A Mate for Lu - Amy Bellows Page 0,40

speak for just a few minutes alone?

Victor: Have you talked to your brother about the store’s deficit yet?

Ansel: Any time. I miss the hell out of you. Want to come over for dinner this week?

Axe climbs into the car before I get a chance to respond.

It isn’t far to the academy. Every three years ragers have to meet with the Guild to discuss their productivity and behavior on the Slope. I want to tell Axe to ignore the shitty things the Guild is probably going to say to him. The problem is I don’t think he’ll ever believe me. If there’s one thing our family struggles with, it’s acknowledging our self-worth.

Instead, I tell him I love him. I hope that’s enough.

Mary fell asleep during the drive, so I wind around to the parking lot in the back and park. Axe’s assessment will take about an hour, which means I have time to kill. I pull out my phone and send off a few messages.

To Sam: My brother was banished to the Slope for almost killing Mary’s alpha father when he left me. Unless you want to claim me as your mate openly, I wouldn’t come over.

To Victor: No. Cy made a lot of money this Pebble Gifting Season. I think we’ll be okay.

To Ansel: I would love to come to dinner. Is it alright if Mary comes too?

Predictably, Sam doesn’t respond. There’s no way he’s going to claim me as his mate openly. Victor doesn’t respond either. I know he’s bringing up the deficit because he wants to buy the jewelry shop. But Cy’s not an idiot. I trust him to keep the shop in the black.

I get a response from Ansel:

Of course she can come. What night?

That all depends. Sam and I had “family dinner” on Tuesday and Thursday this week. If I tell him it’s over between us, those dinners would be cancelled, but am I ready to do that yet?

How about Wednesday?

Ansel sends me a smiley emoji.

Nausea overwhelms me. I open the car door and retch onto the asphalt. At this point, there’s nothing for me to vomit up anymore. My body doesn’t care. I dry heave again and again. Somehow Mary doesn’t wake up, but the entire time I can’t help but wonder how I’m going to take care of her during this pregnancy.

Forty-five minutes after parking, I compose myself and start the car again.

I get another text from Sam:

Just give me five minutes? I’ll be quick.

I reread the message several times. He’s going to break up with me. I just know it.

Fine. I’ll text you when it’s safe to come.

If he’s going to end things, there’s no use in prolonging the inevitable.

26

Sam

My in-laws live one block from the church Allen grew up attending. Allen loved that church. He insisted on taking the kids there even after we moved to the other side of town. It was the church the blue-collar penguin shifters gravitated towards—the construction workers, plumbers, and mechanics.

I never thought I’d end up with a mate from this part of town. My fathers are both teachers. I grew up in a house full of books and lively discussions about the classics. When I started writing, my fathers didn’t tell me it was an impractical profession. They bought me books on grammar and tutored me on sentence structure. They both assumed I’d choose a mate who loved the written word as much as I did.

When I met Allen during my Pebble Gifting Season, he was so easy to talk to and had a smile that took my breath away. It was our first night roaming the streets looking for a mate, but after we made love for the first time, I knew without any doubt that he was the one for me. His reaction to my pebble sealed our fate.

His mothers’ house hasn’t changed much since the morning I stood nervously outside the front door with my Pebble Gifting portfolio and Allen by my side. It’s a square brick house with a wide porch and a white door. Back then, I was so worried they wouldn’t accept an alpha with dreams a lot bigger than his pocketbook. Allen’s mothers were only able to have one child. He was their pride and joy.

I ring the doorbell now as I did then, with a trembling finger. Dana, Allen’s omega mother, answers the door. She’s short and round, exactly like he was, with a warm smile and gray hair that extends half-way down her back.

“Oh, Sam. It’s good