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Kicking my feet up on the coffee table, I look around. I've always liked this place. It's mainly used as a guest house now, a place away from the pack when Hayley and Leah’s family come to visit. Maybe this could be our little house? I glance at the front door and imagine how amazing it would be to sit here and watch Maya coming through the front door with a smile and a kiss for me.
Yes, I think I'd like that a lot.
CHAPTER 21
MAYA
Dean tucks into a big breakfast, his body language relaxed and content, like he hasn’t a care in the world. Meanwhile, I sip on a glass of bitter-tasting orange juice and nibble the corner of a piece of toast. My stomach is in knots. I can’t face eating anything else.
The only pack members up this early are in construction gear, all Nathan’s employees, and they can’t hide their interest in what’s going on. Even if they didn’t hear what happened last night, they can feel the tension in the air.
Rex and Dean make chit-chat about some recent announcement from Alpha Steel that he’s going to bring back the alpha games, and how it might work. It used to be huge by the sounds of it. Rex describes it as an epic tournament that stretches over a couple of weeks, and I can imagine every high ranking, hot blooded wolf being excited about it, but not these two introverts. Dean isn’t a fan of interacting with other people, he only does it for the pack’s benefit. Rex is a reluctant leader and I’m sure as soon as Cooper returns, Rex will happily hand back the position and retreat to his bootcamp business. I should pay more attention to what they’re saying. I know it’s important, but I just can’t bring myself to care.
“Are you okay?” Leah whispers, leaning into my side and turning her head so nobody watching us can see what we’re saying.
“Not really,” I admit. I’m sure it’s written all over my face. Leah nods sympathetically and places her hand on top of mine on the table.
“I know how hard it is to be apart, but if you saw how broken Rex was after I was kidnapped, you’d never wish that on Nathan. He’s still anxious all the time. If it wouldn’t mean leaving his family to deal with this mess, he’d take me to some desert island and hide me away.”
Her eyes fill with emotion as she watches her mate with adoration. He sees her looking at him and notices the tortured look on her face. He stiffens and they both get that far-away look on their faces as they have a silent conversation before Rex nods tightly, returning to his conversation with Dean.
“I thought they killed the attackers.”
Dean helped Nathan clean up after the incident on the bridge that left two wolves from the Anderson pack dead and Toby missing. His mate confirmed later that he had passed when she felt the pain of the bond snapping. Leah almost drowned and a prison guard was badly injured. It was horrific and I can’t even imagine how the pack is coping with all that’s happened to them in the last year.
“We have a prime suspect, Beth. Her father was Johnathan’s beta, but she’s always been off the rails and seems to have gotten tangled up with Toby and Leon Lennox. Her sister, Carla, is on the run. But someone else had to be helping them, the same someone who tipped off Carla that we were looking for her.”
Leah is cautious with her words, and I don’t blame her. It’s a careful balancing act between wanting the pack to feel safe and needing them to stay alert to potential danger.
“Go. You can make whatever decisions you need to after you get back and things have… progressed,” she says diplomatically, once again glancing around to see who’s listening. I nod but say nothing as more wolves file into the communal dining room, all sneaking quick glances at me and looking around to see where Nathan is.
“Let’s go,” I say to Dean quietly, keen to make a swift exit. He nods, standing to shake Rex’s hand before striding out of the room without looking back, despite the Mexican wave of she-wolves' heads that turn to ogle him as he passes.
Giving Leah a hug, I smile at Rex before attempting to slink out of the room unnoticed. I hate the idea these people think I’m rejecting Nathan. It makes me feel disloyal to even pretend I’m anything other than delighted to be the object of his attentions, even if I’m not quite sure about the mate part. Wrapping my arms around myself, I make for the door, head down and trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
“It’s probably for the best.”
The baiting comment stops me in my tracks. Kim emerges from the kitchen as I approach, standing between me and the way out. Dean’s retreating back disappears down the front steps and across the car park, not bothering to wait for me as I say my goodbyes. When I’m sure he’s out of earshot, I turn to face Kim, pretending to be calm despite that my hackles are up already.
“And why is that?”
Not wanting to lie outright to anyone, I’ll let her believe whatever it is she thinks is going on.
“It must be hard to finally leave your pack and give yourself to someone, thinking you’ve found the man of your dreams, only to discover you’re not anything special. I mean, he might say he likes you, but does a leopard ever really change his spots?”
She shrugs, her expression the picture of sympathy. She’s trying to convince me I’m just one more in a long line of women he’s bedded and I’m better off being away from him. Immediately, I’m wondering what her motivation is. We’re not best friends. Why does she care?
“If it was me, I couldn’t deal with it either. You’d always worry he’d be tempted again. Whether he felt he was missing out by tying himself to one woman. That’s never been Nathan’s style.”
I can’t decide if she’s completely oblivious or very clever. She must know to speak about someone else’s mate, fated or chosen, like that is dangerous. She’s taking a big chance, assuming I’m not his without knowing the full story. I feel like ripping her head off for daring to question the strength of his feelings, but I can’t without giving us away.
“Especially anyone he had alengthyfriends-with-benefits arrangement with.”
“I’m not sure why you’re telling me this, Kim,” I grit out, trying to look unfazed despite my inner rage. Who does she think she is, daring to discuss my relationship with me and offer unsolicited advice? But I know exactly who she is now, a jealous ex, with bitterness in her heart.
“Because Nathan always comes back to me. He might need to go and scratch that itch elsewhere, but we have a powerful sexual connection. He won’t walk away from that. Not for good.”
The cheek of this bitch. I might look small and timid, and I’m never going to be the loudest person at the party, but I’m an alpha female and I can fight. If I didn’t have to come back here to live one day, I’d snap her scrawny neck right now and prove a point to any other women in the pack who challenges me for my man.
