He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

The Plan

Matt

Aly. Her name is Aly, or Alyssa to be exact. I stand there in shock, still registering the fact that she was standing right in front of me only a moment ago, touching my hand. And now she is going back to her house to pack her things to come camping with us. I chuckle to myself about that, remembering how I fantasized about her doing that when I first saw her. And then it sinks in what a fool I made of myself, and I groan in frustration.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Jessica asks me sweetly, touching my arm. “You seem to be having a mental breakdown over there.”

I laugh at that comment, realizing that must be exactly what it looks like. “Yeah, I’m just sort of taking it all in. It’s so crazy how we went from happily driving along, to exploding a tire, to negotiating with strangers, and now we’re back on track. Going camping with a stranger.”

“Going camping with a hot stranger, you mean,” Tyler butts in. “Quit standing around, guys. The lady asked us to move our stuff so let’s move our stuff.”

“This has got to be the first time that I’ve seen Tyler being the one doing all the work,” Meredith chimes in, referring to how he immediately got to work grabbing our gear from the back of the van as soon as Aly turned her back to leave with her friends. “But he’s right, though. Aly is being nice enough to give us a ride and fix the van, so the least we can do is not make her wait.”

“You mean like the way she made us wait forever while she took her sweet time driving over here?” Jessica complains. “It’s too hot to be standing around out here.”

It is starting to really irritate me how she has been complaining all day. I rarely ask her for anything, and we always do exactly what she wants to do. I don’t mind, at least I didn’t until now when it seems like she can’t handle giving me one freaking weekend to do something I want to do. I guess I never realized what a princess she can be when she doesn’t get her way, probably because I always give her everything she asks for.

“She didn’t even have to come down here,” I remind her gently. “Those guys could have just kicked us out and left us to fend for ourselves, but they didn’t. And when they called her for help, she came. And now she is doing me a huge favor by fixing the van for cheap, not to mention doing all of us a favor by making sure we don’t have to wait until it’s done to get to the campground. So, please, be nice to her.”

“I’m always nice,” she insists with a sugary sweet smile, then leans into me and stands on her tippy toes to ask for a kiss.

She’s always nice to me, at least, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely blind to how she can be a complete b***h to other people when she wants to be. Especially other girls, and especially if she thinks one might be interested in me. I don’t know for sure, but it seemed like sparks were flying between Aly and me for a second there, and I’m sure Jessica noticed.

I lean down to kiss her, and it feels so good, especially after the stress of the past hour or so. I grasp her cheek with my hand and tangle my fingers in her hair, drawing her closer to me and deepening the kiss. She moans in response and wraps her arms around me, reaching up with one hand to tease the bottom of my hair. I feel her lips part and I take the opportunity to plunge my tongue in her mouth, tangling it with hers and soaking in the sweet taste of her mouth.

“Come on guys, really?” Tyler protests.

Trevor comes up beside him, smirking our way, and pats him on the back. “Nah, leave them. We’ve got this. It’s their weekend to celebrate, so let them enjoy each other.”

-

-

Aly

Ollie and Tony head back to their posts after I reassure them that these humans mean us no harm and will be okay waiting here for a little bit. After all, one is my mate, and even though he doesn’t know it yet, I could sense that he feels a connection to me. I have faith that it will be enough to keep him and his friends from just hightailing it out of here with our truck. Besides, I know where they’re going.

I head with Ryan back to the truck he drove up here. As soon as we get far enough away from the humans, he turns to me with so many questions in his expression.

“So, what’s the plan, Aly?” he demands. “I know you have one. I could see it in your eyes.”

“The plan is we go to my dad, and I tell him I found my mate. We don’t tell him he is engaged to someone else, but we do tell him he is human. He should understand that I need some time to get close to him, so he should allow me to go camping with them. Then, I go camping, and I learn all I can about my mate to give me some information to work with – where he lives, works, goes to school, whatever. And from here on out, I make myself a permanent attachment in his life, and hopefully at some point, he ditches the whiny blonde and I can make my move.”

“Ah, I see. I thought the plan was to attach yourself to his friend to make him insanely jealous and come after you.”

“That too. That would be an acceptable result. Either way, I’m going camping.”

He chuckles and reaches over to pat my knee affectionately, and then tenses up and turns to me with a panicked expression.

“Don’t tell Mindy that I did that,” he begs of me.

Mindy is his mate, and they only found each other a couple months ago, so we are still adjusting to the new rules. He and I have always been very close and extremely affectionate with each other, but she is a jealous she-wolf, as it is her right to be, so we’ve been trying to be more careful about how we interact with each other. To her credit, she has been pretty understanding of how close Ryan is to me and how difficult it is to suddenly change the rules like that, but he cares about her enough to try not to do something that might upset her anyway.

“Your secret is safe with me,” I reassure him, and he smiles sheepishly at me in response.

Moments later, we pull back into the garage where we borrowed the trucks from, much to Robert’s surprise. I quickly explain to him that we need to talk to my dad, and we’ll be right back to sign out the trucks legitimately this time. He is worried that I left one in the custody of strangers, but I promise him I’ll take the fall for it if my dad gets upset. He still looks concerned when we leave him, and I cross my fingers and hope that I haven’t made a mess of things that will end up getting him in trouble.

Ryan and I make our way to my dad’s office and pause just outside the door. I take a deep breath, knowing that my plan sounds simple enough, but my dad is sure to have issues with it as well as the fact that we went down there to talk with strange humans without him knowing about it. I feel Ryan grab my hand and give it a squeeze, reminding me that we’re in this together. One more breath, then I open the door to face the Alpha.

He is seated behind his desk, hunched over and frowning at some papers. Not a great sign that he is already frowning, but the truth of it is he frowns more and more often these days. He likes to tell me it is because he is still doing the job that is meant to be mine by now, as though it’s my fault that I lost track of my mate.

“Hi, Daddy,” I chirp cheerfully, hoping to inspire him to be more cheerful himself.

He looks up from his work, surprised, and glances between me and Ryan. “Uh oh. You’re way too chipper and you’re both here together, so I can only guess that you two have been up to something and you need me to clean up the mess.”

“I appreciate that, so much,” I reply sarcastically, “but no. I actually have some good news. My mate came back!”

“Oh, Aly, that’s not just good news. That’s great news!” My dad enthuses as he stands from his desk and comes around to embrace me. “Which pack is he from?”

I sigh involuntarily and look up at him, worrying how he will take the news. “He’s not. He’s human. That’s the bad news. The good news is he’s here and waiting for me to pack my things and come meet him to go camping with him and his friends.”

My dad steps back and drops himself into one of the overstuffed chairs for guests, an unreadable expression coming over his face as he is quiet a moment. Shock? Despair? Not sure, but it definitely doesn’t look like joy.

The first thing he wonders is how my mate came to be here, so Ryan and I take turns catching him up on everything that has happened since Ollie mind-linked me. I tell him I want our mechanics to fix his van and that I offered to drive them to the campground. I also inform him about my plan to get close to him and my suspicion that he and his friends might attend a university together, which might mean that I need to do the same.

“That will depend on the university, Aly. I have some friends who can get you in to some places and enroll you in certain courses, but my influence is not limitless. I can’t promise you anything,” he warns me sternly.

“But you do think it is a good idea for me to go camping with them?” I ask eagerly.

“I don’t see any way for you to learn enough about him to be able to track him down once they leave, so yes, I think you should do that. And if it’s the place I’m thinking, you should still be close enough to be able to mind-link at least the patrols over that way, but maybe even me or Ryan. Make sure you keep in touch and let someone know if there are any problems.”

“Thanks, Dad!” I squeal with excitement.

I didn’t think it would be this easy to persuade him. I jump up to hug him as he stands from his seat, which knocks him back a half-step.

He chuckles at my enthusiasm, and then gazes down at me with a serious expression. Uh-oh. Here comes the catch.

“Aly, you know that human mates are problematic at best, so I just want to be sure that you’re keeping your expectations in check. You could potentially invest lots of time and energy into winning him over, only to discover that he isn’t interested in being mated to a werewolf. You have to proceed with caution and make sure the two of you are securely bonded before you reveal yourself to him, or he will likely reject you.”

“I know, Dad," I assure him. "I know it isn’t going to be easy, but he’s my mate. He’s worth it.”

“I know you think that, but Aly, you have to remember what is at stake. If you waste all your time on this human boy only to have him reject you, then what? Before you know it, you’ll be 25, and with no mate to produce for the Elders.”

“Dad, what are you saying?” I plead, suddenly dreading what he is about to demand from me.

He sighs and pauses for a moment to think before he speaks. “I am putting a time limit on this. I will not allow you to throw away everything for some clueless human. You have one year to win him over and convince him to mate with you. If you stand before me in one year’s time, unmated and with your tail between your legs, then I will have no choice but to secure a mate on your behalf. We cannot let the clock run out, Aly, and the closer you get to it, the more your people will get restless. This is how it must be.”

My heart sinks, and I can taste bile pushing at the back of my throat at the mere thought of having a mate forced on me, but I know it is no use arguing with him. He is still Alpha, and his power and influence can be overwhelming when I try to stand against him. We’ve been having this same fight for years now.

I look at Ryan, who simply looks back at me and shrugs. “A lot can happen in a year, Aly. And the guy seemed to be into you already, so maybe you have a shot at this,” he tries to reassure me.

I concede his point and decide not to waste anymore time with my dad. He has spoken his piece, and also agreed to send some guys to go tow the van up here, so now I need to go pack my things. I dash to my room and Ryan comes with to help me throw everything I think I will need for the weekend into a duffel bag. I am just about to zip it shut when I turn around to see him holding up a blue bikini top.

“It’s on the lake, Aly. You need to come prepared with a swimsuit,” he insists with a hint of a smirk.

“I packed a swimsuit,” I argue, remembering that I packed the one with the strappy tank top.

“Yeah, but you need a swimsuit that will make your mate drool and wish he was that Tyler guy, who will probably have his hands all over you in this.”

He has a good point. I grab the suit from him and shove it in on top of everything else, and then rush out the door and down the stairs.

“I’ll drive you,” he hollers behind me, so when I get outside, I head directly to his car and he jogs around to slide into the driver’s side.

He drives like a maniac back down the driveway, and for once I don’t mind because I can’t wait to get there. We pull up in front of the group of people waiting for us, and the first thing I notice is that blonde chick all cozied up to my mate. They seem like they’re lost in their own little world, and it disgusts me. I realize this weekend is actually going to be kind of difficult, and I’m going to spend a lot of time keeping Mari’s temper at bay.

I turn to Ryan with a hopeful smile and hug him goodbye. “Thanks, Ryan, for always being there for me and for being my accomplice yet again, no questions asked.”

“Of course,” he brushes it off like it’s nothing. “And I’ll swing by and sign out that truck for you. Mind-link me the license plate when you get a chance.”

One last hug, and then I hop out of his car and grab my stuff from the back. Tyler struts up to me with a grin and reaches out for my bag, handing me my keys in the process.

“I was beginning to think you were standing me up,” he admits sheepishly, and I have to admit he’s kind of cute, too. Not as hunky as my mate, but my weekend doesn’t look so shabby suddenly.

“Nah, my dad is just a bit overprotective and it took some convincing. I’m 21, so he has no right, but try telling him that,” I explain to him softly, giving him my best flirty smile.

I take a few steps toward the others and look them over quickly, and then announce to them, “Okay, guys, who’s ready for some camping?”

A few moments later, my duffel is securely stowed in the back of my truck with the rest and we’ve all piled in. Tyler is up front with me and the others are squished in the back. Apparently, these guys don’t pack lightly when they’re “roughing it,” which is an indication to me that I’m about to learn a whole lot about how different humans are from werewolves. I maneuver the truck around the van parked at the end of the driveway and pull us out onto the highway, and then we’re on our way to celebrate my mate’s engagement to someone else.