“Who else will be waiting?” I find myself asking about the question without thinking. I haven’t been back here in years, and when I left, I wasn’t in a good place.
“We’ll talk when you’re not on the phone,” Cason remarks after a moment of pause.
“Right,” I mumble and hang up. I don’t know what I’m about to get into here, but something tells me things are about to get complicated for me, and I don’t like complications.
“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl,” my grandma calls, not looking a day older than her mid-forties. Because she and my grandfather are also bonded, neither of them ages rapidly.
I hate and love this for them. It’s also a reminder of my own aging because I’m not mated. I have no one to share my life with. I simply live a human life like the rest of the regular people in the world.
“Hey, Bamba,” I greet the woman, calling her the name I’ve always called her. I smile back and wrap my arms around her, hugging her tight. Gods know I’ve missed her.
“Beautiful girl,” Granddad’s husky voice hits my ear as he joins my grandma and me, wrapping his solid arms around both of us. “Good to have you back home.”
Home.
I don’t feel at home. Honestly, I haven’t felt at home anywhere in a long time, and still, I don’t have that sense of feeling. Not even with my family surrounding me.
The grandparents pull back as Cason steps forward, a beautiful woman at his side. Both of them smiling at me.
Cason lets his mate go as they get close, and he engulfs me in a hug, lifting me clear off my feet. “About damn time,” he murmurs in my ear.
“Yeah. Yeah.” I pat him on his back. “You can put me down now.”
I love my big brother, but I’m not really one for affection from others. I tolerate it from the grandparents because, well, they’re just that, grandparents.
Cason moves back after setting me down on my feet. Takes his mate in his arms and says, “This is Francie. My mate.”
I smile at the woman, wondering if she’s his fated or chosen. It doesn’t matter either way to me, so long as she makes him happy. “Nice to meet you,” I tell her, reaching to shake her hand.
Francie smiles and takes my hand. “Same. I’ve been wanting to meet you since Cason and I . . .” she trails off, blushing.
“The others are also looking forward to meeting you.”
“Others?” I jerk my gaze up to meet Cason’s once again. “You building a harem or something, big brother?”
Cason’s lip twitches, and he looks ready to burst out laughing. “Nah, the rest of my brothers and the women around here.”
“Fire is the only other one around here that has amate. His mate’s my boss at the bar the club owns,” Francie adds.
Now, I’m even more confused than I already was.
“Um, okay.” Now, I’m suddenly feeling a bit uneasy and nervous.
I want to get in my car and get out of this town. Instead of doing what I want, I allow myself to be guided away from my car to the building, along with the people within it.
ONE
CARINA
I should have lefta week ago. I don’t know why I haven’t already. I need to be on the road and heading to a little tourist town I heard about called Shiverborn.
From the research I’ve done so far in the past two weeks, one of them being here in my hometown, I’ve found that it is built between mountains about five hours from here. I’d have packed up and gotten the hell out of town, but it seems my brother is determined to keep me here longer than I intend.
Sure, it’s been great being around all of them. I even got to meet Evelin, Fire’s mate. She’s pretty awesome and hilarious. Her mom, though, freakedme out. I never thought I’d meet a woman who was a Valkyrie.
I hadn’t expected to meet so many awesome people, and watching my brother celebrate with his mate was pretty awesome. The place was packed, but it wasn’t overly packed. Cason, or as everyone else calls him, Inferno told me that some of his brothers were out on a run for the club and would be back in about a week.
Today, I’m supposed to go out there and hang with him, Francie, and some more. Seems the two of them are intent on keeping me here as long as they can. But I’m not staying any longer. I’ll tell them and the grandparents this afternoon I’m heading out.
