Magnetic Love

53. Little Vixen

Jae didn't think twice about it. Grabbing the dress and box full of Anne's things, he headed for the door. Then he stopped, took a deep breath, and turned back around to his friends.

      "Thank you. Thank you for everything. You've helped to bring Anne and me together so many times. You helped me to get out of my own way..." Jae paused as he made his way back over to Michael and Jessica. This would be the last time he would see them in person for a while.

      "Take care of this little one, okay?" Jae lovingly laid a hand on Jess's belly. "And you, sir, take care of this amazing lady." Jae hugged the couple simultaneously, pressing them together in his encircled arms.

      "I'll see you at the wedding! God! What am I saying?" Jessica and Michael suddenly found Jae's head resting wearily at the junction between their shoulders. "Please tell me I will make it through this."

      "You will make it through this. Anne will make it through this, and your baby will make it through this. One day soon, you will be a family." Michael pulled his friend closer as he assured him.

      "A family. My baby..." Jolted by the realization, Jae shot his head up with a rejuvenated incentive. "What am I doing? I have to go! I have to see Nova and find Anne!"

      "And he's back." Michael patted Jae's shoulder and looked his best friend straight in the eye. "One of your biggest obstacles to Anne, though, is going to be figuring out how your teeth ended up in Nicole's neck. Cause if you did claim her and not Anne- Well..."

      "Oh my god! How could I forget about that? How the hell do I fix that?" Jae started to ramble as he paced around the floor, wandering in his path.

      "Breathe. First, find out if it is real or not. Getting someone to make a claim against their will would take a great deal of magic, as would constructing that ring on your finger. Whoever Nicole is working with is no joke. One step at a time. Just like how you built your relationship with Anne, rebuild it the same way." Jessica, once again, was a voice of reason.

With the plan settled in his head, Jae made one final charge over to Jessica and kissed her on the cheek before promptly turning for the door. He winked over his shoulder as he moved just out of Michael's tight grasp.

      "You can kill me next time, man! Love you both!"

Michael and Jess sighed in unison before Michael quietly voiced the friends' parting words.

"I really hope you can work this out."

Then they gently closed the door.

With Anne's phone charged and in hand, Jae looked up Nova's details and hoped they were current. He wasn't sure where she and Victor were residing and Victor, like any good tiger, had dens in many places. He crossed his fingers and hoped the information was correct. If the hybrid were smart, he would have called ahead, but he didn't want to be turned away over the phone. What did he have to lose by showing up?

Parking in front of the beautiful colonial home in the suburbs, Jae had barely rounded the hood when he found himself flat on his back in the driveway. Before he even opened his eyes after the shock, a deep baritone voice bellowed out a warning.

      "Get out! You are not welcome here!" Jae felt the moisture from Victor's heavy breathing on his nose. Jae would not submit and glared directly back at Victor as a low growl rumbled through his chest.

      "Enough!" the ordinarily high-pitched voice had dropped an octave in authority. "If you two buffoons don't stop playing 'who's dick is bigger' in my driveway, I'm going to open a bottle of spankbutt on you!"