Page 13 of How I Met My Mate

“We will?” I ask, giving him a skeptical look. “I’m meeting the family already?”

“It’s better this way.” He smiles ruefully. “Otherwise she’ll be casually sending pack members to drop by every fifteen minutes to borrow milk or drop off a loaf of bread that I don’t need, and she’ll call me every ten minutes asking questions that she already knows the answer to. Don’t worry, she’ll love you. She’s at pack headquarters.”

He snatches another piece of bacon from my plate. “I’m going to need my strength.”

“What about my strength?” I yelp, pulling the plate closer to me and covering it protectively with my hands.

Chapter Eight

Cole

The reception area of our pack headquarters smells like lemon polish, coffee, and the faint, comforting undertone of wolf. Sunlight streams through wide windows that overlook the pine-draped valley, falling across worn leather couches and framed photos of pack events on the walls—everything from formal gatherings to chaotic barbeques.

She’s perched on the edge of an armchair now, cheerfully telling stories from my childhood, hands moving as fast as her mouth. Alexis is laughing—really laughing—and the sound curls low in my chest, warm and dangerous.

“…and when he was six,” my mother continues, eyes sparkling, “his brother Jesse convinced him he could fly. Cole climbed right up onto the barn roof, tied a blanket around his neck, yelled ‘Up, up and away!’ and jumped. Broke his leg. Of course, it healed in half an hour, but still.”

“Mom,” I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You’re supposed to make me look heroic and irresistible. I’d even settle for competent.”

“What? These stories are adorable.” My mother blinks wide, innocent eyes at me.

Alexis snorts into her coffee, trying and failing to cover it with a cough. I glance sideways at her, and the corner of her mouth twitches as she bites back a grin.

“You think this is funny?” I mutter, leaning closer.

“I think,” she says, eyes bright with amusement, “that the image of you in a makeshift cape is possibly the best thing that’s happened to me all week.” Then she leans in and whispers “Other than last night.”

“So things are progressing well, then?” my mother interjects. “We can hope for another mating ceremony soon?”

Alexis’ face flames bright red. “Damned shifter hearing,” she mutters.

“You’ll get used to it,” my mother says sweetly. “Did Cole tell you we have a wonderful newspaper here, which could always use another reporter? The Cedar Run Pinnacle.”

Before Alexis can retort, the door to the inner offices bangs open. Dax strides in, a storm brewing in his cold blue eyes. He zeroes in on me immediately.

I leap to my feet. “Just some boring pack business,” I tell Alexis. “My mother would love to give you a tour of pack property, wouldn’t you, mother? My mother would also love to shut up about anything that happened before I turned, say, 18.”

I see a gleam of understanding in my mother’s eyes. She’ll keep Alexis distracted while I run into town. “Maybe,” is all she says to me. “So the skinny dipping incident is still on the table?”

“Mother!” I groan, and I spin on my heel and stalk off with Dax.

I know she just said that to keep Alexis distracted. There’s no way Alexis would miss that juicy anecdote. However, as I exit the building, I am mentally reviewing our pack bylaws to recall whether matricide is specifically mentioned or forbidden.

“Sorry, Alpha Regent, I know you’re with your fated mate, but there was yet another incident this morning,” he says. “And we’ve narrowed it down to three people. The cook, and two particular servers, were there every single time there was an incident. We have pack security there now, and they’re keeping watch on them.”

“Stop calling me Alpha Regent!” I grumble. “This isn’t the year 1400.”

Dax gives me a puzzled look. “Clearly. It’s 2026.” He’s the most literal shifter I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t recognize a joke if it bit him on the ass.

I heave an exasperated sigh and wish for the millionth time that my brother was back here dealing with all this drama.

Well, at least my mother’s keeping Alexis busy.

“Give me the details on the way,” I tell him. I hurry to my SUV, and peel out of the parking lot.

“This time it was a forty year old woman from the Shadowpine pack. She drank her coffee and ate half a slice of pecan pie, spontaneously shifted, and ran around the room in a crazed fashion. A group of Shadowpine pack members, along with some of our pack members, managed to wrestle her into a van and they’re taking her to the clinic where she’ll be sedated until it wears off.”

I frown in thought. “This time it was coffee and pecan pie. In the past it’s been tea, apple pie, a sandwich, a soda…so there’s no consistency in what they ate.”