Page 34 of Can't Be Love

“Yes, you do,” Liam said.

“I do not!” I turned pleading eyes to my friend for help.

“Um, Lil, I love you, but you snore like a freaking lumberjack,” MC said.

Betrayed by my best friend. I slumped down into the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “Well,” I said to Thomas, “you snore, too.”

He smiled and leaned down to give me a quick peck on my lips, much to my humiliation. “It’s okay,” he said calmly. “Because you’ll certainly never be bothered by it over all the noise you make in your sleep.” He winked and walked away as my jaw hung open.

I put my head on the table, cradled in my arms. I knew my face was on fire. I couldn’t believe he’d just casually kissed me in front of his family like that.

“Well, there certainly will never be a dull moment of life with you two,” Cora said, as the others cracked up laughing.

“Oh, Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily. Mating is the most natural thing in the world. I cannot possibly understand why you would ever fight it,” Liam said, throwing my own theories back in my face. How many times had I told my siblings that? How many times had I lectured them for being stupid and not just accepting their fate? I feared that each one of them would gloat in my turmoil.

Straightening up, I rose from the table, punching Liam as hard as I could in the arm. “Jerk,” I said under my breath.

Thomas

Chapter 14

I left Lily at the kitchen table. She could fend for herself against Liam and my family. Dad was already waiting for me in his office when I arrived.

“Thomas,” he said, sounding a little surprised. “I wasn’t sure you were coming today. I expected you and Lily would need a few days to get better acquainted.”

I smirked. “That’ll take a lot more than a few days.”

“She has always been a tad eccentric and impulsive. I had expected that would work in your favor for the mating,” Dad said.

“Except you forgot to add stubborn and the fact she hates me to the list, making it a very strange hot and cold effect,” I grumbled.

Dad threw his head back and laughed at my expense. “Oh yes, you’ve definitely met your match then. No one ever claimed mating was easy, but I promise you, she’s worth it.”

I smiled as warmth spread through me. “I know she’s worth it, Dad, if she doesn’t kill me first.”

We got down to business after that. He caught me up-to-date on the latest Pack news. Two new pups had been born that month, which was cause for celebration. For some reason a lot of packs had been struggling to procreate over the last few decades, and the wolf shifter population had started to dwindle because of it. A few species were even struggling in the wild and heading for the endangered animals list.

Most of the Collier Pack wolves were grey. No one understood why some packs were more prone to specific breeds and others more variety. My mother was pretty religious and believed God placed the species he needed most in each of us. Wyoming was a good breeding ground for grey wolves, and currently the wolf population was thriving.

New wolf shifter pups were a different story, though. While my parents had been beyond blessed with seven pups, the average family had only one, if they were able to conceive at all. I knew several packs were struggling to keep up their numbers.

When I was still just a boy, it was arranged for my sister Lizzy to mate a future Alpha of a South American pack that was struggling to keep numbers. They had been quite hopeful that whatever blessing or genes had allowed my parents to have so many pups would help increase their numbers, too. In the end she hadn’t been able to go through with it. A lot of rumors had floated around about her return to Collier, but I still didn’t know the circumstances, just that she had never been quite the same afterwards.

Lily came from a large family as well, and I smiled, wondering just how many pups we’d be blessed with. I could envision her swollen with my child as little ones climbed up her legs. If you had asked me a week earlier I’d have said Lily Westin was too self-absorbed to make a good mother, or handle being a Pack Mother. The more I saw her interact with others, the more my opinion of that changed. I had no doubt she was up to the task of both, and I was excited to see her in action and introduce her to the Pack.

Dad cleared his throat. I looked over at him. He didn’t seem irritated, just smiling. “Sir?” I asked.

“I know that look all too well, son. You’re thinking of your mate,” he said.

I grinned, unable to deny it. “It’s surprisingly hard being away from her, even knowing she’s just down the hall.”

“The way she tore out of here last week, I’d say your wolf will be quite uneasy anytime she’s out of sight, at least for a while. Go to her. I know you have rounds today. Take her with you; show her our territory and introduce her around. I know you asked not to make a formal announcement yet, but I’ll warn you, rumors are already surfacing.”

I sighed. “I figured as much.” Rising, we embraced and said goodbye.

I found Lily sitting in the living room, chatting it up with Maddie and Shelby. She looked relaxed and comfortable, and it made my heart lurch.

“Hey,” she said, noticing my presence, and I was happy to see a smile on her face and no animosity.

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