The council group chat is also full of congratulatory messages from the other guys.
The doorbell chimes and I watch my mate’s neck stretch and her little nostrils flare as she tries to assess who it is.
Oh. I know who it is.
Bailey squeals and runs for the door.
I follow and see her throw the door open and dash out to the porch.
“Yo!” she shouts. “Get that sexy ass back here!”
I step out and see a bakery box and two extra-large take-out coffees from the coffee shop in town.
Cicely obviously planned to play a game of ding dong ditch, leaving treats behind, and she’s now running toward the porch with Bailey running toward her. Bailey nearly wipes out leaving the bottom step, which makes me hiss, but Cicely catches her and now both girls are laughing with their arms wrapped around one another, jumping up and down on the driveway.
Jared Stone grins from the driver’s seat of Cicely’s car.
He lifts his fingers from the steering wheel in a wave.
I jerk my chin up, a twin grin on my own face.
These two are giggling and shaking one another with their arms around one another and it’s as if they’ve forgotten the two of us are even here.
Cicely is saying she didn’t want to disturb us, just wanted to bring coffee and Bailey’s favorite muffins after catching my scent on the breeze. They promise to catch up properly in a few days and then Cicely is heading back to her car, waving at me.
She calls out, “Congrats, Creed. You got yourself the best girl around.”
“Thanks, Sis. Congrats to you guys, too. Real glad things are good with you two.”
“Things aren’t just good. They’re great,” Cicely beams.
“I’m so happy for you!” Bailey sings out.
“I’m so happy for you!” Cicely sings back.
They both giggle happily while waving to one another and I find myself grinning at Jared who’s grinning back. My face is stretched not just because of how cute my mate is acting, but also because I’ve never seen Cicely act cute like this before. I’ve also never seen Jared Stone do more than crack half a smile and here he is grinning from ear to ear.
Crazy what finding your soulmate will do for you.
“Wait!” Bailey shouts and runs back toward the car.
And I feel my spine snap straight as she’s further away from me, out on the street wearing nothing but my shirt, but she gets to the passenger side and excitedly declares, “Guess what? I have a wolf!”
Cicely’s jaw drops.
“She showed up last night!” Bailey tells her.
“Holy shit!” Cicely jumps out of the car and now the two of them are hugging and bouncing again.
And my hackles go up because the bouncing means my mate is dangerously close to showing her assets in my shirt.
“She’s just a tiny puppy, showed up right after Jase claimed me, and I don’t have any control over her yet but I’m gonna try to shift again today.”
“That’s so fucking awesome!” Cicely exclaims and fuck me… Cicely Oakes, or now Cicely Stone I suppose… is crying.
I’ve seen this girl cry only once before today, the day Tyson showed up for the first time after being taken, the day we found out he wasn’t dead.
They stop bouncing and hug one another for a long minute.