7. Avery

Chapter seven

Avery

A gasp escapes me as I wake to the sound of my phone ringing. I turn over to my side, seeing my mom’s name light up on the screen.

What the fuck just happened? Was that really just a dream or was something more going on?

Is the big bad wolf real? Or some fantasy my brain decided to make up in order to properly torment me while I’m trying to sleep?

With a deep sigh, I slide my finger across the screen, answering the call. “Morning, Mom.”

“Avery! Hello, dear! How’s your vacation going so far?”

I want to be upset with my mother for ruining my dream, but I can’t be. That feels incredibly irrational. It’s not her fault I was about to lay a smooch on the sexy wolf of my dreams. He’s not even real !

“It’s going really well. I really think I needed this,” I admit. “I’ve been relaxing and reading and just taking time to recharge.”

“That’s lovely to hear,” she says. “What was that? Yeah! Yeah, I’m talking to him right now. What? Oh, okay. Yeah, I can. Okay!”

I smile to myself, listening to the muffled sound of my dad’s voice in the background.

“Avery? Your father says hello and that he misses you.”

“Thanks,” I say with a chuckle. “Can you tell him I love him and miss him too, please?”

“He says he loves you too! Yeah! He said his vacation is going well!” There’s some shuffling. “Sorry about that, dear. You know how your father is always trying to take over my calls. I had to move to the other room before he could snag the phone from me.”

“That’s okay, Mom. How is everyone? No one’s gotten sick or anything?”

“Oh no. Everyone is on their best behavior while you’re gone. They know they’re not allowed to have any serious accidents or anything until you’re back.”

I shake my head in amusement. “They’re not allowed to get into serious accidents even when I’m there.”

My mom laughs. “You know what I mean!”

“I do, I’m just teasing you. I’m glad everyone is doing well. I’m having a great time but I miss you all at the same time.”

“Oh, we miss you too. Always, Avery.” There’s a pause before she jumps back in. “So, you’ll never guess who stopped by yesterday.” I roll my eyes, glad that my mother can’t actually see me. She doesn’t wait for me to guess. “Aiden! He was asking about your vacation and I told him I’d call you and ask. He’ll be so happy to hear you’re doing well. Maybe it would be nice if you gave him a call to catch up, Avery.”

“I think I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Oh, Avery. Aiden is a lovely alpha. You’d be lucky to have him!”

This time, I don’t hold back my groan. “Mother! For the last time, I’m not interested in Aiden. He’s a really nice guy and I enjoy having him as my pack alpha, but I have zero romantic feelings for him.”

I can practically hear the way my mom is pouting. I love her to death and I know she means well, but for fuck’s sake, if I have to hear her talk about Aiden one more time I’m going to throw up.

“I just don’t like that you’re alone,” my mom says softly, and I sigh.

“I know that. I know you want me to have what you have with Dad, but that will come. I’m willing to be patient, so you should be too. I’ll find my alpha when the time is right. Please stop trying to push me and Aiden together, okay?”

“Alright, darling. I’m sorry if I’ve been a bit too much. I really do just want the best for you.”

“I know and I love you for that. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find the alpha of my dreams while on vacation.”

“Oh, Avery! That would be so wonderful! You’d have to bring him home for us to meet, of course.”

“Of course,” I say with a chuckle. There’s a knock on the door and I straighten. “I have to go, Mom. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Alright. I love you, Avery!”

“Love you too,” I say before hanging up the phone.

That went better than I thought it would. Whenever Aiden gets brought up, we usually end up fighting but this time, it really feels like I made her understand my feelings. I put the conversation out of my mind as I walk over to the front door of my cabin.

Opening the door, I find Elias there, one of the owners.

“Good morning!” Elias says with a grin that makes my own face mirror him. His excited demeanor is contagious. “I hope I didn’t accidentally wake you.”

“You didn’t,” I reassure him. “I was already awake. You actually saved me from a conversation with my mother.”

Elias giggles. “Then my timing was perfect! I actually came to talk to you about something and before I start, I want you to know that you have every right to tell me no, okay?”

I nod my head. “Okay?”

“Theo and I somehow overbooked ourselves this week,” he says with a frown. “So, I was wondering if there was any way we could double book your cabin? You’d be sharing with your neighbor,” Elias explains, nodding his head over at cabin 5 where the hot guy has been staying.

I swallow thickly, my face heating as I think about him sharing my cabin with me. Everything inside of me is screaming ‘no’. I’m so fucking awkward and I’m just going to make a fool of myself. He’s going to be running from this cabin within a day of sharing it with me.

But then I remember the dream last night. I had the confidence to talk to my masked dreamy wolf. I think about the way Ellie is always hyping me up. She thinks I’m a catch.

Just because we’ll be sharing a cabin doesn’t actually mean anything anyways. Maybe by the end of the week, we’ll be friends. Or maybe this will be great practice for me in how to actually talk to hot people without getting all tongue-tied.

Despite the way I want to say no and save myself the trouble, I find myself grinning and answering in the complete opposite way.

“Yes. I think that’ll be fine.” Then I quickly add, “so long as he’s okay with it, of course!”

“I still need to talk to him, but I have a feeling he won’t mind,” Elias tells me. “In exchange for allowing us to double book you, I have some gifts!”

Elias hands over the keys to something along with a gift basket I didn’t even notice until now. Where the hell was he keeping that? Maybe he really is an elf!

“The key is for our stargazing dome. You two can use it free of charge as a special thank you.”

“Oh,” I breathe out, unable to keep myself from grinning. “Thank you, Elias. I have to admit, I love this place a lot. You and your husband have something truly special here.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. Well, I’m off to try to rectify this mistake!” He turns to leave but at the last second he turns back towards me. “Oh, before I forget! I saw on the radar there’s a possibility of a snow storm coming soon. We’ll keep you updated, but just keep that in mind, okay?”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Elias.”

“No, no. Thank you . You’re really doing us a favor by agreeing to this. Thankfully, Frost seems wonderful so I have a feeling you’re both going to get along beautifully,” he says with a wink before skipping off my porch and down the lane.

I take my gift basket into the cabin, peeking inside. There’s a bottle of alcoholic mudslide, chocolate covered strawberries, along with a variety of sausages, cheeses, and crackers. The perfect picnic food. Maybe we can take this along if we go to the stargazing dome.

That’s when it actually hits me. I’m about to share this space with the hot guy. Frost .

I realize with a start that my boxers are still on the floor of the bedroom. Fuck, I need to clean everything before he gets here!