He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Christmas in Wisconsin

Aly

Matt volunteered to drive us to his house, and neither Tyler nor I had any objections to that. He didn’t do much of the driving on the way to my house, plus it’s a trip he’s used to making. I called shotgun, so Tyler is just relaxing in the back, lost in his own little world of whatever he is watching on his phone. Meanwhile, Matt and I have been occupying ourselves with the oldies radio station, singing along badly on purpose because it’s fun. I suspect he is actually a pretty decent singer, though he seems to be more comfortable with being silly about it.

Every now and then he gets tense and quiet, I would imagine because he is worried about the conversation he needs to have with his dad about his uncle. In fact, his uncle and cousins might already be there by the time we arrive. I told him he could save it for later, but I suspect he won’t. He is really curious about how and why his uncle is a werewolf.

“Could it be possible that my family comes from werewolves?” he asked me at one point.

I had to admit that it is a possibility. I just can’t conceive of how it would make sense, at least not in a way I like the thought of. There are no packs in Wisconsin that I’m aware of. Certain individuals get permission from their Alphas to live outside their pack territories, for work or a temporary situation like going to college, but Matt grew up there, and it's too far from any pack to be approved by any Alpha I know of. For his parents to live there, his dad would have to be a rogue, and that would complicate things. I don’t want it to be true, but it is possible. His dad could be a werewolf and still have human children if his mom is human.

When I started explaining to him that if his dad is a werewolf, he is probably a rogue, Tyler’s eyes got big and worried.

“You really don’t want that to be true,” he agreed with me, prompting me to ask what he knows about rogues.

“I encountered them during my trials,” he reminded me. “It wasn’t a good time.”

Then I had to explain that “rogue” is a general term used to describe a werewolf without a pack, and they’re not all threats like what he experienced. Many are, and I would even go so far as to say that most are, but some are just lone wolves, usually victims of circumstance. Once a wolf becomes a rogue, it’s difficult to be accepted by a new pack. They’re not all bad people, but if his dad is a rogue, then it could prejudice the Elders against accepting Matt as my mate. Having ties to rogues makes someone, especially a human, a liability.

I know Matt is also worried about how his parents are reacting to the news about Jessica, and how they will accept him jumping into a new relationship so soon. He asked us not to mention anything about him being involved in our relationship and requested that we tell his parents that Tyler and I are together while Matt and I are just friends. It makes me a little sad that we can’t just be honest, but I understand. We’ll tell people when he’s ready. To be fair, he’s not yet ready for the relationship either, so it makes sense that he’s also not ready to announce it.

Whenever he tenses up like that, I reach over and put my hand on his leg, rubbing it gently in hopes that the sensations will soothe him. It seems to have worked for the most part. Now that we’re getting close, though, it seems like nothing can help him relax.

He’s been quiet for a while, but then suddenly he points ahead of us and tells me, “It’s that big house on the hill. Tyler might recognize it, though last time he came this way, it was hidden by the corn growing here. It might look a little different from this viewpoint now.”

He’s indicating the field to the left of us. His family seems to live in a farming community, because I’ve been noticing for a few miles now that there are more fields than houses around here. The house he pointed to is surrounded by fields on three sides, though I also notice that there’s no big red barn on their property. Just a garage and a pole barn that looks like it’s for storing broken down vehicles, not farming equipment. Which would make sense since I know his dad is a mechanic, not a farmer.

As we approach the driveway, I take a closer look, admiring how clean and stately the house looks. It’s white with black shutters, and I can just imagine how it looks in the summer when the trees have leaves on them and all the flower beds and window boxes are filled with color.

“It’s pretty. I really like the wrap-around porch,” I comment, now admiring said porch. It looks inviting, the perfect place to sit outside in the summer sipping on lemonade and enjoying family time.

I also notice some cars already in the driveway, which fortunately is wide enough up near the garage that there is plenty of parking space. Considering the size of the house and the accommodating driveway, I can imagine this being a good place to host gatherings for the whole family. I guess the rest of his family agrees with me since he told us this is where they gather every year around the holidays.

One of the garage doors is open, and I can tell once we step out of the car that there are a handful of distinct scents coming from in there. My heart sinks as I realize that I do smell a rogue. I also smell more werewolves in there with him.

Matt comes over to the passenger side to meet up with Tyler and me, shifting from foot-to-foot deliberating something. Tyler takes my hand, and we wait patiently for Matt to figure out whatever is on his mind.

“So, my dad and uncle are in the garage. I don’t see them yet, but I can hear them. My mom and everyone else are probably in the house. I can’t decide whether we should pop in the garage and say hi or just head in the house,” he says finally.

“I’m just going to warn you right now that your uncle will be able to tell what I am,” I whisper to him. “And I can smell that there are other werewolves here, too.”

He gives me a troubled look, but the decision is taken out of our hands seconds later.

“Matt!” a tall man with curly brown hair that looks suspiciously familiar yells from the open garage door. He sounds really excited to see him.

Matt gives me an apologetic look and shrugs. “Garage first then, I guess.”

He turns and makes his way over to the man, Tyler and I following behind him hand-in-hand. As we get closer, I notice that the man’s eyes also look like Matt’s, and my heart sinks as I realize he is probably his father. He’s also the rogue. Not great news, though I’m also aware that it probably sucked for him too, whatever it was that led to him becoming a rogue.

“Hey, Dad,” Matt casually greets him, giving him a brief hug.

“Happy to see you, son,” he answers with a broad smile, and then turns his attention to Tyler. “And good to see you again, Tyler. Mrs. Taylor was excited when we heard you were coming back.”

“Yeah hi, Mr. Taylor. Thanks for letting me come,” Tyler responds, letting go of my hand so he can go over to Matt's dad and shake his hand.

Then he turns to me and gestures my direction. “And this is my girlfriend, Alyssa, but she goes by Aly."

He’s never called me his girlfriend out loud before and it makes me shiver with excitement. We never talked about what to call each other specifically, though I suppose when we all decided that Tyler and I can be together without limits now, that’s exactly what I’ve become.

“Hi, Aly,” Mr. Taylor says, giving me a curious and knowing look as he reaches for my hand. As I shake his hand, I also notice a hint of fear in his eyes.

Of course. It hits me then that he is afraid of how I might react to my friend’s father being a rogue. I don’t know his history, though. At the moment, here on his own property, I don’t have any reason to suspect him of any wrongdoing, though many other werewolves in my position wouldn’t care. Rogues are easy prey to the wrong people, those interested in making trumped up charges against innocent people for the fun of it, I guess. That’s not me, though, and that’s not how my dad does things either.

“I’m no threat to you. Just here for Matt,” I whisper to him reassuringly, and I see and feel him relax. Then loud enough for everyone to hear, I tell him, “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Taylor.”

I step away from him and look around, noticing three other men watching us with nervous curiosity. One is older, close in age to Mr. Taylor, and the other two look like teenagers. Matt’s uncle and cousins, I would presume.

They introduce themselves to us and seem friendly enough. There’s Uncle Marty, his son, Christian, and his nephew, Colin. Christian is a werewolf like his father, though Colin is distinctly human. Not knowing whether Colin is aware of werewolves already, I caution Matt against having the conversation weighing on his mind right now. We can get into that after his extended family leaves in a couple days.

Then Matt leads us in the house where we meet his mom, two of his three aunts, and four other cousins. I find it interesting that none of them are werewolves, but all of them seem to be cooks. At least today they are, and before I know it, I’ve been assigned to the task of peeling and chopping potatoes. Apparently, I’m a cook now too. Henny would be so proud.

-

-

Gabe

Tammy and I appear to be the last to arrive. I see all the kids’ cars already parked in the driveway, as well as some other vehicles I don’t recognize. Since we all only get together once a year now, it gets too hard to keep up with what everybody is driving these days.

Tammy reaches for my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, knowing I've been carrying around extra weight this time, fretting about the conversation I need to have with our son. I told her about the meeting with the Elders and what they said, and also that Elder Stirling agreed that I should be the one to inform my family.

I want to pull Gordon aside as soon as possible so that he will have plenty of time while Matt is here so that he can pick the right moment to tell him and Stacy. I’m hoping I’ll get a chance while the dinner is still being prepared, which was why I had hoped to be here sooner. My truck had other ideas, though. Good thing I’m visiting a mechanic for a few days.

When I open the door and step out, I pick up some unfamiliar scents, which should not be all that concerning considering that my grandchildren are at that age where they’re partnering up and some of those partners are probably inside waiting for me to meet them. I know Gordon told me a few weeks ago that I’d finally get to meet Matt’s fiancée, so she’s probably here. There is one scent that unsettles me, though, because it is that of a werewolf I’ve never met before.

I follow the scent toward the garage, waving Tammy on into the house. She doesn’t even question it, knowing that the boys like to hang out there. Hide there, really, since they know if they go in the house they’ll be put to work.

Inside I find Gordon and Marty plus some of my grandsons. The strange wolf isn’t in here, though. Now I realize the scent might be stronger heading toward the house.

Gordon sees me sniffing around, probably appearing a bit frantic and confused, and comes over to put a hand on my arm.

“She’s no threat,” he assures me softly, reading my mind. I had worried what it could mean for him if another werewolf has come all this way when there is no apparent reason other than to give him trouble.

“Who is it?” I ask him. “Did she come with Christian?”

It would make sense if he’s found his mate as well.

“No, she came with Matt. It’s his friend from school.”

“Oh, I see. And his fiancée?”

“They broke up.”

I can see he’s not happy about that by the way his jaw clenches after he says it.

“Well, that is good news,” I tell him, though I know he won’t understand what I mean by that until I tell him the rest of the good news.

“You never even met her,” he chuckles. “She wasn’t my favorite person, but he seemed to really love her. Too bad he decided he was done with her after we paid our share of the deposit on the hall. Nonrefundable, I’m told.”

“Add it to his tab,” I tease, knowing he and Stacy are still paying for most of his expenses, including that overpriced school on the other side of the country that he insists on going to when there are countless cheaper options available closer to home.

“Listen, I have some news that I think will cheer you up, but we should probably discuss it privately because it has to do with, uh, sensitive topics,” I add, indicating that I don’t feel comfortable speaking about it with Colin here.

My human daughters left the pack when they were grown and moved to normal human cities. Their children are all human, and to my knowledge, none are aware of our family’s true heritage. Although, considering Matt’s situation, I should probably have a talk with all of them at some point and warn them that even the human descendants of our family might still turn out to have werewolf mates. Perhaps hiding the truth is not the best option for them after all.

Gordon nods, seeming to catch my drift. “Hey, Christian? Colin? Could you head in the house and help Aunt Stacy move those tables?”

The boys begrudgingly agree, knowing that going in there means giving up their freedom until dinner is ready. They should be helping, though, and I don’t feel sorry for them.

“Hey, Gramps,” Christian greets me with a pat on my shoulder as he passes.

“Yeah hi, Grandpa,” Colin adds. I give them both a quick hug and then send them on their way.

“Do I need to leave too or…?” Marty wonders.

I shrug. “It’s kind of personal, what I need to talk to Gordon about, but it’s your family too, so I don’t mind if he doesn’t,” I tell him.

Gordon has the same response I did, shrugging and not saying one way or the other. My boys have always been close, so if I had to guess, he probably wants his brother to stay but would never say it outright.

Marty pulls up a stool next to where Gordon leans against a workbench. The sight of them together always makes me smile, remembering when they used to stick together like twins as pups. There’s only eleven months between them in age, so they practically were twins, with Marty always on his brother’s heels whenever Gordon would learn something new.

I position myself across from them, leaning on a vehicle that has no front wheels and is jacked up in front. Then it occurs to me that it might not be stable and I could knock it over, so I straighten back up and shove my hands in my pockets instead.

“I don’t even know where to start,” I realize aloud, beginning to pace as I sort out how to tell them everything I learned recently. “Okay, I guess I’ll start at the beginning, when an Elder approached me earlier this month.”

“What did you do?” Marty teases me with a smirk, implying that the only reason an Elder would approach me is if I had done something wrong.

“No, it wasn’t like that,” I argue, shaking my head. “He came to tell me that the Elders have been reviewing a case that involves Matt and his mate.”

“Matt has a mate?” Gordon seems baffled by that. “Do you know who?”

“I do. Her name is Alyssa Bentley, the presumed future Alpha of New Horizon, the pack that borders our camping spot. That’s how she found him, when he returned there last summer.”

“That could be why he broke it off with his fiancée,” Marty points out.

“Alyssa? Do you know if she goes by Aly?” Gordon asks, frowning. “But why would she …?”

“Oh, you think … that could get tricky. I hope you’re wrong,” Marty responds.

It’s obvious they know something I don’t and are carrying on a private conversation I don’t follow. They've done that since they were both still in diapers. As heartwarming as it is to see they're still in sync enough to finish each others' sentences, it gets frustrating when I'm the one trying to tell them something.

Marty catches on to my questioning expression, explaining, “That girl who came with Matt, the werewolf. Her name is Alyssa, and she could be an Alpha, but she came with Matt’s friend Tyler. She’s his girlfriend.”

“Tyler? He’s here?” I’m beyond excited. It would make this reveal so much better if we could just go in the house and see him directly after.

“Do you know him?” Gordon asks, now the confused one.

“I do, and so do you. Tyler is the adopted name of your other son, Michael. That’s another thing I learned from the Elders,” I explain. “Assuming the Tyler you mean is the same one I mean, the one who lives with Matt at school?”

“Uh, yeah. Yes, that’s him,” Gordon responds, looking like he’s in shock. “Are you sure? How do they know? I don’t understand.”

“Fate works in strange ways,” is the only explanation I have to offer him. “But that is why I needed to talk to you. It’s time to tell Matt the truth, and Tyler. And the girl? She’s both of their mate. That’s what the Elders were sorting out, and what they needed me for. They were investigating how the girl could be mated to two unrelated men and discovered your secret in the process. They determined it’s a twin mate bond. The kids need to know, and it works out perfectly since they're all here.”

Gordon doesn’t say anything, just drops the wrench he has been toying with nervously as we talked and takes off for the house.