3 YEARS LATER
Azalea
I bustle around the kitchen, putting together the trays with all my homemade breakfast pastries. Amy came in, holding Abigail on her hip.
“You are a literal angel Lea. Abi was up all night with a tummy ache, so I got no sleep!” Amy said, looking at the breakfast food I had prepared.
“It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep again. I just thought I’d work my stress out in the oven!” I told her.
“Girl, you gotta get that whole insomnia thing under control. You’re going to walk into an early grave!” She replied. She took little Abigail over and put her in her playpen and came to help me put out the breakfast buffet.
It has been three years since I came to the Inn. My life is much better now. I’ve gained weight eating regularly; I had curves on my petite frame now. My eyes no longer look like they are sunk into my face. My skin was lightly tanned from the time I got to spend outside. I never got any taller, but I was okay with that.
About six months after starting my job here, Mr. Greyback agreed to let me fix up the small building in the back so it could be my apartment. It allowed me to be close to the Inn if he needed me without taking up a whole room.
Amy had come back to work about two months after I started. She wasn’t a fan of me at first, but we’ve grown close. I absolutely adored her daughter, Abigail, and would babysit on occasion when Amy wanted some time with her husband.
Unfortunately, I still felt the residual effects of the mate bond. Sometimes it was excruciating. Like someone was squeezing my heart in my chest. There were times it even brought me to tears. I knew I would never be able to find love and didn’t feel the need to be attached. I hoped it would eventually fade, but it hasn’t. I tried to ignore it as best I could; I had Mr. Greyback to look after and Amy and Abigail to keep me company which was enough for me.
It took me a year, but I graduated with a high school diploma from a correspondence course. I now take 1 or 2 classes a semester with an online college. I hope to finish a degree in business eventually. I’ve been helping Mr. Greyback with the Inn more in the last year. The stubborn old man doesn’t want to retire or admit he’s getting forgetful.
Today is actually my day off, but last night was a rough night. My chest hurt for hours before I gave up on sleeping and went to the inn kitchen. Amy was the chef for the Inn, but she wasn’t a big baker. Once she warmed up to me, she let me come down to the kitchen whenever I wanted and bake to my heart’s content. It really did help distract me.
I could honestly say that I am exactly where I want to be. I grab one of my chocolate hazelnut croissants, my coffee cup, and the newspaper and head out to my apartment. I wave to Amy, promising to play with Abigail at lunch so she isn’t distracted. Our lunch service has gotten much bigger since I first started. But it does stress Amy out sometimes.
For now, I planned on eating my breakfast then reading the newspaper in my hammock until it was lunchtime.
-
Liam
Goddess, I hate these trips. Mom hasn’t relented on this mate shit for three years now. Even though my father agreed to step aside after my 18th birthday and officially gave me the Alpha title, they have not given up their search for my mate.
“About 20 minutes, and we’ll hit the human town in our territory. Do you want to stop for lunch? I heard there was a pretty good restaurant in town,” Damien said, breaking me from my thoughts.
I frowned for a second before throwing him a smile. “Sure. Let’s do it. I can eat.” I hadn’t been to the human town for three years. I couldn’t trust myself not to interfere. I also never told even Damien about her.
Damien found his mate on the day of his 17th birthday. They were getting married in a couple of months. I actually really liked Lily. She was a fierce little thing that wasn’t afraid to put my bear of a best friend in his place. He was wrapped around her finger.
I never let them see how much I wanted that. The pack had a strong Alpha who actively sought his mate. No one knew about the storm always raging inside me. I haven’t felt complete since rejecting her. I trained hard after, using it to distract myself. To the world, I had no weaknesses.
There were a couple of she-wolves over the years that helped me blow off steam. None ever came close to her. And I could never make up for the broken mess I left her in 3 years ago. We pulled into town. I looked out the window. What were the chances that I would see her? I didn’t know if I was more afraid to see her or not to see her. Goddess, help me.
“Here it is,” Damien said, pulling into the Inn parking lot. I groaned internally.
“You deserve this,” Gavin taunted in my head.
“Just fuck off,” I told him.
“Gladly!” He had never forgiven me about our mate.
We got out of the SUV and headed inside. The receptionist pointed us to the dining area, telling us a waitress would grab our orders and sit anywhere we like. He grabbed some seats and looked at the menu.
A cute, little black-haired waitress came by to grab our orders. Of course, she couldn’t help but flirt with us.
“Yes, Lily baby... We’ll be back in just a couple of hours... Just grabbing some lunch, honey. I will be home in time to help finish stuffing those wedding invites.” Damien pretended to answer his phone.
“Low blow, dude. I don’t do humans,” I linked him.
“Hey man, I go home with a human scent on me, and Lily won’t only be coming after me. She’ll get your ass too,” he linked back with a wink in my direction.
“Yes, baby. Love you too.” He said as the waitress walked away. Now she’d be all over me. The dining room was about 75% full, and it was still early for lunch. It was pretty impressive. I don’t know what the old man did, but it was definitely right.
All of a sudden, her scent hit me. It was the most beautiful, flowery scent in the world, and I can’t believe I can smell it again. “Mate! Mate!” Gavin began screaming in my head. I could feel him fighting me for control.
I began looking around wildly, not noticing the look on Damien’s face. Then I saw her. She came from the kitchen door with a small child in her arms. My body was moving on autopilot. I stood and stalked towards her. I stopped right behind her, “Mine,” escaping my lips in a low growl.
She stiffened at my presence, turning around slowly. Goddess was she a sight. She was beautiful before, but she absolutely took my breath away now. She had gained weight in all the right places. She was elegantly curvy, looking delectable in a pair of high-waisted jeans and a simple ruffled blouse. Her hair was long and shiny, falling in gorgeous, ginger waves down her back. Her eyes were the most brilliant, bright green I had ever seen in my life. She was glowing.
“Um, I am sorry. Can I help you with something, sir?” She said sweetly but confidently. Her voice was like a chorus of angels in my ears.
I looked at her and then at the child she held. Who was this? Why did she have a child? How old was this little girl? Where was the father? I couldn’t help the possessive energy coursing through me right now.
“If there is nothing you need, please excuse me. The front desk needs me,” Azalea said, turning to walk away. I reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Wait,” I said a little forcefully. She froze under my touch. The sparks igniting in my hand confirmed my thoughts but confused me. “Azalea?” I rejected her. Why could I still feel the bond - unless she never accepted the rejection.
“I’m sorry. I don’t seem to remember your name? But I really must be going. There’s an issue I should go attend to.” She said.
I didn’t let go. I was temporarily lost for words trying to figure this out. Was this Azalea? Why was I feeling these sparks? Didn’t she accept the rejection? Was this why I still felt like there was an emptiness inside me?
It was then that a man stood, pulling the child from her arms. “I believe she said she has business to attend to, sir. If there isn’t a problem here, release her arm.” He challenged me.
“John, really, I’m okay.” She said to him.
“No, Miss Lea. He has obviously mistaken you for someone else. No one handles a woman like this,” he told her.
I released her arm, rage shooting through my veins. She has moved on. He must be the father of her child if she is so comfortable around him. “My mistake. Excuse me,” I said through clenched teeth. I stormed out of the dining room, linking Damien to move his ass.
How the fuck could she? The kid had to be at least two years old. She wasted no time. And she didn’t even have the decency to accept my rejection. She just left me like this all this time. She couldn’t even look me in the eyes when I left her here. How did this happen? Did he force her?
The last thought sent a whole new wave of rage through me, and Gavin was trying to surface.
“I will f**king kill him. He touched what’s ours!” Gavin roared.
“We don’t know anything. Just let me f**king think!” I yelled back.
“Wanna tell me what the h**l all that was?” Damien said, interrupting my enraged pacing next to the SUV.
“Nothing. I need to run back. I’ll see you later,” I said, taking off towards the woods. As soon as I was far enough away from town, I transformed into my wolf, not caring enough to shed my clothes first.
Azalea
“Are you okay? Who the hell was that, Lea?” John asks me. It couldn’t have been him, right? He knew my name, but he didn’t look like the Liam I remembered. He was bigger, definitely far more muscular.
“Uh, yea, yea. I am okay. Thank you. It really wasn’t necessary, but I do appreciate it, John.” I replied, grabbing little Abigail from his arms. “Comes on, Abi girl, let’s go find Mama!” I say to the sweet child in my arms. She claps her hands with a big smile on her face.
I wave to John as I turn to take Abigail back to the kitchen. I’ll make it up to Amy later. I need to get out of this Inn right now.
Liam wouldn’t come back here, right? This town is all humans! Plus, he rejected me. He asked me not to hate him. I never did. I just tried to live. That is all I want to do.
His touch felt so lovely, though like a warmth radiating from his hand into my skin. Like his touch was filling this void that has been in my chest since he left me here. But he definitely wasn’t the same man. He was a bit taller and way more muscular than the Liam I knew. His expression was almost brooding like he has been in a bad mood for a long time now. His eyes held so much emotion; I wasn’t even sure where to start.
Oh, Goddess. And now I had this weird restlessness. I felt like something inside of me was trying to come out. I paced back and forth finally within the privacy of my apartment. I went to the closet and pulled out the box. The box that I have kept it in. I haven’t pulled it out in so long. The pain has not been too bad that I needed it in so long. But I couldn’t handle whatever this is. I opened the lid staring down at the neatly folded sweatshirt inside.
I was about to pull it out of the box when a sharp knock on my door stopped me. I put the lid on the box and set it on my bed. I went to the door and opened it. John was standing in my doorway.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Henry?” I asked, hoping to mask my maelstrom of emotions.
“Mr. Henry? I thought we were friends now, Lea? You hurt me,” he said, placing a hand over his heart in mock betrayal.
“Oh, haha. But really, do you need anything? If there is a problem with the wait staff, leave a note for Amy, and she’ll clear it up with them.” I said.
“No, no. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I got a bad vibe from that guy, almost like he wanted to take possession of you. For a second, I thought you might really know him,” he said with concern on his face.
“Really, I am okay. He must have mistaken me for someone he knows is all. I will be perfectly okay. But I am a little tired. We have been so busy lately and today’s my only day off this week. I think I’m just going to hop in my pajamas and lay in bed with a book today. Maybe get to sleep early tonight.” I reassured him.
“Well, alright, if you say so. I’ll be leaving town for a few days, but I’ll drop back in for lunch when I get back. Stay out of trouble for me,” John said. I nodded, smiling at him.
He turned around to leave, and I closed my door. I put my back to the door and slid down to the floor with a sigh. I brought my knees to my chest and put my forehead to my knees. This pain never goes away. Why won’t it just go away? I don’t want a happily ever after; I don’t want the handsome prince. No one saved me. I just want to live and be free of this void. I don’t need overwhelming happiness and perfect life. I just want to live a simple, content life.
Liam
I watched the John guy leave as she closed the door. I watch the little building from the woods at the side of the property. My wolf hearing let me hear her quiet sobs from inside.
“You are an idiot. He is hurting our mate, and you left her here,” Gavin growled in my head. We didn’t hear their whole conversation but could listen to Azalea sobbing now.
“Just stop,” I said.
“No. This is all your fault. You should have stood up to your father. You should have kept her with us. Everyone would have fallen in line! We could have made them! You took our happiness and left it in the hands of that old man. He may be one of us, but he couldn’t take care of her as we could have. Now she has a child with a human! And that human upsets her. He acts like she is his! When she is ours!” Gavin berated me. He was fighting me for control, but I couldn’t let that happen. He would barge in there and do only Goddess knows what.
“We have to leave her. We don’t know that he upset her. We can’t be here,” I reasoned with him.
“Check the cottage. See for yourself,” he challenged me. I guess there was no harm in peeking in on her. As long as no one saw me, I can check that she is okay.
I could hear movement coming from inside. I waited until it was quiet again before I snuck over to her window. Looking in, I saw a moderate, comfortable apartment. She had a desk with papers and textbooks upon it. There was a dresser with a laundry hamper next to it. She had a bookshelf with so many books on it; I can’t imagine anyone has read all those books. She had a small kitchen in one corner. Then I saw the bed. It was a small bed, probably only twin-sized. She had a stack of quilts and blankets on a trunk at the end of it. I could see her lying on the bed. She was curled in a ball, holding what looked like a sweatshirt to her body. Could that be my sweatshirt? I could hear small sobs coming from her as she lay in the bed clutching the sweatshirt.
My heart twisted in my chest. Azalea read my note. She didn’t hate me.; she didn’t forget me. I don’t know who that guy was, but he wasn’t making her happy.
“We could make her happy. We were meant to make her happy,” Gavin piped in.
“Do I deserve her now?” I said more to myself than to him. I took another look around her tiny cottage apartment. It piqued my curiosity that I saw no evidence of a child living here. There were no toys, no clothes, no bed.
I knew if I stood there watching her cry much longer, I would go to her. And I also knew I couldn’t. Nothing has changed. I cannot change her parents and what they did. I can’t change that everyone hated her, that I rejected her, and that she doesn’t have a wolf.
With one last look at her now sleeping form, I turned and ran back into the woods and back towards my packhouse.