Sunday afternoon, Kash dropped Bella off at Kinley’s promising to pick her up in time to get to his parents’ for dinner. He was excited for her to meet his parents, but he was still wildly bummed that her own family hadn’t reached out.

He watched from the street until the front door opened and she walked inside, turning to blow him a kiss before shutting the door. Now that she was safely inside, he headed to the retirement community for a four-hour shift, filling in for Ryan, one of the guards who normally worked weekends. He’d already taken the week ahead off in the hope of finding his truemate, but with Bella spending time with Kinley, he hadn’t minded picking up a half-shift, and had agreed to cover shifts on Monday and Tuesday while his sweetheart was hanging with his sister for a couple days. Then they were heading into the Fae Realm to get away for a few days.

He parked near the guard station at the entrance to the large community of small, ranch-style two-bedroom homes that housed most of the older generation of wolves. His parents would eventually move into the retirement community, but they weren’t in any hurry. Within the walled space was a community center with daily activities, a duck-filled pond amongst a flower-filled park, and a 9-hole golf course.

It was a low-stress job, but an important one, and he enjoyed it.

He walked to the guard station, which was large enough for a few people, and had a desk with monitors that showed the security feed around the community. Inside the station was Drake, Kinley’s dad.

“Hey, kid,” Drake said from where he sat at the desk. “Did you drop your mate off?”

“Yep. She said they were going to give each other manicures and watch some 80s rom-com I’d never heard of.”

“McKenna’s so happy that Bella found you. She always felt so bad for what she endured in her pack.” He mused for a moment and then said, “Any word from her parents?”

“Nope.”

“I heard that I might know her dad?”

“Yeah, his name is Brett Sullivan. His dad used to own Jake’s.”

Drake’s eyebrows rose so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. “Jake? Seriously?”

“Yeah, you remember him?”

“Hell yes. He was cool as hell. Brett was an okay guy, but his other son Chris was a well-known asshole. He went after Cades when he knew that Jason had marked her when they were kids.”

“Wait, hold up. Jason marked her when they were kids?”

Drake grinned and leaned back in the chair. “Have a seat my boy, and I’ll tell you the history of the Tressel Pack, starting with a couple of wide-eyed kids, an alpha who put too much authority into his order, and the fight that split the town in half.”

* * *

“So,” Kinley said as she shook a bottle of lavender nail polish and peered studiously at Bella’s nails, “why aren’t you marked yet?”

Bella’s hands flexed ever so slightly. She knew her friend would immediately notice the lack of a mating mark on her neck, especially with her hair in a high ponytail.

She sighed. “I wanted to wait for my dad.”

“What about your dad?”

With a twist, Kinley took off the polish lid and set the glass jar on the kitchen table.

“Well, before I met Kash, I always pictured meeting my truemate and him asking my dad for permission.”

“The way humans do?” she asked, her brow arching.

“Yeah. But I mean my dad expected it too, because he’s alpha. You don’t just mark and mate his only daughter, you know? So when Kash and I met on the full moon, I said I wanted to wait and get to know him better. And then my dad had an utter cow about this pack because of the history.” Bella shook her head. Her dad was so angry. He’d been pushing for her to take a mate, and when she found her actual truemate, he wanted her to walk away.

“My parents told me about the history with the packs.”

Bella blinked. “They did?”

“Well, yeah, they both grew up in the Tressel Pack, so they know what happened. Do you know?”

“I only knew what my dad had told me before I came here. Alpha Jason and Alpha Cades told me their side of things, which didn’t jive at all with what my dad said. My dad seems to have rose-colored-glasses on about my uncle and his behavior.”

Kinley hummed. “Everyone’s perceptions are different. Like me and Dalton. He’s got a very different relationship with our dad, his thoughts on our childhoods are different. Things that were devasting to me didn’t even register for him, and vice versa.” She shrugged. “It’s entirely possible that your dad feels the way he does because of how your uncle’s death affected him. It’s also possible that in order to keep his sanity, Alpha Jason had to determine that saving Cades was worth any cost and he couldn’t dwell on the past.”

Bella hummed in agreement. She couldn’t imagine taking a life, even in defense of someone. But on the other hand, if Kash were in danger and she could save him? She’d freaking do whatever she needed to keep him safe. And she knew he felt the same.

Her phone buzzed. She turned it over where it was resting on the table facing down, and saw it was her brother.

“Speak of the devil.” She swiped her thumb across the screen to answer. “Hi, Chris.”

No pleasantries. No hello. “You need to come home, Bella.”

“It seems I’m not really welcome,” she said. “Dad hasn’t reached out, and neither has Mom. Did they tell you to contact me?”

A little bit of hope, that her family might be willing to meet her and Kash and come to some kind of agreement about her mating bloomed within her chest.

“No.”

Hope…dashed.

“I’m not coming home without my mate, Chris.”

“You’re not mated without Dad’s approval. How could you be so dense?”

She rose from the table and paced away with the phone, her wolf prickling in defense of Kash. “Excuse me, Kash is my truemate. I couldn’t care less where he lives or who’s part of his pack, the only thing I care about is that he’s mine. I did explain all that to Dad, and it’s not my fault that he’s not happy.”

Chris growled softly. “You’re tearing the family apart, Bella.”

“I’m not the one being obstinate.”

“From where I’m sitting, it’s entirely you. Dad is your alpha, and his word is law. If he says you’re not mated and you need to come home, then that’s what you need to do.”

She let out a growl of her own, but it was sharp and angry. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Chris. You’re my little brother, not my alpha. I’ve made my choice and it’s Kash. You can fuck all the way off.”

With a hard press of her finger, she ended the call.

She returned to the kitchen with a snarl. “It’s not at all satisfying hanging up on someone on a cell phone. My grandpa has a house phone that you can slam down in the cradle. Very satisfying.”

“I’m sorry your brother’s being an ass,” Kinley said, standing and giving her a hug. “Can I do anything to help?”

Bella gave her a hug back. “I’m okay. I mean, I’m not okay, but I will be.”

“Let’s finish your nails. You’ve got dinner with Kash’s family tonight. Maybe your family just needs time to come to terms with things. Parents can be stubborn.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Bella wasn’t really sure if things would ever be settled, but there wasn’t anything she could do about her parents’ feelings on the subject of her mating. If time was a healer of all things, perhaps they’d get on board with her mating at some point. If not? At least she still had Kash.

* * *

Kash had just reached the guard station after walking around the perimeter of the community when he saw Alpha Jason speaking to Drake at the station.

Jason gave him a head jut.

“Alpha,” Kash said as he approached.

“I came to speak with you. Were you going to do another pass around the wall?”

“I can,” Kash said.

“Good. I’ll walk with you.”

Kash and Jason walked away from the station and took the path along the outside of the stone walls that secured the retirement community.

“I wanted to tell you about a conversation I had with Jake Sullivan.”

Kash glanced at his alpha. “Bella’s grandpa?”

“Yeah. I reached out to him after you and Bella left, because I got the impression from you two that Brett might not welcome a call from me.”

“How did your chat with Jake go?”

“Not great. Well, actually, talking to Jake was like catching up with an old friend, you know? We always got along well. He’s my dad’s age, but he never treated me like I was too young to be alpha when I took over, even though I probably was.” They walked for a few moments in silence, then Jason said, “When Chris went after Cades, I wasn’t willing to go easy on him for Jake’s sake. I cared for Jake and Renee, they were like family, but Chris went off the deep end. I knew that killing Chris was going to destroy the goodwill between our packs, but getting vengeance for Cades was all I was interested in. I never knew they were in Rhone, and I didn’t know that Renee was killed by a hunter’s stray bullet and Brett had to take over because Jake lost the will to lead the pack without her. Honestly, I didn’t really care where they ended up or what happened to them. Alphas can’t carry everything, we have to focus on our own family and pack.”

“Out of sight, out of mind?” Kash offered.

“Definitely.” Jason stopped walking and peered into the woods that surrounded the community. It was sunny, the light streaming through the thick canopy of trees dappling the ground like string lights. “I didn’t know that Brett harbored such ill will toward me. Don’t get me wrong—I totally get it. If Chris had killed my brother, no matter the reason? I wouldn’t get over that. But the situation between you and Bella shouldn’t even factor into any kind of historical feud between our packs. Brett’s pack may not want a non-wolf as a mate and member, but he shouldn’t be demanding that Bella walk away from you and mate some random male in his own pack.”

Kash frowned. “Random male? What are you talking about?”

Jason looked at him, brows raised. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Before she was able to shift when she came here, Bella was considered a non-shifting wolf within the pack. Jake said she was treated pretty badly by the ones in her age group.”

Kash knew that from what Bella had shared. He still found it hard not to drive down to Rhone and beat the hell out of everyone in her pack.

“Brett apparently decided it was time for her to choose a mate and he put out word to the unmated males in the pack and two agreed to mate with her. It was right before the full moon. She of course said no, that she wouldn’t mate a male who she didn’t even like and the ones that Brett had chosen apparently were pretty awful to her.”

“I can’t imagine a father doing that to his daughter,” Kash said, shaking his head.

“Listen, parents fuck up all the time, okay? Just because he’s alpha doesn’t mean he’s right or that he doesn’t make mistakes. What you guys don’t realize is that while you’re growing up, we’re growing up too. Hell, I still fuck up. Look how I reacted when Lyric came home with two mountain lions and wanted to move to Ashland permanently.”

“You came around, though.”

“I wasn’t about to lose my daughter because I didn’t like who her wolf picked. And the guys proved themselves, anyway. But Jake said Brett’s immovable in this. He won’t accept that Bella’s chosen a non-wolf for a mate regardless that you’re truemates, and he won’t accept that she’ll be out of their pack because of you.”

“Why won’t he accept it? I don’t get why he wouldn’t be happy she found me and can now shift.”

“Because it’s not what he planned for her. And honestly, Brett hates me so much, hates everything the Tressel Pack stands for. In his mind, her picking you means she’s siding with the people who killed his brother. He’s harbored anger and grief for such a long time that it’s twisted everything about him. Jake said he’s not the same male he was before Chris died, but it got worse when Renee was killed and he had to take over. He sees Bella picking you as a betrayal. It’s not her following her heart, it’s her giving him the middle finger.”

Kash let all that roll around in his head. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Jake said he’ll speak to Brett, but not to hold our breaths. Brett wants Bella back in Rhone with her family and pack, and he doesn’t want you to come with her. Since I know you’re not willing to let her walk away from you…”

“Hell no.”

Jason chuckled. They resumed walking, Kash scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary as Jason started talking again. “Then you just need to move forward with your relationship however you two see fit. Mark and mate each other, we can do the ceremony during the May full moon if you’d like, you’ve got a whole month to plan for it. It sucks that Bella’s in this position, but she’s welcome here in our pack no matter who her family is. She’s your mate and that makes her part of our pack, unofficially until the mating and joining ceremonies, of course.”

“I’ll talk to her after work today,” he said. “I hate that she’s been put in this position.”

“It’s not your fault that you’re part of our pack, neither is it her fault that her uncle went batshit crazy and had to be put down. All of that happened before either of you were born and you shouldn’t have to bear the burden of the history between our packs. That’s for those of us in the older generation to worry about, all right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, how’s it going between you two?”

As they continued their trek around the retirement community, Kash told Jason about being with Bella and how complete he felt now that they’d found each other. He’d cast a spell and didn’t expect it to work so fast, although he’d been hopeful. That she’d come to Allen to hang out with Kinley for a change of pace and walked right toward him was incredible.

“Timing’s everything with truemates,” Jason said. “Timing and having snacks around all the time.”

“Snacks?”

“Yeah. Trust me. Whatever snacks she loves, make sure you have a supply of them. Sometimes a little snack will stave off a huge argument. At least that’s my experience with Cades.”

“Got it. Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime. I heard Cades invited Bella to hang out at the house tomorrow with London and the girls.”

“Yeah, London let me know that she was looking forward to telling Bella all the shit I used to do as a kid.”

“Siblings,” Jason said, making a face. “I’ll be around the house, so don’t worry about her being safe. I’ll be sure she, and your sister, are.”

“Thanks, Alpha.”

“You bet.”

When they reached the station, Jason said goodbye to him and Drake and headed to his truck.

“All good?” Drake asked.

“Around the community yes. Between my mate and her family? Not even a little bit.”

“Sorry man, it’ll all work out. The important thing is that you two are together. Focus on that and let the chips fall where they will.”

Kash nodded.

He just wished the chips that were falling around them didn’t involve her dad hating Kash’s pack so much he wanted to split the two of them up.