"So you are following me?" she accused with her back turned toward me.
"Not exactly. More like stalking," I said. That got a strong enough reaction that she turned quickly with wide, shocked eyes.
"Wh-what?"
I gave her the grin that typically got me out of anything and everything in life, the irresistible one, and I saw her melt a little. I was beyond relieved to find she wasn't totally immune to me.
"Look, I saw you, but for only a second. Then as you were driving away I saw the kid. Oscar and I had met at the bar inside the restaurant a few minutes before all that, so I recognized him. I went back in and asked the hostess about Jacob. I didn't know his name at the time, but Oscar had pointed him out to me and he was easy enough to describe. Jacob had left his name so I had a lead, at least. I Googled him and found he was speaking at a convention here this weekend. I didn't know for sure you would be here, but I have a fundraiser here and a few meetings I needed to attend anyway, so I came down a few days early, hoping to run into you."
"Where are you staying?" she demanded.
"Okay, so I checked where the convention was and booked at the same hotel, which I would have anyway because my charity ball this weekend is also being held there. I was able to sweet talk the receptionist into confirming that Jacob at least was staying there. I wasn't certain, but had hoped you and Oscar were, too. I swear it was complete coincidence that I ran into him today. You just"—I took a deep breath, wondering how much I should tell her—"you just look so much like, well, you, that I couldn't stop thinking about you. I had only gotten a small whiff of your scent, not enough to confirm, just enough to set my wolf on edge. I had to see you and know for sure."
"Know what, Liam? That I'm alive? ҆Cause I am, but please, do not run back to my dad and tell him you saw me. I can't go home. I can't. I have a life here, and it's a good one. They're my new pack now. My family will never understand and it's just all better if they believe I'm dead, because that's what happened, Liam. Madelyn Collier died eight years ago. She doesn't exist anymore and hasn’t for a long time. You need to just go home and forget you ever saw me."
The pain that shot through my chest was almost crippling, and I stumbled back a little. She couldn't be serious. She was my mate!
"Maddie. Jane. I don't give a shit what you want to be called, but you know I can't do that. Please don't ask that of me. You're my mate. My one true mate."
Maddie
Chapter 6
I'm not sure anything had ever shocked me more than Liam's confession. His mate? He thought I was his mate? A small voice in the back of my head said, You know he's your mate. You've known it since you first caught his scent two days ago. Why do you think the panic attack hit so hard?
"I can't be your mate," I whispered, not sure if I was actually speaking to him or myself. I wasn't at all prepared for the pain those words caused me physically, nor the sheer look of agony Liam was trying hard to reign in. I didn't know how to tell him. I didn't think he could possibly understand. I wasn't a wolf. I was different now. I could never be a proper mate for him.
He stared out across the water and his voice was hardened when he spoke again. "Like it or not, Maddie, you are my mate."
A tear slipped down my cheek. I made it a point never to cry in front of people; it had hurt my family too much during the years I had, but I cried openly now. Liam Westin was my one true mate. Eight years earlier I would have been ecstatic. I had had the biggest crush on him for years as a little girl. I loved the Westin family as much as my own, and Lily and I would actually be sisters. It was like some sick twist of fate. The perfect fairy-tale I was meant to have and couldn't.
Liam's arms wrapped around me. I hadn't let anyone hold me like that since the morning of the day I ran away. I had been so upset about being grounded and Mom had wrapped her arms around me and just let me cry in her arms as I was doing now in Liam's. It should have felt wrong. Close contact terrified me, especially from a man, but it didn't. It was so perfectly right that I started to panic.
He must have felt the change in me because he started rubbing my back, "Hey, hey, what's happening here? Just breathe, Mad, just breathe. It's okay. It's going to be okay, but you have to talk to me. I need to understand and I need you to tell me how to help you."
"You can't help me, Liam. You can't fix this. This is who I am now."
"It's okay. It's okay. It's all going to be okay." He kept telling me that over and over, but it would never be okay. His soothing voice and the circles he was rubbing on my back finally started to calm me. I didn't know how he was doing it, but I started to breathe normally again. My panic subsided and so did the tears.
"Thanks," I said. I was mortified. This was Liam-freaking-Westin, and I just had a complete meltdown in his arms. I turned away from him to look back out across the water, but he stopped me.
"Don't do that. Don't turn away from me, Mad. You choose to reject our mating call, that's going to be your decision, and yours alone. I'll figure a way to live with it and respect it, but at the very least I think I deserve an explanation." He took in a deep, frustrated breath when I didn't respond right away. "Look, you of all people know how my family feels about true mates. I've waited my entire life to feel this, to find you, and so far, it really sucks."
I was so surprised by his confession that I snorted, trying to hold in a laugh.
"I mean really sucks! I'm dealing with a pair of humans, and a kid that might idolize me. I'm not kidding there, watch out for his request for suits." I laughed again, and he got even more dramatic. "You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. It's the latest fashion in the Liam Westin fan club, just ask Zander. It's coming. Oscar will be dressing like this soon. Just you wait and see. Oh, and I found my twin sister’s obnoxious, bratty other half, and she's my mate? Yeah, what are the odds of that? I'd say I'm getting the raw end of the deal here." His voice softened and I realized he'd put me at ease and got me listening again. "So, talk to me. I need to know, ҆cause spending the rest of my life without you and Oscar really isn't an option for me."
He included my son. It was more than I could have ever hoped for, but he didn't know me, and he didn't know what I'd been through. I had never told anyone and I wasn't sure I could start with him.
"I don’t know how to explain it all to you, Liam."
"So, Twenty Questions then?"
It was an old game we all used to play at camp. I smiled, remembering the hours we'd spent just asking questions and talking. Life had been so simple back then. I had learned a long time ago not to focus on the what-ifs or wallow in what had happened, but right now, with my dream man right within reach and knowing the wonderful life I had always imagined with him, it was really hard not to think about it.
"So that's a yes?" he asked when I didn't answer.
"Yes, but you've just wasted your first."
He feigned disbelief. "You little cheater. Fine. Was Oscar the reason you ran away from home?"
Wow, he was hitting the deep stuff right off the bat. "No, and yes."
"Come on, you can do better than that," he challenged.
"No way, I answered your question, and that was number two, so I get two to catch up."
"Fine."
"How's Lily?"
He smiled affectionately as we walked to a bench that had just been abandoned and sat down, facing the water.
"Lil's really good. She graduated a few years ago and went right to work at the Foundation. She loves it. Can't commit to a single job to save her life, so E reassigns her every year at least, sometimes sooner. Keeps them both happy. Mostly, she's still just Lily, full of life, true to herself, doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks or says about her, but we also know behind that is a heart bigger than that ocean out there."
I brushed another tear from my cheek. Instead of making it awkward he just said, "Next?"
I laughed, grateful he was keeping it mostly light. "Let's see, what about you? What do you do these days?"
He sighed. "I
took over as CEO of Westin Foundation a little over a year ago. Kyle and Dad struggled to hand over the reins for a while, but I'm flying solo now."
"Wait, what? How did you become CEO? I always thought Kyle would."
"Uh-uh, you already caught up. My turn. Plus, that was like a million questions."
"It was not."
"Was too."
I liked the easy banter between us. It made me more comfortable than I had been around anyone for a long time. "Fine, your turn.”
"Explain your last answer."
"Not a question."
He glared at me trying to portray his frustration, but I just smiled back sweetly. "You always were too good at this stupid game," he grumbled, mostly under his breath. "Can you please explain your last answer?"
"No. My turn."
"What? Not fair!"
"I answered your question. My turn."
He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.
I giggled. "Who's Zander?"
"What?"
"You said, 'Just ask Zander,' talking about your fan club and Oscar wanting to dress like you. So, who's Zander?"
He gave me a thousand-watt smile that made me swoon. "My nephew. Kyle's kid."
"Kyle has a kid?"
"Uh-uh, that would be two questions."
I smiled at him. "Okay, so ask yours already."
"How did you meet Annie and Jacob?"
He totally changed gears on me, and it threw me off a little.
"Annie was my appointed guardian until I turned eighteen. They took me in when I found out I was pregnant with Oscar and they just became family. I owe a lot to them both," I said honestly.
He seemed to consider that but didn't ask me to specify.
"Why are you CEO and not Kyle?"
He gave me a quizzical look, like, “How do you not know this already?” I could easily assume all wolf shifters were aware of the circumstances he was about to tell me. "Kyle was CEO until a little over a year ago. The Bulgarians started a war over his mate, Kelsey. Dad was seriously injured in the war and power transferred to Kyle before Kelsey saved him. He's fine now, but with the baby on the way then and taking over as Alpha years before planned, he had to step down as CEO, which forced me to step up. Like it or not."
It sounded a little resentful, but I didn't press. I knew it wasn't my turn. "Your turn," I said.
"You said Annie and Jacob took you in when you found out you were pregnant. Does that mean you were not pregnant when you left home?"
"No, I was not pregnant when I left home."
I could see my answer hit him hard as he tried to resolve what I wasn't telling him.
"I guess I thought from seeing Oscar that maybe that was why you left. You know, found out you were pregnant, got scared about how your dad would handle it and ran."
I shook my head no, sadly. "Um, has Lily found her mate yet?" I asked, trying to change the subject quickly.
"Nah. Kyle and Elise both have though, and looks like I'm up next." He grinned at me like he was happy about that, like truly happy, but he didn't know and I didn't know how to tell him.
"Look, Liam." I took a deep breath, trying to get my thoughts together. I had never said the words out loud and I guess a part of me hoped they weren't true. How did I tell my one true mate that my wolf spirit was dead? "I . . ."
I was cut off by a high-pitched squeal as a tall, sleek brunette threw herself into Liam's arms.
Liam
Chapter 7
One minute I felt like Maddie was about to finally open to me and the next I was being physically attacked.
"Lee-lee! Let me look at you." She pulled back and I couldn’t help but grin as the outrageous Steph examined me closely. "You're looking pretty hot. I could kick your ass for coming into my territory without so much as a heads-up. Damn good thing you're so nice to look at." She hugged me close again and kissed my cheek.
A loud, aggressive growl sounded next to me. Steph froze in my arms and slowly backed up, glancing over my shoulder. I turned to meet horrified, embarrassed eyes. I quickly moved to Maddie's side. "Hey, it's okay," I reassured her.
"Uh, what just happened?" Steph asked. With hands on her hips, she demanded to know who had just growled at her. "And just who do we have here?"
I wrapped an arm possessively around Maddie and pulled her close to my side, but she was still tense from Steph's taunting.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know where that came from," Maddie started apologizing.
"Hey, it's okay. Trust me, it wasn't that long ago that E went through it, and Kelsey was way worse even. She growled at everyone."
She looked really upset and shook her head, "No, you don't understand, I can't—"
"Seriously, Lee, who is this?"
I knew Steph well enough to know it was only sheer curiosity, but I could see that Maddie's wolf was highly agitated and was seeing Steph as nothing but a threat to her mate. I was struggling to keep the grin off my face as I tried to console her.
"Dammit, Steph, back off and give her a minute."
"What the hell is this? The prodigal son returns without so much as a text or warning?" came a male voice from behind me that I'd recognize anywhere.
Maddie seemed to be relaxing just a little, still looking mortified about having growled at Steph. I took a step forward, careful to keep her safely behind me. I was aware that my wolf's instinct to protect her had just skyrocketed. I had never had many Alpha signs, but loyal, hardworking, and trustworthy were among my highest qualities. Trying to get a grip on this new emotion and overwhelming need to protect my mate, I extended my hand and embraced Mark with my free one.
"You ugly mutt, what are you doing on my pier?" he asked affectionately.
"How the hell are you?"
"We're good. Man, it's good to see you. Never thought I'd miss that ugly face."
I grinned sheepishly, looking over my shoulder at Maddie. I motioned for her to come here and she hesitantly did, though I could see the caution clear in her eyes.
"Mark, Steph, this is—"
"Jane," she interrupted.
I nodded. "—Jane, my mate."
"Your mate?" Steph squealed and like a whirlwind, threw her arms around Maddie. I had learned enough in the last hour of talking with Maddie to know that that was not okay with her. Carefully orchestrating her removal, I sat down on the bench and pulled Maddie down into my lap. Her entire body relaxed and melted against mine.
"Steph, not everyone likes being mauled by you," I warned.
She just shrugged and took a seat between us where Mark had joined me on the bench. He immediately wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back against him.
"Sorry, Jane, she doesn't always get that normal people have boundaries," Mark said.
I laughed. "Mark and I were college roommates. Steph is his mate. They're sea lion shifters."
I'm not sure anything I could have said would have shocked her more. For the most part shifter groups rarely interacted with each other, but the Grand Council had been working with other shifters for years on a new integration program. A new college had opened, welcoming all shifters, and Mark and I had been in the first graduating class. I had quite the eclectic group of friends because of it.
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Seriously," I assured her. "Hence her lack of personal skills and boundaries." Mark laughed out loud, knowing it was true. "Did you watch the sea lions this morning as they all practically laid on top of each other and wrestled for more space? Yeah, that's pretty much how it is with them all the time, too."
She stared at them with open curiosity. Mark just shrugged. "Hey, this guy carved out his space and practically peed all over it."
"I'm pretty sure he did, actually, from the smell of the place," Steph said.
We all laughed at the memory.
"Guess we all have our quirks," he admitted.
"So you live here, full-time?"
Steph looked out into the water with a dark, haunted look her
eyes. The sea lion population had started to dwindle and she and Mark had begun a repopulation program. I knew it was difficult for both of them, but especially for her. Our kind believes that God gave each of us a spirit animal to protect, and the duty to protect all the animals of our kind. By mating in animal form, we could reproduce animals. They were not born with a human spirit. The female had to stay in animal form throughout the pregnancy and most find it difficult to return to the human world afterwards, choosing to live out their lives as an animal alongside their young.
Mark and Steph were extraordinary in my mind. They had gone through the repopulation process at least four times that I knew of, but kept returning to human form to care for and watch after the animals. It was the ultimate sacrifice and it was easy to see how difficult it was on them.
He rubbed her back and kissed her temple. "We do. We're working on a repopulation program for the sea lions." He smiled sadly and I watched Maddie's reaction as she understood the full impact of what he was saying.
"They also run several charters, including the one taking us to Alcatraz tomorrow," I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. I saw an exchange of some sort pass between Maddie and Steph as Maddie quickly wiped a tear from her eye. Maybe it was a mother thing. I didn't fully understand it.
Steph morphed back into the carefree, playful girl I knew. "Ah, so that makes sense. You said five though, who else?"
"My son and his grandparents."
Her eyes widened in unrestrained curiosity. "You have a son?"
Maddie's chin jutted out in defiance, unnecessarily. I suspected with her young age, it was just a normal reaction to people questioning her motherhood.
"Yes, Oscar is seven, and his grandparents don't know about our kind."
I hadn't thought to warn them of that. I was proud of Maddie for thinking of it.
Steph nodded in understanding and I could see a million questions brewing just under the surface, but for once, she held back. It felt like there was some odd connection between the two women that Mark and I weren't privy to. I looked at him to confirm I wasn't the only one lost. He just shrugged and shook his head.
Forever Mine (Westin Pack Book 3) Page 5
