His to Have

Chapter 3

“Are you insane?” Liam yelled at me.  He seemed to have forgotten his place. “She could have figured it out or worse, see you shift!”

“Relax.  I shifted in the forest near her house and ran back to the car before shifting back.”

“That chick is not dumb, Adam.  She’ll figure it out soon.”

“Watch it, Liam!”  I didn’t like how he was speaking about her.  She wasn’t just some chick to me anymore.

“I felt better the minute I was close to her.  It was surreal.”

“That’s because it’s magic.”

“She smells like, like…”

“Home.  I know.  We all get that feeling around her.  She’s our future Luna after all.” he acknowledged.

I tried to hide my smile behind a smirk, “I don’t know how this is going to work.  I mean, a couple of hours ago, I was ready to ask my dad to help me stop this from happening, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Adam, I don’t care what you do, but if it harms or threatens the pack in any way, you can’t do it.  You’ll be challenged by someone, without a doubt.”  Liam was concerned about me and not saying it to be malicious.

“I know.  That’s why I need to tell my dad.”

“Tell me what?”  my dad’s voice came from behind me.  He stood in the door frame, leaning against it.  While he came across as relaxed, we all knew the power my father wielded and knew not to cross him.

“Alpha.” Liam said, his head bowed in submission.

“Liam.  Could I speak to Adam alone?”  Liam didn’t hesitate as he hauled ass out of there.

“Fuck.”  I muttered.  This was not going to be easy.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Maeve, it was a wolf and a big one at that!”  My dad was panicked.  I knew he was concerned for our safety and that of the guests.

“Surely it wasn’t that big.”  My mom insisted.

I watched them go back and forth, not really hearing them.  Something was very odd about that wolf.  He was almost tame.  I wondered if maybe he belonged to the sanctuary not far from town.  That must have been it.  He was so used to human interaction, that it had to be the only reason he would allow me to touch him and not rip me to shreds.

“Uhm, I’m going upstairs.”  I said quietly.  I had needed to process all of what happened.

The weirdest part was how much better I felt that afternoon.  Whatever was wrong with me was suddenly gone.  I decided to message Meg and let her know I was good to work my shifts again.  Unfortunately she’d already given them to Dave.  I couldn’t blame her.

*You could work the floor though.  Josh is taking some time off.* she messaged back.

Eurgh!  I hated waiting tables.  It paid less.  Drunk people also like to tip more.  Then again, I needed the cash.

*I’m there.*

___________________________________________________________________________

“What?!”  my dad was pacing my room, his arms still folded across his chest.

“She’s human.”  I said quietly.  It wasn’t shame for her, but for what could have been wrong with me.

“You might be challenged.”  he said, suddenly stilling in front of me as I sat on the edge of my bed, my hands knotted together and eyes cast down.

“I know.  Could we not give the reigns to Liam?”

“This rank has been in our family for generations and the next to come.”  he said, a sense of pride in his voice, “And if anyone has any doubts, I’ll carry on leading until you know you can defend this rank.”

I groaned inwardly, “Yes, Sir.  I mean, Alpha.”

“Adam.  You're my son and I am proud of you.  You’re not able to choose your mate.  This is who was chosen for you.  I’m not sure why, but it can’t be because you’re cursed.”

“Cursed?”  I asked, that not even having been a thought before.

“That’s what the pack said about the warrior with the human mate.  He died early and we assumed.”

“Shit.”

“OK, tell you what.  Let’s meet this young woman.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“She doesn’t know?  Well I suggest you tell her next time you see her.”  My dad made it sound so easy.

“I’ve barely spoken to her.”

“OK.  Well, that changes things.  I’ll ask the priestess if there is a way to break the link between you two since you haven’t mated yet.”

Wait, what?  “Dad, no.  I mean, I don’t know.  Can I think about it?”  My dad looked like he was growing impatient with me.

“Adam, I don’t have time for you to think about things.”  His jaw tightened.  This was him close to losing his temper with me.

“Fine.  Ask her if there is a way to break it.”

___________________________________________________________________________

I walked into the bar the next day to try and find out when she would be working, but there she was, serving a table at the far end of the floor.  She was radiant.  The sun, coming through the windows and hitting her skin and giving her a glow.  She was naturally tan.  Her hair looked like it was a wave of reds and browns, pulled back. She was smiling at the customers she was serving, almost animatedly.  More so than usual.  I’d never seen her this way.

Seeing her the day before in my wolf form, I felt safe with her and I could tell she felt safe with me.  She felt the bond, I knew it and soon she would start picking up on things.

Seeing her now made my choice that much harder.  How was I to turn away from this when I knew it would be what I needed?  I mean, God!  It was written in the stars that this was the woman I was to commit myself to in body, mind and soul.  Who was I to deny myself that?

As if sensing me, she turned to face my direction.  I stood, frozen in place, just staring at her.  I attempted a wave and wondered how dumb I must have looked.

She didn’t do anything, except turn back to her customers, jot something down on her pad and walk towards the bar where I stood.

Just inches from me, she stopped at the bar counter, “Dave, two Irish coffees please.”  The bartender smiled and nodded.  Dude, I thought, I’ll wipe that smile off your face!

She turned to me, “Hey.  Table for one?”

“Uh no.”  Weird, Adam.  “I mean, yeah.  Just me.”

“No Liam in tow or gang of frat boys?”

She had a very bad perception of me.  Then again, I did nothing to make anyone think anything less.

“Nope.  Just me.”

“Grab any table you like.  I’ll be with you in a bit.”

“Thank you, Madeline.”

She looked at me and smiled a little.  She was even prettier when her eyes narrowed when she smiled.

What the f**k was I going to say to her?  I wondered if she’d talk to me a bit more if I tried.  I’d never gotten to know her in school and now I wished I had.

She walked over to me, pulled out her notepad, “So…”

“Coffee, please.  Black.”

“Sure.  Anything to eat?”

“Uh, what would you recommend?”

“You’ve been coming here for years.  You know the food is better at the diner.”

“Maddie!”  Meg reprimanded as she heard her in passing.

“Sorry!”  she laughed.

“OK, the cheese burger’s not going to kill you.”

I laughed and I think it freaked her out a bit because she looked at me like I was crazy.

“Uh, yeah.  Cheese burger is good.  Thank you.”

That was it and she was gone.  I sat, while waiting for my food, trying to think of ways to get her to talk to me. I wasn’t much of a socialiser, so this was very awkward for me.  It was weird being alone as well.  Usually I’d have Liam as Beta with me or one of the warriors, but I let Liam know I needed to do this on my own.

Just as I was about to message him for advice as an act of desperation, she was back with my order.

“I was thinking,” I began as she put my plate down, “Did you ever leave town?”

“Not all of us were privileged to go to college, let alone do nothing after finishing.

Ouch and not what I was getting at.

“No, I meant to ask, did you decide not to go?”  God, this was not going well.

“No.  I couldn’t.  Is that all?”  she looked upset.

“Uh, yeah, but I thought maybe you could sit down and we could talk?”

“No.”  she said and turned on her heel.  God, she was infuriating!  If she had been wolf, she’d have felt the pull much more than what she probably was and we’d have mated, I’d have marked her and we’d have gone through the ceremony and be running the pack together by year end.

I decided I wasn’t hungry.  Took out some cash, walked to where she stood at the corner of the bar and put it down in front of her, “Thanks, Madeline.”

She looked shocked.  Good.  Two could play this game, princess.  I gave her my best smirk and left.

This didn’t help my cause, but it sure felt good.  Only problem was, I couldn’t stay away from her or I’d start getting sick again.  Guess she would be seeing me the next day.

____________________________________________________________________________

“What the f**k was that?”  Meg asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“God knows.  What is his deal?”  I thought.  This was odd and that damn smell that surrounded him;  I couldn’t think straight.  I also knew he was trouble and felt annoyed that he turned my brain to mush.

“You two should have sex.”  Meg said, as if she’d just solved the issue.

“What?!  I’m quite sure that is inappropriate for you to say as my boss.”

“Uh, the tension between you two is thick.  Its clear you both want to jump one another’s bones.  God, if I were ten years younger, I’d be all over that guy.  He’s a tank!”

“I mean, he’s not ugly.”   I admitted.

“He’s been in here everyday you were on shift, since he got back to town.  At first, I thought it was our great service, but we both know that’s not true.”

“Hmm.”  I admitted.  It was weird.  That crowd would only come in on Fridays before.  Now they were here, at least Adam was, every night.

“I’ll bet you whatever tip he left you today that he is back here tomorrow.”

“We’ll see.”  I tried to doubt it, but I knew he would be.

___________________________________________________________________________

 Because I worked the day shift, I was home early enough to helpy my mom get our dinner ready.  They had two cooks for the guesthouse and a day-maid, along with one desk clerk.  This however, had been costly, but my parents couldn’t let them go.  They weren’t up to running things day and night any on their own any longer.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes while I prepared a chicken for roasting.

She was looking at me oddly, “ I always knew you’d leave us one day, but for good, you know?”

“Mom?”

“No, I don’t mean it in a bad way.  I just mean, I always knew you were meant to do things that would get you out of this small town way of life.”  She looked sad, but deep down, it was true.  I always imagined I’d be on stage somewhere or travelling.  The last time I did stage work was high school and I missed it.  However, the school didn’t have much of a flair or passion for the dramatic arts.  We were a typical small town high school, focused on football.

“You know I can come for visits whenever and besides, I’ll be home in November next year for Thanksgiving.”

“I know and you deserve to do what you love and what makes you happy.  Promise me you won’t give up your dream for anyone.”

“Mom, I promise.  Now stop being so emotional and peel faster!”  I teased her to stop her from turning into a blubbering mess.

That promise and my goal was exactly what  I needed to focus on and not some roll in the hay with the town bad boy.  Good looking bad boy, I thought.

____________________________________________________________________________

“How’d it go?” Liam asked as I stood in front of my dad’s office, waiting to be summoned in.  Liam had called me as soon as I got back from town, saying there was something going down in the higher ranks and it was likely I’d be needed.

We met outside my dad’s office in the main house.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”  I said flatly, trying to get him to stop, but he knew me well.

“Not so great, huh?  Human women; they’re not as easy.”

I clenched my fists, “She’s not easy.”

“Whoah!”  he held his hands up in defense, “ Not that kinda easy.  You know, she’s complicated like other human women.  They don’t know that there’s a soul mate.”

“Then how come they’re always looking for one?”

“That’s a rom-com analogy. We literally have a twin soul.  Just very rarely is that twin of the human variety.”

I looked at Liam out of the corner of my eyes, while I still faced the double doors to the office, “How come you know so much about this?”

“Adam, were you not paying attention to your mother when she gives this speech during every mating ceremony?”

“Regardless, Dad doesn’t think it’s a good idea.  He’s going to see if there is a way we can cut the bond.”

Liam was looking at me as if I had lost my mind.

“What?”  I asked, irritated.

Before he could answer, the office doors were yanked open by one of my dad’s higher ranking pack council members.

“Delta Jude.”  I said calmly.

“Come on in you two.”  We walked in, both of us cautious and the heavy feeling of anger and what was that?  Fear?  Some of these men were scared, but why?

“Sit down.”  My dad ordered.

We sat simultaneously, and quickly glanced at one another. I don’t remember seeing my dad this way, ever.

“We’ve had an attack at the border.”  When Dad said border, he meant pack borderline.  Our state was split into borders.  We had most of Colorado.  The only two cities out of our territory were Pueblo and Colorado Springs.  Everything else was ours.  Some packs controlled up to three states.  We were small and in the middle of several bigger packs.

“Which side?”  I asked.  I imagined it was a bigger pack, looking to claim the state.  There have been threats, but Dad had good relations with most of the surrounding packs.

“Rogues.”  He said, disgust etched on his face.

“What?  I thought the surrounding packs had agreed to ensure we’d never have to deal with this.  What are they playing at?  Dad, I mean, Alpha -”

“Adam!” my dad roared.  He stood up behind his desk, his hands grasping the cedar wood.  He was angry, not at me directly, but at the situation and being questioned by someone lower ranked, specifically in front of his men.

“Sorry, Alpha.”  I said it almost to myself, but with the hearing weres had, everyone in the room heard me with my tail between my legs.  I wasn’t weak.  I respected me Dad, his rank and his decisions.

“You’re leading patrol for the graveyard shift.”  he said sternly.

I knew not to argue, but I knew it would go into early morning, which would see me exhausted and missing out on getting to the bar when she started her shift.  He sensed my feelings and glared at me as if to say it was pointless and I needed to move on.

“Yes, Alpha.” I said with a nod.

“Take Liam and eight warriors.  Make sure all of them are spread around the perimeter.  Your shift ends at seven.”

A shift was eight hours.  I’d need to fuel up before getting some rest.  Liam mind-linked me, “I’ll check up on her tomorrow morning if you’re too tired and you could steal some time to see her before tomorrow’s patrol.”

I didn’t like it, “Fine.”, but I didn’t have a choice.  Rather my Beta than no one watching out for her.  I needed to know she was OK.  The rogues were ruthless.  They’d know who the senior pack members were, who our mates were.  Everything.