You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 24: Jeannie

After breakfast is mostly over and a lot of the other women who were sharing our table have left, it’s just me, Stella, and the Beta’s daughters still lingering there. I’ve been hoping that Gracie and Gabby will leave first so I can walk back upstairs with Stella, but they all seem content to just stay here and keep chatting.

I’ve spent most of the morning so far listening to other people talk, except when one would get curious and start asking me questions.

“So, did you really never leave the farm?”

“What was it like to be homeschooled with no other kids around?”

“Did your grandparents freak out when you dyed your hair?”

So maybe I fibbed a little on that one, not yet feeling comfortable with telling anyone else that I’m a mage. I didn’t correct her about dying it, and just told them that yeah, my grandparents freaked out. Because they did.

But to my relief, no one seemed to find me all that interesting, and the questions eventually stopped coming. Until now.

“So, what are you guys planning to do with the rest of your day?” Gabby asks both Stella and me, though it’s me her gaze is fixed on.

Stella mentions some shows she wants to spend the day getting caught up on, and maybe I’d consider joining her, but there’s something else on my mind. And with today not being a normal workday, it seems like the perfect time for it.

“I was actually going to ask you where Garrett lives,” I tell Stella. “Because he and Gabe have been educating me all about werewolves and the supernatural all week, and I thought today might be a good day for another lesson.”

“With our grandparents,” she answers, holding her hand out to me. “Let me see your phone, and I’ll type in the address and directions for you. He’ll probably be glad you want to visit, and I’m sure my grandparents are curious about you too, so that’s actually a good idea. Just be sure to run it by Gabe and see if he wants to go too.”

Even though Stella is the Bentley I’ve gotten closest with besides Gabe and Garrett, I haven’t had a chance to confess what happened last night, so she doesn’t know. And I’m not about to announce it here, especially not in front of Gabby. I actually rather like her, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be comfortable talking to her about Gabe.

I hand my phone over to her, noticing that Gabby is still smiling my way. There have been some moments where her apparent interest in me has gotten a bit uncomfortable, but I know it’s just because I’m not used to the attention.

Now that I have the information I’ve been waiting for, I don’t see the point in sticking around longer, especially since I don’t seem to be contributing much to the conversation. So, I bid them all goodbye and wish them a nice day, rounding up my dishes to take over to the racks by the door.

It occurs to me as I’m looking at the stack of dirty dishes waiting for someone to come collect them that here in the dining hall or in the kitchen is probably where I should be looking for a job. This is the sort of work I know I can do. I’ve done it all my life.

I’m still considering the employment possibilities that might be available right here in the packhouse as I head out of the dining hall and over to the front door, making this only the second time that I’ve used it. “The company door” I remember Gabe telling me just yesterday. That was right before the moment that wrecked our night.

Just remembering the smug, judgmental look on Nora’s face has me scowling to myself as I make my way across the same porch I crossed last night to get to her. I remember there was a gentle burst of wind just then, and I could suddenly smell Gabe’s scent as if it was wrapping itself around me.

He smelled good. He looked good. I hate that it ended up going so badly when there seemed to be so much potential at first.

I also hate that it’s kind of my fault. I could have let the Nora thing roll off me, but I didn’t. And then I could have just dropped the whole thing outside the theater like he asked, but I didn’t. I pushed him to talk to me about it, and look what happened. I got my wish, and it wasn’t at all what I wanted.

“Hey, wait up,” I hear a familiar voice call out to me.

Gabby, I realize a split-second later, just in time to turn and see her hurrying to catch up to me.

“I can show you where Garrett lives, if you’d like,” she offers, giving me that same warm, inviting smile she’s been giving me all morning. “We used to be the best of friends, but we’ve drifted apart over the years. It’s been a bit since I’ve had a chance to stop in, so I wouldn’t mind visiting with him myself. And I know a lot about werewolves too, you know.”

She’s giving me a playful, teasing look now, and she’s being so kind and friendly that I can’t find it in myself to tell her no. The truth is I don’t want her to come because I actually want to see Garrett so I can talk to him about Gabe, but I still don’t want her to know that.

Maybe she won’t want to stay long, and I’ll still get a moment to talk to Garrett alone. That’s the hope I’m carrying with me as I agree to her offer, allowing her to link her arm with mine and guide me down a side path that leads to where we’re going.

“His grandparents are the former Alpha and Luna for the pack,” she explains as we go. “It was before my time, so I never knew his grandfather as Alpha Kane, but he’s taught in our history classes now, so I’ve heard a lot about his time as Alpha. I’ve also heard that Alpha Aly is a lot like him, and people are excited about the prospect of Gabe as Alpha because they anticipate him being another strong, clever Alpha who will help our pack grow and progress. It will be soon too, especially now that he has you.”

Gabe did mention something about that last night, although at the time, he hadn’t yet revealed that I was his mate. I guess it hadn’t clicked yet that the two things were connected.

I turn and give her a sharp, surprised look, and she chuckles my way.

“I had a feeling he hadn’t gone over that with you yet,” she says. “But yes, as his fated mate, you’re most likely to become our next Luna, so you’d better brace yourself for the pack to respond to you that way.”

“What does a Luna do?” I can’t help asking her, despite my reluctance to show her any weakness or admit my ignorance to her. I feel a need to impress her, probably because of her connection to Gabe.

“That’s probably a good question to ask Gabe’s grandma, or his dads. I can tell you all about a Beta’s responsibilities because that’s what I’ve been trained and prepared for, but answers about Lunas should probably come from people who have lived it.”

“So, you’ll be Gabe’s Beta?”

I hate to admit it, but the idea of him working so closely with her doesn’t sit well with me. It’s a relief when she shakes her head.

“Not necessarily,” she answers. “There’s a fair amount of tradition that says it should be me, but it’s up to the Alpha to appoint the ranked wolves. The Beta genes run in my family line, but really anyone can serve as Beta. They’re just not going to be as naturally predisposed to the role as a true Beta.”

“Oh, I see.”

And now it’s suddenly making sense why Gabe and Garrett keep referring to Alpha wolves like they’re different from the Alpha. It’s probably the same with the Beta too.

“So, right up here is the house,” she points ahead of us to a big house that almost looks like a large log cabin.

It’s pretty, even from this far away. I can already tell that the builders angled it to catch the morning sunlight on the far side, which is also turned toward the lake at the back of it.

“Wow,” I exclaim almost breathlessly.

“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” she agrees. “Even better inside. The back of the kitchen and family room is all big, tall windows that face the lake.”

“Sounds like you’ve been here a lot.”

“Well, we used to be close, like I said,” she reminds me, a hint of wistfulness to her tone.

It makes me wonder if her “thing” with Gabe isn’t as in the past as she claims, and I can’t help the way that makes me tense and unconsciously pull away from her. But if she notices, she doesn’t say anything.

I do kind of wish I could think of some reason to make her leave though. Even though she seems nice, I don’t think I like having her around. I’m still too mixed up about Gabe to be standing so close to his ex.

As we’re stepping up onto the porch, the front door swings open and an extremely irate Garrett comes flying out of it.

“Leave,” he demands, and though his angry gaze is fixed on Gabby, I can’t help thinking he means me too.

I’ve never seen him like this. He’s so angry that his face is red, and I can’t even figure out what we did. I suppose I should have called to ask permission to come over though.

I’m not used to anger like that, and I don’t really know what to do about it. I realize I’m actually battling tears, but mostly because I didn’t mean to upset Garrett and I really like having him as a friend, so I’m worried what this means.

But he reaches out to grab me by the hand and pull me over to him, draping a protective arm around me.

“Not you,” he says softly, glancing at me with a much softer look for just long enough to comfort me before turning his rage back on Gabby. “But you need to turn around and get out of here. Now. Don’t ever come back here.”

Gabby looks over and gives me a look filled with all kinds of emotions I can barely decipher. Surprise, irritation, and maybe even anger and betrayal, and it’s almost as startling as seeing Garrett so angry. She’s only had smiles for me up until now, so I can only guess that whatever happened between her and Garrett and maybe even Gabe was far more than just “drifting apart” and not seeing each other for a while.

But I had nothing to do with it. In fact, I’m feeling a bit irritated with her because I have a feeling that she came with me not for my sake, but for hers. She basically used me, or tried to, except Garrett caught on before she even made it in the door.

“I guess I’ll see you around then, Jeannie,” she says, turning in a huff of irritation and stomping away.

“She’s not a good person to be getting involved with,” Garrett warns me, finally releasing his hold on me and stepping away some. “She’s manipulative, and if she’s being nice to you, you have to stop and think about what it is she really wants from you, because she’s not a nice person by default.”

“I didn’t know,” I tell him honestly. “Stella seemed cool with her, and she’s Gracie’s sister, so I didn’t think there was anything wrong with letting her tag along. She said she used to be good friends with you and Gabe and hasn’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, that’s what she does. That’s all true, but she didn’t tell you the rest of the story. We were friends with her until we found out who she really is, and we haven’t seen her in a while because we don’t want to associate with her anymore.”

He takes a couple steps forward, kicking at a stone that we must have dragged up from the gravel path out front, and then he turns and faces me.

“Gracie, though, she’s a good kid,” he assures me. “Stella is best friends with her, and they only put up with Gabby because she’s Gracie’s sister, and she’s only around every now and then. If you could use mind-link, Stella probably would have warned you about her.”

“I have a phone now,” I point out. “She should have texted me.”

“True, but it doesn’t matter now. She’s gone.”

“Honestly, I didn’t want her to come with me in the first place, but I couldn’t think of a good reason to tell her not to,” I admit to him. “But I wanted to talk to you privately, so I’m not sorry you kicked her out.”

He kind of laughs to himself about that for a moment, rubbing his face thoughtfully, and then he suddenly looks up at me as though he’s just realized something.

“Wait, you wanted to talk to me privately? Like without Gabe?”

“Yeah, there’s just some stuff I’ve been thinking about that I wanted to run by you without him here.”

“Oh. Like now?” he wonders, seeming a bit troubled. “Because I was just about to head out. I have this other thing I was thinking of doing, and I kind of need to do it now if I’m going to do it at all.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine,” I tell him agreeably.

What am I supposed to do, beg him not to go do whatever because his brother is my mate and kind of an ass and I need to sort out my feelings with someone who knows him and can tell me more about rejection? Nope, not happening. I’m not that selfish.

“I didn’t even call or anything to see if you were available, so I understand,” I add for good measure.

But he’s still rubbing his face and shifting back and forth on his feet, giving me that thoughtful look like the wheels in his head are turning. It’s a lot like the other day when we were in his office with Gabe, and he was thinking so hard about mages that Gabe even felt compelled to ask him about it. What was it he said? Something about his noggin. And I get why. When Garrett’s thinking, it’s written all over his face and his whole body is shouting it too.

“Come with me,” he says rather suddenly, his body that was full of uncertainty a moment ago suddenly snapping to action and grabbing me by the arm. Gently, and not with any force or demand to it, but it still startles me.

“We can talk on the way to Indigo Moon,” he explains.

And I’m following him, not quite understanding what we’re doing but feeling intrigued, nonetheless. One thing I do know is that Indigo Moon is another werewolf pack, and I kind of want to see it. I also trust Garrett, even if he’s acting a little strangely, and I really do want the chance to talk to him.

So, I guess we’re going to Indigo Moon then, and we’re taking his big, white truck to get there.