I had no idea what it felt like to have a fated mate, so I decided to give Marcus a chance. According to the Sawtooth pack who controlled this land, that wasn’t the way things worked. It was all or nothing. When they chose a mate, it was forever. That was crazy to me. I’d spent more time picking classes for the spring semester than I’d had to decide about Marcus. And now, I wouldn’t set foot in any of those classrooms.
This was why I’d wanted Jessica to shift first. She wore trouble like one of those accessories people were dying to get, and then shrugged it off when something better came along. I’d been totally content to live in her very large shadow.
“I’ll be texting you constantly,” Jess said through a sob. Maybe she wasn’t so fearless after all. “Video chats, all of it. It’ll be like we’re still together.”
I nodded. For Marcus’ sake, I wouldn’t cry. He stood behind me, and his gentle presence, his calm in the face of every storm comforted me.
Mom stepped in where Jess had been and wrapped her arms around me. When she started crying, I lost it.
“As soon as the season ends, I’ll be here.” Mom was the executive producer of the reality show The Real Werewives of Alaska. She paired shifter football players with their forever mates. But she hadn’t expected me to get into the mix. “Those bastards will probably go all the way to the Championship just to spite me.”
“We can come visit you in Holiday Falls.” I forced myself to pull away from her and looked back to Marcus. “Right?”
He’d betrayed his pack by saving my life. And he wasn’t used to being asked for his opinion.
Three sets of eyes glared at him, waiting for him to screw up. I prayed we wouldn’t find out how TSA dealt with shifter politics.
“Anything you want,” he said.
Jessica didn’t even bother hiding her eye roll. “Maybe you should’ve asked her that before you claimed her. Or come explain to all her friends at school why she isn’t coming back.”
“Jess,” I groaned. “It was my choice to take the semester off and stay here.”
“And pushing school aside for some guy you don’t even know is a totally reasonable decision—”
“Girls,” Dad rumbled. He was so close to another shift. “No one’s making permanent decisions.” He didn’t believe Marcus was my mate, either.
There was only so far we could go before we had to say goodbye to Mom and Jessica for good. We wouldn’t be apart forever, I reminded myself. Nothing was forever. Except maybe this guy who’s holding your hand, despite the dirty looks and nasty words that are constantly hurled at him.
Marcus intrigued me. Yesterday, that seemed like enough of a reason to stay here. But now, I was questioning everything.
Mom and Jessica waited until the very last second to go through security. Then it was just Marcus and me.
And Dad. We were headed back to his house. I’d never even seen it. This had been his first season as the head coach of the Boise Black Diamonds. Everyone in my family had been in transition this year. Jess and I with school, Dad with the team, and Mom with The Real Werewives of Alaska. Everything had been chaos. No wonder I’d been such an easy target for the pack Dad had abandoned. The one who’d taken Marcus captive. The one that terrorized Sawtooth forest.
I sat beside Marcus in the backseat of the SUV that had been so full of laughter when I left the airport the first time. Home from college for the holiday. Not ready to be blindsided by the animal inside me.
Stop thinking that way. The words didn’t come from me, they came from my wolf. Every time she talked to me, I jumped. Having someone else’s voice inside my head was making me crazy. You’re setting yourself up to fail. Marcus could be everything you want.
I shook my head in an attempt to shut her up. The problem was, I had no idea what I wanted. I’d been coasting along in my first year of college, expecting the bright shiny thing that would be my life to magically find me.
Maybe he’s that bright shiny thing. He’s certainly good looking enough.
No arguing with her there. Marcus was built like one of the guys on my dad’s football team. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, all power, ready to strike. It excited me as much as it scared me. His dark hair brushed the back of his shoulders, and it was tipped with the same silver as his eyes.
Every time he caught me staring at him, he smiled, like he knew he was reeling me in. Problem was, I hadn’t been looking to get caught.
Dad put the car into park in his driveway and turned to both of us. I’d already been jarred by the rough stop. All of us had been lost in thought on the way home.
“So this is how this is going to go. I don’t give a shit about forever mates. You’re a wolf who betrayed his pack. Don’t try to pull that I was captured shit on me. You did the same thing to my daughter.”
“Please don’t talk about me like I’m not here. Marcus isn’t a slave anymore.” And my voice shook even as my wolf cheered me on. I’d never stood up to Dad before. Never had a reason to. I was the good one. “And we’re not in your locker room.”
Marcus put his hand over mine as his lips curled up in a smile.
“I know that, honey.” Dad softened, but only for a second. “What I’m saying is I want you to play by human rules. Not work backwards from forever. We don’t know if this is all a part of the plan. A wolf doesn’t betray his pack without a damn good reason.”
Marcus’ hand tensed over mine. “What was your reason, Coach? Because you walked away from the very same pack.”
Dad pressed his lips together in a tight, angry line. I’d never seen him wear that expression up close and personal. He usually saved it for the sidelines, when his team was getting their butts handed to them, which happened a lot this season.
“It was twenty years ago. Not two days ago. I think it’s pretty clear where my allegiances lie,” he said. “I don’t know about yours yet.”
“And that’s what put Jasmine in danger.” Marcus stayed calm. “I need you to work with me. You know how much the Montana pack likes revenge.”
I shivered so hard I expected fur to cut through my skin. Nope, just goosebumps. I should’ve gotten on that plane with Jessica... No. By saying that Marcus might be my mate, I’d put him in danger too. More danger than usual. Now he had to defend himself against every wolf who crossed his pack. His captivity had given him some protection. Now he had to prove himself worthy as my mate.
I didn’t ask for this fight, but I’d stay here and finish it.
If I didn’t have to do things against my will, he shouldn’t have to, either. No one should. Marcus had been taken into slavery, and the Sawtooth pack had only recently freed their she-wolves from being sold to the highest bidder. If I had kids that shifted, I wanted them to have as many choices as they would if they were human. That’s what I was fighting for. For me, Marcus, and all the other wolves bound by duty.
“I considered the wolves in that Montana pack my brothers until they betrayed me. My very own sister was the one who captured you. Flesh and blood. Trust isn’t given, it’s earned.” Dad was doing the rumbling thing again.
“I’ve earned every single thing I have,” Marcus said.
Dad nodded. “And right now, you have nothing. Not even my daughter.”
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Her Fated Wolf Page 12
