The Mates of Monsters

Chapter 16

My smile stretches impossibly wide when the car pulls up in front of the house. Jeremy is standing just behind me, watching as well, waiting for the back door to open. I squint and lean forward, trying to see through the tinted glass windows. My feet tap restlessly against the ground, and the driver gets out. He walks over and opens the door for her. When she steps out, I lose all sense of patience and run to her. Lindsey laughs as I engulf her in my arms.

"I missed you!" I shout. "I can't believe it—you're actually here. I didn't think you could leave him."

She chuckles and hugs me back. "How could I say no? I'm dying to see what your new life is like."

"It's different," I tell her as I pull back. "Ugh—we have so much to talk about."

Jeremy wrangles us inside and I ask him to take us on a tour so Lindsey can see everything as I did on my first day. "You can take her yourself," he suggests. "As long as you stay within the boundaries, you two can go wherever you please. All I ask is that you are back by dinner. The Beta and his family will be joining as well."

"With the twins?" I ask, and Jeremy nods. "Oh, Lindsey you'll love that. Tarlo has two little boys—they're two and a half."

"You like children?" Jeremy asks her.

Lindsey brightens. "I love kids. I've been helping at the school back home."

"What? Since when?"

"For about a month," she says. "You've missed so much. My brother had his first shift and it was an utter mess; it happened in the house. He was freaking out, destroying and breaking everything—my mom is pissed."

Jeremy steps out so we can continue to gush and laugh and shout about things he has no care to know of. Eventually Lindsey can't wait any longer, and she slyly asks, "Where's the Alpha?"

"Oh, well, he's busy, you know? His days are pretty packed, so I mostly see him in the evenings."

"Right, of course. But what is he like? You hardly talk about him in your messages."

I withhold my blush. "Yeah, I know. Things are just complicated. It's hard to explain."

"But you're here, right? Clearly you're getting along if you haven't run off across an ocean. To be honest, I thought I was going to be met with an escape plan. I thought you needed me to be a distraction or something while you slipped out of sight."

"Oh, no. Nothing like that, I promise. I just wanted to see you. I really did miss you."

She smiles and says, "I missed you too, Brigette. I'm just happy that you're happy—you are, aren't you?"

I take a breath and force my lips to smile back, unsure of what I'm about to say is true.

"I am. I'm happy."

"I'm sure your mom is happy to hear that," she jokes. "How about that tour? You can tell me all about your mate on our way around."

Lindsey and I follow the same route that Jeremy showed me. As someone who also comes from the same humble beginnings, the lifestyle of this pack seems to intimidate her as it did me. She stares at the guards, those training, and says, "Oh wow," when I tell her about the borders.

"There's no way I could have escaped," I admit. "Everyone here has some kind of basic training, but the border guards are beyond anything back home. I didn't even try—not that I would. I've gotten used to the way things are. I don't really think much about leaving anymore."

"So you're giving in to the bond? You're giving the Alpha a chance?"

"I think so. It's hard not to. David is just—it sounds stupid, but he's irresistible. It's coded into my DNA to..."