He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Homeward Bound

Matt

The ride back from the campground has been kind of quiet. I think everyone is tired from our weekend, and I’ve been in kind of a funk myself. When I first found out that Aly was coming with, I was so inexplicably excited, but now I sort of regret bringing her along. It feels like I spent too much time worrying about what she was up to and not enough time focusing on the point of the whole trip, Jessica. In a way, I’m glad we’re all going our separate ways soon. The mystery of the running girl has been solved, and now it’s time to get back to my real life.

When Aly pulls into the driveway back at her place, waiting for us there are two vehicles – my van and another truck. I don’t know how they knew exactly when we would be back, or maybe they didn’t and have just been waiting there for hours, who knows. I don’t bother to ask. I am just glad to see my van with four good tires again, and presumably no other damage.

The sight of the two big guys who get out of that truck starts my heart pounding something fierce in my chest. I don’t know why I always let myself get so intimidated by big, built guys like that. It probably has something to do with nothing good ever coming of me sharing the same space as them. I’m just too tempting to pick on, or I used to be when I was small.

At least now I might have a height advantage on the shorter one, and I think he is the same friend who was with Aly the other day. Probably not much of a threat, though I can never be certain. The big guy, though, damn. Not only does he look taller than me, but he looks like the sort of guy who has trouble fitting through standard doorways head-on because of the size of his shoulders and arms. Apparently, every guy who lives here works out.

As we all climb out of Aly’s SUV and start unpacking our things to transfer them to my van, the bigger guy lights up with a smile and calls out to her.

“Aly girl! You’re home!” he says.

To my complete shock and horror, she yells back, “Hi, Daddy!”

Wait, that’s her dad? That is her dad?!? Nothing about Aly could have prepared me for the discovery that her dad is the biggest beefcake I’ve ever seen in person. The guy could be a bodybuilder, and somehow that is not the sort of person I pictured living on a commune or whatever this place is.

“What are you doing here?” she asks him. “You didn’t have to come all the way down here.”

“I wanted to meet my little girl’s new friends,” he replies in a way that makes my blood run cold.

It’s like he knows what she has been up to this weekend. Suddenly, I’m scared for Tyler, and glad it wasn’t me she’s been shacking up with.

I look over at him, and of course, he has the biggest s**t-eating grin spread across his face. It’s like he and I are looking at two different versions of Aly’s dad. He seems excited to meet the guy.

Aly’s dad sort of throws his head back slightly, and his nostrils flare as though he smells something. It’s subtle, and I probably only notice it because I’m so paranoid and on edge that I can’t help but watch every detail about him, as though he is a predator and I’m the prey who knows he has been caught. But I do notice it, and it makes what he does next a bit eerie and chilling.

He looks directly at Tyler, as though he could smell that he is the one who has been all over his daughter. Tyler steps forward with a smile and holds out his hand. Such a brave guy. He will be missed.

“Hi, I’m Tyler,” he introduces himself. “So nice to meet you, Mr. Bentley.”

I’m stuck for a moment wondering how Tyler knows their last name, but it really shouldn’t surprise me considering how much time he spent with Aly this weekend.

Aly’s dad shoots her an accusatory look, and to my surprise she looks down at the ground as though whatever she thinks he is accusing her of she feels guilty about having to admit to. It’s surprising because from what I’ve seen of her so far, not much bothers her.

She did say they were strict. Maybe he can sense that she’s been banging this kid and she knows she can’t deny it. Poor girl. I hope he doesn’t punish her or something.

“You too,” her dad says coldly but politely as he shakes Tyler’s hand.

I don’t know if Tyler can tell, but Aly’s dad doesn’t seem pleased by him. Tyler does sort of step back and busy himself with our gear, so maybe he does sense it, too.

“Which one of you is Matt?” her dad asks, looking between Trevor and me.

Uh-oh. He knows my name. Wait, duh, of course he does. He fixed my van.

“Uh, hi,” I say tentatively as I step forward to greet him. “That’s me. Thanks so much for the help with the van and for sending Aly and just everything. We appreciate it so much.”

Stop. Talking. I can’t seem to keep myself from rambling and sounding like an i***t whenever it comes to Aly or her family.

He shakes my hand and smirks at me. I swallow nervously, unsure whether him smirking is a good thing or a bad thing.

“It was no trouble at all,” he assures me, and he actually seems friendly toward me. “I’m just glad you kids will be able to get home safe now. Be sure and watch out for debris in the road, okay?”

Trevor gets bold enough to ask him a question. “Were your mechanics able to figure out what caused the tire to explode like that?”

Mr. Bentley looks uncomfortable for a split second, which makes me nervous again, but then he smiles reassuringly.

“Just a piece of metal debris. It was shaped just so, and you hit it at just the right angle that instead of sliding in and creating a slow leak, it kind of wedged in and had its way with your tire. We did send some people out to have a look at the road around here and give it a good cleaning to be sure that whatever it was is gone now, so you should be fine driving over it again.”

“Yeah, wow. Thanks again, man,” Trevor responds.

“Sure,” Mr. Bentley sort of brushes him off like he’s done talking about it. “Well, I’m sure you are all eager to be getting home, so I’ll give Aly a minute to say goodbye and then we’ll leave you to it.”

He does have a very commanding presence, and he seems to know it judging by how he phrased that. He’ll spare his grown daughter a couple minutes for us, but then he’s dragging her away. That’s what I heard him say. Or maybe the guy just terrifies me and everything he ever says is going to sound like a veiled threat to me.

I look around to spot Aly and notice that she and the other big guy are talking to Tyler. Tyler and the guy seem friendly, so maybe that guy isn’t so bad. Aly gives Tyler one last, lingering hug and then turns her attention to Meredith. I think Meredith likes her, though she has kept her distance. I would assume that’s because she and Jess are so close, and Jess obviously hates Aly.

Meredith and Trevor both give Aly hugs and make vague promises to keep in touch. Aly takes one look at where Jess stands by the van, glaring at her, and opts not to poke the bear. She gives her a brief wave, shouting goodbye to her, before turning her attention to me.

Every time she looks directly at me like that my belly turns to jittery mush and I never quite know what to say. I haven’t figured out how or why she affects me this way when I know the only person I want is Jessica. I guess an old crush dies hard.

“It’s been fun, Matt,” she says to me in a soft, somewhat emotional tone. Interesting. “I’m happy for you and Jessica. Congrats again. Oh, and uh, I was talking to Tyler last night and we found out that the school I’m starting soon is the same one you guys go to, so maybe we’ll see each other around again.”

I get this weird feeling that is a mix of anxiety, excitement, and dread at that new development. This might not be the last time we see Aly. I don’t know what to do with that information.

“That would be cool,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice neutral. “I bet Tyler is pretty happy about that.”

“Come on, Aly,” her dad urges from where he waits by the other truck.

She sighs, then looks up at me uncertainly. “We don’t have a lot of time and I don’t know what I should do to say a proper goodbye to you, but whatever. I’ll see you around.”

She starts to turn to head to where her dad is, but then she turns back to me.

“Screw it,” she says, and lunges at me for a hug.

I don’t really know how to respond, worrying what Jess might think if I handle this the wrong way, but it’s just a hug. She hugged Trevor and Meredith, too. It’s no big deal. She does feel so warm and inviting though, the same feeling I got when we hugged two nights ago. I can’t help but hug her back.

She pulls away before I have had my fill, but it’s probably for the best.

“Bye, Aly,” I tell her, hoping it is enough.

She doesn’t say anything. She just hurries over to the truck. The guy with her dad helps boost her up into it and she slides over to the middle seat, pinned between her dad and her friend.

I watch them back up to turn around and then drive away, feeling a mix of emotions about it. I shake it off, though, knowing it doesn’t really matter if I ever figure out how I feel about Aly because she is not the person for me.

We finish loading the van, and it occurs to me after Tyler pulls the last bag out of her truck that she left it behind. That seems odd, but then I remember that this property is somehow protected and monitored so well that it didn’t even take those guys two minutes to come over to us when the van broke down, so maybe they just aren’t worried about it right now. Her dad was probably more focused on getting her back to the house so he can yell at her about whatever he seemed upset about.

-

-

Aly

“So, Dad, what’s the status on getting me into that college?” I ask him after a few moments of tense silence.

I decide to try to distract him with a topic he might have a lot to say about. I know he can smell Tyler on me. I was really hoping he wouldn’t be there when I got back so that he wouldn’t know whose scent I carry. I was hoping he would think it belonged to Matt, or better yet, that I’d be able to shower and scrub the crap out of my skin before I saw him.

“I have a contact who can get you in. We had to fudge some of your documents to make it look like you went to a prestigious high school, but your grades and extracurriculars were good so other than the school’s name and location, it’s all legitimate. He also had to work some of his hacker magic to squeeze you in on their list of incoming freshmen because the application process there is sort of a drawn-out nightmare and I don’t have any friends there who can get you in any other way before school starts in a couple weeks. He is also working on finding you housing. Freshmen have to live in the dorms, so he is looking for a placement somewhere that you can fill in for someone who was already placed but will no longer be attending. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I say, and then hoping to show him that I am grateful and acknowledge that it is a lot of work, and maybe a little bit trying to grovel, I add, “I appreciate all the effort, truly. There’s no better way to get close to him than to put myself right where he’s going to be until next summer.”

“Yeah, and I agree with that, except I am a little confused why you seem to have put more effort into getting close to the wrong person,” he accuses. “If you’re going to choose someone else to mate with, I’m all for it, but can you look at someone who is a werewolf, please?”

I sigh, because though I was already well aware that I had been caught, I was also really hoping to avoid this conversation.

“It’s complicated, Dad. You just have to trust me. It’s Matt I want, but it’s not so easy to just throw myself at him. I was working a different angle this weekend, the jealousy angle.”

“That mostly only works for werewolves, Aly, and even then, it’s not a good sign for your relationship if you have to force him to want you. And I’m pretty sure, if my nose doesn’t betray me, that you took it too far if all you wanted was to make him a little jealous.”

I sigh again, hating hearing what I already know is true from my dad of all people.

“I know that. Like I said, it’s complicated, and I don’t want to talk about it. But don’t worry. If I’m going to bring home a human, it’s going to be the one the Moon Goddess chose for me.”

“Good,” my dad responds, his jaw set in firm determination. That serious expression is how I know he’s about to tell me something he thinks is important.

“That other kid seems nice and all and I’m sure he’s fun,” he continues, “but he doesn’t stand a chance against the Elders’ trials as a human if he isn’t your fated mate.”

“If you’ll let me play the devil’s advocate for a minute here,” Ryan interrupts our conversation, “I would actually argue that the Tyler kid stands a better chance. I hear you about the fated mate stuff, and that will go a long way as far as the tests of his devotion to you, but that Matt guy needs a lot of work, like, physically.”

“That’s true. I did notice that as well,” Dad agrees. “But the fact of the matter is, if he’s her fated mate, there’s a better chance that the Elders will just accept him and not even put him through the trials.”

“Except he’s human, and if history has anything to say about it, then they’re almost guaranteed to put him through the trials,” Ryan argues.

“Alright, well, you guys go ahead and argue about it as much as you want, but I’m tired and I’m going inside to take a hot shower and a long nap,” I say, annoyed.

I push on Ryan to tell him I want him to move out of my way so I can get out of the truck now that we’re parked in front of the packhouse. I don’t want to think about all this stuff right now. I already decided five years ago that I want Matt. Nothing about this weekend changes that, not Jessica, and not even Tyler.

I agree with my dad. If I’m going to take the easy way out and choose someone else, it had better be a werewolf, and preferably someone of high ranking from a prestigious pack who has plenty to bring to the table so that the Elders don’t even bat an eye at my choice. All that about putting mates through trials before they will let you become Alpha when they feel there is some cause for concern is nonsense, if you ask me. I’m not going to put Matt through that. Like I told my dad years ago, I don’t even care about being Alpha if it means I can’t have my mate.