Page 4 of Dream Mates
Brennan gave me a hard look. “Start at the beginning. Because I still don’t know what the fuck is going on.”
I grabbed the bottle and refilled my glass, sitting down in a chair, pulling Evan to my lap.
“It wasn’t my whole life. Just seven years. I was twelve–it wasn’t that long after we’d moved to Rockland. I had a dream where I was sitting on a bench, drawing, in the park near my house on the Eastside–the same park that she was found at. Anyway, I went there a lot, so it wasn’t that weird to dream of it. There was this blond girl on the swings. She walked up to me and told me that she was going to marry me.” I closed my eyes, remembering. Her pink dress, her smile, her audacity.
Slowly, I told them everything. How night after night she came back. The adventures we had. How we confided in each other. How we slowly realized that we were both real, just in other worlds–and that we were in love. About the helplessness I felt when the trouble started and that bonding with her was one last act of desperation to keep her safe. That failing as an alpha to protect my mate had broken me so badly that I left my university and enlisted in the Army because I was afraid that if I didn’t do something drastic temporarily, that I would do something drastic permanently.
“So, you can imagine my thoughts, when years later, I walk into my living room, and see her sitting on the couch with Jett and Evan.” My hands fisted as I struggled to keep it together.
“That is really romantic, and sad.” Riley closed her laptop.
“How do you know that this is your Grace? I remember the pictures you drew of her, but how do we know that she’s yours if there are other worlds?” Brennan poured himself another drink.
“Unless there’s another Grace Ellington with my bite under her boob, I’m sure she’s mine. I just got her back and now she’s gone. She’s probably so scared. I’m a shitty alpha.” My headrested on Evan’s shoulder, and I tried to ground myself in his lemonade scent.
“You’re not a shitty alpha. You did everything you could. This is extenuating and all we can do is hope that they realize she’s not some world-hopping evil genius and let her come home to us.” Evan started to purr to calm me down.
Brennan shook his head and looked at Spencer. “You all believe this?”
“I knew from the moment I smelled her that she wasn’t from here,” Spencer replied.
“Fuck, that conversation in the kitchen.” Brennan rubbed his temples.
“Yeah, we didn’t tell Spence. He figured it out,” Evan said.
“She told me. Out of all of you she loves me best.” Riley checked her phone and stood just as there was a knock on the door.
We all froze.
“It’s just pizza. I’m still hungry. Evan, I got you garlic twists because you’re weird and don’t like pizza.” Riley got the pizza and put it on the coffee table, moving her laptop.
“Why didn’t you tell me where she was from? We’re not supposed to have secrets from each other. Especially one that can bring danger to the pack.” Hurt dripped from Brennan’s voice.
I leaned over and grabbed a slice of pizza, mostly because I needed something to do. “We were planning on it. We just hadn’t yet. Mostly because the trust between you and Grace isn’t there. You called a thug to scare her. You yelled at her over playing the piano. Also, you’re not familiar with the scientific theories behind parallel world travel like we are.”
“You put the pack in danger.” His voice rose. Jett put a hand on his arm, and he sighed. “But I understand her fear.”
“Her world is enough like ours that basic things are the same. Food, languages, motorcycles, math. But what’s that big difference you said?” Jett asked. “Because I can understand her when she speaks Mandarin even if the dialect is a little strange.”
“Her world lacks magic dicks.” Evan grabbed a garlic twist.
“What?” Jett laughed.
“Knots. That’s what she calls alpha knots,” Evan explained.
“Her world doesn’t have designations. At least not like ours–and no bonds,” I added. “Also, polyamory isn’t accepted as widely as it is here. Heterosexuality, not bi- and pansexuality, is the norm, and packs are a completely unfamiliar concept. Most families in her world have one or two parents. But yeah, that would be why she can ride a motorcycle and recitePito a million places but knows no popular songs or movies.”
Brennan’s brow furrowed as he took a piece of pizza. “She’s not even a gamma? What else did she lie about?”
“Sheisa gamma. She alsobondedwithus. I don’t know how it all works in her world, but you can check her medical record and see for yourself,” Evan explained as he grabbed a garlic twist.
“Grace really didn’t lie about anything. She doesn’t like lying. She was scant on details, but I think you can understand why. Bren, she was scared. I was just so fucking happy to have her back that I didn’t always pay attention to how weird everything must be for her and how afraid she was.” I should have. We were supposed to take care of each other.
“How do you know about this anyway, Spencer? The laws and Temporal Police?” Brennan asked.
“My father was engaged in research using qubits to map the fifth and sixth dimensions. He stumbled onto the existence of parallel worlds. I was there when the Temporal Police arrested him and his research partner and dragged them off for breaking interdimensional law. I was fourteen. I hid when I saw what was happening. I got out right before they exploded the supercollider to hide what had been found.” Spencer’s voice broke and he looked away.
“Spence,that’show your dad died? I knew it was a work accident, but fuck.” Evan got off my lap and joined Spencer, putting his arms around his best friend. He started to purr, the calmness coating us.
