Remi’s Triumph (Riley’s Pride: 2nd Generation #1)

Chapter 1

“Gotta be the place,” Remi murmured to himself as he took in everything he saw.

Further ahead on the same side of the road was a sign declaring the building as Colter Animal Hospital, and displaying a twenty-four hour emergency phone number.

It was far enough past the mobile home park that he couldn’t make out the details of all the structures that made up the animal hospital, but the main building, even from the outside, looked clean and professional.

The rest he assumed were runs and kennels for animals, and from the size of some of the buildings, maybe even a barn or two for larger animals.

Directly across the highway from the animal hospital, facing the hospital, was a convenience store called The Only Stop.

It had four gas pumps that were lit up brightly in the darkness, but the store itself was dark, and a bright red neon sign hung in the front window stating ‘Closed’ on it.

Behind the store sat a restaurant that faced the parking lot and a large private home on the opposite side of the parking lot.

The restaurant was charming in that it was made to look like a cross between a very large cabin and a small chalet.

The dark wood that made up its siding carried an almost mahogany color, and gleamed in Remi’s headlights.

The tiled roof was a deep forest green color.

The restaurant had huge picture windows running across the front and sides, and there was an outside seating area with umbrellas that wrapped from the front of the building to and along the side of it.

The seating area was decorated with planter boxes lining the black wrought iron fences surrounding the outer perimeter of the porch that made up the seating area, and the tables and chairs were black wrought iron as well.

The small tasteful sign adorning a small section of the roof right above the door identified it as “The Best Bite”.

There was a sidewalk covered by a silver metal roof that matched the roof of the convenience store that stretched between the back of the store and the side of the restaurant, connecting them it seemed.

And then across the expansive parking lot and directly to the right of Remi’s car sat a large private home.

The house was two story with a raised cement porch, with cement steps leading from the ground up to the porch.

The house was painted a pristine white with black trim around the windows and the glossy varnished wooden front door.

The interior of the house was dark with the exception of a small light glowing in the front window on the left side of the door.

A white gravel drive led from the highway to a parking area in front of the house where there were four vehicles parked.

There was a black wrought iron high security fence surrounding the house and the property it sat on, and a matching electronic front gate, with what looked like a security box placed to the left side of the gate so that it would be easy to access it by the driver of a vehicle who’d stopped at the gate to ask entry.

Remi’s gaze took in the four vehicles. One was a white Ford F250, one was a classic red pickup that reminded him of Bam’s truck back home, one was a Black Chevy Z71, and the other was a white Infinity.

The Infinity was the one that he couldn’t look away from.

The Infinity was Cristie’s car. He’d seen it and knew it well.

Remi glanced at the clock on his dashboard and saw that the time was 3:15 A.

M., and shook his head. “No way am I buzzing that security box or knocking on that door this time of the morning.”

He put his car in reverse and backed up several feet, then guided his vehicle onto the shoulder of the road in front of Riley’s house.

He looked around once more, then turned off the engine.

He leaned his seat back, made sure his doors were locked, and crossed his arms over his chest, settling in for the few hours until sunrise to get a little sleep before he’d have to face the hell of his mate’s anger, and hopefully, still be welcomed for a temporary sanctuary by her father.

“Welcome to your forever, dumb ass,” he whispered, his eyes closed as he shifted in his seat and released a deep breath.

~~~

Richie was just about to leave home to get the restaurant started for the day when there was a soft knock at his door. He walked over to his door and looked out of the peep hole. He opened the door and stood back. “Mom? Everything okay?”

“I think so. I just wanted to let you know there’s a car with a man sleeping in it in front of Riley’s house,” Constance said.

Richie gestured her into his house, then walked out onto the porch to get a look at the car. “I’m pretty sure Riley’s expecting him. I’ll make sure, though.”

“Moe was walking me over to open up the store and get the lights on in the store for Julia. She’s opening up this morning, and I saw the car sitting there, so I decided to give you a heads up. Who is he?”

“He’s from Kaid and Delilah’s clan. He’s Avaleigh and Daniel’s son. Apparently, he’s Cristie’s mate. They’ve been friends all their lives, but the mate instinct just clicked a few months ago.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! And he’s come here to woo her and claim her.”

Richie snorted as he laughed. “Actually, he’s come to grovel. He rejected her.”

“Oh, my gosh! Why would he do such a thing?” Constance asked.

“He’s an idiot. Other than that, he had another girlfriend at the time the mate thing happened and it threw him all off kilter.

The girlfriend left him, then Cristie left, and he lost his grip.

Cristie even went back to yank him out of his funk.

That’s all I know until Riley told me yesterday he’d called and asked for permission to come here and try to work things out with Cristie. ”

“Poor kid. He must have been so confused.”

“He’s not a kid. He’s twenty-eight.”

“That’s still a kid to me and to you. He’s trying to find his way. Maybe he really loved his girlfriend and he felt guilty.”

“That’s what Riley said. And from what Riley told me, he’s the one who brought him as a child into the clan at Kaid’s. That’s how Daniel and Avaleigh found him to adopt him. He had a shit start in life.”

“He’s probably got a heightened sense of loyalty. I bet he didn’t know what to do when Cristie triggered his mating instincts and he was already involved with someone else. Poor boy.”

Richie looked over at the car parked on the side of the highway and nodded. “Hopefully they can work it out.”

“Oh, I hope so, too,” Constance said, already feeling the need to nurture the young man.

“Why don’t you go ahead and let Moe get you over to the store and I’ll wake up our friend,” Richie said.

“Okay. I’ll see you soon,” Constance said, kissing her son on the cheek before she went down the steps of his porch to meet Moe who waited near the sidewalk they’d installed to make the walk between the mobile home park and the animal hospital easier.

From there, all she’d have to do is cross the highway to the store.

Richie went back to the kitchen and picked up his coffee, sipping it as he stood on his porch in the darkness, his eyes on the car.

His attention was pulled to the store as its lights suddenly shone through the darkness, letting all the world know it would soon be open for business.

Richie finished the last little bit of his coffee, set the coffee cup down on the small outdoor table sitting on his porch, opened his front door and went inside.

He went to the kitchen to grab a flashlight off the top of the fridge, then went to the bedroom to kiss Yvette’s cheek as she lay sleeping, being careful not to wake her, then he locked the front door behind himself, and set out to check the car and its occupant.

A few moments later he was standing in the darkness, leaning over to better see into the car while he tapped on the driver’s side window with the flashlight.

~~~

Tap, tap, tap.

Remi’s Dragon nudged his consciousness.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Remi’s Dragon snarled from the depths of his mind. Wake! his Dragon snarled.

Remi’s eyes popped open and blinked several times, his vision bleary as he tried to figure out where exactly he was. His memory came flooding back as he took in the sight of the store and the business up ahead.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Remi’s head swiveled quickly to the sound at his window. His Dragon rushed forward, his orange eyes peering at the male standing outside his car tapping on his window with a flashlight.

The male raised an eyebrow in question, the golden eyes of his own beast staring back at Remi.

Remi pressed the button on his door handle and the window dropped a few inches.

“You Remi?”

“Yeah. And you are?”

“Richie. I’m Riley’s second.”

“I’ve heard of you. Good to meet you.”

“I’m heading into work,” Richie said, pointing toward the store and the restaurant with the flashlight he had yet to turn on, “you’re welcome to come inside, or you can go back to sleep right here if you want to.”

Remi nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll come in, if I won’t be in the way.”

“Nope. Just the usual morning activities. Why don’t you pull up over at the store? We’ll get the day started and get some coffee on.”

“Thanks, appreciate it.”

“See you over there,” Richie said, turning and walking off in the direction of the store without another word.