All Chapters of Destined Mates Series: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Noel pulled into a parking spot in downtown Melbourne, roughly thirty miles east of Bull Creek. Jake refused to go inside Everglades again after what he had witnessed the last time he passed through the doors, so Noel thought taking him to another bar, another town even, might make talking to him go a little smoother. She also thought alcohol would help and not just for Jake. She needed a good, stiff drink to see this through, whatever this turned out to be. She still wasn't sure. She didn't even know what Wes truly thought about it or where he expected it to go. "Talk to Jake," Wes had said. "He'll need some reassurances as well, some idea of what we're trying to figure out." However, what exactly were they trying to figure out? Two men loved her, and, for better or worse, she loved two men. Did any of them have a chance? How would she ever choose? Could she choose? The truth was, she didn't want to choose. She wanted them both, loved them both. What have I gotten myself into? She kne

Wes slid a cold beer down the bar at Ezra as Brianna reached around him for a highball glass. He forced a smile onto his face but found it difficult being nice with her constant scolding of his actions earlier. "Seriously," Brianna said. "Don't put me between the two of you again. I don't mind picking up extra shifts, but not if it's because you two are at odds with each other and you're using it to punish her." She turned to face him, hand on her hip. "I don't like being the paddle.""How about being paddled?" Ezra quipped as he reached for his beer.Brianna just winked as she grinned at him. "Now, that's a whole other story."Wes rolled his eyes. "Some things, I just don't want to know." He shook his head as he turned and leaned back on the bar. "But, you're right. I should have given you more of a heads up as to why I called you in to work. I was pissed and hurt and just didn't want to deal with it.""And now?" Brianna asked, staring him down.Wes sighed. "We're good, but we still

Wes glanced over his shoulder to Noel, his little elf staring at the woman in his doorway with a pinched expression. Noel hadn't spoken of her family much, only saying that she needed time to think and she knew she wouldn't get that with her mother around. Of course, now that Wes knew what Noel needed to think about, he could understand her not wanting to have her mother in her ear the entire time. Running off on your fiancé didn't exactly make for a casual conversation."How did you even know I was here?" Noel asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, closing herself off. Wes worried that there was more to their relationship than just Noel needing time to think.Noel's mother stood there, donning the same pose as her daughter as she stared back. "Once Jake told me you were in Bull Creek as a waitress for some dive bar, I made some calls. It wasn't hard to find out the gossip of what you've been doing."Wes turned to Jake. "Dive bar?"Jake shrugged, an apologetic look on his face.

Sitting in Lainie's office at the sheriff's department, Wes signed his name at the bottom of the report and set the pen down on top, resigned to the fact that he had a lot of work ahead of him to put Everglades back in shape. When he followed Lainie inside his bar last night, he had almost lost it as he viewed the damage done to his place. Chairs had been smashed, liquor bottles broken, glasses tossed across the bar, and tables overturned. Beer signs had been ripped down from where they hung and tossed all over the place, and the giant mirror behind the bar was shattered. His office had been broken into and ransacked, papers scattered all over the place and his desk turned upside down. There wasn't a single thing in the bar that had not been destroyed or at least damaged in some way. This was more than just the work of two punk kids. The Order of Wardens had arrived in Bull Creek, and they seemed to have brought an army with them. "Everglades is only going to be the first business the

Wes rolled off the bed, leaping to his feet as the bedroom wall burst into flames. Outside of the cabin, he heard raucous laughter—men, at least three, possibly four. Anger, more than fear, roiled through his body, his bear roaring within, waiting to bust out and chase down the assholes who set his home on fire and put his mate—mates—at risk. He could already feel his shift happening, his fingernails and toenails stretching into claws, his bear's fur slipping through his flesh as his teeth turned to sharper fangs. "Get Noel out of here!" he yelled as he raced for the back door.Jake rolled off the other side of the bed, reaching out and grabbing Noel by the arm and helping her off the bed as well. That was all Wes saw before he ran out of the room, his shift transforming his body as he ran, dropping him to his knees until the transformation finished."Wes!" Noel screamed from behind him, but his animal already had control of him. He burst through the back door, wood splintering in shar