Dianthe Rising (17 page)

The stickiness between my thighs reminded me that once again we forgot the condoms. “Right, first thing in the morning I’m going on the pill,” I grumbled.

“What?” Kale’s voice lowered.

“The pill, you know as in birth control?”

“I know what it is, why would you want it?”

I glared at him accusingly and pointed at his massive chest. “Because you three can’t seem to use a condom and I don’t want a baby.”

A low growl filled the grove we were in and I glanced at Kale. Anger radiated from every pore even I could feel it.

“Kale, why are you angry?”

“You don’t want my pup?” he said quietly.

“What? I don’t want anything right now. I’m not ready for a baby or a puppy.”

“Now or ever?” he grated out.

“Now, what is wrong with you guys? I didn’t say I never wanted a baby. Just not right now. A normal person doesn’t hop into bed with someone she just met, much less start with the, I love you, let's be mates, and have a litter right now.”

Perking up, Kale grasped onto the last sentence, “You love me?”

“What? No. Yes. I don’t know. I do not know you well enough to make that decision. There is something there, I get we belong together. However, that is not love. Not real enduring love,” I paused to see if he had taken in what I said. The goofy expression clearly showed he did not.

“Gahh, I give up.” Throwing my hands in the air, I started to stalk away. Then the reality hit. I’m naked in the woods and I have no idea where I am. I turned back to Kale and demanded answers.

“Do you have any idea where we are?”

“Yup,” he smiled

“Want to share?” I snapped.

Kale leaned back against a tree totally at ease and casually replied, “Bean.”

“Bean what?”

“Bean, it’s where we are.”

“Where the hell is Bean?”

“It's southeast of London. We are on pack lands. The house is just through those trees." He nodded his head in the direction I had begun to walk.

Mouth dropping open, I stared at him. “Your house is just over there?”

“Yep,” he lazed.

“Is there any one there? Can we get in without being seen?”

“Yes and very unlikely. There will be hell to pay if we’ve not been investigated by now,” he mused.

Mortification raced across my face, “What do you mean?”

“Well, we have been here for over an hour. If my guards haven’t already sent out a patrol and checked out who was in the woods then they are not the Betas I thought they were.”

Horrified more than I thought possible, I glared at him some more just for good measure. “I’m going to kill you I think. Right after I die of embarrassment first.”

“Can you do it in the house? We can have a shower first and put on some clothes,” he replied cheerfully.

“Clothes would be really good right about now,” I grumbled. “How are we going to get to the house naked?” I questioned.

He shrugged. “We will just have to walk.”

“No. I am not walking up to your house where people are. They will see me.”

“Indeed, baby. And what a sight it is too.”

“No,” I repeat. “No way, no how. No, no, no.”

With a sideways look, Kale shook his shaggy head. “Sorry, baby, we need to get back to the house.” With that, he strode over scooped me up and held me against his chest as he walked out of the trees and onto a massive lawn.

Chapter Fifteen

I may be the first person on earth actually to die of embarrassment. My face flamed red as Kale carried me across the manicured lawn toward a huge country house.

Cheerful voices called out to him as we passed. Where was the giant sinkhole when you needed it?

“Hello, Alpha.”

“Beautiful day, Alpha.”

“Morning, Alpha.”

Did no one see the naked man carrying the naked woman? I hid my face in his expansive chest and hoped my hair covered the important bits. The sound of a door opening tempted me to peek through my hair as Kale slowed to a stop.

“Morning, Mum, I thought you were going to see Aunt Melissa this morning.”

Terrified horror raced through me.
I’m dreaming, I had to be. This is all just a horrible nightmare and I will be waking up any moment now.
Things like this did not happen in real life.

“Hello, darling, isn’t it a bit early in the day to be strolling around the grounds in the nude?”

I peeked from beneath my hair to see a golden eyebrow arched and a smirk curving a sensual mouth. Oh sweet baby Jesus, there was a sex goddess standing in front of us. It’s freaking Aphrodite come to earth. I felt more inadequate with the beautiful woman standing in front of us. She was tall and statuesque. Golden hair fell in gentle waves to her waist. Green eyes twinkled in amusement as she took in the scene before her. Please, please,
oh pretty please
, let this be a hallucination.
That is it. I fell and hit my head this morning in the shower and everything that has happened since, is not real
.

I reached a hand down from Kale’s neck and pinched my thigh, hard.

“Ouch, crap that hurt,” I muttered, wiggling slightly in Kale’s arms. He shuffled me to keep his balance, before he glanced down at me with a frown.

“What are you doing, Dia?” he asked.

“Ummm…trying to wake up?”

A husky chortle sounded from the goddess corner. “I’m afraid you’re not dreaming, my dear,” she crooned. “Although, I am curious as to why my son is carrying you about the estate sans clothes.”

I glared at Kale as I hissed, “Your mum? This is your mother? She’s only a few years older than you.”

A smirk curved his lips, “We’re wolves, baby. We age slower.”

Mortification flowed over me and my face burned with heat. “You are so dead you canine wannabe. I swear I am going to go to prison for murder.” If it were not for the fact I was desperately trying to keep my voice lowered I would have been screaming at him from the top of my lungs.

“Please don’t kill him yet, my dear. Keep him kicking until I get a least a couple of grandchildren out of you two.”

I gave up. At that moment, I just gave up. The stunning woman who happened to be Kale’s mother was hitting me up for grandkids.

“Yeah, Mum, lets ixnay on the andkidsgray right now. Dia isn’t quite ready.”

My brows lowered at the ridiculousness of Kale’s Pig Latin and I scowled up at him. “You do realize that my field of work is ancient history and culture right. I understand Pig Latin, you idiot.”

My eyes met Kale’s mother and I apologized, "I’m sorry, Mrs. Jameson, for being so rude,” I started.

“Helen, please call me, Helen,” she smiled kindly at me.

“Okay, Helen, I’m sorry to be so rude and well, naked the first time we met. None of it was in my plans for today.”

“Oh, it’s quite all right. Sometimes our males tend to sweep us off our feet and we lose the plot for a little while. Can I ask why you don’t want children?” She switched topics on me. A blush flushed over me once more.

“It’s not that I don’t want children, just not right now. I only met Kale last week. My parents would not understand and I’m not ready to be a mom.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Of course, I forgot that you’re human."

Eyes peered at me closely. She studied me before taking a delicate sniff.

“You are human? Kale said you were but you scent,” she trailed off when Kale cleared his throat.

“Ahem. About that, Mum, we thought she was. Now we are not sure. We’re looking into that but can we talk about it later?”

“Oh yes, dear, you two must be chilled to the bone. Kale, take your mate upstairs and have a shower. We can all sit down for a cup of tea later.”

“Sounds good, Mum, can Dia borrow something from you? We sort of ended up here underdressed.”

“Indeed,” Helen said dryly. “I will have something sitting out for her when you two are finished with your shower.”

Kale took us upstairs to a huge bedroom that was the size of my whole flat. My eyes took in the room once I was on my feet. The realization of how rich Kale must be began to sink in. I just stared at the opulence blankly. The concept was hard to grasp, how someone needed this kind of decadence.

Sure, my parents were well off, but they never flaunted it. Dad would not even help with my rent. He said the Mclearey family were self-made and if we wanted something to work for it.

“You can redecorate any way you want, Dia, if it’s not to your palate.”

“No, it’s not that,” I murmured. Then I followed it with, “What? Why would I want to redecorate your room?”

“Our room, Dia. This will be our room once you’ve moved in.”

“What? Why would I move in?” Now he was just confusing me.

“Because you’re my mate and generally speaking, when people are married or mated they live together.”

“Yes, but,” I paused, my mind going a mile a minute. “No, I am not moving in or living with you. Nope, nadda, not going to happen. What is it with you people? We barely know each other. It’s not okay to jump into bed with someone you don’t know. It sure as hell is not right to move in with someone you don’t know.

"According to you, if being mates is all it takes. Shouldn’t Robin and Daniel be living here as well?”

You could probably hear Kale's snarl across the hall so there was little surprise when he grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. “Don’t push it, Dia. I’m accepting more than I thought I would.”

I snarled back at him. “Yeah, well so am I, you furry freak.”

Eyes blinking rapidly Kale took a step back. “Furry freak?” he asked.

“Yeah... you’re like the dynamic duo. Faery freak and Furry freak.”

Kale flung his head back and roared with laughter. Hands braced on his knees he leaned over while his shoulders shook with mirth.

“Oh, baby, you are never going to be boring that’s for sure.”

“Right,” I yelled, “That’s it, this conversation is over. Me, have shower. You, go bye-bye.” I glared at him. “When I’m done, I am going to go back and see what’s left of my office and then tomorrow…tomorrow I may think about speaking to you again.”

I stomped toward the only other door in the room that wasn’t the exit and ended up in the bathroom. The door slammed behind me and Kale’s chuckle seeped through as he rummaged around the room. The bedroom door opened and shut with a soft click before I leaned against my door with a sigh of relief. My hair fell across my face as I shook my head in weary disbelief. My orderly life had turned into a cheesy sci-fi movie.

After the fantastic shower in the family sized walk-in tray. Which I complained, needed a manual on how to use. Talk about nozzles and knobs you didn’t need but really wanted. I wrapped myself in the giant bath sheet hanging on the towel rail. Hesitantly, I looked around the edge of the door to make sure there were no lurking wolves. Once I ascertained the coast was clear, I made my way toward the bed where several sets of clothes were laid out for me. A single sheet of paper sat on top. I began to read the short note.

Dianthe,

These should fit you, my dear. There are several females in the pack about your size. They were more than happy to donate these to you. There are also new undergarments for your use. I hope they are sufficient.

Yours Faithfully,

Helen

I tightened the towel around me and dug through the clothing looking for something that would fit. There were several sets of underwear all with the tags still on. I grabbed up a bra in my size and a pair of matching pants.
Huh, who knew Kale had the ability to guess a gal’s bra size so well.
I was not sure if that was a good thing not.

I held the bra up to myself and took in the color and design. Plunge, I rolled my eyes. I did love the deep aubergine color. The matching boy shorts slid up easily and once the bra was on, I took stock of myself in the mirror.
Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

I unwound the towel from my head and used it to dry as much water from it as possible. I’d just grabbed a brush from the bathroom and started working through the heavy length of my hair when the door crashed open.

“Dia, I just got a call from Davies…” Kale trailed off and his eyes widened at my near nakedness. “Holy hell, I didn’t think you could get sexier,” he breathed.

An eyebrow raised and my lip curled. “Really? You have seen the whole package. Roll that tongue back in, boy.”

“Yeah, but damn I feel like a little boy at Christmas and I have an incredible urge to unwrap my present.”

“Don’t make me take a page from Robin’s book and get a rolled up newspaper, Kale.”

His eyes narrowed at the reminder but I carried on. I didn’t feel like an argument and this nastiness was not me. I just couldn’t control the urge to be bitchy today.

“What did you want before you got side-tracked?”

His eyes broke away from me and he ran a hand down his face. “Damn, Dia, throw something on before I lose all hope of concentration.”

“That was the plan, Kale, before you stormed in.” Marching over to the bed, I grabbed up the first pair of jeans and jumper that would fit. The top was soft pink cashmere and clung to my curves. The jeans were loose in the waist, but fit snugly around my bum and hips. I could work with this. “Any shoes?" I asked Kale.

“Sorry,” he shrugged sheepishly. “I couldn’t guess the size of your feet accurately.” Winking at me, he smiled wickedly. “Now if you asked me about your delectable toes or the arch of your foot I’m happy to give in-depth details.”

God, was I going to be blushing permanently now? “For future reference,” I huffed “I’m a six.”

“Baby, you’re a ten all the way,” he purred.

I blushed and covered my eyes with my hand. “Oh my God, stop it, Kale. Your pick up lines are so lame. Did they work in the past?”

“I’m an Alpha, Dia. I never needed lines in the past. Only with you, baby.”