chapter 21

Tali's POV

I wait for the pack to be done with their run, my arms wrapped around my knees, and meet me by the small lake in a clearing a few short miles from the farmhouse.

After breakfast, I'd hoped to sneak away somewhere quiet and be alone for a while, even if it goes against the natural shifter tendency to want to be around others.

I've spent so much of my life alone now, it's hard to seek out others when every time I have in the past has resulted in someone trying and usually succeeding in hurting me.

The huge clawfoot bath in the master bathroom has been calling my name since I saw it, and the idea of soaking for an hour or two sounded like heaven. Until Dayne put a stop to it, that is. He had other ideas about how I should spend my time.

Namely, cleaning up the mess I'd made of the kitchen. Alone. Because apparently there was something he needed to discuss with the pack so none of them could help me, even though more than a few offered.

Which is how I found myself spending the better part of two hours scrubbing grease from the walls, doing dishes, and cleaning the floor. But since I'm well used to that particular chore, it at least went a lot better than the cooking did.

And the pack cast me pitying looks before they left, so that's a bonus. If the only person being a dick to me is Dayne, I can still count myself lucky.

Even if, like Luna, I'm excluded from pack meetings, I try to convince myself that it is because my time is better spent on cleaning the kitchen.

It didn't help my mood when I heard laughter and joking coming from the basement where Dayne was holding this pack meeting. The meeting is so important it sounds like there's a party going on down there.

But it didn't go on too long, and, as I scrubbed, all I could focus on was the bath I had to look forward to once I got done cleaning.

Once again, Dayne had other ideas, such as my being shown around the farmhouse by Jenna and a couple of the other pack members. With a focus on where they kept the cleaning materials, Dayne told them, before he disappeared into the office with Luka.

Lucky? Was I really counting myself lucky earlier?

Now, as the pack runs, something they've been doing for a couple of hours at least, I'm alone for the first time all day. I haven't spent this much time around people in years.

While it wasn't terrible, it felt strange when I'm so used to being alone.

But some of it was good. Like at lunch with Regan, a girl around my age who took the time to show me around the kitchen.

Together, we made a taco casserole and salad for lunch, and I didn't hate every second of it. She even made me laugh a couple of times.

I'm considering how I feel about the prospect of all my days being like this: Dayne going off with his beta and leaving me to cook and clean all day while the rest of the pack hang out in the den, when a soft chuff warns me that I'm no longer alone.

A pair of silver eyes stare at me from the edge of the forest, and I recognize the wolf almost straight away. It's the wolf that confronted me in the forest. Luka. The lean muscled, dark brown wolf is the beta.

Warily, I lower my feet to the ground from where I'm sitting with my back against a tree.

"Hello," I call out, as my heart beats faster at his approach.

Should I stand? Prepare to run? Is this going to be another thing other than cleaning I thought I'd left behind at my Uncle's pack?

Once or twice a week, I would wake in the middle of the night to Uncle dragging me from my bed. I'd have a five-minute head start, and if I didn't make use of those five minutes…

I still have nightmares about when the pack would chase me, and inevitably they would catch me. Four legs are always going to be faster than two.

I peer into the forest, trying to see where the rest of the pack are. But there's no one else, only Luka has returned so far. I'd heard them, of course, running, chasing each other, howling, and sounding like they were having fun.

While I'm distracted, searching out the darkness for the others, Luka has inched closer to me. And seeing how much closer makes my fear spike.

Tilting his head to the side, he stops and examines me questioningly, as if confused by the scent of my fear. Since he's doing nothing but walking toward me, I fully understand why he's eyeing me as if I'm crazy.

"Is everyone still running?" I ask, injecting my voice with false cheer, pretending we both can't smell my fear.

Obviously, he can't respond. Verbally, at least. Instead, his mouth opens in a wolfy grin and he wags his tail.

Even as a wolf, he's easing my fear.

My fear bleeds away, and I wonder if that's just the way he is, or maybe it's because he's a beta, used to calming and steadying an alpha. Though, with an alpha like Dayne, I can't imagine he has an easy job of it.

At Luka's slow approach and the continued absence of the rest of the pack, I remained sitting on the ground, my legs stretched out in front of me.

He's still wagging his tail happily, still grinning wide in a smile that says he's happy to see me, going so far out of his way to be the opposite of threatening that bit by bit, my fear recedes and is replaced instead by gratitude.

Why couldn't he have been my mate? Someone as uncomplicated, as kind as Luka would make every day easy.

When he reaches me, he pauses, sitting back on his haunches as he half-turns to the lake. This is where I'm going to spend a lot of my time, I decide, since I love being around water and it feels peaceful here. It's easy to envision the pack leaping in and shrieking with laughter on a hot day to cool off.

Luka glances at me and shifts a little closer, then stops. And do it again. He keeps on doing it until I realize what he wants.

Warily, I reach a hand out to his shoulder, and after drawing in a deep breath, I bury my fingers in his fur.

It's warm and thick. He will keep this winter coat since we're still in Fall and the nights are about to get colder as winter settles in.

When I do nothing more than hold on to his fur, with no warning whatsoever, Luka licks the side of my face with a rough, wet tongue.

It's so surprising, I can't stop myself from spluttering and giggling, even as I reach up my other hand to swipe at the wetness on my face. "You crazy wolf, why would "

I feel him before I see him.

Dropping my hand from Luka, I shoot to my feet, turning my gaze to the much larger form of a wolf standing at the mouth of the forest. Staring at me. It takes me less than a second to work out who it is.

Dayne.