Waiting For August

Part 10~August after hours

A/N***This is a small addition that I will probably combine to the previous chapter, as I think it makes more sense to place it there, rather than with the following chapter, and I feel it is much too short a blurb to remain on its own. I just felt I wanted to check in with how August was feeling about things.  Let me know what you think. Drop me a comment. I'm interested in hearing what others think.  Now on to the story...****

I couldn't stop smiling. Seriously. My face was starting to hurt. Today had been a strangely fantastic day. Nothing about today should have worked. Scrap that. Nothing in the last twenty-four hours should have made any sort of sense. 

I had awakened this morning wrapped in the arms of my mate. We'd spent the night together. I had gotten shit-faced drunk and allowed him to take me back to my hotel room. A man. A stranger. After knowing him for only an hour. Anything could have happened.

Backwards. We'd done everything completely backwards, and yet somehow it had worked. I'd had one of the best days of my life.

I kicked off my sneakers and slid them under the bed with my foot before dropping my jeans. I shucked the rest of my clothing as I headed to the shower leaving a trail behind me. I had actually slept the previous night. I'd spent the day outdoors in the fresh air and sunlight. After a hot shower, I was hoping the fabulousness of this day would continue with another night of decent sleep. It would be the proverbial icing on this three-layer devil's food cake of a day.

After a hot soak under the rain shower head, I emerged feeling incredibly relaxed. I slipped into a pair of clean boxers and a shirt before flopping down heavily into the center of the bed. That's when the most amazing thing happened. As I was lying there, willing myself to fall victim to Italian cotton sheets and hypoallergenic pillows, I smelt it. Caleb's scent. It was all over my bed. I moaned delighted and rolled, pressing my face into the fabric, inhaling deeply. Oh yeah. It was like he'd never left.

An immediate longing passed over me and I found myself childishly wishing that he was here. We'd parted ways barely an hour ago and already, my head and my heart and my wolf missed him. How was that even possible? Could you really miss someone after only knowing them for a day? And if so, what did this mean for me? For my plans? For my new life?

Only two days ago I had found out that I would be Denae Johnson's maternity leave replacement. Henry Fyne had made a last-minute decision to send me instead of the much senior lawyer that had originally been promised the position; and when my Godfather adjudicated, nobody dared argue.

If I performed well here, there was a chance that I could stay on at this affiliate firm. Away from my Godfather. I would be starting a new life in this city out from under his overbearing control and influence. It would be a chance for me to be taken seriously as a lawyer in my own right and not as the son of the firm's most senior partner.

Of course, it would never be as simple as all that. Not when Henry Fyne was involved. Henry did nothing that didn't foremost benefit Henry. There would be a price to pay. For once, however, it would serve both our immediate interests and so it was a cost that I would gladly recompense.

Finding Caleb, however, had never been part of the plan.

Honestly, it had never truly mattered to me whether I ever found my proverbial mate. Of course, I knew the fairy-tale. I'd been twelve when I'd lost my family, so I did remember a lot of what my parents had taught us, my sister and me.

Henry too, had tried to share his limited knowledge and he had been good in sharing his memories of my parents — had tried to keep their memory alive for me to the best of his abilities. In that way, he had been a decent fellow. But being raised without a pack — never knowing what it felt like to belong to one — it was hard to imagine them to be any more than what I believed them to be.

Now that I'd found him, however, my mate, I couldn't get him out from under my skin. Already he felt like a part of me. Like something found that I'd never known was lost. Was this moon Goddess crap really real? It sure fucking felt like it.

I curled up in a ball on my side, letting Caleb's comforting scent drift over me. This was crazy. This wasn't me. I couldn't get involved with this guy.

Hmm... Pretty sure it's already too late for you. You literally just rolled in his scent.

Crap.

If only he'd been an asshole. Someone reprehensible that I could have easily ignored. But no. He had been wonderfully sweet and kind. Gentle and good with both animals and kids. He made my chest feel tight when I looked at him and he made me smile. He made me happy to be alive, and I didn't know what to think about that. It was all too much. I sighed. My eyelids felt heavy, and I surrendered to their weight. Whatever was I going to do?