Page 79 of Can't Be Love

My heart stilled for a moment, but some little voice inside my head told me he was just drunk and trying to goad a response from me. “Maybe,” I said. “But I certainly hope that won’t be the case. Collier Pack will be a lonely place if I’m to be the only remaining she-wolf in it.”

Shocked sounds came with hushed whispers throughout the room as the man bellowed out a laugh. “You definitely have spirit, girl. I’m Hewitt. Welcome to Collier Pack.”

He offered me his hand, and I shook it. Maybe trying to be humble and keep my mouth shut wasn’t being true to me. It dawned on me then that maybe Mom was right. God doesn’t make mistakes in matching mates, and I didn’t need to try to be anything I wasn’t. Just being me was enough, and I vowed to stop biting my tongue so much and just do me.

Most of the place settled down and went back to life as usual after my brief encounter with Hewitt. Sure, I still got stares, but there was a curiosity to them now, until Sydney came in. She spotted me immediately and made her way to join me.

“Hey Lily,” she said sweetly. “Mind if I join you?”

“Hi, Syd. Not at all, take a seat.”

“Thanks.”

Before we could get past the basic greetings, three women came to our table.

“Sydney dear, we heard about Jessie. Is she really going through with the challenge toher?” the first asked, emphasizing “her” and nodding my way as if I wasn’t sitting right there, too.

“Yes, is it true?” the second one asked.

“It is true that Jessie issued a formal challenge to Lily, but she didn’t really understand the implications of that. She hasn’t officially reneged on her challenge yet, but my parents seem confident she will. She seemed to be under the impression that if I wouldn’t challenge Lily, then Jessie could at least, and then give me her place after she won the battle. We had to explain to her that things don’t work that way. She’s a little freaked out right now, but I think she’s going to be okay.” She turned and smiled to me. “Lily did a great job of talking her down before I got there.”

The third woman’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Of course she did, Sydney. She’s only protecting her own tail. Beat her psychologically before they even reach the arena.”

I gawked as my mouth dropped open and this time I was struggling to shut it. “She’s a child,” I said. “Her wolf came in only a month ago. I’ve been training for this my entire life. Do you really think I’d take any pleasure in beating a pup? I don’t take pleasure in killing anyone, but certainly not a young girl who’s confused and upset because things aren’t going the way she expected them to.”

The women looked a little taken aback by my outburst, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.

“Lily’s right,” Sydney said. “Jessie is no challenge for her, and I don’t want to lose my baby sister over some warped sense of obligation.”

“I still don’t understand why you haven’t issued your challenge and staked your claim as Pack Mother. You belong with Thomas, Sydney. The entire Pack is behind you,” the first woman said.

“You’re wrong, Edna,” Syd said to the gasps of all three old biddies. She reached across the table and squeezed my hand in show of support. “Thomas is my best friend, and I get that everyone around here has had the two of us paired off since we were in diapers. For a short time, I had even believed we could go through with it, but that compatibility approval has been hanging over our heads for more than a year now. Don’t you think there’s a reason we never went through with it? If you guys could just get your damn heads out your asses for five seconds and really take a look at Thomas, how happy he is, how she smooths out those rough spots and calms his wolf, you’d know without a doubt that she is what’s best for him, and what’s best for all of us.”

“You can’t possibly mean that, Sydney,” the third woman said.

“I do, Edna. Thomas is my best friend. Until Lily, I was closer to him than anyone, but I can’t be her. She is his one true mate, and quite frankly I deserve mine, too. I don’t want to be second best. She’s the daughter of Jason and Mary Westin. She knows what it takes to be a Pack Mother. She knows what Thomas will need as Alpha better than I ever could. God doesn’t make mistakes pairing true mates, and I will not come between that. If you’re all seriously waiting for me to challenge her, then stop. I’m telling you now and you can go spread the gossip throughout the Pack, but I will not be challenging Lily. I cannot be your future Pack Mother, and I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

As their shocked faces took in all she’d said, I squeezed her hand back in appreciation and grinned. “You know, my Mom has always said that.”

“What?” Syd asked.

“About God not making mistakes with true mates.” I snorted. “You were there the night after our wolves connected. I don’t think it will come as some big shocker that I was questioning that statement then. I didn’t want it to be true. I had spent years channeling all this anger and hatred at him, when really he was just my scapegoat for missing Maddie.”

The ladies were openly listening now and others began to join them, surrounding our table. I ignored it and stayed focused just on Sydney.

“Madelyn is my best friend in the entire world. Despite being from two different packs, we grew up together. We attended the same camps, she’d visit me in San Marco, and I’d spend weeks here in Collier with her and her family. This place has always felt like home to me. The Colliers have always been family, and when Maddie disappeared, a part of me died. I needed some way to channel those emotions, and whenever I’d come back for her annual vigil, Thomas was gone. I built him up to be this uncaring beast and I called him a lot of harsh names and said some really bad things about him over the years, but I was wrong.”

Sydney laughed and gave me a quick hug, understanding that it wasn’t easy to talk about, but I had the attention of the entire room, and they needed to hear my story. She encouraged me to go on.

“I rarely admit I’m wrong about something. My mom says I’m too stubborn for my own good. Maddie coming back into my life was a great gift. To find she was mated to my twin brother was even more incredible. We were finally sisters, for real, but a piece of my heart was still broken from all those years of missing her, and only Thomas could repair that. I had to let go of that anger and hatred, and that wasn’t easy for me. He embodied that to me, and I definitely wanted God to be wrong when I realized that Thomas, of all people, was my true mate, but you’re right. My mother was right. God doesn’t make mistakes. We’ve worked past old prejudices, despite how unfounded they truly were. Thomas is a great man, and he’s going to be an amazing Alpha. He needs a strong woman by his side.” I looked out across the room, making eye contact with as many as possible. “If you let me, I can be that woman. No one else can ever truly take my place because I am his true mate, and with that comes a strength I didn’t know was possible. I’ve been groomed for leadership my entire life, but never really fit in anywhere. I’ve worked dozens of jobs at Westin Foundation. I’m adaptable and good at all of them, but I could never commit to any one. That’s because my place was never meant to be there. I’m supposed to be here, in Collier, by Thomas’s side, and supporting all of you, because that’s what a Pack Mother does. And quite frankly, I’m gonna be a damn great one.”

Sydney laughed and hugged me. “Yes, you are.”

I had built up my speech expecting some major change to occur, but they all just continued to stare at me.

“Come on, give her a chance. I promise you won’t regret it,” Sydney told them, breaking through the silence as murmurs started throughout the room. “They’re gonna be talking about this for years,” Sydney whispered to me.

“I didn’t say anything too embarrassing, did I? I have a problem keeping my mouth shut sometimes,” I confessed.

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