Page 34 of Due North

She better not care about him too much.Of course my wolf would pick now to chime in. We’re not keeping him, I remind her.That’s what you think.

I don’t have time to argue with my stubborn wolf right now.

Leah checks her phone and nods at me. “Okay, come along. It’s time. You wait in the kitchen until I’ve created a proper distraction.” Before I can ask for specifics, she gives me a grave look. “You’ll know.”

And that’s how I find myself ten minutes later, wide-eyed when heavy metal music suddenly starts blasting from upstairs. There’s a shriek, and then the front door slams open.

“What the fuck?” Paxton sounds alarmed, but I stay put like Leah told me to. I listen carefully to his footsteps on the stairs, and only once the sound disappears do I sprint for the front door.

Once I make it outside, I don’t stop running. I can see a red sports car crest over the hill coming down the driveway. Only then do I slow. I should have asked Leah about what sort of car to look for. What if this isn’t Peter? I suddenly feel like I’m in serious danger of my heart stopping as the car slows and pulls to a stop next to me.

The window rolls down, and the guy inside leans over with an easy grin. “I’m Peter. You must be our damsel in distress.” He winks, and the only thing that stops me from rolling my eyes is the knowledge that Paxton will come looking for me the second he realizes Leah created a distraction.

I scramble anxiously for the door handle, but Peter tsks at me as if we have all the time in the world.

“One thing before you get in.” He glances through the windshield toward the house behind me. “Are you sure about this? Paxton… he chose to be alone for a long time. If he was this desperate for you…”

I lean a little closer to the window. “Are you rogue or from a pack, Peter?”

“The Glass kids are all rogues.” He says it like it’s somehow common knowledge. I make a mental note to research their family line when I reach the house.

“Then you should know that something strange has been happening in our world.” He nods, his smile slipping. “Shifters need a Luna Sovereign for balance. If I choose to stay here and hide, I’m putting our entire community at risk. We can’t survive this kind of power vacuum long term. Someone has to keep the peace. The fates chose me.”

“They also chose to bond you to Paxton.”

I really wish everyone would stop talking like that when I know it isn’t real. It’s nothing more than a confusing illusion. I need to try to rationalize with Peter if I’m going to get out of here before Paxton can stop us.

“If that’s true, then the mate bond always finds a way. But right now, I need to get home where I can try to understand what’s happening in our world. Before anyone makes the kind of mistake that can’t be undone.” Like being so desperate and sloppy that they expose us to the humans.

It’s the one thing the Sovereign Pack has taught me to fear most. Humans have a long history of not trusting what they don’t understand. It’s always a major risk when any human finds out about the existence of shifters.

I can see it in Peter’s eyes the moment he caves. He touches the automatic button to unlock the passenger door, and I slide in quickly beside him. I’m still not entirely comfortable about going with yet another stranger, but I do feel surprisingly at ease with Peter.

Until he turns the car around.

No. My wolf whimpers.You can’t just leave. What if our mate can’t find us again?Desperation claws at me, making all my muscles burn with the effort it takes to not leap out of Peter’s moving car. I try to choke back my wolf’s emotion, needing my human side to stay in control.

“It’ll get worse before it gets better,” Peter warns softly, probably sensing my inner turmoil.

I can feel myself spiraling with an onslaught of unanswerable questions.

Why is fate doing this to me? I’ve been so good. Loyal. Thoughtful. Trustworthy. Why couldn’t I just grieve in peace at my sister’s doorstep? Why did the spirits of our ancestors point the Sovereign Pack to me? Why did Paxton Glass show up in my garden right as I was working to accept my new lot in life?

Mate.

Why did fate decide to give me a second chance mate?

* * *

I startle awake as a bump in the highway jostles me in my seat. I slept long enough that it’s broad daylight out, sunlight beating in on us through the front windshield.

“How long did I sleep exactly?” I ask, my voice coming out scratchy and dry.

“Hours.” Peter chuckles. “Seemed like you needed it, though.” He doesn’t elaborate, but he doesn’t need to. The last twenty-four hours have left me emotionally exhausted. The poor guy had to listen to me sob as reality finally sank in.

Nothing would ever make my wolf lie to me.

The fates gave me a second chance mate. They gave me Paxton Glass.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com