Page 20 of The Quiet Alpha and His Fox

But I kept my fears to myself, not wanting to bring any of this up to Waylan. He was stressed enough by having six random foxes to take care of. It added a lot of work to his day, having to cook for them, take them out for walks, and give them water. Fortunately, we were so far away from any neighbors that it didn't matter how much noise they made.

And those jerks could howl.

The way they sniveled and were so afraid whenever we went down there, I was amazed they'd had the nerve to even attempt a stunt like that.

But I guess they didn't expect Waylan to fight back. They didn't expect to find a mated alpha out here.

We took a day to deal with the foxes and then resumed our work as if nothing had happened. We just kept packing the pawflower while the foxes yipped below ground. The noise was getting on Waylan's nerves, but he ignored it and kept working, just with a bit of a scowl to his expression.

That evening, we roasted chicken in batches for the foxes. Waylan had run out to the store, and I was pulling the latest batch out of the oven when the phone rang. Without thinking, I answered it. "Hello?"

"Waylan?"

Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have picked up. "No, he's out. Can I take a message?"

The voice on the other end was surprisingly gentle. "Um, sure. Can you tell him that Mateo called, and we'll be there tomorrow afternoon?"

I paused, trying to place the name, and then it clicked. He was Esteban's partner. I was talking to a West Coast Coyote, and he didn't seem to know about me. I felt a pit in my stomach. "Sure, I'll let him know."

By the time Waylan got home, that pit had morphed into feeling like I was getting sick. He immediately knew that something was wrong and walked over to pull me into his arms. "What is it?"

"Mateo called. They'll be here tomorrow."

Waylan's smile changed to worry.

"See!" I pulled away and sat down. "You're worried about them meeting me. Are you embarrassed or something?"

"What? No, not at all." He sat down across from me and took a moment to gather his words. "It's just that you don't know what it's like to be part of a pack, and it's hard to explain. I never thought I'd find a mate, but I really didn't think I'd find a mate who wasn't a coyote. It never occurred to me. I’m sure Este will be fine with it, but…he might need to assert his dominance."

I drew back and scowled. "What does that mean?"

Waylan laughed and shook his head. "Probably nothing as bad as what you're thinking. I just mean that if you're…my mate, you're also going to be part of my pack. So Este will need to make sure you understand that he's the pack Alpha."

"I see.” I crossed my arms over my chest to put some space between us. “And why did you hesitate before you said mate?"

"Did I?" He furrowed his brow like he really didn’t realize he did it.

"Yes." I stood up and walked to the other side of the room, feeling a little dizzy now. "You know you did, Waylan. Just admit it. You're embarrassed of me. I'm just one of those sniveling little foxes out there, and you don't want your famous West Coast Coyotes to know about me."

I didn't want to admit that I’d felt a little jealous of Waylan's pack ever since he first told me about them, but knowing the Alpha and his mate were going to be here in the morning made my jealous feelings intensify.

Waylan stood and walked over to me. "I'm not embarrassed of you, Joe. I love you, you know that. I hesitated because I haven't actually marked you, and I didn't know if you would really want to stick around."

"Why wouldn't I stick around?" And what did mark mean.

"Because, now you've had a chance to get to know me, to see what I'm really like, so why would you stay? I'm not happy, Joe. I have never been happy, and I don't know that I ever will. The happiest I've ever felt is with you, but even that’s only because you know that I have The Quiet and fully accept it."

I nodded and some of my hurt feelings evaporated. And part of me still thought that maybe someday, if he loved me enough, he'd finally be happy. But on the other hand, that was Waylan. That was who he would always be. Closing the distance between us, I put my arms around his waist. "I love you, Waylan, exactly as you are. I don't want you to change."

I hadn't seen Waylan cry before, but when he looked down at me, he had tears welling in his eyes. "I love you too, Joe. And trust me when I say I’ll leave the West Coast Coyotes before losing you."

It was my turn to feel tears stinging my eyes as I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. Then I gave his butt a playful smack. "Help me put these chickens in the fridge and then I have something I need to ask you."

He raised his eyebrows but dutifully went over to the chickens. We took a few down to the foxes, then put the rest away.

I was washing my hands at the sink when Waylan came up behind me and put his arms around me. He caressed my stomach and kissed my neck. "What do you need to ask me, my Cinnamon?"

I smiled at the cute nickname then turned and caught his next kiss on my lips. For another moment, I bit and sucked his lower lip, one of our signs that we wanted more than just kissing.

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