How the hell had things gone so horribly wrong so fast? After Liam received the news from his mother and the initial shock had worn off, things moved in fast-forward. Liam’s dad was dead. My mate was now the alpha of a pack that was over two thousand miles away from mine, and I had no idea how we were going to work around that.
Aiden got us on the earliest possible flight, but we still didn’t leave until four o’clock the next morning. I barely saw Liam before the departure, but I knew his brothers needed him more than I did. I figured we’d have all the time together on the plane, but I was wrong.
Liam remained near his brothers, even on the flight, so I stayed close to Jamie. She didn’t seem concerned with their silence, but it was killing me. Regardless, I had done my best to give him room to grieve in his own way without pushing him to let me in. Maybe that hadn’t been the best way to handle things, because when his mother met us at the airstrip and gave me the cold shoulder, I was gutted. I was nobody. Or at least, that had been the way I took it.
When we arrived in the Catskills, I hadn’t known what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t what happened. The four of them embraced each other while Jamie and I stood back. We glanced at each other, unsure of how to proceed until Caleb finally pulled back and introduced Jamie.
“Mom, this is Jamie. My mate.” He pulled her close to his side. “Jamie, this is my mother Sera.”
Sera wiped the tears from her eyes and embraced Jamie tightly, murmuring about how glad she was that at least one of her sons was finally growing up, but how devastated she was that Elijah wasn’t here to see it.
I waited for Liam to introduce me and correct her, but he was speaking quietly with Aiden, paying us no attention.
Sera didn’t acknowledge my presence before turning to her sons again. “Let’s head back to the house. I’ll have Addie show Jamie and her friend to your house when we arrive at the pack house.”
Jamie’s friend? What the fuckery? I jerked my head toward Liam, but he still said nothing. Caleb glanced from Liam to me and shrugged his shoulders apologetically. This wasn’t going how I had imagined, not one shitty bit.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie whispered as we began walking toward a waiting van.
“It’s okay.” I tried to school my features like I didn’t care, even though my heart was being slowly ripped from my chest.
“Liar.”
Apparently, I didn’t hide my emotions very well.
Aiden cut in front of Liam for the front seat. “Don’t you want to sit in the back?”
Liam shook his head as if he was trying to clear it. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”
My mate had just lost his father. I was trying to be considerate, but my patience would only go so far if the behavior continued. I was walking a fine line between being the understanding mate and being a selfish woman. Losing his father so suddenly had not been something we could have anticipated.
Caleb and Jamie climbed into the back row, and I slid in the middle with Liam. He gave me a small smile, but still, no words were spoken between us. I reached out a hand toward him to offer some comfort. He took it, but his grip was limp as if he didn’t really want to be touching me.
I tried to focus on something other than my frustration and took the opportunity to study their home. The land was similar to Raven Point, but the trees were spread further apart, almost sparse in comparison to our lush forest. It wasn’t quite as vibrant as the Oregon terrain I was used to.
We drove past a few outbuildings, but nothing was marked to tell me what they were. I had wanted to ask what they were used for, but for the first time in my life, my self-confidence was lacking. I kept my mouth shut and waited, hoping things would begin to look up once we got settled.
The house we pulled up to was easily twice the size of ours back home. Large river rock ran up several accent walls, and the remainder of the house was painted a soft beige.
When the van came to a stop, Liam got out and shut the door behind him before I could get out. It was my last straw. Choice words began slipping from my tongue, but Caleb put his hand over my mouth.
“Easy, Firecracker,” Caleb whispered as he removed his hand. “Give him some time. When you met Liam, he might have seemed like just a playboy, but there was a reason he wanted to speak with our parents in person. He carried a lot of responsibility on his shoulders for our pack. Expectations for his future were high. Right now, he’s struggling between hurting his mother even more after losing her husband and choosing you. I know it’s hard, but please have some patience.”
I took a deep breath, glancing behind me to make sure the others were out of the car already.
“I’ll try, but I won’t stick around here and be ignored for long. He might be my mate, but we’re not bonded. I won’t be treated as if I don’t exist. I might not have lost my father, but I did recently lose a brother. I get grief. I’ll do my best to keep your advice in mind, but patience isn’t my strong suit.”
