#2 When the Moon Turns Red

Noah

My little mate slept in my bed last night and it was the greatest feeling in the world. At least, I thought it was, until I woke up with her cuddling against my side and decided that that was the best feeling in the world.

I kissed her temple and wiggled out from under her. I tiptoed across the bedroom and quietly shut the bathroom door. I turned on the shower and stood under the warm water with my eyes closed. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear my little mate sneak into the shower behind me until her hands were snaking their way up my abdomen.

“I could get used to this.” I hummed as she kissed my cheek. She giggled against me and ducked under my arm so we were face to face. She pressed her lips against mine as her hands played a dangerous game below the belt.

“My little vixen.” I growled, burying my face in her neck and sucking on her marking spot. We made love in the shower before I helped my little mate clean herself off.

We were both getting dressed in my closet, but I was making it exceedingly difficult for my mate to put on her clothes.

“Noah!” She whined, slapping my hands away as she tugged on a pair of jeans. I slapped her butt as she ran away from me. She giggled, pulling a plain, pink shirt over her head and covering up her sweet chest.

“I can’t help myself, baby, you’re just so damn gorgeous.” I growled at her.

“Then close your eyes.” She glared but had a sneaky smile on her lips.

“Someone isn’t earning themselves a shopping trip.” I teased, following her out of the closest.

“Oh, I think I earned it last night, over and over again.” She looked at me smugly, knowing she could get whatever she wanted out of me whenever she wanted it.

“You ready to go?” I laughed at her as she shrugged on her favorite leather jacket.

“Mhm.” She hummed, looking up at me through her dark lashes. I just stared at her, in complete awe of her genuine beauty and perfection.

“You’re gonna catch flies, Alpha.” Evie purred. I snapped out of it and ran towards her, wrapping my arms around her waist and spinning her around our room. Her giggles filled my ears and I knew I was home.

“Let’s go, love.” I told her, grabbing her hand and escorting her to the parking garage where my truck was parked. I had a feeling I was going to need the big bed for this occasion.

I drove to the nearest shopping center which had a large craft store and a Walmart. Evie was practically bouncing with excitement in the passenger seat. She dragged me across the parking lot and into the craft store first.

“Get whatever you want.” I told her as she stared at the inside of the store with wide eyes.

“That’s a dangerous thing to say.” She said without looking over at me. I chuckled,

“Well, I mean it.” I grabbed the biggest cart I could find to prove my point.

Evie led the way through the store. She went to the furniture section first, picking out a cubical storage unit, a bookshelf, a large art table, and a comfy chair. Next, we went to the storage supplies. She grabbed some fancy bins to put in the cubicle unit and on the bookshelf along with some bins that were specifically for the art supplies she used. Evie also chose a table lamp that had a dimmable light and magnifying glass attached to it along with a corner lamp to add more light to the room.

We ended up in the art supply aisles. Evie had already instructed Mack to get her a bunch of things last weekend, but there were a few more supplies Evie wanted to get. She grabbed a bunch of canvases, drawing paper, more paint brushes and paint, different sized easels, graphite pencils of different colors, and some more tools whose names I didn’t know.

By the time we made it to the checkout counter, we had two carts full of items. Evie seemed embarrassed and shocked at the price and how easily I paid it. Money wasn’t how I wanted to express my love to my mate, but I had the means to give her anything she wanted and I was damn sure going to do just that.

“I don’t think I need anything else.” Evie said after we loaded the truck up with the craft store finds.

“What about curtains, a rug….there’s nothing in the office right now.” I reminded her. She nodded slowly but I could tell she was apprehensive about spending more money.

“Come on, let’s go to Walmart and find a couple more things to dress up the room,” I said, practically forcing her into the truck so we could drive through the parking lot to the Walmart,

“One way or the other I’m going to buy them, do you really want me picking out a rug?” I raised my eyebrow at her as she pouted in the passenger seat. She looked at me sideways with an innocent smirk on her face,

“Not really, no.” She admitted as we pulled into the parking space. I held her hand as we wandered through Walmart. She picked out a deep maroon rug and curtains to match,

“They match the decorations in the rest of the house.” Evie shrugged when I asked her about her choices.

“Red and black are the pack colors.” I said.

“It’s perfect then!” She smiled, proud of herself. I couldn’t help but kiss her deeply in the middle of the homegoods aisle.

“Come on,” Evie whined, playfully pushing me away,

“Let’s go home.” I watched Evie as she pushed the cart down the aisle, in awe of this perfect woman who was sent to me. I was frozen in place when Evie called the packhouse her home. It felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest and attach itself to Evie, I mean she owned it anyway.

“Noah!” Evie was yelling at me from the end of the aisle giving me a dumbfounded look because I wasn’t following her. I laughed and jogged down the hall to meet her.

“Sorry baby.”

“What were you doing?” She asked me.

“Thinking about you.” I shrugged. She rolled her eyes at me,

“You’re a fool.” She teased.

“A fool for you.” I bumped against her shoulder and was rewarded with a beautiful giggle from my mate.

“That was real cheesy, Noah.” She sighed. I took the cart from her and pushed it the rest of the way to the checkout.

“Few, this thing is one fire today.” I joked, blowing on my credit card. Evie looked at me with a horrified expression,

“I’m kidding!” I laughed at her.

“Not funny, Noah.” She groaned. I loaded the rolled up rug and curtains into the back of my truck and helped Evie with her door.

“All set, love?” I asked her before shutting the door.

“I do know how to operate a seatbelt, Alpha.” She said.

“Funny.” I gave her a quick kiss and hopped in the driver’s side.

“You’re going to put me to work right away, aren’t you?” I asked Evie as we drove home.

“Oh yes.” She nodded excitedly,

“You have a lot of furniture to put together.”

“Oh I have furniture to put together?” I smirked.

“I mean, I can do it, but it’ll involve a lot of swear words and probably some items going out the window.” Evie shrugged innocently. I grabbed her hand and held it in my lap,

“I’ll take care of it, baby.” I said. As we neared the packhouse I mindlinked Sawyer, Greyson, and Jack to come help us unload the truck. Evie was surprised when the three of them were waiting for us.

“How did they know we needed help?” She asked.

“I told them we were almost home.” I said, putting the truck in park. She looked at me like I was crazy,

“You did not.”

“Evie?” I eyed her curiously.

“You never took out your phone.” She said and realization dawned on me. Evie didn’t know about mindlinking.

“Shit, Evie, I’m sorry. I never told you about mindlinking.” I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. Evie sighed loudly,

“What?” She asked in an almost bored tone. I chuckled at her. She was getting used to the weird and crazy, and I loved her even more for that. I jumped out of the truck and walked around to her side, opening the door and helping her out. My brothers and Sawyer were already unloading the shopping bags.

“Wolves can communicate with each other mentally.” I told her with my arm wrapped around her waist.

“Of course you can.” She grumbled.

“Does that freak you out?” I asked.

“It clears up some things.” She said,

“When I found out about you at the bonfire and I was feeling your pain, Sawyer acted like he could talk to you.”

“Yeah, he mindlinked me then.” I said.

“Are you upset that you can’t do that with me?” She asked, her eyes pulling together in concern.

“Of course not, baby. That’s what cellphones are for.” I shrugged, kissing her forehead,

“But, there is a chance that once you are officially titled Luna, you will be able to mindlink, too.” I told her hesitantly. Evie made me promise not to keep anything from her, she wanted to know everything and be prepared for everything; so that’s what I was trying to do despite the fact that I was scared to death I was going to say something that would make her run away for good.

She nodded slowly,

“Okay.” Was all she said. I learned quickly that, that meant she was processing and it was best not to push her; she would say more when she was ready to know more.

“Let’s go to your art studio.” I smiled at her, bringing her attention back to the task at hand. She grinned and took my hand, leading the way to the elevator. By the time we made it upstairs, all of our purchases were already waiting in the hallway. Sawyer and my brothers were eager to help and Evie was ready to put them to work.