Page 30 of Holiday Surprise

Sydney

Chapter 14

The whole ride over to mom and dad’s, Luke’s leg bounced up and down with nervous energy. I tried to tell him everything would be fine, in truth I was just praying they wouldn’t cause a scene in front of him. I knew damn well my dad was going to flip when he found out that Luke Larken was my one true mate.

I had started to tell mom when she came by the shop earlier today with Jessie, but I chickened out. I knew she’d handle the news better than dad, but still. Plus, I didn’t want to dampen the mood when I hadn’t seen my baby sister in months. I couldn’t believe she was a freshman in college already.

“You’re getting anxious,” Luke told me.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“It’s easy, your scent changes with your emotions. Everyone’s does. Maybe it’s the Alpha blood in me, but I can always tell when someone is scared, anxious, and so on,” he explained. “This isn’t going to go well, is it?”

I sighed. “They love me and only want to see me happy. They may not be thrilled at the idea at first, but they’ll come around.”

“Syd, I really don’t want to crash your Christmas with your family and drop a bomb like this on them tonight.”

“Then when Luke? I’d like to tell them before we complete our bond. Do you want to wait until after the holidays to make that happen?” I said. I really hoped not, because now that my mind was made up, I was ready to move on with our lives. That was just the kind of girl I was.

All those years with Thomas, he had been the one dragging his feet. If I’d had it my way, we would have mated the second we graduated high school. I’m glad he made us wait, because I knew now, he was never meant to be mine. There was no doubt in my mind or my heart that Luke was my one true mate and exactly who I was supposed to spend my life with. I didn’t understand it and the irony of it wasn’t lost on me, but I could accept it.

I pulled up in front of the small brick rancher that had been my childhood home. Luke reached for my hand.

“Last chance,” he warned. “I can shift and run back to your place.”

“You aren’t abandoning me at the first test of this relationship. Got it?”

He chuckled and leaned over to kiss me. “Yes ma’am,” he said as he pulled away and got out of the car, walking around to open the door for me.

Mom was watching us from behind the curtain and her curiosity had her meeting us on the front porch.

“Sydney, why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a guest tonight?” mom asked.

I wanted to say, “Because he’s not a guest mom, he’s my mate.” But I chickened out again. Instead I said, “Surprise! Um, can we go inside to talk, please?”

“Of course,” she said. “Where are my manners, I’m Charlotte, please come in.”

“Luke,” he told her.

“Luke, well it’s nice to meet you. You do look quite familiar. Have we met before?”

“No ma’am, I’m certain we haven’t.”

“Well, I guess you just have one of those faces.”

He gave her a swoon-worthy smile and I could tell my mother wasn’t immune to Luke’s charm either.

When we entered the living room, my dad immediately locked onto Luke and his face screwed up in anger. He jumped up and yelled. “What the hell is he doing in my house? Haven’t your kind caused enough trouble around here?”

“Dad!” I yelled.

“Vern,” mom warned. “This is Sydney’s guest. Where are your manners?”

“Manners? Charlotte do you have any idea who this is?”

Mom walked over and sternly whispered to my father, as if any wolf shifter within three houses couldn’t hear her. “This is Luke, Vern, Sydney’s friend. She has never brought a boy home to meet us, well, except Thomas, and you will not run them off from this house. It is Christmas Eve. She wouldn’t bring a man home tonight if he wasn’t important to her. I don’t care what your thoughts are on him or who he is, but if he’s that important to our daughter, then he is welcome here in our home.”

I had moved to stand in front of Luke. I realized I was protecting him from my father. His steady hand on my hip told me that in the blink of an eye the tables would turn if my dad even thought of approaching us. I knew dad would never hurt me, not intentionally, but I was just as certain that Luke would protect me at all costs, even against my father.

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