Alpha of the Ranch

The Chase

The next two weeks passed at an easy pace on the ranch. Everyone seemed to fall back into the comfortable groove they’d long since established and work continued as normal. Well, fairly close to normal. Victoria noticed that Oliver was making more appearances: popping up at the ranch to discuss their contract and make changes to it, suddenly being at the same store when Victoria was in town, and (most daunting of all) appearing in Victoria’s mind both day and night.

Victoria was never one to put much stock into her dreams. She recognized that they could be a way to process things one couldn’t face while awake or they could provide some sort of comfort. But these dreams? Victoria didn’t know what to think. Some of the dreams were fairly normal: she dreamt of dates out with Oliver, sitting on parts of the ranch with him enjoying the evening, and even things a bit more steamy. Other nights it was a tangle of running through the woods, chasing…something. In some of these dark and twisted dreams, she could feel in her bones that Oliver was there somewhere. She was running after him, his voice and laugh just out of reach. She never saw him though. It was always just shadowy figures just on the edge of her vision. It always caused her to wake up in a sweat wondering how a man could just come into her life and invade it so easily.

Oliver felt a similar way. He couldn’t get Victoria out of his head, but at least he had the comfort of knowing why. His dreams always involved her knowing about him, the real him, and fully accepting (and loving!) it. He dreamt of her on his wolf as he ran through the dark woods at night. He dreamt of her walking alongside him through the pack house, taking her place and role as Luna. But most of all, he dreamt of marking her. The deep, unyielding desire to have her fully and completely was starting to drive him crazy. The dreams where they were wrapped up in each other in his bed, fully enjoying the mate bond and the tingles and just the taste of each other were the worst. He woke up with both his mouth and his manhood aching to sink into his mate.

To make matters worse, his mother was becoming curious.

Lola Cooper was a very determined woman. It served her well when she was Luna, helping her to push forward initiatives that helped the people, forced her husband to take days off, and ensured no one, no matter how much alpha blood they might have, pushed her around. Oliver was always in awe of the woman and damn proud to call her his mother.

But currently, he was avoiding her. He had made Sonny and Lucas swear not to tell another soul about his mate while he figured things out. But his mother didn’t need to be told to know something was going on. Oliver had seen her watching him at dinner the other night, her face drawn into a look Oliver knew all too well. That was the look she had given him when he broke, and hid, a vase in a spare room. The look he saw when he was hiding bad grades. The look he saw when he hid a girl in his room one night. The look that said “I’m on to you and it’s only a matter of time until you confess.” That look put grown men on their knees and he had seen his father, a giant of a man, wither and stutter under that look. He didn’t stand a chance. So he did the only thing he could.

He hid from her. He had skipped dinner the last two nights. He was up and at training early and left quickly after. He told Lucas to make sure no one disturbed him when he was working (even though very little work was getting done). He had even started using his heightened sense of smell to check that she wasn’t in the halls when he snuck out for food or to leave for a run.

It didn’t matter in the end. Oliver made his way back to his office having secured some dinner and was looking forward to enjoying his peach cobbler and ice cream dessert. He was confident he had another day to get his mind right and figure out a plan. He opened his office door and stopped cold.

“Oliver Charles Hemming. You wouldn’t be avoiding your mother now, would you?”

His mother was perched on the edge of his desk facing him, arms crossed and a severe scowl on her face. His mouth went dry. He glanced back in the hallway and seriously considered running away from her.

“Absolutely not!” she growled at him. Oliver sighed and walked in further, closing the door behind him.

“Of course not, mother. Why would I ever avoid you?”

Lola rolled her eyes and watched him move behind his desk, turning to face him. “Well, it could be that you’ve found your mate and don’t want anyone to know.”

Oliver stumbled and fell into his seat looking at his mother with wide, shocked eyes. “Wh-what?”

She glared at him and he made a mental note to kill Lucas and Sonny.

“Oh don’t blame them. Do you really think they could keep something from me?” She sat down in one of the chairs across from him. She took a minute to take in his shocked face and noticed some worry there. What was going on with her child?

“Oliver. Finding your mate is a wonderful, joyous moment. Why are you hiding it? And from your parents? Did something happen? Did she reject you?” Lola whispered the last part quietly.

Oliver looked up quickly. Just the idea of Victoria rejecting him made his chest ache and his wolf howl. “No,” he said. “It’s not that. It’s just that…Well…” He ran a hand down his face. “She’s a human mom.”

Oliver slowly removed his hand after several silent minutes had passed. He took in his mother's face and felt like a little boy all over again. Her eyes had nothing but compassion in them and he just wanted to lay his head on her lap like he used to do.

“Oh honey. Is that what you’ve been so worried about? That we wouldn’t accept her?” Lola stood up and walked around to her son, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist and rest his head on her stomach. She stroked his hair. “Sweetheart, her being human isn’t a problem.”

Oliver closed his eyes. “Thanks mom. I wasn’t that worried that you and dad wouldn’t accept her. I’m more worried she won’t accept me. How do I explain all this to her? I’m a werewolf. I’m an alpha. And she was always destined for me? You know humans don’t really believe in that stuff.”

Lola thought for a moment. “They don’t always believe in destiny, but they fall in love. It isn’t as instant and consuming as our mate bonds, but humans love just as strongly and fiercely as we do. They are protective of their love just like us. Yes, we have differences, but love is love, honey. If she is your mate, meant for you by the Moon Goddess, she will love you back just the same. You’ll just have to go a little slower and recognize that she isn’t going to be all in right away like you.” His mother chuckled above him. “You might actually have to learn to be romantic.”

Oliver pulled back and looked into his mother's kind face. He suddenly didn’t remember why he was avoiding this beacon of wisdom, advice, and comfort. She made him feel much better about the situation, even if he still didn’t have a plan. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before moving towards the door.

“You’re going to do fine, Oliver. You are so strong and a wonderful leader. I know she’s going to love you for you and accept all that comes with it. You’ll just have to charm her before telling her the rest.” She paused with her hand on the door and looked back at him. “And I can’t wait to meet the woman who is making you this out of sorts.” She gave a laugh as she walked out the door.