Page 51 of Resisting Fate

“She’s a special one. I could see why it hurt you to lose her,” she says while smiling at me.

I nod my head at her words. “Yeah, she really is. I’m crazy about her.”

When she doesn’t say anything, I look over at her. “How’s it going since you are on this side?”

She blows out a breath and seems to think about my words for a minute. “Well, it’s weird you know. I don’t have to spend every moment worried about fighting for my life if I came across a feral that was hostile, but sleep is still harder to come by since I’m not on the ground or in the trees. I’m sure that it’s something that will only take time. I’m not ready to see a whole lot of people, and I don’t even know what I should do with my life.”

“You know that there is no rush, right? You don’t have to have it all figured out right away. Those apartments aren’t charging anyone for rent or food. That’s all included from the pack funds, and those aren’t going to dry up anytime soon. You will know what you want to do when you see it. Heck, I’m sure that if you wanted to you could even start helping Scott with training. You might be good at that, since you spent more time than anyone defending yourself against feral shifters,” I say out loud while realising that it’s not a bad idea at all. She could help a lot of people.

Her eyes light up at the idea. “I think that I could actually do that, and it would keep me busy, so I don’t go crazy with boredom,” she states.

“So, Max talked to me,” I say with a grin.

She rolls her eyes at the expression on my face. “I don’t know how to deal with all of that on top of everything else. He isn’t rushing me or trying to force me to mate him right away, so I take that as a good sign.”

“He’s a good guy,” I say before letting out a laugh. “I wouldn’t have said that months ago. He and my mate were attached at the hip, but I think my dislike of him stemmed from them being close and him liking my mate. They had both hoped to mate one another, but that didn’t work out in the end. Which is good for me.”

“Why didn’t they just become chosen mates?” she asks curiously.

“That’s simple. He didn’t want to chance finding his fated mate and feeling the pull strong enough to leave Hailey and break her heart. He had wanted to find his fated mate. He was wanting what his parents had, since he saw from observing them how strong the connection is,” I tell her.

“That makes sense. You don’t think he would want me to be like her, do you?” she asks hesitantly.

I shake my head. “No way. He doesn’t want to find someone to replace her. I’m sure that once you get to know each other, you will see that. There was a time I wondered if Hailey wished I was him, but we spent a lot of time getting to know one another, and now I believe she wants me for who I am. You just need to give it time. There is no way he would rush you into anything. He might not know your story, but he probably figured you have gone through so much that you just need time.”

“I hope you are right,” she replies thoughtfully.

We talk for a bit before she leaves. I tidy up before heading out as planned to see Ryker.

I can see Willow becoming a friend. I could always use more friends.

Hailey

I smile as all the pack kids run around out behind the apartments. Lots of members are there to watch over them.

The women are still a bit sketchy about everything, but that’s to be expected, all things considered.

I don’t think I know half of the things they have all been through.

“I still can’t believe this is all real,” one woman named Becca says.

I look at her curiously. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, look at everything. I haven’t seen the kids look happy and just be kids before. I didn’t realise how much I ached for this. We can actually eat food without waiting for the men to eat, and we never starve. A lot of the time, the men would eat all the food and left nothing for us but scraps. A few more weeks of food like this and I will finally not see my ribs anymore,” she says, pulling at the hoodie she’s wearing.

I frown at her words. “You guys got dealt a shitty hand. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I wouldn’t wish that kind of life on anyone, but the people in this pack won’t treat you that way. I even knew that before I became part of the pack.”

“When did you become part of this pack? You walk around here like you grew up in this pack,” she asks me curiously.

“Well, I wasn’t born a shifter like you. I actually died when Penelope changed me. Once I was a shifter, I healed very quickly. I knew most of the pack members from school. I had always known about shifters, so it wasn’t like I didn’t know before I got changed,” I say when her eyes go wide. I take a look at the other women who are all wearing similar expressions.

Penelope smiles softly at me.

“Wait, how did she change you? That’s never happened before,” a woman asks, looking excited.

“I just felt this draw and pull. My wolf knew what to do. White wolves are born with abilities and that just happened to be mine. It worked out perfectly, and it saved my friends life,” Penelope says modestly.

“That’s pretty amazing. I’m glad it all worked out,” Becca says.

---