To Be With You

Lya

I woke up to the sound of gentle snoring. I tried to sit up, but a weight was pinning my arm down. Fuzzy tingles ran up my arm, almost like the weight was causing it to fall asleep. Wide eyed, I looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. My eyes fell on a giant black dog sprawled out on the bed with his head on my arm.

What the hell?

I shifted around, wiggling my arm free, keeping my eyes glued to the dog.

How did a dog get in here? I hadn’t seen one roaming around the packhouse in the days previously.

'Hate to break it to ya hun, but that’s not a dog.' Tala’s snarky tone was about the last thing I wanted to wake up to.

I looked a little closer. I gasped in horror as I realized I had been curled up next to a wolf. And, given that we were in a werewolf pack, I could only assume where there was a wolf, there was a human counterpart that went with it. I tried to fly off the bed to get out of the room, but Tala wouldn’t let me budge.

'Chill, he is friend, not foe.'

'Tala!' I shrieked. 'Some guy is currently in our room! This is not okay! Anything could have happened!'

'But it didn’t.' Her cavalier attitude was possibly more disconcerting than the intruder.

'This can’t be happening. This can’t happen again. We could have been kidnapped or raped or killed.'

Tala scoffed. 'With your night terrors last night and how impossible you were to wake up, if any of that was going to happen, it would have already been done.'

I eyed the wolf warily. If this was the sort of thing that was acceptable, maybe I was back to coming up with a plan to run - especially if this was Tala’s attitude toward such a disgusting breach of privacy.

'I kinda like the guardian wolf,' Tala mused. 'So good luck leaving without me.'


I groaned, realizing for possibly the millionth time in my life how little control I had over anything with a wolf counterpart like Tala. As much as I pretended, I always knew she was stronger, and I had no power, no say.

The wolf shifted a bit, blinking its eyes. His warm dark chocolate eyes settled on me, and it felt like they were boring straight into my soul. He furrowed his head under my hand, and a small smile flitted across my face as I tangled my fingers in his fur.

My hand slipped away, and the wolf sat up. He pressed the top of his head against my neck, hopped over me and off the bed, and nosed the sliding door to the patio open. He stopped and looked back at me. The deep brown eyes were familiar and comforting.

And with that, off he ran.

“That was weird,” I mumbled to myself.

I dug some clothes out of my backpack, realizing I’d need to do laundry today. And probably get some more clothes if Tala was so adamant we weren’t leaving. I’d already torn through almost half of what little I had brought.

I made my way toward the kitchen, in search of some coffee. The packhouse seemed quiet, and the clock read 8:30. I wondered if everyone had left for the day, granted I didn’t know what a normal amount of activity was around here.

A woman in her late thirties or early forties bustled into the kitchen. When she saw me, she smiled brightly

“Ah, Luna!” she said, coming over and offering a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you! Gregory mentioned you were here, but you’ve been making yourself scarce.”

“Lya, actually,” I mumbled, returning the hug halfheartedly. I was admittedly not touchy feely, but too much of a people pleaser to leave her hanging.

She stiffened a bit, eyes wide, then giggled. “Oh, of course, pregnancy brain. I got the first letter of your name right, though.” She turned to the counter and pulled out a k-kup. “There’s normal human coffee in the pot, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I smiled. “Uh… what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m Allyssa, the Beta’s wife. Hungry? If I’m going to eat for two, I might as well cook for three.” She whipped around to give me a hard stare. “Do not tell anyone I am pregnant, by the way. Only you and Ollie know.”

I cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. “I don’t have anyone to tell, anyway.”

“Oh, that will change soon enough. It’s a community here, you’ll make friends quickly.” Allyssa pulled out a bowl and started cracking eggs in it. “So how have you been enjoying it here?”

“Oh my god,” I leaned my elbows on the counter and put my head in my hands. “It’s weird… just so weird.”

Allyssa looked up at me with sad eyes. “I can’t even begin to understand the adjustment. Just know it’s in your DNA. It will get easier with time.”

I looked at her quizzically, curious how much she knew. She saw my expression and laughed.

“Come on now, it’s not every day the Alpha goes across the state to pick up a girl, live next to her hospital bed, then move her into the packhouse. I had to do a little bit of homework.” She smirked. “You know, I think our alpha likes you.”

“He doesn’t even know me,” I grumbled. The blush burned my cheeks.

“You’d be surprised how quickly werewolves can get a read on people.” She passed me a plate with an omelet and came around to sit next to me on the breakfast bar. “I got impatient, so just cheese in it. I’ll actually cook a good meal when I’m not hungry.” Allyssa took a bite, made a face, and quickly took my plate away. “Oh my god, don’t eat that!”

“Wh-uh…”

“Allyssa, I’m sure it’s fine,” I heard a voice over my shoulder say. I whipped around to see Oliver striding into the kitchen. He took a plate from her and took a bite of the omelet. “See? Perfectly edible. Pregnancy is just playing tricks on you.”

She grabbed the plate back and dumped it in the trash. “Well, I am not going to be the one responsible for poisoning our lovely guest, so we aren’t eating that. And you should go make sure you didn’t ingest enough to kill you.”

Oliver laughed. “I’ll be fine.” He looked over at me. “Lya. How did you sleep?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Uh… well, actually.”

Oliver smiled, his deep brown eyes looking at me warmly. I squinted. I knew those eyes.

“Well,” Allyssa clapped her hands together, breaking the strained silence. “I need food, and I don’t trust myself to make it, so I’m going out. Lya, I cheated you out of breakfast, so you come with me. You,” she looked over to Oliver and shooed him away. “Go work or something.”

“As you wish,” he said, smiling still. Oliver’s chocolate eyes found their way back to me. “Come see me when you get back. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

I nodded, breaking eye contact quickly. His hand brushed across my arm as he left the kitchen.

Allyssa grabbed her purse and motioned for me to follow. “Breakfast is on me, come on!”

I followed her out to her car and climbed into the passenger seat of her 4Runner.

“You know, I was really hoping to get rid of this tank with almost two kids out of the house,” she sighed, “but I suppose it’ll be another few years. I don’t particularly like driving a boat.”

“A mom that doesn’t like a mom-mobile?” I laughed.

Allyssa chuckled. “Gregory said he’d get me a Ferrari when all the kids are grown and we don’t need the space. Guess that’ll be a while longer yet.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” I asked shyly. “Isn’t your oldest daughter 22?”

Allyssa gave me a sidelong glance. “Yeah, she is. She should be home in a couple weeks.”

“And you’re pregnant again?” I blurted. I covered my mouth, horrified at the slip of my tongue. “I’m so sorry, that was so rude!”

Allyssa waved off my comment. “No worries. I still haven’t decided if I’m exactly looking forward to starting the whole baby thing over again. But, to answer your question, I’m only 40. Greg and I got pregnant shortly after we met when I was 18.” My eyeballs just about bugged out of my head, but she just shrugged. “It’s not terribly uncommon in werewolves to get pregnant almost as soon as you meet your mate. Getting pregnant at 40, however, is.”

“Mate?” I had heard people around here refer to their partners as their mates a few times now, but it still confused me. Maybe just the local vernacular.

“Ah,” she nodded. “I forgot, you’re new to the whole werewolf thing. Every werewolf has a destined soulmate, and when you meet them, it truly is love at first sight.”

I scrunched up my nose. That sounded absolutely disgusting. Fate had already cursed me with life as a werewolf, and now it was going to take away my power to choose who I was with.

“What if you don’t want a mate?” I asked.

“Then you reject them,” she said somberly. “The mate bond dies, and you are free to choose whomever you’d rather be with. Although, I’ve heard from people who have rejected their mates, the attraction and love just does not compare, and it usually causes the relationship with the chosen mate to fail.”

“Are mates always other werewolves?” I thought back to my own parents, and my supposition that my father was actually a werewolf.

Allyssa nodded. “When the moon goddess creates each werewolf, she actually creates two. One soul is split in half, and scattered across time and space. In my personal opinion, it was her secret trick to help keep all of us across the globe connected and create alliances.” She pulled into the parking lot of a cafe and put her land boat in park.

“Does Oliver have a mate?” I covered my mouth again, not sure where the words came from, and hoping to keep from putting my foot in my mouth any more.

Allyssa looked over and smirked. “I can tell you the girl who owns this place desperately wants to be his mate.” The comment elicited a growl from Tala, and I desperately hoped I didn’t show any of my wolf’s emotions. “Come on, Lucy also makes amazing pancakes.”

The bell above the door tinkled as we walked in. The woman at the counter looked up and smiled.

“Beta Allyssa, how are you? How is Ollie?”

I took it this was Lucy.

“Alpha Oliver,” Allyssa clarified, “is enjoying taking a bit of personal time since we have the lovely Lya visiting us at the packhouse.” She put her arm around me and smiled warmly, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “The usual for me, by the way.”

“Uh,” I glanced up at the menu. “Could I get a soy mocha? And I heard the pancakes were good.”

Lucy shot me a glare, punching my order into the register. I reached into my pocket to dig out some cash, but Allyssa slapped my hand away, giving Lucy her card.

“I ruined breakfast, so this is on me,” she stated, leaving no room for negotiation. I simply nodded and grabbed the number Lucy pushed toward us without a word.

“Do she and Oliver have history or something?” I asked as we sat down.

Allyssa snorted. “Absolutely not. He’s no saint, but he doesn’t mess with members of his pack. Human, or ones who have lost their mates from other packs.”

I nodded. “I guess it would cause drama if he started sleeping around his own territory.”

“Exactly. By the way, I heard you didn’t bring much with you. Need to stop at a couple stores after breakfast?”

“Yes please,” I said emphatically.

“Good. I’m about to grow out of mine, and shopping alone is just no fun.”