Page 104 of The Mentor
“That’s right, and you’d better remember that the reason you and Pearl can sleep safely at night is because I make sure the pack knows who the alpha dog is.”
Khan lifted his beer and clinked glasses with his brother. “I’m forever grateful.”
“Grateful enough to let me adopt Mila?”
“Sure, if it was up to me,” Khan replied.
Boulder took over. “Raven is a special case and it’s only because her mother trusts Kya’s judgment,” he said. “Still, you should be excited for me and honored that you’re sitting at the same table as the happiest man in the Northlands.”
Raising my glass, I made a sarcastic toast. “Congratulations to you for stealing away Christina who chose me first, and sticking my nose in the fact that I could’ve been the father of two children by now.”
Boulder grinned. “My pleasure!”
After I downed half of my glass of beer, I was more determined than ever to marry and have my own family.
At that moment, my disappointment with Kya overshadowed my guilt at potentially marrying another woman. Not only had Kya rejected me, but she had rejected Raven too when the three of us could have been a family.
I sat quietly, while the three men around me spoke about Boulder’s good luck, and Khan’s hope that Pearl would soon be pregnant as well.
“What about you?” I asked Magni because although it was mean of me to bring up Laura, my own misery wanted companionship.
Magni was just about to take another sip of his beer but the glass stalled in mid-air.
“Today it’s been five months since she left,” he said. “Pearl has had contact with her, but apparently Laura isn’t ready to come home, yet.”
“And how long are you willing to wait for her?” I asked.
His expression somber, Magni set down his beer with a loud bump. “I have a deadline in mind, but I’m not telling anyone. If Laura isn’t back by then, I’m either going to break into the Motherlands again and get my wife back, or I’m going to divorce her and forget that she ever existed.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair with a stony expression on his face. “I still haven’t made up my mind which of the two it’s going to be.”
“I already told you: you’re not fucking breaking into the Motherlands again,” Khan commanded. “If you had any idea how hard Pearl has worked to convince the Council to let five of our men loose in the Motherlands, then you wouldn’t jeopardize it by doing something that stupid.”
Magni took another big gulp of beer.
“He has a point,” Boulder said. “Besides, do you really want to live with a woman that you have to drag back here? You can’t keep an eye on her at all times, and if Laura doesn’t want to be here, she’ll find a way to escape - just like she did the first time.”
Magni groaned and looked at me. “For your sake, I fucking hope Lori Ann will be tamer than Laura.”
“Lori Ann isn’t my wife yet.”
Magni shrugged. “She will be. There’s no way she’s choosing Nelson; that old son of a bitch is so ugly and mean that most women would rather kill themselves than marry him.”
“I still haven’t forgiven him for breaking my arm,” Boulder muttered.
“Yeah, she’s going to choose you for sure,” Khan agreed. “Sheriff won the last league, but he’s in the hospital with a punctured lung, so he’s out; and I heard Kennedy got four of his teeth knocked out.”
“Yeah, we were watching his fight and it wasn’t pretty,” Magni added. “His face is going to be so swollen Lori Ann will lose her appetite just looking at him.”
Boulder nodded. “Right, which basically leaves you and Moses, and that giant is twice her size and would scare any young woman.”
“I’m just happy I didn’t have to fight him,” I said and raised my beer to my lips. “Moses looks like a fucking mutant with thighs for arms.”
“Yeah, he’s strong, but you’re much faster than him,” Magni said. “If you had to fight him, I would put my money on you.”
I choked on my beer, and just stared at him. Magni didn’t give many compliments; in fact I didn’t remember him ever giving me a single one.
“Thanks,” I said and sat a little straighter.
“What did Kya say about the prospects of your bringing back a wife?” Magni asked me.
