Page 12 of Remy & the Wildcat

He stared toward the house for a long moment, then said, “Let’s go talk to Crimson and my brother, and then we can walk to my parents’ house.”

They crossed into the yard, past a group of picnic tables, then stopped near a deck. A male with dark blond hair stood with his arms folded, his eyes flashing red. A younger male, who looked a lot like Remy, stood on a lower step.

“Crimson, Lennox, this is Thyme. She’s my truemate, and I met her near the edge of the territory.”

Crimson introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Thyme. Lennox told me what happened, and I’m sorry that you were chased by some idiot youngsters. Sometimes their brains don’t work as well as their noses and they just chase whatever passes in front of them.”

“I wasn’t harmed, so it’s okay.”

“Where are you headed?” Lennox asked as he stepped off the deck and handed a phone to Remy.

“Thanks, man. And we’re going to the RV,” Remy said. “Would you tell Mom and Dad what happened, and that I’ll check in with them in the morning?”

“You bet. Nice to meet you, Thyme.”

“You too, Lennox. Thanks for helping keep me safe.”

“Anytime.”

Remy and Thyme said goodbye and walked through the yard to the street, hanging a left.

“So let me get all this straight,” Remy said. “Pride law says next-in-line can take over at twenty-one, but can’t assume leadership until they’re mated? And once a younger sibling reaches twenty-one, they can force the oldest to take a mate or fight?”

“In a nutshell, yes.”

“Did that happen to your dad when he took over?”

“He was an only child, so no. I’ve known that Leif wanted to take over for a while now, I was just hoping to meet my truemate before he turned twenty-one, which is happening in a couple weeks.”

“Why can’t your stepmom be alpha female and get another mate?”

“Because the authority belonged to my dad. Like when you and I mate, you’re alpha male, but if something happened to me, you wouldn’t be alpha male anymore.”

He hummed.

She continued, “I’m sure he’s being pushed along with help from my stepmom, but I don’t actually blame the elders, at least not about this. Leif is working within the bounds of our laws, it’s what alphas are supposed to do.”

She did, though, blame Leif for the way he’d treated her, which was sucky at best. Coupled with the way her stepmom treated her, she’d been made to feel like a stranger in her own home, an intruder among the new happy family once Leif had been born. Something had always been off about her stepmom to Thyme, but she’d never been able to figure it out. It wasn’t just that her mom had been replaced so fast by her dad, but that her dad had never really seen the poor treatment Thyme had gotten.

“We need to move the pride to a new location, because of the hunting grounds. The elders won’t make the move, the next alphas need to do it. I was hoping to find new territory tonight, but then I stumbled into a wolf pack.”

“I’m glad you stumbled here, though,” he said, giving her a sweet smile.

They stopped walking underneath a lamppost, which offered her the very first full view of her truemate.

He was…gorgeous. Dark hair cut short, a day’s worth of stubble on his cheeks. His lips were full and kissable, and he had a dimple in one cheek when he smiled.

She put her hand on his chest and felt the steady beating of his heart and a wolfy sort of purr that made his chest vibrate.

He cupped her face. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

She smiled and nearly purred, her cat enchanted by him. “You’re pretty damn sexy yourself,” she said, her voice going surprisingly husky.

“Fate brought us together. I was in the right place at the right time to help you out of a sticky situation. We’re truemates, but I still want to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Will you be my mate? I don’t want to take anything for granted with you, and even though I want to kiss you in the worst way, I don’t want to do that without asking you to be mine, first.”

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