His True Mate

Chapter 40

VERITY

For the next few hours, everything went perfectly.

Bow took us walking around the pack grounds, closer to the pack house. There were some interesting things.

Brody ran around, taking everything in and even exploring the forest nearby. The conversation mainly focused on Brody and what he wanted to do. There were no talks about what happened in the kitchen with Axel's mother or anything. I knew Bow would wait until Brody was out of earshot.

Bow guided us through the forest till we had hit one park ground. There were no children there, but Brody didn't care. He loved playing on the swings and having Bow push him. I watched, even though my mind wasn't on either.

I went over what I had to talk to Axel about, telling him everything. I felt like an old record of everything but needed to get everything straight and to the point with him. I didn't need him to talk or apologize.

There will be more time afterward to let him talk, but I was on the verge of freaking out and even wanting to kill the damn fool.

Brody yelled for me to watch, which brought me out of my daze, and I looked back at them. He wanted to show me how high he was going.

I smiled and lifted my thumb up to show I was watching.

I remember going on the swings as a child and trying to get as high as I could until I could jump off. I used to do that all the time I went to the park with my friends until one day I landed on my wrist and broke it. I didn't care. It was something I did back then. It wasn't anything about going as high as I could; it felt like I could fly or even take on anything. It was weird.

Shaking my thoughts, I looked back to find Bow and Brody coming toward me. Brody bolted toward me with a grin. "Can we go to another park?" he asked, looking at me.

I gave him a nod and looked at Bow, who was grinning.

"Sure, kiddo. Let's go back the way we came and head to the one closer to the pack house. There should be some children at that one."

I said nothing while Brody looked on excited.

Bow guided us away from the park and took us back the way we came. The walk back was quicker, somehow.

Brody ran ahead while Bow and I walked back silently until he spoke.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You don't seem yourself. You seem to be in your head more."

I looked over at him and sighed.

"You could have mentioned the woman who was with us was Axel's mother," I said, which made

Bow stops in his tracks.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder at him. His face hardens. "She didn't tell you who she was," he asked.

I shook my head, but I said nothing. I wanted to know what he knew. Would I be able to trust her if she ever came near me or Brody again?

Bow looked at me and was about to speak when we heard Brody call out to us. "Come on, you slowpokes," he shouted, making the corners of my lips curl into a smile.

Bow grinned.

"The park is here," he shouted.

I moved away and looked ahead to find Brody in the clearing.

"Who the hell did he call a slowpoke?" Bow asked, stepping in line with me. "I'll get him for that."

I laughed, which made Bow look at me and smile. "There it is," he said. "The one thing we all have been missing—your laugh."

Stopping again, I looked at him while he moved quicker to catch up with Brody.

His words echoed in my head, and they also made me wonder: When was the last time I laughed? It must have been a while ago if it meant I was wondering when.

Shaking my thoughts away, I continued to walk and even started a jog to catch them up. I knew it was impossible since they were wolves, but it was nice when they would let me win now and then.

I caught up with Bow, who had now stopped and bent down to tell Brody to go into the park grounds. He also mentioned that we would wait here for him. I stopped next to him just as Brody ran off.

My eyes went to the park grounds, where some children were playing. Some adults were there, too, standing around the fenced area. I watched until I spotted a few adults looking toward us.

"Why are they staring?" I asked Bow, who was now slightly tensed beside me.

Keeping my eyes on them, Bow spoke.

"They are curious who you and Brody are," he said, which made me look at him. He directed his gaze towards Brody and the park grounds. "And as for this morning, that was uncalled for what the Luna did. She shouldn't have blindsided you like that. At least Alpha Axel should have said something or even told you who she was."

I said nothing momentarily, but I wanted to know about her.

"What is she like?" I asked, which made him look at me with a small smile.

"She is a proud woman," he said but let out a sigh. "But that is for her pack, not for the Alpha Axel. He didn't tell her anything till a few days ago."

I said nothing but realized she mentioned that before I left like I did.

We said nothing for a moment until he sighed. "Jake told me that Alpha Axel wants to talk to you," he said, which made me look down at the ground.

That airy feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, which could be the moment you throw up or just the anxiety you are trying to keep at bay, but at the moment, everything I was feeling was slowly coming to the service, and I didn't know how the hell I was going to manage.

"V," Bow said, placing his hand on my arm, which made me look up at him. His eyes were full of concern as he stepped in front of me. "It will be okay. He needs to know everything he put you through and—"

"I know," I said, cutting him off. "It is all getting too much. I need to be on my own before I see him."

Bow stared, his eyes softening at my words. "That might be a good idea," he said, glancing behind him and then back at me again. "I will monitor him and even get him some food, too. Even a movie."

I gave him a small smile while looking over to where Brody was. He was running around, playing with some children, which was nice.

Needing to clear my head, I placed my hand on Bow's and squeezed him before I turned to walk away. Keeping my head down, I walked away, knowing that Bow was staring at me. Thinking about it, I felt more eyes on me since I had moved away.

This was the worst feeling.

Walking toward the clearing on the other side of the forest, I stepped into it and found a log to the side, out of sight of everyone who was trying to figure out who the human was. I sat and kept my mind on nothing, which was hard to do when it was full of what needed to be said.

I didn't know how long I sat there, but I noticed Jake walking toward me when I looked up.

Fuck.

It was time for me to talk to Axel. This needed to be done, but this wouldn't be easy.