Page 10 of His True Mate
“How exactly do you two plan to ensure I don’t just sit in my hotel room?” I wondered aloud.
Cruz and Brady shared a look that I didn’t particularly care for.
“We have a few ideas,” Cruz admitted just as Brady let another one rip.
“Jesus, Brady! One mile until the rest stop. Cut it out already.” I quickly rolled the windows down again wondering why I even bothered putting them back up.
Cruz had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, or from the sting of the stench emitting from the back seat. I wasn’t sure which.
“Well, if all else fails, I’m sure Brady can make it so you don’t want to stay in your room for too long. At least not without a gas mask or something,” Cruz said with a chuckle.
“You wouldn’t dare!” I challenged them both, but I caught the glint in Cruz’s eyes that told me I was going to regret daring them anything.
“Oh no,” Brady complained again.
“No!” I yelled. “I’m pulling off now. Clench your ass cheeks or something.”
I sped up as I pulled onto the exit and quickly found a parking spot.
“Go, man. Go,” Cruz cheered.
As Brady got out, he dropped one more for us to remember him by as he ran to the bathroom.
“Shit!” I yelled tugging off my seatbelt and jumping out of the car.
“Yup, I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s doing right about now,” Cruz commented.
I shook my head. “I’m going to get a snack. Want anything?”
“Nah. I’m good. Thanks.”
Cruz took off down a path that led to who knew where, some sign said a scenic overlook. I didn’t care as long it wasn’t near me.
I liked Cruz and Brady, most of the time. They were good guys and hard workers. If it hadn’t been for Cruz and Luke Larken stepping up to help out around the ranch, I didn’t think I’d be here right now. Hell, the dairy probably never would have been expanded. It was one of the best things to come from reuniting the Packs.
Collier Pack was large and prosperous, but some years back, Jedidiah Larken convinced a few families that our Alpha at the time, Thomas’s dad Zach, wasn’t handling things right and they broke away from Collier to form Larken Pack just outside our territory lines.
He never took care of his wolves. They were mostly assholes, high or drunk all the time. They drove fast motorcycles and slept around a lot. It wasn’t a good environment and with no land, they had turned to such things to help offset the itch that comes from not shifting into our animal state often enough.
Growing up I never thought to feel sorry for them or even try to help. None of us had.
When Thomas’s sister, Peyton mated a Larken wolf, we all got a clearer picture of just how bad things had gotten.
Jed had passed on and left the entire mess to Luke Larken. Turned out Luke wasn’t such a bad guy and he truly cared for his Pack. He made the tough decision to reunite the Larken wolves back into Collier as he stepped down as Alpha to assume the top Beta role in the Pack.
That wasn’t something easily done, and it’s taken a few years for them to assimilate into Collier, but with Luke’s leadership, we’re making great progress.
Some might look at him and think he was pretty weak to cave and hand over his wolves to another Alpha, to submit himself to that Alpha, but I knew better. Luke was probably the strongest wolf I knew, and he only ever did what he felt was right for his wolves.
The man worked harder than just about anyone, probably even Thomas. I respected the hell out of him for it.
Not all of the Larkens had celebrated the reunion. To be honest there were more than a few Colliers that fought it at first too. We’d had our ups and downs but seemed to be in a pretty good place right now.
Cruz had been a sort of leader among the Larkens before the merger and had stepped up to assist with the transition in a supervisory position at the ranch. He was actually a few years older than me and Brady a couple years younger, but age was just a number around the barn.
My role was to oversee the dairy division, which meant that to an extent both men worked for me.
My options at the vending machine sucked but I grabbed a bag of chips and a soda before heading back to the car, saying a quick prayer that the smell had lifted.
