Page 65 of Protected Promise
“Several,” Tobi said. “Landon and I used to sneak off and explore them as kids. Nothing infuriated his father more. He hated us coming so close to the border, but really we only made it this far one time. The others are scattered throughout the woods and much smaller, like large cabins. I’ve always wanted to remodel one to live in.”
Landon rolled his eyes. “I told you we’ll build closer to the Lodge.”
“There’s a Lodge?” I asked, starting to get even more excited.
“It’s the building we all live in,” Tobi explained. “It’s smaller than the one you just saw, but big enough for us all for now and definitely more up-to-date.”
I couldn’t wait to see it. There had always been something so exotic and romantic about hotels, lodges, bed and breakfasts, and even campgrounds to me. That was the biggest reason I’d chosen hospitality for my major. I wanted to be a part of that other world and live a vacation life. I knew I had romanticized the concept, but it still tugged at my heart.
Tobi rolled down the window when we turned off the highway onto a dirt packed road. She stuck her nose out the window and sniffed the air.
“Home,” she said with a happy sigh.
Landon grinned and squeezed my hand.
We drove for at least another half an hour through the woods before coming to a large clearing.
“Welcome home, Kaitlyn,” Landon said proudly.
I gasped. The clearing was even larger than I expected and looked like a well maintained park. From the way he had forewarned me I was expecting wild nature. That was fine too, and I could see it all around as we drove in, but right there in the heart of it all was a beautiful oasis.
In the midst of that was the Lodge. The large sign above the four story entrance even said as much.
The second the car came to a stop, I jumped out to look around. I was overwhelmed with giddy excitement. It was like a fairytale come true. Through my darkest times in life, I’d imagined being whisked away to just such a place and here I was.
“It’s perfect,” I whispered.
Landon wrapped an arm around me and smiled proudly.
Things got crazy quickly. A woman came running out of the front door waving her arms in the air as she ran up to me. Just before she threw her arms around me, she came to a sudden halt.
“You are not my daughter. Who the hell is this and where is my girl?” the woman snarled.
“Mom?” Tobi cried as she ran around the car to embrace the woman.
I was taken back by the hostility in the woman’s tone as she spoke to me. Until that moment I had hoped that everyone would be as welcoming and excited to have me as their Pack Mother as Tobi had been. That dream had been instantly shattered.
Why should any of them want me here? I was nobody to them. They didn’t know me and I seriously doubted they were just going to trust me. I was going to have to channel every bit of training I’d had to keep a positive face and let them warm up to me if Tobi’s mother was any indication of the rest of them.
A younger couple emerged and went to greet Landon while completely ignoring me.
“You’ve had a safe trip, I assume,” the man asked as others began filing out to see what was happening.
“I did. Thank you, Dereck. Kyle Westin sends his best regards. He is thrilled to hear how settled you and Mina are here.”
“I hope you gave him our best as well,” the woman beside Dereck said. I could only assume that was Mina.
“Dereck and Mina joined us a few years back migrating from Westin Pack. It was how I got to know Kyle and heard about the ARC,” he explained to me. “As well as a million other things. They’ve really helped to open doors for us that I never even imagined were possible.”
I was grateful that at least Landon hadn’t forgotten me amongst the commotion.
As he spoke to me, everyone around us became silent as they stared suddenly curious about the mysterious girl by their Alpha’s side.
Landon
Chapter 18
Until that moment it had never once dawned on me to be nervous about introducing Kaitlyn to my people. I don’t know what I had expected, but it had taken a lot not to growl at Connie’s hostile tone when she had spoken to my mate.
