Chapter 2

AARON

2

At the knock on my door, my head jerked up from my breakfast, and my brows drew together. During the months I spent at The Wilderness Pack, I'd had visitors from time to time. Mostly when my family decided to come up and see me. But I wasn't expecting anyone today. If I was, it sure as hell wouldn't have been this early.

As I pushed my plate to the middle of the small round table in the eat-in kitchen, my wolf grumbled over the fact that I'd only been able to eat half of the stack of pancakes I made this morning.

"Sorry to drop in on you like this," Peppa muttered, flashing an exasperated look at her mate, their son darting past me to race inside my cabin. "But you know how your brother is once he gets an idea in his head."

Cason shrugged as he set his daughter Clio on her feet. "Can you blame me for missing my brother?"

When I left my pack to become a loner after the human who was supposed to be my fated mate rejected me, I hadn't thought about the pain my family would go through. The only thing on my mind was survival—mine and my wolf's.

I hadn't been sure how to face the rest of my very long life knowing that I would never experience the happiness of being mated. There would be no children for me. No passion. No love.

It wasn't until I saw my family a couple of weeks after I landed on Keane Vetle's doorstep years later that I realized they'd suffered right along with me, even though we'd been hundreds of miles apart all this time.

Peppa crossed her arms over her chest. "No, but I can be grumpy about you insisting that we needed to get on the road when the sun was barely in the sky when all I wanted to do was sleep in this morning."

"It's good to see you." I patted my brother on the back before pulling his mate in for a hug. It only lasted a second before Cason yanked Peppa away from me and wrapped his arm around her waist, making me chuckle. "Although it's better to see your mate and my niece and nephew, even if Peppa is grumpy."

She narrowed her eyes at me and huffed out a breath. "You better have coffee in there."

"I do."

"G'mornin, Unka Aaron," Clio prattled, flashing me a quick grin that melted my heart before she went to see what her brother was doing.

Cason's nostrils flared, his eyes going wide. "Am I smelling Mom's famous blueberry pancakes?"

"Yup," I confirmed with a smirk, knowing damn well they were his favorite.

"What in the hell?" he muttered, elbowing past me.

Peppa shook her head with a sigh. "Now you've done it."

One of my first memories of Cason was sneaking him bites of blueberry pancakes when we were little. My mom had freaked out because they hadn't started him on solids yet, but my dad had just laughed it off and said something about how he must've been ready earlier than they thought since he was wolfing down the pieces that I was giving him.

I followed her into the kitchen, not even a tiny bit surprised to find my brother sitting at the table.

"How did you get the recipe?" he mumbled around a mouthful of my breakfast.

Leaning my hip against the kitchen counter, I answered, "I asked for it."

"No fair." Jabbing the fork into another bite, he pointed it at Peppa. "I thought she told you that she wasn't willing to give it up for anything? Not even extra time with her grandchildren?"

"That's exactly what your mom said." Peppa stole part of a pancake from the plate and tore the piece in half to give some to each of their children. "Those darn pancakes are the bane to my existence, I swear. I've tried to figure out the recipe on my own, but I can never get them quite right."

"I can't even yell at her because I get why she'd give it up since you were the one asking," Cason grumbled after finishing off the last bite. "We'd all do just about anything to make you happy."

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and offered, "I have extra batter if you want me to make some more."

"Yes, please!" Cyrus and Clio echoed from the couch, where their eyes were glued to a cartoon they'd put on the television.

"It's a good thing there are plenty of blueberry bushes around here." I rummaged in the fridge for the bowl of berries I'd cleaned this morning, along with the extra pancake batter, butter, and pure maple syrup. "I picked more than enough yesterday to fill all of our bellies with the best pancakes in the world."

"Yay!" Cyrus punched his fist in the air. "I love Grandma's pancakes."

"Me too," Clio cheered, mirroring her big brother's action.

I used up all the leftover batter and made another batch, enjoying the simplicity of being able to make my brother, his mate, and their pups happy with food.

I was guilty of hurting my family, but there hadn't been any other choice back then. I'd needed time to mourn the loss of the future I'd always hoped for.

All I could do now was try to make it up to them. But at my own pace.

Coming to The Wilderness Pack all those months ago had been the right decision. It was the perfect place for me to get used to being around people again, while still being able to have as much alone time as I needed.

Keane's pack was different from the one I'd grown up in. It was much smaller, and members didn't stick their noses into each other's business nearly as often as they had in Timber Ridge. But they apparently had no problem inviting themselves into my home when my family was visiting.

Leyton, the pack's beta, showed up when there were only a few pancakes worth of batter left and talked me into making him breakfast too. After swallowing the last bite, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach with a satisfied sigh. "There's nothing better than a home cooked breakfast to start the day."

Pulling Peppa onto his lap, my brother disagreed. "I can think of a few things that are better."

"Maybe I'll agree once I find my mate, but not everyone can be as lucky as my brother. Laina literally stumbled out of the forest into his waiting arms," Leyton muttered, shaking his head.

Cason narrowed his eyes, clearing his throat. That was all of the reminder the grizzly bear shifter needed to realize he had put his foot in his mouth. Flashing me an apologetic smile, he murmured, "Sorry, man. My frustration over not finding my mate yet pales in comparison to the shit you went through with yours."

"It's okay." I waved off his concern, surprised to find how little the subject of my rejection bothered me. I never thought I would reach the day when I could think about what had happened without feeling as though my heart and soul were being ripped to pieces. Let alone speak of it.

Maybe I had finally come to terms with my lot in life as a male who had been rejected by his fated mate. Somehow.

I woke up this morning, feeling lighter than I had in years. I wasn't sure why, but I wasn't going to question what had changed too much. Instead, I planned to enjoy it.

Cason peered at me, his eyes widening after he took in my untroubled expression. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"I do." I reached down to snag my niece as she raced past me, tickling her ribs before I set her on the ground to chase her brother again. "It fucking sucks to know that I will never have any pups of my own, but at least I'll always be my nieces' and nephews' favorite uncle."

My brother shook his head with a laugh. "With my pups, sure. But with Damon's, you'll have to beat me out for that spot."

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes. "Game on."

Cason beamed a smile at me. "As much as I would love to have you back in Timber Ridge, being part of The Wilderness Pack looks good on you."

Raking my fingers through my hair, I shrugged. "I'm not officially a part of Keane's pack, but I have to admit that I'm starting to feel at home here."

"Only because you haven't accepted my invitation yet," Keane drawled from behind me.

I twisted around to see the grizzly bear who was the alpha of The Wilderness Pack and shook my head. "I wasn't sure you really meant it since you never brought it up again."

Keane's grizzly flashed in his eyes, and his voice was rumbly as he said, "Didn't want to pressure you. My pack will always have a spot for you, whenever you want it."

The time I had spent here must've done me more good than I realized because I actually considered the possibility of taking him up on his offer.