“Introductions,” Owen said with little of his usual lightness.
“Bullshit. She’s not even 12 hours into it. This is too soon, Owen.”
This time she pulled the blanket off her head. Her hair was a wild dome of blonde static. Were they talking about her? With the possibility of being drug out of her cocoon of comfort, she rolled onto her back to get a better listen. They were on the porch not six feet from where she was laying.
“I’m alpha and I’ll decide when the right time is. I pick now. Go get her.”
“No,” Lee said stubbornly. Sadie had never heard them fight before. She felt a bit like a child hearing her parents having an argument in the other room.
“Are you jealous, Lee?” Owen asked, amused. “Are you mad that no man is waiting for you outside of your house?”
“You bastard,” her voice wavered. “Get out. Get out right now.”
There was a heavy silence before he spoke again. “I’m sorry,” he said, ashamed, sincere. “I shouldn’t have…that wasn’t fair of me, but I do need to talk to her.”
“No. I’ll tell her. You are not welcome in my house. Get the fuck out.”
He was quiet for a beat then apparently made up his mind. “Make sure she is at the meeting tonight.”
“Make sure you take your dogs with you when you go.”
The front door opened and closed much quieter than she had anticipated. Lee walked past her into the kitchen. Sadie was sitting up then, looking across the room where she could see Lee open a cabinet and pull a bottle of whiskey down. She poured a healthy amount into the steaming mug and replaced the bottle on the shelf. When she turned, she found Sadie’s eyes on her. What Owen had said hurt her but it was more than that. There was something she was missing.
“Who was out there?” she asked.
“Two wolves from the run last night who have come to meet you.” She walked over to the couch and Sadie tucked in her legs to give her room to sit.
“It’s a bit early for that, isn’t it?” It was 8:23. She had only gotten four hours of sleep at that point.
“Yes.”
Cautiously, she asked, “I’ve never heard Owen speak like that before. Everything ok?”
Lee didn’t answer, instead taking a deep swallow of the whiskey concoction.
“We used to date. Owen and I.”
“Oh. Well, damn,” she said surprised.
“He…I mean we couldn’t…because of my lack of breeding,” she motioned with her hand towards her stomach, “we broke up.” Lee took another sip out of her mug. “It’s only been a few months since it happened.”
“Excuse me? He broke up with you because you can’t have kids. What a fudging-”
“No,” she interrupted. “I broke up with him. He’s alpha. He needs to be with someone who can give him pups. I can’t, so I left him.” She sighed. “I loved him and I left him for the good of the pack. I think I deserve a cookie for that.” Her attempt at lightening the conversation didn’t work so she gave her attention back to her mug.
There really wasn’t much to say. “I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is. Can we talk about something else now?” she asked sounding tired.
“So those guys outside?”
Lee looked over at her with a pitying smiling. “They want to court you.”
“But they don’t even know me!”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re hot and are fresh meat. Someone will try to snatch you up quickly.”
“What am I, the last donut?” she muttered and Lee laughed.
*****
Sulking outside like a pervert in the bushes. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Jenny would mock you incessantly if she were here.
Tyson had hit a new low. His plans of fleeing in the morning had crumbled last night when he saw her. For once though, it was not his fault. Sadie, in all her excitement, had caught his scent and followed it to her place. Owen and Lee were with her, trying their hardest to coax her away from the house but she just leaped and bounced, her tail wagging happily. She had caught his scent, Fred’s scent and wanted to play. Her little yips had almost done him in.
Stop kidding yourself. Just the sight of her had pulled at him. She looked like the moon itself. Not quite white but too light to be gray, she nearly glowed in the moonlight. Tyson had almost done it. His wolf fought hard against him. It would have been so easy to just let go and change. Let go. His wolf, who at one point had been in the same frame of mind as he was, now wanted him to give in. But that guilt and sorrow was the only thing he understood completely. It was the only thing that made sense to him. He would not take the easy way out and he would not let go of his emotions.
During his internal struggle, Owen had changed back and told Sadie to head back to the trail. She did, but not happily. When she was out of sight, Tyson began to breathe again. With a nod toward the darkened windows where he had been watching, Owen changed and followed after her.
So how did he plan to move past this event? By sitting outside of her house at the butt crack of dawn, hoping to get one last glimpse before he left. He had a place to be now. A goal so to speak. He was going to track down this Riley and explain to him that continuing his perusal of Sadie was a misguided endeavor.
But that was before he scented every fucking male in the pack on Lee’s lawn. They had all stopped by to meet the new wolf. Some had even camped out on the porch. She was only hours into her new life and they were already hounding her like the wild animals they were. Owen would put a stop to it so she had time to thrive before…
“I thought you were leaving?”
Tyson stiffened. Anyone could have come up to him. Lost in his own world he never would have heard them. But it wasn’t just anyone. It was Owen. Tyson consciously had to relax each muscle before allowing himself to look at him. Owen looked tired and, well, sad. Tyson knew that look. They grew up together, worked side by side for the pack; they were friends and brothers in every way but blood. Owen was about to do something he didn’t want to do.
“She did great,” he said looking at the house.
Of course she did. He didn’t have any doubts on that.
“Sadie is strong. A great addition to the pack.”
Again, this was not news to him. He knew what she was and had ever confidence in her.
“She will make a great mate to someone-”
Tyson growled cutting him off. What the hell did he mean by that?
“Don’t,” his voice hard. “You don’t have any say in this. If you were staying then it would be different but you have made your intentions clear.”
So fucking what? Just because he wasn’t sticking around didn’t mean that Owen got to hand her off to the first interested male. Not that she would go for that anyway. She still was healing from that asshole in Buffalo—who’s family was just as fucked in the head as he had been—and then again from Jack. Mating her off only a day into her new life was a mistake.
“You don’t have any say in this,” Owen had said. He was right. Of course he was. Tyson didn’t have a say in anything anymore, especially about Sadie. She was not his. Would never be his. What happened to her wasn’t his responsibility any more.
And didn’t that just suck.
“I wish you would stay,” he said quietly. “Even if it was just outside of the pack.” Tyson didn’t say anything. Not that he could in this form but he made no motion to express that he had heard Owen. Did he feel guilty? Hell yes he did. Did it change anything? No. It didn’t because if he wasn’t going to stay for Sadie, there was no chance of him staying for Owen.
“I’ll miss you, brother,” Owen said and walked past him into the clearing and up to the house.
Another wolf showed up in the time Owen had taken to walk to the door. Tyson felt a quiver in his belly. This one wasn’t from Owen’s pack. He was from the neighboring pack north of them.
This will not do. For the first time in a while he agreed with his wolf. His journey, where ever it may lead him, could
be put off another day or two. Just until he saw that Sadie wasn’t given to the first willing participant, but no longer than that. If she found a man to mate, one of her choosing, then he would leave her knowing that she was settled.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was strange to be back at the Wick after being absent so long. No, that was a lie. The strange part was being back there after so much had changed. After so much about her changed.
The sign on the door informed the public that the bar was closed for a private party. She remembered the month prior that there had been a night they closed early for a party. One of which she wasn’t scheduled to work. When Sadie looked at Lee, she only shrugged and opened the door. That was then and this is now, the motion seemed to say. She couldn’t argue with that logic. Then and now were worlds apart.
The bar was packed like it was a Friday night. A few faces she knew from around town and her lunch regulars but most of them she had never seen before. Lee ushered her inside by her elbow, pulling her across the room with a tug. As they weaved through tables and scooted past pushed out chairs, she began to feel eyes on her back, and her sides, and her front, and…they were all looking at her until the noise of the room quieted until it stopped all together.
“Come on,” Lee said and tugged her arm again. She had stopped along with the noise. “We have time to grab a drink before Owen begins.”
A drink was just what she needed. The wolf inside her didn’t argue either. They were still feeling each other out. As Lee described it, the wolf wasn’t anything new. In fact, the wolf was just a separate part of her soul. They were one being with two halves. Sadie couldn’t communicate per say with the wolf but they could sense each other’s emotions and that tended to be enough for now.
Two seats were open in the middle of the bar. Lee slid into one and reached over the bar while balancing precariously on the rung of the stool for two beers. Sadie grabbed the bottles as she handed them to her and popped off the caps. The noise level had risen again but she could tell by the way they all still looked at her that the topic of conversation had changed to her.
Sadie took a long pull from the beer. It was going to be a long night.
Owen had come out of the kitchen with Chuck on his heels. Her boss looked her over and nodded in approval. Lee saluted with the top of her bottle. Earlier Lee had given her a lesson in pack hierarchy. Her boss, Chuck, with his balding head and short stature was a submissive wolf, which meant he could not change into a wolf’s form. The more dominant wolf, the easier the change was. Sadie then had a crash course in dominant wolves and how to treat them. She smiled at Chuck glad for the fact that she wouldn’t have to treat him any differently. Knowing Chuck and a few others helped in general. She wasn’t a complete stranger to the group and that calmed the flutters in her stomach.
Lee had assured her that tonight would be fine. Owen was just introducing her formally to the pack. But all day her friend had been in a crap mood. Something Owen had said to her this morning had stuck with her and no amount of coaxing would get it out of her. Owen, or Alpha as he was to be called in front of the pack, was looking a little worse for wear. He wouldn’t meet Lee’s fixed gaze that held no happy thoughts. For that matter, he wouldn’t meet Sadie’s eyes either. The flutters had begun vibrating in her stomach again.
“What’s going on?” she whispered to Lee who sighed and drank her beer instead of answering. “Lee,” she hissed.
“Ok, so, here’s the thing,” she began hastily like if she said it fast her words would have less impact. “Owen is going to introduce you to the pack, which you knew. What you didn’t know and what I had hoped he would think better of is that he also plans to have you mated off to someone.”
Sadie didn’t say anything for a moment. She leaned her back against the bar and sipped her beer. What gave Owen Purcell the right to force her into a marriage with someone who would be a stranger to her? She knew that their ways, her ways as off last night, were much different than that of her human life. Traditions and their culture was something she would need to learn and given time she would understand and possibly respect them. But she wasn’t even a day old into this new life and already she was being sold off to the highest bidder.
Owen either had perfect timing or had great hearing. She guessed the latter. “Welcome Adirondack pack!” Hoots went up from the people around them. Only Sadie and Lee had stayed quiet. Lee watched her through hesitant eyes—she still had not spoken—while Sadie had eyes only for their alpha. Owen stood only ten feet from them. He smiled as his eyes swept over the room. He hit Lee first and she dropped her eyes almost immediately and cursed softly under her breath. Dominance. That is how Lee explained it. Owen had it in abundance. After the argument this morning she explained that he also had the power to control it like no other wolf she had ever known. You didn’t feel the dominance when he was around unless he wanted you to feel it. She had not understood the power that Owen held as alpha of the pack. He had never fully let his dominance out around her, but she felt it now. Their eyes met and she trembled to keep hold of his but every instinct in her was telling her to lower hers. But she couldn’t, not yet, not until he knew just how much she would hate him if she was made to do this. He was her friend. They might not have known each other long but she considered him as a friend and he would ruin that if he forced this on her.
Lee grabbed hold of her arm. “He knows. Let it go for now.”
She dropped her eyes and a tear streaked down her cheek.
“That was real stupid of you to do in front of the pack but he deserved it,” she whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry, Sadie. He has his mind made up already. There is no changing it once it’s set and for some reason he thinks this is what you need. Every decision he makes he has to consider everyone in the pack. This isn’t just about you.”
She hadn’t raised her eyes from the ground. Owen had begun to talk to the crowd but she tuned his voice out. It wasn’t just about her. Well it sure did feel like it was just about her.
Who would it be?
Would she get to pick or did he have someone in mind?
Maybe she would go to the highest bidder or he would pull a name out of a hat.
Sadie lifted her eyes and searched the crowd but was unsure what she was looking for. Maybe someone who looked as pissed off as she was? She met the eyes of Vince, a guy she had run with as wolf last night and had met as man a few weeks ago there at the Wick. He was smiling at her with nothing but sincere welcome. She kept looking but none of the men who met her eyes felt like they knew what was going to happen.
“Some of you know her as a waitress here at the Wick; others met her last night on the run.”
Lee nudged her. They had gotten to her part in the proceedings.
“Sadie has been gifted by Gaia and in turn we are all gifted. She brings with her a fresh face and a kind heart.”
“And pie!” Chuck yelled from the far end of the bar and her regular customers all laughed. So did she. Although, the feeling didn’t last.
“Yes, she is an excellent baker,” Owen said with a smirk. “Now this may seem a bit unorthodox but trust me. I am your alpha after all, so I know best, right?” Many smiled and a few laughed at that. Sadie and Lee did not. “Sadie will be mated next Saturday.”
“Don’t do this,” Lee said under her breath.
“I know it may seem rushed but I have my reasons,” he kept his lighthearted expression and tone but looked at her then. “Just trust I have your best interests at heart.”
No one said anything to her defense, not even Sadie. Her wolf had a tight hold on her. There really wasn’t anything she could say anyway. What he said was law. Even so new as she was in the lifestyle and she already understood that, which was why when she got home, she was leaving his jurisdiction and not looking back.
*****
“Sadie, wait!” her Alpha’s voice commanded and didn’t it just suck that she stopped right where she was on the sidewalk.
“What?” she snapped. Not even two steps out the door and she had been caught. The moment he had been done talking, Sadie had quietly slid off her stool and walked right past Owen and everyone’s watchful gazes and out the door. If that hadn’t told them just how she felt about this arrangement then nothing would.
“I know you are new to this,” he started, “but you will not do that again.” His voice was strong, bold even. It told her just who was in charge, and it wasn’t her. “This is my pack and I will not allow any wolf, no matter how new they are, to disrespect me like that.” The wolf inside her was listening and she was having a hard time fighting it. Instinct won out in the end. Only a few inches separated them, he was purposefully in her space, showing that he had every right to be there. Sadie tilted her neck to the side, exposing her throat to him. She didn’t want to but couldn’t seem to stop herself. He was in charge and had every right to punish her. Owen grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her head back so she had to look at him. The grip didn’t actually hurt and she could tell he was holding himself back.
“This is your warning. Do not do it again.” Sadie nodded once. She was a quick learner. He was not her friend. He was her Alpha. She wouldn’t forget it. He released her in a rush and stepped out of her space a few paces.
“I know you are mad right now.”
“Gosh, really?”
He shot her an unamused look. “You have every right to be but I need you to trust me. There is a reason for this.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t tell you.” He actually looked like it pained him to say that.
She was not in the mood for games thought. “Look, I’m going home. Just leave me alone.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?” This man was going to cause her to use the F word and not her G rated version either.
“You are not going home. You are going to Lee’s.”
Sadie growled. Actually growled. “For how much longer?”
“Just the week. We need to make sure you can handle the wolf.”
Too Far Gone (Adirondack Pack Book 1) Page 16
