Page 4 of His True Mate

“I don’t know, but she has it in her head that you can do it and I trust her on this one. Or more importantly, I trust you.”

“Fifteen heads from Omaha? How the hell do you expect me to get them back here with only the three of us?”

Thomas laughed. “I’m not. I want you to secure them for a good price. I’ll have arrangements made for pickup and delivery. Think of it as a business trip, or a damn vacation away from the barn. Lord knows you could use it.”

I frowned. “What are you trying to say?”

He shrugged. “The guys and I have just been worried about you. You never date. Hell, you barely even talk to us these days. You’re so set in your ways that you’re like a freaking little old man. You’re too young for that. Get out there and have some fun. There’s a fair and rodeo in town. It should be a good time.”

“Then how about this… why don’t we all go? Come on, it’ll be fun. A Six Pack road trip. We haven’t done that since like high school. What do you say?”

“Can’t,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not in a position to leave the territory right now.”

“What about the others?”

“Kate’s going to be short staffed next week so I’m picking up some shifts to help out, plus I’ll be out on the range for three nights wrangling the real cattle.”

I rolled my eyes. We were always debating which were more important, the beef cattle or my dairy cows. No one would convince me it wasn’t my girls.

“James?”

“Since I took over as Sheriff, there’s no such thing as a vacation or time away from Collier. Sorry man.”

“Austin?”

“I’m scheduled to go out with Wyatt. Wish I could. I got out of the last overnight run. No way will I get out of it again.”

“Emmett?”

“No can do.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to. Sounds like a lame-ass time.”

“Brady and I are in, though,” Cruz told me. “We’ll prove Emmett wrong.”

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” I asked Thomas.

“Nope. Sorry, man. It was already decided, and I really do think it will be good for you to actually get out and live a little.”

“I live a little. Look, I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, and there’s a cute woman sitting at the bar watching you and you haven’t even noticed. What is wrong with you?”

I frowned. Why the hell would I want to date anyone that wasn’t my true mate? I’d seen what that can do to a couple already and I do not want that on my conscious someday.

Growing up, Thomas was always sweet on Sydney. Everyone thought she’d be the next Pack Mother right up until little Lily Westin strolled into town and turned his life upside down.

We all knew she was the best thing that ever happened to him and a damn fine Pack Mother, but it never sat well with me how Sydney had been kicked to the side the second Lily showed up. It hadn’t been fair to her, even though she’d bowed out gracefully and later went on to find her own true mate in the Alpha of a rival Pack. Together she and Luke had mended the two Pack’s back together, and he was currently Thomas’s number one Beta.

Even knowing that everything had worked itself out, I still didn’t feel right dating after that. What was the point in risking catching feelings and all if I was just going to drop her the second I found my own true mate?

I was fully aware that not everyone was as lucky as Thomas, Luke, or Wyatt. But I was going to leave the door open just in case it happened to me.

“We’re going to have a blast,” Brady said.

“You keep an eye on these boys,” Oliver told me. Oliver Smith was Brady’s oldest brother and practically raised the younger three.