You&Me: Book 4

Chapter 45: Bad Reputation (Saigon)

I knocked on the front door before opening it. "Grandma, we're here."

"Oh, goodness." She hurried from the kitchen. "Welcome home." She kissed my cheek and hugged Archer. "I'm so excited for you two. We keep adding men to this family. Give me a great-granddaughter, at least," she laughed. "What until you see what I have planned. You're going to love it."

Archer stood there with an unsure smile. The wedding thing was still weird for him.

I put my arm around his shoulder. "I bet it'll be great."

"Oh, it will. Where is it?" She reached for Archer's hand.

"What?" I asked.

"The rings." She shook her head when she saw we weren't wearing them. "You're engaged. Be a little proud of it."

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "They're in my bag."

"Well, get them out." She ushered us inside and closed the door. "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes or so. Go put your things away and then show me what the rings look like."

"Yes, ma'am." Taking Archer's hand, I led him through the living room. "Hi, grandpa."

He nodded from his rocking chair that was by the Christmas tree. "Welcome to the family, Archer. Bear with my wife for a bit, she'll calm down after the wedding."

"Will do," he said, taking a deep breath.

We went to the guest bedroom and put our bags on the bed. I unzipped mine and fished around for the ring case.

"Where are your parents at?" asked Archer.

"My father had some last-minute pack stuff. He texted me this morning about it. By the way, do you want to take a drive with me to Bloodhound? There are some people I'd like to say hi to."

He glanced at the present in my bag. "The pup you mentioned?"

I nodded. "Cricket, I was going to have my parents give it to him, but I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and go to the pack."

"Bloodhound?" He arched a brow.

"Yeah, which is still a part of the pack."

"Hmm..." He picked at his fingernails. "Sure. If I stay here, your grandma will want to do wedding stuff."

"Exactly." I pulled out the ring case and passed it to him. "We better go show her. She takes this kind of stuff pretty seriously."

He opened the container. "I'm noticing."

We went to the kitchen.

My grandma stopped stirring and hurried over. "Let me see, let me see."

Archer opened the case. "Here they are."

"Well, put it on." She took out one. "I want to see it on. Having them just sitting there is very anti-climatic."

Archer took the other one. "That's Saigon's." He slipped the ring on his finger.

My grandma passed me the other ring. I put it on, and we showed her.

"I love it." She held our hands. "Your dad did the same thing. Xavier donated one of his elk teeth to the cause," she laughed. "It is beautiful. Though, he rarely wears it."

"Dad already offered to make a box for them," I replied.

"Good, then you won't lose them." She smiled and went to her purse. "Let me get my phone."

Archer tensed up.

"Grandma," I groaned. "We don't need pictures."

"I need pictures," she stated. "The family would like to see and it would look great in your wedding book."

"Wedding book?" whispered Archer.

"I already started making it." My grandma bristled with excitement.

"Yeah." I put an arm around Archer's shoulder. "Like my grandpa said, bear with it for a bit," I whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek.

He let out a sigh. "Tell me what to do."

***

(Archer)

It was weird to be going to the mountains and end up at another pack. I would have preferred to visit Northern Ridge. It had been a while since I had been back. My parents would be coming to the Perri's house soon, so I doubt I'd be able to go home on this trip either.

Saigon pulled up to a large metal building. The surrounding ATVs let me know this was the Bloodhound garage.

"This is it." He grinned at me.

I climbed out of the vehicle, trying to look excited. It was freezing cold and I didn't care to visit Bloodhound.

"I'll be right back." Saigon jogged over to the building and typed in the code to open the door.

With a sigh, I leaned against the truck and pulled my coat around my face. Being outside was better than being interrogated by Karen. She was a nice human, but overwhelming. This wedding was already stressing me out.

Saigon returned, waving the keys overhead. "Got them." He stopped and got the present out of the backseat before locking the truck.

We climbed into one of the ATVs fitted with tracks to get through the snow. We were off the faint trace of a road soon after.

"I'm kind of excited to show you where I grew up."

"Hmm... you could have come back to Northern Ridge," I muttered. "Instead, you ditch me to go and live with Bloodhound and then humans."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He turned to me. "What's wrong with Bloodhound?"

"Nothing, it would just be nice when they learned to fend for themself."

Saigon stopped the ATV in the middle of the road.

I braced myself, so I didn't hit the dash.

He turned in his seat. "Bloodhound is fending for themself."

I shifted in my seat. "Then why is the beta still there?"

"They need a leader, Archer. Gage is learning but he's not ready to take over the pack. Not to mention, Northern Ridge took their alpha. Gage has to lead all by himself, so cut him some slack."

"Sorry." I gripped my knees. "Everyone back home always tells me they take more than they give back."

"They do not," stated Saigon. "For a pack that was nearly wiped out, they are working hard to hold their own. I get that Bloodhound isn't seen in a good light by the older werewolves. Hell, my father is the one who killed Jet, but they're a strong pack. Almost half of the werewolves living there moved from Northern Ridge. They are a branch of Northern Ridge, not some parasite everyone claims them to be. Northern Ridge grows stronger every year, and Bloodhound is helping with that."

I nodded and stared at the forest. "Sorry."

He reached over and grabbed my hand. "Why are you shaking?"

"My beta just yelled at me, you figure it out."

Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me close and kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. Bloodhound is special to me. I will fight for Northern Ridge but to me, Bloodhound is a part of that."

"Sorry."

He laughed in my ear. "Don't apologize anymore. You're making me feel bad." He gave me a squeeze before letting go.

We started down the road.

"I didn't mean to upset you. The others gave me a bad impression."

Saigon flashed me a smile. "Then, it's a good thing, you'll get to experience Bloodhound for yourself. I bet once you see it, you'll change your mind."