Red Ridge Pack 1 Pack of Lies (26 page)

“So what now, Mom? What happens next? We can’t be apart. Are we like supposed to move in together?”

Before Mom could answer, Noel walked out and directly over to us. “Allison, can we talk?”

I looked over at my mom, not sure what to do. Honestly, Noel had never been anything but kind, but she still scared the hell out of me.

Immediately, Mom said, “I’ll go back inside and let you two talk.”

“No, Lillian. Please stay. We are all family now,” Noel said.

Cade’s mom sat down, and suddenly, I found myself sitting between two of the strongest, most self-assured women I have ever known. One who was the alpha-female of our pack and the one who was supposed to be.

Noel placed her hands over mine, which was totally weird, but I knew it was meant to be comforting. “Allison, first I want to apologize for my husband’s behavior. He was completely out-of-line. He is the alpha, and he should have acted as one instead of a raging maniac. And if you tell him I said that, I’ll adamantly deny it.”

Her attempt at humor kind of lightened the mood. I did appreciate her apologizing for Marcus, but in my opinion, he was still a jerk. Alpha or not.

“You don’t need to apologize, Mrs. Walker,” I told her.

“Yes I do. You are family now. You are our son’s mate. This is new for all of us, but I hope that we can get to know each other better.” Then she looked over at my mom and said, “All of us. I want us all to be a family. And as the women in this family, we need to make sure that it happens. Our children are going to need us and our support.”

Noel most definitely surprised me. The fact that she reached out to both my mother and me was kind of… unbelievable. I would have thought that she would be pissed, not to mention completely freaked out, about Aiden being Marcus’s son, but she genuinely seemed okay with it. Not like it was no big deal, because it obviously was, but for her to take the news so well was shocking.

The door opened, and I felt Cade’s presence before he even spoke. “Am I interrupting a female bonding moment?” We all turned and smiled.

Noel said, “Of course not, honey. Why don’t Lillian and I give you two some time to talk?” She turned to my mom and asked, “What do you say, Lillian? Shall we go get a cup of coffee and check on Aiden?”

With a nod, my mom and Noel went inside leaving Cade and me alone. He walked over and sat down next to me. Instantly, my body temperature rose as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Allison, I know this is a lot to take in. Are you okay? Have you been checked out by Dr. Altman? I want to make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m fine really. My were-skin heals quickly,” I joked, and then we laughed together at my own silly attempt to make light of our situation. “Stop worrying about me, Cade. How are you? What’s going on in that head of yours? I know you must be a little shook up by the whole I-suddenly-have-a-brother thing,” I continued.

“I don’t want to talk about that now. I just want to know that you are okay. That’s what matters most,” he said.

We just sat there huddled together in the cold enjoying the feeling of being back in each other’s arms before Cade spoke again. “I came so close to losing you. I don’t know how I would have lived without you, Allison. I love you so much. You know that, right?” he asked with watery eyes.

I couldn’t even speak. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and pulled my mate’s lips to mine, and in that moment, it all became clear. I never wanted to leave his side. Seventeen or seventy, it didn’t matter. We were going to be together forever, and our forever was beginning right now.

I pulled away but only to say, “I love you too, Cade.”

“I was hoping you would say that. You know, I found something, and I think it belongs to you.” Cade stuck his hand in his pocket, pulled out his alpha ring, which now hung from a chain, and placed it around my neck. Where it would stay… forever.

Our lips found each other’s again, and we kissed like we knew this was just the beginning of our new life together. Hearing the door behind us swing open, our lips parted. Marcus waved us over and said to us both, “Hurry in. Your brother is waking up!” Thank God I had Cade by my side because one thing was certain. Everything was about to change, not only for me and Cade, but for the entire Red Ridge Pack as well.

To be continued …

Acknowledgments

We have to start by thanking our family for allowing us the time away from home to do what we love. Without their love and support, writing this book would have been impossible. To our beta reader, Shari Hassell, thanks for telling us how wonderful we are while pointing out all the mistakes we make. You make us sound like we know what we are doing.

We have to give a shout out to Patrick Golden for creating and updating our website, Jordan Mantell for his beautiful poetry, and our many supportive students that we have taught over the years.

Last, but certainly not least, a very special thanks to everyone at Boroughs Publishing Group. It was truly an honor having Jill Limber as our editor. We are so grateful that she saw something in our story that was worth passing along to Michelle. Both Jill and Michelle are the epitome of professionalism, and as fast as lightning!