I tug on Jules’ wrist, “Please let me say goodbye to my sister. We’ve never been apart before. She needs me. I need to know she’s okay.”
Jules looked at his brother who shook his head again, “S... sorry Rosemary.”
Okay, so my mate clearly isn’t an Alpha, I would have to stand up for myself then. “Angus, I am not leaving the building without talking to my sister. If you attempt to force me to leave, I will make a scene in the cab, the hotel, and the airport.”
The brothers had a short stare down with my mate losing. His shoulders curled in and he looked at me with a pleading look as if the whimper of a stranger would cow me more than my sister.
“I don’t have my wolf yet, Angus,” I reminded my apparent brother-in-law, “I’m not feeling the Blessing pull. You want to have Jules control me; it’s not going to work.”
“Fine,” Angus grumbled, “Jules will go get your luggage and meet us at the airport.”
“Why can’t you just meet Jules and I at the airport?” I ask.
“Because I don’t trust you not to manipulate my little brother away from medical school,” Angus said. Jules flinched at the words.
Instinct or pity, I don’t know which, compelled me to comfort Jules, “I’ll see you at the airport,” I promised, “Thank you for letting me say goodbye to my sister.”
Our lips met again, soft, and sweet. Angus cleared his throat, and Jules broke the embrace. His cheeks flushed and eyes dark, “At the airport,” he agreed, then left the room.
“Well I guess we know who’s going to wear the pants in this relationship,” Angus muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.
“And I guess we know who’s the more charming of the Redford sons.” I knew I didn’t have much time and antagonizing my soon to be travel companion wasn’t on the top of my list.
I wandered down each hall, calling Thyme’s name, tossing in a Simon or two for good measure. I tried calling her phone but didn’t get any responses.
Angus followed me, making unhelpful comments, “He probably took her home, that’s what I’d do if I found my mate.”
I spun on my heel, “You probably have found your mate, but she found your personality so abhorrent that she ran before you felt the pull.”
He growled, “She’s out there and she’s going to feel like the luckiest bitch in the world when I claim her.”
“So, until you find your own mate to torment, you’re going to just torment me?”
“Welcome to the family.”
***
The Redford pack was nice. But they weren’t friendly. The large pack welcomed me for the brief time I was there, but it seemed like there was always a disconnect. Like I was an outsider. Probably because they didn’t seem overly fond of Jules. Not that I saw much of Jules in the day we spent at the pack before the long drive to Vancouver.
There was a small party to celebrate Jules finding his mate. All his friends were there. All two of them. Pack Elders made brief appearances but other than cursory greetings, paid me no mind. The focus of the party goers at the Redford Pack was not the guests of honor, but Alpha Redford and his successor.
I watched like a voyeur at my own party as person after person. Wolf, shewolf, whelp and pup lavished attention on Angus and his parents. Like the room revolved around them.
Mid-way through the party, Thyme called, and I was able to slip away completely unnoticed.
“It’s horrible,” Thyme was never one for greetings.
“Yes, deforestation is a blight on planet Earth,” I quipped.
Thyme huffed, “Roosieee. I’m serious. It’s horrible here. Simon is nice and all, but I’m never alone. Everywhere we go people have to talk to us. I can’t even get water in the middle of the night without being accosted by pack members.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather that than be alone at my own mating party,” I grumbled.
“Huh?”
“Redford is throwing me and Jules a mating party right now. And Jules is nowhere to be seen which doesn’t matter because the pack members who did show up haven’t taken their heads out of the Alpha’s ass long enough to notice that this is supposed to be a celebration of two young people finding love.”
“What’s the problem? That sounds like the best kind of party. You get all the gifts and none of the social obligation.”
“Is Red Rock throwing you a party?”
“After the school year starts.” The whine of springs screeched through the phone as Thyme dropped on her bed, “Rosie, I’m trying to tell them that online school is fine. It’s been fine since kindergarten, but they want me to go to physical school... with humans.”
“That sounds fun. Will you get your own locker like in the movies?”
“Rosie focus. It gets so much worse. Celeste, that’s Simon’s mom, she says every Alpha Female of Red Rock has been a cheerleader. And I’m sitting here like.... um, what? You want me to stand in front of hundreds of people and spell?”
Images of Thyme in a cheerleading outfit flashed through my mind and I couldn’t help the giggles that escaped me.
“It’s not funny, Rosie. She’s dead serious on this. Like I’ll fail Simon as a mate if I don’t make the squad. She wants to practice with me.”
“I don’t know Ty-Ty, it could be fun. You’d have instant friends in the other girls. They could make it easier to transition to human school.”
“Ugh you sound like Simon.”
“How is Simon? He treating you well?”
“Yeah, he’s great. He’s the only good thing here. But we’re never alone. Like my room is on the opposite end of the house. We’re mates right? But Red Rock has this rule no room sharing until marriage. Which is whatever, but they have another rule no marriage until twenty-five. Twenty-Five! What self-respecting mated pair won’t share a room until they’re almost thirty?”
I laughed, “Red Rock’s the opposite. As soon as Jules claimed me as his mate we became a unit. In fact, we’re moving to Vancouver tomorrow.”
“Vancouver? That’s even farther away than you already are!”
“Either way, I’m a plane ride away,” I reminded her, “When does school start?”
“September, which gives me less than a month to convince them all this is nonsense..... Oh, I gotta go, Simon’s at the door. Love you, Rosie.”
“Love you too, Ty-Ty.”
I walked back into the party and it was if I’d never left. Almost an hour later, Jules came in, hair mussed, and face flushed with exertion. He searched the room, relief crossing his face when he saw me.
“I’m so sorry Rosemary, the letting agent was chatty and then I had to see if the furniture company would upgrade the bed from a twin to a queen and that was a whole big thing and then-”
I pressed my lips to his shutting him up. He relaxed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around me. When our kiss ended his eyes lazily admired my face, “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re forgiven. It’s not like the pack noticed you were missing anyway.”
Jules looked around the room, despite our impromptu make out, no one paid us any attention, “Definitely a perk in being the youngest son. See how they swarm Angus. Sycophants trying to curry favor. It’s a facade. He doesn’t like them anymore than they like him. It’s a game. I prefer to know my friends are my friends because of who I am not what I can do for them.”
“That sounds like something someone without many friends would say to make themselves feel better about not having friends,” I teased, half serious.
Jules pondered my words before shrugging, “Doesn’t matter either way, does it? Either way I’m missing out on something I’ll never have by virtue of my birth. But with my way I don’t feel bad about it.”
I didn’t know if I agreed but there was little point in arguing with him.
“I’m beat and we have an early morning tomorrow, want to hit the hay?”
I wrapped my arm through his and led him t
o his room. It was devoid of any sentimentality. All traces of what could have made this space uniquely Jules packed away into boxes preparing for our next journey.
***
The next morning, Jules was already awake and dressed before I even blinked my eyes open.
“Ready to go?” he asked, “Angus and Olga are waiting for us outside.”
“Who?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“Olga’s also studying in Vancouver, she offered to load up her truck with the extra stuff. She’s super nice, you’ll like her,” Jules handed me my backpack, “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”
I hurried and got ready for the day and raced downstairs. Angus paced the entry way and a plain looking woman watched him with amusement.
“We’re going to hit traffic,” Angus grumbled.
“We have plenty of time,” Olga retorted.
“We have a schedule.”
“Which I added buffer time to.”
Back and forth the two bickered. Angus made a point and Olga had an answer to it. They’d clearly been together a long time. But Angus said he didn’t have a mate. Maybe he was just waiting until he hit the magic age to choose a mate. Olga watched him the way my parents watched each other. So there had to be some affection there.
“Hello,” I said, drawing the attention of the bickering duo to me.
“Finally, Angus grumbled, leaving the house.
“Sorry about that, he’s not a morning person. I’m Olga. Ready for adventure?”
“Isn’t it always an adventure with the Redfords?” I ask, unsure if that was a reasonable comment. Olga reacted positively to it and led me outside where Jules was wrapping a bungee cord over the car.
“All set?” he called. I nodded, and he walked over, giving me a quick hug.
“You’re with me,” Olga said, tapping my arm and pointing to her truck. It was a big truck, but only two seats in the cab.
“Why can’t I ride with you?” I asked Jules.
“Because Jules can’t be distracted. We’re already running behind. You and Olga can talk girl stuff,” Angus gave his girlfriend a stern look, and she rolled her eyes.
Jules cringed, “It’ll only be a few hours then I’m all yours.”
“Except for when he has classes, and clinicals, and internships, and needs to study,” Angus continued rattling off things, slamming the driver’s side door of the car.
“A few hours,” I promised, kissing his cheek, and hopping into Olga’s truck.
“I’m sorry about him. Angus has always been a bit overprotective of Jules.”
“A bit?” I grumbled, “How am I supposed to get to know my mate if every chance I have to talk to him, Angus is there growling and grumbling.”
Olga focused on maneuvering her massive truck onto the highway before responding, “Angus is a complicated man. He has a lot of pressure on him to keep his people safe. And until his brother is a doctor, he’s going to feel that pressure triply. You should hear the way he goes on about me getting a good internship.”
“Oh, are you a doctor too?”
“Vet, well almost. And Angus is bound and determined that I set up shop near where he’s deputy,” Olga laughed, “As if I’m going to just ditch him at the first opportunity.”
“Yeah, what kind of wolf abandons their mate?”
“Interesting way to phrase that, but yeah,” Olga chuckled again, “So how long have you and Jules been going out? Are you a kid genius too?”
I shook my head, “Regular ol’ kid here. We met at the mixer a few days ago and you know how it goes, get the Blessing, upend your life to your new pack. Normally the pair stays in the pack until the youngest finishes high school then they go to out of pack education together, but Jules had already been accepted to med school, so I guess we’re doing things differently.”
“That sounds hard. What do your parents have to say?”
“I haven’t gotten a hold of them yet. My twin sister found her mate the same night and I imagine she’s blowing up their phones with her anxiety,” I admit, “And if she’s not talking to them, she’s talking to me. Her mate’s going to be Alpha. I have no idea how she’s going to handle it. Thyme’s so shy.”
It felt so good to get all this out. I could see why Angus kept her around. I hoped that if he didn’t find his Moon Blessed mate; he chose Olga. Having Olga for an Alpha Female in a few years wouldn’t be too bad. She was easy to talk to and didn’t take guff from Angus. That’s how I wanted to be. Not that I was going to be Alpha Female. That’d be Thyme.
“Do you want your parents to call?” Olga asked, “You sound like it’s a foregone conclusion they’ll focus on your sister.”
“It is, and it isn’t,” I admitted, “In our home pack we were raised to always work for the greater good. The one closest to starving gets food first. The one with a missing leg gets helped before the one with a broken leg. Thyme needs support more than I do so she gets it first.”
“You’re used to putting your sister first.” It was a statement. Olga reached out and brushed a hand against mine, giving it a quick squeeze. Calm washed over me, and I could breathe easier.
“Thanks,” I muttered, squeezing her hand back, “I’m just worried about her. I know I’m going to be okay because I’m always going to be okay. I can make friends anywhere. But Thyme... she’s so shy and her mate’s going to be Alpha. There’s a lot of pressure there that I don’t think she realizes or if she does, I know she’s not capable of handling.”
“She might be stronger than you think.”
“Or she could buckle under the pressure and I lose my sister forever.”
We drove in silence for a ways before my phone chimed. It was Jules. The butterflies in my stomach turned to snakes when I read the message. Olga’s human, no shifter talk. Don’t know if Angus mentioned it or not.
Human?
Human?
“What’s wrong Rosemary?” Olga wasn’t even looking at me, but she reacted like she could see the terror on my face.
“N.. nothing,” I gave a fake laugh.
“Is there a deer or something on the highway? A bad driver? You’re scared dookie-less right now, and it’s freaking me out.”
We weren’t even an hour into this drive and I’d already fucked up so badly. I’d exposed the one secret to a human.
“Breathe, Rosemary,” Olga said, “Talk to me, what did Jules text you?”
“You’re human?” my voice cracked at the question.
“Mostly,” she admitted, “But don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I’ve been Angus’ friend for over a decade, and I haven’t gone spilling his other life. I’m still here. I knew what Jules was before you ever hopped into my car.”
I sighed a bit of relief, “But Jules said you didn’t know.”
“Angus is very tight-lipped about my knowing,” Olga admitted, “But you’re okay. It’s okay. You ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you. I know what it’s like to be in your shoes. A teenage girl in love with a werewolf.”
“No, I’m not a werewolf. We’re shifters.”
“Shifter? What’s the difference?”
I laughed, “Werewolves don’t exist. You can’t just be bitten and turn into a wolf.”
Olga laughed, “Uh huh, okay. So being born a wolf is less unrealistic than a contagion forcing the shift. Okay, sure, got it, Rosemary.”
The rest of the drive was a blast. Olga and I jammed to music, talked about everything and nothing. She didn’t pry about shifters, and I didn’t pry about her history with Angus. By the time we arrived at the apartment building in Vancouver, it was dark. We unloaded the boxes, and Angus and Olga wished us goodbye.
Then it was just me and Jules.
“Welcome home.”
Home. What a joke.
This wasn’t a home; it was four paper-thin walls with a bed and a kitchenette.
“It’s only until after the semester ends,” he promised, “I wasn’t expecting a mate.
I promise as soon as I can we’ll-”
“It’s okay, you’re right, it’s only for a little while,” I did my best to smile. It wasn’t so much the apartment that had me down, it was what I was missing, “Are you sure we can’t live on pack lands?”
“This is the closest medical school to Redford. I promise we’ll go back whenever we can make it work. And once you get your wolf we’ll go even more often.”
“But the drive wasn’t so bad,” I mused, “Maybe we could commute?”
Jules made a face, “All that time in the car would be better used studying.” He rubbed his hand up and down my arm, “It’s all temporary, Rosemary. As long as we have each other everything will turn out alright.”
“Right. As long as we have each other.”
Chapter Six
Ginger
The compound of the bears, Near Mainsbury, Minnesota
4 years ago
“Stray!”
The bellow startled me out of an argument with my wolf. She wanted to flee while Cain was gone, I wanted to stay.
I ducked my head from around the corner toward the sound.
“I can smell you. I don’t have a lot of time.” The woman was huge. Bordering on seven feet tall and proportional to her height. Short white blonde hair struck out from her scalp like she’d stuck her hand in an electric socket.
I summoned every bit of bravery I had. I wanted this. I wanted to stay human. I wanted to earn my keep.
To do that I had to face the bear.
Run! No don’t run, hide! No, don’t hide. Lay down and pray for a quick death
Cain promised we’d be safe. I trust him
When she kills us put our head in first. Make it as painless as possible, please
I swallowed my fear and stepped out into the barn from my hiding spot, “A... Arcadia?” I asked.
“You Cinnamon?”
“G... Ginger.”
Arcadia grinned, “Correcting me already. Okay, you’re either dumber or braver than the last one. Come on, kid, I don’t have a ton of time and you look like something my cubs drag in after batting it half to death.”
Ginger and Thyme (Kootenai Pack Book 4) Page 5
