32 Everything

Carrie

After I got off the phone with my gushing parents, I quickly dialed my friends. After a quick talk with Anna while I knew her pups would be in school, I dialed Samantha, because she would be pissy if Anna knew I’d found my mate a long time before she did.

I didn’t give her a chance to get going on whatever was currently happening in Greenwoods. “I found my mate,” I said, skipping any prelude.

She gasped. “You what!? You found him? Tell me everything.”

“Like what?”

“Like everything. You owe me every detail. I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

I sighed. “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone. I know it’s spiteful, but I don’t want Asshole Dane to think he didn’t completely fuck me over. Just because things worked out doesn’t make how he treated me okay.”

She chortled at my oh-so-clever nickname for the asshole alpha. “I promise.”

“So, I went for a run last full moon, same wild place I always go, and then I’m captured by some rogue wolves and they claim I’m trespassing. So I’m dragged to the alpha, but turns out he’s my mate. I’m obviously nervous, but he’s so hot I almost think it’s worth taking a chance on him. Then, Jason takes one look at me and says he doesn’t need a mate.”

“He did what!?” she asked, her voice full of outrage.

“Exactly! I was so upset with him. So, I said we should just reject each other, and in response I ended up confined in his trailer.”

“Trailer?”

“Yeah, brand new pack. We’re building it. Nothing fancy yet. Only a few buildings, trailers, some members still sleep in tents. The pack house is just a frame right now, I don’t really know when it’ll be done, that’s his department. Something about waiting for back ordered supplies, he says?”

“Okay. You’re building a pack, obviously something changed. So, what happened?”

“So, I do everything I can to make his life a living hell, and he finally lets me go. I went back to live amongst the humans for a week. My wolf is miserable, I’m almost ready to give in, and then he turns up on my doorstep. We talk, he finally tells me his name—he refused before that—I tried to reject him—”

“Why on earth would you try to reject your mate after he chased you down, you crazy girl? You were waiting for him for so long.” She groaned.

“Hey, I thought he was going to reject me, and I wanted to beat him to it.”

“Ugh. You’re your own worst enemy, I swear. You get something in your head, and there’s no changing it.”

“Anyway,” I said, drawing out the word dramatically to catch her attention before she could really pick up steam on her Carrie-is-too-single-minded rant, “he stopped me, convinced me to give him a chance, and we started making out in my kitchen. He says he wants to mark me, I agreed, and I marked him, too. He carried me off to the bedroom, and everything progressed naturally from there. I went back to his pack with him that night. I finished working, got rid of my apartment, and now I’m the pack’s luna, or at least I will be formally on the full moon.”

“Wow. I’m so excited for you! What’s the name of the pack?”

“Hasn’t been given one yet. For now it’s just got a registration number through the assembly. It’s still pretty small. Twenty-nine members once I’ve officially joined, and three potentials. They’ve been mostly focusing on survival rather than formalities, but I’m working towards getting the pack taken seriously next.”

Samantha laughed. “Sounds like you landed in the perfect place for you, girl. I’m going to have to come and visit you.”

“Well, give me a bit to settle in, then yeah.”

“I wonder if John would want to move eventually,” she pondered.

“You’re kidding, right? This isn’t established like Greenwoods, at least not yet.”

“Only slightly kidding. Not about visiting you. But it’s not like we’ve got anything tying us down here, not really.” There was a note of sadness in her usually upbeat voice. They had been trying without success for pups for years. Even her heats had not brought on the desired results. She didn’t like to talk about it so I never brought it up, but I knew it still pained them.

To distract her, I said, “So, how is Greenwoods?” I couldn’t help but be curious. I had been heavily invested in my former pack for a long time, and I still cared about the members.

“Good, overall.” She was holding something back.

“What is it?”

“Ugh. Well, it’s just that you were right. Luna Heidi isn’t your typical luna. She’s learning, but it’s a slow process. The gamma and now the delta female are helping. It takes three of them to do what you did by yourself, Carrie. Oh! And I just finally got back to my actual job, but that was all the gamma’s doing.”

“He found a teacher?”

“Yep. If I had known how long I would have been stuck in that position, I never would have volunteered in the first place. I was just trying to help you out and that sure smacked me in the face.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Not your fault. It wouldn’t have been months if you had been here.”

I wasn’t sure Samantha was right, but I wasn’t going to argue. I leaned back in the office chair. “Maybe.”

“Better name that pack soon so I have something to write when I apply for a pack transfer.” I could picture the teasing smile on my friend’s face. “I’m sure you could use someone with medical knowledge.”

“Are you really being serious?”

“Obviously I’m not just deciding anything without talking to John first, but I am considering it. If he wants to...”

“Well, I’m sure we’d be happy to have you if John wants to,” I said. “You’re not wrong about medical knowledge, and more trained fighters wouldn’t hurt, either. If you do decide to come, let me know, and I’ll talk to Jason about it. Obviously the answer would be yes on our end.”

Samantha laughed. “I’ll let you know. You’re so serious. Now, tell me the good stuff. You said your mate was hot. How hot is he?”

“Incredibly hot. Taller than me, toned everywhere, dark eyes that see right through me...”

“Is he good in bed?”

My face warmed. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Because it’s pertinent information.”

“In what way?”

“Just tell me.”

“Of course he is. The best.”

“Oh, good. Now I can talk about John without feeling like I’m rubbing it in your face. I’ve been waiting since I found him for you to find yours. Do you want to know what he does that absolutely makes me melt? He—”

“Not sure I consider that pertinent information.”

She laughed, clearly amused by causing me discomfort, cruel friend that she was. “Seriously, though, I am so happy for you.”

We talked for another hour before hanging up. I knew what was going on in Greenwoods so well it was almost like I had never left.

Then, at last I called Madeline. We hadn’t been friends for long, but I had gotten closer to the older woman really fast. I had been a bit nervous to tell her about Jason, but she had responded to my news with pure happiness for my sake. I suggested she come visit, and she promised to think about it and that she would send my other things along the first time a Greenwoods pack member came to visit.

I encouraged her again to come herself before we got off the phone. A small, unadmitted part of me hoped that if she left Greenwoods she might find someone too. Even if her original mate was no more, there was always hope for a second chance, and it was never too late to find love as long as she was alive.

Once I finished getting in touch with those I had neglected too long, I turned my attention back to the matters at hand. This pack would be a serious pack soon if I had anything to say about it, and I was excited to join it.

The full moon couldn’t come fast enough.

Author’s Note:

Hey, sorry for the longer than normal wait. If you’ve followed my books as I updated before, you’ll know I usually stick to my update schedules like glue unless I go faster than planned, but a bunch of things coincided this week to really sap my editing motivation, and they happened just as I ran out of buffer.

I actually love writing, but everything after that (covers, editing, uploading, scheduling) is a bit of a time consuming chore. I'm not complaining, though, because it's amazing anyone is reading my stuff at all, and I'm very grateful for that.

But, as I said, various things came together right along with my regularly scheduled monthly sadness, and it all just felt so pointless. So I decided to take a little unplanned break. I don’t often take them, I normally spend at least a couple of hours daily working on these things.

Anyway, the plan is to finish the whole book and return to daily updates asap, hopefully this week. No promises, but I like sticking to schedule.

And as always, thanks for reading!