Furred Lines: A Fated Mate Romance

by Jade, Amelia

  Langdon walked calmly over to him and spoke into his ear as he followed him. Stephen became visibly agitated while Aiden watched, appearing to curse silently for several long seconds. Then he turned and pointed at Aiden, reluctance written all over his face.

  Recognizing a cue when he saw one, Aiden stopped what he was doing and hurried over to Stephen’s office. The Alpha was already speaking when he got there.

  “Flint, take Orren, Langdon and Rokk with you. I need the three of you there.”

  “What about the pickup?” That was Orren.

  “I was going to send you or Langdon with Willow to deal with that. But, since Deckard here isn’t along to help out, and we all know Patrice isn’t intimidating enough, I have no choice but to send him with Willow to handle that.”

  Orren nodded. “Okay, boss.”

  Flint motioned and the others all filed out, each one staring daggers at him as they went past.

  “What the fuck did I do?” he snarled angrily at their backs.

  “Shut up.”

  Aiden bit down on his tongue to forestall a hot retort and simply nodded instead.

  “You and Willow are going to take one of the trucks and go retrieve some supplies. You are manual labor, nothing more. She is in charge. If I hear that you did or said anything less than professional, I will tear your dick off and shove it down your throat so far you’ll be pissing out your asshole. Got it?”

  “Absolutely.” I’d like to see you try.

  “Willow will be here momentarily. Now get out of my office.”

  Aiden hadn’t gone more than a step before Willow came through the doors.

  “Ready?”

  “You bet,” he responded.

  Willow didn’t wait for a response, heading straight out the back. Aiden hurried to keep up with her. She walked over to a white truck, one of the small cargo ones that places often rented out to students and families when they moved.

  Aiden’s long strides allowed him to catch up as they walked around the side.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

  He frowned. “Getting in the truck?”

  “Passenger side is over there,” she said, pointing up and over the cab.

  “Ah, right. Of course.”

  Willow snorted in amusement behind him as he hurried around to the far side.

  At least she couldn’t see his cheeks burning from there.

  Seven

  Willow

  “Can I ask you something?”

  The question she’d been wanting to bring up had been on her mind since the very first day the tall brown-haired werewolf had walked up to her desk and blown away all the stereotypes she’d been building of him in her head. It was unlike her father to be so mistaken about somebody, but it was clear to Willow that he’d misjudged the newcomer.

  She didn’t expect her dad to admit it, of course. Getting Stephen to own up to a mistake was such a novelty Willow wasn’t sure she’d react if she heard it happen. Probably throw a party or something, just to draw it out and make him more irritated about it. Which of course meant he’d never do it again. But still, it would probably be worth it.

  “Um, what’s that?” Aiden replied, glancing over at her from where he lounged as comfortably as possible in the seat. He somehow made the worn chair look far more relaxing than it had any right to be.

  “Why are you here?”

  Aiden blinked. “Your father told me to come along with you. I’m manual labor, apparently.” He shrugged and continued quickly before she could speak. “I was as surprised as you, trust me. After the way he ordered me away from you the other day, to stick us into a truck together for…well, I have no idea how long the ride is, but even just pairing us up caught me off guard completely.”

  “True,” she agreed. “But that isn’t what I meant…”

  The werewolf was silent for several long moments as he considered her question.

  “I mean, you’re smart, I can’t argue that. You have some drive, you aren’t incompetent at life. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

  Aiden nodded. “Well, thank you for that. But it wasn’t for any of those reasons. Well, not for a lack of them, at least.”

  Willow considered that. “He thought you were a threat?”

  She could practically imagine the way his big brown eyes danced as he laughed next to her. “Mack considers everyone a threat. That’s what makes a good Alpha, is analyzing threats and dealing with them. But no, he knew I had no designs on his position.”

  “So what’s the problem then?”

  The mood turned somber even before he replied. She could tell that admitting the truth behind it wasn’t easy for him, and it likely opened up some hurt that Aiden hadn’t known was there. But it was important to her to know the answer, so she didn’t back down or tell him that he didn’t have to answer.

  “I couldn’t keep it together,” Aiden said at last, his voice heavy with regret. “Someone could blink at me wrong, or make even the slightest joke, and we had to fight. Had to. I didn’t see any other option. Nor did I care. I was good at fighting, and I wanted to do it. To prove to everyone how much of a badass I was.”

  He laughed softly at himself while she drove in silence. “You’d think I’d have grown out of that after puberty, right?”

  Willow considered her answer carefully, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “Sometimes it’s not just hormones, but a part of our personality. If you never had to learn to control your anger as a child, to let it out in healthy ways, then it’s only natural that you would want to fight often. That doesn’t make it right, but it is understandable, in a way.”

  Aiden stared at her for a long, long time before responding. Long enough that Willow began to blush from the attention.

  “You are a very perceptive young woman,” he said at last. “Very perceptive.”

  Willow smiled. “I’ve lived around you werewolves my entire life, Aiden. I know you run hotter and tend to align with some of the more primitive and feral aspects of humanity. It’s in your nature.” She shrugged, keeping her hands on the wheel. “But I’m glad you’ve become aware of these issues. I hope that means you’re working to fix them.”

  She clamped down on her mouth, not willing to say just yet why she hoped he was working on them. Telling Aiden she wanted him to stick around so she could get to know him better was not something he needed to hear just now. She wanted him to fix himself for him , not because he thought it would grant him a better shot at getting closer to her.

  “You know, at first, I wasn’t. Mack exiled me, said coming here was my last chance and that Stephen would put me down in a heartbeat if I didn’t behave. Do you know the first thought that ran through my head after he said that?”

  “No.”

  “Bring it. I’ll take him on, I’m not afraid.” Aiden’s head banged off the headrest. “I thought that for quite a while. I was ready to come in the other day and just fight everyone until I was either dead, or Alpha of the pack.”

  Willow sensed her cue as he stopped speaking. “What changed?”

  “I slept on it. Figured that if I did that, Mack would just send one of the regional response teams after me, with orders to terminate with extreme prejudice.” He laughed weakly. “I’m good in a fight, but against a dozen of those guys? Not a chance. Individually, I’d be willing to test my luck, sure. I was a member of one for a decade. I know the tricks, the training. But they work as a team, Willow. Twelve wolves, hunting as one. I’d be dead before I knew it.” He ran a hand through the hair on top of his head. “No, I want to live. I figured out that was the most important thing to me. Living, to see what tomorrow brings, next week, next month. I want to experience the fullness of my lifespan, Willow. To see what other changes will occur in the world.”

  The last thing Willow had expected was an inner monologue of his thoughts, and what was important to him. But now she had it.

  “Is that all you want to live for? Is to see what tomorrow bri
ngs?”

  No! Bad Willow. Stop flirting with him. He’s going to pick up on it instantly and then you’ll really be in trouble with Father. And yourself. He’s a werewolf . Remember how we swore those off after the last one? Hmmm? Or did you forget how he nearly killed you before Father could rescue you?

  She cursed herself silently, thinking of ways she could deflect any tension, so that Aiden wouldn’t pick up on her ulterior motives in asking the question.

  “I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said, his head swiveling to stare at her.

  She glanced over at him, letting her eyes get trapped for mere moments before returning them to the road. It was tough, but like Aiden, Willow wanted to live, and focusing on the road would aid that cause big time.

  They rode the next ten minutes in silence, both of them lost deep in their thoughts, and Willow relieved that Aiden hadn’t pressed her on her question. Though of course, his response had been vague enough to make her wonder.

  He could easily have been insinuating that he was still trying to figure out whether or not she was something he was living for. His response, if that were the case, was his way of saying he was confused, and unsure of how everything was playing out. Which was also true of her. Willow had no idea how everything was going to go. In fact, she’d never expected it to head down this road in the first place, so all of this was new territory for her.

  “We’re here,” she announced, pulling the truck off the road and into the parking lot for a warehouse.

  The building was huge. It dwarfed her father’s place, and that was just a section of it. The loading bays could easily hold twenty plus trucks at a time. It was better suited for use as a distribution center for a national or multinational company. Instead, it sat mostly empty, unused. Willow pulled around to the rear, where another quartet of loading bays were located, shielded from the road and others by the building.

  Waiting for them were two cargo vans, their rear doors open and filled with boxes.

  “What’s the deal with them?” Aiden asked, casually pointing to the two human guards standing nearby, automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.

  Willow noted how he didn’t seem worried or concerned. Just curious. Threat Assessment. That’s what he’s doing right now.

  “As long as you keep your mouth shut and do as I say, nothing to worry about.” She wheeled the truck around and started backing it up to the vans.

  One of the guards used a hand to wave her in until she was close.

  “I see. This doesn’t seem like it has much to do with shipping,” he remarked, sitting up straighter as she put the vehicle into park. He didn’t comment when she left the engine running.

  “Sure it does,” she said. “But sometimes we have to do things a bit more clandestinely.”

  “Is this stuff illegal?”

  “No. Just highly private. We do a lot of government work as well. Some of their agencies aren’t comfortable delivering to us in private.”

  Aiden shook his head. “The stuff is already loaded. Why not just deliver it in those vans?”

  Willow rolled her eyes. “You don’t know everything, so of course it doesn’t make sense. But they aren’t all going to the same destination. Hopefully that helps you figure it out.”

  He considered her response, and then shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say. I’m to load it all up into our truck then?”

  “Yes.”

  Before she could say any more Aiden had slipped out. Willow cursed and went after him. The humans didn’t know who he was, and she didn’t want any trouble.

  God I hate dealing with the government sometimes.

  Eight

  Aiden

  Whoever the two goons with guns were, they most certainly weren’t government agents.

  They weren’t nearly aware enough of their surroundings, nor did they give him the respect he deserved. True, they both brought their weapons around when he appeared, but after Willow told them he was fine, they relaxed.

  He’d listened carefully to Willow describe to him who the men were. He hadn’t sensed any deceit in her voice. Whoever they truly worked for, she believed they were part of a government agency. What kind of lies was her father giving her, he wondered. Whatever was in the brown boxes was absolutely illegal. He just didn’t know what it was.

  Preparing himself, he lifted the first box, muscles flexed and ready.

  “Whoops,” he muttered as he nearly upended himself.

  The box weighed next to nothing! It wasn’t empty; he could feel the contents, they just didn’t have much weight to them. With a shrug he picked up an entire stack and started walking back to his truck.

  “These aren’t fragile, are they?” he asked Willow.

  “No.”

  “Excellent.”

  The loading of the truck proceeded in fairly quick order.

  “Only one stack at a time?” Willow jabbed as he was working. “Orren usually takes two.”

  He rolled his eyes at her taunt and snatched up two piles of the ultra-light boxes the second time around. “It’s not the weight,” he remarked as he set them down. “It’s the bulk. If they would shrink-wrap them together, I could take four stacks at once with ease. It would make the whole thing go far easier.”

  “I’ll mention it to Father,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye, grabbing some of the boxes that had been shoved in and around the main stacks and moving them over as well.

  Another ten minutes and both vans were empty. The guards nodded at Willow, went over to their vans, and got in. Aiden noted they both entered the passenger side. Which meant there had been two others present, drivers only. Very interesting. He really needed to get a look inside the boxes, to figure out what they contained.

  “I’m just going to secure these down a little better,” he remarked, hopping into the truck. “I don’t want them to fall all over the place.”

  “Are you criticizing my driving?” Willow challenged lightly.

  “Is it really criticizing when you state facts?” he shot back. “You ran over the curb getting us in here.”

  “It’s a tight squeeze!” she protested.

  He snorted, looking on the boxes for any labels that would give a clue to the contents. “You realize that this facility is designed for ease of entry and exit with big eighteen-wheeler vehicles in mind, right?”

  Willow just glared at him.

  “Since I’m going to be the one unloading them, I want them to stay stacked upright. Not only will it be more work for me if they don’t, but I’m sure someone will yell at me for it.”

  “You’re probably right,” Willow agreed. “But you can console yourself with the knowledge that you deserve it.”

  He slumped. “Ouch.”

  That earned him a giggle, though the Alpha’s daughter quickly tamped down on that reaction, turning away. “I’ll be in the cab.”

  “Okay.” He tried not to sound too excited.

  Once she was gone Aiden swiftly sliced open a box to take a look at the contents.

  “What the hell?” It was just filled with translucent plastic packets. Like plastic baggies, but a much heavier grade. His mind was taken back to the one time he’d been to a hospital, after a particularly bad injury. He’d received an IV bag…which when empty, looked exactly like what he was holding in his hand.

  What the hell?

  Shoving it back inside, he adjusted the tape as best as possible, and then shuffled some stacks around, hiding the opened box near the bottom of a random one. Hopefully nobody would notice or care when they finally got to that point. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d be able to retape the box later when nobody was around.

  Everything secured as best he could, Aiden closed the rear and hopped into the cab. Willow had it in gear before he even had his seatbelt done up.

  “Hey, safety first!” he yelped. “With you doing that thing you call ‘driving’ in this rig, I’m probably gonna need it.”

  She glared at him as they approached the
exit. “Keep this up and you’re going to need protection, that’s for sure. But far more than the seatbelt can provide.”

  Aiden laughed off her threat, enjoying their little banter. It was the most he’d really gotten out of her since they’d met. He felt she was enjoying it too.

  “Maybe I’ll have to buy a dashcam,” he muttered, ensuring it was loud enough for Willow to hear. “That way I’ll have proof of my claims.”

  All he could hear was a high-pitched growl from Willow. They both laughed at that for a bit before settling down into amicable silence.

  He broke it first. “Can I ask you something now?”

  “I guess I owe you, don’t I?”

  “Nah, I don’t keep track of that kind of stuff,” he said with a wave of his hand.

  “Well, you can ask. I might not want to answer, but I will.”

  “What happened to your family? How did you end up adopted by werewolves?”

  She grimaced. “I should have figured it would be that.”

  “I’m sorry, if it’s too painful, you don’t have to tell me.”

  Willow shook her head, hands staying calmly on the wheel. “No, it’s only fair. You told me about your past, I guess I reciprocate. That’s how these things work, right?”

  He very carefully did not make a comment to the effect of “these things.” That would be pressing things too much, too soon. If he wanted her to learn to grow comfortable with him, he’d have to move a little slower.

  “It’s painful,” she said. “But not because of the memories I have.”

  Aiden frowned, not understanding.

  “It hurts because of what I don’t have. What I never had. I don’t remember my family. I was an infant still, no memories of that time. So all I know is that I never grew up knowing my real family. They never got a chance to meet me. When I look around and see other human families, or werewolves at that, I hurt, because I want that, but I don’t have it.”

  His heart ached for her. Aiden wanted to reach out, to rest his hand on her forearm, to tell her that it was okay to hurt, that she shouldn’t feel guilty about it. To make sure she knew he would be there for whatever she needed.