Her Pack by Tamara White

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It’s beena few days since I marked Mitch and Nate, and the bond between us is growing stronger. All of my mates seem to be filled with anticipation at when it will be their turn to complete their bond with me. All except Jonnie, that is.

When he saw I had marked Nate, he acted strange. Not jealous, just off. Like he wasn’t happy, which I didn’t understand. I tried to ask him what was going on, but he just said that I was imagining things. The only thing that was going on was preparing for the inevitable battle that would come.

I wanted to ask him more, because I knew it was a lie, but I also didn’t want to push him.

Instead, I put all of my focus on training with Vivienne, to better my wolf. My body no longer hurts as much as it did that first day, but it is still agonizing at some points. A hot bath seems to help, though. Curling up in bed with a mate or two each night makes it that much better.

I look down at my coffee, smiling at the fact that I can just sit down and enjoy it now that Vivienne is satisfied with my training. I shifted, and best not just Jake and Rick, but also Eli and Hudson. It was a hell of an accomplishment, but I was extremely proud of what I had done. I was already getting better at besting Jake and Rick because we had indeed increased the sessions to twice a day. So when Eli came by for one of the sessions, bringing Hudson with him, I was up for the extra challenge.

While things with Hudson and I weren’t exactly hostile between us, they weren’t friendly either. He didn’t apologize to me, which I expected, but he was nicer than the first time we met. I imagine he enjoyed trying to beat my wolf more than he let on, that’s for sure. So it was extremely fulfilling when I bested them all.

“Ah, Dani?” I jump at Cam’s voice, turning away from the kitchen window to find him staring at me with worry in his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone at the door asking to speak with you. She is begging for just a moment of your time. I told her I would come and tell you, but it would be your choice, not mine, whether she could come in.”

Begging? Who would beg to speak with me? I glance at Jason and Eli sitting at the dining table, wondering if either of them has a clue who it is, but they seem just as clueless as I am.

“Okay,” I drawl, trusting that Cam wouldn’t bring me such a message if he didn’t think the person asking was harmless. But then, if she is harmless, why not let her in? I’m extremely confused.

Still, I set my coffee cup down, and head out to the front door, a pit in my stomach. For a moment, I wonder if Vivienne let Sarah go and it’s her at the door. No, Vivienne wouldn’t do that without at least telling me first, so it must be someone else.

When I open the front door, the woman has her back turned to the door and it’s her scent that tells me who it is. She turns around, her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry to come over like this, but please, I want a chance to explain myself.”

Lia is standing there, her hands pressed tightly together in front of her, like she is visibly holding back from grabbing onto me and begging for forgiveness.

I step aside, trusting my instincts on this one. “Come in. I’ll make us some coffee.”

She practically oozes relief when I move aside so she can come in the house. As she passes me, she mutters a small thank you, and gives me a wobbly smile. I follow her, closing the door behind us, and then moving to follow her to the kitchen. That move tells me just how familiar she got with my mates while I was out.

Jason, Eli, and Cam all stop talking when we enter the kitchen, each of them wearing matching shocked expressions. I guess they expected me to yell at her, or turn her away. But she deserves better than that. I acted like a territorial bitch in heat when I saw her on Pete’s lap, something that I deeply regret. Honestly, have no clue how much she knew of me, or whether she even knew if Pete had a mate. I would be an awful queen if I didn’t at least apologize for acting the way I did. I could have approached the situation a hell of a lot different than I did.

“Guys, would you mind giving us a moment alone?” Each of the guys stares at me, most likely trying to discern what my motives are. When I give them nothing but a sweet smile, they all nod and offer hurried waves, practically running from the room.

I know they won’t go far though, because that’s part of their little agreement. If Jake and Rick aren’t around, I’m to have at least two mates close by, in case I need anything. Though I took that to mean in case someone tries to hurt me, kidnap me or poison me.

Besides, it’s not like we can go outside and have a girl to girl talk. My mates wouldn’t allow that, not without lingering much too closely. This at least gives us a small amount of privacy. I have a gut feeling we’ll need it.

“Please, have a seat at the table. Would you like coffee? Tea? Water?” I ask, doing my best to be a hospitable host. I imagine this will not be the first visit I have with a pack member. My duties as Queen could include many of these visits to speak with troubled pack members.

“Coffee, please,” she requests, her eyes darting around the room, most likely worried why I asked the guys to leave.

I nod, and empty my now cool cup down the sink, and grab a clean mug for her. I take them both to the table, then come back for the freshly brewed pot of coffee. It’s just lucky Eli had put another pot on before she arrived. Then again, it’s become my favorite pastime lately. Just sitting with my hot coffee, and talking with my mates who stay behind for the day, or just spending some alone time in the lounge and thinking about all that is to be done.

I move to the fridge and grab the creamer, setting it on the table, then go back for the sugar and spoons. Once I’m sure I thought of everything, I sit down opposite her and make my coffee. Once I’m done, I bring my coffee close, and she smiles timidly, before making her own. I wrap my hands around the mug, enjoying the warmth as she finishes making her own cup, and then watch as she practically gulps it all in a few swigs.

She helps herself to another cup as I sip mine. I let her do so, knowing that if she’s this nervous, then rushing her to talk won’t do any good.

May as well enjoy a few sips of the deliciously bitter brew before reality crashes down on us both. I study her as she fidgets with her mug, drinking her coffee in much larger sips than I do, but slower than the first cup.

Her dark hair is messy today, yet it still shines under the dim lights in the room and highlights the features of her slightly pale face. Her eyes are just as alluring, which has me feeling insanely jealous. Blue eyes are just to die for, on a guy or a girl, but while they are pretty to look at, they are filled with some kind of emotional pain. Even her damn lips are gorgeous with the beautiful natural pink coloring. But the more I study her, the more I realize there’s something familiar about her. Like I’ve met her before but the first and only time I met her was when she was sitting on Pete’s lap, and then now. Maybe she looks like someone I met in the human world, before I was part of the packs?

I cock my head, and try to figure out what it is, but I’m drawing a blank who it is she’s reminding me of.

Lia stops fidgeting with her cups and takes in a deep breath. “So, I guess I should start with the obvious.” She blows out a breath, her eyes lifting to mine. “I am so sorry I was sitting on your mate’s lap. I honestly had no clue how much of a faux pas that really was. I thought it was a wolf thing, you know, touching each other and all that to help you bond better. Regardless of whether you have a mate or not.”

I frown, her apology sounding different to what I expected. It’s sounds almost like she didn’t know about our world, about wolves, but that can’t be right.

Lia continues talking, her voice rising slightly. “I was talking to my friend, and she said that you’re supposed to be the new queen, of all the wolves or something like that. And that you have like six or seven mates, and that just because they aren’t all marked doesn’t mean that any of them are available. But that the whole touching thing definitely doesn’t apply to anyone who is mated. Not that I was even interested in Pete in that way, but his pack is close to where my mom lives. I just want to be able to move there to be closer to her. I know we’re not allowed to talk to humans, but I hoped that an exception might be made or something.”

I just stare at the girl, my eyes wide as she rambles on and on, making it very clear she’s very clueless about our world. Which seems damn near impossible. But I can’t refute that all of what she said was one hundred percent truth.

“Lia, slow down. How long have you been here?” I push my coffee away to give her my complete attention. I thought this may just end up being some fake attempt at an apology, but it turns out my gut was right and that I needed to hear this.

If she is truly new to our world, then the poor girl must be terrified. Especially after what I did to her.

She clears her throat nervously, her eyes a little wary. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe four or five months now.”

“And did you know about our kind before you came here?”

She turns her cup in circles. “Yes, but only that wolves existed. And only because I turned into one on my sixteenth birthday. It was one hell of a shock to my mom, that’s for sure. I almost didn’t believe her. I thought she was just spying on me in my sleep and had heard me mumbling about my dreams, but no, it was real. The second time I shifted, I could see everything as a wolf.”

Lia sighs sadly. “Mom tried for over a year to help me control it, but it was clear we had no clue what we were doing. Especially when I almost shifted in the middle of school one day. So, my mom did a little digging and found a few people who claimed they had seen, or knew, a wolf shifter. She said in one of her posts that she was desperate to find a person to help her untrained daughter control her shift. A guy called Leon reached out and told her that if I travelled to this pack, I would find the help I need.”

My eyes are wide with everything she’s saying, not quite believing it all, but according to my internal lie detector ability, she hasn’t once lied to me.

“I came here, spoke to the Alpha, Vivienne, and well, here I am. But as much as I am thankful for her allowing me to join her pack, my mom misses me. She’s all alone without me. But everyone says until I can control my wolf better, I can’t ever go home.”

She lets out a deep sigh, meeting my eyes with regret. “That’s why I was being overly friendly with Pete. I had seen how the other females did that to other males to get what they wanted. When I heard his pack only lived a few miles from my hometown, and that he was the Alpha, I knew I had to do anything to get him to accept me into his pack. I just didn’t think about the ramifications. He told me he had a mate, he told me he was in love with her, but I just kept pushing to be close to him. Not out of a romantic interest, but just to get him to let me go to his pack and see my mother.”

Knowing that Pete told her he was mated, takes a massive weight off my chest. I wonder if he lied, or whether he just conveniently forgot to mention me because he was loving her attention. That her words ring of truth does even more to settle that niggle of doubt that had settled in the back of my mind.

I watch her for a moment, debating on how to handle this situation. On the one hand, she can’t go home to her mom if she still hasn’t mastered control, but there’s nothing to say she can’t live in a pack closer and have controlled visits with her mom. I mean, her mother clearly knows of our existence, so I honestly see no reason why they should be forever separated by a secret they’re both aware of.

But then there’s her father. If her mom is human, it only stands to reason that her father is a wolf and never told his partner his secret while they were together.

“Thank you for telling me all that and being honest with me. Firstly, I would like to apologize to you about my reaction when we met. As I’m sure you can imagine, there were other underlying issues that made me react in such a way. As your future Queen, I never want to cause another harm, but I did so anyway. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Secondly, as your Queen, it’s my duty to help you as best I can. So, I am going to make some calls and see how soon we can get you moved to Pete’s pack. I have no clue when it will happen,” I rush to say when she bounces in her seat excitedly. “But I will make it happen sooner or later.”

“Thank you,” she gushes happily. “I totally didn’t come here for that, but that you’re being so kind and offering me something that I’ve been dying to achieve since I first came here. You can’t even imagine what it means to me.”

I smile warmly over at her. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long.” I take a sip of my coffee, knowing I have to question Lia on her father. If she knows of his existence, then I can hopefully try to organize for them to meet face to face. If the man has no clue about her, then he deserves to know about his child.

“I’m sorry you didn’t find out about being a wolf until you shifted, but I have to ask. Do you have any idea who your father is? Or where he could be?”

Her gaze drops to the table sadly, and she wrings her hands in her lap. “No, I don’t know who he is, only his name. Mom said they met while she was in college, but that he left her for some important game his family had to participate in. He promised to come back when it was over and done with, only, he never came back. Mom found out she was pregnant with me not long after, dropped out of college, and the rest is history. Now, I’m an eighteen year old woman, who can shift into a wolf with no clue how this happened, where my father is, or if he would even want me.”

“I’m sure any wolf out there would love to have you as his daughter.” I offer, knowing she needs a little comfort. “I haven’t exactly been a part of this pack for a while, but if you let me know his name, I could ask my mates and the other Alpha’s I know. Maybe with enough prying, I could find out who he is and what pack he’s with?”

“Really?” Her eyes are filled with excitement, then dim with fear. “But, what if he doesn’t want me? What if he hates that I exist? He probably left my mom because he found his mate and had his own family.”

“Even if that’s true, I’m sure he’d still want to know you. Having a child with someone he was in a relationship before he met his mate doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean he loves his mate any less. And it doesn’t mean he will love you any less either.”

She mulls over my word before determination settles in her eyes. “You’re right. If he doesn’t want me in his life, then I can always leave him be. But I deserve to know where I come from.” She grins over at me. “My dad’s name was Greg Bartlett.”

I’m up out of my seat the moment the name leaves her lips, my chair clattering loudly to the floor. The noise summons my three mates from wherever they were. They try to swarm around me protectively, most likely assuming Lia tried to attack me, but that’s not it at all.

That name, I know that name. It was the name my father had before he took my mother’s name.

Lia is staring at me with worry as my mates demand answers from me, but I’m too busy studying her to answer. They direct their ire on her, demanding to know what happened, and why I’m not speaking.

All the while I study the girl, the recognition now falling into place. She has the same shape of face as Dad, along with the same ears, and even the shape of his nose.

“I need to talk to Tim.”

Everyone goes quiet with my words. Jason is looking at me with worry. “What, why? What happened, Dani?”

I stare at Lia, unsure how to feel about this revelation. “Because, I think Lia might be my sister.”