Fated for Two

The two men looked at each other. Everard shrugged and quickly followed Farrah out the door. Brenton shook his head, totally confused by the woman that was his mate, before following them out.

Once they were all in the car, Farrah turned on the radio. She had a lot of thinking to do and didn’t feel much like talking. Not only that, but she figured if she brought something up that the boys disagreed on it would start an argument and she really was hungry. They could fight out their differences later after they’d all had a good meal and bought groceries.

The ride into the city didn’t take long and Brenton had taken them to a nice steak house. Brenton had eaten two rare steaks, a double helping of fries, green beans, three slices of Texas toast, and chocolate cake for dessert before proclaiming that he was full.

Farrah had eaten her steak and sides, although, she’d skipped dessert, Everard had barely touched his food. He’d eaten most of his steak but had only played with the rest of his food. He hadn’t said a word to anyone, and Farrah had had to repeat his order because he’d spoken so low the waitress had been unable to hear him.

Brenton, who was sitting on the far side of the table, frowned at Everard’s plate before gruffly asking, “You want your food to go?”

Everard glanced up, then looked back down quickly to murmurer, “No, but thank you.”

“Sweetie, you should at least finish your steak,” Farrah encouraged.

“I’m full,” Everard informed her and pushed his plate aside as he stood up. “I’ll just go pay for the…”

“No,” Farrah huffed causing him to turn and look at her. “I said Brenton was paying and pay he will. That is his punishment for being a knothead this morning. Mom always said hitting a man in his pocketbook when angry with him was the ultimate revenge and my mom always has good advice. So, Brenton, go pay so we can go spend more of your money at the grocery store.”

Brenton sat in his seat, stunned as he watched Farrah almost drag Everard from the restaurant. What just happened there? Did she seriously just call me a knothead?

His wolf snickered in his head and basically told him he deserved it.

Brenton ignored his wolf. Did she say paying was my punishment? Did she mean that or was it her way of keeping Everard’s ego from being hurt because she knew he couldn’t afford to pay for their meal, much less the groceries we need to buy? I have a big appetite and food enough just to keep me happy will be expensive.

He frowned in thought as he handed the cashier his cash card.

Everard barely ate though. Was it because he wasn’t hungry, or is it because he’s used to barely having anything to eat? He needs to eat, he’s too skinny. Why am I so worried about him anyway? He isn’t my friend anymore…*sigh* but I miss his friendship. Maybe I need him back, he used to help me keep my temper in check. I wonder if he realizes he did that? I didn’t, not until he wasn’t there anymore, I really do miss my wolf brother.

Shaking his head at his jumbled thoughts, he put his billfold back in his pocket. Then he headed out the door to the car where Everard and Farrah awaited him.

Farrah made sure to pay attention to where they were going as they drove through the city of Greenleaf. She wanted to be sure she knew where to go the next time groceries and things were needed without needing a map. So far it seemed simple enough because they’d stayed on one street after having turned off the county road that leads to the pack lands.

Brenton pulled up into a large parking lot and Farrah stared at the huge grocery store. Having lived in a one-horse town all her life and gone to a small-town grocer, this was beyond her comprehension. So, she whispered, “Wow, who knew they made grocery stores so big.”

Brenton turned to look at her and chuckled, “Never been to a big city store?”

“No, I’d never left the city limits of my small town until I headed out to find the two of you,” Farrah murmured as she opened her door. “Although, when I headed out, I thought I was looking for one mate, not two. Which reminds me, I need to let my mom know I found who I was looking for.”

All three of them got out of the car and headed for the front of the store as Everard asked, “How did your mom take you leaving? From what little you’ve said about her not wanting to leave her home, I have to wonder if she might not have been happy with you for leaving.”

“You’re right, she wasn’t happy about it, at all, and tried her best to talk me out of leaving,” Farrah agreed. “However, with the feelings I was having along with the strange dreams, I knew I had to go, or I would go crazy. You know, I really think the biggest reason for her being upset was because she feared that my mate was an alpha. Perhaps if you hadn’t been, and I could have easily brought you home with me, she wouldn’t have been so upset.”

“How did you know your mate was an alpha?” Brenton asked as they reached the double doors and they slid open for them to walk in.

Farrah huffed, “Easy, there was a lot of anger, anger that usually comes with being a dominant alpha male.”

“Oh, so you’re saying that only alpha males become angry?” Brenton asked, his frown returning to replace the curious look he’d had only moments before.

Farrah shook her head at Brenton’s cluelessness and grabbed a cart before saying, “Brenton, stop giving me wrinkles again and grab a second cart. Everard, you grab a third cart because, with the way Brenton eats, we’ll need them all.” Once they had their carts, she said, “To answer your question, Brenton, no, others get angry too. My alpha had a son and a daughter, Craig and Leanna, each one with a temper that would rival yours, but Craig? His temper was fierce enough he was given the nickname demon,” she explained, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say.

“Anyway, there was something in the way I felt, the strange twist of emotions I seemed to receive from you through my dreams, that made Mom believe it was the anger of an alpha, and she was right. She also mentioned how it was unusual for me to be having dreams about my mate, to begin with. She believed the moon goddess herself was somehow involved. For some reason that alone had her thinking my mate was an alpha as if the moon goddess wouldn’t get involved if it were a regular wolf. Anyway, I’m thinking that since the moon goddess came to you in a dream, Brenton, that mom was right about that too. Huh, I always knew she was a smart woman, my mom, I just never realized just how smart,” she muttered before she stopped talking altogether.

Shaking her head, she began to move swiftly down the aisles, expecting the other two to follow her. Halfway down, she tossed over her shoulder, “If you find something you like, add it to your cart. Since I don’t really know either of your likes or dislikes, I’m just going to be grabbing the basics for now.”

An hour and a half later, they had filled all three carts full of food and checked out. Farrah left the men to figure out how to put it all in her car and still leave room for Everard in the back seat. She walked slightly away from them to call her mom, who she’d meant to call earlier but with everything that was going on she had completely forgotten. She wasn’t looking forward to it but knew it had to be done.

“Hello,” Mom answered after the second ring.

“Hi, Mom,” Farrah murmured. “I’m in Greenleaf, Georgia now.”

“Georgia? Is it nice there? Have you met your mate yet? What is he like? Is he an alpha?” Mom asked.

Farrah chuckled at how fast the questions came, but answered, “It is nice here, at least what I’ve seen so far is nice. Yes, I’ve met my mate and yes, they are alphas.”

There was a long silence then Mom whispered, “They? Twins?”

“Yes, they. No, they aren’t twins, just brothers of the heart,” Farrah informed her mom. After another moment of silence, she continued, “Seemingly the anger I was feeling came one of them, the sadness from the other. From what I can tell, one wasn’t really meant to be alpha, but it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later when I have more time than I have now. I just wanted to let you know I was okay, and I’ll call you later after you’ve had time to let what I’ve told you to sink in.”

“Oh, yes, later dear,” Mom muttered absentmindedly. Then the line went silent as she hung up.

Farrah turned, taking a deep breath before looking over at her mates where they stood watching her.

“Is everything alright?” Everard asked.

Farrah nodded, saying, “All good. Are we ready to go?”

“We are,” Brenton answered.

So, climbing back in the car, they made their way back to Everard’s home. Fifteen minutes later they were turning up the drive and parking. Getting out, they began to tote all the bags inside.

“Just put everything in the kitchen and I’ll get everything put away,” Farrah said as she put her bags down. She then began putting up items as the guys continued making trips in and out.

On the last trip, Brenton commented, “That porch is a health hazard. Anyone could go right through it.”

“I know,” Everard said softly, looking guilty. “It’s just I’ve been concentrating on getting the pack-house fixed and keeping this one from leaking. Nobody ever comes here but me, so it wasn’t exactly a priority.”

“Well, it is a priority now. We can’t have our mate falling through it and getting hurt,” Brenton grumbled. He then headed for the door as he said, “I need to go back to my pack-house and check in since I’ve been gone all day. I’ll be back later.”

“I should go check on the progress made on my pack-house roof too,” Everard mentioned. “Do you want me to stay and help you first though Farrah?”

“No, Honey, I’m good,” Farrah told him as she put away the last of the cold stuff in the refrigerator and closed the door. She then turned to give him a smile. “However, I wouldn’t mind a kiss.”

Everard stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. He gave her a chaste kiss first, acting almost nervously. Then, as he relaxed, he gave her a second, deeper kiss. They were both breathless when he finally broke the kiss off and leaned his forehead on hers.

“You know, I haven’t done much kissing before,” he whispered. “I would have never kissed you yesterday if you hadn’t initiated it.”

She opened her eyes to stare into his, shocked at his confession, and asking, “You haven’t?”

“No. I kissed a girl when I was fifteen, mostly because I wanted to be able to tell my friends I’d kissed a girl. I also did it because Brenton said he’d kissed a girl under the bleachers,” he admitted. “It was only the brushing of lips really because I was so nervous.”

“Mm… so, you and Brenton had a competition going or something?”

“No, not exactly, I just looked up to Brenton. I figured if he thought it was okay to kiss a girl that wasn’t our mate, then it was okay for me too,” Everard explained.

“What about Fiona? You believed she was your mate; didn’t you kiss her?” She questioned, puzzled that he hadn’t done more than kissing the woman. Although, jealousy at the thought of him with someone else had her wolf growling in her head. “I remember Brenton saying you had told him you wanted to wait to be intimate until she was officially your alpha female, but still.”

Everard gave a heavy sigh as he stepped back. He then said, “Perhaps we should go sit down, this might take a bit to explain.”

Farrah nodded and they walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She turned sideways so she could look at him. He sat, his elbows on his knees and taking deep breaths, letting them out slowly.

“I really thought she was my mate, Farrah, I really did. If I hadn’t, I would never have touched her at all,” Everard whispered. His head came up and he turned to look toward the door as Brenton walked in.

Brenton paused in the door as if realizing he’d walked into something serious. He just stood there, not saying anything, waiting.

Everard put his head back down and continued, “It was all there, the feeling of rightness, the electricity, and warmth when you touch, the lost feeling when I looked into her eyes, yet she…”

“She what?” Brenton questioned.

Everard groaned as he turned to look at Brenton to say, “She mostly avoided my touch, almost as if I disgusted her. You warned me, told me you didn’t like her, but I wanted love so badly, Brenton. My family was gone, my pack was struggling, I was lonely and desperately wanted someone to share the burden with me. You were hardly around anymore because your dad was working with you, preparing you to run your own pack. I guess I felt like I had no one anymore. Maybe they saw that and used it against me.”

“Perhaps,” Brenton agreed, “you wouldn’t be the first one it has happened to.”

“At first, we mostly just held hands. I was innocent of everything, apart from that one kiss. The first time I met Fiona was in town, I was having lunch and she just walked up to me and began to talk,” he stopped, a frown crossing his face. “Now that I think about it, when I first looked at her there was no recognition from my wolf that she was my mate,” he glanced at Farrah then and added, “not like there was with you. With you he immediately jumped to the front of my mind, ready to claim you as our mate.” He shook his head in puzzlement at the long-forgotten memory, then continued, “She smiled, laid a hand on my arm, and ran it up and down. I remember glancing at her hand, remembering how pale and smooth it was compared to my arm, and wondering why she was touching me, a stranger. I looked back up and suddenly I was lost…”

Farrah gasped, a cold shiver running through her as he described what had happened.

Brenton growled and asked, “Why did you never tell me this before?”

“Probably because he couldn’t,” Farrah whispered.