9. Mia

Leaving without eating was, admittedly, a little dumb.

The whole point of going to the store was that I would have something to feed the kids... and myself. Now, however, I’m absolutely ravenous. I’m about an hour away from Oakwood and just outside of Oakwood pack territory, and I need three things.

Food. A bathroom. And some gas.

Reluctantly, I pull into a small town. The sign says it’s Hayden, Colorado, home of world-famous breakfast burritos.

I chuckle. There’s a long-standing debate between Colorado and New Mexico about breakfast burritos. Namely, the ones in Colorado are only good because they use green chili from New Mexico.

So, while I appreciate the effort, it’s probably not as good as what I’m used to. Still, I could really go for a breakfast burrito. I get some gas before wandering into the restaurant advertising said culinary delights and sit down at a table directly opposite the breakfast bar.

This town is technically not in any shifter territory. Oakwood’s territory line is just before the town limits, so in theory, it could be considered part of Oakwood pack, but Thorne told us he doesn’t consider it such. It’s too close to Steamboat, which is fully human, so everyone kind of stays away from the area. Thorne was very clear with us when we arrived that the wolf territory was the farthest northwest corner of the state, since that’s where the natural wolves from Wyoming were reintroduced.

There shouldn’t be any shifters here unless they’re passing through.

Like me.

It’s surprising, then, when I see four wolves sitting at the breakfast bar in the dining area.

I don’t recognize them, but that’s not unusual. I don’t recognize anyone from the Oakwood pack, not on sight. Not except for a couple of key people, of course.

I look down at the menu. Hopefully they won’t recognize the pack car. Hopefully they won’t think that I stole it.

My anxieties are poking at my mind when a shadow falls on the table.

“Is this seat taken?”

I blink. One of the wolves is smiling at me.

He doesn’t look like he’s doing something malicious. His smile seems genuine, and he’s got a hand on the back of the chair, clearly actually asking instead of just pulling it out to sit.

He’s probably wondering if he can take the chair, so they can have it for someone else.

“No,” I say studying the menu again. “You can take it.”

“I was kind of hoping that it could stay here. And I could sit in it. Here,” he adds.

I put the menu down. Is he… flirting with me?

“You want to sit here?”

“Yes.” His smile widens.

“With me?”

“If that’s okay with you. It’s not every day that a woman as stunning as you wanders into a small-town restaurant.”

I wave the menu. “It was the promise of breakfast burritos. I’m from New Mexico.”

Why am I flirting back?

It feels… good, I guess. Good to know that Zander didn’t break my ability to attract men, or flirt with them. However…

The wolf shifter sits. He’s handsome. That’s clear to me. He’s got brown eyes and blonde hair and a smile that seems easy and open.

I imagine, for a split second, taking him back to my family. Would he sit next to Lana and listen to all of the little kid gossip she knows? Would he hold AJ when he’s too tired to crawl?

Does he know how to fix a sink, or get rid of a hornets’ nest?

I shut my eyes.

Those things don’t matter now. Zander isn’t mine. He never was. Our fake relationship worked. He has Terra. Judging by the actual friendliness coming from the wolf group, I got accepted into the pack.

We both won.

I swallow around the ache in my chest.

“New Mexico, huh? That’s a long way from here.”

“Seven hours,” I say firmly.

He laughs. “Guess you know that information inside and out.”

“Definitely.”

Just when I think I can finally relax, that these wolves aren’t going to call me a thief and run me out of the restaurant, I hear a voice. “Hey, you’re the fox girl, aren’t you? The leader? From Oakwood pack?”

Ice floods my veins. “What?”

It’s another wolf, one that wasn’t out here originally. He must have been in the bathroom or something. He turns in the bar seat and smiles, too. “I recognize you. It’s the hair. Kind of hard to miss,” he says politely.

I snort. “Well. Yeah. I am a fox.”

The wolf’s eyes widen slightly before he looks at his friend. “Wait… if you’re the fox girl… You might want to back off of this one, bro. She’s with Zander.”

“Not anymore,” I mutter.

I can’t help it. The words just pop out of me. Since Zander and Terra have undoubtedly settled their future by now, it’s probably not a lie.

I definitely should have waited to get Zander’s opinion. He probably has a time and place that he would have chosen for us to officially break up. He’s good at stuff like that. Controlling the narrative.

I pretend that doesn’t bother me.

The wolf sitting across from me leans forward. “Not anymore? Y’all broke up?”

“Something like that,” I murmur.

“Well, in that case… I’m?—”

He doesn’t finish that sentence.

The door to the restaurant bursts open. Startled gasps echo across the room, and I turn in my seat.

When I see the person standing in the doorway, my heart freezes.

It’s Zander.

He looks… pissed. His eyes are glowing, the steel-blue color somewhere between normal and electric. I can practically feel the need to shift pulling at his skin. He’s really mad.

“Zander,” I breathe.

He doesn’t look at me. Instead, he looks at the poor wolf sitting across from me.

Oh, no.

“Get away from her,” he snarls at the other wolf.

“Zander. Mr. Black. Sorry. I had no idea you… she said…”

“Get. Away. From. Her.”

The wolf sitting across from me stands, quickly. He and his buddies leave in a hurry.

The rest of the restaurant is staring at us.

“Mia. Outside. Now,” he barks.

I raise an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“That is a reason that I will absolutely never consider valid.”

I hear an actual growl rumble from his chest…

And I remember, very suddenly, that I don’t want him to growl like a wolf in this crowd. There are humans here.

“Fine,” I stand, making sure everyone around us knows I’m totally in control. “But I’m not driving with you.”

He doesn’t say anything. Just follows me out.

We leave, and I’m praying the cops aren’t called.

I can feel him, radiating heat at my back.

Zander Black is furious.

I’m not sure at what, but I have a bad feeling that I might know the reason.

Me.

We don’t drive separately.

Zander informs some of the other wolves that they’ll be driving the car back to Oakwood’s territory. They comply. Instantly.

He loads me into his truck. He doesn’t say anything. For an hour.

Eventually, it’s clear where he’s taking me. We’re heading back to the little scattering of cabins that constitute my home. Where my family is.

“Zander,” I say, as calm as I can. “If you’re going to punish me for stealing the pack’s car, please don’t do it in front of the kids.”

He blinks. “What?”

“I know I shouldn’t have done that,” I say in a voice that I use to soothe chickens or children. “But it’s not fair for the kids to watch…”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Mia,” he grunts.

We’re outside of the cabins. All of the elder foxes are gathered out front, and some of the kids as well. I see Josh, holding AJ, staring at us.

There are some wolves milling about. I can see Thorne’s car coming up the road.

I get out of the truck. Zander follows me.

Once I get to the porch of my cabin, I turn to look at him. “You didn’t need to come get me.”

“Like hell I didn’t,” he snarls. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that you finally got what you wanted. And you didn’t need me,” I say.

I hear the foxes gasp.

Zander’s face wrinkles in a frown. “Mia. You didn’t see anything.”

“I saw you and… I saw you,” I whisper.

He knows what I mean. “That wasn’t what you think.”

“What was it then?”

“I was turning her down,” he says gently.

I flush. “What?”

Zander steps forward. “I turned her down. She doesn’t want me. But most importantly, I don’t want her. Because there’s someone else I want.”

“Zander…” My voice trembles.

It’s really hard to keep the hope out of it now.

“I need to ask you something, Mia.”

“Why didn’t you ask me in the truck?” Every eye glued on me feels like a brand.

“Because if I’m going to do this, I want every member of the pack to hear it, and especially the foxes!” he snarls.

I move in front of the kids. “Zander,” I say calmly. “Please. Let’s talk about this.”

“I’m trying to! If you’d just give me two seconds…”

“Okay. Take your two seconds,” I snap.

He takes a deep breath. He lets it out, then steel-blue eyes lock on me. “Mia. I want you to be my mate,” he says softly.

I blink.

It doesn’t feel like this is real. There’s a kind of surreal energy around me, and I feel… warm. Really warm. Hot, even. Maybe I’m getting sick?

Shifters almost never get sick, but there are some shifter specific illnesses. Do I have a fever? I should check…

“Mia,” Zander rumbles. He leans forward and takes my hand. “Do you want to be my mate?”

“I…”

Why? How? Those are the questions I want to ask. That I need to ask.

I gulp. “I don’t understand.”

He smiles, a full smile, and it tugs at my stomach. “When I first met you, I was an asshole.”

“I really don’t see why that’s?—”

“You let me know it.”

I huff out a sigh of frustration. “Zander. This isn’t important, and I’m sorry if I was mean…”

His fingers, pressed gently to my lips, keep me from talking. “My parents loved each other. So much that it was kind of gross.”

I freeze.

“They always told me that I’d know right away when I met my mate. That if you know, you know. When I first met you, I didn’t know because I couldn’t see around everything that was in my way. I didn’t think I could ever have a mate like you.”

My heart clenches. “A fox?”

“No, Mia. Someone smart. So smart that I’m humbled by you every day. Someone like you, who is so kind that every single person around them feels better after they talk to you. Someone who is so resilient that they inspire everyone, including me.” His voice is barely a whisper, but I swear I can feel it echo from the mountains around us.

“I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who was so beautiful, every time I saw them, I got nervous,” he whispers.

I blush then. “You get nervous around me?”

“Every single time.”

“Zander…”

He presses my fingers to his lips. The heat of his kiss spreads through me, making me feel terribly hot again.

“Mia,” he whispers. “Would you please do me the honor of being my mate… for real?”

The air between us looks like it’s shimmering. I blink, thinking maybe there are tears in my eyes, but then something between us brightens.

Like really, really brightens.

I gasp as my chest feels like something is pulled out of it. I lean forward, resting my hand on Zander’s chest. He grunts, then uses his hand to tip my face up to his.

“I really hope your answer is yes,” he says, his voice thick with emotion, “because I think we might be fated mates.”

I gasp.

That’s what this is. The heat. The connection. The glow.

Zander and I are fated mates.

I close my eyes, and I let the tears leak out.

“Oh, no. Please don’t say you’re crying because you don’t want to be my mate,” he begs.

I shake my head. “No, Zander. That’s not why.”

“Then why?”

When I open my eyes, it’s with all the love in my heart.

“I always hoped that my boyfriend would be my fated mate.”

Zander’s smile spreads and lights up like the sun. “What are you saying, Mia?”

“I’m saying yes,” I whisper, pulling him down for a kiss. “Of course I’ll be your mate.”

When my lips meet his, the crowd gathered around us explodes into clapping.

It’s dramatic. Definitely too much. No one needs to be clapping for me right now.

But, as Zander and I kiss, I realize something else.

It’s also just right.