Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Mia
Two days later
M y vision was unfocused as I stared out the office window, hearing the sound of hammers banging against wood and nails, of males laughing and calling out orders ringing in my head.
I ran my index finger over my bottom lip. Back and forth. Slowly. Softly. My mouth still tingled all these days later.
For the last two days, I hadn’t been able to concentrate. I couldn’t think about anything but the kiss I’d shared with Tucker. And with each passing day, the fire burning inside me grew hotter and bigger until it would be out of control, until I felt it licking away all my self-control and restraint where the mating was concerned.
And for the last two days, I’d felt him watching , sensed him close. But he kept his distance, that unspoken promise that he wouldn’t push me, because he understood I needed time to come to grips with all of this.
I hadn’t given fated mates much thought before that realization, because I’d known the likelihood that I’d find that one person who was meant to be mine was slim to none, rare within Black Wolf.
But then fate, destiny, whatever you wanted to call it, had given me the greatest gift all shifters desired.
A fated mate. Right here in my own pack.
I blinked to come back into focus and watched the construction going on across the community square. Pack members were finishing up the final coats of paint on the longhouse, and Emery, the resident shit starter but an incredible artist, was painting a beautiful mural on the side of the building, showcasing our wolfen history and ancestral lineage.
The office door opened suddenly, and I jumped in the seat, acting like I’d been caught doing something wrong. Hell, I even felt like I wore a guilty expression.
Dillon, the foreman for the longhouse construction, and my father stepped inside. Dillon held a rolled-up set of blueprints under his arm. He and my father were talking, but it all sounded muffled to me, because my thoughts were still elsewhere. On someone else.
On Tucker.
“We didn’t interrupt something, did we?” Dillon asked and stopped by the desk, looking down at me. At only thirty-five, he was one of the many unmated males in the pack.
“What?” I sat up straighter and cleared my throat. Dad and Dillon kept looking at me, and I noticed my father had this confused expression on his face.
“You okay, Mia?”
I nodded and smiled at my dad, although it seemed wholly forced, and when his scowl deepened, I knew he could tell.
Seconds passed of him just watching me, and thankfully Dillon was oblivious to the silent inquisition my father was giving me. And then when the Alpha opened his mouth, no doubt to press me on what was really the matter, the office door opened. I was once again saved from having to try to explain what was going on with me.
“Dillon, do you know where that extra lumber was put?” Daisy walked in with a clipboard in hand. As the resident stock taker, she made sure any and all supplies—whether food or otherwise—were always accounted for.
I looked away as Dillon and Daisy spoke, feigning interest in a bunch of paperwork on the desk, even though I still felt my father’s gaze on me. I gathered up my things, stood, and glanced at my dad. His eyes were locked on me, and he wore a knowing expression.
His silent response was loud and clear. You’re going to tell me what’s going on.
I swallowed and gave him a small—weak—smile, and I was just about to round the table and leave when Daisy and Dillon said their goodbyes and left, closing the door behind them and sealing me in with my father.
Even though he was my dad first and foremost, he was also the Alpha in his blood, and with that came this unspoken dominance and assertiveness. He could read everybody in the pack as easily as if they told him their deepest secrets. He was the strongest fighter. The biggest male. He knew the ins and outs of… everything that made up Black Wolf.
But what I found the scariest with him was the fact that he still saw me as his little girl, despite that I was a grown woman now, had my own life, and was now mated.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” He leaned against the back wall and crossed his big arms over his broad chest, the muscles under his dark T-shirt bunching and flexing beneath the thin material.
I could see his hands were dirty, as was his shirt and jeans, from working on the property all day. And although he wore a hard expression, there was this softness in his eyes as he looked at me.
“Mia, you’ve been acting strange since…” He trailed off as he glanced at the floor, his dark eyebrows pulling down low as he was clearly in deep thought. And when he slowly lifted his head and our eyes locked, I knew he knew . “You’ve been acting strange since you turned nineteen,” he whispered.
I swallowed harshly, my throat suddenly tight, dry. And as I said nothing, just stared at him, I could see the realization on his face. He instantly straightened from the wall, let his arms unfold and hang down to the sides, and took a slow step toward me. This low, deadly rumble left him, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me but at the situation that had just unfolded before him.
“D-Dad…” I didn’t know how to say it, yet it would’ve been the easiest words I could utter. The words were right at the tip of my tongue, so easily uttered, but I was worried about his reaction.
Would he demand the name of the male I was mated to?
Would he be overprotective and try to keep me from Tucker?
Or maybe—just maybe—he’d accept all of this with open arms and a smile on his sometimes harsh face.
Maybe he’d be so grateful that his daughter had been given the greatest gift any shifter could get. Being mated.
“Who is the bastard?” His voice held such a deep, menacing tone that I felt my eyes widen.
“Dad?”
He closed his eyes, and I saw the muscles under his cheeks clench as he ground his teeth. His nostrils flared slightly as he inhaled. And when he opened his eyes again, I saw a flash of his inner wolf pushing through.
“Yes, I found my mate. In Black Wolf.” I had my fingers curled inward, my nails digging into my palms hard enough I felt the prick of pain. “It’s a gift, Dad. You know this,” I whispered. I hated saying that last part, because I knew it would only bring up memories of my mother and his own mating.
“You found your mate.” He didn’t phrase it like a question, but his tone was stoic, an unemotional response.
“I did,” I said softly, not trusting how he acted right now. I knew better than to assume he was actually okay with this.
“Who is it, Mia?” His voice was still deceptively calm, inquisitive even. He gave me a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Who did you connect with?”
It was my turn to lower my brows in confusion. “I just found out who my mate was. Nothing has been really talked about concerning it. Nothing has been settled.” I didn’t know why I bothered saying any of that, but I wanted him to know I wasn’t just rushing into this because of a chemical, hormonal connection that mates had when they found their other half. “I just found out a couple of days ago.” I kept talking, my words running together.
And still, he stayed silent, watchful.
“I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it all, to come to terms with it.” I licked my suddenly dry lips and looked out the big picture window in the cabin, staring at the longhouse, seeing all the bodies moving back and forth. And then I saw a flash of an especially large male, his short, dark-blond hair disheveled in the sexiest way.
It was the low rumble next to me that had my pulse jumping and my head jerking in the direction of my father. He was looking out the window as well, his lips peeled back, his teeth bared, and his canine lengthening.
“You’re only nineteen,” he murmured slowly, almost as if to himself.
“That’s when we all come of age and the fated mates connection can kick in.” My voice was low, because I knew if it was anyone but me, he wouldn't have said anything about my age. I was an adult, not just as a shifter, but also in the human world.
“You found your mate in my Beta.” There was this harshness to my father’s tone, and I couldn’t tell if it was emotions kicking in, or if he was actually pissed about this.
Because although my father and Tucker were close, so close that Tucker was his second-in-command, his right-hand man, that didn’t mean anything to an overprotective father or a fated mate who thought someone would keep his female away.
My father slowly looked at me, then his nostrils flared once more, as if he were trying to grapple with his control. “Did he touch you?”
I shook my head right away. “No. I told you I have to wrap my head around all this. He’s respected my wishes to keep his distance until I’m ready.” There was no way I was telling him about the kiss. No way I was telling him about the intense desire I felt for Tucker with just a look. It was obvious that wouldn’t end well.
His jaw clenched again, and he nodded slowly, looking at the longhouse once more through the window. He cleared his throat, and I felt some of the tension leave him. My father ran a hand over the back of his neck and said, “There’s going to be a celebration tonight at the longhouse. Now that it’s fully constructed, the council thinks it’ll be good for the community to get together.”
Well… the conversation had taken a complete one-eighty. “Okay,” I said low, dragging that one word out.
With one more lingering look in my direction, my father turned and left, exiting the cabin and shutting the door behind him. I sagged, my hands flat on the desk, my breathing coming in and out of me quickly as I felt the rest of the tension leave the room.
I glanced over my shoulder and out the window, watching the Alpha heading down the path that ran parallel with the longhouse. I could see Tucker with a few of the other pack members, and for a second, my heart stalled, thinking my father would go right up to his Beta and start a fight. And although my dad’s steps faltered before he stilled momentarily, his gaze trained right on Tucker, he picked up his pace and started moving away from my mate.
A fight was averted at the moment, but I knew in my heart that would be short-lived. If I knew anything about our pack and the males within it, it was that my father and Tucker were two of the most stubborn, dominating, and aggressive males in the community.
And neither would back down if challenged.