Hearing her pseudo-father on the other end of the line brought happiness to her that Leah only felt with him. Knowing that such a powerful man that terrified most of their world cared for her as a daughter reminded her that family was chosen and could be found in the most unlikely of people. Getting lost in her thoughts of family, she realized that this new town would bring even more changes to her life that she was not expecting.
“Lee, you better tell me no one hurt you, or I’m rushing down there in the next minute.”
The gruff voice snapped her back from her thoughts as she responded, “I’m fine, Kade. I promise nobody hurt me. I was late calling you because one of the Alpha’s sons decided to make a play for being heir to the pack by taking in the lone shifter that was supposedly trespassing on their territory.” Leah said this was an air of nonchalance, hoping to ease her protector’s worry.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Lee. We both know what some of these Alphas are like.”
Hearing the concern hidden behind his anger, Leah rushed to calm him before he came storming to her side, ready to battle anyone and everyone. “His brother came in screaming that the Alpha was pissed off about me being taken. The brother took us home as soon as he got his brother to leave.”
“Us? Lee, who was with you? They didn’t take your mother or brother, did they?”
“Kade. Please just listen. They took me from the house but Alex was by himself so I took him with me. I didn’t want to leave him.”
Sighing, Kade asked, “What else happened? I know you’re hiding something from me, kid.”
Stalling and not particularly wanting to talk about Matthew, Leah instead said, “Kid? I thought you were done calling me that?” Hearing his deep chuckle at her pouting, she continued, “I know I accepted you calling me ‘daughter’ and even ‘girl’ but still calling me ‘kid’ is too far.”
Stilling laughing, Kade replied, “Fine, daughter, if you don’t like ‘kid’ how about ‘kiddo’? Isn’t that something fathers call their kids these days?”
Leah loved their banter; it was something she missed from the early days with her biological father. He may never have loved her but she still had some good memories of when he was teaching her how to box and how to survive in the forest. Smirking, she said, “I have no idea, you’re the only real father I’ve had. But I do know that if you keep calling me ‘kiddo’ I’ll have to sneak onto your pack land and slash the tires of your Harley and I’ll sneak away before you even know I was there.” She knew he loved his Harley so much that nobody was allowed near it for anything. He did all the maintenance work and cleaning, refusing to even bring it to an auto shop.
Booming laughter filled her room from the other end of the line, making Leah smile. After a few minutes of Kade’s laughing, he finally said, “Oh daughter, I wish I could say that I did a good job raising you, but when I found you, you were already this vicious wolf. Don’t change, Leah girl.” Taking a breath, he reminded Leah of his earlier question, “Now, you know I’ll always have your back and there’s nothing that will make me love you less, daughter, so what are you hiding from me?”
Sighing, she answered, “Fine. It’s not that you’ll be mad at me, it’s that you’ll go into your over-protective-father mode.” Kade waited in silence for her to continue, knowing that if she said he would feel that way then it was true. Realizing that Kade wasn’t going to bite, Leah continued, “I found my true mate.”
The silence on Kade’s end was almost deafening and Leah had to check to make sure neither one of them had accidentally hung up. Leah held her breath, waiting for her adopted father’s response, hoping that he would be happy for her and not want to interrogate anyone. Finally, she heard his response, “Daughter, I hope this isn’t a joke.”
His monotone reply worried her, she wanted him to be happy and support her but she was unsure of how he truly felt about her news. “Yes, I’m serious. It was just like you said it would be, a single look, and the world just froze.” Leah thought about that moment again, how it felt as if the two of them were the only people in the world. Drawn, like two magnets needing to connect but never realizing until the moment they were face-to-face. “The moment we met, I knew for the first time that nothing could go wrong, that finally, everything was going to be okay. It felt as if nothing could come between us. Does that make sense?”
Leah could hear sniffling from Kade, “Oh Leah girl, yes, that makes sense. Hold onto this guy and don’t let go. Do you hear me? Don’t let him go for anything.” Once she murmured her agreement, he resumed speaking, “You’ve made me the happiest father tonight, Lee. I better be your first call for your mating ceremony, after you tell your mother, of course. I’ll be there whenever you need me.”
Knowing that he was happy for her, Leah couldn’t stop the tears the slipped down her face. “I haven’t even spoken to Mama about him yet. She knows that something happened, especially after she saw him drop us off, but we didn’t have a chance to actually talk about it.”
“Before you tell me anything about him, do you have permission from the Alpha to pursue this? Did you talk to the Alpha about staying on pack land?”
Kade’s questions reminded her that she had to be up early. “He’s the Alpha’s son, not the one that took us, but the one who interrupted his brother and came to help. His name is Matthew and he said he would talk to his father.”
Without letting her finish, Kade said, “He can talk to his father all he wants but you still have to speak with the man, Leah. You know you need permission for your family to be on pack land.”
“I know that, Kade. Matthew is picking me up in the morning so that I can speak to his father. The Alpha knew as soon as I was on their territory, however, he wanted to wait until morning to speak with me, but his other son decided to take matters into his own hands.”
“If you have to meet with the Alpha then you need to sleep. I expect you to call me tomorrow, a little earlier too, so that I know everything went well. I’m happy for you, Leah. After everything you’ve been through in your short life, you deserve this.”
Looking at the small travel alarm clock beside her bed, Leah saw it was nearing two in the morning, she had been on the phone longer than she expected. “I’ll call you tomorrow when I get back, promise.”
“All right, Lee. I’ll hold you to that promise.” Without any goodbye, Kade hung up the phone. It was something Leah had had to get used to after she first met him. He hated saying goodbye, that goodbye meant forever so it should be reserved for the ending of relationships or death. He thought that if you didn’t say goodbye it was a reminder that you would see that person again. It was something that Leah had adopted when she was twelve and realized that there were some friendships she didn’t need to keep as she moved across the country over and over.
Once more looking at her travel clock, Leah decided it was too late to make her other call which was to her Beta, Lethe. Knowing that her call to him could wait until morning, Leah texted him that she made it safe and that she would contact him after her meeting with the new Alpha. She then made a mental note to call her best friend, Andi whom she knew was expecting a detailed account of the new pack and territory she was living with. Snuggling under her blankets, Leah fell asleep with thoughts of her meeting with the Alpha the next day and seeing Matthew one more time.
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