Chapter 12
Wyatt
Isqueezed Willow’s hand, puffing out my chest and straightening my posture as we rounded the corner to the pumpkin patch. My keen senses already told me who was in attendance, and I wanted to remind them that I was their future alpha and if they even looked at my mate sideways, I would end them.
“I can handle myself, wolf boy,” Willow murmured from my side, clearly reading my unspoken thoughts. “You don’t need to hulk out for me.”
I eyed her. “But you like my muscles.”
She flashed a wicked grin, and I knew she was thinking about all the ways we’d intertwined the night before. “I really, really do.” She slid her free hand up my arm, circling my bicep before dropping it with a little hum.
“On second thought . . .” I pulled us to a halt, scooping her into my chest. “Maybe we should just go back to my place and we can meet them another time.”
Willow’s light laughter made my lips curve. “I’ve already talked myself into being here and not coercing you into my bed,” she admitted. “But no, we need to make an appearance. This is the baby step,” she reminded me. “We’ve got to take it.”
“One hour,” I negotiated. “Then I’m taking you home and making you moan my name until you can’t speak.”
Her mouth fell open, making me smile triumphantly.
I could smell her arousal wafting from her, could smell the way her scent and mine still mingled.
It hadn’t been my intention to mark every inch of her, but I was glad of it before I brought her amongst my pack.
They’d know I was serious. They’d know not to test me.
There were only a few things werewolves were humorless about, and people messing with our mates was one of them.
A corner of the pumpkin patch had been cordoned off with hay bales into a makeshift party area, where much of the pack was stretched out on blankets. Little ones played while some adults ate, and my grandfather sat on a withered stump, youngsters gathered round him to hear his tales.
“Wyatt!” Aisling’s younger brother, Liam, was the first to greet us. He ambled over, limping on his moon boot.
“Liam!” I hugged him with one arm while refusing to release Willow’s hand with the other, even as she tugged on it. “Look at the sorry state of you.”
“Yeah, the doctor says it’ll fully heal by the next full moon, though,” he said, frowning down at his foot. “We decided to go for a run on the northern ridge.”
“Which was foolish,” I admonished.
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
A deep, booming voice sounded from beside me, and I already knew who it was long before he approached.
“Give the boy some space, Liam. Always hogging the conversation.” The old man tsked, and I turned to find Aisling on the arm of her and Liam’s grandfather.
“Wyatt, my boy,” he added, clapping me on the shoulder. “How are you?”
“I’m very well, Gregory.” I bobbed my head in greeting. “May I introduce you to my mate, Willow?”
Gregory’s nose crinkled as he looked at Willow, and my lip curled. The discontent was gone as quickly as it had appeared, but I still spotted it.
“Your mate,” he said with pleasantness we all knew was fake. “How delightful. You know my Aisling just got her master’s in ecological research, Wyatt?”
It took a great force of will to plaster a smile on my face at the slight. “I did,” I said tightly. “Congratulations again, Aisling.”
“Thanks,” she replied, clearly feeling just as awkward as I was.
“Well, it was nice seeing you,” I hedged. “I’d like to introduce Willow to the rest of the pack.” I’d almost said “my pack,” but I didn’t want to provoke them. They already knew my intentions, and the look in my eyes warned: behave.
I tugged Willow out of that snake pit and walked farther into the party.
“That was intense,” Willow murmured.
“Gregory and my grandfather are best friends. Gregory is his right-hand man,” I muttered from the corner of my mouth.
“So of course they want their grandchildren to be together,” Willow supplied.
“Something like that,” I gritted out. “But Aisling has only ever been a friend.”
“Eloise enlightened me about some of your wolf politics,” she said. “Speaking of . . .” Willow waved and broke off from me to go give Eloise a hug.
My sister and I exchanged silent looks over Willow’s shoulder.
I’ve got her, Eloise’s eyes told me.
With my mate safely under the protection of my sister, I turned to survey the party, only to find my mother and aunt directly behind me.
“Mom,” I said. “Hi.”
“My son,” Mom crooned, grabbing me by the cheeks and kissing each side of my face. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
“Of course, I would.”
“Well, it’s just that you don’t participate a lot in pack things . . . and you brought a human.”
I rolled my eyes. Here we go.
“I brought my mate,” I countered, looking between my mom and my aunt, who nodded along with her sister. “And you’ve met Willow a million times before at the Witch’s Brew. Stop looking at her like that.”
“Oh, alphas and their mates,” Edie cut in with a laugh. “Yes, we know Willow.”
“But you’ve never formally introduced us,” Mom countered.
“Mom,” I warned.
“What? You’re not going to introduce your mate to your mother?” She balked. “Go on, I’ll be nice.”
“I’m not so sure about your kind of nice,” I gritted out, but did as she commanded, fetching Willow.
I held onto her hand as we walked back to my matriarchs. “This will be quick and painful,” I whispered down to her, but she only squeezed my palm. “Have I apologized enough yet?”
“Yes, and you don’t need to. It’ll be fine,” she reassured me, already sounding like the authority she would become.
My mother’s eyes lit up as we approached.
“Mother,” I began, though the introduction was unnecessary, “I’d like you to formally meet my mate. Willow Miller.”
Willow stood at my side and extended her hand.
My mother only wrinkled her nose.
Edie cut in before I could, “It’s wonderful to have you here. Pack events are important, and having both of you here means the moon to us. Isn’t that right, sister?”
My mother’s eyes flashed as if she hadn’t realized her face had contorted in disgust. She put on her best fake smile and acknowledged Willow. “It’s lovely to make your full acquaintance. Anyone who can corral my son into showing up when he needs to is someone I would love to get to know better.”
The statement sounded rehearsed and likely snipped from a speech my aunt had given her before we’d shown up.
“What makes this pumpkin patch field trip so important that I needed to be here?” I looked around us, trying to perceive what benefit my presence was to everyone else.
Mom shot me a look, but I didn’t back down.
“I tend to be a workaholic, too,” Willow started. “But it’s nice to take the afternoon off for a gathering.”
It was a neutral sentiment, but nothing was neutral to Sandra Sullivan.
My mother reeled back as if Willow had told her she was a lowly mutt.
“Every gathering is important to the pack,” she scolded.
“Our proximity isn’t only about our community.
It’s for our protection. A close and strong pack will survive. ”
I sighed. “No one is attacking the pack, Mom.”
She gave me a sickly sweet grin. “We are lucky to still have your grandfather to ensure that fact, aren’t we?”
I’d stepped right into that one.
“You see, dear one,” she directed at Willow. “When an alpha takes his place, it’s a lifelong commitment to the welfare and well-being of his pack. To every single wolf.”
Willow shifted at my side. “It sounds like an incredible responsibility to take on.”
“It is,” my mother insisted, the silence between the two women holding a challenge. “I know you’re important to Maple Hollow, and most of the monsters here have accepted humans into the fold, but it will take the wolves a bit longer to accept your . . . relationship.”
Anger bubbled up inside of me.
“If I am to be the next alpha, then they will need to accept my mate,” I snapped, emphasizing again that Willow was more than just any human. “And if you want to be standing beside me on the day that I take my place in the pack, you would be wise to work on accepting her, Mother.”
Holding my mother’s furious gaze, I draped my arm around Willow’s shoulders and kissed her temple. The sounds of the other pack members dulled around us as every one of their ears tuned into the argument.
“I only want what’s best for you, and it’s not—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” I interjected, giving her a warning look. “I think we’ve had enough of this party. Let’s go for a walk, Willow.”
I made sure to stare down each and every judgmental set of eyes as I went.