Chapter 36: Sutton

 

We were just setting the table when Lucas and the others came in. I met Gamma Max, who shook my hand politely. Lucas had said he was eager to meet me, but he didn’t say much throughout the meal. Grant it; I didn’t say much, either. Lucas did a good job fielding a lot of the questions directed toward me. I didn’t think I was ready to start sharing my life’s story with a room full of people.

We had finished eating and I was clearing the table when Lucas took my hand and led me to the spare bedroom.

“I have to leave now,” he said. “It’ll be several hours. Are you going to be okay here?”

I nodded. “I will be fine,” I assured him. “I don’t think your aunt or uncle are going to let me out of their sight.”

“Good,” he said. “They’re not supposed to.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “This is yours. I’m already programmed into it. Along with a few others. You call me if you need anything. And keep it close. I’ll be checking in with you.”

“You don’t trust your aunt and uncle?” I teased as I took the phone.

“With my life,” he said. He took my face in his hands, gazing down at me for a moment. “I’m struggling to trust anyone with yours at the moment.”

He looked sad when he said it, causing me to worry.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, covering his hand with mine.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” he said. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Is it Max?” I questioned. “He doesn’t like me, does he?”

“What in the hell gave you that idea?”

“Well, he just… you said he was looking forward to meeting me,” I pointed out. “But he doesn’t seem that impressed.”

Lucas chuckled. “Max is shy, baby,” he said. “Probably more shy than you. Until you get to know him. Trust me. He’ll be an open book by tomorrow.”

“Oh,” I replied, still not convinced.

“He likes you, Sutton,” Lucas insisted. “And I like that you’re concerned.”

He still seemed upset. I wanted to push more, but I knew he was dealing with a lot. I didn’t want to add even more than I already was by nagging him. So I just nodded.

He pulled me in closer, kissing me firmly. Then the kiss deepened. His tongue reaching out to mine earnestly. My hands slid up his chest, snaking around his neck as I remembered the things we had done the night before. The heat of desire flared in my core. A rumble vibrated through Lucas’ chest. His hands moved to my waist, gripping me tightly as the kiss became more fervent.

My fingers lacing through his hair must have triggered something because he suddenly ripped his mouth from mine. His arms wrapped around my waist as he buried his face in my neck. His heavy breathing matched mine.

“You should be more careful, Sutton,” he breathed. “You shouldn’t start things you’re not ready to finish.”

“I think you’re the one who started it,” I replied breathlessly.

Lucas chuckled. “I suppose you’re right,” he said, his teeth grazing the skin beneath my ear. “I’ll try not to be too late. That phone stays on you. Understood?”

“It will,” I promised.

He kissed me one more time before we made our way back out of the room. I watched as he left the house, chewing my lip as I thought about everything that had transpired between us over the last couple of days.

“I remember those early days,” Lara said, coming up to stand beside me. “It was hard to be apart. Even harder to keep our hands off of each other. I won’t say the appeal goes away, but you learn to resist it better. You have to or you’d never get anything done.”

“You and Rodney are fated mates?” I asked.

“Aye, we are. Every generation for nearly two centuries,” she said proudly.

“Lucas said they were common,” I said, wondering why I had been told differently.

“It can vary between packs,” she said. “No one really knows why. But Alphas and Lunas are almost always fated.”

I still couldn’t wrap my head around this whole fated mate thing. I could admit to myself that I liked Lucas. A lot. Way more than I expected to, actually. But I don’t know if I’d ever want to be marked again.    

Lara reached up and brushed my hair over my shoulder. I dropped my hand. I hadn’t even realized I’d been touching the old mark as I was lost in my thoughts. I cleared my throat as I crossed my arms in front of me. Lara was looking at me with a strange grin.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing at all. But you know, I have to go and feed the chickens. Why don’t you come and help me? I’ll show you around the farm a bit after.”

“I can do that,” I agreed.

She led me to the mud room, offering me some boots to change into. Once outside, we loaded supplies into an electric cart before climbing on. She drove us to another part of the property. It was close enough to still have a clear sight of the house, but far enough that I understood the need for the cart. This area also had several buildings. There were two more barns a couple of animal pens and what seemed to be another smaller house.

“That was our original farmhouse,” she explained. “Rodney built the new one about thirteen years ago when the distillery really started to do well. To keep it in shape, we offer it to the farmhands as a place to stay during the busy seasons. Or any time they need it really. We make sure all of our employees have a roof over their heads.”

We disembarked the cart outside the chicken coop and Lara grabbed me a basket of feed.

“Do you have many farmhands staying here?”

“Two or three at the moment,” she said. “But you don’t have to worry about running into them. They’ll be off in the fields until sundown for now.”

As if to set her up for a lie, one of the big barn doors began to creak open and voices emerged. Lara stepped partially in front of me, muttering something under her breath. Two men stepped out of the barn without noticing us. The loud sound of machinery accompanied them as they waved at someone inside the building. A moment later, an old tractor pulled out, following their instructions.

One of the men finally noticed Lara and I. Waving to cut the engine, he started heading in our direction.