Chapter Nine #2
Dominic nodded and Hank appeared momentarily surprised.
“You know she can’t come before the pack, right?”
Dominic sighed and felt the golden eyes finally recede. “My mother never did. So yeah, I know.”
Hank seemed to ignore the curbed resentment behind his response and strode forward to face his alpha. “If Erica starts to get in the way, you need to know when to break it off.”
Dominic gave the beta a rueful smile. “We’re mated. There is no ‘breaking it off.’”
“Then you better be able to handle both her and the pack.”
There was an unspoken threat in what he said, and Dominic sneered. “Or what? You’re going to take over Tolstone?”
It wasn’t such a bad idea. Dominic could live a relatively normal life, hopefully with Erica.
He wouldn’t have to leave her in the middle of the night for some pack business, and she wouldn’t have to worry about his safety when he was called to settle a fight.
He might have been a child at the time, but he knew what it was like for his mother to be married to the Prime Alpha.
If he intended to have a mate, it might have been best for everyone if he stepped down, but never in the entire history of Tolstone had a Beaumont ever refused his inheritance.
“No, but I know someone who may be itching for the chance.”
It didn’t take him more than a moment to know who he was talking about.
The snide looks, the biting comments about his authority, all of it might have suggested that Wyatt was more than ready to face down Dominic for the title of Prime Alpha.
Wyatt was careless with his own pack. If he tried to mutiny against Dominic, the negligent alpha wouldn’t stand a chance.
Though, just the thought of Tolstone in the hands of Wyatt made him cringe.
Tolstone would be secure with Hank, but not with Wyatt.
“Erica won’t come before Tolstone,” he assured Hank, all self-possession returned.
By the way Hank frowned, he knew that the beta was less than convinced, but he didn’t care.
As confusing and muddled as this whole affair was, Dominic would find a way to be both mate to Erica and Prime Alpha.
He wouldn’t follow that closely in his father’s footsteps.
Erica deserved better than how his mother was treated.
Tossed aside. Ignored. If it wasn’t for her obvious agony over his father’s neglect, he might have wondered if they ever shared a mating bond.
If he couldn’t find a balance, he knew exactly which role he would drop in favor of the other.
That was, if she’d even take him back after the episode tonight. A sliver of panic shot through him at the thought that they would have to have that all-important conversation about shifters. As a human, there was no telling how she would take it. But Dominic had time … he hoped.
“You obviously needed something badly enough that you thought tracking me down to my home was a good idea.” Dominic spread out his arms. “What is it?”
“Declan and Gage were testing out a new motorcycle motor out near Mr. Johansson’s farm. They ran it into a shed. It’s technically not on his property, but he thinks it is.”
Dominic rolled his eyes. “I told them not to get anywhere near that old man. Ever since me and my friends messed with that damn shed years ago, he’s been keeping a shotgun by his bed.”
Hank’s mouth quirked up in a wry smile. “Shotgun won’t do a whole lot to those boys.”
“Yeah, but if Mr. Johansson finds that out, it won’t be good.”
“Almost as bad as if Erica turned out to be a hunter.”
The alpha shot daggers with his eyes. “Don’t ever joke about that.”
The beta realized he had overstepped and held up his hands in surrender before they made their way toward the door.
“Are you going to at least change your shirt?” Dominic looked back down at the tattered rags hanging off of Hank.
The beta peeked down and let out a heavy sigh. “Good thing I keep a spare in the car.”
*
In preparation for a lot of crying, Erica didn’t wear any makeup.
That made it easy to drag herself out of bed before the crack of dawn, slip into her car, and drive out of Tolstone.
The hour and a half drive to Decatur shouldn’t have been this damn hard.
The further she drove, the stronger the pull was to turn back.
All night, she replayed that kiss over and over in her head.
Why did he leave? How could she go from ecstatically happy to utterly devastated in less than two minutes?
Why had she left herself so wide open so he could blast through with his sweet words and tender touch?
What had she been thinking, letting him come over and do that to her?
Erica gathered up the dust from the demolished walls and tried to box up her beaten heart again.
She told herself that it was her own fault for letting him come over when she knew very well that she was too vulnerable.
She shouldn’t have let the conversation get so personal.
She shouldn’t have touched him when he tried to walk away.
And she certainly shouldn’t have kissed him back when he charged forward, projecting such subtle power that she couldn’t help but bend to his will.
Erica fell too hard, too fast, and now—with her walls slowly coming back up—she realized one distressing thing.
That cord, that tether, that seemed to form out of absolutely nowhere, that thing that screamed at her to go back to Tolstone, could not be undone.
She hated it. But what the hell was it? She had never felt anything like it, not with any of the men she’d kissed or dated in the past. Why would kissing Dominic create something so strange and new in her?
Whatever it was, she despised it and how it lied to her that she couldn’t take another breath without Dominic nearby.
Needing anyone that badly was just too dangerous.
Almost mechanically, she pulled into the cemetery parking lot.
The sun was up now, and she could hear the low rumble of a lawnmower toward the very back of the property.
The earthy scent of freshly cut grass drifted on the strong wind that blew from the south, another sign that summer was coming soon.
She was the only visitor that morning, which she preferred.
Erica didn’t want to make a show of herself sobbing over her mother’s grave while others paid their own respects near another plot.
Her shoes crunched on the gravel pathways that cut lanes between the cemetery sections.
Each one was named something cute and comforting.
Hope Alley. Heaven Drive. Redemption Street.
When she came to Love Lane, she turned and counted the blocks, looking for her mother’s final resting place.
Erica turned off to pass through the rows, treading upon the crisp, manicured grass that was kept lush and green all year round.
Her eyes skimmed over the polished granite, searching for the right name.
Once she found it, the lump in Erica’s throat thickened. Her pace slowed until she was by the grave. She sat and read the carved inscription.
Felicia Barrett. Beloved daughter and mother.
Erica sat cross-legged next to the headstone as the wind teased thin wisps of hair that had come undone from her braid.
For a few long moments, she said nothing, too full of feelings and emotions to even know where to begin.
She played with the hem of her long sleeves as she recalled her mother’s smiling face.
She always went to her mom with every piece of news, good and bad.
After Dominic nearly shattered her soul the night before, she knew she needed to talk to someone.
If her mom were alive, it would have been her.
“Hey, Mom … Guess what? I finally bought that house in Tolstone we loved so much. You told me to go after my dream, and I did. It’s a great town.
You would have loved it. The people are so nice.
I haven’t met them all, but they’ve been great so far.
You would love Gwen. She and her husband run a diner, and they’re such a sweet couple.
I think you two would have gotten along …
It needs a lot of work, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. You taught me so much.”
Erica smiled, getting braver. “It’s only been a week, but I met a guy too.
He’s … He’s something. I remember all the times we eyed cute guys at the grocery store, and I know you would have been checking out this one.
He owns the antique shop in town and he’s …
” She paused, trying to think of the right words as if it really mattered.
“He’s generous to a fault. He helps out everyone in town with their problems, but he doesn’t have time for himself.
It’s kind of sad. I’m not above helping someone in need, but he just doesn’t seem to know how to say no. ”
She looked down at her lap and played with a loose thread still attached to her sleeve.
“He came over last night, just out of nowhere, and we … we kissed, Mom. And it was so amazing. I kissed guys in school and all, but there was something magical about this one. I know that’s so corny, and you’d be giving me that smile like I’m just talking nonsense, but it really was special.
I’m confused. I guess I’m scared of what I feel for him. ”