Page 2 of Off-Limits Mate

I kick at a stray piece of my porch that’s kind of bending off from the rest of it. I don’t want to be with Spencer. I’m not trying to get him back, or anything like that. He was a jerk. Honestly, there’s not really any man that I’ve loved like Calista loves Orion. They’re fated mates, so maybe that’s why.

Why don’t I deserve a fated mate?

I shake off the thought. With absolute certainty, I know that even if I had a fated mate, I wouldn’t want him. Not unless he was…

“Okay. They’re going to rebuild the connection to the street. Thankfully, they don’t have to fuck with a septic tank, because that would be even worse,” Nolan says from behind me.

I turn and watch the plumber waddle to his van to make some calls. “Great,” I say, the sarcasm in my tone thick enough to lay down as foundation. “And how long will that take?”

“Aw, come on, sis. You don’t like hanging out in the Man Cave with me?”

I gag. I don’t even have to pretend. “Please don’t call it that. It’s so gross.”

Nolan smirks. “But you love it.”

“Not when you call it that. It’s like… ew.”

Nolan’s house isn’t a cave. It is kind of cool, though. I think the type of architecture is called an ‘Earthship,’ and it’s essentially dug into the side of a hill and designed to have a minimal eco-footprint when it comes to heating and cooling. He found it one day soon after we moved to Oakwood, and the Alpha agreed that Nolan could buy it from the pack.

But being that it is, in fact, dug into the ground a little… He calls it a cave. Because I guess it is. Kinda.

Not that it matters. Apparently, Earthships are really in fashion now, given the cost of energy and the toll that it has on the world, and so Nolan gets offers from big-shot fancy realtors from Denver or Boise on pretty much a weekly basis these days. He turns them all down, of course, because we can’t have rich people like that on the pack’s lands. It would be bad for business. Literally.

Still, it’s kind of fun to send them and their shiny new cars running. Our routine is usually just to yell at them, but sometimes we shift and howl and scare the heck out of them. All in good fun, of course.

“I want my own little house,” I sigh.

Nolan slings an arm around me and pulls me close. I let myself tuck into his side, breathing his familiar smell. Nolan’s a great brother, he’s an awesome guy. I just don’t really want to live in my brother’s house, like a kid, ever again. Especially considering who he has coming to stay tomorrow.

I huff. “I was just really hoping that it would be done today.”

“Why today?”

No reason. I just would rather hide in my flood-damaged home with zero services, camping in my wolf form, than see the houseguest you have booked for tomorrow again. “I’m tired of living with you. Do you know how bad you snore? And like… your feet, man. Haven’t you ever heard of a pedicure?” It’s a lie, Nolan’s feet look like average man feet, but teasing him about them is a practiced routine between us.

He doesn’t take my bait. “Come on. Let’s head back to the Cave,” he laughs.

I groan. “Nolan. Stop calling it that.”

“Nope. No way.”

Nolan gets into his truck, and I start my SUV. With one last, lingering glance at my house, I pull into the road after him.

It’s awfully hard to feel like I’m moving forward in life when everything around me says that I’m just… stuck. Stuck and forced to come to terms with the fact that tomorrow, his best friend Jasper is coming to stay with us.

Jasper, who I’ve been in love with since I was twelve years old and haven’t seen since he moved away.

Nolan picks up dinner on the way home. It’s barbeque, which I don’t love, but I’ll eat because it’s good when it comes from the Oakwood Café.

At his house, I dig out forks and plates. Even in the summer heat, the plates are so cold in the cabinet that my fingers get a little chill as I brush against them. I lay everything out, and Nolan starts to reheat the food.

“I’m sorry about the bad news on the house, Amara,” he says, his tone sincere.

Shrugging, I sit down at the table. “Shit happens.”

He grins. “In this case, literally.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re so gross, Nolan.”

---