Page 36 of Knotty New Year

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“I didn’t like him for you at first,” Mom said softly the next day. She and Dad had called in sick to work. Mom said it was to support me. Dad said he was afraid he’d go on a rampage and kill everyone who’d seen my nearly-bare ass on the internet. Apparently, one of his co-workers had forwarded him a link asking if I’d really been abducted. My aunt had sent a “thoughts and prayers” email letting him know her whole church was praying for me to find Jesus, or a more appropriate wardrobe, or both.

He’d literally deleted her number off his phone.

Honestly, none of us could get out of the driveway since paparazzi had surrounded our house. It wasn’t a fancy gated subdivision like Soleil lived in—though she’d texted from St. Croix and said her parents had invited us to hole up there—so we’d had to close all the blinds and curtains.

Mom rubbed my shoulders gently. “The first time he made you cry, I wanted to smack him. This time, it’s your turn to reach out, honey. You claimed him right back, and that means you’re going to be together forever. Talk it out, explain how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. Spend time—”

“How?” I asked, my voice raspy. “He’s busy with work, and I’m trying to be understanding. But he doesn’t let me in. He won’t talk to me about it, just says the most annoying shit about young omegasbeing emotional!” My sentence ended on a screech, and Mom raised one eyebrow. “Okay, and also this stupid mate mark has turned me into a nutcase. I’m just… not sure he even wants me.”

“He gave you his mother’s ring, Candy,” she said softly.

“Well, he didn’t tell his friends or colleagues about me. He doesn’t want to marry me until I’m older, or maybe better at something. The ring doesn’t even fit.”

It didn’t. It was so easy to take off, and I did that now. But then I put it right back on.

A horn honked outside, and I heard shouts from the press at the same moment Mom’s phone rang. I’d turned mine off, since the press had somehow gotten my number.

Mom answered and spoke softly to whoever it was. When she hung up, she hugged me, then grabbed the suitcases I’d packed and carried them to the side door, by the garage.

“Pax’s siblings have invited you to go to Colorado today. If the press dies down, your dad and I will stay home. If not, he’ll put us up in the Four Seasons Mid-Georgetown.”

“I don’t want to go. They’ll hate me. They’ll have seen the stories…”

“They’ll understand. They know their brother, and they will love you when they meet you. Everyone does. Be brave, sweetheart. I’ll see you in a week, okay?”

Dad came out of the living room just in time to add, “And if you need us sooner, all you have to do is call. You’re still our baby, you know.”

Tears, hugs, and an extremely burly Alpha guard and driver—both obviously dosed with a lot of scent blockers—filled the next few moments.

And then I was on my way. Alone again.

I scratched the mate mark at my neck until it bled, then pressed a cloth to it in the overheated limousine all the way to the private airstrip.

Chapter16

Pax

Idon’t want to be your true mate, Nicholas Paxson!

The words Candy had shouted at me echoed like the tolling of a funeral bell as I sat in my office, alone.

Well, not really alone. My phone kept me company with its persistent buzzing. I turned it to silent and scrolled down the numbers and texts, hoping to see one from her.

Then realizing I wouldn’t. My number was protected, but hers wouldn’t be. I shot a text to my PA Theodore, asking him to make sure a new secure phone was sent to Telluride as soon as possible. I tried to think of anything else I could do to keep Candy safe, but nothing came to mind. Storm Securities had a full contingent of security at her parents’ house now, though they had their hands full.

Of course, she hadn’t been protected in that club. A chill rushed through me as I thought of what could have happened if anyone had known. They could have taken her, hurt her… and I would have been to blame.

I don’t want to be your true mate, Nicholas Paxson!

They said the truth hurt, but I hadn’t known it could cut as painfully as a knife, right into my soul. Of course she didn’t want me. I hadn’t intended to claim her for this very reason. Candy wanted what any young woman would. Nights at clubs like that one, dancing, and fun. A man who had time for that sort of thing, no responsibilities.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stopped working for long enough to have fun. No, I could.

It was when the snowstorm had locked my mate in this house with me, and she’d welcomed me into her improvised nest, forcing me to see what had been missing. Joy. Passion. Another word lingered in the back of my mind, but I refused to think it.

Love wasn’t something that came easily to someone like me. But with her, it had seemed like it might appear more quickly than I’d ever thought possible.

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