Summer (Running With Alphas: Seasons Book 3) Page 3

  Directing her ire at the other shifter, Olivia said, “She has the face of a toad.”

  Taylor took a step back, happy to let the two of them argue. She was careful to scan the area, making sure that Carly was well out of earshot. If this had been a movie, the human would have undoubtedly been slinking behind a nearby tree, poised to hear every disparaging comment. To Taylor’s relief, she spotted her far off across the lake, with Lark and either Alder or Hale at her side.

  Clover continued to argue, clearly growing irked. “What does it matter what she looks like? Last time I checked, human females weren’t exactly lining up to live in caves and make babies for wolf men. She’s here and she’s willing. Besides, she’s not that bad looking.”

  Olivia let out a huff. “You haven’t seen my brother, and if you saw the last female he was with, a female that he still very much has feelings for, you wouldn’t be wasting our time with this beaver-faced human.”

  Something about what she’d said tickled at Taylor’s memory, but she didn’t have time to explore it. Olivia turned her attention back to Taylor.

  She demanded, “Are you going to say anything? This was all your idea.”

  Why did everyone keep saying that to her?

  Taylor took a breath, rubbing her belly in a gesture meant to sooth herself more than her unborn child.

  “Look, right now, we’re all just making assumptions. Let’s get the two of them together and see what happens. Besides, it’s not like Silas knows we’re trying to set him up with Carly. All he knows is that Henry’s mother is visiting our pack.”

  Olivia grimaced. “That’s not the case anymore. I told him everything this morning.”

  “What? What did he say?”

  Olivia folded her arms across her chest and looked down at her feet. “He was angry. But I told him that it was the best way to secure the alliance between our packs.”

  “But we already have an alliance,” Taylor said, frowning. “We’ve had one for years.”

  Olivia stamped her foot impatiently. “Halcyon has an alliance. All Whiteriver has is the vague promise that Halcyon won’t change its mind.”

  “You can’t really feel that way. And what about Shan? You know how—”

  “You think we’re that significant to him? That he’s going to swoop in to rescue us if Halcyon attacks?” Olivia kicked at the rocks, and then looked up at Taylor. “We’ve spent a lot of time together these past few weeks. I know you’re a good person, Taylor. But all Silas knows is Alder and Hale killed our father, forced us from our homes, and then bullied us into submission for years. It’s going to take a lot more than a few promises to get him to trust Halcyon.”

  Taylor knew only bits and pieces of Whiteriver and Halcyon’s history, and what she did know was only from Halcyon’s perspective. According to her pack mates, Silas’s father had held the entire valley before Alder and Hale had taken it from him, and he hadn’t been a just ruler.

  She couldn’t believe that her mates would have killed him and taken his pack if he hadn’t been as horrible as everyone said, but then again, her mates had both been quite different before she’d met them, Hale in particular. And even if everything she had heard about the former alpha was true, there was real pain in Olivia’s eyes when she spoke of her father’s murder. Taylor’s own mother had been a real piece of work, but she couldn’t imagine having to be neighbors with her killers, let alone make peace with them.

  With a shoulder-slumping sigh, Olivia said, “Silas doesn’t want a mate. At least, not one he doesn’t choose himself. But he recognizes that taking Carly as his mate could put some of this tension to rest, what with her being the mother of one of your pups. He’s giving it serious consideration, or at least he was this morning.”

  Olivia followed Taylor’s gaze towards the other side of the lake, where Carly was still strolling with Lark.

  “It was a good plan, Taylor. But her… She’s not the one for Silas.”

  Chapter Four

  “Is it normal for them to just come and go like that?”

  Carly watched as Henry and Shadow departed from the lake, their pale tails wagging as they cantered alongside one another.

  Less than an hour ago, Taylor had rejoined her mates, hoping to get some alone time with Alder. Instead, she’d ended up playing hostess to Carly while Alder spent time with his sister. Taylor would have even preferred spending time with Hale, but he took the first opportunity to slink away and, per usual, Taylor had no clue where he’d gone. For all she knew, he could be lurking in the trees that very moment, waiting for Carly to undress.

  Taylor was already in the water and had been for some time. Her fingers had pruned, but once she’d gotten into the cool water, returning to the hot, dry land was horribly unappealing.

  They had come so that Carly could bathe, but while Taylor had been channeling her inner-mermaid, Carly had sat on the shore, trying to talk to Henry. For a while, the pup had been lazing next to his brother on the shore, watching Carly from one eye and Taylor from the other. All of Carly’s attempts to cajole him into communication had been met with stony silence, and the one time she’d tried getting close, he’d actually growled.

  Throughout the bizarre scene, Taylor had kept her mouth clamped shut. Part of her felt ashamed of how Henry was behaving and she again had the urge to assure Carly that this behavior was totally out of character for him. In the end, she decided that it was better Carly just believe that Henry had a chip on his shoulder.

  “You get used to it,” Taylor said, though it was only partially true. “When they were little, I tried to keep Shadow and his sister Fawn corralled, but once they learned to shift it was pretty much impossible.”

  Carly asked, “When did Henry first…”

  “When he was around a month old. It was a little earlier than most pups.”

  Carly stared at her, clearly waiting for her to say more, and Taylor wanted to. There was nothing in the world she liked talking about more than her children, and Henry was a particular point of pride for her. In spite of his arm and his precarious start in life, he was thriving.

  But although she could have easily talked about Henry for hours, Taylor remained silent. Her memories of Henry and her knowledge of him were like treasures she desperately needed to hoard.

  “He walks so well,” Carly said, breaking the awkward silence. “I barely notice his arm, um, leg.”

  Taylor agreed. “It really doesn’t seem to bother him. Maybe when he’s older… Anyway, you should wash up if you’re going to. Silas could be here soon.”

  She wondered if he would even come at all. When Olivia had departed for Whiteriver, she’d seemed reluctant to even bring Silas, consenting only after some persuading by Clover. Taylor had no idea if Olivia was going to tell her brother about Carly’s appearance, or if she was going to let him be unpleasantly surprised.

  Feeling guilty for being so judgmental, Taylor covertly watched as Carly undressed. She tried to find some redeeming quality in the young woman’s body, but after a moment she looked away, seeing none and now feeling like a creep.

  “Clover and Sarah didn’t tell me much about him,” Carly said as she began to wade into the water. “Silas, that is. They just told me that he was around my age and might be looking for a mate.”

  “I think he’s a few years younger than you,” Taylor said. “But, as you can see, shifters mature a lot faster than humans, especially males. You’d be hard pressed to find a human who was nineteen or twenty who looked anything like Silas.”

  “What does he look like?” Carly asked. She shivered as she lowered herself into the cool water, submerging herself up to her chin.

  Taylor motioned for her to come out farther, near the rock that she was lounging against.

  “Like most shifter males. Fit, handsome, a bit scary looking.”

  Carly worried her bottom lip. “Define handsome. Handsome like good looking, or handsome like your mates?”

  Taylor arched a brow at her.


  Carly said, “I guess what I mean is, is he the kind of guy that wouldn’t be interested in a girl like me, like not in a million years?”

  Taylor couldn’t ignore the echoes of her own self-judgement in Carly’s words. She softened, just a little.

  “He’s pretty hot, but don’t let that freak you out. I never thought Alder would go for me, let alone his brother, too.”

  Carly’s frown deepened. “Yeah, but you’re…”

  “What?”

  She waved a hand at Taylor, accidentally splashing her in the process. “Sorry! Forget I said anything. I’m being weird. It’s just nerves. I pretty much left everything behind to come here. If Silas isn’t interested, I’m really not sure what I’m going to do. I really want to get to know him.”

  “It could take a while. Silas isn’t much of a talker.”

  Carly shook her head. “No, I mean Henry.”

  Taylor’s throat tightened. “Oh.”

  “I’m sure he’ll warm up to me in time. He has to, right? I’m his mother.”

  Taylor searched for an adequate response, but couldn’t find one. She had spent the summer preoccupied with how she was going to keep Henry. It had never occurred to her that Henry would have no interest in his biological mother. If he were human, she would have assured Carly to give it time, but he was more wolf than anything else. Maybe they had already missed some crucial bonding period and there was no going back.

  Not knowing what to say, she started to reach for Carly, intent on comforting her with a pat on the shoulder, or even a hug, if necessary.

  Taylor never quite made it that far.

  “Was it the same for you and your mom, when you met her?” Carly asked. “Did it take time for you to come around?”

  For a moment, Taylor just stared blankly at her, her hand frozen in midair. At once, her body turned frigid, and then heated until the surface of her skin simmered.

  “Sarah told you…”

  It was the only logical conclusion. Aside from Alder, whom she’d poured her heart out to in the early days of their relationship, only Sarah knew all of the details of her past. While Lark had always been her friend, she rarely stopped talking about herself long enough to really get to know Taylor. And although she considered Holly to be her best friend, the two of them seldom talked about their pasts.

  It was Sarah, who was less like a friend and more like a big sister, who had gradually broken down Taylor’s walls over the years. Nearly all of their conversations had taken place over letters, which they sent back and forth at a furious pace, particularly when Taylor had been a very insecure new mother. It was during that time that Taylor had confided the details of her relationship with her mother, who had put her up for adoption just after being born. And then, there were the Cavanaughs, the family that had adopted her as a baby, only to put her back into the system when her heart condition became too overwhelming for them.

  Like many girls growing up in foster care, Taylor had imagined that she would grow up and have children of her own. She would be an amazing mother and give her kids the childhood she’d never had. Then, as a teenager, she’d been reunited with her biological mother, a woman who was nothing like what she’d imagined. Her mother had made a space for Taylor in her life, but she was never warm or affectionate. As time went on, Taylor felt more and more like her presence was an inconvenience and that her mother had only accepted her due to social pressures.

  The experience had shaken her identity and dashed any thoughts she’d had about one day being a parent. She couldn’t possibly risk finding out that she was just like the woman who’d so easily discarded her.

  “O-Only in passing,” Carly stammered, clearly recognizing her mistake. “She just mentioned it because we kind of have that in common. My mom walked out on me when I was a kid, but I never—”

  Her temper flaring, Taylor said, “If your mom walked out on you then you shouldn’t have to ask me what it feels like to be ditched.”

  Taylor didn’t immediately want to take the words back. At first, it was satisfying to watch the color drain from Carly’s face, only to be replaced by red splotches of shame. It was only in the ensuing silence, her words echoing in her mind, that Taylor’s own shame began to creep over her.

  An apology caught in her throat, but she did manage to break the tension.

  “At least you’re here now,” Taylor said. “You’re trying to do the right thing, that’s what counts.”

  Carly’s head bobbed and she gave Taylor a weak smile. “Sure.”

  ***

  Taylor’s scent was clean and fresh as she entered the den. Sometimes, just after she’d washed up, Alder fancied that she smelled the same as the day he’d met her.

  Whenever Taylor recounted that warm summer day, she always began at the point where he’d pulled over to offer her a ride, but Alder knew that she’d noticed him in the gas station. He had noticed her, too.

  It wasn’t because she’d seemed particularly special to him. In his prime and without a mate, Alder had noticed just about every human female with a pulse. Taylor had ticked both of those boxes, as well as being attractive and having a vulnerable look to her that had pulled at both his protective and his predatory instincts.

  As his focus shifted to the human walking alongside Taylor, he tried to picture her at that gas station in place of his mate. He wondered what would have happened if Taylor had looked like Carly. Would he have even stopped to pick her up? And if they’d escaped into the woods together, would their close proximity have drawn them together as strongly as it had?

  Alder wanted to believe he was not so superficial as to have chosen Taylor simply for her looks. He knew there had been much more to his attraction, not the least of which was how readily she’d accepted the fact that he was a shifter. Still, he had trouble finding even the barest stirring of interest as he looked at Carly. He reasoned that being mated to Taylor likely dampened his inclination towards other females, and hoped that Silas would see something in her that he didn’t.

  He did not want to be stuck figuring out what to do with this female if Silas rejected her.

  Unbeknownst to Taylor, he had also been in correspondence with Sarah, and his older brother’s mate had practically begged him and Hale to help Carly find a pack. According to Sarah, the young woman had no home to go back to. Sarah had even gone so far as gently suggesting that perhaps, if Taylor and Carly ‘really hit it off’ that there would be room in Alder and Hale’s relationship for a second female. It had been one of the most amusing things that Alder had ever read. Though she’d never admit it to Taylor, Sarah struggled to understand how she could be mated to two different males.

  The setting sun cast the central chamber in deep orange light that would soon be extinguished. All around the central chamber bonfires were being lit, both for illumination and in preparation for the meal to come. For most of the pack, who kept to a nocturnal schedule and were only just rising, it was breakfast. The meat would not be from a fresh kill, but rather from their storage, which would offer a larger feast with greater varieties for their guests.

  Alder’s pack mates, though scattered in small clusters throughout the room, joined him in observing Carly. Not since Sarah’s last visit had there been a human besides Taylor in their territory, and they would be particularly intrigued by her because she was Henry’s mother.

  Hale was on the far side of the room, near to the entrance. He was conversing with Holly and Fenix, but had arrived only moments before Taylor, confirming Alder’s suspicions that he’d been following her. Even as he spoke to his pack mates, Hale’s eyes were turned to the side, tracking Taylor’s every movement.

  For all the frustrations that came with sharing a mate, at the end of the day, Alder was glad to have his brother’s support. He couldn’t imagine having to run his pack while also indulging his instincts to be near to Taylor and protecting her at all times. He was fortunate to have a brother that shared that instinct and who was willing to let him make most of the d
ecisions when it came to running the pack. Now that they weren’t constantly warring with their neighbors, Hale had lost interest in many of the duties that came with overseeing the pack. In a pivot that Alder could have never anticipated, his twin now invested much of his time in rearing pups and stalking their mother.

  Hale was prone to monopolizing Taylor. Most of the time, it didn’t bother Alder as he was just glad that Taylor was receiving adequate attention. Sometimes, for no apparent reason at all, it incensed Alder and he found himself burning with animosity towards Hale. Those instances had been rare since Taylor had become pregnant again, though Hale still managed to find plenty of concrete ways to piss Alder off.

  Tonight, Alder was glad when Taylor stopped only briefly at Hale’s group, just long enough to pass Carly off onto Holly. Then, his mate headed in Alder’s direction.

  “Go up to the lookout and check for the Whiteriver wolves,” Alder said, effectively dismissing the female.

  Karin had been at his side for much of the afternoon, the two of them discussing the preparations for the evening, with Laurel coming and going to add input. Being a former Whiteriver wolf, she knew the neighboring pack well and was able to brief Alder on all of the wolves that would be in attendance.

  Alder didn’t think for a second that Silas would try anything while in the Halcyon den, but with his mate in attendance, he needed to be prepared for any possibility. Remarkably, the knowledge that Silas would be in his den wasn’t disturbing. Alder could remember feeling more uneasy the last time Shan was in their den. Though he actually liked Shan, at least somewhat, Shan had the capability to singlehandedly take out Alder’s entire pack. Silas, surrounded by Halcyon wolves on every side, would be dead before he even managed to shift.

  Alder’s hands went up to take Taylor’s as she reached him. He pulled her down into his lap, turning their bodies so that she was facing away from the fire, and so that his back shielded them. For reasons that still bewildered Alder, his mate was uncomfortable with intimacy when in view of the pack.