AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jacob’s secret place was deep in the woods, but I knew the way by heart. I’d known about it for a long time, ever since I’d bugged him over and over until he caved and showed me where he went. It wasn’t until later that I found out Dad and the others also knew where he went; they’d been following him to make sure he always arrived safe in his cave.
I’d meet him here on occasion, and we’d hang out, just the two of us, and talk about life while sitting around and doing nothing or chasing game when we got hungry. But now that I knew he was going to have Millie in his life, I felt sad that we wouldn’t have as much of those chances to spend time here in the future. But this also made me think of Lira and the new life I wanted to create with her.
I was ready for it. It had been a shock at first, but I knew she was mine. My mate. And her place was with me. She could run, but she couldn’t hide from me forever; I’d hunt her down.
When I got to the cave, I ventured inside and saw Jacob digging through his box. “Looking for these?” I asked, holding up the Christmas lights.
He looked up and breathed a sigh of relief before smiling at me. “Yes, I was just looking for them. Thanks for bringing them. It’s so good to see you up and about again.”
“I couldn’t stay in bed when you’re wooing your girl. I want to learn more about her and find out how I can see her sister again.”
“Yeah. It would be great for you to meet Millie. I hope you get to see Lira soon.”
“I’ll find her.” My jaw stiffened, and I could feel my wolf nodding alongside me. “She can’t hide from me.”
“Millie will keep trying to get in touch with her and will let you know if she does.”
I nodded, but this was Jacob’s time, so I changed the subject. “Did you want me to help you string the lights?”
“I do.”
Remembering I was on a mission on behalf of the family, I added, “And the others were wondering if they could help too.”
“The others?”
“Yeah, you know, your other siblings.”
“No, I’d rather not show them this place.”
“Well, if it helps, everyone already knows that you come to this spot when you want to get away.”
I waited for that to sink in, and at Jacob’s blank look and then the slight flutter of his eyebrow, I readied myself for his attack in case he thought I’d spilled his secret. But when he didn’t make a move, a slight smirk grew on my face.
“You told them!” he cried, and a snarl escaped his throat.
“Actually, I didn’t. I never said a word, just like I promised.”
He froze, and I watched as it came to him. “Someone followed me?”
“Yeah, Dad did.”
“Dad? Why would he follow me?”
“He got worried one day and followed you out here to see where you went off to. He said he didn’t do anything, simply watched you run around in wolf form before sauntering into your cave. When you didn’t come out for a while, he peeked in and saw you reading and left you alone.”
“When was this?”
“About ten years ago, when we were teenagers.”
“And he told the rest of the family about this place?”
“Not at first. He tasked Luc to follow you from time to time to make sure you were okay. But Dredge and Sandy had to cover at one point, and then Brandon did it once. So eventually, we all knew.”
“And no one ever said a word.” He looked completely bowled over.
“It’s your private space. We respect that. We just got worried because you’d go off for hours, sometimes the entire day, and we didn’t know where you were.”
“Okay, well, if everyone knows about this place already?—”
