Page 14 of Holiday Surprise

The second he was out of sight I shifted. “You told him to watch out for me?” I asked. “Why would you do that?”

“Calm down. It wasn’t exactly like that. You were just really drunk last night and running your mouth. I didn’t want you to start any trouble with one of his wolves, so I warned him to keep an eye out. I didn’t know he was going to stalk you all night,” she teased.

Taking a sniff of the air around us, Lily crinkled up her nose, then her hands flew to her mouth.

I knew that she knew exactly what was happening.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! He said he thought his mate was here in Collier, I mean that’s why he and Thomas concocted this combined run anyway. Fine, it was my idea, but you, and him, and wow! How are you feeling?” she asked after her initial rambling.

I frowned and raised my chin. Crossing my arms across my chest I gave her a dead serious look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Then I turned on my heels and marched off. Lily didn’t follow and I didn’t stop until I was closing my front door behind me, then I melted onto the floor and cried.Not a Larken!

When I was growing up all I ever dreamed of was being a Pack Mother for Collier. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to mate Thomas someday. That someday never came, and it never would. It wasn’t up until the moment Lily walked into his life that I ever even considered having my own true mate.

Luke Larken was nothing like I’d ever imagined. Sure, he was an Alpha and I had been groomed to be a Pack Mother, but not for the Larken Pack. It sounded like a death sentence. I was mating beneath me somehow. Nothing made sense.

And yet, he had made me feel so safe. The Scott twins had been sniffing around me for weeks, but I never dreamed that they would corner me like that, especially on the night of a run. It made me feel dirty to even think about it, but Luke had come in like some knight in shining armor, screwing with my perception of him, and then ran those two assholes off.

I took a deep breath and I could still smell Luke’s scent on me even in human form. It was the most soothing and masculine scent ever. I didn’t want to admit it, but those blue eyes combined with his smell may just be my undoing.

Now that I had met him, I couldn’t just ignore the signs. I wasn’t a coward and wouldn’t run away from it, but I was definitely having trouble stomaching the fact that he was a Larken.

I needed to talk things out with someone. Lily was my usual go-to for such things, but this time, I thought Peyton might be a better match. She was mated to a Larken. Even I could admit that her mate, Oliver, was a good man. Maybe they weren’t all as bad as I thought. I didn’t really believe that, but I needed to try to stay optimistic about it.

The bond was only beginning. I could leave and ensure our paths never crossed again so as not to encourage it. It would probably be okay still. A sick feeling deep in my gut warned me it was already too late for that.

I dragged myself from the floor and walked to my bedroom. I threw on some pajamas, brushed my teeth, and combed through my hair before climbing into bed. Normally I would have showered first, but I wasn’t ready to let go of his scent.

Sleep took me quickly. I had purposefully tried not to look at Luke and while he was on stage I had succeeded, but prior to that when we were in the dining room, our eyes had locked for the briefest moment from across the room. His eyes had captivated me, and I had quickly memorized every feature from the set of his jaw to the short beard he kept. His hair was blonde, and he was wearing a black short sleeve shirt that clung to his chest showing off defined muscles, and black jeans. In that momentary glance in his direction, I had committed it all to memory and it now haunted me every second of sleep.

When I woke up again, I grabbed my keys, got in the car, and headed out. It was late afternoon, but there was something I had to do. As I drove past Peyton’s house, I started to second guess my decision. I needed to talk to her. I needed to know how she dealt with being divided between two packs, and I desperately wanted to know what she knew about the Larken wolves.

They had been up late too and so I imagined they were all still sleeping, probably hung over from the night before. I was surprised to find I didn’t even have the slightest headache.

I never drank that much, but knowing they were coming into our territory had upset me so much that once I started, I just didn’t want to stop. I couldn’t imagine a world where those people would be invited back to run with us like one pack. They weren’t pack and I understood that better than most.

I pulled into the trailer park and stopped next to the nicest of them all assuming that was Luke’s place. That was saying something, because they all looked pretty shitty. Anger flared within me. I could not, and would not, ever live here.

I got out of the car surprised at how little difference there was between here and the smells of home. It was disturbing.

I wanted to take a look around for myself before I faced him. It was something I had to do and the sooner it was over, the sooner we both could move on with our lives. There was simply no way that I was going to accept Luke Larken as my mate. My wolf whined in my head at the thought. She was already going into depression and I hadn’t even made it official yet. The fact that she wasn’t fighting me on this strengthened my resolve.

I walked along the gravel path that led from one rusted trailer to the next. When I turned a corner and came to a large well-kept open area, I was surprised. The little bit of free land there was, was cleared and there was an impressive large firepit in the middle.

“You’re from Collier, aren’t you?” a woman’s voice asked, startling me.

I turned and looked at her. She was probably a year or two younger than me, early twenties with a small child hanging on her legs, hiding, from me I realized.

“Hi,” I tried to say calmly to them, but he just buried himself further behind his mother. “Um, yeah, sorry. I know I’m trespassing. I just needed to see the place for myself,” I told her honestly.

She nodded without any further questioning. “You stop by and tell Luke first?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. What is this place?” I asked.

She brightened. “We don’t have the space or money for a big fancy country club like you folks have, but when Luke took over as Alpha, he was adamant that we needed a pack place. It may not look like much to you, but this is one of the best things this pack has done in a long time. It’s not like it was under Jedidiah’s rule. People look each other in the eyes again. They hold their heads up high. We know Luke’s going to do right by all of us.”

I was taken back by the praise she had for her Alpha. It made me consider him in a different light and I wasn’t sure I liked that.

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