Hector frowned but seemed to sense my desperation. He slowly nodded.
We weren’t far from the pack house since it was the first building at the end of the road. Alpha liked things widespread and private, so there was a healthy distance between all the homes.
I pulled my cell phone out and checked the time.
It was the time of year when it got darker sooner in the day, and twilight descended, casting a low gray light over the land. The tall redwood trees spreading high into the sky also blocked the light out quite a bit.
I kind of missed the wet mossy scent of Scotland. The snow was beautiful too.
“I told your mom you disappeared,” Hector started gruffly, brows furrowed.
All I hoped for him was he’d be willing to go for happiness one day. Either search for his true mate or take the leap and choose someone else. He’d never mated my mom, so he still had the option, fortunately. I guessed it was a good thing my mom was leery about being tied down.
“Have you contacted her?” The question was hesitant. I could understand why. He never wanted me to talk to her, but he’d let me do my thing because he cared about me.
He even kept her contact in his phone just in case he needed to talk to her about me, something he vehemently disliked.
I nodded tightly in answer, not looking at him.
“What did she say?”
I shrugged, remaining silent.
The thickness in my throat had lessened since she’d spat her venom at me. I shouldn’t have expected much from her. She’d always disapproved of me choosing to stay beside Hector, still she was a good source of information and she’d been the only one I could ask about things I was curious about, either concerning Omega stuff or feminine stuff.
“She only looks after herself, Willow.” I blinked away the sheen of tears that obstructed my sight.
He was right. That was the harsh version of what he’d been telling me since I could remember. His warning to be careful, his disgust toward her veiled, but easily discernible. It was a realization I’d had long before, but I’d had hope. Even after what she’d said before ditching me at the gas station.“You’ll be the death of anyone you care about.”
I was a danger to have nearby, but the concoction gave me the confidence to be near my mates. Nola’s words were just that—words. The fear she’d instilled in me haunted me enough, but I trusted my mates.
I’d had enough of wanting to shoulder everything as Nola did, her mentality was toxic, and I was accepting that it was okay to block people from your life if they made you feel shit about yourself, even if it was your mother.
I peeked at Hector from the corner of my eyes and sighed before signing, “You’re right.”
Willow
With my wide stride,it didn’t take long for me to reach the bordering section denoting the start of the pack lands.
“Wait, Willow, I’m going to have to check if Torrin is okay with speaking to you, but we should wait until he finishes dinner.”
Unlike other packs, Torrin liked eating without disturbances and while he still had pack members provide food for those of us that didn’t have mates, he didn’t host them in his home. Instead, he had a community hall deeper into the lands where any mass meeting or gatherings happened.
Blaze, a Beta that switched with Hector when they did the rounds, jogged up as we strode to the front of the house. His wide shoulders hardly moved from the exertion.
“Willow,” he said, chest rumbling as he inclined his head. “Glad to see you’re okay.”
I signed, “Thank you” to him. Most everyone in the pack that did associate with me understood the basic pleasantries of ASL, something I appreciated more than they knew. Blaze was one of them. He was always kind and polite.
“I’m sending a few of the guys to run the perimeter. I already checked with Alpha.” Blaze kept talking but I inched forward more. When he didn’t turn his attention to me, I quickened my stride.
“Wait, Willow,” Hector called, but I ignored him and climbed up the house steps and shoved open the door. I stormed in with Hector on my heels. He was trying to go in first to let them know of my presence, but I wasn’t having it. I knew the house like the back of my hand since Camden and I had grown up running through the place. I turned through the living room and entered the kitchen.
The sweet, buttered scent of bread and ham filled my nose, immediately tossing me back into my memories—Britt cooking for me when Camden had me over for dinner. Spending time with them while my dad patrolled.
My gaze lifted to Alpha’s, his brows lifted and he was standing.
“Willow?”
