Chapter 6 - Lucas
I took a long swig of my coffee and closed my eyes, letting my shoulders relax. I felt tense, and I knew it was because of yesterday. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't think about the aftermath. I wasn't taking back what I offered, but I wasn't sure how this was all going to work.
I could hear the guys coming up the stairs, and I looked at the clock, seeing it was eight. I hadn't realized the time went by that quickly.
"Morning, Lucas." Ayden was the first up the stairs, stretching his arms out as he came up. Behind him was Owen, who looked tired.
"Morning," I said, giving them a nod as I took another sip of my coffee.
Owen rubbed his eyes. "Man, I didn't sleep worth shit last night."
I raised an eyebrow when Owen threw himself into a chair, rubbing at his head. Ayden shook his head. "How was last night?" Ayden asked, walking towards the coffee maker.
"It was fine, no sign of anyone." I had worked overnight patrolling the border again. I enjoyed the silence rather than being cooped up inside the fire station every day. Tensions were high in the clan, and I liked to distance myself from it when I could.
"Good," Ayden said. "Who's working it tonight?"
Owen waved his hand, and I couldn't help but smirk. "You might want a nap before."
Owen glared at me and sighed. "Ivy is sick. She came crawling into bed with us last night, so neither of us got any sleep."
"Keep whatever you have in your own household," Ayden said. "I don't need it in my house."
"Maybe instead of being mean to me, my boss would offer me a coffee and some advice." Owen snapped back.
I snorted as Ayden slid him a mug of coffee. "Take a nap and keep yourself away from me."
I smirked as Owen rolled his eyes, taking a long sip of his coffee. "Speaking of women," Owen looked at me. "What was yesterday?"
I had been waiting for the questions. Why was I at the house? Who was the woman? Why were we talking, and how did I know her?
"That was Gina."
"We got that," Ayden said. "But why were you with her? I thought you weren't dating."
I tried to think of how to explain it simply, but it wasn't simple. The guys knew I had been looking for my mate, but they didn't know I was also trying to avoid her.
"She's my mate," I said.
Ayden and Owen's eyebrows went up, and they looked shocked. "Damn, about time. You've only gone through half the pack to find her."
I scowled. "That's not true."
"Oh, it is," Owen said with a smirk. "But she isn't from here, is she?"
"She's from my hometown. She's actually the sister of an old friend."
"Wow, you must be excited."
I took another sip of my coffee. "I knew years ago. I was hoping I would be lucky to have found someone else."
"Wait," Owen shook his head, confused. “You said you were still looking for your mate. That's why you've been dating, but you knew she was your mate? I don't understand."
"Gina is the weakest wolf in our pack," I state. "I rejected her years ago. I have been hoping my wolf would just accept another woman, but he won't."
Ayden looked confused. "I didn't know you cared about statues that much."
I shrugged. "Everyone wants their offspring to be the strongest. Only the strong survive." It was a simple sentence that I'd heard over a thousand times.
Owen frowned. "Yeah, but you should know not all strength comes from muscle."
"And what if she is more of a liability than a blessing?" I asked. "I rejected her because she was small and weak."
Ayden shook his head. "You know you can't rationally think about relationships like that, Lucas. Mates and bonds don't come from the mind. They come from emotions, which brings up another question. If you aren't sure she's a blessing, why did you agree to marry her?"
Owen's eyes widened. "You what?"
"Yeah, you what?" We all turned to see Miles and Cayden coming up the stairs. I sighed, not in the mood to be bombarded with questions.
"It's fake," I grumble. “It's only on paperwork so she can get the house. Her family will say she couldn't unless she was married."
"Hold up," Mile said, dropping his bags on the ground. "You're telling me, Mr. cold-too-good-for-everyone is getting married? Did you drug her?"
I narrowed my eyes on Miles. "Hey, pretty boy, butt out."
"Children," Ayden grumbled. "Stop. I get enough bickering at my house. I don't need it here." Ayden turned to me. "What do you mean fake?"
I shrugged. "She needs to be married to get the house, so I agreed. It's only legal on paper. The rest is fake."
Cayden even looked stunned and shook his head. "You just agreed? Like that?"
"I'm going to need more information on this," Owen said, placing his hands down. "I can see anyone else agreeing, but you…you calculate everything and just agreed like that? Did you think of the aftermath? Did you think of what could happen during all this? And the fact she's your mate, doesn't that muddy the water?"
I could hear heels clicking on the floor, and my eyes flicked away from them towards the stairs. Gina was walking up to them, and my heart skipped a beat.
Gina's hair fell freely today and shone under the fire station lights. A few braided strands fell freely on each side. She was wearing jeans that hugged her body and a knitted shirt that hung a little low, showing her breasts. She was still breathtaking.
My wolf growled with need, and I bit hard on my cheek. My mind went foggy seeing her, throwing all rational thinking out the window.
Gina paused, spotting us, and swallowed nervously. I knew why. She never had a great relationship with our pack, and unlike Ayden, they ruled with a bloody iron fist.
"You're early," I said, pushing off the counter. "I wasn't expecting you until noon."
She looked at everyone before her eyes fell back to me. She rubbed her hands together nervously. "I got everything else that I needed done."
I knew that everyone had spoken with her the other day, but introductions were never really made. "This is Cayden and Miles. That's Owen and Ayden."
Everyone waved at her, and she smiled, clearly uncomfortable. Ayden smiled back, "Have you gone to the house yet? It's clear to go inside."
She shook her head. "I haven't. I was planning a stop today."
I turned, placed my mug into the sink, and grabbed my jacket. "Well, since I'm done and off shift anyway, we can head out," I said.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and we headed down the stairs. I took Gina to the cafe just down the block. It was quite busy for the morning, so we took a booth in the back corner.
She opened her purse and started to lay down paperwork. My eyebrows went up. "What's all that?"
She swallowed. "Well, we will need to plan the wedding. Or at least try to make something happen for Chris to believe this. And after thinking things over, I would like to protect my finances."
I snorted. "Your finances?"
She looked at me dead in the face, and my smirk quickly sank away. I sighed. "Gina, I don't want your money."
"You don't know how much I have."
"And you don't know how much I have," I countered. "My family has money, too."
She slides me a paper. "Can you please just sign this?"
"What is it?"
"A prenup."
"And the romance begins," I said as I grabbed the pen and quickly signed my name.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to question me about it? Argue with me?"
I sighed. "If a prenup makes you more comfortable, then so be it."
She looked stunned for a moment before she shook her head and grabbed some more papers. "This is some other paperwork they will want filling out. Knowing Chris, he will likely have all this, so I figured we could get it done ahead."
I didn't fight her. I just signed where she said.
After that, she looked at the paper as the waiter came up. "Can I get you guys started with some drinks?"
"Coffee," I said.
Gina scowled. "You just had coffee."
I scowled. "Yeah, and I need more."
Gina rolled her eyes. "Water for me." She then looked at me as the waiter walked away. "You're still as short-tempered as ever."
I frowned at her. "I am not."
She snorted, looking at the menu. "He said gruffly."
I sighed. "I worked overnight. I spent the day dealing with you yesterday and then stayed up all night doing border patrol, so I'm tired."
She looked up from the menu. "Then why did you ask me to meet you at the fire station today? You could have gone home and gone to bed."
"Because I knew you’d want to." She was tired and scared last night, and I couldn't sleep when I got home after everything.
The waiter came back with my coffee and her water. We ordered, and Gina placed her hands together as she looked around. I took in her soft blue eyes and the way she soaked in her surroundings.
"How did we meet?" I asked.
She looked confused. "Excuse me?"
"You said we needed to plan our story, so how did we meet?"
She made a face and stared at her water. "Well, it has to be a good story. Otherwise, Chris will sniff the bullshit right out of it."
"Still a prick?" I asked, and she smirked, nodding her head. I grunted and looked around the cafe. I spotted an older couple having lunch and talking along with a younger couple, clearly unable to keep their hands off each other.
"We ran into each other in town one day and decided to chat online, and it grew from there."
I shook my head. "No."
"What do you mean no?"
"That's not me."
"Then what do you want to say happened?" she countered.
"I stopped fighting the urge to be with you."
She looked stunned.
"No one will believe we ran into each other and caught up. People will believe you're my mate and ignore it because you were…" I didn't finish the sentence.
She scowled, "the weak link?"
"That," I said.
"So, they will pity you?"
That possibility existed, but it was the only truthful thing we could put forward. I knew Chris, and Chris wouldn't believe me as the type of person to email and chat with a woman. If I was interested in someone, I slept with them. It was just that simple.
"You can say whatever you want, but that should be the base of it."
She sighed. "Fine. I can figure out the other details, but Chris will be coming down, so whatever I say, you have to go with. No arguing. I already called a few places where we can have a small ceremony."
The waiter came back with our food. Gina continued to explain things, and after we ate, we headed out.
"I can drop you off. Where are you headed?"
"To the house," she said simply.
I scowled. "What for?"
"To live."
I frowned at her. I knew that Ayden said it was good, but he didn't mean to live in. He meant to enter. She couldn't live there until the place had been cleaned from the fire, which could take time.
"You can’t live there, Gina. It needs to be cleaned and checked before you sleep there."
She shrugged. "It's fine."
"It's not," I grumbled. "Just stay in my spare bedroom."
Her eyebrows went up, and she looked shocked. She quickly shook her head. "No, that's…"
"That's what?"
"That's…I can't intrude in your space."
I crossed my arms. "Weren't you just saying we needed to act the part? Pretty sure a married couple stays in the same house."
"They also kiss and make love, which we will not be doing," she added.
I rolled my eyes. "Gina, just use my room. I don't use it. You need a space, and I'm not letting you stay at your house until it's cleared."
She chewed on her cheek and sighed. "You're sure it's fine?"
I nodded. Besides, if Chris was coming, he would be looking for signs of a happy couple. Her stuff being at my place was a good idea, and we had a lot of other things to figure out and not a lot of time to do it.