Thomas struggled to plan. His mind, however, made other plans. It decidedly wanted to stay firmly in the past and run rings around the memories of the last meeting with Asia. It was a frustrating struggle. He now ran through these memories, but this time he struggled with second guessing himself and his life choices. Yes, they were mates, however, they’d not spent enough time together to go beyond recognizing it. He’d run from it and now, looking back, he wondered if he’d taken the cowardly way out. Using the pack as an excuse not to negotiate a better deal with Asia. Something they could both live with. Right now, he understood he survived rather than living. He rarely found enjoyment in anything, and it all started after walking away from Asia and any chance at a real mating. He’d never found an interest in a contract mating either. So here he sat alone in his office, regretting everyt
James noticed Damon and Eva entering the packhouse from the kitchen. Eva ran to James and hugged him as she squealed. Damon, however, glowered at James as she did that. James held his hands out away from her body and she backed off in confusion. “James, I was going to say that I’m happy you’re okay. But now I’m confused. What’s with your hands? You usually hug me as soon as you see me. What’s changed?”“I could ask you that if I didn’t smell him on you. If that’s not enough to mind where my hands go. The thunder cloud that’s his face tells the rest of the story.” James pointed at Damon. “I’ve got enough issues to take up with him. We don’t need a battle royale going on in the house right now.”“Yeah, we have things to talk about. Like, why do you smell like Emily? Touching Eva is a whole new issue
Eva poked about the packhouse and found Emily in the backroom she used to get away from everyone. “Is it that bad of a day that you’re already hiding in this room?” Emily turned and dropped the book she was writing in. “Eva! You’re back! I heard you were stuck at the lake house. When did you get here?” “I came up here straight from the car as soon as we got here. What is going on around here? I come home and everything is upside down. Care to enlighten me on what’s going on?” Eva settled on the sofa under the window. “Your guess is as good as any. Hm… I’m not sure where exactly it all started, but Damon,
After spending some time with Emily, Eva received a text message from James asking her to come to his office so they could talk. Nothing odd about that. Nope, well, nothing odder than the current drama of musical mates and social blunders. How does one tell their alpha they messed their lives on an epic scale? Or that the mistake they made damaged the lives of several others within the pack he’d sworn to protect and others outside of the pack. This wouldn’t go away with a decree and a wave of a hand. Eva entered his office. If this were a friendly visit, it wouldn’t be in the office. So, this was business or drama. She figured the latter by the way he paced distractedly about the room. “Hi. I got your message. What’s up?” She let the door close quietly behind her before she spoke. Eva noticed he k
“Hey, can we talk?” Damon stood at the doorway to Emily’s sanctuary. His hands in his pocket as he waited to hear her response. He watched the floor before looking up at her again. This wasn’t the self-confident man that talked to her for days on end during the summit. “Yeah, come in and have a seat. I guess it’s time we talked about what’s happening.” Damon could hear the regret in her voice. He’d found the time to think about this, and he expected she’d done the same. His mate was her friend, and both would hate it if he alienated them from each other by throwing blame on anyone. It was all a complicated mess, and someone needed to pull the sane card in this game of insanity. “Thanks. Be
Asia sat in the VIP lounge watching her phone for the update that Thomas’ plane would land. Of course, after all these years, this would happen. The plane was over an hour late now, and the air in the terminal was so dry that she needed a drink. A drink from the lounge would serve double duty. Feed her thirst and calm her nerves. But she promised herself that she wouldn’t drink as Thomas did before calling her.That concerned her greatly. Would he be drunk when he got off the plane? Did he develop a drinking problem in their years apart? What else would she find changed about him? Would he like what he found different about her?So many questions about this whole thing. Would the attraction still be there for them? It must be they’re fated mates, after all. What did she know about fated mates? Her parents did not happen to be fated mates. In fact, her father didn’t stay around long after she was born. Her father had nothing to do with her growin
Janine sat there at the end of the meal, trying to figure out what to say or even how to say it. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. This was something she’d not thought about yet. There’d just not been enough time. Her son and Emily weren’t ready to do this by themselves yet. Yes, she was ready to walk away, but they weren’t ready for her to do that. But what would happen if he lost interest in her? Or the investigation into the land put an end to this project. Then what would happen? There was so much that made little sense to her. That building was old. They built it in the mid-eighteen hundreds. Sure they’d upgraded the thing to have electricity and running water from the well. Even indoor plumbing. But how would it w
Damon actually tracked Eva back to her apartment. He knew she didn’t like how the shower at the lake house didn’t have any shampoo or soaps. So, she’d need to clean up properly when she got back to the packhouse. Right about now, he had an intriguing idea of helping her with that shower. Though he wasn’t sure how she’d respond to that. So, instead of barging in on her, he knocked and waited for her to open the door. The door swung open quickly for him to see Eva standing there dripping wet with a towel wrapped around. He thought the towel was sexier than her opening the door wearing nothing. The steamy scent of her fresh from a hot shower assailed his nose in a delightfully addictive way. His well-intentioned plans went up in smoke when she pulled him into her apartment by the front of his shirt. She di
James listened to the phone ring. His mother informed him he needed to take over the mess he made and fix it. Which was true. This was an experience for him. James didn’t miss the irony that it started from something Emily did, rather than himself. So, if reason held true, it was his turn to clean it up. This was long overdue in their relationship. If you asked him three weeks ago, he’d have told the person telling him this that they were insane to believe it. That everything worked just fine the way it was. Now he’d found the time to think about it and the quiet to listen, really. He couldn’t believe what he saw now. How stunted he’d become in maturing. Sadly, James now saw that he was just as guilty as the others he blamed.