Lion’s Crossing (Love Sync Mates Season Two)

Chapter Twenty-One

Knox

“Thank goodness for the weekend! You wanna go to the sugar shack tonight?” Levi asked as he drove back to Shifter Crossing after we’d finished our day at the high school. “Tristan’s going to be there. He texted me today that he hoped I brought you along.”

“No, I’m exhausted.” Especially lately. And queasy. Mostly in the mornings. Besides, I didn’t like Tristan. He only wanted an omega to clean his house, make his meals, and to fuck whenever he wanted. His last boyfriend, Stephan, told me the alpha wouldn’t let him talk to his own family, and made him report every time he left the house, which he was only allowed to do to get groceries. Not the kind of forever mate I wanted. Not even anyone I wanted to talk to.

“C’mon, Knox. You can’t stay single forever.”

I scoffed at my cousin’s words. “This coming from you who is, last time I checked, still single.”

He clicked his tongue and purposely swerved the car to show his annoyance. “You know I’m dating Fred. We’ve been together for over a year.”

“Fred who cheated on you two months into your relationship.” Typical for most guys in and around Shifter Crossing.

“Yeah, but he’s changed since then. Everything is good now.”

I doubted that, considering the number of times Levi had called me, wanting me to go with him to hunt the alpha down when he didn’t come home after a night out. “And yet he still hasn’t claimed you. That sounds real good.” More like he was stringing my cousin along—as long as he could without committing.

Levi pulled up to the curb in front of my apartment and slammed on the brakes. “At least I have someone to come home to, and don’t spend my nights all alone. He takes care of me, Knox. And in more ways than one, if you know what I mean.”

I knew exactly what he meant, and it still didn’t make me want to settle for any of the guys in Shifter Crossing. I would rather spend the rest of my life alone than be with someone who had no respect for me. Without responding, I got out of the car. It was a conversation we had all the time, and I knew my cousin would apologize in a day or two when Fred hurt him again.

After setting my keys and lunch bag on the tiny kitchen counter, I stared at the box on the kitchen table that had once been a two-seater table at a local diner. The box made my stomach roll more than it had been all day.

Two days earlier, I’d gone into Zambrano’s to buy a pregnancy test. I didn’t want to go to the drug store in the next town over, because then I would have to explain to whomever drove me why I needed to go. No one knew about what had happened between me and Linc in Saramto. I hadn’t even told anyone that I’d seen him. So, it had been especially awkward buying the test from his sister.

Still I hadn’t opened it. I was too scared of the results. If I wasn’t pregnant, yes, I would be relieved. It was my deer that dreaded that outcome, still yearning for some kind of connection to Linc even though I hadn’t seen or talked to him since the day I left and told him I was fine on my own. But maybe I wasn’t. Not if the result showed I was pregnant. First, there would be talk. Lots of talk. About the identity of the father, and then my reputation for getting pregnant without being claimed by an alpha. My parents would try to get any and every single alpha to take pity on me and claim me before I gave birth.

My head spun as I continued to stare at the box. What was I going to do? I needed to know, but not knowing seemed safer either way. Meant I didn’t have to make any life-altering decisions right away.

My phone rang, startling me out of the endless array of thoughts. I glanced at the caller ID. My parents. Though I knew what they wanted, I answered anyway. “Hello.”

“Knox, glad you’re home. Dinner’s made, and we want you to come over.”

I sighed, knowing that even if I argued, my dad would send my father over to pick me up. Besides, I didn’t have anything made or even thawed out for supper. “Fine, but if there’s an alpha there, you need to send him home. I’m not interested.”

“Knox, just come over,” my dad demanded. “You don’t get to tell me who I should invite to dinner. You should just be thankful for the food.”

I grimaced, my guess about the reason for the dinner confirmed. At least it would take my mind off the test I needed to take, for a couple hours. “Fine, I’ll be there soon.”

With my coat and shoes still on, I grabbed my keys and headed to my parents’ place. It was only a couple blocks away, and as I approached the house, I glanced at their driveway for an extra vehicle, something to indicate the identity of the alpha they wanted to set me up with. But I didn’t see any. Not even a car or truck parked along the street. That meant, it had to be an alpha who lived close by, those options even worse.

Or maybe I’d simply overreacted, and my parents just wanted to have dinner with me. Somehow, I doubted that, but still secretly hoped for that to be the case.

I walked in through the side door, never having used the front one. Even our friends, family, and the mail-courier knew not to use the front door. Maybe it was a small-town thing. Yet, the scent that permeated through the house was not from a small town. And it wasn’t dinner. There was a predator inside somewhere, an alpha I already knew who wasn’t my father.

My deer leaped with excitement, urging me to go up the few steps into the kitchen to see him again. Another part of me considered leaving. No one had heard my arrival yet, so I still had a chance. Though curiosity won out, and I trudged up to the back of the house, wondering why Linc would be at my parents’ house.