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Mariam gave me a sideways smile. “Why do you want to know? Anyone in particular you’re looking forward to seeing?”
“Ugh, no,” I groaned. “Tell me he’s not coming.”
“Hey, what’s wrong with Gabe, anyway? He’s, like, the best guy around. Except for Trace, but he doesn’t count.” Mariam paused, glancing around the room before whispering. “Honestly, sometimes he’s even a better guythan Trace.”
“I heard that.” A disembodied male voice bellowed from the kitchen, though there wasn’t any malice in his tone, and Trace didn’t emerge to confront her, so he was probably joking. Nevertheless, Mariam and I both cringed, her for being caught and me for the awkward discussion being overheard. Heightened werewolf hearing was more trouble than it was worth most of the time.
“He’s nice, don’t get me wrong, Mare. But ‘nice’ isn’t exactly what I’m hoping for in a mate.”
Mariam raised her eyebrows. “Let me get this straight. Gabe is nice, so you don’t want him? What do you want? Some arrogant asshole?”
“Probably, but this one’s taken.” Trace appeared in the doorway, leaning against the stone column as he gazed at his mate. I would have thought that Mariam would be annoyed at the interruption and chew him out, but instead, she gave him a softer look and nodded her agreement.
“It’s true, Ella,” she said. “We’re fresh out of assholes now. You should take your pick of the nice guys, and my vote is for you to settle down with Gabe. Especially since, you know, the whole true mate thing is a pretty big deal to you.”
“And here I thought it was a big deal to you, too,” Trace huffed. He crossed the room and scooped Mariam up, holding her close and ignoring her flailing hands. She squealed and pretended to try to get away, but it was clear that she loved his attention.
This was precisely the kind of scene that I had been worried about seeing. The two of them were so in love, so happy together, and I knew that I would be bitter aboutnot having a true mate of my own. But now that the moment had actually come, I wasn’t jealous of not having a true mate; I was jealous that mine probably wouldn’t be able to lift me off the ground with the same kind of ease.
We went running with him. He is strong and capable,my wolf insisted. She didn’t care that Gabe wasn’t Mr. Brawny. Whatever he was, she thought he was perfect.
She could continue thinking whatever she wanted. I already knew my plans, and they didn’t include moving to Tumblewild and setting up a house with Gabriel.
I left the two lovebirds to continue doing whatever they were doing (not making out exactly, but something close enough to it that I didn’t want to stick around and watch) and decided to leave for another run. The sun was out, and those gorgeous trees were calling to me again. This time, at least my wolf wasn’t bursting to get out, and I was able to duck around the side of the house for privacy and change out of my clothes before shifting.
Down below in the grassy open space, pack members were setting up chairs and changing stations for the ceremony the next day. My wolf crept around the outside of the perimeter, not wanting to disturb their work or draw attention to herself. She was very much aware that they belonged to another pack, and no matter how many times I assured her that Tumblewild meant us no harm, she still refused to let her guard down with anyone other than Mariam.
And our mate, she reminded me.
Yeah. Him, too.
I let her guide the run again, reveling in her excitement over the vast terrain. This time, she decided to run by theroad toward downtown. Of course, it didn’t matter if anyone saw us, with the whole of Tumblewild being werewolves, too. But it felt odd that she would rather move toward the buildings and cars she wanted to avoid back home.
She stopped and sniffed the air every few miles. It wasn’t unusual for her to do that, and out here in rural Arizona, doing so might even earn her a snack like a tasty rabbit or a fresh raccoon. It wasn’t until we had reached Town Hall that I realized she wasn’t hunting; she had been trying to track Gabe. And if his strong scent was any indication that he was nearby, she had been successful.
Chapter 5
What the hell?My wolf was doing a great job of ignoring me and continued on with her search like she hadn’t heard a word of my protests. Short of forcing her to shift back, there was little I could do to make her take us back home if she refused to listen. Of course, forcing a shift here would also mean that I would be naked in front of a whole bunch of strangers, and I would rather avoid that, if possible.
This is the last time I let you take over, I huffed.
Her ears flickered in the wind. Gabe’s scent was strong here, and she stood quietly listening to catch his voice if he was nearby. After several minutes, she began scenting the air again to see if she could track him to a more specific area.
She led us to a small cafe down the street where Gabe sat in a booth next to the front window. She gave a full-toothed, wolfy grin at seeing our mate enjoying his lunch. I rolled my eyes, ready to be really pissed off at her if he looked up and caught us watching him.
Her relaxed demeanor shifted when the pretty waitress stopped to refill his drink. She leaned forward to whisper something into his ear, and rather than recoil or push heraway as any typical mated male would, Gabe just laughed and whispered something back to her. It was hard to tell from a distance, but it looked like he even leaned into her touch when she nudged his shoulder playfully.
My wolf growled, enraged at the sight. For some unexplainable reason, I felt my blood boil, too. It didn’t mean I wanted Gabe for myself. It couldn’t mean that. But I guess it meant I didn’t want the waitress to touch him like that. Ireallydidn’t want her whispering things into his ear, and seeing him do it back to her was almost enough to make me shift back into our human form, naked or not.
We need to leave. Let’s go back to the alpha house,I pleaded with the blood-thirsty wolf. If we hurry, we’ll still have a little time to run through the trees before the rehearsal.
But no amount of prodding would sway her. She sat there, focused on the man in the diner, waiting to see what would happen. She wanted to know if the woman was coming back and how he would handle it. For the first time, I felt her questioning him and his worthiness, but she refused to form the thoughts into words. Her emotions ran tight, and I was afraid that, at any moment, they would snap under the strain.
I let out a huge sigh of relief when a different woman appeared to give Gabe his check. This one was older, and while her body language was friendly enough, it never crossed the line into flirting. We watched together as he picked up his messenger bag and headed for the door. He paused as a gust of wind came from above, throwing our scent across the street directly to him.
Let’s go before he sees us, I begged. For the first time since leaving the house, my wolf complied and slinked off intothe shadows. It was clear that seeing the woman with Gabe had shaken her a lot. Flirting with the waitress was not what she considered worthy mate behavior, and frankly, it wasn’t something I would be thrilled about, either. I was stunned to see Gabe acting that way since he made such a big deal about not having any other infatuations or love interests. Had he been lying that whole night just to try to get me to accept the mating bond with him? That didn’t seem like something Gabe would do. Not if he was the kind of guy Mariam thought he was, anyway.
I sighed. All these thoughts and contradictions were making my head spin. I wanted to hide away upstairs again, but I had promised Mariam that I would help her out today. I was already breaking that promise a little bit with how long this run was taking.
