Chapter 26 Another Chance
twenty-six
Another Chance
*LORI*
The drive is awkward at best, at least for me.
Meanwhile, Percy seems to warm to Micah, especially when he hears how he will get his own room with a small balcony.
The group homes in the pack are small and only host four minor wolves in each, which means Percy will have much more privacy than he thought he would.
I don’t really care about what happens to me, but I’m happy for Percy. He is still a kid and deserves to be accepted and loved.
“We got a cottage for you,” Micah tells me when we are crossing the pack borders.
I can already spot the first houses, and one building that looks particularly intriguing, a beautiful mansion.
It’s on the smaller side, but it’s obvious someone has put a lot of work into it.
I assume this is where the alpha and vampire lord are staying.
This pack is like nothing I have seen so far.
The whole area is sprinkled with small houses.
Simple, but clean and tasteful. It looks so idyllic; so much, it almost feels unreal.
“I hope the cottage is as you wanted it,” Micah adds.
“If you look out of the window now, you can see it.”
Out of mere curiosity, I follow the direction he points in. The cottage that’s apparently going to be mine is not in the busiest part of the pack, just as I hoped. It’s small with a red roof and ivy on one wall. There is even a garden and a small tree house next to it. “Amazing!” I whisper.
“I am glad you like it,” Alpha Marcellus says. “There is still some work to do, though, but you said you wouldn’t mind giving it your own touch.”
“I would love to,” I say, not sure how else to react.
I don’t want to sound too excited and let my guard down, but at the same time, I don’t want to insult him by showing no reaction.
Everything was so much easier a couple of weeks ago.
Now I just feel exhausted. I know I should put on a brave face and accept the outcome of my own actions, but I just want to sleep and bury myself under a blanket.
I don’t even know what to do with my life anymore.
Before things happened with my former mate, I had the dream of finding my other half, maybe even having my own family and doing something with my life, but now it feels like all my dreams have vanished.
I don’t know what to do or what I want.
“Look, the welcome committee,” Micah says with a bright smile. “You see the woman there, Percy? The one with the little kid? That’s Sheila and her daughter Maddie. Sheila is in charge of the group homes.”
“Really? She looks nice,” Percy says.
“She is very kind and sweet,” Micah reassures him. “And there is Lord Silas,” he explains further. “He is the coven leader and Marcellus’s mate.”
I’ve never seen a vampire before. I only know that they usually stick to themselves. But Lord Silas looks friendly. He even waves at our car.
“Yeah, I hit the jackpot,” Marcellus says proudly.
“And the young man behind him is Benjamin,” Micah continues.
“My surrogate brother,” Marcellus explains.
I look at the guy they call Benjamin. What a handsome man. He has tanned skin, clearly someone who is outside a lot. He has a handsome face and fluffy brown hair. He is pretty tall, too. “Is he an alpha’s son?” I hear myself ask before I can stop myself.
“You have sharp eyes,” Micah says. “Yes, he was an alpha’s son.”
“He is going to be my gamma,” Marcellus says. “Very capable young man, and very nice. If you two need anything, don’t hesitate to ask him.”
They even took in an alpha’s son? What did he do to end up in this pack? Maybe he didn’t do anything, though, and they saved him like they saved Percy. The alpha sounds like he respects him a lot and thinks highly of him.
I gaze at him again. He has a cute smile.
I’ve sworn to myself to stay away from any guys from now on, nothing romantic in this pack, but I can’t seem to tear my gaze away from Benjamin. What is this?
I’m still battling my confusion when the car halts and Micah opens the door. The heavenly scent of cinnamon hits me, like that one time that Mom made cinnamon rolls for me, many years ago, one of the few times she paid attention to me.
Something in my mind stirs.
I raise my eyes, looking at Benjamin again. He’s looking right back at me, too, his eyes wide in surprise.
“Benj!” Marcellus waves at him.
It seems to rip him out of his shock, and he steps forward with a smile. “Welcome to the pack, Percy and…“ He gazes at me nervously. “Lori.”
The young woman approaches us, introducing herself as Sheila. She instantly starts to attend to Percy, and I can almost see the tension leaving his body. “I will take Percy with me,” she says, “and show him his new home.”
“Great, Sheila, thank you,” Marcellus says. “Benj, can you show Lori to her place?”
“Of course,” he says, surprisingly eager. He grabs my bags before I can even lift a finger, and smiles at me. “I hope it’s okay if I show you around?”
“Of course,” I affirm anxiously.
I wait for him to say something, to reject me on the spot or to voice his disgust. Benjamin stays quiet, though, just looking at me with fearful eyes. Why does he look so scared? Neither of us says anything until the alpha eyes us curiously. “Something wrong?” he asks.
“Not at all,” Benjamin hurries to say. “Come, Lori, I will show you the way.”
He straightens his shoulders, looking more confident all of a sudden, while he gestures for me to follow him. We walk the path to my cottage in silence. Here and there, Benjamin points something out to me, or explains about one of the buildings and just how the pack runs in general.
“This seems to be such a relaxed place,” I say, more to myself than to him.
“It is.” He beams at me. “This pack has healed me so much. Just give it a chance and you will see how much of a great place this is.”
Once we reach my cottage, I notice it’s actually well-maintained. “I thought there would be a lot more work to do,” I say.
“Oh, no one here is going to live in a run-down place,” he explains. “I know you like to craft and restore things to your liking, but I made sure that the basics were done.”
I get a cozy feeling when I step inside my new home.
It’s small and tidy, with a layout that was clearly well thought through.
I can feel my fingers itch slightly when I begin to think of the many possibilities and how I could give this place my own touch.
There is a small shed next to the cottage, which seems is not being used, and I think I could turn it into a small garden house.
“Marcellus said you are great with handiwork,” Benjamin asks.
“It’s my passion,” I admit.
“That’s so cool,” he says. “And it’s definitely a skill we lack here. I think he is secretly hoping you will take on a lot of the projects here, once you know what you want to do.”
“Wait… I have a choice?”
“Of course.”
I turn to look at him, feeling how my stomach makes backflips when I look into his deep, brown eyes. There is a longing in me that I know all too well. The deep-rooted wish to be loved. “When are you going to do it?” I utter, not able to stop myself from sounding sad.
“Do what?” he asks, confused.
“Reject me.”
“I… I… am actually waiting for you to reject me,” he blurts out.
“Why would I do that?” I ask.
“Because I suck, and because of my terrible past,” he says.
“The same goes for me,” I say. “I made so many mistakes. My last mate rejected me.”
“The same happened to me,” he says quietly, a hint of pain in his voice. I am shocked. Who’d reject this sweet guy?
“I was the pack whore,” I hear myself say. I want him to know my whole past, so we can get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid.
He looks at me, instead of judgmental, he looks worried. “You were a sex worker?” he asks. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“No… I wasn’t,” I pause. “I wasn’t forced into anything. I was…“ My voice trails off.
“I don’t mind,” he says. “You have a past, and I have a past.”
“They keep telling me I’m a victim, but I don’t feel like one.”
“Same,” he says to my surprise. “I was the alpha’s son in my old pack. He was an abusive asshole, and I became a bully to please him. But that was on me. I could have done better; other people have it bad and make better decisions.”
His honesty shocks me. “And what now?” I ask.
“I am not going to reject you, ever!” he says, blushing slightly. “I actually can’t believe my luck to have a third-chance mate. Who the fuck gets three chances? I am so lucky. I will do everything to win you over!”
He sounds sincere. My last mate sounded honest, too, but then just dropped me like a hot potato.
He did have some red flags, though, things I ignored because I wanted so badly to belong and to be loved.
I don’t know Benjamin yet. I don’t know what kind of person he is, and if he is going to toy with me like the other guys.
But I can’t reject him either. He is my second chance. Either the goddess wants to completely break me or genuinely give me another chance.
“How about we get to know each other?” he offers. “You don’t need to make a decision immediately. Just, please give me a chance!”
I can’t believe he is the one begging me for a chance. It should be the other way round. “Promise me that the moment you realize you don’t want me, you will be honest,” I say quietly.
“Lori-“
“No, please, promise. I need to know you won’t play with me.”
“I promise not to play with you,” he says, looking at me through sad, worried eyes. “But your fears are unfounded. I have fucked up enough already. I won’t do it again.”
“What did you do exactly?” I ask. “You mentioned that I am your third chance.”
“I will tell you everything,” he says, smiling shyly. “If you promise to meet me again.”
“I guess I could need some help here with rebuilding the cottage,” I say, feeling a twinge of hope in my body. I am going to get fucked over again, I know it, but I just can’t help myself. “That is if you want to-“
“Yes!” he exclaims before I can even finish my sentence. “I have training now, but I will come later this afternoon, and we can make plans on how to renovate the place to your liking.”
As I watch him hurry off, I am not sure if I did the right thing. I just signed myself up for more heartbreak. Benji turns around and waves at me excitedly, his handsome face lights up with a smile when I wave back.
Goddess, what am I doing here?