Hope (Forbes Mates Book 5)

by Grace R. Duncan

  “Do you remember when we agreed to let you stay?”

  Luis swallowed, his heart pounding. Here it is. Both he and Miguel nodded.

  “Well, I said there was one caveat to you two staying here, and that was that you didn’t bring trouble with you. But I just got an e-mail that’s worrisome. Now, if you can tell me you’re not the two people it’s talking about, then that’s fine.” He pushed a piece of paper across the table.

  Luis looked down, and his former alpha’s name stared back at him in big, bold letters. He couldn’t even bring himself to read the entire e-mail. He saw something about mates, descriptions of the two of them, their first names—which of course they’d given to the alpha—along with language that included something about harboring them and causing trouble to anyone who did.

  He looked up and met Miguel’s eyes, unable to stop the disappointment and fear from filling him. He knew what Miguel was thinking. After being friends most of their lives before becoming mates, he knew how Miguel thought. They couldn’t lie, even if they wanted to. And they’d already lied enough by leaving out the fact that they were mates. But saying it wasn’t them wasn’t something Miguel could do.

  And Luis, while he might have been better able to than Miguel, really didn’t want to.

  He swallowed the fear but let Miguel do the talking for them.

  “It is us. I’m sorry, I had no idea our former alpha was looking for us. I… we….” He closed his mouth and shrugged helplessly.

  Beth came over to the table and picked up the paper, reading it. “Look, if it was just about being mates… well, we’d have to ask you to keep it private. Our guests—and the small town down the hill—wouldn’t want to see it. But we might be able to accept that. This, though….”

  Mike sighed. “When you came here, we told you we’re a small pack. If your former alpha wants to make trouble for us, it could be all over before we could even alert the prime.” Mike frowned. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Luis’s heart sank, even though he knew it had been coming. He nodded.

  “Can we stay the night?” Miguel asked.

  Mike nodded. “Yeah. John’ll give you a ride into town early in the morning. There’s a bus at 7:00 a.m. to Deming. The next closest pack is Santa Fe. You can talk to them, but I don’t know that Nate’ll be any more able to take you than I am. You understand, we just can’t take the chance.”

  Miguel swallowed, then nodded. “We understand, alpha.”

  “All right, then. I suggest you pack and get ready.”

  John picked them up at 6:00 a.m. as promised. As they were getting out at the bus station, he handed Miguel some money. “The last of the wages I owe you,” he said, meeting Miguel’s eyes.

  Luis knew full well they’d been paid already. He appreciated the attempt to help them keep a little of their pride, though.

  Miguel thanked John, who waved it off. “I’m not sure I agree with Mike, but it’s not my place to say so.” Miguel nodded his understanding. “Good luck to you.”

  With another nod, they went around the truck and grabbed their bags out of the back. Their bags at their feet, they waved as he drove off. Then, Miguel immediately took Luis’s hand. “There’s no point in hiding it now,” he said when Luis looked at him.

  “True.” Luis didn’t know what else to say. He was trying very hard not to let hope fade completely. Instead, he settled down on the step next to Miguel and worked to simply not think while they waited for the bus.

  Miguel had no doubt Santa Fe was going to turn them away. But since he had no idea where else to go, he followed Alpha Mike’s advice, and they bought tickets in Deming for Las Cruces. They’d had to spend the day in Deming, but finally made it to Las Cruces in the afternoon, where they changed buses for Albuquerque.

  They got to Albuquerque just past 1:00 a.m. It took Miguel a while to figure out how to get to Santa Fe from Albuquerque, since apparently Greyhound didn’t go there. It turned out there was a train between the two cities, so they found the station, took the first one at 4:30, and were in Santa Fe by 6:00.

  After waiting until nine—which he thought was a more respectable hour than six—they got a hold of the Santa Fe alpha, the aforementioned Nate, and made plans to meet him.

  However, not two minutes after sitting down at the table with the alpha with silver-streaked hair, Miguel knew Alpha Mike had been right.

  “Look, we’re an old pack—and by old, I mean most of us are over a hundred and fifty, some older. A number of our members wouldn’t appreciate the idea of two men together, for one thing. For another, well, with the e-mail we got….”

  Miguel didn’t need it spelled out for him.

  Despair. It hit him over the bond and nearly knocked Miguel flat. He reached under the table and squeezed Luis’s hand.

  “Do you know any packs that might be able to help us?” Miguel was pretty sure he knew the answer—and hated what he came up with—but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He didn’t like the tone in his voice, as if some of Luis’s despair was coming through, though he could admit it was getting harder to hold onto his determination that they’d be okay.

  “Well… you might be able to find a place somewhere like San Francisco or New York. But…,” Nate said, tilting his head. “I think you ought to go up to Denver.”

  Miguel blinked. “Denver? As in, headquarters?”

  Nate nodded. “Yes. They’d know where you could go for sure. And I think our new alpha prime would want to know about this.”

  “Alpha… prime?” Luis asked on a whisper, and the despair was briefly eclipsed by fear.

  Nate waved at that. “I’ve known Noah for ages, when he was just an alpha in Pennsylvania. Hell, I’ve known him since he was a pup.” He chuckled. “He’s not scary unless you’ve done something wrong.”

  Luis frowned, and Miguel guessed Luis was wondering the same thing he was. Had they?

  “No, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Nate said, correctly reading their hesitation. “Look, putting aside my pack’s antiquated notions, turning someone away because of who they love or are mated to is wrong. If it wasn’t for the threat in the e-mail—a threat I have to consider—I’d tell them to get over themselves and learn to live with it. But I don’t think you’d really be happy with that, and I do have to think about my whole pack.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’ve met your former alpha, and I know enough about him to know he’ll follow through on that threat if someone doesn’t intercede. Go talk to Noah.”

  Both of them were more than a little disappointed, but grateful for the advice and the breakfast and tickets to Denver Nate bought. Miguel had tried to argue—they did have some money—but Nate said he felt it was only right for turning them away. In the end, they needed to save every penny, so they accepted the help. They had to take the train back to Albuquerque, but by 3:00, they were on another bus, this time to Denver, Colorado. The national wolf headquarters.

  Both scared to death of what lay ahead.

  They got into Denver at nearly midnight. Miguel hesitated to call the national office, but after texting back and forth with his mamá for a while, she’d insisted they’d want him to call. His dad had apparently calmed down and even texted him to tell him the same thing.

  Miguel nearly cried after reading his papá’s text. It’d been long, including being disappointed he hadn’t told his papá about the mating, and went on to say he wasn’t sure he understood, but if Diana said they belonged, then he’d have to accept it. He’d also said he wanted to talk when they were settled.

  Luis actually had to kiss him to get him to refocus on what they needed to do. With a shaky hand, he put in the number for the national office and hit “call.” He was surprised to hear a human on the other end, rather than a recording.

  “Thank you for calling the Wolf Wildlife Preservation Foundation. How may I help you?”

  Miguel was so thrown off, the person—who sounded female, but Miguel wasn’t su
re—had to repeat themselves. That was when he remembered what to say. “I’m sorry, um…. Diana and Mars told me to call.” It seemed kind of a silly passphrase, but he guessed not everyone would think to say that.

  “Hello! How can I help you?”

  “I am Miguel Garcia from Angeles pack. I wanted to find out if you know how my m—uh, friend and I can get to the headquarters. We don’t have a car, and I’m not at all familiar with the Denver area. I assume we must meet the alpha for the area if we are to try to stay?”

  “Yes, you should meet the alpha. Wait… did you say Miguel Garcia? Is Luis Rodriguez with you?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Miguel said, turning a puzzled look at Luis, who shrugged.

  “Oh dear. Are you still at the bus station?”

  “Yes. We just got in a little while ago.”

  “All right. Stay there. We’ll have someone pick you up shortly.” And with that, she hung up.

  Miguel stared at his phone for a moment, then looked up at Luis. “That… is not what I expected.”

  “Me either. Are we in trouble?”

  “I have no idea, but I think the best thing to do would be wait.”

  Barely half an hour later, a woman who didn’t look much older than them stepped out of a car. She had deep auburn hair and only came up to Miguel’s chest. “You must be Miguel and Luis. You poor things. Let’s get you into the car. We can talk on the way to headquarters.” She popped the tailgate on the Jeep as she talked, and he realized she was the woman—it had been a woman—on the phone earlier. She turned back to them, shaking her head. “I swear, living up here has scrambled my brains.” She held her hand out. “I’m Carol, the alpha prime’s mate.”

  Miguel blinked at her in surprise—not quite expecting the alpha prime’s mate to show up!—then pulled himself together and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. I am Miguel. This is Luis.”

  She waved her other hand. “Ma’am makes me feel old. Carol, please. It’s so nice to meet you two. Come on, let’s get back. I’m sure you’re both tired.” After shaking Luis’s hand, she picked up one of the backpacks and put it in the car. When they’d stowed the other two bags and climbed in, she didn’t hesitate to take off. “A few rules around headquarters. You are free to shift and run as you wish. We only ask you not cross the highway. You’re free to be in either human or wolf form while in the building—the doors have handles that paws can use—but, of course, be sure you go outside for business.”

  Miguel found himself laughing. “Is that to say some haven’t?”

  She grinned. “No. Not since I’ve been there, but you never know.” She winked at him, then turned back to focus on driving. “Noah said to get you settled tonight and let you get some sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning. We’ve got a room already set aside for you. There’s a dining room for meals, a private bath in your room, and the rest we can cover tomorrow.”

  They drove in silence for a while, taking this turn and that, following twisty roads up into the mountains to the west of Denver. Finally, Carol took a turn onto a narrower paved road lined with trees. When they reached the end, the trees made way for a huge lodge-type building, with log siding and lots of windows. Carol pulled up in front of the main steps. They collected their bags, then followed her into the building and up a wide set of stairs right across from the doorway. Miguel didn’t get a chance to look around much except to see a huge open room to one side with a dark fireplace and lots of couches and chairs in groups. Carol turned right, then opened the first door.

  When they stepped into the room, the first thing Miguel took note of was the huge bed in the center—the only one in the room. Did they know he and Luis were mates?

  “The bathroom is through there,” Carol said, pointing at a closed door across from them. “You’ll want to keep the balcony door closed. It gets really cold at night. Rest well. And don’t worry about tomorrow. Noah’s bark is worse than his bite.”

  Miguel and Luis both laughed.

  “Oh, and boys?” When they both nodded, she continued. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.” With that, Carol left.

  “Miguel… do you think they know we are mates?” Luis asked, and Miguel turned to see Luis staring at the bed.

  “I’m sure they do, or they wouldn’t have put us in this room.” He stepped up behind Luis and put his arms around his mate. “Luis… do you want to bond?”

  Luis’s heart pounded, and he turned around. “Do we dare? What if… what if Denver doesn’t even want us?”

  “I have a really good feeling about being here. I think this is where things get better for us.”

  Luis considered him for a long moment, then smiled. “Then, yes. I’d like that very much.”

  The next morning, after an amazing breakfast in the dining room, they waited nervously for the alpha prime to be ready to see them. They’d been somewhat surprised—and even more nervous—when they’d found out the alpha prime was also the Denver alpha. It made sense to Luis. The Denver wolves would need an alpha, after all, but he hadn’t expected it to also be the prime, though he couldn’t put his finger on why.

  Before they were ready—not that they thought they ever really would be—the alpha prime’s assistant, Sara, called them in. Luis nudged Miguel to go first, his heart slowing a little at the calm Miguel sent over their bond. He was glad they’d chosen to finally bond the night before.

  Luis wasn’t sure what he expected. Perhaps for the alpha prime to be seven feet tall and as broad as a lumberjack or something. Prime Alpha Noah Pearce was… rather normal-looking, if Luis had to put a word to it. He had maybe three or four inches in height over them, and while he looked solid, he wasn’t big.

  They both tilted their heads immediately. Alpha Noah stood and came around his desk, then touched them both on the shoulder. “Welcome to Denver, boys. Come on and sit down.” He waved a hand at the couch and chairs on one side of the office. They sat on the couch, close together, and Luis was surprised when Alpha Noah smiled at their clasped hands. “You don’t need to be nervous. I don’t bite my wolves. Even when they’re bad.”

  That surprised a laugh out of Luis.

  “Good. Now, I had a long talk with Nate in Santa Fe yesterday after he forwarded a rather disturbing e-mail to me.”

  Luis’s heart started pounding again, and Noah shook his head.

  “No, it’s not you, son. Calm down,” Noah said, then sighed. “You did nothing wrong. Your former alpha, however….” He shook his head. “First, you are more than welcome to stay here in Denver. We can talk more about that later, if you decide to, but I know of a pack you might be more comfortable in. We’ll introduce you to them later.”

  Luis tried not to be too hopeful. He wanted to hope. If the alpha prime was suggesting the pack, knowing their situation, then it wasn’t necessarily a bad place. But after the last few weeks, he wasn’t sure he could readily believe their fortunes changed to drastically. Miguel had told him he had a good feeling about Denver, and he believed his mate. But there was still the nagging fear.

  If Noah noticed or sensed Luis’s hesitation, he didn’t show it. “For now, I think it’s time we—the wolf population, I mean—make a change, and I’d like to show your situation as an example.”

  Miguel frowned. “Our situation?”

  Noah nodded. “Yes. Your situation.” He sighed. “Frankly, son, no one should have to be ashamed of who their mate is. It’s something to be proud of. There are still so many wolves that never meet their destined mates. That you found yours—regardless of what gender that mate is—should be cause for celebration, not worry, fear, and rejection. You’re accepted here and should be everywhere.”

  “So… how would you show us as an example?” Miguel asked.

  “I’d like to submit a proposal to the alphas to make a change to wolf law—and amendment to our national laws—that should have happened a long time ago. Would you mind being the example in our discussions?”

  Miguel glanced at Luis, who
squeezed his hand, hoping Miguel would take it as the permission it was. “No, that would be fine.”

  Noah smiled. “Good. We’ll let you know when we have the meeting.” He stood up, and Miguel and Luis did as well. “I’m going to see if I can do something about that. Now… you ought to consider claiming each other.”

  Noah chuckled when Luis’s cheeks turned bright red.

  “Um… yes, alpha….” Luis’s voice sounded a bit strangled and Miguel squeezed his hand this time.

  “Call me Noah. I don’t like to be too formal. Get a good run in. Time in my fur always helps me feel better.” He patted Luis on the shoulder, then Miguel. “Relax. It’ll be fine now.”

  As they stepped out of the office, Noah called through his door, “Sara! It’s time to call an alpha meeting.”

  They spent three amazing days in the woods around headquarters, spending time both in and out of their fur. It was so nice to just be able to run and play, to remember they were best friends, as well as mates. Even in Silver City, they’d had the constant worry hanging over their heads of when they’d be found out and sent away. The nagging through was still there—things could still go south there in Denver, but Miguel felt a lot better and more optimistic there than he had since they left LA.

  They also made sure to spend time bonding with each other. They were still nervous about claiming. If something did happen there in Denver and things did go wrong, they worried about what that might mean if they still had to find a place. So, they didn’t quite go that far. But they bonded in every other way they could. Noah had promised to introduce them to this other alpha at the meeting, so they wanted to wait until then, at least. If he was nice and as accepting as Noah said he was, then they could be more comfortable claiming.

  After those three days, Luis found himself sitting next to Miguel in a huge auditorium-type room in a wing of the headquarters building. More than four hundred other wolves filled the room, including Alpha Prime Noah, a few others from the headquarters, as well as alphas from all the packs and their mates. Alpha Brock scowled their direction, as did the alphas who had turned them away. Mike from Gila, and Nate from Santa Fe were both there and both greeted Miguel and Luis warmly. Mike had even apologized again for sending them away and Beth gave them each a hug as her apology, which they’d accepted.