He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

The Breakdown: Aly

I am in the backyard tossing a football around with Ryan and two of my cousin’s sons when I receive a mind-link from one of the guard patrols.

We need you to come down here and tell us what to do with some accidental intruders, the voice tells me. It sounds like Oliver, one of the guards who was in my grade in school.

He has been pretty good friends with Ryan and I for a long time, so it kind of makes sense that he feels more comfortable telling me this than my dad, but protocol says he should be telling my dad. And that’s what I tell him in the mind-link I send back to him.

Yeah, but these are humans. Your dad will just scare the crap out of them and toss them out, but they need assistance, he explains.

Assistance as in grab a doctor, or assistance as in grab a first aid kit? I reply.

I really wish he would just tell me what’s going on already. I’m not going to drive all the way down there just to have to turn around and come back for supplies.

Assistance as in grab a truck with a hitch and bring a tow cable, he clarifies. And bring a vehicle that seats at least six so we can give these guys a ride out of here.

Got it. Stay with them and I’ll be there in maybe ten minutes, I reply.

Ryan is watching me instead of the kids until one of them nails him with the football in the side of the head.

“Ow! Geez! You little demon children,” he says playfully and then starts chasing them.

They scream and squeal with delight and tear off into the packhouse. Instead of following them, he comes back to where I’m still laughing about how comical he looked getting hit with the football.

“Everything okay?” he asks. Apparently, he noticed my little conversation going on.

“Yep, all good. I guess there’s some stranded humans down by the highway, though. Ollie seems to think we should tow their vehicle for them, so I guess they must be in pretty sorry shape. So, you grab a truck and I’ll grab one of the older SUVs that my dad won’t miss for however long it takes to clean the smell of human strangers out of it.”

Ryan chuckles and shakes his head. “I take it we’re not running this little plan by him first, then.”

“Nope. Otherwise, Ollie would have contacted him directly. This is my secret rescue operation, and you’re my accomplice.”

“Nothing new there,” he retorts, and together we make our way to the garage where all the utility vehicles are kept.

It takes a bit of persuading for me to convince Robert, the guy in charge of monitoring the garage today, to let us “borrow” some vehicles without signing them out. It helps that he has known me since I was a kid and has a soft spot for my puppy dog eyes. He also helps us put the hitch on the back of the truck and retrieves a tow cable and puts it in the passenger seat of the truck for us, which basically leaves next to nothing for Ryan and I to do besides start them up and drive them out of there.

By the time we make it to the end of the driveway, we’re a bit over my estimate of ten minutes by about an additional ten minutes. I know Ollie won’t mind, but I can already tell without even getting out that some of the humans are getting antsy. I pull my vehicle off to the side of the driveway a bit to make sure it is out of the way and then get out to meet the humans.

As soon as I open the door, his scent smacks me in the nostrils so hard that I lose my balance for a moment. I know immediately that my mate has returned, and my senses shift into overdrive. I carefully appraise the three young men standing with Ollie and another guard named Tony.

My eyes are drawn to the taller of the three and his thick mop of brown curls that are tinted golden in the sunlight. He is standing awkwardly, as though he is uncomfortable just being here, but I find that endearing. I like that he seems shy and awkward. I’m so used to the inflated egos of male werewolves that I think it might be refreshing to meet someone like him.

I take a deep breath and make my way over to them, still trying to stay hopeful. It’s not great news that my mate is human. That means he won’t recognize that I’m his mate immediately like a werewolf would, and there’s a good chance he’s still in the dark about werewolves and supernatural creatures, so I’m going to have to be more careful getting to know him. And since I’m supposed to be Alpha once my mate accepts me, the fact that he is human is going to bring our pairing under greater scrutiny.

But still, I have been searching for this guy for five years now. I only got a partial license plate number when I saw his car before, and though we were able to narrow down some likely possibilities, my dad refused to let me go chasing after those leads. His trackers were useless because as it turns out, someone passing by in a car doesn’t leave much of a scent behind, and the strong scent of Christmas that I detected apparently was only for me. He would smell different to anyone else, they informed me. So, him standing in front of me now is a pretty big deal, and I can barely contain my excitement that he’s here, human or not.

Ryan and I approach the group at about the same time, and Ollie and Tony turn to greet us. My heart starts doing somersaults when I notice out of the corner of my eye that my mate is studying me about as intently as I was studying him a moment ago. I can’t help but wonder if he feels the pull, too. I have no idea what the experience is like for humans.

“Hey guys,” I call out my greeting. “So, what’s going on here?”

“This guy exploded his tire.” Ollie explains as he points to my mate. “And it’s going to need some TLC before he and his friends can get back on the road. I was thinking we could give them a tow to a garage and maybe a ride to wherever they’re going. He says it’s only like twenty minutes from here.”

I’m excited that the van belongs to my mate because this gives me a chance to touch him and find out his name.

“Hi, I’m Alyssa,” I introduce myself as I hold out my hand to him. "But please, call me Aly."

“Matt,” he tells me as he takes my hand. “So nice to finally meet you.” He blushes bright red and then quickly tries to clarify, “I mean, because we’ve been waiting awhile.” He blushes more and shakes his head, obviously frustrated with himself.

I can’t help but giggle a little, and I hope I don’t sound too much like a schoolgirl with a crush. The feel of his hand on mine is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’ve heard the stories of what it feels like to touch your mate, with the tingles and fireworks and butterflies and everything else people try to describe it as, but this is so much more. There are no words for it, I just know I’m already addicted to this man.

“Nice to meet you, too,” I respond, trying to sound cool and calm. “Listen, Matt, I think we can do better than a tow. We have our own garage and can get this fixed up for you …”

Ryan cuts in, “Aly, we can’t …”

I turn around and give him a glare that silences him, and Ollie and Tony back up a half-step.

He’s my mate, I shoot Ryan a quick mind-link to explain. We can and we will.

I know he will understand because he knows better than anyone how much I’ve suffered from wanting my mate and should understand that I have to try harder to impress him since he’s human.

“As I was saying, we can get this fixed,” I turn back around and continue explaining. “The only catch is you can’t wait here for it. I’ll take you guys where you need to go, and we can get the van to you later. Do you trust me to do that?”

Matt shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other and reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. It’s adorable, and I can tell it seems to be a nervous tick of his.

“I … uh … I mean, I don’t know,” he starts to reply. “Yes? Do you think you could do it for cheaper than a garage?”

“Definitely,” I respond without hesitation. I am determined to get this done for him for free, but I won’t tell him that until later. I have a feeling he might try to fight me on it. “Where are you guys going anyway?”

Matt starts to respond awkwardly again, which I rather enjoy, but one of his friends cuts in.

“The campground just up the way, on the lake. We’re headed there to rough it for the weekend,” he brags with a grin. Apparently, he thinks “roughing it” is an impressive feat.

“Yeah, it’s kind of some old stomping grounds for our boy Matt here, and he wants to celebrate his engagement to this babe right here,” his other male friend adds, pointing out the blonde next to him.

This feeling of sinking through the ground straight to the Earth’s core comes over me, and I have to hold back a scream, or maybe a sob. I’m not sure which.

Engagement? He’s engaged? To … her? I get a glimpse of the “babe” he’s with, who until this moment has not interested me in the least. It feels like the final nail in the coffin for my chances with my mate when I realize she is perfect. She’s petite, well-proportioned, with flawless skin and platinum blonde hair, and her teeth are the whitest, straightest teeth I’ve ever seen.

“Oh wow, congratulations,” I force out, faking a bright smile for them. “That’s such a great idea to go camping to celebrate.”

Matt looks at me sheepishly and almost apologetically, as though he is embarrassed. I would love to think it’s because he knows we belong together, but I know it’s probably just because he’s shy and doesn’t like attention.

“So, um …” I start to suggest we get moving to get them where they’re going, but an idea occurs to me. It’s a crazy idea, but even Mari thinks I should go for it and she tends to fight me when I have crazy ideas. “Actually, I kind of want to go with you, like, to stay. Would that be too crazy? I mean, I have to take you there anyway, and I can’t help but notice that you’re all paired off except for this guy.” I point to the guy who announced Matt’s engagement.

“Dude,” the guy says in response. I take it as a good sign that he sounds excited. “That would be awesome!”

Matt chuckles nervously and nods his head. “Yeah, I uh, sure, I guess. If Tyler is fine with it.”

“We don’t even know her,” his fiancée argues, and suddenly I actually feel bad for him. She is perfect except for that whiny voice of hers, and if I were him, that would be the deal-breaker for me.

“We didn’t even know you when we first started college, but we invited you to tag along to that party we were going to, and look how that turned out,” the other girl adds diplomatically. I decide I like her.

“I vote yes, too,” the guy who seems to be with her chimes in. “Tyler is always a champ about it, but it has to get old always being the fifth wheel.”

“Yes it does,” Tyler agrees and comes to stand by me. “Hi, I’m Tyler, and you’re awesome and completely hot, and this is going to be the best weekend ever!”

“Hi, Tyler,” I chuckle as I take his hand and then pull the keys to the SUV from my pocket and give them to him. “Feel free to get all your stuff transferred to my truck. I just have to run back up to the house to grab my things and let my parents know I’m leaving, and then we’ll be off.”