Page 20 of Holiday Surprise

Peyton wasn’t always so forthcoming. I realized it really wasn’t until she mated Oliver Smith that she really found her voice and asserted herself.

I gave her a weak smile. “I found my true mate, but he’s a Larken. I don’t know what to do, Pey. I’m so confused.”

She sighed and sat across from me taking my hands in hers.

“Sydney, I know your history with the Larkens and how Jedidiah tore your family apart, but the truth is, they aren’t any different than we are. Sure, they may not have as much as us, but for the most part, they’re good people. You don’t have to live at the trailer park. You know Oliver and I don’t. You could choose to live somewhere else. Both Alphas will work with you guys on that.”

“Actually, he won’t. Not in this case,” I said, knowing with absolute certainty that he would never abandon his pack to live there without him. I started to hyperventilate. “Oh my gosh, Peyton. What am I going to do? I’m going to have to live there. Have you been there? Have you seen the place? Will he even let me keep the store? If so, I’d have to commute twenty minutes each way every day.”

“Sydney, that’s enough,” Peyton said sternly. “I can understand you’re distressed and overwhelmed by the situation, but these are good, hardworking people. That trailer park allows their pack to live together and keep dry roofs over their heads. I’ll not have you put them down like that. They can’t help the situation they’re in. Luke is trying hard to make it a better place and give those people a better life than the one Jedidiah left them in. Maybe they lived in squalor under him, but Luke has a team out there working their asses off to improve their living conditions. He works tirelessly along with them. That’s my family you’re talking about.”

I nodded, ashamed of myself. “I know. Apparently, it’s my family too.”

“What? You accepted your mate already?”

“No, not that. I went out to see him yesterday and found a cousin I didn’t know I had. My Uncle Sid is still alive and well, Peyton, I’m so torn and confused that I can’t even think straight. It’s too much.”

She rose and walked to my side of the table and hugged me.

“It’s going to be okay, Sydney. It’s normal to freak out at first. Heck, I literally fainted in Oliver’s arms the first time we met. Did you know that?”

I laughed. “No. I guess that would have been pretty embarrassing. So far, I don’t think I’ve done anything quite like that. I’m trying to be mature about it and handle things responsibly. I went over yesterday to tell him I was leaving town for a few years to break the bond.”

“What? Are you sure that’s what you want?”

I shook my head. “No. I mean I thought that was what I wanted before going there, but I realized I was holding onto so much prejudice towards them, that I wasn’t really thinking with my heart, only my stubborn head. He’s my true mate, my one true mate, Peyton. I should be jumping for joy, not acting like it’s a death sentence, right?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know anyone who has actually handled the call of the mating bond very well in the beginning. There’s really no wrong, or right way.”

“Look, Luke’s having dinner with Oliver and I tonight,” she started.

“I know. He asked me to come, seeing as it’s a safe neutral place and all,” I said, rolling my eyes.

She got a confused look on her face and then shrieked. “No way! Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

I had no idea what she was talking about and I guess it showed.

“Sydney are you mated to Luke Larken?” she asked directly.

“Yeah, I thought we had already established that?”

“You never said who! How in the hell have you and Luke never crossed paths before now?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s quite a bit older than I am. It just never happened until the pack run.”

She hugged me again. “Oh sweetie, that must have been a tough thing to discover in front of so many people.”

I sighed. “I was pretty wasted. I don’t think it fully registered until yesterday.”

“Syd, Luke’s an amazing man. I promise you could do a whole lot worse. Plus you always wanted to be Pack Mother. This is your chance.”

“It’s not the same, Peyton, and you know it.”

“If you’re just going to break his heart, I really wish you just hadn’t told me,” she surprised me by saying.

“No, at first I thought I would leave, but now I don’t know that I can.”

“What changed?” she asked more curiously than condemning.

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