“This is Human Resources, he's three doors down. Come on, I'll show you.”
“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “Thanks.”
I thought it was best if I approached Kyle and not alert Lily to my find. She was a sweet girl and fun to hang out with, but this was personal, so I let her lead me down the hall to Kyle’s office.
“Hey Kels, look who I found wandering the halls,” she said as we entered the office.
“Hi, Patrick. Let me check and see if he's free for a few. If not, I'm sure Lily can give you a tour of the place while you wait. This is your first time at the Foundation, isn't it?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, hoping he was free right now. I needed desperately to get back to that room and see the woman beyond the door.
She smiled and nodded. “Go on in, he's free now.”
“Thanks, Kelsey.”
I knocked softly before opening the door to his office and letting myself in.
“Hey, what's up? What brings you to the Westin Foundation,” Kyle asked.
I closed the door behind me, looking between it and him and back at it.
“It's okay Patrick, there's a soundproof barrier around the room that even my mate's super wolf ears can't penetrate unless I lower the barrier and want her to.”
I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.
“So, did you try what we discussed last night?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And that's what led me here. Kyle, she works here. She's just down the hall. I was about to barge into her office when Lily found me.”
“You're sure?”
I stared at him like he'd lost his mind. “You're mated, you should understand. Of course I am sure, yeah.”
“Yeah, I get it. Okay, well lead the way and let's go find your mystery gal.”
He was almost as giddy as Christine Canine had been, trying to unmask my mate the day before.
“This way,” I said, suddenly very nervous.
Kyle stopped only long enough to tell Kelsey that he was taking an early lunch and would talk to her later. He kissed her and then her stomach. My heart lurched with longing at the sight. I needed my mate.
When I stopped at Human Resources, Kyle gave me a strange look.
“This way,” I told him, walking back into the small reception area.
He entered, and then closed the door to the main hallway behind him. I was already heading for the door I knew belonged to her, but Kyle stopped me.
“Um, Patrick, how sure are you really about this?”
“Really? I'm two thousand percent sure, Kyle. This is her. It has to be. Her scent is everywhere, concentrated strongest at this door.” I pointed to her office door.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Shit!”
“What?”
“Dude, that's my sister's office.”
“What? That's not possible.” I said, my heart sinking. “I'm around Lily all the time. I'd know if it was her. This is not her smell. I swear it isn't. Maybe she has a visitor?”
He looked at me like I'd lost my mind. “Not Lily, Elise.”
That name again. It made my heart flutter irrationally.
“Elise? Who's Elise?”
“Seriously? Pat, you've been here for months now. You are around my siblings all the time. How could you not have met Elise? I mean I know she's been a little . . .” His voice trailed off. “Shit!” He swore again. “How did I not see this?”
“What are you talking about? Who is Elise?”
His hair was mussed from pulling his hand through it. “Elise is my sister, Patrick. My other sister.”
“What?! I didn't even know you had another sister. Yesterday was the first time I'd ever even heard the name before. Christine mentioned her as a possible wolf match, but Liam laughed it off and said it wasn't possible.”
“Well yeah, I mean, she's our sister! She hasn't been around much lately ҆cause she's been dealing with some shit.”
“Yeah, looks it. She's been dealing with hiding from me.”
He blew out a long breath. “Okay, okay, we can deal with this.”
“Look Kyle, I'm sorry she's your sister, but you have to understand, I have to find her. I need to know for sure.”
He nodded before pushing me out of the way and knocking on the door. When there was no answer, he turned the knob and walked in. Her scent was so strong it nearly knocked me on my arse. It was her. I'd found her, only she was gone once again, but this time at least I knew. I had a name.
Elise.
Elise
Chapter 5
I had two safe places in my life: my office and my bedroom. They were the only two places in all of San Marco that I knew I wouldn't run into Patrick, yet this morning I had smelled him there. I came back from a late lunch and his scent was all over my office. I wanted to storm down to Kyle's office and demand to know why he and Patrick were in there, but that would give it away. I shouldn't be able to recognize Patrick's scent, not as far as my brother was concerned. For a moment I wondered what he would do if he found out I was mated to his friend. His friend that I knew was on an all-out mission to find me.
Christine had called me the day before asking if I knew Patrick. I had told her of course I knew him, he was Kyle's good friend. She had confessed she had thought maybe from the description he had given her that I was the mysterious mate he was looking for. I knew I was, but I hadn't admitted that to her or anyone else for that matter, and had just laughed it off with her. She told me she had taken him around to every eligible she-wolf in the territory that she could think of, even ones that didn't meet the description he gave, but that he still hadn't identified her. She was on the mission then too. Everyone was determined to find me, not realizing I didn't want to be found.
I couldn't stick around my office with his scent everywhere. It was too overwhelming. I couldn't leave until I stopped crying, though. It was like I was an emotional mess and I didn't have the excuse of baby hormones like Kelsey. My emotions were just on overdrive. I longed for something, someone I knew I couldn't have. I forced myself to calm down. I checked the mirror I carried in my purse, and didn't think anyone would notice the slight red puffiness around my eyes.
I gathered my things and left. I shot Kyle an email that I was taking an extended leave of absence and would explain later. I went straight home and started packing my bags. I jumped on the computer and tried to book a room at a spa I knew a few hours north. I thought maybe I could take a leave of absence to spend some time with our cousins in the Alaskan Pack. That would buy me a few weeks, maybe even a few months, but I knew I needed to move quickly.
Everything was booked solid. The smell of gingerbread wafted down the hall and it struck me that I didn't even know what day it was anymore. I checked my phone and was shocked to find tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Mom had started her baking and wouldn't stop until Christmas morning. The smells made my stomach growl, but I chose to wallow in misery, alone in my room until exhaustion finally took me into a restless night's sleep.
Waking the next morning, I quickly showered with hopes of feeling human. It was Christmas Eve and the realization hit me that I hadn't bought a single thing for anyone. I had selfishly been absorbed by my own drama. Grabbing my car keys, I was determined to rectify the situation.
It was an hour drive to the closest thing that could even be considered a city or anything close to decent shopping. Everything was last minute picked over, but after several hours of therapeutic shopping I had gifts for everyone. On a whim I grabbed a blue and green striped T-shirt and a much too expensive black watch. I was home and wrapping my presents before it dawned on me that I had already gotten all the guys' gifts. A small voice in the back of my head told me they were for Patrick.
I gasped. Looking at the shirt and watch, I knew they were both for him, and I knew they'd look great on him, but I hadn't consciously done it. What did that mean? I couldn't allow myself to think about it.
I headed to t
he kitchen and spent the remainder of my day baking and laughing and enjoying my family. I didn't want to break the news that I was leaving. I now realized that the next day was not only Christmas Day but also Tuesday, and you didn't mess with Mom's Tuesday night family dinners unless you had a death wish, especially not on Christmas.
I had managed to book a last minute room at a new resort and spa I hadn't been to before, four hours north of San Marco. I would be leaving after Christmas dinner and it was booked for five nights. From there I would decide if I was heading further north for a longer stay away or growing a pair and coming home to face the inevitable. I knew Mom wouldn't be happy about my decision, but I thought she'd understand.
Tossing and turning into the wee hours of morning, I couldn't sleep. The thought of Patrick alone for the holidays was making me sad and far more confused than I already was. I had carefully wrapped the shirt and watch even though I had no intentions of giving them to him. They stared at me from across the room, as if they had eyes, watching and taunting me.
It didn’t take long for me to cave. In a moment of weakness, I knew what I was going to do. I put the gifts in a bag and left the house. I carefully undressed and left my clothes by the back door as I shifted, picked up the bag with my teeth, and ran to the cottage. I left the packages on his doorstep without a note and went home. Suddenly exhausted, I slept like a baby until the twins came in like two-year-olds, jumping on my bed, and excited to open gifts on Christmas morning.
My presents for everyone were already waiting under the tree. I didn't bother changing and walked out in my fluffy, pink pajamas. I sat on the couch and wrapped my arms around my knees, hugging them close to my chest. My family was all there, Dad, Mom, Kyle, Kelsey, Liam, Lily, and Chase, but the hole in my heart from the one missing person in my life was crazy. It both saddened and pissed me off at the same time.
I didn't want to miss him. I didn't know him well enough to miss him. I tried desperately to convince myself of that fact. I did not really know Patrick O'Connell. I didn't. Just because some primal part of me recognized him as our mate didn't mean I knew him, and it didn't mean I had to just accept it. Getting away was going to be a good thing. I needed it for my own sanity. It would give me time to reflect and get my life back on track.
“Merry Christmas,” Kyle said, plopping down next to me.
I smiled at my big brother. “Merry Christmas.”
“Crazy year, right?”
“Definitely. I mean, who would have thought this time last year that you would even be thinking about kids, let alone have one on the way, Daddy,” I teased.
He looked at his mate and the love apparent on his face was fascinating. A year ago I hadn't known Kyle was even thinking about a mate, let alone had found her and kept it to himself for two years.
“How'd you do it?” I asked him.
“Do what?”
“Keep it from her. How did you live over two years of your life seeing your mate every day and not act on it? Not show even a hint of recognition?”
He frowned at my question. “It was a sacrifice I had to make, and in hindsight, knowing what I do now, I'd never have waited to talk to her, E.”
I felt like he was trying to convey to me more than his words, but I didn't want the truth of them to resonate with me. I wanted his secret on how to deal, so that when the inevitable time came, I could face Patrick with as much indifference as he had shown all that time to Kelsey. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. I didn't want to be mean about it. But I was too scared to risk a life with him knowing I could lose him to something as stupid as the challenges. I knew my heart couldn't take it. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't love enough to endure that.
The heaviness in my heart lifted some as we sat around opening presents. I got a beautiful blue cashmere sweater, two new books I'd been wanting, a couple of gift cards, a planner for the coming year, and various other odds and ends. My favorite was a diamond heart necklace. It was stunning, but simple enough to wear every day. I adored it, but there was no tag on it and no one would confess who it was from. I didn't care. It was my favorite. I knew my siblings wouldn't tell me because it was over the fifty-dollar per-person limit we maintained to keep Christmas somewhat in control and sustainable. It was fine by me. I needed a little spoiling this holiday.
You would think our pack would go all out for Christmas, but it wasn't like that. We went all out for New Year's, whereas Christmas was a more low-key, individual family affair. It was intimate and I loved it. It was a time to just enjoy those closest to you.
I looked around at each of the people I loved, ending on Kelsey. “Kels, I'm so happy to have you here with us this year. We love you. You're not just pack, you're family.”
I don't know why I said it, but it was true. Of course she immediately started bawling and Kyle shot me a death glare that made me smile. I hugged my sweet sister-in-law. She may have been strong and powerful, and could kick my behind anytime she wanted, but I loved her and sometimes you just needed to tell that to the people who mattered most to you.
“I'm sorry,” she sobbed out. “It just hits me over the oddest things. I mean that was understandable, but sometimes it's like out of left field and I don't even know why I'm crying.”
We all laughed and Mom and Dad launched into various stories of when she had been pregnant with each of us.
“Mom, Patrick doesn't have anyone here in San Marco. Can I invite him to family dinner tonight? I just hate knowing he's all alone on Christmas,” Chase said.
Kyle's head jerked my way and he stared at me.
“What?” I mouthed to him.
“Nothing,” he mouthed back, shaking his head, but he kept watching me oddly.
I started to panic. Did he know? How? No, there was no way he could possibly know Patrick was my one true mate. I was just being paranoid. And when Mom readily agreed that no one should be alone on Christmas, I immediately began thinking up excuses on how to get out of the dinner.
I knew I'd have to tell them before Patrick arrived. Maybe my trip would be cause enough to get me out of dinner. At that point it was worth the try.
“Kyle, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.
“Yeah sure, what's up?”
“Um, not here. Can we go to your office?”
Okay.” He sounded skeptical, but we made our way to what used to be our father's office and was now Kyle's as Pack Alpha. “What's up, E?”
I was suddenly nervous, second-guessing telling him at all. I could just leave a note when I left. I didn't want to answer his questions about why, but I did have to give him a heads-up regarding work.
“I'm taking some time off of work between Christmas and New Year’s. Maybe a little longer. I've been pretty stressed and everyone worrying about me here only makes it worse. So I'm going to a spa resort to relax and de-stress. I may even head up to visit Maya for a few weeks.”
“Alaska?” he questioned. “You're going to Alaska? In December?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I'll keep you posted. Right now I'm booked for five nights in a brand new resort. It's sort of my Christmas present to myself.”
He considered it for a moment before finally speaking. “I think that's a great idea, E. I really do.”
“But . . . ” I could feel the “but” coming on.
“But . . . I don't want you going alone. The Bulgarians declared war against our pack. I can't in good conscience let you go off by yourself like that. It's not safe. When do you leave?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, tonight. I haven't told Mom yet, but I'm sure she'll understand. I was going to grab a quick bite to eat and finish packing, then hit the road.”
“What about Christmas family dinner?”
“I think Mom will understand. Patrick can take my place,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
“Patrick's coming regardless,” he said defensively. “Okay, okay, give me an hour to round up an escort for yo
u.”
“What? No.”
“Then you don't go.”
“You can't tell me what to do, Kyle.”
“As your brother, that's true, but I'm talking as your Alpha right now. We are at war. You are a Westin. You are not leaving our territory on your own,” he said, letting his alpha power flow over me.
I was livid. I couldn't believe he had done that. As soon as he lifted his power I stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind me.
“Elise Cameron Westin. What on earth was that all about? You do not slam doors in your mother's house.”
I growled at my father and without a word, turned on my heel and headed for my room. A soft knock sounded on my door a few moments later and I knew it was my mother. She opened the door before being invited.
“Elise? It's not like you to fight with your brother. What's wrong?”
Tears were free-flowing down my cheeks. She stared and then her eyes moved to the bed and widened.
“You're leaving?”
“Yes. I am. I'm taking a vacation. I leave tonight.”
“Will you be joining us for family dinner?”
“No. I think it's for the best. Kyle pissed me.”
“Language, my dear.”
“Kyle made me very, very mad,” I said spitefully, after being interrupted in my rant. “It would be best for all if I not attempt at pleasantries with him here. It won't end well.”
“Tell me,” she said, sitting on my bed and patting the space next to her. I sat with a sigh and put my head on her shoulder.
“He's treating me like a child. I'm a grown woman. He's planning on sending an escort with me on vacation. It's humiliating!”
“I'm sure he just wants to keep you safe.”
“I can take care of myself,” I demanded.
“I know you can. He knows you can, but we are at war, and it would make me feel a lot more at ease if you weren't alone.”
“Mom! Not you, too? This is ridiculous. Let me be very clear. I am packing my bags and I am leaving. I will send you my itinerary so you know where I will be and when. That is it. Are we clear?”
Fighting Destiny (Westin Pack Book 2) Page 4
