They’d have a rough time accepting that I was taking a mate, if history was anything to go off of. We’d had discussions about the necessity of better reactions in the years since Kai met his mate, so I was pretty sure most of them would handle it just fine.
Minus Finn, possibly.
I’d deal with him, though.
Abby told me about her parents and younger sister on the drive home. Her younger sister was the golden child and had always been treated much better, so Abby had distanced herself from her family when she went to college. More, after she became a professor. She loved them, but she didn’t ever plan to be close with any of them.
I could understand that. I was the same way with my dad, though I did still visit my grandparents a few times a month.
When we turned down the dirt road that would eventually reach my pack’s land, I couldn’t help but tense a little.
This was where she might change her mind about staying with me.
My life was far from her ideal, even if I thought it was fucking perfect.
I’d never considered how a woman could fit into it. Or how I could fit into a woman’s life. Some things were going to have to change for both of us, because I wasn’t going to let her go.
“There’s a lot of dirt out here,” Abby said, grimacing as she peered back at the cloud following her little car.
We’d never bothered to pave the road out to the pack’s land.
Everyone voted on it and decided to put the money toward something else. According to Finn, the long, dusty driveadded to the pack’s immersive wild vibes.
Silently, I tried to recall the price on the quote we’d been given a few years back.
If paving the road would make my mate more comfortable living at my place half the time—or more—I’d find the money.
“My house is dirt-free,” I said, hoping that would ease her nerves.
The look on her face said it didn’t.
Maybe she would feel differently when she saw it. Not the dirt, but the cabin. It was fairly new and had a killer view. It was alsofar enough away from my packmates’ houses that we would have privacy.
Then again, she was still worried I might murder her. Which didn’t exactly bode well for my chance of winning her over.
Not knowing anything about romance, relationships, or love didn’t help that either.
“Are your friends—err, packmates—going to hate me?” she asked, still staring out the window. “If most of them were rejected by women, I’d imagine they’re at least a little wounded. If not sexist.”
“Some of them used to hate women, but it’s been more than five years since the last one of us was rejected, and much longer for most. The wounds still sting, but they’ve faded. Coaching mated women to find peace with their wolves forced most of them to deal with their inner demons, except Finn. And kind of Wyatt.”
“So Finn and Wyatt are going to hate me?”
“Hate is a strong word.”
She flashed me a look. “Tell me the truth, Nico.”
“They’ll probably avoid you, to be honest. Their mates did a number on them. Finn’s in particular.”
“Was she the one who was engaged?”
“No, that was Connor’s.”
“There are so many of them. It’s going to be hard to remember who’s who until I meet them all.”
“You’ll get it down.” After a moment of hesitation, I set my hand on her thigh and squeezed lightly.
Her hand landed on top of mine, small and warm.
