After I release and slip out of her, I slap her sweet ass, drop into a squat, lift her panties up, and straighten up while getting them into place. I kiss her mate mark again and turn her around to face me.
“I want none of those Starlings anywhere near you. Me and the council will get us through this. With the help of Erica, but onlybecause they can’t touch her. Then you can pick furniture, plan the itinerary for our trip, and lean into our new life together.”
“Do you know how chauvinistic you sound right now?” she asks.
“Bailey, I love you. I want you safe.”
“I don’t want to pick a fight unless it’s absolutely necessary so I’m going to drop it for now.”
“Good. We don’t need to fightever, especially not right now when this shit is going down.”
“But if I’m able to help and there’s no good reason why I shouldn’t, you better believe I’ll dig my heels in.”
I say nothing to save us from fighting about this, but she’s absolutely wrong. Where there’s danger threatening my mate, I’ll always get between her and that danger.
59
BAILEY
“You guys come on over to Tyson and Ivy’s place,” Erica says on the phone. She’s got me on speaker. “Me and my sisters just got here.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask.
She adds, “The rest of the council are either here or on the way with their mates. The guys are grilling food and we’ll go from there.”
“We’re having a party?” I ask.
Jase is frowning.
“Not exactly,” Erica says. “We’re getting ready to deal with this. We’re gonna hang out over here and pretend everything is normal. But we’re really on high alert. Joel has several alphas and betas stationed in the town hall. He’ll bring his laptop so he can tap into all the surveillance equipment from there. Since we suspect they’re coming to the cave behind the falls to cast a spell for Alta’s husband, being here makes sense. Nice and close.”
“Have you guys called Anya?” I ask.
I hear Erica saying hello to Riley who must have just arrived so Dani chimes in. “Nope! Alta shouldn’t be able to use her magic, but Anya might be in on this. We’re watching to see what happens. So is the SCC.”
“Okay, we’ll head over. What can we bring?” I ask.
Jase shoots me a look of annoyance.
I hear a voice. “Just yourselves. We have loads of food.”
That’s Ivy.
“We have two carrot cakes in the freezer from Jase’s dad. I’ll bring one.”
“Ooh, carrot cake,” Ivy says. “I love carrot cake.”
“I’ll grab it. We’ll be there in a few,” I say and end the call.
“Any excuse for a party around here,” Jase mutters.
“No, any excuse for treats,” I correct. “Three of the girls that’ll be there are pregnant. And even the ones who aren’t pregnant like treats, Jason.”
He looks me up and down as a slow smile spreads across his face. It makes me shiver in a very delicious way.
Yeah. I know what he’s thinking. Eventually I’ll be pregnant, too.
“I’ll have to show you those booties from the lady on the plane. They’re adorable.”