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Annie's Birthday Wish

Annie

I turned down White Avenue, following the GPS system’s directions. My hands were sweating profusely, and my heart pounded erratically in my chest. I had never been so nervous before. Not where Gerry was concerned. I parked in front of the address that Osprey had given me for him before wiping my damp hands on my short black dress. It had been three years since I had seen him, not that I thought that it would be super weird between us. I cleared my throat nervously as I glanced at the envelope that was sitting in my passenger seat. It was the entire reason that I had avoided Gerry. The night our parents agreed to let him leave the sleuth to go to college, I ran away.

I had run until Marsha had dropped from exhaustion, leaving me to walk home in the darkness. When I got back to the house, I went straight to Gerry’s room to talk to him, only to find that he had already left for college before I got home. I curled up in his bed, crying because I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye. While I was lying on his bed, I saw this envelope partially sticking off the top of his bookshelf. Out of curiosity, I took it down, and seeing that it had been addressed to me, I opened it. As I read it, my whole world changed. I had been crushed to know that Gerry had been running away from me.

‘To my dearest Annie,

I know that you won’t understand why I have to leave, but I will try to explain it to you. It hurts me to admit that I have been in love with you for years. When you went into heat for the first time, your scent sent Kraven crazy. I can’t tell you how many nights I longed for you to crawl into my bed just so I could hold you like I used to. All I can think about when you’re around is how much I want to kiss you and hold you tightly. When you’re not around, I worry about who you’re with and what you’re doing. Every time you come home, I sniff you just to reassure myself that you haven’t given yourself to anybody else.

I know that it’s wrong of me to feel this way about you, but it doesn’t seem to matter. All I want to do is be with you. I want to mark you. I want to make love to you and be the one that you want in return. I want to hear you say that you feel the same way about me, but I know you never will. I can’t stay here and watch you find your mate. I can’t stay here without having you as my own. I hope that one day you will understand why I had to leave. I hope that one day you forgive me for leaving you. I hope that one day we can get back to having a good relationship. I pray that I can let this sinful love go so I can go back to being the big brother that you adored more than anything.

From yesterday to today, and for all of our tomorrows, I love you, my little Annie Bannannie. Be good.’

The letter’s words were burned into my head. I had been depressed for weeks after, lying in bed, wanting Gerry to come home. Our parents thought it was because I was missing Gerry, but it was really because I understood how he felt. I had felt guilty about having a crush on my big brother, but I had always been too afraid to tell him. Once I found out that he felt similarly, I had been too afraid to be around him. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to hide how I felt about him anymore, so I stayed away from him. With my 18th birthday in less than 6 hours, it was finally time for me to see him. I needed to see if he still felt something for me or if he was over me.

Goddess, I hoped not. I sure wasn’t over him. I groaned before laying my head on my steering wheel. I was a mess. I didn’t want to mess up our relationship if he didn’t. Fuck! Why was this so hard? It was just Gerry. I could talk to him about anything and everything. So why was I so scared? I turned my head to stare at the building where Gerry lived. Fuck! I put my car in reverse to drive back to the bar that I had seen on my way there. Maybe a little liquid courage would help. Now I was even more glad that I had stolen Priscila’s driver’s license. Nobody would question me for drinking with her ID. I walked into the bar, tugging on my dress a little to make sure that it covered my ass. As soon as I made it inside, I was intersected by a handsome man. He smiled at me.

“Hey, beautiful, may I get you a drink?” He asked.

“Ummm… sure. I’ll take a vodka cranberry on the rocks,” I told him.

“Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”

I watched, amused, as he rushed to the bar to get my drink. When he came back, he handed me the drink before smiling again.

“Would you like to dance?”

I tilted my head as I studied him. “Sure.”

I quickly finished my drink before setting the glass down on a nearby table and following him out onto the dance floor. We danced for a few minutes before he went back to the bar to get me another drink. Over the next hour, we danced continuously between the multitude of drinks that he kept getting for me. I didn’t mind because the more I drank, the more daring I became. As a bear, it took more to get me drunk, but after the 8th one, I was starting to feel it. When he spun me out, I twirled back into him, letting my ass grind against his cock as I shimmied in front of him. I closed my eyes as we ground together in a dark corner.

Suddenly, he started growling behind me, and before I could open my eyes, I was pulled away from the man. My eyes snapped open, and I giggled when I met Gerry’s eyes as Marsha, my bear, purred in my head. A low growl behind me had me putting my hand on the man’s chest. Gerry growled again, baring his teeth at my dance partner before picking me up to throw me over his shoulder. I glanced at the wolf.

“It’s okay. He’s my brother,” I slurred, giggling a little.

“She’s 17, asshole! Back off before I make you back off!” Gerry snarled, making me wet at the possessiveness in his voice.

The wolf held his hands up. “I didn’t know, dude. I don’t want any problems. Especially not over a girl like her,” he mumbled as he faded easily back into the throng of people around us.

Gerry grunted as he carried me out of the bar and set me on a vehicle’s hood. I giggled some more as I leaned toward him. When I tumbled off the vehicle, he caught me, glaring down at me.

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, ANNIE?!” He yelled. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE COMING?!”

I reached up to touch his face. “I came to see you.”

“No, you didn’t, Annie,” he said bitterly. “You have refused to even talk to me in the last three years.”

“But I did. I wanted to tell you that I loved you and that I missed you,” I told him.

He shifted me in his arms. “Why now, Annie?”

“Because it’s my birthday.”

“So?”

I nuzzled into his chest. “I want you to be my birthday present,” I admitted softly, playing with the collar on his shirt.

“For fuck’s sake, Annie. How much did you have to drink?” He asked frustratedly.

“Not enough,” I answered.

“Seems to me like you had plenty. Where are you staying? Do you know?”

“Uh, ‘Sprey got me a hotel room. It’s the little inn near the campus, on the sleuth land,” I told him.

He nodded. “Okay. I’m going to take you there.”

I buried my face in his chest, nodding. “Okay.”

While his friend drove us to the inn, I enjoyed being cradled on his lap while he rubbed my back. In what felt like no time at all, we were pulling up to the little inn, and I let my head fall back to stare up at him. He held my gaze for a long time before looking away, making me sigh. I nuzzled into his neck, intentionally letting my lips drift over his skin.

“Gerry?”

“Yes, Annie?”

“Will you stay with me for old time’s sake?” I asked.

“That’s not a good idea, Bannannie,” he said softly.

“Nothing with you is a good idea, Gerry, but I still want it. So, will you?”

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