Page 7 of In Plain Sight

He looked flustered. “I’m not meaning to offend you. It’s just, that isn’t how things are done where I’m from.”

“You realize this is the twenty-first century, right? Equal rights and all that shit. What sort of backwoods Pack did you come from?”

His brow crinkled in frustration and he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was just surprised, is all.”

I took a deep breath. I dealt with more than my fair share of bigots in my life. Working in a male-dominated field, it was par for the course, but I didn’t like thinking my mate was one of them.

“I will never be perfect little Suzy Homemaker, Bran. I love working with the animals, and I like being in charge of things. I am stubborn to a fault. I guess there’s some truth about red-heads after all, but these are things you do need to know and understand about me, because that won’t change, even for you,” I told him.

“Mate, I did not mean to upset you. I was only surprised and curious, is all. God chose you for me and I do not make it a habit to argue with Him,” he said simply.

It didn’t take long before my cell phone started sounding off. I looked down and saw Shelby’s face on my screen. I rolled my eyes, knowing she’d only come over if I didn’t answer it.

“What’s up, Shelbs?” I asked, choosing to play it innocent. I had no doubt rumors of my mating had already reached her.

“Did you really take a mate?” she demanded, not bothering to even try to play dumb like she hadn’t already heard my news.

“I did,” I said.

“What?” she shrieked. “Who? When? I heard you rode out in search of Cochise and came back with a man. They say he’s not a Collier wolf. What the hell is going on?”

I laughed. “Well, I guess that really does about sum it all up.”

I looked over at Bran and smiled as he continued to explore my place. I could see subtle hints of him trying to mark the territory for himself. It should have pissed me off. If he were anyone else it would have, but he was my mate and it was too late to change that.

“Seriously, Ruby. I’m worried about you. Where did he come from?” she asked.

“He’s a drifter looking for work, and he’s my one true mate, Shelby. What was I supposed to do?”

She got quiet for a minute. “Wait, what do you mean? I mean yeah, bring him back and get to know him for sure, but you haven’t done anything stupid have you?”

“Define stupid?”

I could hear the exasperation in her voice. “You haven’t done anything to encourage a bond with him, have you?”

“That depends. Does sealing a bond constitute encouraging it?”

Shelby went silent on the other end. “Tell me you’re kidding right now.”

“Shelby, he’s my one true mate. I’m not going to deny that. What did you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe get to know him like a normal person! Please tell me you’re kidding, Ruby. Peyton and Clara are about to head over there, we’re all freaking out here.”

I sighed. “Would you just calm down. No visitors right now. Bran and I have plenty to work out without you guys interfering.” I was trying not to let my temper get away from me. I loved my family, but they could be a bit much at times. This was my mess to deal with and nothing they could say or do would undo what we’d done.

“Uh-oh,” Shelby said.

“What now?”

“I’m over at Mom’s and Austin just called and told Thomas that you brought home some foreign wolf squatting on Collier land.”

“Shit!”

“You can say that again. And now Lily knows, too. I don’t think I can keep those two from coming over. Thomas is really pissed.”

“Great, well, shit. I don’t even know what to say or do about that. Let me talk to Lily.”

I heard some shuffling and then Lily came on the line. “Ruby? Girl, what the hell is going on? And why am I just now hearing about this?”

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