Page 8 of Riley Goes Home

Cheryl was struck temporarily dumb as she stared at Riley, and with each panting breath, her wolf was shoved back until the woman stood there, not the beast.

“And you’re not.”

“Jesus…” Colt growled, arms akimbo, claws forming as he readied himself for an attack. My brothers did the same as our mate rallied.

“I’m sorry, that came out wrong.” Riley’s hand fluttered when she lifted it, but by the time it came to rest on her stomach, she’d shaken the nerves off. “I mean you’ve accepted the Williams pack as your mates, you’ve gone through your first heat.”

One sidelong look from Cheryl had me wondering if that was indeed true, but she rallied quickly, standing tall.

“I’m Omega Williams,” Cheryl restated.

“Well, let me give you my business card.” We all let out a growl of protest as Riley stepped forward. “If you’re having any difficulties conceiving?—”

“I’ll give her a card.” Ryan looked harried as he snatched one out of his wallet and then thrust it into Cheryl’s hands before turning to join us as we hurried our mate towards the car.

“Now?”I snapped as soon as we got into the car, not able to take a full breath until the doors were closed. “Now’s the time to chase new clients?”

“Not chase…”

I felt a godawful wrench in my heart as I watched Riley look back at the alpha residence, one I hadn’t felt when I saw my old home again. Because the house meant nothing to me, but the girl… She was everything.

“I thought I’d want to scratch Cheryl’s eyes out,” Riley explained. “She was always trying to push herself between us, taunting me with the fact that she was an omega and probably your fated mate, while I…”

Her hands moved restively over her stomach, so mine covered hers, feeling the slow, dull kicks of our children. That was a sensation that never got old. It kicked all the bullshit of Bordertown to one side and made me focus on what was important. My eyes met Riley’s, and I stared into those beautiful blue depths. Our future.

“I’d be an unwilling spectator to the moment when you chose her.” Her hand twisted to grab mine. “But you didn’t.”

“Never,” I said, all my brothers echoing my response.

“You didn’t.” She repeated her refrain as she looked around at the lot of us, a smile slowly forming. “The Vanguard boys ended up being my mates not hers, so it was the least I could do to offer her some reproductive help.”

“Taylor boys,” I corrected as I shook my head, then shoved the key into the ignition. That was one omega down, all I couldhope was that my own mother wouldn’t end up being an even bigger pain in my mate’s butt than bloody Cheryl.

Chapter 6

Haze

I never wanted to come back here.

The moment we left Bordertown, when we got in the car and drove, I turned and looked through the back window and hoped we’d never return. Not without Riley, at least. Yet here we were, rocking up to Mum and the dads place, driving up the curving driveway to a house I barely knew, the one they were forced to buy when they were ousted from the alpha residence by the Williams pack. But I was here with my girl, that was my only consolation. My hand went to the back of her chair, squeezing the fake leather too tightly as we parked outside, just to get that bit closer to Riley. The screen door slammed open and Mum came rushing out, the dads ambling behind her at a more sedate pace, and that’s when the tension ratcheted tighter.

“Riley!”

I loved my mother. She gave birth to me, the process taking eighteen hours, as she loved to remind us, but it was more than that. When we were growing up, she was a warm presence, always there with hugs, soft words, and disinfectant when we came and presented our scrapes to her. But the uncomfortabletruth that no one seemed to want to acknowledge was that I kinda hated her as well.

Riley couldn’t even open her door before Mum was there, wrenching it open, then rushing forward. My mate’s eyes went wide as she was enfolded in a hug, something she never got from my mother when we were growing up. Riley was a beta, the daughter of an enforcer, so she was someone that deserved the protection and support of the ruling pack, but… In her mind, Mum saw Riley as less important than us. Not now, though.

My mate tried to heave herself out of the car, her belly making every movement difficult, which is why she should’ve left that burden to me. I jumped out of the car, caught the way Mum’s face lit up, right before I pushed past her to help Riley ease out. She was my focus, something my mate noted as her cheeks flushed pink.

Riley used to do that at school.

Any time I got her lunch or pulled her seat out for her, or slid in beside her on the bus, whatever game face she thought she was wearing fell apart the moment her cheeks started to glow. Of course, that had me doing the same thing every day, trying to get her to respond the same way. We weren’t sneaking around or hiding what we felt, but I found I still treasured every time I made her blush. I winked and then stepped in close, ready to stand by her side as she faced down the wolves, literally.

“Oh, look at you.” You’d never know that my mother removed Riley from our town ten years ago, luring my mate away with promises of a bright academic future. “You’re just beautiful.” She turned to the dads. “Doesn’t Riley look beautiful?”

“She always did.” Malcolm, one of my dads, winked at me as he said that. “How are you, Riley, love?”

“Tired.” My grip on Riley’s waist tightened. I wanted a bed and a cool dark room, stat, I decided. “I forgot what a long drive it is.”

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