“No thank you, I don’t think financing will work.” I felt defeated and was ready to give in and make up some crazy convoluted story about why the deal with the car fell through.
“Do you mind if we talk alone for a few minutes?” Blake asked. The salesman agreed and stepped away. Then Blake turned to me. “Why don’t you just finance half of it?”
“I don’t have any credit,” I replied. I’d never had a reason to open a credit card and my parents were paying for my college. I knew that even if they did agree to finance the car for me that it would be at a really high interest rate.
“Don’t give up without even trying. Let’s just see what happens first.” Blake caught the dealer’s eye and waved him back. “She’d like to finance half the car.” The salesman smiled and handed me a form to complete. I filled in the required fields and slid it back across the desk.
We waited for at least fifteen minutes until the salesman came back. He asked, “Is there any chance you could have someone cosign for you?”
Before I could respond, Blake spoke up. “Absolutely. I’d be happy to cosign.”
“Great, just fill this portion out over here.” He slid the form back over to Blake. I was dumbstruck but didn’t want to say anything in front of the salesman.
After he walked away again, I turned to Blake. “What are you doing? Why are you cosigning for me? This is absolutely crazy.” I was baffled by how quick he was to cosign for me as if he was just lending me a couple dollars. Was he really that helpful and friendly? Or was there something in it for him as well?
“Why not?”
“Because what if I don’t pay and destroy your credit?”
“First of all, I highly doubt a perfectionist such as yourself would just stop paying your bills. Second, did you forget I’m going to be the alpha soon? I have a lot more influence over you than even your parents. I could banish you from the pack if I wanted to. That would be pretty fucking dumb to screw the alpha of your pack, unless it’s in a sexual context of course.” He laughed. I glared at him. “Just kidding. Last joke of the day.”
After another fifteen minutes the salesman came back smiling. “Mr. Wulfric, we were able to run your credit, and there won’t be any issues with you as the cosigner.” He then looked at me. “We have a great promotion right now where we’re offering financing at only 2.5 percent interest. Ms. Dale, I only have one question for you. Are you ready to drive your new car home today?”
Chapter 17
Blake
Ireturnedhomearoundfive thirty after spending the day with Jasmine. My father stopped me as soon as I walked through the door. “And where the hell have you been all day?” His face was red, brows furrowed.
“Out,” I replied, not wanting to give any additional information.
“In case you forgot, you’re going to be the alpha of this pack soon, which means you have a lot of responsibilities around here.”
“And it also means I don’t need to answer to anyone.”
“I’m still the fucking alpha, so you will answer to me! Where the fuck were you?” he bellowed, using his alpha aura, something he hadn’t used with me in years, probably since I was still in high school.
I felt my neck maneuvering to bare itself in submission, feeling forced to reply to his question. But, for the first time, I found I was easily able to override the command. I could tell that I had grown much stronger than my father and would easily be able to overpower him if it ever came down to it. I replied, “None of your fucking business!”
He gasped in shock, clearly not used to anyone being able to overcome his alpha aura. Then I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and used the alpha aura back on him. “Now leave me alone.” I watched as my father bared his own neck in submission, a pained look on his face.
I left my father, relishing in my newfound power, and walked to the kitchen where the packhouse cook was preparing dinner. I inhaled the delicious smell of pot roast and potatoes. “What time will dinner be ready?” I asked.
“In half an hour—your mom should be returning from her shift then,” Connie, the cook, replied. I left the kitchen to go to my bedroom and opened my laptop to review the meeting minutes that I had requested from our office manager, Mariette. I then scrolled through the remainder of my emails, seeing what I had missed during the day. There was an email from Luke with updates on the situation with Alpha Édouard and the Bois Sombre Pack. Fortunately, there weren’t any new developments in the situation at the moment. Unfortunately, there was still evidence that Alpha Édouard might be building alliances. I knew a war was inevitable. I just wondered how much longer we had to prepare.
After going through my emails, I pulled up a picture on my phone from earlier that day. I’d secretly taken it of Jasmine test-driving her new car, bliss on her face. I smiled and decided to send it to her in a text message, thinking she’d like to see it and save it as a memory. After pulling up our text thread, I typed,Congrats again on your new ride,and hit send. I sat back in my chair, realizing the smile was still plastered on my face without any intention of fading. Shit, what was happening? A familiar feeling flooded through me—a feeling I’d only ever felt once in my life before, with Ria.
I made an abrupt decision that I would push it away, deep into my subconscious, just like I had with everything else I didn’t want to feel. The last thing I needed right now was to develop feelings for someone else. The last time still seared my insides and left me with nightmares I couldn’t rid myself of. And this situation was, similarly, bound to end in pain—maybe not as bad, but pain just the same. While I no longer had a mate and was free to take a chosen one, Jasmine still had a fated mate somewhere out there and would eventually take him as her own, as she should. She was right—we needed to give each other space and cool things down. I threw my phone on my desk and exited my bedroom to go to dinner.
My parents and Luke’s parents were already seated at the dining room table when I arrived. I was also surprised to see Luke’s oldest sister, Peyton, with her mate, Ryan, seated at the table. She was now very pregnant with her third pup, her belly swollen against the table. “How much longer until the due date?” I asked. Luke’s sisters and their families rarely joined us for meals at the packhouse these days.
“A little over a month. We’re hoping she makes it to the alpha ceremony. The last pup was a couple weeks early,” Ryan replied. Werewolf pregnancies normally lasted around six months.
I took a seat next to my mom who spoke next. “I checked Peyton over today, and everything is progressing very well. Pup and mom are both nice and healthy.”
“Thank you again, Dr. Luna, for taking the time to look her over,” Ryan said, appreciatively. He then turned to me. “She’s been having some cramps, so we were worried. She’s no spring chicken, and this pregnancy was very unexpected.” Peyton was much older than Luke at thirty-six years old.
“Humans are having children in their forties nowadays, and werewolves are much better equipped to carry children, so there’s nothing to worry about.” My mom smiled at the couple.