Page 6 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

“Around the cornfields to the other side. There’s a little nature trail leading to the beach.”

I nodded. “That’s a good one.”

“I was thinking about doing a swim competition.”

My interest piqued as we wandered into the cafeteria. A low thrum of conversation circulated us as we searched for a good table. These meetings didn’t usually last long, but I wanted a good spot where I would feel comfortable. Fred was lingering near the stage at the other end of the room. Our eyes locked.

He looked away. I tried to pretend it didn’t hurt, that after all these years of knowing him I wasn’t offended by him abruptly joining our pack and then avoiding the crap out of me. No, there were more important things to be offended about.

Like the fact that the snack table was already half empty. I grabbed a plate while keeping my arm looped with Faye’s. “Did someone really already go through the Oreos?”

“Blame the kids,” Faye joked. “I mean, can you blame them? Oreos are good.”

“Get me some of those chocolate cookies before they disappear.”

She grabbed two and placed them on the plate. “How about some cucumber sandwiches?”

“Nah, I want more carbs—grab some bagels, please?”

“You got it.”

We walked through the line connected at the arms, Faye collecting food while I held the plate. I nudged her softly. “Tell me about the competitive swimming thing.”

“You ever heard of cross-channel swimming?”

“Yeah, sure. People swim the English Channel all the time.”

She grinned. “That’s what I want to do.”

My heart sank. That was good for her, and I was glad for her. Yet I felt the disappointment gnawing at me like the hunger pangs in my tummy. I put on a smile and tugged her toward an empty table near the back of the cafeteria. It was the farthest away from the stage—and away from that awkward tension with Fred.

With the plate between us, I munched happily on a bagel, waiting patiently as the rest of the pack got sorted in their seats. After a few minutes, a hush fell over the room, and then our alphas walked onto the stage.

Blake held up a microphone. “Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. We’ve got a lot of announcements to cover today.”

Murmurs traveled through the crowd, mostly curiosities about the next mate pairings.

I rolled my eyes. It was such a weird tradition for such a forward-thinking alpha to keep around. Yet the man insisted he could hear people’s hearts calling for each other. His co-alpha made the same claim. The guys were already doing me a favor, so I didn’t want to judge them for their customs.

True love was different than mating, in my honest opinion, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud. So many people here were convinced that mates were a thing.

Tell that to my ex when he left me at the altar.

Yeah,nope. I wasn’t about to go there today. A few more bites of bagel satisfied my craving for carbs, and partially put my memories to rest. It was just one of those days, wasn’t it? Nothing a nice swim at the beach wouldn’t fix.

“You’re all eager for more pairings, I hear,” Blake joked, sending a wave of chuckles through the crowd. “I have more of them here.” He held up a card.

I snorted.Here we go.

Blake wore his dashing bad-boy grin. I couldn’t deny our Beaufort Creek alpha still had that dangerous charm about him. While his hunky appearance was attractive, I preferred slimmer muscular builds. It wasn’t like I was counting on finding that myself any time soon, but it was fine for me to dream.

Especially when those dreams took the place of my usual nightmares.

I nibbled on a chocolate chip cookie.

“Parker Owens and Clay Barker,” Blake announced. “Congrats on being mates.” Some applause broke out while Parker and Clay stood up to embrace.

Wow, it wasn’t like nobody had seen that coming. Those two had been spotted holding hands every chance they got while walking around the pack.

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