Chapter Two

 

 

She scooted closer to Cole and laid her head on his chest. It was tempting to close her eyes and go to sleep on the steps of The Wolves Den, but she wouldn’t take the easy way out. Her life had been filled with drifting, fear, and denial. She couldn’t fall into that trap anymore, her life and Mia’s life depended on her taking charge or at least being aware of what was going on around her.

She looked up to see Declyn across the street staring at Cole. They looked like they were communicating but neither said a word. Deja and Enzo were walking down the street towards them. She waited for their words of surprise or for one of them to ask her why she was here when they were closed today.

“Jessie, Mia, it’s nice to see you.”

Deja didn’t ask questions, and she didn’t throw shade. Half the time she was convinced that Deja knew more than she should.

“If you or Mia need anything let me know. That includes you, Cole.”

“Thank you.” She nodded and turned around.

Everyone left, and now it was simply the three of them. Her heart beat fast. It reminded her of a horse race the way their hooves beat on the ground matched the beats that pounded in her ears.

“Will you come with me?”

He was being so polite while she was running for her life. That was Cole; it was one of the first things that attracted her to him. He could keep a room full of males under control with a look or a word, but with her, he was always polite with an edge of loving. He made her look forward to coming to work, even though she already looked forward to it as an escape from home.

When she first started, she was coming for the money, but soon she was wearing lipstick and doing her makeup. Her mother noticed that, and it was one of the reasons she tried to make her quit. She looked up to see he was waiting.

“Yes, Mia and I would like to go with you.” She took his hand.

They started walking down the street deeper into the neighborhoods that surround the club.

“There’s more land here than I thought.”

“We were able to get a large area when we first came here. It’s one of the things we maintain. We need space and land we were created that way.”

“I think we all feel that way. It can get hard when you live in the city in apartment buildings or high-rises. You’re lucky because land is at a premium and there’s not enough to go around.”

“I’ve seen crowded, and you still have more land than you realize.” He stopped in front of a ranch style house that was sprawling. “I live here.”

“It looks big for one person.”

“It’s spacious enough for you and Mia to join me.”

Mia had been silent until she heard her name. “Dada, Dada.”

Jessie blanched not knowing what to say.

“She doesn’t mean that. She may have picked it up from listening to the other children in the neighborhood.”

“Dada.” Her arms went straight up in the air waiting for him to pick her up.

“Can I hold her?”

She loosened the belts so Cole could pick her up. He took her and held her up in the air, once again she thought she saw Mia’s eyes flame and her teeth develop sharp pointers where once they were smooth. Running her hand over her face she followed Cole up the steps, she was obviously tired.

They walked into a spacious living room. There was a large couch in the center of the room. It was long enough for him to lay his seven-foot frame on. It was also sturdy. Cole was all muscle, but he was a lot of it.

The walls were done in a light gray that caught her attention. He had several chairs and a fireplace with a television hanging over the mantel. What was most important to her was that it was clean. After the house she came from she hated dirt.

“I like your home.”

“Thank you. Let’s take a seat so you can tell me what’s going on.”

Cole placed Mia on the floor so she could explore the living room while they talked.

Jessie stood and paced how could she tell him what was going on? What if she was imaging it?

“I…I need some time to wrap my head around what is happening. Maybe I’m confused or delusional. Right now, I need a place to lay low, and I was hoping that you would help me.”

You can’t trust him.

He’s the only one you can trust.

It was just her luck not to have voices that agreed with each other.

“You can stay as long as you need to. “

“Thank you.”

“You need to lay down get some sleep.”

She was falling asleep on her feet, and she couldn’t think straight, but Mia needed her.

“Mia’s hungry.”

“I’ll feed her.”

“Cole it’s not easy taking care of a toddler.”

“Then when you hear me screaming you can run to my rescue.”

Cole screaming, she’d like to hear that as she sucked his dick deep into her mouth. She felt her face start to flush and knew it was over she could never hide a blush.

“I really could use some sleep maybe an hour. Do you really think you can handle Mia?”

“I do.” He picked her up and led Jessie back to one of the bedrooms.

The room was done in a light pink as if it were meant to be a little girls room. There was a beautiful double bed that was calling her name, and it wasn’t on the floor. It looked so comfortable that she couldn’t help staring at it.

“If you’re sure?”

“Casca, tell your mother that we will be fine.”

“Dada.” She hugged him around his neck.

She’d have to fight that battle later, she was too tired right now. Cole would take care of Mia at the club, and she loved it. It was a sight to see her lying across his broad chest. It made Jessie ache for what she could never have.

“Wake me if you need me.”

He walked out with a masculine swagger that had her drooling. Why couldn’t Cole be Mia’s father?

Lying down she closed her eyes hoping to get some badly needed sleep.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“What do you want to eat, Casca?”

She looked at him, her big blue eyes so much like her mothers. A smile widened her mouth showing her little sharp teeth.

“I think you’re a Kur’ik.” They walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “I don’t think you eat meat, especially not steak.”

His cell phone rang making him jump. He still wasn’t used to it although Deja made them all get one. She called it their dollars in action whatever that meant.

“Hello.”

“Cole, have you figured out what to feed Mia?”

“Can she have steak?”

“Noooo.” She laughed, and he joined in with her.

“I’m coming over I’m going to teach you about a food called Cream of Wheat, and when you pair it with applesauce, little mouths love it.”

“What kind of meat?”

“She doesn’t need meat.”

“She needs it.”

“Cole, she’s not Kur’ik.”

“Think what you want, but she needs meat.”

“Bacon or sausage?”

He thought about it for a minute. “Sausage.”

“Alright, I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

“Deja, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We’re going to get you fed because those Kur’iks they can smell your hunger, but none of them would ever hurt you.”

“Dada.” His heart expanded as it pumped faster. If he looked down, he would see the outline of it pressing against his chest. He never wanted a child, until he met Mia. All it took was one touch of Jessie’s hand and one look into Mia’s big blue eyes to make him want the family that he might one day be killed for.

The knock at the door had him tensing, he went to find Caden and Xander standing there. He let off a soft growl warning them off without waking Jessie.

“We won’t hurt her, either of them,” Caden spoke softly.

“We want to see Mia.”

She was part of them now. She was the only human child around, and Jade was the only Kur’ik child around. The two of them would be taken care of forever.

He let them in and put Mia on the floor. They sat with her taking turns making her laugh.

“Cole, does she smell different to you?” Caden was rubbing her stomach, and she was grabbing at his hands.

“She smells like she’s Kur’ik.”

“That’s impossible.”

“That’s what Deja said, but it doesn’t stop how she smells.”

“Did somebody say my name?”

He turned to find her standing in the open door with Ven behind her.

“I brought the high chair.” He moved around them and took it to the kitchen.

Xander and Caden were on their knees chasing Mia around the room as she laughed.

“You’re all big babies. Come on Cole you’re about to learn how to cook.”

“I can cook.”

“Then why is Mia hungry?”

“Because my drink making skills are better.”

Xander stopped to stare at him.

“Dada, Dada,” Mia said running to him on small legs. She wrapped her arms around his leg and held on while he walked with her making her laugh louder.

“There goes my heart.” He said to himself but if the smile on Ven’s face meant anything the male heard him.

No one said anything although they heard her call him dad. Mia had claimed him. She was just a little thing but to be claimed by a female was an honor.

“Can I hold her?” Deja had claimed Ven as her son, and now he walked with his shoulders broader. He was proud to be known as hers.

“Yes.”

Ven bent down and picked her up as she tried to say his name.

“I need a pot and do you have measuring cups?”

“Do I have what?”

“Don’t worry I brought some, but you and Jessie will need to go shopping.”

“What if she doesn’t want to stay?”

“Then you’ll have to let her go.”

“I know.”

“So, that’s it? You don’t fight for her or give her a chance to see how great you are. You’ll just let Jessie and Mia go?”

Be nice to him; he’s not as old as Enzo.

She glared at the alien that lived inside of her, the alien that she could morph into and then relented. Cole wasn’t as old as Enzo and the life they lived before they came here still held them in its icy grip.

“Women, at least human women like to be wooed. We like to know that the male will be there for us, have our backs when things get rough. Give Jessie a chance her life has been hard, but so has yours.”

She handed him the spoon so he could stir the food.

“Am I cooking for Mia?”

“You are.”

“Is this what the males on this planet do for their children?”

“Some of them.”

He puffed his chest out and straightened his shoulders. “I wonder how Jessie will feel about this.”

He flipped the sausage, and she showed him how to take the food off and put in it a bowl. “It’s time to eat, Casca.”

“Dada.” She stood with her arms reaching for him as he bent down and picked her up.

“Casca?” Deja asked Ven.

“Flower.”

“Cole we’re going to go. I think Mia should probably take a nap with her mom when she’s done eating. Do you need help feeding her?”

“I can do it.”

They all left him alone with a little bundle who only seemed to know how to say Mama and Dada.

“You have to eat. It’s dangerous to be hungry in our compound.” He placed her in her highchair.

He sat in front of her and began feeding her small bites of food.

“We need a smaller spoon for you; this one is too big for your mouth.”

She ate several bites before she stopped eating. He put the spoon to her mouth, but she refused to open shaking her head. Her eyes were big with fear.

“You’re still hungry Casca. Why won’t you eat?”

He tried again, but she refused. Little tears began to run down her face.

“I hurt you. How did I hurt you?” His heart beat faster. What had he done wrong? How did he fix it?

Her arms went up in the air, he picked her up and started walking. He watched Deja do that one day when they were in the club. Her head was on his shoulder, he could feel the wetness of her tears.

“Give her a bottle.”

He spun around to see Jessie standing in the doorway.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was feeding her and then she wouldn’t eat. Tell me what I did and I won’t repeat it.”

“You did everything right.” She went to rinse out the bottle that she was holding in her hand. “At home, she’s not allowed to eat, and she’s smart enough to know it.”

She opened the fridge and pulled out the milk to fill the bottle. “I have a small fridge in my room, the kind college kids use in their dorms. I keep milk in there for her. It’s not the same as food at this age, but it helps her not to be hungry.”

She handed him the bottle.

“You should take her.”

“You’re doing a great job, Cole.” She reached over and kissed Mia stroking her hair and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

They walked into the living room. She sat on the couch and turned to watch Cole as he held Mia.

“I should have run away when I was eighteen, but I was weak.”

“What made you weak?”

“My mom, she would always tell me how the doctors said she would die soon. Then she’d say if I loved her I would be a good daughter and take care of her. Before I knew it my dream of going to college was flushed down the drain as I tried to take care of her.”

“That’s not being weak.”

“She used me, Cole. I didn’t know it then, but I know now.”

Her arms circled her middle trying to keep the pain in. “Have you ever woken up to realize that everything you thought you knew was a lie? You were being used, and there was nothing you could do about it. I was caught up in this life that I couldn’t see a way out of. That’s me pathetic.”

“Why are you here, Jessie?”

“Because I will die fighting before I just hand over Mia to anyone. I’m not brave, don’t get me wrong Cole, but I won’t just lay down while someone tries to hurt my family.”

“That’s not pathetic.”

“I hope your right.”