Chapter 9
CICELY
I slip into his fancy silver trailer and take a closer look at the pile of books, at his shaving and hygiene stuff, at the snacks.
There aren’t personal touches. It’s decorated as it came from whatever factory it was built in.
The dishes are a combination of ordinary unbreakable ones with no personality and garage sale or thrift store type mismatched stuff that wasn’t bought because it was cute or good quality.
I desperately root through everything. I know he’ll try to push me away, so I guess I’m desperate to glean any information I can, so I’m equipped to fight back. But of course there’s nothing here that wasn’t here the last time I looked.
This time I also search his truck and find a new bed-in-a-bag set with two new pillows, so I’ve made the bed and put away the basic supplies that came from my store. It’s a good thing Dad’s mate and my awesome new stepsisters are working on a care package.
I’m pushing away the urge to daydream about the fun we could have with this Airstream.
The places we could go. National parks around the country.
Places with seemingly endless forests where we could shift and explore together.
Beaches where we can fuck in the sand, watching the sunset.
It’s a fantasy I could’ve felt might become reality if his wolf were a typical wolf.
I don’t know much, but based on what I do know, it sounds like that’s a pipedream.
Still, I’m not disappointed in the mate Fate gave me.
I’m disappointed with the way he obviously feels.
Because it’s clear he’s lived alone out of fear.
A wolf shifter shouldn’t fear his or her wolf.
Our wolves protect us. An alpha should fear nothing but potential harm coming to those they love.
But really, that’s what I’m pretty sure Jared fears.
Exactly that, which is why he lives alone.
A car pulls up, and I flick the blinds open to see Ivy’s purple car.
I step out and both Ivy and Amie’s scents hit me. Their scents along with the remnants of Tyson and of Mason. Because these women smell like their men and both of them smell good. All our council alphas do. I should smell like my mate.
“We probably brought too much, and Mom forgot you were dealing with a camper fridge, so I brought an extra cooler and some ice,” Amie says, approaching. She puts her arms around me. “Congrats, babe.”
I snicker. “Yeah. Gee, thanks.”
“It’ll be okay,” Amie assures.
“Any updates?” Ivy asks, giving me a hug, too.
“He just woke up and promptly asked me to leave,” I tell them. “Not a lot like your mating stories so far, huh?”
They both shoot me looks of empathy.
Ivy opens her mouth about to speak and, I’m sure, offer me some sweet peptalk words, but I turn my head, catching the scents of Tyson and Mase.
“Guess who’s here?” I say.
“Uh oh,” Amie says, eyes pointed at the giant white wolf approaching. And here comes the giant black one, too.
They shift and both look tweaked.
“Amelia,” Mase growls. “What the fuck?”
Tyson walks over and scoops Ivy up into his arms, making her gasp. They make eye contact before he nuzzles her throat and whispers something in her ear.
Amie asks, “What the fuck what?”
“I told you we’d deliver the supplies. That it isn’t safe for you two to be here,” Mase tells her.
“We wouldn’t have gotten out of the car if it didn’t seem safe,” Amie argues. “Cicely came out and welcomed us, so…”
Mase gives Tyson a look.
Tyson rolls his eyes.
“Ty’s not mad,” Amie throws her hand out gesturing to him.
Tyson says, “I haven’t spoken to Ivy since all this happened, so she didn’t disobey a direct order from her mate like you did.”
“A direct order?” Amie repeats, eyebrows rising.
Tyson goes on, “But Mason spoke to you, and Ivy is with you, so she should also know better.”
Ivy smirks. Tyson raises his eyebrows at her expression.
“We’re fine, Ty,” Ivy says, rubbing his shoulder.
Amie looks affronted.
“Did your sister tell you how dangerous this could be?” Tyson asks her.
She wrinkles her nose. “Kinda sorta? Okay, yeah.”
Tyson’s gaze darkens and he takes a playful nip at her throat.
“If I didn’t make it clear,” Mase says, “This situation is way too volatile. We don’t know yet if the restraints will hold him so don’t show up here again. Cicely wouldn’t even be here if we could convince her to stay away.”
“Cicely would’ve alerted us if we weren’t safe to exit the car and look, we’re right beside the car so if anything went screwy, we could’ve jumped straight back in and driven off,” Amie asserts.
He stares at her.
She stares back.
He puts his hand on her tummy and caresses it. She’s not showing yet but he’s making a pretty poignant point.
Her expression changes and she softly says, “You’re heard, Doggo.”
Checkmate for Mase.
He kisses her neck and turns to me. “What’s happening with him now?”
I shake off a mini stupor at the sweet exchange. Am I going to have that?
Folks peg me as an alpha female tomboy, and it’s kind of true, but I’m also a girlie girl.
One look inside my apartment and it’s pretty obvious I’m the tomboyest girlie girl around.
I’m active, outgoing, and unafraid to speak my mind.
I can drink many betas in our pack under the table and beat plenty of beta and alpha asses at poker and bowling.
I’m almost always the first female chosen on unisex teams when we play pack sports.
But I also like things to be pretty and tidy and I’m a sucker for sappy love stories.
I tell him, “He came to and promptly asked me to leave. I’m giving him a minute.”
Linc pulls up in his Bronco and gets out, carrying a duffle bag. “Catch me up?” he requests.
I repeat what I just said, and the three of them decide to go in to talk to Jared. Amie offers to check his wounds and administer first aid. Mase looks at her like she’s insane.
“Get in the car, Amelia,” he says.
“What can I say? I’m a nurse. I forgot.”
He swats her butt.
Amie stares at her mate who’s giving her a hot, dark alpha look, so she huffs and gets back into the car, but she’s not wilting whatsoever.
I love that girl. She and I are cut from the same cloth, minus the shifter part.
The three males go into the bunker while I lean against the car, giving Amie and Ivy the whole story of my claiming so far. Amie gets tears in her eyes and blames her pregnancy hormones.
“Call or text if you need anything,” Ivy offers and starts her car.
“Wait,” I halt them. “So wrapped up I almost forgot to ask… what’s up with Bailey?”
“What do you mean?” Amie asks.
“She’s not in town and I saw them in a little huddle a while ago and suspect the two things are connected. My father was evasive about Bailey but said she followed Jase out of town. Beyond that, I think there’s something up.”
Amie gasps. “Followed him?”
“I overheard Ty on the phone,” Ivy admits, lowering her voice. “So, I asked a couple questions and all I’ve got so far is she followed Jase out of town when he left to meet up with Dani to take that dangerous witch’s wand to Romania.”
“She what?” Amie asks. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Ivy shrugs. “We were busy cooking with Mom and talking about Cicely and this situation, then we rushed to her place to get her bag packed and… there’s so much goin’ on I didn’t get to it.”
“What else do we know?” Amie demands to know, eyes bouncing between us.
“That’s why I’m asking you, sister. I know nothing. Call her!”
Amie pulls out her phone and calls on speaker. It goes straight to voicemail.
“Maybe she texted me,” I muse. “I left my phone at home. Did you pack it in my bag?”
“No,” Ivy says, “Didn’t know you didn’t have it with you. Want me to go pick it up for you?”
“Could you? Is that a huge pain?”
“Absolutely no problem. Where is it?”
“There’s a charging pad on my kitchen counter. It’s either there or in the dock on my nightstand. Or… on my couch somewhere. Or… in the bathroom. Better bring me a cord, too.”
“Too bad Bailey’s not here. She’d sniff it out,” Ivy says, smiling.
“Sniff out a phone?” Amie checks.
“Yep,” Ivy responds.
“Bailey might not shift but she’s got a nose that’d rival most alphas,” I say, and it’s true.
My nose is okay, but it’s not like I can tell who’s around until they’re close.
I also don’t remember scents the way Bailey does.
She’ll know when she enters a room who else has been there within the last few hours.
“She sniffed out my car keys when Ty hid them in a cereal box the night… you know… before you came here.”
“Ah,” Amie nods.
I can’t pick up traces of scents on objects the way Bailey can. She might not sniff out inanimate objects by themselves, but if someone has touched them, she often does. She probably scented Ivy on those keys.
Ivy and Amie go somber for a second, and I suspect it’s about the events of the night Tyson went all feral alpha and rutted Ivy in the town hall.
I’m about to change the subject, but Amie perks up. “We’ll find it. We’ll be back.”
“Bring news about Bailey,” I order. “Call Erica if you have to.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Ivy salutes me comically but then says, “Good luck with all that.”
“Thanks. I think I’m gonna need it.”
Amie says, “If we get stopped from coming back, which we probably will, I’ll text you with updates whenever I hand your phone over to Mase. You’ve got this.”
“Thanks,’ I say unconvincingly.
She gives me a serious look. “It’s meant to be, so trust that it’ll work out. Somehow.”
A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, so I let it in.
Because she’s right. This is meant to be.
And while I’ve seen some seemingly impossible stuff so far around these parts with council alpha matings, nothing so far has been impossible despite some stacked odds.
Not Tyson and Ivy overcoming that feral night, not Mase getting through to what was a seemingly impenetrable fortress around Amelia.
But he got in. Then Riley and Erica overcame severe adversity where it was hard to imagine them moving past what they’d been through.
Erica was certain Riley would have the Young coven sever their bond so he could forget she exists.
And Grey is happily starting his family with Stacy, who shot Ty and poisoned some of our alphas.
I don’t know Stacy well yet, but she fits our pack like it was meant to be. Because it is.
Three of the four females claimed so far by these alphas are already pregnant and knowing Riley, Erica isn’t far behind the others.
My father found love again after many years alone.
So yes, when it’s meant to be in Arcana Falls it will be.
This means that me and Jared will figure it out, too. Somehow.
I carry the box of food into the trailer, then come back for the full cooler.
After that, I bring in the large laundry basket of my clothes and toiletries.
And as I put the food away, I’m touched, because it’s obvious to me that Kathleen asked my dad for a list of my favorite foods.
And her girls did a bang-up job of packing for me.
Not only am I equipped with all my grooming essentials, but they also took a healthy helping of scraps of frilly fabric from my underwear and lingerie drawers, too.