Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 112

Carter

I woke to the loud knock at the door. I groaned, too comfortable with my mate’s naked body against mine. My arms wrapped tighter around her. Another knock. Briar stirred. I growled in annoyance. But her eyes opened wide in fear. I ran a hand up and down her arm in an attempt to sooth her. 

“If they are knocking they probably aren’t here for trouble.” I pointed out shucking on some sweats and heading downstairs. However when I got to the door I reached for ole betty before I peeked out the peephole and rolled my eyes. Mazzie and Lana were on the doorstep. I opened the door and greeted them with a scowl.

“Its Sunday, what's going on? Why are you here at the crack of dawn?”

“Its the anniversary. I figured we should remember together.”

My heart dropped, I had been so tangled up in Briar I had forgotten. Lana brushed past me but Mazzie caught my eye. It wasn’t that I had forgotten but this woman he had deposited in my lap had taken my main attention. Jake wouldn’t fault me on that I realized. A presence had me lifting my eyes to the staircase. Briar stood in nothing but one of my long sleeve tees. When her eyes saw Lana and Mazzie her hand relaxed and the knife she usually carried in her boot came into view as her body relaxed and it shifted from its hidden place against her forearm. Lana and Mazzie noticed but ignored it. Pointing out that Brair still struggled with fear would be stupid. We all knew it was a fear that deserved its merit as much as I hated it. Briar sagged into the wall for a moment.

“I’m gonna go get dressed,” she announced turning back upstairs. As I watched her disappear, both women behind me gasped. I turned back to them startled.

“What?”

“Your back Car, when did she shift? You look like you let her sink her claws into you. I flexed my back and felt the tightness of dried blood. I panicked and snatched my shirt from yesterday off the couch pulling it on.

“Your neck!” Mazzie exclaimed.

I ran my hand over my neck, it had already healed but the few bits of dried blood had come off on my fingers. I stared at it dumbly. What did this mean? Did it even mean anything?

“She dosen’t know yet?” Mazzie said appalled and sniffed me. Your scents are starting to mingle you can’t keep this a secret much longer, not to mention she's gonna turn soon.” she hissed quietly as Lana flopped down on the couch.

I held my hands up in surrender. “I know, after yesterday I don’t have much time. But I will soon.” I promised. “Today though, is Jake’s day.” 

“By the smell of this couch, I’d say you need to make that talk a priority” Lana pointed out. Uncaring she was surrounded by our scents of arousal that still wafted there.

They both nodded in agreement as I moved to the kitchen and started pulling out food to make breakfast in an attempt to put aside this conversation for now. My mind was swirling with the thought of how to tell her when her arms wrapped around me and I suddenly relaxed into the feel of her. The steadying feeling of your mate had no comparison. She hummed into the feel of me relaxing against her and I pecked her lips, the peace washed over me as she smiled and moved to make coffee. Mazzie was quiet and observing, she just gave me a knowing look.

Briar delivered coffee before moving with me in a rhythm in the kitchen. She flipped the potatoes when I was busy with the bacon and as the first rays of the sun shone we moved onto the deck. Rosie and Tucker followed Briar. Mazzie and Lana took the two open seats and I pulled Briar into my lap in another seat. We watched in reserved silence as the sun rose over the horizon and got comfortable.

Mazzie started. “Jake never made me feel like I was less than good enough just for being a woman on the job. He said to prove the males wrong.”

I smiled into Briar’s neck before taking a bite of my food. Lana went next. “I almost gave up on everything, Jake told me to look at what I had, not what I had been through, that's the only reason I kept breathing.” Mazzie gave her a knowing look. I hadn’t known that Lana and Jake had talked like that, or that his words had placed her exactly where she needed to be at the lowest point in her life. I sighed as I felt that weight.

“He helped raise me, brought me here, to all of you. I’m so thankful for that. He always looked out for me even when I was little. But he had this entire life of people he touched every day and I never knew about any of it, or my grandparents. I just want to know why.” Briar said as she took a long sip of her coffee while her eyes watched the colors of the sky change over the valley as the sun rose up over the horizon.

I thought about my words for a long moment.

“Jake was my mentor, he taught me things my father couldn't. When he died I lost my compass for a while, and then he brought you to me.” Briar looked at me and her mouth parted. “He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was a good man.” I said letting Briar know I understood her grievances with her uncle right now because we were both suffering that confusion despite his undeniable goodness. Why take her away? Why bring her back? Why never tell her… that was my job now, and every moment I dreaded the outcome of what I needed to do. Because he didn’t do it himself. She looked at me for a long moment before returning her gaze to the colors of the rising sun. She rested her back against my chest and we all watched the sky change colors; thinking about the man who had at one time or another touched each and every one of our lives and undoubtedly others.

The girls left but insisted we went on a moonlit ride with the crew in Jake’s honor. Apparently each member had felt Jake’s loss in their own way. When Cloe had found herself a single mother Jake had checked in on her often, ensuring she always had what she needed even if that was a break for a few hours. Jake had been a perfect Beta to this pack and I wondered if I could ever even remotely compare to him.

Several hours later Briar and I pulled out of my driveway and onto the main road. The route was picked so we would add each rider as we drove by. Mazzie and Lana, Amber then Cleo the wind blew by as others poured into the ride behind us between each pick up point. The call had gone out to the pack and every life Jake had touched filed into the ride, including cars of families. We wound around the mountain road. We were reaching the overlook where Jake’s ashes had been let loose over the valley. I glanced at Briar who seemed to be struggling with something. She felt it, I realized. Everyone else knew what was coming except for her. I pushed love and confidence down the thin treads of our bond. Her features scrunched but then she stood up on her bike throwing her head back blonde hair loose to the wind, as we rounded that bend Briar let out a heartfelt haunting wail into the night. I yipped and joined her and as each bike and car wound the bend they joined us. Tears streaked her face as she let out another belt of the deep emotional howl no longer caged within her. Her grief finally set free. Her note only ended when the last bike wound that bend and the howls trailed off echoing over the valley. She revved her engine and we all followed suit. She was one of us, I know everyone here felt it and the knowledge granted me a peace I didn’t know I needed. She settled back onto her seat and wiped her face with the sleeves of Jake’s jacket.