Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Bronx’s POV

I lean over and give Kas a little kiss on the cheek to wake her up. I don’t want to startle her and wake

up Delilah, too.

Delilah has her long, spindly arms wrapped around Kas with her head on Kas’s shoulder. Kas is

holding Delilah in a loving, protective manner, looking happy and peaceful. I watch Kas smile and

slowly open her eyes, never taking her arm away from her protective hold on her best friend. Her eyes

get big with excitement when she sees me.

Before she can say anything, I put my finger to my lips.

I open up a mind link for a silent conversation, “Hi Baby, come on, let’s go lay down in our room.”

“I can't, Sweetheart. Delilah misses James. I told her I would stay here with her,” she gives me a little

pout. She leans her head on top of Delilah's for effect.

“Well, if you are staying in here with her, what am I going to tell this guy?” I use my thumb to point

behind me where James is standing in the doorway.

Kas’s beautiful violet eyes light up even more when she realizes I brought James with me to surprise

Delilah. She gently unwraps Delilah’s arms from around her and lets me help her get out of the bed.

James gives us a grateful nod as he closes the door behind us.

Kas puts her hand over her mouth and giggles when we hear little bells chime from behind the closed

door as Delilah realizes James is there with her.

“I know I wasn’t supposed to be here until this evening, but we couldn't wait to surprise you. James has

been losing his mind being away from Delilah while she’s pregnant. I brought Musu,

Carly, and Diane with us too,” I whisper to her as we walk down the hall, “you should have seen the

look on Marco's face.”

“They're all here?” Kas asks, closing the door to our room. She looks a little confused but glad for the

company.

“Yeah. You should have seen Marco’s face when Musu walked through the door. You would think it has

beena month since they saw each other.

Everyone gets a little vacation time with their mates this week. Even Tyree gets time to relax after you

get back from the designer tomorrow. I set all of them up with rooms at La Bristol and didn't even ask

Carly to help with the arrangements. I did it all myself so she could be surprised too. Lenora set up a

security team from the Paris office to take over for the rest of the week,” I sit on the bed and put my

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hand out for Kas to take. She slides her hand into mine and lets me pull her close to me, “That way you

and I have time together without everyone looking over our shoulders for once. The Paris guards have

orders to stay outside the building unless we need a driver to take us somewhere.”

“If you don't want people looking over our shoulders, you haven't seen the papers this morning,” Kas

says to me, turning her eyes away slightly.

“No. Why? What happened?” I pull out my phone to look at websites. How did she get in trouble in less

than three days?

I look through the tabloid website headlines: ‘Mason's New Look’ ‘Trouble for Mason Moguls?’ ‘Date

Night Darlings’. The PR team already told me about this stuff. I scroll through pictures of Kas and me in

the car the day I picked her up from work. I skim the articles criticizing my new eye, theorizing why we

were out together on a weeknight, if there is some sort of wedge growing between us, and even one

witha closeup of her new necklace trying to estimate its value. All the usual bullshit.

Then I see pictures of Kas holding Delilah’s hand, being led into a restaurant by Marco, with Tyree

holding photographers back. The article headlines read: ‘Girls Night in Paris’ ‘Kas Caught Red Handed’

‘Kas’s Parisian Getaway’ ‘Just Business Partners?’. The articles talk more about Kas and I growing

apart since she was abducted and how she and her business partner, Delilah, have become closer

than ever potentially ina budding relationship.

“You're kidding me with this crap, right?” I look up from my phone. I rarely let the tabloid articles get to

me, but this shit is ridiculous.

“Our impromptu outing at home must have triggered a lot of rumors. There were so many paparazzi

outside the restaurant yesterday. Delilah looked terrified, so I held her hand while we walked in. But

don’t worry, at the end of the night, Marco had us go out the back door instead.”

I turn off the phone and put it on the nightstand. I don't need to read any more bullshit headlines today,

I think to my self as I rub my hands over my face in frustration and sigh, “I know it isn’t your fault, Kas. It

looks like you did exactly what the PR team has taught you. And you were being a good Luna by

helping Delilah navigate that situation safely.” °

“Um, there’s more,” she says, trying not to sound guilty.

I look at her from between my fingers, “ More?”

“Dionysus was our sommelier at the restaurant. He gave me a bottle of wine and a piece of chocolate,”

she points to the dresser, to a bottle and a little golden wrapper.

“Dionysus? The God of Wine and Ecstasy was your sommelier for dinner?” I ask. Trying not to sound

like I don’t believe her, but seriously, it has to be a joke, right?

“He said I need to drink the wine and eat the chocolate. I think Zeus sent him. He definitely didn’t want

to have to be there serving me. That's for sure,” she says, thinking back to the previous night, “I think

somehow the combination will let me go back to Mount Olympus. I don’t know for sure,” she looks at

the wine and chocolate, then back at me, “I didn’t want to do anything without talking to you about it

first.”

“So you think all the craziness of the past couple of months is finally finished? Do you think this is him

calling you back to tell you that you can have a pup?” I run my fingers through her hair and look her in

the eyes, trying to read her expression, trying not to let my tone sound too eager.

Her expression turns gloomy, and she shrugs her shoulders, “I-I don’t know. I mean, how could there

possibly be more? So much has happened since the last time I spoke with him. I have no idea if Ihave

made the right decisions or not.”

“Come here, Kas,” I pull her against my chest and wrap my arms around her, “I know it’s important to

you and it’s important to me too, but don’t care what Zeus has to say. If Cora ends up being the only

pup for us to care for, then so be it. That is what the Moon Goddess has fated for us. Maybe you should

try to wait until after the charity event to drink that wine. Do it back home. I don't know if that makes it

safer or not, but” ' I feel her nod and lean heavier against me, so I lay back on the bed, pulling her over

me onto the other side of the bed, and wrap her into a tight bear hug. Ican fee] her tears making my

shirt wet as I hold her until her breathing slows, and she falls asleep.

“There are some things money can’t buy,” Saint sighs heavily, “What can we do to make her happy,

Bronx? I don’t like when she’s sad.”

“I think all we can do is to be there for her. I know we both want to do everything for her, but for this,

she is kind of on her own. Zeus didn’t invite us to Mount Olympus.”

“Being a wolf is so much easier than being human...or a god.”

I chuckle dryly at his statement, “ Maybe so, Saint.”

I let her sleep for another couple hours until she wakes up on her own, insisting she needs to make

breakfast for everyone. Usually I would try to talk her out of it, but I also know that being in the kitchen,

doing what she loves, will make her feel better. Feeding her pack members, including two who have

pups on the way, will help take the stress off of all the other things she is worried about.

Kas pulls Carly into the office and helps make reservations and buys tickets for events and museums

around the city for everyone for the next week, so they don't have to worry about anything.

When it’s time for her appointment with the designer, we send all the ladies in a large SUV with Tyree

and one of the French MasonCo guards while Marco, James, and I take all the luggage to the hotel and

get everyone checked in to their rooms.

“What's Tyree gonna do all week?” Marco asks.

“Well, he asked Kas not to make any reservations or buy any tickets for him anywhere. He just wants to

wander around the city. He said he may even go out to the countryside to let his wolf out for a run,” I

shrug, “Maybe he is finally ready to try to find his mate?”

“Maybe. You know, if you guys could stop finding mates in France and somewhere closer to home

instead, that would be nice,” Ican’t help but laugh, “

With my luck, his mate is going to be weretiger royalty or something. How the Hell would we get her

home without a fight from her family?”

We have a beer in the hotel restaurant as we walt for our mates and Carly and Diane to return.

I smell the intoxicating fresh rain and lilac scent coming from behind me, making my heart hit a hard

beat. I let her wrap her arms around my shoulders from behind me and growl a little as she nips my ear

playfully. Marco and James also turn their attention away to happily greet their mates.

“How was your appointment, Baby? Did you get to pick a dress?” I turn in my seat and pull her around

until she is sitting in my lap, letting her legs hang off the side. I drape my arm around her waist and

breathe in her scent, noticing that she seems so much more relaxed than she was earlier.

“Yup. We also stopped by a couple of other places and got Musu, Carly, and

Diane some things to wear, too. Even if they will not be photographed on the red carpet, it was my turn

to say ‘no price tags’ today,” she smiles as she nuzzles my cheek.

“Look at you Mrs. Mason. Big baller, huh?” I don't even realize my hand is on her ass until I notice a

few people whispering and giggling behind their hands at us. One of them snaps a picture with their cell

phone. I give an annoyed glare, then turn back to Kas, “ How about we get out of here before we draw

too much attention. We'll see everyone in a few days. Okay?”

Kas looks up and sees the people trying to take pictures of us and agrees quietly, “Yeah, let’s go back

to the apartment. I’m sick of this type of attention.”

We spend most of the next week intentionally not focusing on our regular day-to-day lives. We wander

around the sights of the city and find small cafes where we can be left alone. When we are not

discovering hidden corners of the city, we hole up in the apartment. More precisely, in our bedroom.