Chapter 6
Audrey could tell that her parents loved Dare. From the moment they sat down with them at a favorite dining spot of her dad’s, who had never met a breakfast he didn’t like, they’d been clearly charmed by him.
Her parents were down to earth, no-nonsense people, who watched the weather channel, played pickleball with their friends, and were crazy-competitive Boggle players.
And they wanted her to be happy.
She was definitely happiest with Dare.
Her dad asked about King Lake and The Howl, her mom asked about his brothers and, after checking out the social media account, how she could get a burger named after her.
“Come on, The Elaine sounds like a fabulous burger,” she said, her eyes dancing.
“It sounds like a fancy apartment complex,” her dad said.
She elbowed him. “You’re just mad because I beat you at Boggle last night.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not mad. I’m keeping my game face on so I can kick your butt at pickleball tonight.”
“I thought you were on the same team?” Audrey asked.
“Sometimes we play men against women,” Mark said. “And your mom cheats at pickleball too.”
“Oh,” Elaine scoffed. “This is why we stopped playing Scrabble. You just can’t handle how awesome I am. But anyway, about this burger of the week.”
“Mom, you’re so crazy,” Audrey said, laughing.
“I’ll see what I can do, but burgers are the cook’s specialty. Now if you’d like a custom drink, I can definitely do that,” Dare said.
“Now that’s a good idea!” Elaine said with a grin.
When she and her mom stopped in the bathroom before they left, her mom said, “You know, honey, things are moving pretty fast with him.”
Audrey rinsed the soap off her hands and shut off the water. “Mom.”
“I didn’t say it was bad, I said it was fast. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just… fast.”
“How long did you and dad date before you moved in together?”
“A year. We moved in together a month before the wedding. Your grandma thought it was scandalous and that the women in her sewing circle were going to think she failed as a parent. But that was a different generation, and honestly, your grandma was a bit of a hussy as a young woman herself, but she didn’t tell me until I was married. ”
“Grandma was a hussy?”
“I said a bit of a hussy. And yes.”
Audrey dried off her hands and stared at her mom in the mirror as she washed her own hands.
She laughed. “You’re so casual about it.”
“Well, it’s the truth. And I think we got sidetracked here.
Anyway, I’m just pointing out that before we met Dare, your dad and I thought things were moving way too fast. But it’s clear that he’s crazy about you, and I’m not trying to meddle.
I’d just feel strange if I didn’t say what was on my mind.
” She dried off her hands. “Do you love him?”
Audrey pressed her lips together, then said, “Yeah. I haven’t said it yet.”
“Why?”
“Because it hasn’t been a week, and I also don’t want to just blurt it out, I want it to be special.”
“That’s sweet.” Her mom turned to face her.
“Your dad and I had a different kind of relationship. We’d known each other for a long time before we started to date.
But honestly, I think if we’d been strangers and met out of the blue that I would have fallen for him fast, too. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I don’t think Dare is planning to hurt me.”
“I don’t think so either. And I’m happy for you. Dad and me.”
They walked out of the bathroom arm in arm, and Audrey felt a little lighter, knowing her parents approved. Now she just had to meet his family.
She hugged her parents goodbye, smiling when her dad whispered, “He’s a keeper.”
Dare opened the car door for her and shut her in, then got behind the wheel. “They’re great,” he said. “I think they like me?”
“Yeah, they do.”
“I’m glad. I was worried.”
“You didn’t look worried.”
“I hid it well, then. I was nervous as hell.”
“As nervous as I am about meeting your family for real now?” She’d met Sigh and Juliette, and had seen Trick behind the bar but hadn’t met his mate, Cassidy. A quick meeting was one thing, but spending time with them, knowing she’d be part of their family someday, was an entirely different thing.
“You don’t have to worry about them. They already like you because you’re my mate. The pack is very accepting.”
She liked that a lot. But she was still nervous.
They drove to King Lake with the windows down, the warm air ruffling the ends of her hair. The Amber Howl came into view as they crossed the bridge, and he drove past it and parked in front of his house.
“The band will be here around one to audition,” Dare said. “Are you ready to meet my pack? Then I need to help get the main room ready.”
“Sounds good,” she said.
They walked hand in hand to the tavern, and her nerves were jangling like bells. She really wanted his pack to like her.
They found his brothers and mates getting the main room ready by sweeping the floor, righting the chairs, and setting the tables with condiments.
“Well, hey you two,” Juliette said. “How was breakfast with the parents?”
“It went great,” Audrey said.
“I’m Cass,” a woman said, wiping down menus at the bar with Trick. She put down the menu and walked over, giving Audrey a hug. “Juliette told me that she met you at the bookstore. I work at The Coffee Shop Next Door.”
“I love that place,” she said. “It’s a weekend treat for me.”
The next hour passed in a blur as Audrey helped get the main room ready. Juliette and Cass stayed close by her, sharing about finding their mates at the tavern and what it meant to be a wolf’s truemate.
“You say truemate and mate like they’re not the same thing,” Audrey said.
“Truemate means the one person meant for a shifter,” Juliette said. “Shifters will sometimes not wait for their truemate, or their alpha might arrange a mating for them. Because they’re not fated mates, meant to be together, it’s the more general term of mate.”
“I didn’t realize wolves had arranged matings,” Audrey said.
“I think it’s an old school thing,” Cass said. “I heard that the dragons on the ridge left their clan because of arranged matings, and there’s even a wedding coordinator business run by a trio of dragon ladies called Rings & Wings, who left their clan so they could wait for their fated mates.”
Audrey hummed. “It sounds complicated.”
“Well, the only thing you need to know is that Dare waited for you,” Juliette said. “Just like Sigh waited for me.”
“And Trick waited for me,” Cass said. She put her hand on Audrey’s arm. “That means you’re special to him in a way that no one else will ever be. When they say truemate, they mean fated mate. Meant to be, written in the stars, and all that good romance stuff that Juliette loves to read about.”
“I like those kinds of books, too,” Audrey said.
“Maybe I need to read romances,” Cass said.
“Baby, I’ll give you all the romance you need,” Trick called from across the room.
Cass grinned. “That’s my man.”
Audrey leaned over the bar to drop the rag she was wiping the counter down with into the tub, and when she straightened, she saw a line of grime from the edge of the counter across her top.
“Oh, crap.”
“What happened?” Dare asked, coming over to her. He touched the edge of the counter and made a face. “Yuck. Sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay, I’m sure I can get the stain out, but now I look awful.”
He grabbed another rag and wiped the edge of the counter, then said, “You can borrow one of my shirts.”
“That would be great. I’ll go grab one.”
The front door opened and a few guys walked in. “Crud, I have to deal with the band. Do you want me to walk you to the house?” he asked.
“Nah, it’ll take me two minutes.”
He kissed her. “The Howl shirts are hanging up in my closet, help yourself.”
“Thanks.”
“Everything I have is yours.”
She smiled and walked away before she said anything about him coming with her to the house, and maybe not coming back for a while.
She slipped out the back door into the bright sunshine.
As she walked toward the house, her skin prickled and her spine stiffened in warning.
She turned and found a woman standing between her and the tavern. She was beautiful. Tall and blonde, wearing the tightest clothes Audrey had ever seen.
“Can I help you?” Audrey asked.
“You’re the human,” the woman said.
The center of Audrey’s body went cold. There was something predatory about the woman, and she wondered if she was a shifter.
“I’m Dare’s mate,” Audrey said.
The woman laughed softly, derisively. “Is that what he told you?”
The cold feeling spread a little. Tiny fingers of ice that dimmed the warmth she’d felt inside the bar. “Yes.”
The woman stepped closer and Audrey resisted the urge to step back. “Well, that’s sweetly delusional. I’m Nadia. Did he tell you about me?”
“No.” Audrey looked toward the tavern, wondering if she should call Dare’s name or just walk away.
“Dare and I were supposed to mate, start a family. He was meant to lead the pack and I was meant to stand beside him. I’ve come to claim what’s mine.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Nadia shrugged. “Your belief is irrelevant. Humans are distractions, and Dare is an alpha. He deserves a wolf at his side, not a pathetic human.”
Audrey’s throat tightened.
Then the back door of The Howl slammed open. Dare came out fast.
His face was hard, his eyes fixed on Nadia, and in the next heartbeat, he stood between them, broad shoulders blocking Nadia from Audrey’s view.
“Get away from my mate.” His voice was low and dangerous, and made Audrey’s spine tingle. She leaned to the side to see Nadia look puzzled.
“You felt her fear?” Nadia asked.
Dare growled. “I told you that you weren’t welcome here.”
“And I told you that it wasn’t over.”
“It is.”
Nadia met Audrey’s gaze. “He’s mine. He was promised to me.” She waved a hand toward the tavern. “This is all mine, and so is he.”
“Don’t talk to my mate.” He took a menacing step forward and Nadia’s brows lifted. “I chose exile and starting a new life in King Lake over tying myself to you forever. Your inability to land a mate is not my problem.”
Audrey’s pulse was pounding.
She believed Dare, but the shock of coming face to face with his past in such an ugly way was like a knife in her heart.
Nadia had taken Audrey’s insecurities about the complicated world of shifters and sharpened them into fears – that she was human, that Dare was alpha, that she didn’t fit into his world.
Nadia made them sound like proof Audrey didn’t belong.
“Humans aren’t cut out–” Nadia said.
“Enough!” Dare bellowed the word, edged harshly with his wolf’s growl. “Leave and don’t come back.”
Nadia tilted her head slightly and smiled coldly at Audrey. “This isn’t over.”
She spun on her heels and stalked away.
Audrey stared at her until her car pulled out of the parking lot, gravel flying.
Dare spun and said, “Sweetheart, are you okay?”
“You were supposed to be her mate?”
“The alpha matched me to her and demanded I mate her, but I walked away from the pack instead.” He snarled, his eyes flashing.
“She showed up here the other night and I told her to fuck off, but she clearly thinks she can harass her way into being my mate.” His face softened.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you about her earlier.
” He settled his hands on her hips and pulled her close to him.
“There was no relationship with her, no love, no bond. I refused, chose exile, and my brothers left with me. Walking away from the pack was the best thing I ever did because it meant I could find you.”
She closed her eyes, her thoughts tumbling every which way.
He cupped her face. “Look at me.”
She did.
His eyes were ringed with the amber of his wolf. “You’re my mate, Audrey. My truemate. The one female on the planet for me. I don’t care about the old pack or her. I care about you.”
She wanted to believe him with every hopeful piece of her heart.
But Nadia’s words had wedged under her skin.
“Talk to me, Audrey.”
“She knew just what to say to make me feel like I don’t belong with you. Why did she come after me like that?” Had she been waiting for a confrontation with Audrey, or had Audrey just conveniently walked outside and right into her path?
“You belong with me. I don’t want anyone else, I only want you.”
She nodded, holding onto his words.
Out on the deck, she heard the first strains of the band as they began their audition.
“I need to change my shirt.”
He nodded and walked with her to his house, where she changed her shirt for one of his and walked back to the tavern with him.
He held her hand the whole time, his wolf rumbling low like he was also worried about the thoughts tumbling in her mind like a towel in a dryer.
She was shaken to the core by the weird confrontation with someone from his past and felt blindsided by it all, but she didn’t let go of his hand.