Everything You Want

Oliver

Bringing up her ex had clearly struck a nerve. As much as I hated the thought of that guy with her, I felt bad that I had unintentionally hurt Lya. Humans were weird. I couldn’t wrap my head around why she would still be hung up on that guy.

The rest of dinner had been quiet. Every attempt I made to pull her out of the shell she had receded into failed, and she asked to go home as soon as she had finished. At this point, she was back in her room, and I was sitting in my office. I looked over at the clock. It was still early for a Friday night - only 7. I decided to head back out to the bar, where I was sure Cody would have migrated to.

I sat in the driver’s seat for a moment before starting the Land Cruiser. The smell of lilac and pine still lingered. I could get drunk off of it. Begrudgingly, I started it up, the fans of the air conditioning dispersing Lya’s intoxicating scent.

Adair growled. 'Someone should be at the packhouse with her,' he insisted.

'Gregory is there,' I reminded him.

Adair accepted that, but wasn’t happy about it. I could only imagine he’d only be happy if we had eyes on her. I pulled into a parking spot close to the bar and made my way in. I spotted Cody, and claimed a chair at his table. He glanced up and motioned to the waitress to bring another beer over.

“So what happened to the pretty little number you had with you?” he asked. The bar wasn’t very full yet, so he kept his voice low.

I shrugged. “She called it an early night.”

“Is there more to that story?” His eyes probed me, trying to read my mind, I guessed.

I nodded. “Lots more.”

Cody laughed. “Anything I get to know? You don’t exactly just take anyone on a date.”

“Hard to go on a date with someone who doesn’t realize that’s what you’re trying to do,” I growled. Cody raised an eyebrow. “Mate.” I confirmed his unspoken question. “She is so disconnected from her wolf they don’t even realize it.” That statement was getting exhausting.

Cody let out a low whistle. “So congratulations aren’t necessarily in order yet.” The waitress dropped off our beers, providing a welcome distraction.

“Keep it under the radar, okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Guess I won’t be able to encourage you to chase some tail tonight, though.”

I chuckled, staring down at my beer bottle. “It won’t get you very far.”

Cody leaned in and asked. “So why do we have folks investigating hunter activity where it all originally went down?”

I stiffened a bit. Cody was my gamma, and in charge of my warriors. In the grand scheme of things, he did need to know everything. It was wishful thinking, hoping the brief two sentences I had fed him on Monday would placate his interests… but it still felt like a betrayal of Lya’s privacy. I couldn’t risk the safety of my pack, though. “That’s where she’s from. Lya lost control of her wolf and killed her fiance the night before she came here,” I said quietly. “He was a Marsan. She also got attacked by a group of four hunters when she tried to make a run for it on the way out here with Trevor.”

At that, he sat back and laughed. “You just had to end up with the most unavailable she-wolf out there, didn’t you?”

“I am well aware,” I said dryly.

“But I assume this means patrols increased?”

I nodded. “It’s also probably a good time to increase training hours. War is coming, and we won’t be caught with our pants down.”

“It’s what we always train for, and hope we never need to utilize,” Cody reiterated my constant mantra. “Are we worried about the rogues working with them?”

“It’s always a concern,” I sighed. “I’ll ask Thom to keep us apprised of anything he hears.” I had worked hard to improve relations with rogues. The lands surrounding the Snow Moon territory were probably some of the safest for rogues in the entire United States, but not all rogues had gotten that memo yet.

Cody ground his teeth. “Things had been quiet for too long,” he said. “There haven’t even been many unruly rogues recently.”

“I know,” I mumbled. “But I really don’t think this family would use another wolf to get to us.”

“Ya think?” Cody scoffed. “I wouldn’t put anything past them.”

“Anything is always possible,” I mused. I motioned for another round from the waitress. “How are things at home?” Cody had met his mate less than a year previously, and he rarely even mentioned her. Elise was nearly ten years younger than him. They had met when she showed up for an initial training camp right when she turned eighteen - barely old enough to even find her mate. Now, she was in her first year of four of warrior training, and they frequently ran into issues related to the fact that she was barely an adult.

He rolled his eyes. “I swear, she’s out of control,” he insisted. “I’m so excited for her to grow up a bit.”

I chuckled. “Sounds a bit like what we were like at eighteen.”

Cody gave me a sideways glance. “Yeah, but we didn’t have mates.”

I shrugged. “Just because you have a mate doesn’t mean your life has to completely change,” I suggested.

“She doesn’t even want to spend a full night yet.” His tone was exasperated. “She’s worried she’ll lose all her independence.”

“Well will she?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“No,” Cody insisted. “Although it’d be nice if she went to bed sober just like… one time.”

I very nearly snorted beer out my nose. “You can’t get mad at her for being exactly like you were. Match made in heaven, it sounds like.”

Cody looked past me, toward the door, and smiled. I turned around, and saw Ellie walking toward us. The one thing this town did not have was a nightclub, so the local bar frequently became one on the weekends. Ellie was decked out in a red leather skirt, black lace top that revealed a bit too much, and black pumps. I looked over to Cody to see how he’d react to the eyes she was attracting. For the time being, it seemed like he was blind to them. Ellie shot Cody a smirk, then grabbed her friends and pulled them onto the makeshift dance floor.

“This is what I deal with,” he sighed, putting his head in his hands. “She dresses like that, flirts with other guys… I mean, she always comes home with me, but then she’s back at her apartment by morning.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. That wasn’t exactly normal behavior for someone with a mate. Usually, it was hard and nearly painful to be physically too far from them. I wondered what her wolf felt about how she acted. My mind wandered to Lya. More or less, things were like that with her - except she didn’t seem to have such a wild streak. But Adair would kill anyone else who tried to make eyes at her.

I huffed. “How do you stand her not acknowledging the bond?”

“Oh, she definitely acknowledges it… on her terms,” Cody laughed dryly. “She just had no interest in having a mate so soon.” His eyes followed his mate across the dance floor, as she found her way into the arms of someone who certainly didn’t know she had a mate.

“Why don’t you just go public with it?” I asked.

“She’d reject me.”

Cody growled as my eyes roamed over Ellie. She had no mark. The sad expression I cast his way was all the conversation we needed to have.

“Don’t feel bad for me, dude,” Cody said as he sat back with his hands up. “You’re the one whose mate doesn’t even realize she’s yours. At least I know mine is just a tease.”

My retort was cut off by a chair scraping across the floor and another person joining us.

“So word on the street is that we have a Luna,” a loud voice boomed. I glanced up at the owner of the voice, Brandon, who was a gamma of mine and headed up the small town of Norridge. He was an absolute pain in the ass, but a good warrior, and - most importantly - a good friend.

“Manners maketh man,” Cody laughed. “If you didn’t hear it from him, you didn’t hear it at all. Who told you, anyway?”

Brandon scoffed. “Trevor, obviously. He is my cousin, don’t forget. Ollie, you may be alpha now, but don’t forget your roots - I remember your first crush, first hookup, first love-”

“And how each and every one of those crashed and burned,” Cody chimed in.

“Yeah, well, at the rate this is going, this relationship will, too, so keep the Woodford ready,” I huffed.

Brandon cocked an eyebrow. I caught Cody out of the corner of my eye shaking his head. The simple translation was that he’d fill the newcomer in later. That was good, because I had absolutely no desire to reiterate the saga again.

“Well then, I guess it’s now on me to find a mate to have a normal relationship with,” Brandon chided.

“You? The normal one?” Cody chuckled. “My, how times have changed.”

Brandon clapped his hands together. “So who do you think it’ll be? Blondie over there? Personally, I’d like to settle down with a brunette, but whatever the fates have in store…”

“And I will take that as my cue to leave.” I finished off my beer and stood up.

“Aww, but the party’s just getting started,” Brandon huffed. “I need my best wingmen to help me find my mate!”

I laughed. “You’re on your own for this one, buddy.” I turned, heading out the door, and back to the packhouse. Back to my Luna.