Page 69 of He Claimed Her Heart

“Yes sir. Right away,”replied Drake as he bowed to Elder Reese before leaving to attend to the preparations of the gathering and giving me a quick glance.

“Reese, you didn’t have to be so mean to the boy, did you?He just wanted to talk to Bree,” scolded Bennett as we huddled up for our ‘family meeting.’

“He needs to sweat a little bit for leaving her unattended like he did. Ihave half a mind to give him some lashings for leaving her like he did. But I understand why he did what he did. Now, let’s get off that subject for now,” Uncle Reese was trying to say before dad interrupted him again.

“What do you mean, you understand what he did. Why did he leave her alone for two days? He left her unguarded, unprotected. She went searching to find out where everyone went. That’s not taking care of her. That’s abandoning her!” dad bellowed as he was getting more and more upset with Drake because of his lack of protection of me.

“Theo, will you please shut up and listen. I’m going to cover that. Bree,before you left your territory, Bennett gave Drake a briefing that your mother was roaming around near his territory. We told him to take extra precautions. At the first sighting of your mother, he had people step into action and put our plan into motion. He didn’t agree with some of the plan. Part of the plan was leaving you alone in the pack house unguarded and unprotected to see who would go after you. You spoiled that plan when you left the pack house. Why did you do that?” asked Uncle Reese in an exasperated voice.

“Well,it had been two days since anyone had checked on me. Two days of silence. I knew something was going on. I decided I needed to find out where everyone went. So, I put my tracking skills to work. I set out to find everyone and I did,” I replied as I shrugged my shoulders and had a frown on my face. “I didn’t know what was going on. I just knew everyone had disappeared. I needed to know why and if they were in trouble. Sorry if I ruined your plans Uncle Reese.” I finished saying with my head hung low and tears in my eyes.

“Don’t apologize Bree. We put you in that situation because we knew you would do exactly what you did. Investigate. Now, tell me why are you so sad? Is it your mother?” Uncle Reese speculated with sadness in his voice.

“No, it’s … it’s just …these past couple of months have been just too much. I feel like my life is like a soap opera you know the ones that Aunt Jenny used to watch. I feel like my life isn’t my life anymore. I wish I could go back to normal again, but I can’t. When we started this ‘dating’ thing, I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but my feelings seem to be the one that have gotten hurt. I just want it to be over with. Mother made dating non-existent for me, then you thrust me into dating by putting my name on this list. I have been overwhelmed,” I explained as I continued to look at the ground as if it was the most fascinating thing around.

“I know I should have asked you, but I thought since you lost your mate Andrewthis would help ease your pain. I guess I was wrong. Do you want to end all of this tonight? Because if you do, we can. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can tell you the choice has already been made for you which alpha has been chosen for you,” rejoiced Uncle Reese as he looked at me then at the rest of the family.

I just shook my head. I didn’t bother to raise it up. I just started walking with my family.“By the way, where are we going? My room was a guest room in Alpha Drake’s suite. Am I going there or am I going with you all?” I inquired as we continued to walk towards the training grounds.

“Just stick close to us my dear. Veronica and Millie are waiting for you. They will show you to a room where you will get ready for tonight.We want you to look good for your mate,” gushed Uncle Reese as he motioned me towards Millie and Veronica.

“Thank you, Uncle Reese. I guess I’ll see you all later then,” I mumbled as I followed Millie and Veronica to a room in the training grounds.

Veronica and Millie began to get me ready just like they did the night I went to Uncle Blaine’s pack for the ‘big’ surprise. I just let them do what they wanted. I didn’t object or say very much. They kept looking at each other unsure what to say or do because I’m usually not so demure. “Bree, you’re ready to put on your outfit. What do you think?” Veronica hesitated as she held up a pretty light blue casual dress with white flowers on it. It had a scoop neck. It was cute, but I just couldn’t get excited about wearing it.

“It’s nice. Thank you,” I replied as I slipped it on. I was told to wear my light blue low-heeled pumps with it. Okay. Whatever! I just wanted this evening to be over and done with. They had already chosen my mate. So why did I have to go through this process if they were going to choose for me? I felt defeated. I knew that when they came to get me, I had to put a happy face regardless if I felt that way.

“Thank you,Veronica, and Millie, for helping me get ready. Now, go and have fun yourselves,” I insisted as I waited for someone to come escort me.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Veronica answered the door to find Tom on the other side looking very dapper in his business casual outfit.He was a little bit more upbeat than the last time I saw him. “Hey sis. You look stunning as always,” Tom announced as he kissed me on the cheek and gave a hug. “Chin up. I hope you have fun tonight. You deserve a little fun.”

“Yeah, like you don’t deserve a little fun yourself. You look good yourself.Thank you for escorting me Tom,” I cooed as I kissed him on the cheek.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re two peas in a pod.Now, let’s get out there, everyone’s waiting for us. Are you ready to know which one is your mate?” Tom tried to tease me as we were walking to the large gathering.

“Yes and no. If they were going to choose for me, why did they put me through this dating mess to begin with? Ugh.Okay, I’ll shut up now. Let’s just try to have fun. Hmm?” I chuckled as Tom guided us through crowds of wolves towards our family.

“Have fun? Us? Sure. We can try. Will you dance with the group if the playThe Loco-Motionby Grand Funk Railroad?” Tom shamelessly asked me with that wolfish grin on his face.

“As long as you don’t care which way I ‘swing my hips now.’ I will dance with the group.” I replied while giggling.

We arrivedatour family table while I was still giggling which made my father and uncles very happy. “Why is Bree giggling?”dad noted with a huge grin on his face.

“I managed to convince her to dance with me if the DJ playsThe Loco-Motionas long as I don’t make comments about how she swings her hips,” Tom announced as everyone started howling with laughter. It was the family joke that I could never dance properly to the song. I always swung my hips the wrong way. Ha, ha very funny.

“Whatever!As long as I enjoy myself, so be it,” I exclaimed as I sat down next to dad who was still howling with laughter.

The laughter caught the attention of a lot of wolves. They stopped what they were doing to watch what we were doing. Especially since our tablehad a Council Elder, Three Alphas, and a Beta. “What?!” Roared Uncle Reese to everyone who was watching us. “We are all having a good laugh. Go about your business. We will call for your attention momentarily. Thank you.”

CHAPTER 14

My New Mate

Now that the packs have arrived and everyone have become situated, it was time to begin the Bar-B-Q. Uncle Reese called for everyone’s attention. He told everyone to eat, have fun, and enjoy themselves. We would have a formal presentation in about an hour and a half to announce the mating pairs. If you were an unmated wolf, please feel free to go search for your mate.

Excitement hung in the air as male and female wolves roamed around the training grounds in search of their mates. Every so often, you would hear, “Mate!” followed by howls of joy.

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