by DJ Bryce
Mateo looked over his shoulder at me and gave a brief nod.
“We knew that what we felt for each other was more a brother/sister kind of affection, not what we imagined it was supposed to feel like when you’ve met your mate, but we also knew that we hadn’t met anyone who made us feel that way. And, since her family was adamant that she was meant for me, and we didn’t want them trying to ship her off to mate with some other Alpha, we agreed to give the outward appearance of being mates.”
“So, that means, you’ve never…” I began, feeling like a jerk for asking, but really needing to know.
“No,” Mateo replied quickly, as if the idea were absurd.
“So, does that mean you’ve never…” I repeated, this time turning toward Gilly, thinking back to last night and how wild it had been.
Gillian blushed and shook her head.
“But…”
Gilly held her hand up and said, “I broke my hymen when I was a kid. Can we talk about this later?”
I turned from her red face to see Mateo masking his grin, and my wolf howled at the knowledge that I’d been Gilly’s first, and would be her only.
“Anyway,” Gillian began, shooting at glare at what was probably a pretty cocky grin on my face. “What about you? Won’t this cause you embarrassment, maybe divide the pack and harm the council?”
“Gillian, if anyone understands what it means to find your mate, it’s the members of our pack. They’re going to understand that you and Max are meant to be. Will there be some initial confusion and maybe a backlash at the two of us for pretending to be mates when we weren’t? Probably… And, will your parents have a hard time coming to terms with this union? I’m sorry, babe, but you know they will. But, in the end, you and Max will be free to start your lives together and the pack will support you one hundred percent.”
“I don’t want you to have to deal with any bullshit over this,” I stated, thinking this news might actually be harder on him than it is on us. “What if we keep it hidden for now, and give you time to tell the pack about you and Gilly, before we spring our relationship on them?”
“How would you do that?” Mateo asked, his eyes looking pointedly at my hand wrapped around Gilly’s waist. While we’d been talking, she and I had gravitated toward each other, as if it were impossible to be in the same room without touching. “I’m sure I won’t be the only one who can smell the difference in both of you, plus, you can tell just by looking at you that you’re in love. There’s no disguising it.”
“What if I go stay with my brother for a week, just long enough for you guys to take care of things here,” Gilly offered, and the thought of her leaving me caused a physical pain in my chest. She must have noticed, because her hand came to rest on my heart and she added, “Then, when I get back, Max and I can let everyone know about us, we can have the ceremony, and I’ll move in to his place.”
“You’ll move in with me?” I asked, the thought making me happier than I could’ve imagined.
“Of course,” she said, softly, and I had no choice but to drop a kiss on her waiting lips.
“Oh, brother,” Mateo groaned. “Yeah, I hate to say it, Gilly, but going to stay with Brick at school is probably the only way that the pack won’t find out about you two. I’m surprised they can’t smell the pheromones already and aren’t pounding on your door.”
“Then it’s settled,” I said, then looked to my best friend and added, “Everyone better come to terms quickly, because there’s no way I’ll last longer than a week.”
Chapter 10
Gillian
“I don’t understand,” my sister said as she followed me out to my car.
“I know, it’s crazy, but I called in help for while I’m gone, and I’ll call you every night,” I promised.
“But, you and Max? And, you and Mateo were faking? Now your running off to stay at Brick’s and I’m supposed to what, hold down the fort and deal with mom and dad?”
I knew Natasha had a point, it wasn’t fair to put all of this on her while I disappeared, but I knew my sister, and I knew that she’d have my back no matter what.
“I promise, I’ll pay you back. You name the price, and you got it,” I assured her, pausing from throwing my stuff in the trunk to pull her in my arms. “We didn’t plan for any of this to happen, but Mateo has spoken, and this is what he needs from me… from us. It’s the least I can do for him.”
I looked in my sister’s grey eyes and pleaded, “I don’t want him to face this on his own, but I also know it’ll be worse if people find out about Max and me before Mateo has the opportunity to tell everyone that he and I aren’t mates. I wish I could be here to stand at his side while he does, but he wants me out of town. And, Tash, even though he isn’t my mate, he is the Alpha, and mine and Max’s best friend, I have to abide by his wishes.”
“Mom and dad are going to be pissed,” Natasha said softly.
“I know,” I replied with a frown. “But, they should understand what it means to me to find my mate, even if he isn’t the Alpha they’ve always predicted he would be. I’ll talk to them, Tash, I promise. I won’t put that on you. But, you need to know, no matter what they say, Max and I are having a ceremony when I get back, I’m moving in with him, and we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Tash’s face softened and her eyes filled.
“I can’t believe it, but, seriously, Gilly, I’m so happy for you. You deserve this, but I’m not going to lie, I’m pissed that you’ve been lying to me all this time about Mateo. It’s going to take me some time to come to terms with that.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, then hugged her tightly before letting her go.
“Give Brick a kick in the ass from me,” she said, before turning and jogging back toward Howlers.
“I will,” I shouted, but she was already turning the corner of the building.
It sucked that my sister was mad at me, but I knew she would only be the first of many. Mateo and I had been lying to the pack for many years now, and I hated that I wouldn’t be here to face the backlash with him. Although, as Alpha, I knew he could take it, I just hoped nobody saw Max as the easier target with me gone, and turned on him.
As I drove toward the college town two hours away where our younger brother, Brick, lived, I worried about Natasha, and what our parents would say once they learned about me and Max. I felt like I should at least call to give them some sort of warning, but had no idea what to say.
Maybe Brick will have some ideas, I thought, then laughed dryly.
There was no love lost between my parents and Brick. What, with my parents being traditional and conservation, and Brick being gay and liberal.
We’d all known Brick was gay for as long as I could remember, and that’s just as long as our parents had been living with their heads in the sand. Even when Brick had worked up the courage to officially come out to them, they’d said he was wrong, that it was just a phase and he’d grow up and see his true path.
He’d left for college as soon as he possibly could, and hadn’t been back once, not even for a visit. Natasha and I usually took turns going to see him, leaving one of us to run the bar, but it was usually just for the weekend. This would be the longest I’d ever crashed at his place, and I hoped I wouldn’t be messing up any of his plans.
I couldn’t even turn on the radio while I drove, my mind was already too loud as I thought about what Mateo was going to do, what Max was going to say, how everyone was going to react. It was driving me crazy that I wasn’t going to be there.
When I finally pulled up to Brick’s apartment building, I’d barely thrown the car in park before I’d ripped the keys out of the ignition and was running up the walkway to the door of his first-floor apartment.
“Where’s the fire, Gilly?” Brick said with a grin as he leaned against the doorjamb.
I stopped abruptly. I’d been in such a rush, I hadn’t even seen him standing there.
“Oh, Brick, I think se
nding me here was a bad idea. I should be there to face the pack with Mateo, and to break the news of Max and I to not only the pack, but to mom and dad. I left Tash pissed at me, not just about telling mom and dad, but about lying to her all these years, and leaving her to run the bar.”
“Breathe, big sis,” Brick said calmly, stepping out to pull me into his thick, sculpted arms. “If you think back home is where you need to be, then you should be there.”
“But, Mateo said…”
“I know what the Alpha said, but Gilly, you have to listen to your heart,” Brick said tenderly. “Not doing so is what got you in this mess in the first place.”
Shit.
“You’re right,” I said, because he was. Mateo and I both knew we weren’t mates from the start, and if we’d just been honest, instead of being afraid of the unknown, we wouldn’t be here now. Shoot, Max and I may have realized we were mates sooner, and already be living our happily ever after.
“Of course, I’m right,” Brick said haughtily, causing me to smile.
“Oh, calm down,” I replied with a smirk, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “Just because I said you’re right this time, doesn’t mean you’re always right.”
“Whatever, you know I am. Just let me get my bag and we’ll be on our way,” Brick said, then disappeared into his apartment.
“Wait, what? You’re coming?”
Brick reappeared with a backpack over one shoulder.
“C’mon, sis, you have to know I wouldn’t miss out on you telling the parents you aren’t mated to the Alpha.”
“That’s kinda mean, Brick,” I said with a frown.
“Now, Gilly, you know I won’t get any satisfaction out of anything other than their discomfort,” my brother said with a wink, then sauntered to my car.
“Here, you drive,” I said, tossing the keys to him when he turned back. “I don’t think I can handle another couple hours behind the wheel.”
Chapter 11
Maximus
It was totally silent. So much so, that I couldn’t even hear the breaths of my fellow council members, and I could usually hear at least a couple of them panting like dogs.
Mateo had just told the room that he and Gilly weren’t mates. That they’d been pretending all these years, in order to keep Gilly here with the pack, and keep him from having to ward off every female in a hundred-yard radius who had hopes of being mated to an Alpha.
That was the first I’d heard Mateo’s reasons behind the farce, and although warding off hundreds of women didn’t sound so bad to the rest of the pack, we all new Mateo, and he’d always been a rather private person.
I could understand that, since, as Alpha, he had to be there for the pack at all times, he’d wanted at least a semblance of peace at home.
“I know this is a shock, and a betrayal, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I lied. I promise you, it didn’t have anything to do with trickery, it had to do with helping out one of my best friends and doing what I thought was best for the pack. Everyone knows an Alpha should have a mate, and I thought it would help some of the elder members transition to my leadership a little bit better. I was already changing things up by adding in the crops…” Mateo shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know, they all sound like excuses, but…”
“I won’t deny I’m shocked,” Calin, Mateo’s younger brother, and the closest person to Mateo other than me and Gilly. “But, I can understand why you and Gilly wanted to help each other out, and I can forgive the lie, based on your intentions. The question is, why are you coming clean now? Has something happened?”
Mateo cleared his throat and was about to speak, when I opened my mouth and said, “She’s my mate. Gilly… We didn’t know because we’ve always pretty much kept our distance. I knew I felt a pull toward her, but always denied it because I believed what you all did, that she was destined to be our Alpha’s mate. I never even touched her until the other night. And, that’s all it took. As soon as my hand touched her arm, I knew… She’s my mate.”
I could tell they were shocked. Everyone started looking awkwardly from me to Mateo, as if expecting some sort of battle to break out between the two of us.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Mateo said when he found his voice. “Two of my best friends are mated and will spend their lives together, bringing cubs into our pack and strengthening our numbers. I feel no ill will toward either of them, because, as I said, I’ve always known that Gilly is not that one for me, which you will know too once you see them together. It’s actually quite sickening,” he joked.
The room erupted with laughter as questions started flying at me from around the table. Since they knew their Alpha wasn’t upset, neither were they, and now, they felt free to allow their curiosity to get the better of them.
“Just from touching her arm, really?” Bryan asked.
“You say you felt a pull, when did that start? How old?” Gregory put in.
“What did it feel like? That moment when you knew she was your mate?” Kevin added softly, from right next to me. As the youngest, he was definitely the shyest. Actually, he was the only shy one.
I knew the guys were curious because none of them had found their mates yet, and unlike Mateo, they had been playing the field in hopes of finding the woman they’d settle down and build a family with. Wolves were not just loyal to their packs, strong fighters, and more handsome than mere men, they longed for family. For cubs, a mate they could care for, and a home they could call their own.
“Honestly,” I began, giving Mateo an apologetic look. “I knew in second grade. Like I said, I’ve never touched her skin, but Mateo dared me to pull her pigtails, and that’s when I started feeling the pull.”
“Fuck,” Mateo bit out, and I knew he was feeling guilty about the façade between he and Gilly, that had kept us apart for so long. “If I’d known, Max…”
“It’s not your fault,” I replied. “I should have talked to someone about what I was feeling. If I’d known she was my mate, I would have known that she couldn’t have been yours as well, and I would have talked to you about it.”
“But all this time…” he started miserably.
I held my hand up to stop him.
“It’s a total fucking fluke, Mateo,” I assured him with a chuckle. “We know now, and no one was hurt, so we can move on. We just figure out the best way to tell the pack, and to let Gilly’s parents know.”
“Gregory, call a pack meeting for tonight at town hall. I’ll tell everyone then.”
Gregory nodded and rose from the table to do just that, knowing time was of the essence.
“I’m pretty sure Gilly wants to tell her parents herself, but I’ll give her a call after this to make sure. I could always go over there if needed,” I offered, knowing that my new in-laws probably wouldn’t be welcoming me to the family with open arms, but honestly not really caring.
As long as I had Gilly, I couldn’t care less what anyone else thought.
“All right, we should go ahead and get to it. We’ve got to get ready for harvest this weekend, the meeting with the Threehorn Pack, and now this wrench I’ve thrown into things. People may be pretty pissed initially, and I’m sorry to bring this down on you guys.”
“We’ve got your back, brother,” Calin assured him.
Chapter 12
Gillian
“Yeah, we’re almost back. I know, I just couldn’t leave you and Mateo to face the possible fallout alone. Okay, we’ll meet you there tonight, but first, Brick and I are heading to our parents. Yeah, they should hear it from me before the whole pack knows. I want to save them that embarrassment. I know, but still… Thanks, yeah, me too. I love you, too.”
I hung up with Max, a goofy smile playing on my lips, when I felt Brick’s eyes on me and turned toward him.
“What?” I asked defensively.
Brick smirked. “I’ve just never seen you act like this over a guy, it’s freaking hilarious.”
“Shut up.
”
Brick snickered until we turned onto the street our parents lived on, then his mirth vanished.
“Hey, I can do this alone,” I began, but Brick shook his head.
“No, I’ve got your back,” he assured me. “Plus, I’m through staying away like I have something to be ashamed of.”
“Good for you,” I said with a small smile, but my stomach was beginning to ache with the thought of what my parents’ reaction may be. “They are the ones who should be ashamed.”
Neither of us said anything else as Brick parked my car along the curb, both of our gazes on the light blue ranch-style home that we’d grown up in. I’d like to say our childhood had been a happy one, and it had, to some extent. Natasha, Brick and I had our differences, but we’d gotten along pretty well, and had always been there for each other. Especially when our parents were being extra hard on one of us.
I took a deep breath and put my hand on the door handle.
“Ready?” Brick asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied, then we both got out of the car and walked slowly up the walkway, as if we were doing a death march.
We paused at the door to knock. Ours was not the kind of home that you walked into uninvited. If we were expected, it was acceptable, but since our parents didn’t know we were coming, they would not welcome us just walking in.
That was just one of the many things I would do differently once I had a home and family of my own.
The door swung open and my mother’s pinched face came into view. Yeah, she was annoyed at being intruded upon…
“Gillian, what on earth…” She began, then noticed Brick and she frowned. “Brick.”
“Hello, Mother Dear,” Brick said with a fake smile and sing song voice.
I would have started giggling, if I wasn’t so nervous over what I was about to tell my parents.
“I need to talk to you and dad,” I said, trying to keep my tone strong and steady. “It’s important.”
