Page 53 of Two Years Gone

I was a little hurt that he had run away after seeing me half naked but shrugged it off and made my way downstairs for breakfast.

This evening was the monthly pack barbecue. The pack held weekly meetings, but once a month, we would all gather for a party afterward.

It was one of the few pack events I got to attend instead of work. But it also meant my day leading up to the party was extremely busy.

“Good morning!” I sang as I entered the kitchen.

“Mornin’, hun.” My mom smiled, handing me my apron.

“The barbecue is tonight, so we have a busy day. No running off to make out with your boyfriend, got it?” she teased.

I rolled my eyes.

“He’s not my boyfriend, he just…”

I shrugged. I didn’t know what we were.

We weren’t mates. We weren’t a thing. Were we dating? Were we friends? It was all too complicated to focus on right now. I had a lot of work to do today.

“Okay. Go over the list with me.” I crossed my arms and listened to my mom go over everything for that evening.

“We have six hundred burgers. Do you think that’s enough?”

“It should be plenty. And we have a bunch of chicken in the deep freeze if we run low on patties.”

“Oh, good idea.” My mother scribbled down on her paper. She began to list off the different sides and salads we needed to make as well as the desserts.

“I think we’re set, Mom.” I nodded my head and began on breakfast. We kept it simple today on account of all the other work we had to do.

Pack members began to trickle in as I finished the last of the pancakes. Zane walked down and gave me a warm smile. I offered him a plate and he gave me a wink before sitting down. Breakfast passed and I continued working. By lunch, I was tired and could feel the beginnings of a headache.

“You alright?” I snapped my head up to see Zane looking at me curiously.

“Yeah,” I breathed.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t look okay…”

“Well thanks, that’s a real confidence booster,” I replied sarcastically.

“You know what I mean, Ella. Have you taken a break at all today?”

I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my head.

“Ella?” I could hear the worry in his tone.

“Zane, I’m fine, I’ve worked through the day before. I just have a little bit of a headache coming on.”

Zane glared at me before taking my arm. He took me out to the hallway and bent down in front of me.

“Hop on.”

I laughed before jumping on his back and he carried me piggy-back up the stairs.

He set me down on the couch in his quarters and wandered to the kitchen, returning with a large glass of water and a couple of ibuprofens.

“Here, take these.”