Tit for Tat

I rolled over for the hundredth time that night, still unable to sleep. I was anxious over the way dinner had ended. I had nobody that I could ask to play the part of my boyfriend. I had put myself along with Gerry in a situation that I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get us out of. I groaned before tossing my blankets off myself to get up. I spun around as my door was pushed open before flying across the room to throw myself in Gerry’s arms.
“I’m so sorry, Gerry! I don’t know why I said that. I was frightened,” I whispered anxiously. “What are we going to do?”
He chuckled softly as he picked me up. “Don’t worry about it, baby. We will both have dates here at breakfast.”
My eyes widened as I met his eyes. “Both of us?”
“Yes, baby. I reached out to your friend. What’s her name? Belinda?”
“Giselda,” I corrected him, frowning deeply at him. “Do you like Giselda?”
He made a face before pretending to gag. “No! She’s not you,” he told me as he deposited me on the bed.
I raised myself up on my elbows to watch as he shed his boxers before starting to unbutton my nightgown. “Alright. Who is coming to pretend to be my date?”
“Oh, just a lowly wolf alpha who owes me a favor,” he said as he pulled me to the edge of the bed. “You told them previously that you were seeing a wolf.” He scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Not sure why you told them that. Those assholes stink, and I don’t want that scent on you!”
I smiled up at him as I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull down for a kiss. “That may be so, but after it’s done, I will let you take your time to replace his scent with yours.”
He groaned. “Promise?”
“Mhmmm…”
“Good!” He slid inside of me, making my back arch and drawing soft moans from both of us. “Just be careful, Annie. Don’t get too close to him. I won’t be able to take it.”
I wrapped my legs around his waist, lifting my hips to meet his thrusts. “Just remember that if you get too close to Giselda.”
He leaned down to kiss me passionately while Kraven glinted at me from Gerry’s eyes. “I will. I promise. Now, moan my name!” He ordered.
I ran my fingers down the back of his neck as I stared into his eyes before softly moaning, “Gerry!”
*****
The next morning, I was in the process of brushing my teeth when my name along with Gerry’s was yelled from downstairs. I quickly rinsed my mouth before hurrying out of my room, bumping into Gerry in the hallway. He pulled me against his chest, pecking my lips once before letting me go.
“His name is Alex. Go on. I’ll follow behind you,” he whispered before gently pushing me toward the stairs.
I glanced over my shoulder at him once before racing down the stairs. A handsome young male stood beside Giselda in the foyer, breaking into a huge smile when he saw me.
“Annie! Good morning,” he greeted me excitedly as he walked up to the stairs with his arms open.
I reluctantly stepped into his arms, hesitantly hugging him before a growl in my head had me pulling back.
“Good morning, Alex. I’m so glad that you could join us on such short notice. My family is so excited to meet you. I’ve told them a lot about you,” I told him.
He winked at me as he draped his arm over my shoulders, guiding me away from the stairs. “I hope you didn’t tell them too much,” he teased. “I do have a reputation as a big, bad Alpha to uphold.”
The sound of a kiss came from behind me, making me glance over my shoulder to see Gerry pulling back from a shocked Giselda.
“I hope it wasn’t too long of a drive, baby,” he told her as he took her hand.
I narrowed my eyes on their joined hands as jealousy flowed through me. When my link with Gerry opened, I slammed it closed, too angry to talk to him at the moment. I led Alex into the dining room, where the table had already been loaded with waffles, bacon, eggs, toast, and sausage links. I pushed Alex down into a chair.
“I’ll make your plate, handsome,” I told him as I reached for a plate.
I piled it high with bacon, sausage, and eggs before topping it off with a fluffy waffle. I slid it in front of him before making my own plate and plopping down on Alex’s lap, earning an angry look from Gerry. He forced our link open.
‘What in the hell are you doing?’ He growled.
I met his eyes as I defiantly took a bite of eggs. ‘Making it look good. Just like you did with that kiss in the hallway.’
He narrowed his eyes on me. ‘Get off his lap, Annie. Or I’m going to hurt him.’
‘Don’t kiss or touch Giselda and I’ll move.’
‘Fine! Now get the fuck up.’
I smiled at him before moving to the chair next to Alex, leaning my head on his shoulder as I ate. My fathers, along with Osprey, walked in a few minutes later and immediately began to question Alex, ignoring Giselda’s presence entirely. I ate slowly, pretending to listen to the conversation while I really was watching Giselda and Gerry interact. As I watched the easy way they acted with each other, not only did I begin to wonder if there was more to why he chose her than her just being my friend, but my jealousy grew rapidly. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I got up from the table, excusing myself before rushing out of the room with tears in my eyes.
I raced out of the door, stripping off my clothes before jumping off the porch as Marsha shifted. We dashed into the woods, almost sliding with how fast our paws carried us over the ground. We ran for hours before our emotions started to even out. When I finally started heading back to the house, a wolf fell into step beside us, making Marsha shrink away from him. He nosed our shoulder comfortingly before nodding his head toward my house.
Marsha eyed him for a moment before walking beside him back to the edge of the forest, where she paused, eyeing my neatly folded clothes. She picked it up in her mouth before walking behind a tree so I could shift and get dressed. When I walked out of the forest, Gerry immediately rushed off the porch to take me in his arms.
“Goddess, Annie! Where have you been?”
“Running,” I sniffled.
“Don’t do that,” he said. “I was so worried.”
I tore myself away from him. “I’m sure you were. I’m surprised you even noticed my departure with Giselda by your side,” I spat.
He sighed. “I sent her home, Annie.”
“Liar!”
“I did,” he told me softly as he took me in his arms again. “I’m so sorry I upset you, Bannannie. Please forgive me.”
I tilted my head back to look up into his eyes before linking, ‘Are you involved with her?’
‘No, Annie. I’m only with you,’ he linked back as his eyes softened while he tucked my hair behind my ear. ‘I only want you.’
‘It looked like you loved her,’ I silently accused him.
‘It was meant to, baby, remember? We have to seem like we’re dating other people.’
‘I didn’t like it,’ I told him.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t like seeing you with Alex either.’
‘Are we done pretending now? I want to go home. To our home,’ I asked, sniffling.
‘Yes. If you want to. We just have to make an excuse, and then we can go,’ he answered.
I pulled away from him to go back to Alex, who eyed me curiously. After wrapping my arms around his neck, I swayed back and forth.
“Thank you for coming on my run with me,” I cooed. “But I think I need some more time with you to fully calm down. Want to go back to my place, watch movies, and cuddle?”
“Of course, my love. Anything you want to do,” he responded.
I took his hand before dragging him inside. “We have to say goodbye, and then we can go.” I followed my father’s scent to the living room, where the rest of my family was gathered. I cleared my throat as I entered.
“I’m sorry about running out on breakfast,” I told them.
“Are you alright?” My father asked.
“Yes. I just got the jitters. Alex is the first boy I brought home, and I panicked. I’m sorry. I was just overwhelmed, but I feel better now,” I said. “Alex and I are going to go home. I’m tired and just want to spend time with him alone.”
My father frowned at me. “No babies!” He growled. “You’re too young.”
“I promised,” I mumbled as my face turned red.
Alex wrapped an arm around my waist before leading me out of the house to where Gerry was already in the car waiting for us. I climbed in the backseat next to Alex, cuddling into his side until we were a mile down the road. I climbed into the front seat, where Gerry immediately took my hand, squeezing it before raising it to his mouth.
“I love you, Annie.”
“I love you, too, Gerry.”