Page 35 of Leave Me (Shift MC #1)
Chapter thirty-four
Riley
T wo days after claiming me, a full day after my heat ended, Fowler and I rode his motorcycle back to the pack house.
We parked next to my mom’s car and a row of other bikes, and I blushed at how many people would be greeting us.
They’d all be able to smell Fowler on me.
At least he’d insisted on washing me from head to toe for aftercare when my last heat wave passed.
The day of rest, when Fowler and I got to talk and be together without the pressing need to get off, was perfect. We caught up on the parts of our lives we’d missed, and I felt even more settled in our mating bond.
Our besties-to-strangers-to-lovers arc was back to being best friends, but also so much more. No one ever got me quite like Fowler King, and I was starting to believe fated mates were the real thing. If they existed, I knew my Alpha was mine.
Cutting off the engine, I could hear multiple voices in the house.
Tilting my head, I found I could place them, even from outside, and I could smell them as if I’d always known their scents.
Fowler’s Gramps and Channing were there, of course, and my mom.
I thought I heard Rel’s laughter, followed by another voice I didn’t recognize.
“Well, that’s a surprise,” Fowler commented, giving me a hand off the bike. Sensing my unease at the stranger’s presence, he went on, “My best friend and partner from the city is here.”
Pouting, I crossed my arms. “I thought I was your best friend and partner?”
“Well, yeah. He’s more like a brother.” Fowler added quickly, rubbing his beard to hide what I suspected was a smile. “You are my best friend in a decidedly un-brotherly way.”
Rolling my eyes, I conceded and took his offered hand as he led me towards the house. Lowering my voice to a whisper as we made our way up the steps, I teased, “So you don’t have a bestie with benefits from San Francisco here to be pissed you mated with me?”
Fowler barked out a laugh as the door opened and revealed a large, bearded man with grey-blue eyes and a frown. Beside him, peeking around his broad shoulders, was a smaller person with brown hair and tan skin.
“Riley, meet Hudson Bradley, my business partner, and his mate , Matty,” he emphasized, and I remembered Fowler telling me all about his part-shifter alpha friend with whom he started a custom motorcycle shop in San Francisco. “Meet my mate, Riley Jones. ”
“Oh,” I gasped, excited to be introduced as his mate and to meet another mated couple.
Neither of them could shift, but when Matty presented as an omega and went into heat, Hudson’s alpha knew they were meant to be together.
I remembered Fowler telling me Hudson was not into dating or relationships until Matty came along, and how Fowler had helped Matty with his transition.
These two were part of Fowler’s pack as much as his blood family.
Extending a hand, I smiled in greeting. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
Hudson looked at my hand, glanced at Fowler, then pulled me into a hug. Fowler growled behind me, but Hudson only chuckled. “It’s great to meet you as well, Riley. Since Fowler went off the grid without so much as a word.”
“Oops,” Fowler conceded, but I could feel through our bond that he only felt a little guilty for focusing on me for days. “Sorry, brother.”
“You’re forgiven because you have a mate!” the softer voice came from beside Hudson as he let me go. Matty gave me a conspiratorial smile. “I won’t hug you so soon after your heat and piss Fowler off more.”
“Thank you,” I laughed.
Matty and Hudson stepped aside to reveal the others I’d heard standing in wait to greet us as well. My mom approached me first, while Fowler accepted back pats and handshakes from the men for our new bond.
“Are you all right, Ri?” she asked, trepidation evident in her eyes and her scent. I was going to have to get used to his new skill.
“Yeah, Mom. I’m better than all right,” I reassured her, pulling her in for a hug. My skin was sensitive, but I would always welcome my mother’s arms. “I’m…happy.”
“Good.” She pulled back with tears glinting in her eyes, but I only sensed joy from her. She hadn’t found her mate in my sperm donor, but Mom was happy for me.
“So you finally figured out you were meant to be together?” Rel asked, a grin stretching his face when I turned to find him leaning against the back of the leather couch.
“Took you long enough,” Channing added.
Fowler scrunched his brow. “What do you mean? I was only home a couple of days before Riley…presented.”
Glad he hadn’t said heat, I had a guess where the others were going with their point. If we were fated mates, we were always meant to be together. Neither of us had been ready when we were teens, even if I’d been in love with him all this time.
“You’re even more oblivious than I was when I met your grandma,” Gramps cut in, rolling to stop between us. “And even I didn’t take half my life to figure it out.”
“Wow. Guess we were idiots,” Fowler conceded, pulling me closer to nuzzle my mating mark. It was healed over and would only look like a faint scar to non-shifters, but to us, it shone like a beacon stating our bond.
“Duh,” Channing concluded with an eye roll. Everyone joined in with their own taunts at how obvious we were, including Hudson, who’d known Fowler for years.
“I’ve always been in love with you,” I pointed out, turning in Fowler’s arms to embrace him and meet his brown eyes. He’d explained my wolf’s eyes matched his, since we were mated, but they were matched before the bite. “Fate knew we were inevitable.”
“Gross,” Channing faked gagging, and everyone laughed. “I’m going to heat up dinner. Come help me, Patty, so we’re spared the details?” she asked my mom, who gave me a smile and left the room with Channing.
“Where are Ricky and Uncle Clark?” Fowler asked, and I finally noticed they were missing. “I would think Ricky would want a front-row seat to my roast?”
“He’s making sure Clark rests,” Gramps explained.
Fowler dropped my arms, and a rumble resonated from his chest. The Alpha was coming out to play. “Is he all right? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Easy, boss,” Rel teased, stifling his laugh. “His wounds healed, but Ricky insisted on making sure Clark didn’t push himself until you were out of your love nest. ”
“Eww,” Channing’s complaint reached us, and we all laughed. Teenagers. Wait until she falls in love…
We all made our way into the side of the house with the kitchen and dining room, where the men helped finish warming dinner and setting the table before we all dug in. I was excited to eat a full meal after days of snacks and sex had depleted me, but I was also warmed by those who surrounded me.
My mate sat at the head of the table opposite his Gramps, with me on his left and Rel to his right. It just felt right somehow, and even more so when Ricky and Clark joined us.
The people around the table hadn’t always felt like mine; two of them I’d only met that day, but I knew they were family. Whether through my bond with Fowler, my awakened shifter genes, or fate, I was settled.
While I’d spent most of my life feeling like an outsider—related to shifters but not one of them—I finally belonged.
It took Fowler leaving me behind, along with his birthright, but we were back where we were meant to be. I’d told my mom I was happy, and I’d meant it.
Looking at my mate, my best friend, I found him already gazing at me. Through our mate bond, I felt his love for me, and how his feeling of belonging was reflected. Fowler left Blue Lake to be true to himself. Now, he was back to be the pack Alpha, with me by his side.
Exactly where he was always meant to be.