Page 52 of Leave Me
“Good.” She pulled back with tears glinting in her eyes, but I only sensed joy from her. She hadn’t found her mate in my sperm donor, but Mom was happy for me.
“So you finally figured out you were meant to be together?” Rel asked, a grin stretching his face when I turned to find him leaning against the back of the leather couch.
“Took you long enough,” Channing added.
Fowler scrunched his brow. “What do you mean? I was only home a couple of days before Riley…presented.”
Glad he hadn’t said heat, I had a guess where the others were going with their point. If we were fated mates, we were always meant to be together. Neither of us had been ready when we were teens, even if I’d been in love with him all this time.
“You’re even more oblivious than I was when I met your grandma,” Gramps cut in, rolling to stop between us. “And even I didn’t take half my life to figure it out.”
“Wow. Guess we were idiots,” Fowler conceded, pulling me closer to nuzzle my mating mark. It was healed over and would only look like afaint scar to non-shifters, but to us, it shone like a beacon stating our bond.
“Duh,” Channing concluded with an eye roll. Everyone joined in with their own taunts at how obvious we were, including Hudson, who’d known Fowler for years.
“I’ve always been in love with you,” I pointed out, turning in Fowler’s arms to embrace him and meet his brown eyes. He’d explained my wolf’s eyes matched his, since we were mated, but they were matched before the bite. “Fate knew we were inevitable.”
“Gross,” Channing faked gagging, and everyone laughed. “I’m going to heat up dinner. Come help me, Patty, so we’re spared the details?” she asked my mom, who gave me a smile and left the room with Channing.
“Where are Ricky and Uncle Clark?” Fowler asked, and I finally noticed they were missing. “I would think Ricky would want a front-row seat to my roast?”
“He’s making sure Clark rests,” Gramps explained.
Fowler dropped my arms, and a rumble resonated from his chest. The Alpha was coming out to play. “Is he all right? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Easy, boss,” Rel teased, stifling his laugh. “His wounds healed, but Ricky insisted on making sure Clark didn’t push himself until you were out of your love nest.”
“Eww,” Channing’s complaint reached us, and we all laughed. Teenagers. Wait until she falls in love…
We all made our way into the side of the house with the kitchen and dining room, where the men helped finish warming dinner and setting the table before we all dug in. I was excited to eat a full meal after days of snacks and sex had depleted me, but I was also warmed by those who surrounded me.
My mate sat at the head of the table opposite his Gramps, with me on his left and Rel to his right. It just felt right somehow, and even more so when Ricky and Clark joined us.
The people around the table hadn’t always felt like mine; two of them I’d only met that day, but I knew they were family. Whether through my bond with Fowler, my awakened shifter genes, or fate, I was settled.
While I’d spent most of my life feeling like an outsider—related to shifters but not one of them—I finally belonged.
It took Fowler leaving me behind, along with his birthright, but we were back where we were meant to be. I’d told my mom I was happy, and I’d meant it.
Looking at my mate, my best friend, I found him already gazing at me. Through our mate bond, I felt his love for me, and how his feeling of belonging was reflected. Fowler left Blue Lake to be true to himself. Now, he was back to be the pack Alpha, with me by his side.
Exactly where he was always meant to be.
Epilogue
Walking across the street from Mortorvated, I noted how the trees were still full of greenery over the marina, despite the impending fall chill in the air. I found myself looking forward to seeing the changes with the seasons, along with the more human-based changes in Blue Lake.
My back pocket buzzed, and I pulled it out to find a text from Hudson, complaining about his interviews for my replacement. I’d been going to the city every other week all summer to finish up the projects I had outstanding. But in taking over my father’s place as a mechanic and fabricator at Motorvated, I sold him my half of Wolf Seal Customs in San Francisco.
Hudson Bradley
These folx are practically children.
Chuckling, I shot back a reply about how I was only twenty-three when we opened the business. Tacking on ‘old man’ at the end was fun, since he was on the closer end to forty than thirty.
As expected, he immediately called me to bitch, but I sent it to voicemail. I could catch up with my friend later. There was someone more pressing who drew all my attention.
In the window of the new café on the marina was my mate.
