Chapter Eight
LANE
"I am not insane," I insist to Alexis.
Tired? Yes. So gloriously sore that I can hardly walk? Yes. But not crazy.
"Three days ago you were talking about what a dill-hole this guy is, and now he might be your fated mate?" I can hear the exasperation lacing every word.
"I said might. I mean, it's early days, but yes, he could be my fated mate.
He says I am." I'm standing outside of Jesse's sprawling abode, for the first time since Wednesday when I arrived.
It's Saturday. If I have any more mind-blowing sex or delicious food hand-fed to me by the world's sexiest Alpha, I will die.
I need a brief pleasure break so I can re-set. And do it all over again.
"They must have drugged you or something. Or cast a spell. I've heard rumors about shifters being able to cast spells."
"Oh, come on," I laugh. "I've heard a rumor that the moon is made of green cheese."
"Be serious here. I am very worried about you."
Across the broad, tree-lined street, Jeremiah stalks down the sidewalk and flashes a glare at me. I wave at him and smile in a friendly way. He scowls and looks away in disgust.
Oh well. Can't win them all.
"Alexis, I love you like a sister, but you're being way too overprotective right now."
"Which is what best friends do. Who had my back when I was in high school and everyone made fun of me for wearing thrift shop clothes and cutting my own hair?"
"Me, of course. I smacked a few beyotches upside the head. Fun times, fun times."
"And now I have your back. Just come home for a few days and I'll believe that you're okay. Otherwise I have to assume that you're either being threatened or you've been brainwashed somehow."
"I can't afford to come home, and do not offer to buy me a ticket." Her new job at the newspaper doesn't pay that well.
"I wasn't going to," she huffs.
"Yes you were."
"Fine. Yes I was, and I am dead serious that you need to get away from those shifters. Wait, how do I even know this is Lane I'm talking to? Can shifters mimic voices? I bet they can. Lane would never talk like that. Oh my God. Release my friend!"
"Hey, beautiful!" Jesse calls out from behind me. I turn to look at him and my heart speeds up at the sight of him. My God, the way that his jeans mold to his thighs should be illegal. The wind is ruffling his hair and now I'm actually jealous of a breeze.
"Alexis, I will call you tomorrow. You know it's me talking to you right now.
You have a mole on your right shoulder that's shaped like a heart.
Would a shapeshifting mimic know that? No, they would not.
Step off the crazy train, woman." I hang up my phone and turn it off because I know she's just going to call me right back.
Jesse strides up to me and throws his burly arm around my shoulder. Across the street from us, a couple waves at us and he waves back.
They head across the street towards us.
They're both young—mid-twenties, maybe—and the kind of couple that just glows with easy happiness.
The woman has a tumble of warm chestnut curls and a dusting of flour on her jeans like she's always baking.
Her smile is instant and bright, the kind that lands on you like sunshine and makes you feel like you've already been friends for years.
Her mate stands slightly behind her, tall and broad-shouldered, with the relaxed posture of a man who could lift a truck if he needed to but would much rather carry extra grocery bags for little old ladies.
He's got short, sandy-brown hair, laugh lines already forming at the corners of his eyes, and the proud look of a guy who's wildly in love and very aware he married up.
When they reach us, they both beam—no hesitation, no suspicion, just open warmth. The woman squeezes my hand like we've been in each other's lives forever, and her mate gives Jesse a friendly shoulder bump before turning that same easy affection on me.
They radiate home.
"Alpha," the man says, inclining his head respectfully, and exposing his throat just the teeniest bit. A show of submission and pack hierarchy.
Then he turns his attention to me. "Hi, I'm Oliver, and this is my better half, Carmel." He grins and thrusts out his hand and I shake it. When he lets go and steps back, Carmel throws her arms around me and hugs me.
"Sorry, I'm a hugger!" she cries out happily. "I'm so excited to meet our Alpha's mate. When is the mating ceremony, by the way?"
The what, now?
"Now, Carmel," Oliver laughs. "Give her a minute to catch her breath."
"Do you like to bake?" she asks eagerly. "I'm looking for a baking buddy."
"Love it," I assure her, an odd swirl of emotion whirling in my stomach.
"I just knew you would. Hey, listen, we're on our way over to my mother's house to help fix her chicken coop, but I would love to have you both over to our house for tea and cookies later.
I'm a little bit of a garden witch. Not super powerful," she makes a rueful face, "but my family's teas make people feel happy.
Oh, and they're baby-safe!" she pats her stomach and I see there's a tiny bump there.
"Maybe we'll even have our babies really close together!
They'll be besties. I know it. Bye!" And she practically skips as they head off down the sidewalk.
Babies.
Mating ceremony.
The glow of contentment fades. My stomach quivers. We're public now. We're publicly a couple, here in the place where I will live and work.
I glance at Jesse, expecting to see some consternation or at least amusement. Instead, he's nodding, with a serious look on his face.
"We need to start planning the mating ceremony," Jesse says. "When the Alpha takes a mate, there's a feast day and all local packs are invited, and then after the feast, he throws her over his shoulder and carries her back to his home where they spend one uninterrupted week together."
Ancient fears rear up in me. I take a careful step away from him.
"We met a few days ago," I point out, as we walk towards the administrative building. His mother is waiting there for me to fill out some paperwork. "Can this wait?"
Jesse falls in step beside me. He shakes his head as we walk.
"No, because we need that week to ourselves and school starts in two weeks, and we need time to send out the invitations.
There's a baking clan in our pack, and they own the bakery in town, Wildflour Weddings and More.
The feast will be held on pack lands, in our ancestral grove. "
Images flicker behind my eyes, sad little video clips of me standing with a garbage bag full of clothes waiting for the social worker to pick me up and haul me off to some other house full of unwanted children.
This is too good. It can't last. Get out now.
We walk in silence. The sun pours down on us, blessing us with golden warmth. Every person who's waving excitedly at us, smiling at us, raises my panic level.
"What?" Jesse says, as the administration building looms up ahead. We turn on the sidewalk and meander along the walkway. His mother is standing in the doorway, and she waves at us. "I can feel your fear. What are you afraid of? I'll kill anyone who looks at you wrong. You're safe with me, always."
Tears fill my eyes. These are the words I've needed to hear my whole life, without even knowing it, and now that I'm hearing them, I'm afraid that this will vanish tomorrow. He'll wake up realizing that I'm unlovable, just like every family who ever took me in for the paycheck.
"Are you afraid of Jeremiah?" he asks. "I am speaking to the council tonight. I'll explain to them about how this is a great step forward for human-shifter relations. You'll be one of the first humans who's ever moved onto pack lands. They'll love it, I promise you."
"It's too soon," I blurt out. "I just need a little time. That's all."
"Time for what?" he looks baffled. "You don't think I can protect you?"
"I know you can protect me."
"Then why are you afraid?" There's an edge of hurt and anger to his voice.
"We just met a few days ago! I just need a little time to get used to this."
"But you're my fated mate!" Now he's growling at me. He's already mad at me and we barely even know each other.
Emotions well up inside me. "You just don't understand! This isn't how things work in the human world!" I cry out.
As I run down the hall, panic explodes inside me and I rush past his mother into the building. My throat swells with fear and hot tears sting my eyes.
Have I just ruined everything?