12 Beau-ti-ful Mate

12: Beau-ti-ful Mate

Ethan Everleigh

As Dad drove across the Crystal Caverns border, Maple stirred for the first time in days, and all my senses went on full alert.

Last Saturday, cousin Posy had put him to sleep until we found our mate. It had been the most stress-free week of my life. I"d relaxed and enjoyed time with my family, and my mom and dad helped me make a plan for my next steps.

I"d also been able to do a few jobs for the Royal Pack"s gamma corps, the first time I"d been able to work in over a year, and added a nice bit to my bank account. It didn"t look quite so anemic now, but I needed a lot more jobs before it was anywhere near healthy.

Thankfully, with Maple asleep, I could take care of that. I wasn"t afraid of hard work; in fact, I liked being challenged. Kept me sharp and fit, both mentally and physically.

But now he was stirring, and I realized that could mean only one thing.

"Son? Are you okay?" Dad asked.

"Maple"s waking up."

I didn"t have to say anything else. Everyone in the vehicle knew what that meant. I thought Grandma was going to cry, and my mom did, laughing in relief as she wiped her happy tears on the backs of her hands.

"Congratulations, Hen!" Evan crowed with his normal enthusiasm and reached up from the back seat to slap my shoulder. "Posy was right about you finding your mate soon!"

Eden, on the other hand, moaned, and I knew something dumb was about to come out of her mouth, but was too excited to care. My long suffering was coming to an end!

"Thank the Goddess! I"m so tired of your sad self moping around."

"Thank you for voicing your concern, sister," I smirked. "I"ll file your complaint between "I don"t care" and "Sucks to be you." "

"What she really means," Evan tried to be the peacemaker, as usual, "is that she"s glad you won"t be depressed anymore!"

I know, I linked him with a smile.

Fortunately, Dad called out, "We"re here!" right as Eden opened her mouth, probably to roast Evan or me again or both of us.

Before he even came to a complete stop, I opened my door and hopped out, inhaling the heady smell of verbena. My eyes ran over the alphas of Five Fangs, one of whom was holding a baby, then cousin Posy, a blond man who smelled of alpha, and a white-haired old man. I paused for a split second on a Latina woman, but immediately ruled her out when I saw the mate mark on her neck.

Finally, my eyes found her.

Her.

My mate.

She stood on the porch, a tall, lovely girl with thick blonde hair and eyes the color of honey.

Mate, Maple whispered. Beau-ti-ful mate. Go to mate, Hen.

It had been a long time since he"d called me by my nickname, and I took it as a good sign. With a big smile on my face and a bigger one in my heart, I hurried toward her - only to get the shock of my life when she let out a little scream and raced into the house.

My jaw fell open.

"She— She ran!" I yelped and looked at the people around me.

"Sorry about that," murmured the blond guy, who had to be Alpha Liam, as he clapped me on the shoulder. "She"s a silly little thing sometimes."

"She"s not silly," Posy and the Latina girl protested at the same time, then Posy added, "She"s afraid!"

"Of me?" I composed myself, making my face blank even though my heart was breaking. "She hasn"t even met Maple yet and she"s afraid of me?"

"No, not of you, and she"s going to love Maple," Posy said in a gentle tone. "She"s afraid you"re going to make her leave her family and her pack."

"Oh. Is that all?" A brilliant smile broke out on my face. So long as she wasn"t going to reject me, I could put her fears to rest. I"d live anywhere she wanted to live. "Where do you think she went?"

"Her bedroom," Alpha Liam and Grandpa said in unison.

"She"s always holed up in her room when she isn"t at school or on a trip with her band geek friends," Alpha Liam elaborated with a frown.

The Latina woman, obviously his mate and luna, whacked him across his chest with the back of her hand.

"Stop it!" she hissed. "You"re giving our guests the impression that you don"t love your sister!"

"I am not! And I do love her! I"m just worried because her interests are so narrow." He pulled her into his arms. "I think she"d enjoy life more if she"d get some experiences outside of her tiny comfort zone."

"Admirable as the sentiment is, I don"t think Millie is yours to worry about anymore, Liam," Grandpa said, then looked at me. "Right, son?"

"That is correct, sir. She is mine. All mine." I grinned. "Can one of you take me to her? I mean, I could follow her scent, but I think it might go better if one of you introduces me."

"Is it alright if I—"

My cousin didn"t even get to finish her question before Alpha Liam and his luna both said, "Yes!" at the same time, then looked at each other and chuckled.

So Posy saved me once again, taking my hand and leading me toward my future.

#

Camille Swift

He found me. He found me! He"s actually here! He"s going to take me away. He"s going to make me leave my family.

I was curled up on my bed in a panic, my face smashed into Butchie"s soft fur.

Stop it, Millie, Gannet growled. You haven"t even said a word to him yet, so how could you know any of that? Go back down and at least introduce yourself!

I can"t. I can"t! I"m scared!

It"s okay to be scared, she soothed me, but like Posy said, do it quivering if you must, but do it! Go talk to your mate. You left the poor guy standing in the yard without even a hello!

Well, that made me feel even worse.

Oh, no! I"m so stupid! He probably hates me now!

No, Millie. His wolf says he"s worried about you. He loves you already.

He doesn"t even know me, I argued, drowning in misery.

Then the smell of cherry blossoms filled my nose for the second time today, and I knew who was standing outside my door.

"Um, Millie? Can we come in?" Posy asked.

"Just a second!" I called out and hopped off my bed to straighten my clothes and smooth down my hair.

I looked at Butchie, half-tempted to hide him in the closet, but what would be the point? My mate would find out about him soon enough, anyway.

Resigned to the inevitable, I went to my door and opened it, my heart doing somersaults in my chest as his scent flooded into my room.

"Millie, this is my cousin Ethan Everleigh," I heard Posy"s voice from far away. "Ethan, this is my cousin, Camille Swift."

My eyes locked with his almost black ones, and my world shrank down to the man towering over me with happiness radiating from his very soul.

"And my work here is done," Posy murmured.

I assumed she left because it was just me and him when he spoke and drew me out of my daze.

"May I come in?"

Oh, Goddess. His voice was thick molasses, dark and smooth, and trickled into every part of me.

Dumbly, I nodded and stepped back so he could enter, then I closed the door and led him over to the window seat. I was so not ready to sit on a bed with him!

I perched on the edge of the left side and gestured with my head for him to sit beside me, which he did. I noticed he kept some space between us, and I wondered if it was because he was nervous or because he knew I was.

"Camille? What"s wrong?" he asked and held out one large hand.

I gulped as I stared at it, then bravely laid my palm in his, and he threaded our fingers together. The mate sparks leapt and fizzed between us, making my breath catch in my throat.

"I don"t want to leave my family or my pack," I told him abruptly, quite unaware I was going to say that until the words came out of my mouth. Now that they had, though, I figured I might as well continue. "I want to live here with my grandpa and be a part of my nephew"s life. I don"t want to quit or change colleges, and I don"t want to have pups until I graduate and get a good job."

"Anything else, my lovely mate?"

Hearing the smile in his voice, my eyes flew to his face, and I sucked in a deep breath at what I saw there.

"No." I shook my head. "That covers my demands. What about yours?"

"No demands." His soft smile grew and his eyes gleamed like glass marbles. "Only one request."

"That"s not fair to you." I frowned and squeezed his fingers. "I gave you a whole list of very selfish wants. You should tell me some of yours."

"I have no wants, except to be with you. I can live anywhere so long as you"re there and, now that Maple"s happy and satisfied to find his mate, I can work wherever. I"m proud of you for going to college. Of course you"re going to graduate! And as for pups, they can happen whenever you want."

"You"re too good to be true." I scowled at him, unwilling to believe there wasn"t a single demand he wanted to make before we went any further.

"I"m not good," he smirked, "but I will be for you."

"Well, what"s your one request then?"

"Keep me. Keep me forever." He raised my hand and kissed my knuckles. "And that"s not a want. That"s a non-negotiable need."

A joy like none I"d ever experienced bubbled up inside me until I thought I"d burst from it. My mate was everything I"d ever dreamed of, and all my anxieties and fears shriveled up and blew away like dried leaves in a fall breeze.

"Then I believe we have an agreement, Mr. Everleigh," I teased him with a blossoming smile.

With a soft laugh, he raised his free hand and cupped the side of my face in his big, rough palm.

"You can call me Hen if you want. Maple started it. He"s a very basic wolf and could only talk in singles syllables when I first got him. In fact," Ethan grinned down at me, "he said his first three-syllable word today!"

"Oh?" I smiled back, happy that he was happy. "What was it?"

"Beautiful. He called you beautiful when he saw you."

Heat built in my cheeks, and I dropped my head to bury my face in the center of his chest.

"He was right, too," Ethan murmured into my hair as his arms went around me. "You are the most beautiful girl I"ve ever met."

"And you, sir, are the most handsome man in the world."

"Thank you, Millie. No one"s ever called me handsome before. Well, besides Mom and Grandma, and they kind of have to, you know."

Giggling, I swiveled my head to look up at him and found him smiling down at me.

"How did I get so lucky?" I whispered.

"I was just wondering the same thing," he whispered back.

His face slowly came closer until his glimmering black eyes filled my vision, then his lips were on mine and the rest of the world fell silent as my heart sang a new song.