You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 23: Sunday Morning

Gabe

Once Jeannie is in her bathroom, Simon releases his control and pushes me forward again. And yes, he has to push, because for once, I’m fine with him being the one in control. He’s the only one she’s comfortable with right now, and maybe it’s wrong of me, but I’m using that to my advantage. Even if I’m not in control when I’m with my mate, it’s better than not seeing her at all.

And I kind of don’t want to leave. I don’t have to go to work until tomorrow, so there’s nothing stopping me from letting Simon hang out in my body all day.

She expects us to leave as usual, he insists, giving me an extra push to get me going. Now is not the time to be pushing boundaries with her.

I kind of want to stomp my foot and tell him he’s not the boss of me, but he is the one who has managed to stay in our mate’s good graces through all of this. I’ve never even heard of a situation like this before, where the secondary personality of a werewolf is being treated as its own separate entity, and where the wolf is the one with the advantage in a relationship. I don’t even know where to turn for advice because how could anyone possibly understand?

All the advice you need is already in your head. Now all you have to do is listen for once.

I’m used to the ego, but I hate that he’s probably even right. With a sigh, I drag myself upstairs to my parents’ bedroom to see if I can find some clothes to borrow, as per my mate’s request.

But that part is on you. I keep telling you to grab more clothes before you take off into the night, I jump on my only chance to scold my wolf.

I like how he seems to have nothing to say to that. But honestly, I shouldn’t even be acting like such a petulant child toward him.

He did good this morning. I think he may even have explained my motivations to Jeannie better than I would have, and I was taking notes on how he led the conversation by inviting her to share her thoughts. Leading with questions was something Matt always used to do with us as kids, and I think it has finally clicked for me as to why. Simon used Jeannie’s own answers to explain how I was thinking about stuff, and it felt like she discovered my reasoning rather than having it told to her.

He’s probably right that if I took more advice from him, I might learn some better people skills, as odd as that is to think about a wolf.

“Did you have a good night?” Tyler asks, smirking as he passes me in the upstairs hallway.

“Uh, yeah the night was good,” I answer, not wanting to get into any details about anything further than that.

The last people I want to get involved in my mate drama are my parents. I’m sure they’ve heard rumors about me, but we’ve never discussed my bad habits with women, and there would be no way to avoid it if I told them what happened last evening.

“I was wondering if I could borrow something to wear though,” I tell him. “Simon never grabs anything but sweats when he steals my body and runs over here.”

Which is why up until last night, I’ve just been factoring his insistence on sleeping over here into my schedule so that he doesn’t have to fight me for it. I bring us over here and then let him take over right before bed. But last night, I felt like it was a bad idea to even come, so I tried to fight him and make him stay home. No such luck.

When he can feel Jeannie's emotions and they’re anything but happy and content, he suddenly develops an unparalleled strength of will and there’s no battling him anymore. He wins, end of story. Although admittedly, I’m betting that if I could feel her like he does, I wouldn’t even bother to try.

Tyler seems amused by my dilemma, but that’s because he doesn’t know there’s anything wrong. If he did, he wouldn’t be grinning and smirking at me like that. But he does take me to their closet and find me a shirt and some shoes I can slip on.

Then we head back downstairs together and find Mom and Matt in the living room with Gideon. Actually, Gideon just corrected me the other day, reminding me that he’s settled on “Dion” as his nickname, or “Dee” for short. I can’t say I blame him either. These names our parents picked out for us all are a bit too classic and formal for my taste.

“Gabe, if you could stick around for a little bit, there’s something I wanted to speak to you and Jeannie about,” Matt calls out as I’m passing by, though I’d intended to just give them all a wave and a nod and head on out.

“Uh, Jeannie’s busy,” I try to protest, hoping he isn’t going to push the issue. I don’t think she’ll want to be anywhere near me yet.

“Yeah, but I mean when she comes back up from tending to her chickens,” he insists.

“Why are you all up so early on a Sunday anyway?” I question them good-humoredly, hoping I can think of some reason to beg off.

Maybe I could tell him I’m going home to take a nap since it’s the weekend and Jeannie gets up way too early for my taste. My parents shouldn’t have any reason to question that. It’s no secret that I enjoy sleeping in.

“Your sister called me a bit ago,” Mom explains. “I promised not to tell anyone what she said though, so that’s all I’ll say.”

“If that punk got her pregnant, I’ll kill him,” I threaten, my fists automatically balling up at my sides at the mere thought of it.

“You mean her husband and fated mate, who is also the Alpha of an allied pack?” Tyler reminds me, putting a soothing hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, that one.”

“Settle down, Gabe. You’re being silly. Your sister is a grown, mated woman,” my mother chides me.

“Yeah, well, I’m tired and cranky. My mate gets up way too early.”

“It’s good practice for a future Alpha,” Matt chimes in. “But if you’re that tired, then I guess we can talk later. Go home and get some more rest, son.”

“I think I will,” I decide to take the out he’s giving me, which is what I was hoping for anyway. “I’ll probably be back tonight, though. Simon will make sure of it.”

“He’s too cute. So excited to finally have his mate,” Mom coos at me, coming over to playfully pinch my cheek.

I groan, but she just laughs and pulls me in for a hug, giving my back a couple extra pats before she backs away. She doesn’t know it, but I really needed that. There's a war going on inside me and I need all the love I can get.

After I finally leave their apartment, I drag myself all the way home and crash out in my bed, hoping that I’ll be able to sleep most of this day away and magically dream up some way to fix things with Jeannie. No such luck though. Instead, I just lie there missing her and wishing she could sense my distress and come to me the way that my wolf always does with her.

-

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Jeannie  

It strikes me as I’m out in the back yard tending to my chickens that I’ve never in my life had so much on my mind as what seems to be the recent trend for me. First it was my grandpa and the farm, just one thing after another and never a moment to rest, and then I thought all that worrying was behind me when Mr. Bentley drove up one day and told me he was going to help me with everything and give me a place to stay after I sold the farm.

I thought once I got here that things would be peaceful again. I don’t have a farm to worry about anymore, just me and my chickens. And even though I know it’s wrong of me, I was enjoying the idea of having people to take care of me again. I know I should get a job and find some way to contribute, but I wanted to take just a few weeks and get settled in first, enjoying not having any real responsibilities to speak of just yet.

But Gabe showed up and ruined that for me in a rush. I’d barely been here for a full day when I met him, and it’s felt a bit like a whirlwind ever since. It finally makes more sense the reason why he seemed to so quickly consume my thoughts and attention, but now I have a whole mess of new things to worry about.

And it’s distracting. I realize after awhile that I don’t even know what I’m doing. I have to go back and count the inventory of feed bags to figure out where I’m at in my routine, and then I find myself forgetting which sections of their roosting spots I’ve already cleaned. I suppose if I can’t tell by looking, then it doesn’t really matter anyway. Most people don’t even clean up after their chickens as much as I do, but I can’t help it. They’re like family to me.

I can sense some of the birds outside getting a bit worked up about something, and realize they think there’s an intruder out there. Taking my gloves off and stowing them on the shelf by the door, I step out of the shed, noticing the tall woman with shoulder-length brown hair over there poking her fingers through the fencing.

She looks up, probably hearing or smelling me coming, and gives me a sheepish smile.

“I’ve never touched a chicken before and wondered what it felt like, but they don’t seem to like me much,” she says.

They don’t seem to like any of the werewolves around here because they can sense the wolves within them, their natural predators. But they’re not used to wolves that share a body with people who keep them in check, and it almost seems to be more unsettling for them that these people smell like wolves but act like humans.

And that’s where I come in. My chickens will settle down if I tell them it’s okay, and I don’t get the sense that this woman means them any harm. She’s just curious.

“Give me a moment,” I tell her, stepping back inside to retrieve a chicken for her.

I call over the biggest, oldest hen I’ve got, bending down to lift her into my arms and hold her against me reassuringly. Her name is Itsya, and she’s quite literally the mother hen around here. She’s also generally the calmest around strangers, especially if I’m holding her.

I take her back outside with me and let the other woman come and pet her side. She seems delighted by the feel of the velvety feathers and impressed by how quiet and calm Itsya is the whole time.

“I’ve been away visiting my grandparents at another pack, and just got back last night,” the woman tells me. “And then my sister told me that the Bentleys have adopted a new stray, and now there’s chickens in the backyard. I had to come see for myself.”

“Stray?” I question, wondering whether she meant that as an insult.

“I’m just teasing,” she assures me with a smile. “Although Alpha Aly and her family are known for having a certain fondness for humans, and you’re not the first one she’s brought to live here. That’s all I meant.”

“Oh, I see,” is all I say, now wondering what this woman might think once she finds out that I’m probably not even human.

I mean at this point, I know I’m definitely not. I used a tree as transportation just last night.

“But she also told me that you’re Gabe’s mate,” the woman goes on, glancing up and meeting my eyes with a pointed look.

Oh, well that’s great. This woman hasn’t even been here all week and somehow, she learned about my relationship with Gabe at about the same time that I did.

“I am,” I confirm for her, since that seems to be what she wants, though I don’t know if I should be talking about it so openly. Maybe he doesn’t want people to know.

But no, it’s probably more like he just didn’t want me to know. This woman already found out somehow, which means other people around here must know.

“I’m Jeannie,” I tell her, shifting Itsya in my arms so I can offer a hand to the woman.

She seems amused by that, so now I’m wondering if it was the right thing to do.

“Gabby,” she returns my introduction, laughing as she takes my hand. “And you’ve apparently met my little sister Gracie.”

“Oh, yeah I like Gracie. I met her the other day at the mall.”

And if they’re sisters, then that means Gabby is also the Beta’s daughter, and she probably knows the Bentleys pretty well. Her teasing me about being a stray makes more sense now, if what she said is true. It’s probably a bit of a friendly inside joke that I just didn’t even know about.

But she seems nice. A lot like Gracie, though with less hyperactive energy spilling out everywhere.

“I grew up with the Bentley triplets, just slightly ahead of them in school but we still hung out all the time anyway,” she continues explaining herself. “Had kind of a thing with Gabe at one point, but it was short-lived, and we both moved on long ago.”

Oh. Oh wait. I think he was just telling me about her last night. She might be the one he said he was “just helping out” when they were both young and lonely. That sours my mood in a hurry, though I’m desperately trying not to let it get to me or bias me against her.

Technically, she hasn’t done anything to me personally. I mean yeah, she knew Gabe would have a mate someday, but I’m trying to convince myself that her having been with him long before I ever came along is not something I can count against her.

“Oh, gotcha,” I say dumbly, wishing I could get away from her and think about this privately. “Hey, hold on a second. I’m going to put her back in the coop.”

I nod my head at Itsya in my arms, already turning away from Gabby to flee to the shed behind me.

“Alright,” she chuckles good-naturedly. “And hey, thanks for letting me pet her. That was really cool.”

I had hoped she’d disappear by the time I came back out, but to my disappointment, she’s still out there waiting for me. I want to tell myself that it’s only in my head, and I just think she’s waiting for me, but she really seems to be. When I come back out, she turns and keeps step with me, and we walk back into the packhouse together.

“Have you had breakfast?” she wonders once we’re inside, standing in the hallway just outside the dining hall. “Because if not, you should join us. I was going to meet up with Gracie, Stella, and a few others from around here. That’s actually why I went out to your chicken coop, because Stella told me you were probably out there tending to them, and I wanted to meet you and invite you to come eat with us.”

So, she really was waiting for me. But of course, I got in my own head about it and assumed there was more to it, as usual. It seems like she’s just being friendly though, and I have no reason to tell her no.

“Sure, I’d like that,” I answer her honestly.

And I would like that. I’ve been trying to meet people and make friends all week, and she seems like exactly the sort of person who can help make that happen. There’s an air of confidence about her that actually reminds me a bit of Gabe, though that’s not a line of thought I want to go down right now. In fact, I need to let all that go and enjoy the distraction she’s offering me.

She takes me by the arm and leads me into the dining hall, the mouth-watering aromas of whatever hot, fresh food is on the menu this morning smacking us in the face as soon as she opens the doors. Stella lifts an arm and waves us over when she sees us come in, and I notice that she’s with a whole table of women who seem to be laughing and having a good time together.

There are no men with them, and especially no Gabe, so maybe this is exactly what I need right now. Plus, I never did have any dinner last night, so I’m starving, and that platter of pancakes on the table is really calling to me.