We were all at River Ash Pack. Here to say our goodbyes to Uncle Trent, and, of course, to represent our pack, as well as being there for our friends. Uncle Trent was not blood related to the majority of us, but through Aunt Lilah he had become like an additional Grandpa, and spoiled us all on our many visits to River Ash over the years.Aria was heartbroken. Her Mum was incredibly close to Aunt Lilah’s family, so she spent a lot of time with Uncle Trent and Aunt Sadie over the years, so I knew this was hurting her, especially today, and I knew I wanted to be there for her. Almost like a test for me of being a good mate, I suppose... And, the moment we had stepped out of our family cars, I had found her. She fell into my embrace the instant she saw me, and her Dad smiled on affectionately as she did.The two of us had barely been apart since the day she had told me the news we were mates, and now our close family knew, and had not been shocked nor reacted in a negative way at all. If
I knew Isabella’s Grandpa, Mateo, was quite old-fashioned. And very blunt in his words. In fact, on many occasions, I have to say I had found him quite amusing, especially after he had had a few drinks. Uncle Gabe was nothing like his Dad in that regard, I don’t think. Maybe in the way that they both had a seriously unique sense of humor, but anything more than that, then no. But right now, I was not finding Mateo funny. Far from it. His words were cutting. Harsh. And I could see the fear in Isabella’s eyes. Not to mention the pain and the upset. This was exactly what she had been fearing, and despite all my reassurances, it was happening...I was lucky when it came to my family. I knew that. They were incredibly open and understanding. And when I spoke to them about my sexuality they had not so much raised an eyebrow. They simply smiled, and told me whatever made me happy was good with them. That was what my Mum and Dad were like. My grandparents too. Don’t get me wrong, while they
I walked out of the packhouse with a sense of dread. I had already delayed leaving the room I had been allocated, knowing today was going to be difficult for us all. But, I knew more than anything it would be hard for Cleo. I had reached out to her numerous times, but had heard nothing, and that made my heart ache. There was not a day that had gone by in recent years when the two of us had not messaged, and usually spent time chatting of an evening. It had become a part of my routine almost, and I assumed a part of hers. So it pained me she was avoiding me and my calls and messages. That in itself told me something was wrong, and when she would not even answer my mindlink attempts, it concerned me...I tried everything I could to think logically, but my mind was working overtime. This was not like Cleo at all and I knew something was not right. A small part of me could not help but question if it was to do with Landon. Of course I did, but, then, at the same time, I knew her family ne
My head had not been right since leaving Lunar River. I hated that Bella would not consider all that I could offer. But it seemed she deemed herself trapped. Trapped to make a commitment to the Alpha there, and that commitment meant I would lose my fated. I had done my best since arriving back at River Ash to be there for my family as we made the final preparations for my Grandpa’s funeral. But as terrible as it sounds, my heart was not in it, and neither was my head. I was there in person but not in mind or soul.I had taken my Dad to one side, and explained my situation. He, understandably, was shocked, and I could see the pain he felt for me just by the look within his eyes. But, as much as I wanted him to be ready to throw everything down to fight for me... to go and get me my fated mate, he had smiled sadly at me, and told me I could not force a she-wolf to be with me if she did not want it. And as much as it hurt to admit, I knew that he was right.My Dad knew what he was talkin
I stood by my Grandpa and Grandma, next to the casket of our former pack Beta, and the loss hit me hard. I had already said my goodbye when I had visited him in the hospital, but this made it all seem more real. The pack was hectic, filled with our own pack members and visiting members from other packs here to celebrate the life of Trent Patterson. A truly wonderful man. And, the thing that struck me the most was this man was of the same age as my grandfather. Time was promised to no one.It hurts to think that their lives could so easily end. Nobody had expected the loss of Uncle Trent, despite him being ill, we had assumed he would heal... I guess I was naive to think of them all as being indestructible, even at my age. But this had made me realize that they weren't. That we had to let them go at some point, which terrified me. Of course, I had lost my parents, but I did not know either of them, so had never truly felt their loss. But this, this man, was like family to me, and it w
Hearing the pained sobs of both my Mum and my Grandma was too much. My body was shivering, not from the cold, more from upset I think, but despite my brother and my Dad being sat to the side of me, it was Landon who reached for my hand. His hand enveloped mine in a warm embrace, sending my heart into meltdown. The most unexpected of gestures…Terra made a noise somewhere between a purr and a whimper at the touch of our fated mate. Instantly I felt my wolf pick up. I feared her hopes were instantly boosted by the fact he had reached out and held our hand when he had seen us struggling. I, too, was leaning toward my hopes rocketing through the roof but was trying valiantly to fight allowing that to happen. Trying to tell myself that he was battling with the matebond. Instinct would make him want to support us. Protect us. All things the matebond enforced. This was not the natural actions of Landon, I reminded myself.But as I met his gaze, his eyes looked back at me with a warmth that m
I sat through the many people speaking. Listening was not one of my stronger skills, I have to admit, and my eyes were beginning to wander. I could see Grandma was struggling, but I had expected nothing more. Aunt Talia was by her side, where she had been so frequently since we had arrived.Mum was snuggled into the side of my Dad having done her speech, and from where I sat it was hard to say if she had now succumbed to her tears. I have to say, I was proud of her, she had kept her composure while standing in front of her former pack and said everything she had wanted to in memory of her Dad. I think Grandpa would have been proud too, and I hope Mum knew that.Well, in truth, I think Grandpa would think this was all far too much fuss, and he would hate seeing his mate and his family crying because of him. But, that aside, he would be dissing the over-the-top decorations, not to mention the amount of people that were attending. He had always hated a f
The service had ended and people were now mingling. Grandpa’s casket was laid where we had placed it within the gazebo, so he was able to join in with one last party with his pack, though not in the sense we would have liked, of course. But, this was a party in his memory, and remembering him was exactly what everyone was doing. Hearing so many stories of him only left me smiling as I stood with my family.Cleo was acting all coy, and avoiding any conversation with me, especially now Landon seemed to have vanished into thin air. I would get to the bottom of their weirdness. I swear if I found that he had hit on my sister, upcoming Alpha or not, I would kick his sorry ass… I may have to get my brother to help, but I would make sure he regretted going near Cleo. I had Alpha blood, but I was still likely no match for Landon. That guy was a beast. I had trained with him enough to know that.Daxton had strolled over from his family to join me, and I was glad of someone to talk to, as conv
An unexpected business meeting overseas was not what I had needed, but I had done as my father had asked, and I had attended. Now I could not wait to return home. I just needed to survive the hassle of a long-haul flight. Thankfully, we had managed to get me an earlier flight home than the original one I had planned, as the pack I had visited was an absolute hellhole and I did not want to stay there longer than necessary. As soon as all the meetings were held, I was out of there as fast as my feet could carry me...I had rushed through the airport, running late as I so often did, and got to the gate at the very last minute. I am sure the flight attendants must love people like me who had a tendency to hold the flights up as they waited for me. But I showed them my boarding pass and rushed down the aisle to where my seat number should be.I was in the aisle seat, it seemed, but there was a bag already sitting there, and I was ready to snap, not needing
Our time visiting our family had been wonderful as always, but this time it held a lingering shadow that hung heavy over me. Knowing that when we left for home, Sergio would not be returning with us, and it simply did not feel right. I knew the reasons why, and I think it was such a noble thing for him to have offered to do for his mate, but I still felt like it was wrong. But we had spoken this over many times with our parents, and they surprised me by being fully supportive of his decision. They wanted their son to be happy, and they, understandably, respected Tatiana’s need to stay and assist in the care of her mother.When there had been the family meeting, between my grandparents, my uncle, us, Tatiana and her father, and my parents on video call, everything was discussed in detail, and Tatiana was very quiet, like she was reluctant to admit she wanted this, or she did not wish to seem it was her that pushing for it. I knew that Sergio was already smitten by his mate and would d
My body froze as my Mum’s words registered. A cold chill spread over my body. This was not what I wanted to happen. ‘Mami, no.’ I mindlinked her, only to find the link blocked once again. She was determined. She wanted revenge on the man standing next to us.“Erm, I do believe I have things to do, actually, Mrs…” Luka began, but my Dad stood up suddenly, interrupting him, gripping him by the front of his shirt, and Luka’s face was swiftly pale.“I think you had come here for a reason, so you had some free time, and that free time is about to be used to chat to us. Or more specifically me.” My Dad snarled, telling me that my Mum had already broken my trust and told him everything that she knew.Dad maneuvered Luka to the seat he had moments ago stood from and sat him down, maybe a little forcibly, while Alexis stood to grab another table from a nearby table for my Dad. I was trembling by this point, so aware of the curious gazes that were coming our way. I think it would be hard for t
The call had taken me by surprise, but who was I to turn away the opportunity to make things official with Liliana and meet her family? Her Mother had somehow learned of our matebond and decided that they would call into the campus on their return to their pack and meet me. I was not about to turn down the chance, for I knew that this could bring the time closer that my mate and I would be together. I just had to face the daunting prospect of her father first…And from everything Liliana had warned me, he sounded fearsome. Protective, as a father should be. My father was not like that. So I did not understand that, but I had witnessed it from friends within pack…And now, here I was sitting opposite the man who was warning me that if I hurt his daughter he would kill me… I liked to think he was joking, but the look within his eyes told me not to be so sure. He was every bit the fearsome warrior Liliana had described. I could understand why he was as respected as he was within the pac
I stepped ut of the car to join my Mum, but before I had the opportunity to say anything, my Dad had joined us. He smiled down at my Mum with the affection and care he forever had for her. “So, mysterious girl, what is the big secret?” he asked, and my Mum grinned up at him.“You are weird, do you know that, Guapo?” she tapped him lightly on the nose. “You will see soon enough.”And with that she gave me a knowing look, with one brow raised, like she expected me to know what she was referring to, before we began walking toward one of the coffee shops on campus.‘Mum?’ I mindlnked, but found her link blocked, just as I had done to her earlier. She was playing me at my own game, much as she had done many times when I was growing up. She used to tell me when I had gone to her, angry about her not replying to my mindlinks, that two can play at that game, and it soon stopped me putting the block on my mindlink to her half as often as I had done. I think it had worked equally well with Isab
Our day at River Ash had come to an end. A difficult day for so many. We had said our goodbyes and were headed to the cars. My Mum had decided to fix the cars home so that ours was just me, her and my Dad. I knew what she was about to do, and I did not know that I was ready for that. Isabella had headed off with Aria, and her family, which was unsurprising, they loved her even more since they discovered the two of them were fated. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Aunt Indie loved us all like we were her own children, but she was beyond happy to discover Aria had been fated for my sister, and I have to say I was happy too.I knew she would be cared for and have that support from them that she needed as well as from us. Jorge was staying with some of the guys to help clear up. They likely didn’t need to as River Ash would have warriors, and other pack members arranged to do it, but some of our younger warrior team decided to do the decent thing and hang back to help. Jorge being one. Ever th
I went from feeling good about everything to my whole body tensing in a matter of seconds the moment my wolf picked up on the scent of our mate. The scent that was so beautiful. Alluring… tempting… yet a scent that was able to make my heart feel like it wanted to shatter into a thousand pieces. I knew without raising my eyes that Cleo had to be on her way up here to see her father.It would not be me she had come to see. There would be no reason. But, I raised my eyes all the same, unable to resist the temptation, and Dex became excited, knowing she was close. My heart rate increased instantly, and my grandfather gave me a knowing smile. ‘Have you decided yet?’ he questioned, and I simply shrugged.‘Lan.’ He sighed. ‘What do you think that man next to you would say if he knew? The faith he holds in you. It took all the strength within me to hold myself back from telling him the additional connection our fami
The day had been a long one, and I had spent a lot of time with my friends, and my aunts and my mum. So many people had come and spoken to me, offering their condolences, many of whom I did not know in the slightest. But, I did as was expected of me and smiled, nodding in agreement, thanking them for their kindness. Wishing I could return home now. I did not want to be here any longer, surrounded by the reminder of the loss of my grandfather. I think it was beginning to hit me harder than ever.“Come on CC, let us go and find your Dad, we will be heading home, I think.” Mum spoke, alongside my Grandma.I looked towards her with confusion. While I would love nothing more than to curl up to hide within the comfort of my own bed, I had assumed we would be staying with my Grandma for a few days still. There were still things to be done. “We aren’t staying with Grandma again?” I asked.Mum stood a little straighter, like she was struggling with things a little and was preparing herself to
Today had gone as well as a funeral and a memorial service could be expected to go. Everyone had been respectful, and the patrols were going well, so the pack was well guarded. We had had no issues with visitors from outside packs, not that we had expected any. Beta Trent was well respected, and they were all here to pay their respects and say goodbye to a good man. As we all were.After that brief moment we had shared in our seats, I had barely seen Cleo. In truth, I didn't know how I felt about that, but she had been swept up in time with her family and her friends, I had assumed, and time with them was likely what she needed right now. Time with me was not. I did not need to mess with her mind any more than I already had. She needed this time with her family.I had said what I needed to, to Daxton and Kaleb, and I hoped they would do me the honor of joining me here to run the pack when I took over as Alpha in the near future. I was in no rush for an answer from them, but I could no