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From behind him, I can hear Mom explain how it bothers her wolf to keep the phone pressed to her ear. I get it. If I didn’t leave with another supe with crazy good hearing, I might do the same.
“It’s okay. What’s up? What did you want to say?”
“Janelle?” he says, calling for my mom. “Is it alright if I tell her?”
My heart aches a little to hear how he consults my mom with such respect in his voice. Paul might not have been Mom’s fated mate, but she chose him and he chose her and for twenty-odd years they’ve been a perfect Alpha couple for the Lakeview Pack.
So even though I hear my mom click her tongue in annoyance, I know she’s only doing so because she can get away with it.
“Kitten?”
“Yeah?”
“Your mom says I’m good, but if you change your mind, just tell me to stop. Okay.”
I have no idea where this is going. “Okay.”
“Now, you know how Ryker Wolfson sent for you to be his mate after his father’s unfortunate accident?”
Uh, yeah. How can I forget. I knew from the first moment I looked into Ryker’s eyes and saw his wolf that he was my fated mate. But, because he was a future alpha, I also knew that he wouldn’t announce who his intended was until after they performed the Alpha Ceremony. The moon would whisper to him who his fated mate was, and he could either accept her as his intended or choose his own mate.
When my name was announced, he told Paul that he would take me as his mate because the moon said so. Of course, I was thrilled, and it wasn’t until I arrived in Accalia that I found out about Trish Danvers. I know that there are some alphas—my sperm donor being one—who kept his fated mate at his side while fucking whatever female he wanted. I’d always hoped I’d have my bond finalized when Ryker claimed me during the Luna Ceremony, but if I had to share him with Trish, I could’ve dealt.
But then he rejected me for her outright, and even my sliver of hope with a happily-ever-after with Ryker disappeared in an instant.
Why is Paul bringing this up now?
“Yeah. I know.”
“There’s something you don’t know, though. Your mom and I agreed at the time there was no reason to tell you since you were so young and no one knew for sure when Ryker would take over as Alpha. It could’ve been decades from now if Henry Wolfson hadn’t had his accident, and we didn’t want you feeling trapped.”
“Trapped?” I echo. I don’t understand. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that Ryker asked me if he could take you as his mate at the pack meet two years ago.” Paul hesitates. “He said you were meant for him, and he’d wait if I wanted him to, but that he intended to have you.
Two years ago… that’s the pack meet where I ran with Ryker as wolves, and then I never saw him again until the day I arrived in Accalia.
“What? He wanted me then?” So what changed? And more importantly, “How did he know that before the Alpha Ceremony?”
“Well, kitten. That’s the rub of it all, ain’t it? Maybe that’s something you should ask Ryker.”
* * *
My dad has a point.
And I only stew on the for that night and the next day before I wonder if I should do something about it. Because Ryker? Unless Aleks figured out a way to lie to me, he never followed me home.
It’s the first full day I’ve gone without seeing him since he suddenly appeared in Muncie and it has my fur feeling like it’s been rubbed the wrong way. I keep hoping that maybe he was avoiding Aleks—I know, right—and that maybe he’d show up at Charlie’s.
When two hours of my shift go by in a flash and there’s still no sign of him, I can’t help but wonder where he is and what he is doing.
Wonder? Ha. Try obsess.
It got so bad that I topped off Jimmy’s glass while it was still full, then knocked it over when I grabbed a rag to mop up some of the whiskey I spilled. The liquor splashed everywhere as the glass hit the countertop. It didn’t shatter, but the spray hit Jimmy and Vincent.
I must’ve looked so rattled, even Vincent kept his mouth shut.
I blame it on the full moon. I always get a little twitchy, but you think I’d be better since I definitely took the edge off of my sexual need with Ryker. Then again, that might just be the problem. I’m not mated, but my wolf now won’t accept that I don’t have a mate out there. She’s convinced I do, and she wants him.
