Karis
Chapter 25
I couldn’t remember the last time I held a baby. He had a sweet powdery scent as I cuddled him close.
Kyle and his mate, Kelsey, walked in. I had never met Kelsey in person, but of course I knew exactly who she was.
Kelsey hugged Jenna and Chase, while Kyle shook hands with Damon. I stayed out of the way and just enjoyed holding the baby.
“Hi, I’m Kelsey,” she finally said, addressing me.
“Hi Kelsey, I’m Karis,” I said. “He’s absolutely precious,” I gushed, causing his mother to beam with pride. “How old is he now?”
“He’s two months old today. I know it’s still soon to be traveling with him, but after everything that happened I can’t stand to have any of them out of my sight. Kyle conceded and let us tag along. I don’t think he was ready to leave this little guy anyways.”
I didn’t ask, but I suspected she was referring to an attack on the family while in Collier Pack for Lily Westin’s induction as Pack Mother and her mate, Thomas’s ascension as Alpha. It had been the talk of the Pack, and Thomas’s heir, Cole, and his mate had almost died. Upa said Cole had nearly given his life to save both of Kyle’s sons. I couldn’t imagine ever letting my family out of my sight again either after an ordeal like that.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Jason.”
“Aww, named after your grandpa. That’s a big name to carry for such a tiny little thing,” I said.
Kelsey smiled. “Do you know Jason?”
“Sure. I’ve known him my whole life. I haven’t spent a lot of time with him, but he used to visit Upa often,” I exclaimed.
“No freaking way!” Kyle boomed. “Is that really my little pet all grown up?”
I rolled my eyes, trying not to show my irritation or embarrassment from the old nickname he’d used for me as a child.
“Hi, Kyle,” I managed flatly.
Damon snorted, trying not to laugh and I glared at him. I’m sorry, he mouthed.
“Karis Begay. I can hardly believe it. Look at you,” Kyle continued.
“I take it you two know each other already?” Kelsey asked curiously.
“Karis is Tulok’s granddaughter, of the Alaskan Pack. She used to follow me around like a little puppy dog whenever we’d visit, and I’d call her my pet. She was the cutest little thing,” Kyle said fondly, warming me just a little to the endearment.
Damon moved to stand by my side and I could see the dawning in Kyle’s eyes as all the pieces clicked together at last.
“Holy shit! You’re mated to Karis?” Kyle asked Damon. “No wonder you’re struggling with sudden Alpha powers. Dude, we need to get to work right away.” Kyle smacked Chase. “Why didn’t you tell me all that?”
Chase shrugged. “I didn’t think it was that important.”
“Dude, it’s one thing saying your friend is struggling and you believe he has Alpha powers suddenly surfacing and needs help adjusting. It’s an entirely different thing to say Damon just mated Tulok’s granddaughter and will someday be Alpha of the Alaskan wolves.”
“Wow, you’re gonna be Alpha?” Jenna asked.
Damon shrugged humbly. “Looks like it.”
Jason started squirming and let out a wail. I bounced him slightly to try to calm him as Kelsey reached for her son.
“He’s overdue to eat. It was only a matter of time,” she explained.
I passed the baby to his mother and reached for Damon’s arm to comfort him. I could tell he didn’t like being put on the spot about being the future Alpha. It warmed me that he was more accepting of the role, but I knew he was still overwhelmed by everything.
Chase recommended we sit, so we headed for the living room.
“Does anyone have an issue if I feed Jason here?” Kelsey asked after changing his tiny diaper. We all shook our heads as she settled into a chair and began nursing him. Nudity was no big deal amongst shifters and neither was breastfeeding, but I thought it was nice that she asked first. I mean she did just meet me ten minutes ago.
“So, Karis, what have you been up to?” Kyle asked.
I shrugged. “Not much, I guess. I’m a freshman at the ARC now. My grandparents are doing well. We’re heading home for fall break so they can meet Damon. Upa’s going to try and help him adjust too,” I said. “I really appreciate you taking the time to do this, Kyle.”
He shook his head. “I’m struggling to process how you’re all grown up with a mate. I think I’ll always see the little girl in pigtails skipping along behind me wherever I went.”
Damon gave me a quizzical look over the pigtail comment. I laughed. “Believe it or not, my hair is naturally straight, dreadfully so, and Oma always had me in pigtails or two braids as a girl.”
He stared at me for a moment and shook his head. “I can’t picture it.”
“I bet I have a pic I can dig up,” Kyle offered.
“No!” I said a little too loudly, startling the baby. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Totally necessary,” Damon told Kyle as I glared at him.
“Did you guys eat on the drive over?” Jenna asked.
“No, we drove straight here from the airport,” Kyle said.
“I’m hungry, Aunt Jenna,” Zander said.
“Well, why don’t you come into the kitchen and help me cook up some breakfast for everyone. We know Damon and Karis haven’t had any real food to eat yet this morning,” she said gleefully.
I shot her a look and felt my face heat at the memories of this morning. I really didn’t know what had come over me. I had never done that before, but Damon certainly seemed to enjoy it, so I must have done something right. It was very invigorating and made me feel powerful and in control. I loved it.
She smiled back as she and Zander disappeared into the kitchen.
“Damon, tell me what’s going on,” Kyle said.
I reached for his hand and squeezed.
“It’s little things really. My wolf has started becoming aggressive. Even before I met Karis, though we’re pretty certain it was her scent on other males causing it.”
“Why was your scent on other males?” Kyle asked.
I blushed again. “It wasn’t something I really thought about. It’s not like I was rubbing my scent all over other males. I hugged Chase once, and apparently that was enough to set him off.”
Kyle looked from Chase to Damon as they both nodded.
“It’s true. I almost lost control and attacked Chase and Chad, my roommate,” Damon confessed.
“Chad’s a hugger. It was the first time I’d met him,” I told Kyle.
“Anything else?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, some of the pledges and one of my brothers swear I commanded them with Alpha power,” Damon said, cautiously.
“How did that feel? Did you notice when it happened?” Kyle probed.
Damon hesitated. “Yeah, I guess I did. I got this sort of warm sensation. I don’t really know how to describe it though. And then it was gone.”
“Like you’re submerged in a hot bath, but on the inside?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good analogy,” Damon admitted.
“And did it release quickly or slowly?”
“Those times it was quick.”
“But there have been other times?” Kyle asked.
Damon shrugged. “I’ve had that hot bath feeling several times since. I don’t always let it go. Sometimes I can hold it in, and then it sort of disappears after a while. Other times it’s more of a slow release.”
“That’s good. Really good actually. It means you’ve got some control over your powers already,” Kyle said, sounding pleased.
“So that’s really it?” Damon asked. “That’s what Alpha power feels like?”
“Yeah, it definitely sounds like it to me. And knowing you’re mated to Karis really does change everything. You are going to be Alpha, not just an alpha. Lots of wolves have alpha signs, and then some even have alpha powers, but never to the extent of an actual Alpha. This is basically Mother Nature’s way of preparing you for that role. Do you understand?”
Damon nodded, and I squeezed his hand again for support. He absentmindedly rubbed circles on the sensitive skin between my thumb and index finger. It shot heat straight to my core.
I saw Kelsey sniff and then giggle, and I pulled my hand from Damon’s grasp and crossed my arms over my chest. He gave me a strange look but went right back to talking to Kyle. I knew he had a thousand questions and I was grateful that Kyle was willing to take the time to answer each one of them.
“Karis, would you mind helping me bring in the portable crib and setting it up so I can put the baby down? He fell asleep eating,” Kelsey said.
“Sure,” I told her, moving to rise.
“I’ll grab it, babe,” Kyle said.
“No, we’ve got this,” I told him. “I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to Damon, and I know he has a lot of questions. So stay, talk.”
I got up and followed Kelsey out to the car. We got the baby’s stuff and headed back in and upstairs to a room on the opposite side of the house from where Damon and I were staying. It took me a minute to figure out how the crib worked, but with a few instructions I had it and the baby was down and fast asleep.
Kelsey sat on the bed and I took the one chair in the room.
“I still can barely keep my hands off of Kyle, so girl, I know what you were going through down there,” she said, surprising me by her openness. “Much to his mother’s disgust, I went on birth control right after this one was born. At the rate we’re going, we’d have a dozen kids before I turn thirty. Right now, two is plenty,” she confessed.
“Was it really that noticeable?” I asked, blushing. I had never had anyone to talk about such things with, except maybe Jenna on occasion, but I didn’t like to bother her too much. She had her own life to deal with, and I didn’t want to be a pain.
“You were starting to show your arousal,” she admitted. “Let me guess. Damon was rubbing his thumb against the top of your hand.”
“Yes! Why does that slight little gesture hit me so hard, every single time?”
Kelsey laughed. “I don’t really know, but Kyle gets me with that all the time too. I just want to jump him the second he starts it. It took him a while to catch on to that, but now that he knows. . .” She rolled her eyes and groaned.
I laughed. “Thanks. It’s nice to know I’m not alone, that it’s normal, I guess.”
She looked at me for a moment. “You are pretty young. Have none of your friends mated yet?”
I shook my head. “I’m not very good with friends in general,” I sighed.
“Neither was I,” she confessed.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I was a lone wolf. I didn’t even know our kind existed. My parents were killed by wolves when I was twelve. They bit me. I changed for the first time that night. I always thought I was just a freak monster. Heck, I lived in San Marco for two years before I had any idea of what I really was. I know better than anyone what lonely feels like and how life changing finding your mate can be.”
Wow, she was twelve when she changed for the first time? I couldn’t even imagine. Most shifters didn’t shift until around age eighteen. Sixteen was considered early amongst our kind, but twelve? That was unheard of.
“I’m an heir. I constantly have to assess if new people in my life are there because they like me for me or are just trying to up their own pack status. Does that make sense?”
“Absolutely! You can’t risk your pack, so I’d imagine you’re always skeptical of new people coming into your life.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it. I’ve always known my place. Until I came here, I’d never even left Alaska. Everyone knew me and knew who I was, so I never let anyone close. I thought coming to Archibald Reynolds would give me a fresh start. No one would know who I was or try to take advantage of that. I thought my roommate and I would be fast friends. Everything was going to be perfect.”
“But that didn’t happen?”
I shrugged. “Not the way I thought it would. Sabrina and I quickly went our separate ways after the newness wore off. She’s pledging Theta and it’s all-consuming for her, and then I met Damon.”
“And he’s become all-consuming for you?”
“Exactly!”
“So, you have no one to discuss any of this stuff with?”
I shook my head.
“What about Jenna?”
“I like Jenna a lot, but I only met her a few weeks ago and it’s not like we’ve hung out or anything. She was there for my first big Damon meltdown. But she also lives here, so it’s not like I can just grab her for a heart-to-heart anytime I want.”
“You could just call her. She’d come right over. I know she would,” Kelsey said adamantly.
“I don’t have her number,” I confessed.
“Seriously? So who do you go to with questions or just to talk things out?”
“Damon.”
“Okay, but who do you go to when you need to talk about Damon or questions you have about your relationship?”
“Damon,” I admitted.
“You talk to him about things that he does that irritate you? Or sex questions? Or, I dunno, girl stuff?”
I nodded. “Yes. Still Damon.”
“Wow, you two must be really close already. I was still swimming in confusion at this stage of mating. You haven’t even sealed your bond yet, have you?”
“No, not yet. It’s not that I want to wait—it’s just that at first, I was floored. I’m only a freshman, away from home for the very first time. I feel like my life’s just beginning, and then, bam! Here’s Damon Rossi. He’s older, wiser, far more experienced, about to graduate and ready to start his adult life. At first it freaked me out. I was seeing someone else, I didn’t want to let that go, but I constantly felt guilty, like I was cheating on Damon or something. Then I stopped fighting it and everything just clicked into place.”
“That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about. Who do you go to talk to about that stuff?”
I shrugged. “Damon.”
“So, what if he pisses you off and you need to vent about him?”
“I just vent to him.”
“Girl, you need some girlfriends, and fast!”
I laughed. “I’ve managed this far in life without them.”
“Well no longer. Hand me your cell,” she said.
I reached in the pocket of my jeans and retrieved it, handing it to her. She quickly punched in something and handed it back.
“There. Now, you have my number. Call me anytime you need to talk. I mean anytime, about absolutely anything. With this little guy, I’m up all hours anyway. You are not alone, Karis. Besides, I’m a Pack Mother, and someday you will be too. We girls gotta stick together.”
Tears of gratitude welled up in my eyes. I felt like I had made a true friend that I really could pick up the phone and call. “Thank you, Kelsey.”
The door to the bedroom flew open and our index fingers flew to our mouths as we simultaneously said, “Shhh.” Then we giggled for both reacting that way.
“Food’s ready,” Jenna said.
“Girl, why have you not given Karis your phone number yet? She’s newly mated and desperately needs some girlfriends,” Kelsey blurted out and I gave Jenna an apologetic look.
“I thought you had it already. You can call and talk to me about anything, Karis. I’d love to have coffee sometime even,” Jenna said. “I thought you knew that.”
I shrugged.
She held out her hand. “Phone. Right now.” She punched in her information and handed it back to me. “I put Chase’s in there too. If you can’t reach me, call him. Or if there’s an emergency, he’s a good contact to have. Now come on. Z and I did not make all that food for it to go cold before we eat.”
I stood to follow her out and the two women captured me in a group hug.
“You’re going to make me cry,” I warned them.
“That’s what friends are for,” Kelsey said.