“She’d never walk away from us, Avaleigh.”
“I didn’t say she’d walk away, but she may never forgive you for keeping her from the one male that’s ever sparked anyinterest from her. She might stay here, but she also might resent you for the rest of her life. You need to stop treating her like she’s fifteen. She’s a young woman, Daniel. She’s almost twenty-one years old. She loves nothing but spending time alone. People unsettle her. Then Boon wanders in, and he prefers being alone, too. But he likes Angelle, and Angelle likes him. Funny how fate brought them together and they’re the only two people we know who prefer to live quiet lives away from everything and everyone. It’s almost like fate has a plan — kinda like when fate had a plan for us,” Avaleigh snapped.
Daniel nodded. “He just told me that she’s his mate.”
“He said that?!” Avaleigh exclaimed happily.
“Yes!”
Avaleigh grinned and lightly clapped her hands together right below her chin.
“And that is why I’m not letting her go,” Daniel said.
“Even if I’m sad at the possibility of her leaving. I’m happy if he’s really her mate. I want her to have what we do. Don’t you?”
Daniel sputtered a few times before he finally found his words. “Of course, I do! But what if she doesn’t want to leave? What if she ends up regretting it?!”
“I’m sure that if he’s any kind of mate, he’ll do whatever she wants him to do.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You are stronger than your Alpha, but you swore your allegiance because this is where I am. I didn’t ask you to.”
“And you think he’d do the same?”
“You need to trust your daughter. She’ll let us all know what she wants as soon as she knows what she wants. You can’t make this decision for her. She’ll resent you if you do.”
“What if she needs me?” Daniel asked.
“She’ll let you know that, too.”
Chapter 2
Angelle quickly washed her face and pulled a brush through her brown hair before looking at herself in the mirror with a panicked look and started digging for a ponytail holder. She caught her thick brown hair up into a ponytail, then brushed her teeth — twice. She swiped her deodorant stick up and down her armpits, then sniffed them, and did it again. “At least I took a shower last night,” she grumbled. She tore her over-sized teeshirt off over her head and shoved her pants to the floor and kicked them toward the hamper, before realizing she didn’t have anything to change into in the bathroom with her. She snatched up her shirt and held it over the front of her body as she opened the door and rushed across the hall to her bedroom.
She dropped the teeshirt to the floor and stood facing her closet, clueless as to what she should wear.
“Maaaaaa!” she suddenly shouted.
Seconds later Avaleigh was opening her door and slipping inside before closing it firmly behind her. “Yes!”
“I don’t know what to wear,” Angelle said.
“He’s wearing a pair of jeans and one of those over-sized shirts he always wears, and unlaced work boots. But, you should wear what you’re comfortable in. I know you want to look nice, and that’s fine, but it’s almost more important to be you. Dress the way you’d normally dress if you were walking out of your bedroom for breakfast. It’s important he sees the real you.”
“That’s not hard. I don’t even own makeup.”
“You know what? Just do you. It’s all you’ve done so far and he can’t seem to stay away.”
Angelle smiled at her mother and nodded before she pulled on a pair of jeans, a tank top and an old thin flannel shirt leaving it to hang open over the tank top.
“I’ll let you get dressed,” Avaleigh said, leaving her to finish on her own.
Angelle checked the mirror mounted over her dresser and shrugged. This was as good as it got. She dressed more professionally sometimes, but this was how she’d like to be dressed at all times. She started toward her bedroom door, then hesitated just long enough to shove her feet into her thick-soled, indoor/outdoor, clog-styled slippers. They were lined with faux fur and a half size too big so she dragged her feet when she walked, but she loved them. She couldn’t help but smile as she made her way to the living room. She paused when she realized he wasn’t in the house.
“He’s outside waiting,” Daniel said. “And you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“I want to, Daddy,” she said, her voice betraying her disappointment that her father had left him standing outside.
