going to be good for him, but they're both on unstable ground right now."

Ryker shoves him off the covers. "You really think she's going to run?"

I run a hand over my face and walk over to the bed. "I probably shouldn't have told Ares that."

"No, I think you made the right call. If she does and he didn't have any warning, I don't think we would be able to stop his downward spiral." Finn says, claiming the middle of the bed. "We just need to remind him that this is not going to be like his past."

I flick off the lights and crawl in next to him. "I think the only person who can do that is Gray."

Ryker pulls the covers over us as he settles on Finn's other side. "And she doesn't even know about Ares' past."