Page 42 of His True Mate

“I don’t get it. What happened with Lily and Thomas?” They had alluded to something earlier when I’d met them.

Ruby laughed. “Even as a little girl, Lily had stars in her eyes talking about this fairytale kind of life with her one true mate. Let’s just say my baby brother didn’t hold up to her standards.”

Clay chuckled. “She thought he was the biggest douchebag on the planet, and she didn’t handle their mating well. She even ran away, right back to Westin Pack in hopes that he wouldn’t be able to follow her.”

“But he did?” I asked.

“Oh, he did. It was quite the spectacle across three Packs, but they eventually settled their prejudices and found their happily ever after.”

Their happily ever after? What man says stuff like that? I thought about what Lily had said and suspected she was right. My mate was a closet romantic.

“What about you?” I asked, suspecting the man beside her was her own mate because there was no doubting that little Opal belonged to them.

Ruby grinned and placed a possessive hand on the man’s arm.

“This is Bran. Let’s just say no mating is ever easy, but we certainly didn’t fight it. Our obstacles came later, but it was worth it.”

I hadn’t even considered fighting my connection to Clay. Maybe it was because my parents were true mates and I’d always loved hearing their mating story. Mom had given up everything to essentially join the circus and follow my dad around the country. And hadn’t I wanted a quieter more stable life in small town with wide-open spaces?

Looking around me now, I felt like I was being given everything I had ever wanted. Why would I fight this? Sure, Clay was a little growly and opinionated, especially when it came to my clothes, but were those really things I couldn’t handle?

I didn’t know the answer to that for sure, but I was willing to stick around and find out.

“So where are you from, Winnie?” Bran asked.

I shrugged. “Everywhere? Nowhere? We didn’t exactly have a set home. My Pack has a traveling rodeo show.”

“Oh, that’s different,” he said.

I sighed. I knew it wasn’t normal, but I didn’t think I understood just how odd it was until today.

I was still a little leery of Collier Pack, but I was trying not to freak out again and keep an open mind. If I were being truthful with myself, I’d admit that I liked what I saw and I loved the idea of putting roots down and staying in one place.

“Come on. I’ll show you around. I’m assuming there were no issues with the delivery?” he asked Ruby.

“None, they’re healthy and beautiful. We should have a whole new batch of calves soon. You did great, Clay.” She handed him a folder of paperwork.

He took it then tipped his hat to her again as he took my hand and walked us into the barn.

The place was massive and clean. It didn’t even have the normal stench of a barn, just the smell of fresh hay and the light hum of the machines attached to the cows.

“This is the dairy barn, obviously. And these are my girls.” He walked over to one in particular and petted her with gentle love. “Hey Bessie. How’s my best girl today? Did you miss me? I sure missed you. This is Winnie. Don’t be jealous now. She’s kind of important to me,” he whispered to the cow.

I tried not to smile from the cuteness overload.

He didn’t seem to notice though. I looked around the place and then followed him into the small office he went to. I watched as he sat down and flipped through the paperwork before filing it away.

“Everything’s in order and I’m already scheduled off today. So, I guess I’m all yours.”

My stomach did a little flip at the thought.

Mine,I thought.

Mine,I heard my wolf agree.

“What would you like to do today, Winnie?”

My mouth went dry as if that was a loaded question. I couldn’t seem to keep my head out of the gutter whenever he said even the most basic things. There was no denying just how badly I wanted him to show me a whole new world, starting in the bedroom.