I was an idiot.
That was the only explanation I could come up with.
Evey let out another deep breath, and I finally met her gaze.
“Are you havin’ second thoughts about matin’ Abey?” she asked softly.
There was so much hurt in her eyes, it made my heart clench in my chest. “No, Evey. Of course not. I love him.”
Her eyes cleared the tiniest bit. “Then what’s holdin’ you back?”
I returned my gaze to our hands. “I guess I’m just worried.”
“About what?”
I took a deep breath and met her eyes again. “Aren’t we moving really fast?”
She shrugged. “Not for fated mates.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know how long it took our parents to be mated?”
I tried to remember if Abraham had told me this but came up empty. “No, I don’t think so.”
“A week.”
My eyes widened. “They got married a week after they got engaged?!”
She shook her head. “No. They mated a week after they met.”
Somehow, my eyes widened further. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
“Nope. That’s how it is. When you meet your fated mate, there’s no reason to wait. They’re your soul mate. The one wolf in the world that was made just for you. Why would they wait?”
I pulled my hand away from hers and got up to pace. “Because that’s crazy, Evey. People don’t just meet and get married in a week. Or in the course of a few months like me and Abraham. In my world, you meet, you date, you fall in love, and a few years later, you might get married.”
“That isn’t your world anymore, Ellie. This is.”
I blew out a big breath and continued to pace. I needed to work off this excess energy. What she was saying was insane. No reasonable person would get married after a week. I felt like an idiot for even considering it after the few months I’d known Abraham.
“This might be my world now, but it’s not the one I grew up in. It’s not the one I’ve known all my life. You can’t just expect me to change everything I know and believe just because I turn into a wolf every full moon. It doesn’t work like that.”
Evey sighed and stood up to intercept me. “Could you please sit down? You’re makin’ me dizzy.”
I plopped onto the edge of her bed again and buried my face in my hands. “I can’t do this, Evey. It’s too much.”
She took a seat next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Ellie, there’s no reason to stress. It’s Abraham we’re talkin’ about. He’s your fated mate. The one man who’ll put your happiness above everything else. What’s so scary about that?”
It was right there on the tip of my tongue. The words I’d swallowed down a hundred times in Abraham’s presence. Could I confide in Evey? Would she understand?
I took a deep breath and lifted my head. “Evey, what if we’re not fated?”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talkin’ about?”
I got up to pace again. I couldn’t help myself. “Evey, I’m a bitten werewolf. I wasn’t made for Abraham. I was made a human.”
She tilted her head back and forth. “Yeah, but we all know you’re his fated mate anyway.”
I spun to face her. “But how do we know that? What if we’re wrong? What if I’m not the one for him?” Another thought swam to the surface, leaving a trail of fire and destruction in its wake. “What if he meets his real fated mate? The werewolf that was actually meant for him? What happens to me, then?” My voice was so quiet by the end that I knew she wouldn’t have been able to hear me if she didn’t have ultra-sensitive hearing.
“Ellie.” She said my name like a good-natured but disapproving mother. “You know he’s your mate. You’ve told me before you can feel it.”
I shook my head and began to pace again. “I know what I’ve told you and I know what I feel, but still. You can’t deny that it doesn’t make any sense. There’s no plausible explanation for why I’m his mate.”
Evey shrugged. “Sometimes stuff just happens that way.”
I shook my head again. “That’s not good enough for me. I’m not going to get married to someone I’ve only known a few months just because I think he’s my soul mate.”
She was quiet for a long time while I continued to pace. I didn’t look at her, though. I didn’t want to see the emotions she’d have displayed on her pretty face. Didn’t want to see the disappointment I knew would be there.
“So, what are you saying? Are you not gonna mate Abey?” Her voice was quiet and laced with hurt.
I released a big breath and turned to face her. “I honestly don’t know, Evey. But I know I can’t marry him with these doubts in my head. That wouldn’t be fair to him.”
She nodded slowly. “You’re right. You can’t mate him until you’re sure.”
I tossed my hands in the air and turned to pace again. “And how am I supposed to be sure? Is there some kind of fated mate test we can take to prove we’re supposed to be together?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
I growled under my breath. “I know it doesn’t. Which is why I’m losing my friggen mind, Evey. I don’t know what to do and I know I’m hurting him by putting off our ceremony. He’s going to think I don’t want him when that’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
“Are you more worried that you’re not his mate or that he’s not yours?”
I paused and turned to look at her. “Huh?”
One corner of her lips curled. “Are you worried that he’s not the one for you? Or that you’re not his fated mate?”
I chewed on my bottom lip while I thought about that. “Well, since I was born a human, I shouldn’t have a fated mate, right? That means I always had the ability to choose who I wanted to be with.”
“And?”
There was so much trepidation and hope in her voice, my heart clenched again.
“And I’d choose Abraham every time.”
A big smile spread across her face.
But that left one option.
“I guess that means I’m more worried that I’m not his mate. That his real mate will come around one day, and he’ll drop me for her.”
She shook her head. “You know Abey would never do that.”
I raised a brow at her. “If he met his real fated mate, would he have a choice?”
She held my eyes for the first few seconds, but eventually she looked away and I knew I had my answer.
“Exactly,” I said softly, but the word rang through the quiet room.
“But that’s not gonna happen ‘cause you’re his mate.”
“But, how do we know that?”
She sighed loudly and stood from her bed. Her footsteps thumped across the floor before she grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”
I let her drag me through her room. “Where are we going?”
“To talk to Callie.”
“For what?”
“She’s the smartest person I know. Maybe she’ll have some information we don’t.”
I kept quiet as she led me down the hall to Callie’s room. She knocked once, and Callie called for us to come in.
The middle McCoy sibling was sitting at her desk, curly brown hair as wild as ever. When she turned to us, her light blue eyes lit up. “Hey, Ellie! I was going to come find you, but I wasn’t sure if you were done with Abey or not.”
My cheeks burned, and I couldn’t meet her eyes. “How does everyone know?” I whispered, mostly to myself.
“Told you there are no secrets in a pack,” Evey whispered back. She turned to Callie and spoke up. “We need your help.”
Callie pushed away from her desk and swiveled her chair to face us. “Of course. What’s up?”
Evey shook the arm of
mine she was still holding. “Ellie’s scared she’s not Abey’s mate.”
I winced at her crude summary of my debacle. That wasn’t exactly the way I would have described it.
Callie frowned. “Is that true?”
My face burned hotter, and I looked down at my sneakers. “Kinda.”
Evey shook my arm again, and I shot her a glare. She nodded toward Callie and I sighed.
“Okay, yes. I’m worried we’re not really fated and that his real mate will show up one day.”
Callie nodded slowly. “And why don’t you think you’re his mate? You two have all the symptoms and side-effects of being fated.”
She was right. We did.
Back when I’d still been living in Raleigh and Abraham was in Asheville, our time apart had been torturous. It was hard to sleep, to eat, to even function when he wasn’t around. As soon as we were together again, all that went away. When I was around him, I felt stronger and better and more whole than ever.
But that wasn’t enough.
“Yeah, we do, but I’m a bitten wolf. How can I be his fated mate?”
Callie pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
I shook my head. “Now you see my dilemma?”
She nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I can kind of see where you’re coming from. Is that why you won’t set a ceremony date?”
My face heated up again. When was I going to get used to having a whole pack of werewolves up in my business?
“Yeah, kinda. That, and in my world, marrying someone you’ve only known a few months is something only drunk and drugged up celebrities do. Not normal people. Not sensible people. Not sane people.”
Callie shook her head. “But that’s not your world anymore.”
I released a deep breath. “Yeah, I get that. But that’s how I was raised. I can’t just turn it off.”
She nodded slowly and sat up straighter. “What if we could figure out how you two are fated mates? Would that make you feel better about the mating ceremony?”
I looked down at my sneakers again and thought through her words carefully. If I knew for sure, without a shadow of a doubt that I was Abraham’s fated mate, would that be enough? I knew I loved him, and I knew he loved me. I also knew I’d never felt like that about anyone and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Couldn’t even imagine a single day without him. Was that enough?
I met her gaze again. “Yes. If I knew we were really fated, there’d be nothing stopping me from marrying him.”
Evey clapped next to me and Callie’s face lit up. “Okay. Then let’s focus on that. I’ve already done some preliminary research, but I’ll do some deeper digging for you, okay?”
It felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The burden of these suspicions and questions had been a heavy one I’d been carrying around all on my own. But now I had Evey and Callie on my side. Together we could figure out what was going on and make sense of this situation between Abraham and me. I just hoped we could find an answer before I hurt Abraham any more than I already had.
Chapter 4
Evey and I were getting ready to leave Callie’s room when she spoke up. “Ellie, do you have a minute? I was hoping you could look at some of these documents from our lawyer.”
This wasn’t the first time Callie had enlisted my help. I’d told her back when she stayed with me in Raleigh that I’d be more than happy to help whenever I could. However, this was environmental law, and I really didn’t feel like I knew enough to be helpful.
“Of course I can. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, though,” I warned her.
She waved my words away. “You’ve got to be better than the bozo we’re working with.”
My lips twitched with a smile. It wasn’t often that Callie insulted someone. I had to wonder who this guy was to get a reaction like that out of her.
Evey sighed. “I guess I’ll go get some work done while you two hippies talk about huggin’ trees and savin’ the planet.”
Callie shook her head. “Evelyn, I’ve told you, I’m not a hippie.”
“Then why do you drive a Prius?”
“Because it’s better for the environment.”
“Exactly. You might as well be huggin’ trees.”
“Just because I bought a Prius doesn’t make me a hippie.”
“I disagree.”
“Well, you know what? You can just–”
“All right, ladies,” I interrupted. “Let’s break it up before you two break into a pillow fight.”
Evey rolled her eyes. “We haven’t had a pillow fight since we were ten.”
“We were twelve.”
“We were ten, Callista.”
“No, we weren’t. I remember it clearly because–”
“Ladies,” I interrupted again.
They both shot me chagrinned looks.
“All right, I’ll leave you two… environmental enthusiasts to it.”
Callie rolled her eyes, but thankfully didn’t comment until Evey was gone. “She’s my sister and I love her, but that girl drives me nuts,” she said once the door was closed.
I laughed. “Yeah, but you’re lucky to have her. I’d have killed for a sister when I was growing up.”
“Yeah, while I would have killed to be an only child.”
I shook my head, my smile wide across my face. “You don’t mean that.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I don’t. I just hate when she calls me a hippie.”
I laughed again. “That’s why she does it.”
Callie nodded slowly. “Oh, I know. That girl has thirty years of practice getting under my skin.”
I took a seat in an overstuffed chair near her desk. “What did you want me to look at?”
Callie turned to her laptop again. “This new lawyer we’re working with wrote up some documents to submit to the court. I’m hoping you could take a look and let me know if anything stands out to you.”
“I’d be happy to, but you know I really don’t know anything about environmental law. I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”
Callie gathered up a stack of papers and handed them to me. “I promise, any help would be appreciated.”
I let out a deep breath and shrugged. She knew how unequipped I was, and she wanted my help anyway. At least I’d tried to warn her.
I took the pile of papers from her and sat back in the chair. “What are these for again?”
“We’re submitting these to the court in a couple days. It’s for our Blue Ridge Parkway conservation project.”
I nodded slowly and started to read but didn’t get far. “Well, he’s spelled environmental wrong in the first paragraph.”
Callie growled, and my eyes snapped to her. I’d never heard a sound like that come out of her mouth. This lawyer must really have been getting to her.
“I knew that guy was a joke. I can’t believe we’ve already paid him for this.” She shook her head, brows furrowed and lips pursed.
I’d been on the receiving end of a Callie lecture and I was glad I wasn’t that guy. I kept reading and found a few more mistakes and some sentences that could be made a lot clearer. If he was trying to convince a judge of something, having so many errors in a document was a surefire way to lose.
“Can I take this with me and look it over later? I have a few appointments coming up soon.”
“Of course! That would be great! Thanks so much, Ellie. You’re a lifesaver.”
I didn’t know about all that, but it wouldn’t hurt to go through all this for her. I could probably hop on the computer and do a little research too. It wasn’t like I had much else to do with my time.
Except, of course, the meetings that I was dreading.
“While you’re doing that, I’ll see what kind of
information I can find on fated mates and bitten wolves, okay?”
“That’s perfect. Thanks, Callie.”
She waved a hand and turned back to her computer. “Don’t mention it.”
I left her room and walked back over to the wing that held our bedroom and dropped off the packet of papers. I didn’t want to lose anything, and I wouldn’t have time to look at them until I got through all the meetings anyway.
Had Abraham said how many there were supposed to be?
Suddenly, I wished I’d asked more questions.
I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, but there was no one there but Aubrey, one of the house staff. At that hour, lunch was over, and the housekeepers were cleaning up after the last meal and preparing for the next. Usually, Ms. Elsie did most of the cooking, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, Aubrey,” I called as I took a seat at one of the tables to wait.
She paused what she was doing and turned around to face me slowly. “Elizabeth.”
I frowned. What kind of greeting was that? Had I done something to offend her? I hardly saw her and we barely spoke, so I didn’t know how that could be possible.
Before I had a chance to respond, someone walked through the sliding glass doors from the backyard. I recognized the woman, of course, but couldn’t remember her name. She had pretty brown skin and curly hair that just reached her shoulders.
“Hey,” I said and stood.
She gave me a little wave. “Hi. I’m here to see Abraham.”
I shook my head. “No. I think you’re here to see me.”
She frowned. “But I made an appointment with him.”
I sighed. “Yeah, and he wants me to take over.”
She took a small step back. “I can just come back when he’s available.”
Part of me wanted to let her go. I didn’t want to have the meetings in the first place, and it wouldn’t have bothered me if she took her problems to Abraham instead. I really didn’t know how I could help her anyway.
But then I remembered Abraham had asked me to do this for him. For some reason, he thought it was important. He really didn’t ask for much, so when he did, it was even more important that I did whatever it was. Even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Rise Page 3
