The Gamma's Reluctant Mate -The Wolves Of Winter Valley Bk 3

Chapter 3 - Bitter Bonnie

Adam POV 

Carla’s warning about pursuing Megan stuck with me the whole drive back to Winter Valley and lingered well into our group dinner. It didn’t make any sense. Why did I have to hide my interest in Megan from Bonnie? She was thirty years older than me. While I understood that some men preferred older women, I was not one of them. Surely, Bonnie was aware of the risk involved when pursuing someone so much younger. Hadn’t she prepared herself to accept it when the younger man wasn’t interested? Better yet, didn’t she realize that if I had been interested, I’d have asked for her number long before now. She was well aware that I wasn’t shy.  

This was all my fault. My mother always told me that my flirting was going to get me into trouble one day. I didn’t believe her and now, here I was, in trouble. My flirting with Bonnie had led to a crush that was making it difficult for me to get close to my mate. Worse, it made my mate afraid to even speak to me… Wait… Why was that? Why was there fear in Carla’s eyes when I told her I was interested in Megan? Why was Megan, Bonnie’s boss, afraid of being caught talking to me?    

No owner feared an employees’ reaction to something as trivial as a conversation. No employee would dare expect their boss to refrain from speaking to a customer, and that is precisely what I was at that moment. Even though I was technically hitting on Megan, I was still a paying customer. I was missing something, but what? 

Lucy’s shop was located across the street from Nebula. In fact, it had been there long before Nebula opened its doors. Lucy’s family had been patrons of the restaurant from its inception, and the owners and staff of Nebula had patronized her shop in return. If anyone could give me some insight, it would be her. 

“Lucy, what can you tell me about Nebula’s owner?” I asked, trying to appear casual. 

Lucy looked up from her dinner, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Bonnie? Oh, there are a great many things I could say. None of them pleasant. Why?” 

“Not Bonnie. Megan,” I clarified. 

“Megan?” Her brows shot up. “Megan doesn’t…” she started, then sighed, shook her head, and continued. “Of course, I should have known. Bonnie has always hated that place, and Megan, too, for that matter.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Bonnie has always had just one ambition—to be wealthy, and she made it no secret. She was right out of high school when she caught the fancy of Leighton Clay. A good-looking, up-and-coming restaurateur. He built Nebula from nothing with money he’d been saving since he was young. It was his pride and joy. Since he wasn’t rich, Bonnie rejected him numerous times. But when his name and Nebula started appearing in the papers and people started talking about Leighton taking the restaurant nationwide, she changed her mind. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t wealthy, the potential was there, and that was enough. Bonnie figured if she got in on the ground floor, she’d be entitled to half if they divorced, and if they didn’t, she’d inherit a mint. The whole first year of their marriage Bonnie was on cloud nine. Everything was going just as she’d hoped. Leighton was in talks with Baltimore to open his second location and had three more cities in his sights. Bonnie started dreaming about traveling the world and draping herself in diamonds and gold, then she found out she was pregnant. Lord, you’d have thought she’d been diagnosed with a terminal disease the way she carried on. Bonnie did not want children. She was adamant about it. She was afraid of what pregnancy would do to her body, and she didn’t want to have to care for anyone other than herself.” Lucy explained. 

“I take it Megan is the result of that pregnancy?” 

“She is,” Lucy answered. “Leighton was overjoyed by the news and begged Bonnie to have the baby. When that didn’t work, he bribed her with a brand-new Mercedes and a diamond choker. He wanted to be a father, and he knew that that baby would be his only shot. Well, as children tend to do, Megan changed Leighton. He still had his dreams of making Nebula huge, but they weren’t as important as his daughter, so he put all of that on the back burner and focused on being a good father. Bonnie grew increasingly resentful as time passed. Then Leighton died, and that resentment became loathing. In the blink of an eye, the restaurant that was supposed to fund her world travels and the child she never wanted became shackles holding her in Raven’s Crest for an indeterminable amount of time. She’s been making Megan’s life a misery ever since.” 

“And how exactly does she make Megan’s life a misery?” Aiden paced and growled in my head. Anticipating trouble, I threw up a block.  

Lucy folded her hands in her lap. “Now, I’ve only heard talk from some of the other waitresses who stop in at the shop, but they say that she is verbally abusive to the girl. She makes fun of her weight, calls her names, that kind of thing. One waitress, Janie, I believe, was fired for standing up for Megan. She came right over to the shop, fuming after it happened. Apparently, a group of Megan’s high school classmates was at the restaurant terrorizing that poor girl, throwing food at her, and spitting their drinks on her. According to Janie, Bonnie was encouraging it.” 

When Lucy finished, my hands were balled into fists on the table, and my teeth were grinding together. I was glad I’d had the presence of mind to block Aiden from hearing that bullshit. I doubted I would have been able to stop him from surfacing and going in search of Megan’s evil, sadistic b***h of a mother. My wolf had very little impulse control. 

Now I understood why Carla was worried about things turning ugly and why Megan didn’t want Bonnie to see her talking to me. 

“Who’s Megan, Adam? New conquest?” Harmony Quincy-Raymond, our pack’s Luna, asked, smirking from across the table. Next to her, Drake stared at me with his fork poised over his plate, unmoving. 

“No. She’s my mate,” I said, forcing my hands and jaw to relax. 

“Your mate?” Nine voices asked in unison. 

I set my fork down, deciding to face the inquisition head-on. “Yes, she is my mate. She is human, and pursuing her is going to come with a few complications since it appears her abusive mother has developed a crush on me.” 

Lucy’s mouth hung open. “Oh, dear. It’s going to come with more than a few complications if that’s the case. Bonnie does not like competition.” 

“There is no competition. Bonnie was never in the running. I wouldn’t even consider her for a liaison. She’s thirty years older than me,” I stated flatly. 

“Oh, honey. That doesn’t matter to Bonnie. If she’s interested in you, you’re off limits. Period.” 

Isabella Montoya, Drake’s mate and our Alpha’s sister, smiled at me, her eyes full of warmth and affection. A change from her usual disdain and smug sneer. Isabella and I had an unusual friendship. We bickered more than we talked and scowled at each other more than we smiled, but we would both go to the mat for the other without hesitation. “Is great you find your mate, at last. Megan is nice girl.” 

“What’s she like?” Harmony asked. 

“She’s different,” I said. 

Drake laughed. “She’s different because she wasn’t instantly swept away by Adam’s pretty-boy charm.” 

Snickers broke out all around the table. 

“Sounds exactly like the kind of woman our Adam needs,” Natasha Quincy-Raymond, the pack Alpha, said with a smirk.  

Irritated, I picked up my fork and picked at my dinner. “Megan is different because she is different. She’s snarky and quick with a comeback, or at least she was during those brief couple of minutes she granted me an audience. Her hair is purple, she has piercings and tattoos. If her t-shirt was any indication, she likes classic rock music, and judging by the seriously contrasting, neon-pink Chucks she was wearing on her feet, she likes to mix things up.” 

Jo McAlister, Isabella’s sister and one of the Montoya Quads, bounced in her seat. “Oh! I wanna meet her! She sounds like so much fun! I bet she knows a good tattoo artist. I’m itching for another.” 

My eyes widened. “You have a tattoo?” 

“Mmmhmmm. Four of them.” She reached back, lifted her hair away from her ear, and turned so I could see the tiny hummingbird behind it. “I can’t show you all of them, but here’s two,” she said, standing up, then lifting the hem of her t-shirt and lowering the waistband of her leggings to reveal a magic wand with tiny stars around it on her abdomen near her left hip. 

“Oh, wipe that disbelieving look off your face, Adam. You’ve got two, yourself.” Sinead Elian, the only elf to be a wolf pack member, said. 

My head snapped her direction. Furious, I glared at her and watched as understanding dawned a moment before Isabella choked on her tea, then roared with laughter. I did have two tattoos. One was a howling wolf on my right hip. The other a crescent moon a little lower on my body than Jo’s wand was on hers. Both tattoos were relatively new, and since we had yet to resume our monthly pack runs, the only ones who had seen them were women I’d had s*x with. Glancing down to the head of the table, I noted all eyes were shifting between Sinead and me. 

Natasha leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and linking her fingers. “Hmmm. Don’t you two look guilty?” she observed with a sly grin. “Now, I’ve seen you in nothing but a pair of workout shorts, and I’ve never seen a single tattoo. That could only mean that they are located somewhere most of us wouldn’t see unless you shifted. So… How does Sinead know about them?” 

Seth scowled at me. “Yeah, Adam, how does Sinead know? It couldn’t be because you slept with her. After all, I distinctly remember ordering you NOT to sleep with her.” 

Sinead pushed away from the table and stood up. Her face was flushed pinker than I’d ever seen. She was clearly embarrassed by her own slip and the fact that everyone caught it, but she was also pissed off by Seth’s comment. “With all due respect, Beta, I am a grown woman. In fact, I am far more grown than you are by over a century, and I am perfectly capable of managing my own s*x-life without your assistance. While I appreciate why you issued that order to Adam. You did not issue that order to me, and I was the initiator of our tryst.” Stepping back from the table, she took a deep breath and bowed her head. “Alpha, I apologize for my outburst. Adam, I am sorry for not thinking before speaking. Excuse me.” Without another word, she calmly walked out of the dining room.   

I started to stand up, but Seth stopped me. “No, this is my fault. I’ll go talk to her,” he said. 

“I’m sorry, Adam.” Natasha pulled her elbows from the table and smoothed her hands over the napkin in her lap. “I shouldn’t have drawn attention to Sinead’s lapse.” 

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t hide my exploits, you know that. I only hid this one because of Seth’s order. Now, he knows, and I can stop worrying about it,” I said and smiled. 

She bristled. “He shouldn’t have issued that order. It’s not his place to police pack members’ s*x-lives. We’ll have to have a discussion about that.” Her tone warned that the discussion was more than likely to be one-sided. I almost pitied Seth. Almost. 

“It’s not an issue anymore, Nat. The only woman I’ll be sleeping with from now on is my mate,” I declared, then added, “When she’s ready.” I turned my attention to Isabella, Jo, Daniel, and Evan, otherwise known as the Montoya Quads. They were quadruplet witches and warlocks born during the Witch Eradication in Venezuela and put up for adoption by their mother—for their safety—after their father had been killed. Isabella was the only one who hadn’t been adopted. The witch hunters found them before an eligible family could be located. “You guys don’t have a mate pull or bond. How do you get someone to fall in love with you?” I asked. 

Isabella grinned. “Drake annoy me with no stopping. He grow on me.” Her siblings dropped their chins to their chests and chuckled. 

“No other way to get through that cast iron will,” Drake countered. Isabella pursed her lips and nodded. She was well known for her unbreakable stubborn streak. 

“There’s really no surefire way to win someone’s heart, Adam. A person’s experiences shape how they approach things like relationships, and no two people have the same history.” Jo said and leaned back so an omega could take her dishes. “What works for one may not work for another. For example, I am a sucker for flowers. Not the big expensive bouquets, but the single rose or a clutch of wildflowers. Izzy loves flowers but would rather they live their full lifecycle, preferably in a pot or a garden. You have to tailor your moves to the woman. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of trial and error involved. It takes careful thought and observation to make the right moves. Pay attention when you’re around her; she’ll give you clues.” 

I sat back and looked at the Montoya men. Daniel raised his hands palms out. “You’re barking up the wrong tree here, pal. I wouldn’t know the first thing about making a woman fall in love with me.” 

“Right. Sorry,” I said and rubbed my chin, remembering that he and his brother were both gay. “Lucy, any idea what it will take to win Megan’s heart?”  

She rose from the table. “No idea, but I would approach her with caution and be prepared for a fight. If even half of what I’ve heard is true, that girl is going to have difficulty trusting you.”