Chapter Thirteen
Rac-Coon’t Be Serious
Miles
It’s been a little over a week since I moved to Pumpkinridge and while it’s been a completely different world from Jasper, it’s starting to finally feel like home. The fresh smell of coffee is wafting through the air along with the damp moss smell from the forest right outside my window.
I was glad to see that log cabins seem to be a pretty universal thing for wolf shifters and that they provided guest cabins to those looking to become part of the pack. The Alpha, Adren Wolfe, is drastically different from Silas, the Alpha of Rocky Mountain Pack.
While Silas is young, caring, and often known for his grumpy demeanor, Adren is something else entirely.
Where Silas would growl and huff, Adren simply watches, and somehow the quiet presence carries more weight than raised voices ever could.
The scars across his face only deepen his intensity.
He’s clearly someone who has survived, endured, and doesn’t need to prove himself to anyone.
It’s clear from the few times that I’ve been around the pack since being here that he is deeply respected.
The younger wolves bow their heads as he passes, not from fear, but in reverence.
Something I think Silas will eventually experience as he grows into his role.
When we walked into the healers den, the room quieted when he spoke, even the injured silent as they all devoured his words.
Adren isn’t only respected within his pack, even the community respects him. I’ve seen him walking through town and how others bow their heads to him. Something generally only given as a show of respect to elders, but yet they extend it to him.
Adren is also probably old enough to be both mine and Silas's father, which definitely gives him an advantage over Silas. Fair. His mate, Elmira, is a quiet, graceful beauty who rarely speaks and often just smiles at the young pups running around. That is also a drastic difference from Nova, Silas’s mate.
Growing up I loved Jasper, still do, but it never quite felt like home. I mean, it was home, in the sense that it was the only thing that I knew and couldn’t imagine a life outside of it. There are still moments, even now, that I miss the slow, peaceful life of it.
None of the women there were ever appealing, even when I was a young teen running high on testosterone and with a puffed-out chest. Nope, none of them ever even sparked a small flicker of desire.
I can’t put my finger on it, call it intuition or whatever, but I always felt this pull to the East Coast.
I can’t tell you how many nights I would skim through photos of places along the East Coast, hoping that one of them would just call to me.
It wasn’t until I was skimming through photos of Vermont that I came across this folklore about a hidden town full of all things that go bump in the night, that my heart raced and I just knew—this is it. It has to be.
It took an act of the Moon Goddess to convince my mom to let me go.
My dad, he wasn’t exactly for the idea, but he understood the desire to find my mate.
After talking with Silas and Nova, they both gave me the blessing to find her and went so far as to aid my search in whether the folklore was true.
It took the better part of a year before I finally could pin down a general location.
From there, Silas tracked down the listed Alpha of the pack.
I hadn’t known this before, but apparently all Alphas answer to the Alpha Concave–a council older than any living wolf–and every pack change has to go through them.
Silas handled the formalities, reached out to Adren, and that’s how I was granted permission to come.
I’m mid sip of my coffee when my phone vibrates. Setting the cup down, I pick up the phone to see my mother’s chosen photo. She swore before I left I would forget what she looked like, so she snapped a photo with me and made it her contact photo.
Swiping the answer button, her actual face fills the screen with her bright smile everyone says I got from her, not that I’m complaining.
My mother is a beautiful woman with long, black soft waves, and a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks.
Her vivid green eyes are in stark contrast to her pale skin, but they are my favorite feature of hers.
“Awe there’s my handsome boy.” She beams with pride.
“Hi Momma.”
She zooms in closer on the screen, scanning me as if she can read everything that’s happened in the last week just from my face alone.
“How’s Pumpkinridge treating you? How different is it from Jasper? Are there different shifters there too or just wolves? Is that pink hair?! What is the town…”
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. One question at a time,” I say with a chuckle.
“Sorry, you know it’s been hard. I never imagined that my one and only baby would not only leave the den, but move to the other side of the country. You can’t fault me for worrying. It already seems more than just your address has changed.”
With a gentle shake of my head, a soft smile on my face, I just take a moment to sit with her and her love. She’s the reason I love the way I do, with adoration, cherishment, and undying devotion. My mother loves with a fierceness that I only endeavor to give to my mate.
“I would never dream of faulting you. As for the nine million questions…” She opens her mouth to debate my over-exaggeration, but I only smile at her and her shoulders drop. She knows I’m teasing her.
“Pumpkinridge has been such a drastic difference from Jasper. I’ve been adjusting pretty well. Did you know that there are ghosts that hang out here as if they are still citizens of the town? Imagine if Uncle Earl was still lingering around?”
We both shudder at the mere thought. He was loud, obnoxious, and loved the bottle. So yeah, I’m glad it’s only a thing here…I think.
“As for shifters, wolves aren’t the only ones here. There are witches, vampires, faeries, and a few odds and ends creatures that have called this place home.”
“That’s crazy! I didn’t even know those were all real. I mean, I guess if we exist, they certainly can too.”
“Yeah, I’ve not come across any of the vampires yet, but from what Adren said, I won’t unless I’m out late at night. Something he didn’t recommend attempting.”
Her eyes bulge. I can’t help but chuckle.
She sits quietly, watching me in that motherly way, and I already know what’s coming.
“Have you found her yet…you know, the one that drew you to that town?”
I feel my smile falter a bit. Yeah, I’ve found her alright, but I think the Goddess might have gotten it wrong. I can’t tell Momma that. She will only worry I made the wrong decision coming here. But before I can say a word…
“She didn’t get it wrong, Miles. Even though it feels like the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced, she never gets it wrong. Everything happens at the exact moment and in the way it’s meant to happen. Not a second more. Trust in her guidance; she’ll never lead you astray.”
“But, Momma…”
“There are no buts about it. Each person has challenges they must face in order to achieve their ultimate goal. For some, it may seem small compared to others, but if she’s truly worth the wait, then stay true to yourself. Tell me about her.”
“Well, first off, she’s a witch.” My mother gasps before she claps giddily.
“Second, she has to be the most stubborn person I’ve ever met in my life.
She hexes me almost daily, but I look at them as her flirting.
Probably,” I scratch the back of my neck as I feel the blush spread across my face, “not the best thing or the sanest. But to me, if she is sending a hex my way, then I’m doing something right.
She’s stunningly beautiful, like you. Long black hair that curls down to her waist. She always has a mischievous glint in her eyes.
What I would give to know what she’s thinking.
There are at least five walls between me and that beautiful mind of hers. ”
My mom has a dreamy look on her face. As if she is reliving her own time meeting Dad. “It’s not like your story, nothing even close.” I know the story by heart, something my mom has repeated countless times over the years to me.
“Shake that dreamy look from your face.” I chuckle. “Our story is nothing like yours and Dad’s. She doesn’t even know that we are fated mates, at least I don’t think that she does.”
Her head whips back as if I slapped her. “You haven’t told her she’s your mate? The entire reason you traveled across the country to a new town, to be with her?”
A crow caws from my windowsill. I forgot I left the window open; he winks before he flies off the sill and off to spread that nugget to the entire town. I drop my head down into my hands. My mom looks around, confusion written all over her face.
“No, I haven’t told her. She isn’t exactly warming up to me, and I’m just getting her to even allow me around her for more than a few moments. So, no, I haven’t mentioned it or that she’s the entire reason I’m here.”
“Oh, my sweet boy, no wonder you look so glum. I’m sure you were expecting the moment of her seeing you and the bond snapping into place. It won’t be long until you get that. I have no doubt.”
Sir Hops-A-Lot makes his presence known, deciding now is a great time to wake up from his nap at the perch at the end of my bed. I’ve actually grown to enjoy his company, even if he only talks in Toadanese and judges me for everything I do.
My mom’s eyes flick between him and me as if I might not see him sitting here. He just sits there staring back at her, daring her to say something about the bow tie I finally wrapped around his neck.
“Oh Momma, meet Sir Hops-A-Lot, my…uh…familiar.”
“Your what?”
“Familiar. It’s a sort of magical best friend. Except I can’t understand what he’s saying. I think we’ve come up with a response system, at least I hope that’s what is happening.”
She slowly nods her head, as if she can’t quite wrap her head around it.