Page 9 of The Pack Next Door
“Coming,” I said.
But Mads kept on grinning, as if he could hear every single word.
“Ohh…”Mum paused on the front step, and when I saw her expression, I wish I had pushed harder to mow the lawn. Her hand wavered as it went to her lips. The grass was still matted with clippings, but… You could see the bones of her garden, revealed again by Mads’ hard work. “You did this?”
She stared at him, uncomprehending.
“Maggie, is it?” he asked, sketching a funny little bow. “Maddox Whitlock, at your service.”
He had to stand there and charm the socks of my mother. That shirt of his, it had to stick to that broad chest, the dark fabric revealing every muscle. He had to be too tall, too big, too?—
“This is too much,” I muttered to myself.
“Not enough, the way I see it.” Mads held out his arm, then escorted my mother over to the front fence. “I figured me and my brother could come by tomorrow and weed the garden beds. Maybe replant the rose bushes, then fix the creaky gate?”
“Oh, that would be lovely.”
Mum clung to that muscular arm like it was a lifeline.
“You’re very energetic,” I said, and in my mind, that came out a million times less bitchy.
“Just like helping people,” Mads said with a wink. “I especially like seeing you blush.”
“I’m not blushing,” I growled, right as I felt my cheeks burn. Mum and Mads seemed fascinated by the process.
“All this hard work…” She gestured at the front garden. “We need to invite Maddox in for some tea.” Her eyes met his. “I make the best scones in town, and Briar’s are second best.”
“Mum…” I shot her a meaningful look. “We need to get you to the doctor.”
She was going to protest, but Mads came to my rescue.
“I better keep going so it’ll all be done by the time you come home, but…” Those grey eyes found mine over the top of my mother’s head. The twinkle made clear I would not like what he proposed. “Perhaps the two of you could come by tomorrow evening and have dinner with my brothers?”
“We—” I started to say.
“Would love to.” Mum patted his arm before pulling away. “We can discuss which roses to put in the garden. Some of them are pretty but awfully susceptible to black spot.”
“Can’t wait.”
That smile made clear that flowers were the furthest thing from his mind. I shook my head and then yanked open the front gate.
“OK, so we better get going. I haven’t driven your beast of a car since I first learned how to drive,” I said, walking through it in the vain hope Mum would follow me.
“She bunny hopped all the way up main street the first time she tried,” my mother, the traitor, informed Mads. “Hopefully she won’t have a repeat performance today!”
My mother and the alpha next door seemed to be having an awesome time, but I just grit my teeth as she hobbled over to the car. One dark look made clear that she was not going to drive. When we got in and I reversed out, I felt eyes on me, and they weren’t my mother’s. She was telling me about the different rose cultivars. Instead, Mads stepped up to the gate, then shot me a little salute as I drove past.
“I like Maddox,”Mum announced as we turned down the main street without even a little bunny hop. “An alpha like him…” Her eyes were burning into the side of my face. “He’d be the perfect mate for you, Briar.”
Trouble was, I wasn’t the perfect mate for any alpha.
“Not looking for a pack, Mum,” I said as I flicked the indicator so we could turn into the doctor’s surgery car park. “Just want to look after you.”
“I’m your mother.” I turned around to see her staring intently at me. “I look after you, not the other way around.” My hand slid over, grabbing hers tight, and I tried really hard not to feel the way the bones pushed through paper-thin skin. “And I just want to see you happy.”
I thought of the first month I could afford to pay myself a wage from the business. The first time I saw my website after an actual designer had redesigned it. The moment when I met Emma and Seb, knowing that I’d employ them until they were sick of my shit. That time we did a pop-up shop in a busy shopping centre at Christmas and sold out of everything on the first day. Drinks with my friend, Candy, as she regaled me with her crazy tales. Buying my own home, only to turn it into one massive omega nest. I smiled at my mother, feeling everything she described and yet not knowing how to talk about it with her.
“If you were mated to a nice pack of alphas, I could die happy,” she said.
