The Alpha in her Dreams

A Done Deal

Shepherd lay on the bed with his laptop in front of him. He met her eyes as she entered, closing the door behind her. Immediately, he shut his computer and laid it beside him on the nightstand, a look of concern on his face.

“Laurel? Are you alright?”

“No.”

She climbed onto the bed, curling into him as she began to cry. She couldn't hold it in anymore. It felt like everything had changed so quickly. He held her snugly, gently stroking her back. She cried until she didn’t have any tears left to shed and finally, he spoke.

“Talk to me, Laurel. Whatever it is, we can figure it out together.”

She lay for a few minutes more, resting against his chest and breathing in his comforting, earthy scent. “I told my aunt about you. And about Angus.” She felt him tense beneath her. “Are you mad that I told her?”

“No, my Love. I’m worried that her response hurt you. It’s difficult for people to believe that we exist.”

“Well, she believed me. She believed me because my dad was a wolf and she never told me.” The tears threatened to start again but she took a deep breath to steady herself. “He didn’t die in the accident. He died because my mom died. He left me. I wasn’t enough to keep him here.” The tears started to trickle down her nose onto his chest. She couldn’t stop them.

Shepherd’s hand rubbed circles on her back as he tried to comfort her. “Oh Laurel, it wasn’t that you weren’t enough. That’s just the way the mate bond works. If I lost you, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t want to ever be without you. As mates, our souls are intertwined. It's sometimes just too much to be torn apart by death. He had no choice. Your parents are with each other, I promise. They’re watching out for you from the other world, proud of everything you’ve accomplished and of who you are. I imagine they’re happy we found each other. The mate bond is a special, coveted thing, Laurel. We are the lucky ones.”

He held her until she fell asleep, whispering comforting words to her and pouring all his strength into her through their growing bond. He hated to see her suffer but felt overwhelmingly thankful that he was the one to comfort her.

With the news of her father being a wolf, he had so many questions, but knew that none of it ultimately mattered. It only mattered that he’d found Laurel and that she was in his arms, where she belonged.

Breakfast the next morning was uncomfortably quiet. Laurel and Lucy both knew that they’d move past it. Their relationship was too close not to. But Laurel felt betrayed by her aunt’s secrecy. She didn’t want to say anything hurtful, so she remained silent.

For Lucy’s part, she felt that nothing she could say would explain her actions. She knew she had been wrong to withhold the information from Laurel, but she couldn’t take it back now. She could only hope that Laurel would forgive her in time.

Shepherd, meanwhile, reasoned that the best course of action for him would be to stay out of it. He respected Lucy, but Laurel was his main concern. He believed in her ability to handle the situation in the way that was best.

After breakfast, Laurel broke the silence. She and Shepherd had decided when they awoke that they would return to New York. But they needed to go into town to sign the documents before they left. Lucy nodded, understanding that some time apart was needed for Laurel to process everything. From what she knew of Rose and James’ mate bond, she trusted Shepherd to give Laurel all the care that she needed in the coming days.

Laurel sent Jim a message that she’d be returning to the office the following day. “It’s about damn time,” he responded. It made going to Silver Moon even more tempting. Before leaving the cabin, Laurel took the painting of her father’s wolf from the wall and put it with her things. Lucy followed them to town in her truck so Laurel and Shepherd could head to the airport afterwards.

Once they were at the bank and seated with the paperwork in front of them, Lucy took another look at Laurel and Shepherd, who both nodded at her to sign. The pen hovered over the paper only for a second before Lucy scribbled her signature on each of the dotted lines and passed the documents to Laurel, who signed them without any hesitation.

A kiss on Shepherd’s cheek as a gesture of her gratitude sealed the deal. Losing the land was one less thing she’d have to worry about, and she was grateful that he had taken care of it. Everything had changed in the last twenty-four hours and any awkwardness about accepting his help was gone.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly to him.

“Worth it,” he smiled in return.

They walked Lucy to her truck and embraced.

“I’ll text you when I’m home. We won’t leave for a couple of hours, so it’ll be late when we get back to New York.”

Lucy nodded, “I love you, Laurel.”

“I love you, too.”

Lucy then pulled Shepherd into a hug as well. “I wish I could repay you for everything you’ve done here.”

He smiled at her. “You helped raise Laurel. It is I who should be repaying you.”

Lucy nodded and stepped into the truck. Just before she shut the door, Laurel suddenly asked, “What was his name?” A flicker of perplexity showed on her aunt’s face. “My dad’s wolf. What was his name?”

The look of heartbreak that had been on Lucy’s face the night before reappeared. “Morpheus,” Lucy said softly and closed the door of the truck. A moment passed before the engine turned and she began the trip back to the cabin.

They watched until the truck was no longer visible and then Shepherd turned to Laurel, cupping her cheek. “You alright?”

She stood on her tippy toes to give him a quick kiss. “I will be.”

“Well, Sunshine. We have a couple of hours to kill before we meet Truett. What should we do? You care to show me around your old stomping grounds?”

Laurel laughed. “There was hardly any stomping going on. Aside from going to the diner after school my senior year and a handful of high school parties. I mostly stayed at the cabin the entire time I grew up. But the diner’s just around the corner. They serve good burgers. Wanna have lunch?”

“I could eat,” Shep grinned boyishly.