No Escape

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lily paced in the closet in her room, nervous for the night's events knowing what was about to transpire. A date with Jackson. Anxiety crept through her bones as she got ready. Charlie was sitting in front of the couch coloring while Lily worried about what to wear and came up with endless scenarios in which things went wrong; where she would mess things up. 

She pulled out a pair of jeans and a mustard colored sweater. It wasn't cold outside, but old habits die hard. She didn't want to think about the scars that littered her body and be reminded of what she had gone through. She wanted to enjoy the night and have fun with her mate. She wanted the cliche, romantic moments that she always read about. She wanted nothing more than for things to be clumsy, but perfect. 

A half an hour later, Jackson was stood in front of his mate's door in a pair of tan slacks and a burgundy collared, button up shirt. He knocked before running his hand through his hair. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as she opened the door and let him in. He followed behind her and closed the door as he took in her petite frame. The jeans Lily wore clung to her legs; since she had began training, she'd started growing more muscle. He watched as she limped towards her bed to put on her shoes. Jackson noticed that her right leg had filled out more than her left, but that didn't matter to him one bit. The sweater she had on was over sized, the edge falling below her butt and sleeves swallowing her arms in them. He smiled as she tried pulling her shoes onto her feet, but she struggled. 

Lily's booties were being stubborn; she attempted using both arms to pull them over the heel of her foot, but her left arm rebelled in pain. She grasped onto it suddenly and fought the urge to gasp and whine out. After a moment, she shyly looked towards Jackson whose expression held concern, though he hadn't made a move to help her which she appreciated. She wasn't helpless. "Uhm... can you help me, please?" She asked quietly. She was embarrassed to ask and admit she needed the help, but she wasn't about to give up on those shoes. She could have picked other ones that she could put on easily by herself, but these ones were cute and they went with her outfit.

Jackson nodded then knelt down in front of her. He held the shoe steady as the two of them pushed to get the shoe onto her foot. When they succeeded with her right foot, Lily zipped it up before moving on to the other. Jackson had to put in a bit more effort in helping her with the other foot, but when the task was complete Lily stood, smiled, and thanked him. 

Jackson led her outside with an arm around her waist. They walked for around twenty minutes at Lily's pace until they reached a clearing, but to Lily's surprise it wasn't their final destination. At the other end of the clearing there was a tree with wood planks up the trunk, they led to a treehouse that had been there since Jackson was little.

He lightly pushed her forward and said, "up you go, beautiful."

At first Lily was wary of it but suddenly realized that Jackson wouldn't lead her somewhere that would cause her harm. So she climbed up the steps and into the treehouse. She looked around after pulling her legs inside the door. There were Christmas lights hung illuminating the area, a pile of blankets were laid out on the floor with an abundance of pillows scattered around, and a  cooler was set off to the side. 

She heard Jackson pulling himself up inside and turned toward him as he stood up, "this is incredible, Jacks."

He smiled to himself and grabbed onto her hand, "you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until you've seen the view." He gently tugged her toward the blankets and pillows and turned her so she was facing the huge window the looked over his pack's land. 

She gasped as she took in the never-ending sight of treetops merging with the night sky. The stars twinkled and the moon shined so brightly, "wow." She muttered. She had never seen anything like this; it was a whole new view of the world she had never seen before and it was gorgeous. Lily turned towards Jackson with the biggest smile on her face, "I love it!"