Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Trick was constantly touching Frankie—toying with the ends of her hair, rubbing his jaw against her temple, pressing light kisses to her cheek, skimming his fingers over the back of her hand—reassuring her that he was there, that she wasn’t alone, and keeping her wolf steady.
Aside from the moment where she almost knocked her wine over, everything went pretty well. The food was spectacular. For their first course, they had tomato soup with hot, freshly baked rolls. The second course was steak, ribs, fried onions, and chunky fries with a side salad. For dessert Clara brought out a Mississippi mud pie in honor of Iris, as it had been a favorite of hers.
Before anyone could cut the pie, Lydia piped up. “Wait!” She pulled out her cell phone. “I have to snap a picture of this to show Grace. She’ll think it’s amazing.”
The ice tinkled against the glass as Clara lifted her drink and said, “I noticed that you and Trick were close, Frankie, but I didn’t think you were mates. I was so caught up with what was happening with Iris that I wasn’t really paying much attention. Did she know?”
Frankie nodded. “I told her.”
A smile curled Clara’s mouth. “I’m glad. That will have eased her worries for you. We talked about you during her last few days, and she said how wonderful you were. She was proud of the person you’ve become. It broke her heart that you’d felt so alone all these years. I know you had your maternal relatives, but a wolf without a pack can often feel very lonely.”
“I suppose they weren’t happy to hear you’ve moved to pack territory,” guessed Cesar.
Frankie bit her lower lip. “They don’t know yet.” Under the table, Trick rested his hand on her knee and gave it a comforting squeeze.
Cesar sighed. “I’m sorry that things have worked out this way, Frankie, and you’ve been forced to choose, but I can’t be sorry for their sake. They caused Iris a lot of pain when they kept you from her.”
Feeling unexpectedly defensive of them, she said, “They’re not awful people.”
“Of course they’re not.” Clara cut into the pie and began serving everyone pieces. “They love you, Frankie. Always have. I must admit, I was initially worried that they wouldn’t accept you at all.”
“Why?” asked Cam, taking the word right out of Frankie’s mouth.
“We were overjoyed when we heard Caroline was pregnant,” said Clara. “It never occurred to me that they might not be so pleased. But I found her sitting under her willow tree behind her cabin, crying. They were already upset with her for giving up her teacher’s job, even though she’d been unhappy at the school, and she thought that hearing she was pregnant might appease them. It didn’t.”
Lydia sighed. “They’d hoped she’d one day leave Christopher.”
Confused, Frankie said, “But my parents were mated.”
“Yes, but I don’t think the Newmans quite understand the concept of true mates.” Cesar paused, stroking his mustache. “In fact, I don’t think they want to understand.”
Clara nodded, but she didn’t speak until she’d swallowed the food she was chewing. “Iris once told me that she overheard Caroline telling her mother how amazing it was to find and bond with the other half of your soul—that she felt complete. Her mother told her not to be so adolescent and foolish, said there was no such thing as soul mates and that Caroline needed to wake up and see that she didn’t belong here.”
Sounds like something Marcia would say, Frankie thought as she forked up some pie.
“I don’t believe that your grandmother is a bad person,” Clara went on. “Not at all. But I think she felt like she was losing Caroline. Her daughter used to live quite close to her. Suddenly she was living on pack territory, surrounded by other people and madly in love with a male who had a bond with her that no other connection could ever surpass.”
Trick draped his arm over the back of Frankie’s chair and drew circles on her shoulder. “Marcia felt threatened by the mating bond.”
“Brad seemed to feel the same way,” said Cesar. “Christopher was an interloper in their eyes. I’m not sure how much Brad understood about true mates, but I know his parents didn’t believe in any kind of metaphysical bond. They thought Caroline could walk away from Christopher if she ever chose to do so. They thought he’d brainwashed her into believing that she was stuck with him. Nothing Caroline said seemed to make any difference.”
Clara caught Frankie’s gaze as she said, “Although your grandparents weren’t pleased about the pregnancy, they doted on you. Didn’t they, Cesar?”
“Oh yes,” he agreed. “They were so proud, especially as you looked the image of Caroline when she was a child. They even softened toward Christopher, after a while. Unfortunately, Brad didn’t. He remained very hostile toward your father, but he loved you. ‘My Frankie,’ Brad called you.”