Page 37 of Truth or Pack

I gave him a ‘shut the hell up’ look but he didn’t back down.

"I'm sure the right one will come along soon. I waited for my Harv for twenty years and we were married for almost thirty-five when he passed. I’m grateful for every day that I had with him," she gushed. “He was the kind of alpha who made you feel safe and protected.”

"That's the kind of love I'm looking for," Ash told her as he lowered the tailgate on her truck. “We found her, but it’s complicated.”

She winced. “Oh no, already taken? I was fearful of that when I was looking for a mate.”

“Not exactly,” Ash said. “Let’s just say our girlfriends in college had issues with her we didn’t know about, and used us against her. Now, years later, here we are finding out she’s ours and she thinks we’re assh… jerks.”

“Nice save,” I snorted, but she ignored his almost cursing as she thought it over.

“I take it you apologized? Not just said sorry but explained and were sincere?” she asked. This old lady was invested now, there was no getting out of this pep talk. Honestly, as much as I hated to admit it, maybe this was what we needed.

“We have,” I confirmed. “When she first saw us and had that reaction, we got to the bottom of it. Our beta has a softer touch so he was the one who really helped her give us a chance. We’re trying, but now it feels like no matter what we do, one wrong move and we’ll lose her.”

Deb’s expression softened as she looked at me. “I think the fact you’re trying so darn hard, pardon my words, tells me that you care a whole lot. That right there is what’s going to save you. Finding a mate, a true scent match, really brings things into perspective. It’s like you’ve been on autopilot, but now you’refinally focused and that person is right at the center, changing your personality, your thoughts… just shifting you to a new version of yourself.”

Ash nudged my shoulder. “I think it’s done that to both of us. He’s practically soft now.”

She chuckled. “Mark my words. Treat her right from here on out and you’ll get your happily ever after. Mates aren’t an easy thing to walk away from.”

“We will,” I promised before waving at the truck. “Now, let’s get started, enough emotional talk.”

Deb didn’t argue, she just shook her head and gestured to the truck bed.

"Just set this right inside the back door until we get that mess cleaned up," she instructed.

"Yes, ma'am," we said at the same time, getting a laugh from her before she headed back inside.

"When did you become the mushy type?" I asked Ash as he jumped in the bed of the truck to take off the ratchet strap.

"Since the first scent of Taryn," he admitted as he pushed the first piece at me. "Knowing that she was my mate, something clicked inside of me and I knew that I wanted real love. You know, like you see in the movies."

"Okay, when we get back to the house, I'm checking your head for a bump. You must have hit it," I told him.

Even though I was joking with Ash, I felt the same. Taryn was the missing piece we needed and having her around just felt right.

“Do you hear that?” Mathias asked after I loaded up the book in the car, wrapped carefully so he couldn’t see what it was.

I straightened up, closing the trunk, then listened. “The song?”

“Yes, I think they’re close,” he laughed, following the sound of eighties rock music. A bit closer and I could hear someone singing along. Mathias shot me a grin as he pulled me around the corner to find Ash and Holt helping an older beta fix up her front door. The sidewalk in front of her antique shop was the only part that was actually clean, it seemed they had been working hard.

Feeling light after an afternoon with Mathias, I jumped in with Ash when we were close enough.

He turned around, a bright smile on his face as I belted out the chorus toLivin’ on a Prayerby Bon Jovi.

Holt was shaking his head, but his smile was also brighter than I’d ever seen it.

Ash and Mathias both joined in as the song continued, me singing into an invisible mic while Ash used the broom he was holding. I danced my way over to Holt, holding my fake mic out to him when the chorus was just about to come back again.

“No way,” he tried to protest, but it just didn’t have the same effect.

“You know, you don’t have to pretend to be miserable all the time, alpha,” I teased, earning a huff from him.

“I think you’re starting to make me realize that, omega,” he shot back, leaning against the brick on the outside of the building as he watched the rest of his pack act like fools.

When the song ended, I was breathless, but smiling wider than I think I ever had. Some of the panic of meeting them had worn off and all I wanted to do was have more moments like this. Ones where I got to see who my pack really was, no former misconceptions or pain involved.

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