Page 5 of Conri

“I’ll put the bread back.You’re my mate.”He took the bread back to the aisle and hoped that he put it where it belonged.He was so blinded by uncertainty.Instead of talking to the woman again, she was busy with the next customer, he left the store and headed to his truck.Sitting in it, he sat there thinking about what all this meant and what it would mean for his future.

Leaving the lot, he was nearly home when his mom contacted him.She asked if he was still in town and, if so, if would he pick up a gallon of ice cream for her.She wanted a banana split.Telling her that he was nearly home, a fat lie, he said to send one of the others to get it for her.She asked him what was wrong.Before he could think about what it might mean to tell her what he’d just discovered, he blurted it out to her that he’d found his mate.

“You’re joking.If you are, I don’t think this is the least bit funny, Conri.I don’t want to have my hopes dashed when you tell me it’s not true.”He told her it was true that the little human at the grocery store was his mate.“Then Yuri was right in thinking that he needed to protect her.”

“From me?”Mom didn’t answer him, but he could almost taste her anger.“I meant nothing by that, Mom.I’m still reeling from the fact that she’s there and a human.I only just found out.Cut me some slack for a few moments.”

“What did you say to her?I’m sure that it was a coming together like none other.”He told her what had happened and what he’d said to her.“You didn’t just tell her that and walk away, Conri.Please tell me that you were more polite than that.I’d like to think I raised you better than that.”

“She asked me if I was there sniffing around.Sniffing around like she was a piece of prime meat, and I was there to check her out.”Mom asked him why he’d gone there in the first place if it wasn’t to sniff her out.“Like you said, I was raised better than that.But now that I think about it, I suppose she was correct.All of us have been there under one ruse or another to see if she was our mate.I should have gone first, then she might not have been so upset with me.I’ll make it up to her.I’ll try and be nice when I go get her to talk to her.”

“Talk to her or at her?You know that there is a difference.”His mom sighed heavily, and again, he could taste her emotion.This time, it was disappointment.“Just be nice to her, Conri.This is all new to her as well.You have to realize that, don’t you?”

He found himself in the store parking lot again.This time, he was parked far enough away from the glass front so she wouldn’t be able to see him.Sniffing around, indeed.He’d come there with high hopes that his brother was wrong.He didn’t want another mate.Carol had been more than enough for him.

Conri thought about his first mate.It had been so long ago now that he could barely remember her face.And if not for the tintypes that he had of the two of them together, he might well have forgotten her long ago.But he’d never forget her betrayal, the way that she’d got with his father and robbed him of everything he could have hoped for in having a mate.Not to mention the pack that they’d taken money from.Thousands of dollars had been stolen from the pack and his family for them to get together after robbing them of everything they could put their hands on.And two hundred years hadn’t lessened the pain that he felt from thinking about all of it.

The pounding at his window had him jumping a little bit.It was Cassidy, and she looked fiery mad.He rolled down the window, and she shoved a paper bag at him.He was barely able to catch it before it fell in his lap.

“Your mother called.She said that you forgot to get her ice cream.You owe me five bucks.I’m charging you that much because that’s what it cost me to bring it out here to you.”She started away, and he was still holding the ice cream; the cold treat was freezing his hands.Before he could get his wits about him, she was already across the lot and into the store again.That’s when it occurred to him that she was beautiful.Not that he wanted her in his life any more than he did before, but the way she walked, really stomped across the lot, made him smile.Conri was losing his mind.

Going home, he handed the ice cream to his mom and asked her to give him some time.When she tsked at him, she left him in the front hall.Instead of following her to find out what he’d done now, he went to his office and started to work on the projects that he’d left too long without any closure.He really needed to get his head in the game.

When he was brought a cup of tea, his mother sat down across from him.She eyed him hard, and when he realized that both screens had gone dark and that he was no closer to getting anything done than he’d been when he came in here, he asked her what he was supposed to do.

“What do you mean?What are you supposed to do?You have a mate, son.You’re supposed to woo her or whatever they call it nowadays when a man finds the woman of his dreams.”He said he didn’t think she was going to be anything like his dreams had pictured.“This is because of Carol, isn’t it?You do know that she’s not her, don’t you?That she’s been dead longer than she’d been alive.Every woman that you meet isn’t her, Conri.You have to let the past go.”

“I don’t know that I can.To be honest with you, I never thought that I’d have to deal with a mate again.They’re demanding and—” She told him again that not all women were Carol.“I know that in my head, but my heart doesn’t have room for another person to hurt me.”

He’d never said that aloud before.He’d known it in his head that was the reason that he didn’t pursue women.It was hard for him to not judge other women by the way he’d been treated.Not only did she leave him for his father, but she had done it in such a public way that he’d been humiliated by it as well.And he still kept some of that in his head after all this time.

“I don’t know how to help you, son, if you’re not going to be willing to try.Yuri said that she’s nice and pretty.Said she’s also dealing with a looney family and that her dad just found out that he has a brain tumor that only gives him about a year to live.”He said that Yuri said that she’s strong-willed, too.“Oh, what does he know?I doubt any woman has ever said no to him.He’s too cute and charming to be out on his own.All I can say about any of you is that I’m glad that you’re wolves, or I’d have fifty or more grandchildren by who knows how many women.”

He laughed as she did.Yes, the way his younger brothers dated and slept around, it was a good thing that they couldn’t have kids with any women but with their mates.He himself usually found himself a shifter to…relax with.They understood that there was going to be nothing between them, and that was all it was, just sex.Of course, he didn’t tell his mom that.She’d embarrass him in some way.

After having his tea, he set to work.He really did have a lot to do, and he’d been putting things off thinking about having a mate in the woman at the store.It had been two weeks since Yuri had told them all about her, and they had each gone to see her that first few days.He’d been a fool to put it off and was feeling terrible about the way that he’d treated her this morning.

By dinner time, he was just finishing up the last file.He had five neat stacks of files that would be given to each of his brothers to follow up on.There were also two files that he had to turn back over to Yuri so that he could see what he could do about some investments that he’d been looking into.Yuri was fantastic at keeping them in money and investing in their future.All his brothers had good jobs, too.

He decided to see if he could get in touch with Cassidy and have dinner with her.He’d been thinking about how rude he’d been this morning and wanted to make it up to her.She should be off work by now, and he was going to see if Yuri had a phone number that he could use.He thought that she was living at the ranch where her parents lived but wasn’t sure.He’d been told she’d been asked to come back home.

That was something that he needed to be made aware of, too.Why was she living outside of the family home?He had heard about the sister demanding that Cassidy not date anyone until she gave her permission.Conri wondered what she’d say when he wanted nothing to do with her nor her term, “sloppy seconds.”Yuri had been slightly pissed about that and how the sister, Cynthia, had tried to get a date with him.That’s all he needed was a strange family to deal with.

Yuri not only gave him her cell phone number but also her address where she was living.Yes, she was at the big house, which they called the family home because her father had asked her to move back home.

“There’s something really odd going on there, Con.Like, I think the sister is extremely entitled, and the brother strikes me as a lazy fuck.”He asked him why he thought that when he came by the office to get the paperwork that he had for him.“Mr.Warmer, Howard said that Cassidy was the only one that he really cared for.And then, when we were leaving, he told her that she was going to be all right living at home again.I have a feeling that the sister and brother aren’t all that nice to their sister.And then last night, when she called me, she was upset but tried her best not to show it.Like something was said to her, and it hurt her heart.”

“You talk to her a lot?”He told him that she was his friend before she’d become his mate.“I didn’t mean anything like that.I’m just wondering how much you know about her that I don’t.”

“Not much, I’m betting.She’s very…I was going to say reserved, but that’s not it either.She’s very outspoken when she feels she needs to be.Last night, while we were talking—you do know that I have a connection with her, right?Anyway, while we were talking, her sister came to her door and was pounding on it.She told me she was demanding entrance so that she could see what she was doing.Since she wasn’t on her phone, she told her that she’d better not be setting anything up with anyone, or she’d find out.I have no idea why, but I have a feeling that she’s going to make it really difficult for the two of you to get to know each other.”Conri said it would be none of her business.“Maybe not, but that won’t stop her.And Cynthia has a one-set mind.She won’t take no for an answer either.”

When his brother left him, he decided to call her now in order to set up a time for them to get together.He didn’t know the family, so he didn’t feel the need to clear anything with them.Especially the sister.He’d deal with her, too, if it came to that.Picking up his cell phone, he dialed the number that he had.When she answered, he could tell that something had happened and asked her about it.

“Can I meet you in town?I’m assuming that you’re Conri Valley, right?”He said that he was and wanted to take her to dinner.“That would be fantastic.I’ll meet you in the parking lot at the store.I’m not dressed for anything fancy, so burgers would be great.I’ll see you in ten minutes.”

Then she hung up.It would take him that long to get there if he hurried and was out the door before telling anyone where he was headed.If his mom wanted him home, she’d contact him, and he’d tell her what he was doing.Whatever happened to Cassidy, he could tell that she was upset by the way she was tense with her words.He pulled into the lot just as she did.Before he could put his truck in park, she was coming toward him and got in with him.Whatever was going on, she burst into tears as soon as she was buckled into the seat.

Chapter 3

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