Page 6

6

JONATHAN

“ Y ou’re going to have your hands full.” Marie’s father is giving me a serious warning, but with a smile on his face. He’s about the tenth person to say something similar to me, all with varying degrees of sincerity and fear in their eyes.

My mate is a force to be reckoned with.

“I already do,” I say honestly, my insides twisted into a knot knowing my Luna is off meeting with another man, another man who lusts after her and is smart enough to know what he’s going to be missing out on.

“Tell me, how has my daughter already managed to convince the alpha of a busy pack to come here and move her belongings while she lounges around at home?” Her father is tall, with a shock of grey hair and sharp grey eyes. From the tilt of his lips and the way his eyebrows lift to his hairline, he knows well she’s not sitting at home with her feet up.

We slide a box each onto the bed of the van I brought with me and turn to face each other, the atmosphere growing tense, and all joking now put to the side. I hold his gaze, and his expression turns serious, his alpha energy seeping out despite his best efforts to hold it in.

“She went to speak with Graham. Insisted on going alone, so we didn’t end up getting into it.” Dragging a hand back through my hair, I exhale a ragged breath and ball my hands into fists. “I should have gone with her. Damn it. I’m sorry Sir, I just didn’t want to fight with her over it, and she was adamant…”

He stares at me, jaw set, and his lips pressed into a thin line. His displeasure is clear, and he’s right to be pissed off. What kind of a man lets his mate go off to meet a man known for being volatile?

“Shit,” I mutter, lifting another box at my feet and tossing it less carefully than I should into the back. “I need to go.”

My heart pounds, and my palms grow sweaty as my unease grows. I thought I was doing the right thing. She’s luna now. I have to have faith in her decisions. She’s not mine to boss around, just to love.

“She wouldn’t have listened, and if you’d tried to follow, she’d have fought you tooth and nail.” Her father’s huge hand pats me on the shoulder in sympathy as I slam the rear doors shut. I’ll come back for the rest another time.

“It doesn’t matter if she was mad at me. It’s not right that she’s there alone.”

Graham Reynolds isn’t your average male. If his own father is concerned about his reaction, I should be too.

“Jonathan, listen to me.” Interrupting my spiralling, her father meets my eye as he steps in front of me, blocking my way, as I rush toward the driver’s side of the van, ready to hightail it out of there. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to shove him out of the way and climb behind the wheel. “Just breathe.”

Easier said than done , I want to shout, but this is my father-in-law. So instead, I bite my tongue and stand tall, clenching my jaw but forcing myself to remain still and wait. It’s excruciating. I always thought I was a patient man, but apparently not.

“Marie is going to test you in every way imaginable. She’s funny, quick-witted, and brave. You’re going to have to learn how to deal with her… quirks, while picking your battles.” His lip quirks up, and he watches me closely, taking in my tense posture and the perspiration on my forehead. “She wouldn’t have let you come with her. If you’d have tailed her, she’d have known and been insulted. Sometimes, you’ll have to let her do what she wants and deal with the consequences.”

Sounds like great fun.

“But she is loyal, fierce, and she loves her family more than anything else in this world.” Pride fills me. I already know this. She’s exactly the woman I want by my side. “You’re just going to have to take the sometimes uncomfortable with the good.”

Uncomfortable? That’s the understatement of the century. It feels like there's something crawling under my skin.

“Any tips on how to make it easier?” I ask, my body practically vibrating with the need to chase after her. “My wolf isn’t feeling very rational, and I’m not sure just reassuring him that our mate is clever and strong is going to help me right now.

Her father laughs. Laughs right in my face, his eyes dancing with mirth. This is a man who knows exactly how I feel, because he's been there before. Some other time, I'll get those stories about tearaway teenage Marie from him. But not today.

“She gets it from her mother, and there isn’t a week that goes by when that woman doesn’t do something to drive me up the walls.” He gives me a conspiratorial wink and shakes his head. “And I love every fucking minute of it.”

With a despairing chuckle, I have to concede that Marie’s already made my normally precisely scheduled and ordered life a little more interesting. And hopefully, today will be the only day where her actions make me this agitated, because tonight, I’m going to mark her as mine and make sure nobody is left with any doubt who she belongs to.

“So she’s going to keep me on my toes?”

Her father laughs. “Son, she’s going to keep you clinging to the edge of sanity. Welcome to the family.”

Fuck. I know he’s right, but I still wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I have to go and find her. I appreciate what you’re saying, but… this feels different.”

Her father nods and holds out a hand for me to shake. “You don’t need me to tell you how important it is to trust your gut. When it comes to your mate, your instincts will lead you the right way.”

“Thank you, Sir. We have a big pack dinner every couple of weeks, and the teenagers feed us with the spoils of their extensive training in tracking and hunting. I’d love it if you could make the next one and come to see us.”

“We’ll do that. I’m glad she found you, Jonathan, and you, her. You’ll be very happy together.”

Nodding, I give his hand a firm shake, and open the driver’s door, eager to get going. Because my instinct is telling me that something is wrong, and that Graham Reynolds isn’t going to let a good thing go that easily, fated mates or not.