Chapter 13: Chapter 13

SLOAN

He was driving back to the house with mixed emotions. His day of meeting with the panther pack and paying his respects to their fallen members had gone as expected.

The pack, in turn, congratulated him on his upcoming claiming. They even extended their well-wishes and hospitality toward his female and invited them to visit sometime soon.

Afterward, he’d made his way to his second appointment at the tailor. His suit fit perfectly, so he collected it and had it stored flat in his trunk.

Tristan, in a stroke of genius, had arranged for the elders to congregate in one location so that he could meet with them all at once.

Strangely, it was only the male members of the council who were in attendance, and they had several words of wisdom for him.

He chuckled to himself as he remembered two of them in particular:

~“The most important piece of advice we can pass onto you, Sloan, is that your female is ALWAYS right! Even if she’s wrong, she’s right.”~

The other members all agreed with his comment by nodding and humming to themselves.

His father also had some advice for him: ~“Son, you should always trust her judgment. Women have a way of reading individuals that’s far superior to men.”~

“I love it when my brain babies prove to be fruitful,” Tristan stated proudly as he dusted imaginary dirt off his shoulder.

“They may be the only babies you ever have,” Sloan smart-mouthed, slowing down to a red light.

His laughter was interrupted when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He’d felt this pain before, when Myra had almost rejected him as her mate.

He pressed a button on the steering wheel, stopping the music. He then waited for a beep to echo through the car.

“Call Angel,” he commanded, and an automatic voice repeated, “Calling Angel,” and was followed by the sound of a phone dialing. Sloan flicked on the indicator and pulled to a stop at the side of the road.

“What’s happening?” Tristan quizzed.

“Something’s wrong,” he snapped, and the call connected.

However, it wasn’t the voice he was expecting. Instead, Megan’s voice rang out nervously. “Sloan?”

“Megan? Is Myra there?”

“Ah, yeah, she’s here.”

“Could you put her on the phone, please?”

There was a brief pause, but it spoke volumes. Sloan made an illegal U-turn and started toward the Gallaghers’ house.

“Um…”

Sloan’s temper quickly got the better of him. “Megan, I’m not in the fucking mood for games! Put Myra on the phone.”

“Hey, there’s no need for that,” she barked at him, causing his own anger to vanish.

“Shit, that was uncalled for. It’s been a long day, but I know Myra’s in distress, and it’s making me just as anxious.”

“You too, huh?” Megan unknowingly confirmed his suspicions that something was wrong.

He took the high road and swiftly apologized. “Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Yes, yes, you’re forgiven. Please hold on.”

She must have moved the phone away from her mouth, because her voice sounded muffled as she spoke to Myra.

The seconds that ticked by as he waited for her to take the phone felt like hours. However, when her sweet voice finally filled the car, he instantly calmed down.

“Hello?”

“What’s wrong?” He could hear the apprehension in her voice as well as his mother’s voice in the background.

“Hahaha… W-whatever gave y-you that impression?”

~It’s cute that she thinks she can lie to me, even over the phone~, he thought, then verbally warned her. “Myra…” He waited again.

She sighed heavily. “J-just…um… It was just a mini pre-ceremony panic attack. Nothing to worry about.”

“Angel?” he started. “Are you having second thoughts?”

He felt Tristan’s shocked eyes on him. Like before, the pregnant pause spoke volumes.

“Um…”

“Myra, I’m on my way to your house. We’re five minutes away,” he said, then disconnected the call and put his foot down to make the car go faster.

As Sloan pulled up to Myra’s house, his racing thoughts started to calm.

He was thankful that Tristan had sensed his mood and stayed uncharacteristically quiet, because Sloan was sure he would have lashed out at him if he’d said anything.

At the moment, he preferred to be left to brood about the situation.

The one question that kept popping into his mind was ~What the hell happened? We had such a carefree morning, and now she’s second-guessing our pairing?~

Before the car came to a complete stop, the front door opened, and there stood his angel.

“Stay here,” Sloan instructed Tristan as he put the car in park and climbed out. He leaned against the closed driver-side door, watching Myra slowly make her way toward him.

He waited until she stood in front of him before speaking to her. “I will ask again: are you having second thoughts?” He could sense and see the internal struggle she was having.

She then bowed her head in defeat. Sloan gently touched her chin with his knuckle so she’d look him in the eye. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

“You can tell me.”

“It’s not so much second thoughts, but an overwhelming sense of fear and panic for what happens afterward.

“I do want to be claimed by you, but everything just seemed so sudden,” she started to explain, but her voice cracked near the end as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

He smiled softly and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. She cleared her throat and continued.

“I mean, the past three days have been wonderful. But being separated from you even for just a day… I don’t know. All my insecurities came rushing back.

“It didn’t help that your mother and my sister were already making plans for our children. I just panicked.”

“Wow, my day sounds boring compared to yours.

“However, I have no plans to put pups inside you just yet. The ceremony’s only happening so suddenly because, one, we happened to meet five days before the full moon; two, you’re not a wolf; and three, I want to protect you.”

“You don’t want pups?” Myra asked.

“I want at least five little Myras and Sloans running around the pack house.” He laughed at the shocked look on her face, and he pulled her into his arms.

“I do want pups, just not now. I was thinking that after the formality of us claiming each other, we should get to know one another…our likes, dislikes, the whole enchilada.

“That way, we’ll have a solid foundation on which we can start the rest of our lives together.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“So, anxiety and panic attacks are now in my Myra’s arsenal.” Sloan smiled.

“And overprotective and pushy are already in my Sloan’s itinerary,” Myra replied.

“Don’t forget the WCD,” Tristan teased from inside the car. Unbeknownst to both of them, Tristan had lowered the car window to listen to their discussion.

Sloan rolled his eyes. “Take the car home,” he ordered his brother without looking at him. “Declan will bring me back when the females kick me out at ten tonight.”

“Good thing my brainchild from earlier cleared up your evening.”

“Go away, you menace.” Myra looked around Sloan and stuck her tongue out at Tristan. He mimicked her by sticking his tongue out at her.

“And a handsome menace too.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m not to be disturbed unless something needs my immediate attention. Also, please put my suit in my closet.”

“Yes, master,” Tristan teased in a low creepy voice as he eased himself over the center console of the car and fixed himself in the driver’s seat.

Sloan wrapped his arm around Myra’s shoulders, and together they walked around the house to the backyard.

Sloan was deeply impressed by the craftsmanship and design of the backyard.

The layout of the wooden back deck incorporated a gazebo that provided an ingenious 360-degree view of the area, encompassing the well-manicured lawn, which was followed by a stone and gravel walkway leading into the forest.

“Slo—” his mother’s voice started to bark from the open kitchen doors, before Sloan glared at her. “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man.”

“And who was it who caused her to go into full panic mode?”

His mother stood for a moment, dumbfounded, looking like a fish gasping in the open air. It was one of those rare occasions when he’d made his mother speechless.

“Besides, there’s still time. Ten p.m. is hours away, and I wish to spend some time with my mate,” Sloan announced as he sank into the cushions of one of the gazebo’s love seats and pulled Myra onto his lap.

“I don’t want to get in the way of you and your mother. This isn’t how I wish to build a relationship with your family.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you can never,” Sian called. “It’s nice seeing Sloan all obsessive with you. It reminds me of his father when we first paired.”

She smiled and offhandedly waved her hand at them. “I’ll send out some food and drinks for you. Bryn, pay up!”

“That’s not fair!” His sister’s voice whined from somewhere inside the house.

“So we have a couple of minutes of uninterrupted time to ourselves. Let’s talk.”

“You do remember my twin and Megan are just inside. I’m amazed they’re not out here harassing us.”

“Bothersome sisters-in-law: check. You’ve met Bryn? Is she still playing a sweet angel?” He smiled and nestled his head into the crook of her neck, inhaling as he moved.

“HEY!” Bryn’s voice rang out from inside the house.

“It’s nice to have a little sister.”

“Just wait till her form of Megan shows up. That sweet little sister will become a devil.”

“We heard that!” Bryn and another voice called out.

“Pearl’s here? Oh boy.”

“She must be the girl who showed up just before you called. So you want to talk?”

“Yes, about anything. I’m an open book.”

“Um…”

Sloan observed Myra breaking eye contact with him and nervously playing with her hands, as if she wanted to ask a burning question but was not sure how to.

He placed his hand over hers and brought their joined hands up to his lips to gently kiss her hand. He smiled, sensing her concerns.

“Let me guess. You want to know about Elizabeth.”