Page 2 of Forever Mine

“I know it's crowded this time of year, but kids really don't belong at my bar,” the man said when he delivered the drink, though he did not force us to leave and for some reason I didn't bother to comment.

“I'm Liam,” I told the kid.

He nodded with that serious expression he'd originally given me. “Oscar.”

“Your folks here?”

He nodded again. “Mom, Mimi, and Papi. They're waiting for a table.”

“Don't you think they'll wonder where you are?”

He shrugged and turned to scan the front waiting area. He waved at a man who didn't look much past forty, who waved back.

“That's Papi, it's cool.”

I was strangely impressed by the kid. I wasn't sure anything in this world bothered him. How I wished I could go back to those days when the weight of the world didn't feel like it was constantly pounding me into the ground.

I took a long sip of my drink. “You like basketball?” I asked the kid, remembering Chris's gift suggestion.

“Sure, who doesn't?”

“How old does one start playing?”

He looked at me with an odd expression and smiled for the first time. “My mom bought me my first basketball for my first birthday. Still have it. I've always played basketball.”

I smiled. Maybe Chris wasn't so crazy after all. “Thank you,” I told him. “My nephew's turning one today and I was trying to figure out what to get him for his first birthday.”

“Oh, you can't go wrong with a basketball, and be sure to get the little kid hoop that adjusts down to his size. He'll love it!”

“They actually have something like that for a one-year-old?”

“Oh yeah. It adjusts. I grew out of mine last year and got my first real hoop for Christmas.”

“You just might make me the coolest uncle ever then.”

The kid scanned me from head to toe. I wasn't sure I had ever felt so exposed in all my life. Then he shrugged. “Maybe.”

I laughed as I drained the last of my glass.

Offering him my hand, he took it and shook it. I left enough on the counter to cover us both. “It was nice to meet you, Oscar. Thanks for the advice.”

“Sure, anytime,” he said, and then tuned me out as the bartender turned on a basketball game on the big screen above the bar.

As I exited the bar, a sort of frenzied excitement hit me. It was so sudden and unexpected that it freaked me out. My skin felt like it was crawling and I had the sudden urge to change. Something like that had never happened to me. My wolf wasn't an Alpha, so I had never had the struggles Kyle did to control him. I scanned the area in a panic, ready to run for my car. A commotion on the bench out front distracted me for a moment.

“Jane, honey, you're safe. I promise. We're not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Annie, you don't understand. I can't explain it, but we cannot stop here. Please, just get them and let's go.”

“It's not good for you to be so agitated. You were making such good progress.”

I gawked awkwardly at the young woman pacing back and forth. The hair on my arms stood up and I couldn't believe what my heart was telling me.

I saw her sniff loudly in the midst of her hysterics and her whole body froze. She turned slowly and golden-brown eyes locked with mine. My super charged body slowed and I think I forgot to breathe. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was staring at my mate. My one true mate, but all I could think was,This can't be real. I was seeing a ghost.Maddie. An incoming group of people passed between us and just like that, she vanished before my eyes.

Maddie

Chapter 2

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