The Alpha I Chose

Chapter 15

Meadow

By the time the SUV rolls beneath the familiar welcome sign marking the Silver Creek territory, the sun hangs low in the afternoon sky.

Saying goodbye to Emily that morning had been far more difficult than I’d expected. We’d cried, hugged far too many times, and promised to call each other soon—something that finally felt possible now that the lavender phone Malcolm had given me rested safely in my pocket.

The emotional goodbye, combined with Clover’s hours of running the night before, had left me utterly exhausted. Somewhere a couple of hours into the drive, I’d curled up against the window and fallen asleep.

“We’re here,” Malcolm says softly.

I’m instantly awake, my nose pressed to the window as I take in the familiar surroundings. Adorable cottages dot the landscape and familiar faces are scattered throughout the territory working the land, visiting with one another, and enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

Home.

I bounce excitedly in my seat as I direct Malcolm’s driver, a quiet older fellow named Russell, toward my family’s cottage. As we approach the house, I spot Mama and Daddy busy setting out our fall decorations while Daisy lounges on the porch swing with a textbook open in her lap.

Unable to wait another second, I throw open the door and jump out before the SUV has a chance to stop, probably giving poor Russell a heart attack as he slams on the brakes. I take off running across the grass.

“Mama! Daddy! Daisy!”

Three heads snap in my direction.

Daisy lets out a shriek, launching her textbook onto the porch before vaulting over the railing. She races toward me, her already messy braids coming half undone as she runs.

Mama and Daddy drop the pumpkins they were carrying. One shatters into pieces as it hits the cobblestone path leading to the chicken coop, neither of them giving it so much as a glance.

They reach me all at once, and I’m enveloped in the warmest, most wonderful hug. The tears I’ve been holding back spill over, and I begin sobbing uncontrollably in their arms.

“Shhh, my sweet girl,” Daddy whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I cling to him while Mama rubs soothing circles across my back.

I never want to let them go.

The moment is broken by Daisy’s voice.

“You’re not her mate,” my sister says slowly. “Who are you?”

I’d forgotten all about Malcolm.

He’s standing awkwardly a few feet away looking about as uncomfortable as person could possibly get, clearly having no idea what he’s supposed to do while my entire family cries around me.

I step back and wipe the tears off my face.

“Guys, this is Alpha Malcolm Sullivan of the Stonehaven Pack. He accidentally saved me when he kidnapped me in a revenge plot gone wrong.”

Silence.

~ ~ ~

Malcolm

Meadow’s father scowls at me.

“You kidnapped my daughter?” He asks gruffly as his wife takes Meadow by the arm and pulls her closer to them… and away from me. I put my hands up in a placating gesture.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fields, it would probably be best if we could talk somewhere more private,” I say glancing around.

Her parents exchange uncertain looks, clearly debating whether or not I can be trusted. Daisy however has no hesitation.

“C’mon inside,” she motions for me to follow her up the little path to the house. “We have fresh chocolate cake that Mama made this morning!”

Shrugging I turn and follow Daisy, with Meadow and her parents following.

The Fields’ cottage is warm and inviting from the moment I step through the door. Crocheted blankets are draped over the backs of the sofa and a well-worn recliner. A table tucked into one corner holds a half-finished jigsaw puzzle, while an antique sewing machine sits beneath a large window overlooking a gently flowing creek.

Meadow squeals behind me and runs over to the antique looking machine. And then she hugs it.

The girl is hugging a sewing machine.

Shaking my head, I continue following Daisy into a cozy yellow kitchen with Meadow close behind her.

The family moves around the kitchen talking over one another while I stand off to the side, feeling completely out of place. Mrs. Fields pulls mismatched plates from a worn cupboard before cutting into a delicious-looking chocolate cake. Every few seconds, she glances at Meadow, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“Here, Alpha,” Daisy pipes up as the family starts gathering around the table. “You can sit beside me.” She pats the wooden chair next to her. I take the offered seat as Meadow places a massive piece of cake in front of me.

“This looks delicious, Mrs. Fields,” I say with complete honesty. The woman, who looks like an older version of Meadow, beams proudly.

“Please, just call me Maggie,” she says softly. “And my mate is simply Walter. We aren’t formal people.”

Walter scowls at her words. Meadow elbows him and the scowl disappears.

“You can call him Mal,” Meadow tells her family, grinning devilishly at me as she shoves another bite of cake into her mouth.

I was beginning to suspect that awful nickname wasn’t going away.

The conversation suddenly dies down and I glance up, realizing that everyone is staring at me. Apparently it was time to explain the kidnapping.

I don’t hesitate, giving the Fields family a shortened version of everything that had happened. I tell them how I’d taken Meadow in an attempt to lure Garrett Blackwood to Stonehaven. How Garrett had never come. And how, over the next few days, it became painfully obvious that Meadow hadn’t been living as a cherished mate.

She’d been living as a prisoner.

Walter’s jaw tightens.

“He kept you… as a prisoner?” Meadow lays her hand on her father’s arm.

“Not like that. I wasn’t chained up or anything,” she reassures him. “But he made sure I followed his rules.”

“Is that why we never heard from you?” Daisy asks, as she wipes a tear from her face. Meadow nods, her own eyes glistening.

“The day after I got there, he took my phone. Said it wasn’t necessary. Said the only person I needed to be able to communicate with was him.”

Maggie dabs at her eyes with her napkin. She’s fighting to keep her emotions in check, but her eyes flash and I know her wolf is just as angry as she must be.

“It was so stupid. I mean, he didn’t even like me,” Meadow grumbles, stabbing at her cake with her fork.

“What do you mean?” her mom asks.

“He hated how I dressed. How I did my hair. How I laughed… Mother Moon above the man hated that I laughed at all. I talked too much, I read too much, I didn’t behave like a Luna…” she laughs dryly. “Finally I just stopped.”

She stares down at her plate for a moment and everyone is silent.

“I stopped fighting him on my appearance. I stopped laughing.” She pauses for a moment, before continuing softly, “I stopped talking.”

For the first time since meeting Meadow, my heart clenches in my chest. I knew Blackwood had controlled her.

I hadn’t realized he was trying to erase her.

Walter stares at the table for a long moment before finally speaking.

“He should’ve known better.”

Meadow looks over at him. Walter reaches over and squeezes her hand.

“Nobody’s ever been able to make you be anything but yourself.”

Meadow smiles at him through her tears.

We sit quietly for a few moments before Daisy suddenly starts laughing.

“Remember the goat?”

Meadows eyes widen as she stares at her sister.

“Daisy!”

“Meadow found a random goat one time and was convinced that she could train it,” she tells me between giggles. “She made it a dress and hat and was trying to teach it to carry a purse.”

“That’s no worse than the time she wanted to sew dresses for all the chickens,” her mom chimes in as Meadow covers her face with her hands.

I find myself laughing right alongside them as one story turns into another. Before long, I’m telling them about Meadow insisting on planting flowers in the fertile soil of the “tornado dungeon.”

Looking around the little kitchen, I finally understood. Garrett Blackwood hadn’t failed because Meadow was stubborn.

He’d failed because she’d spent twenty-two years being loved exactly the way she was before she’d ever met him.