Forever Mine (Westin Pack Book 3)

by Julie Trettel

  We headed back to the museum in companionable silence. My answer seemed sufficient enough to stave off any further questions, for now.

  When we entered the building I immediately saw Jacob, but I was also flooded by an all too familiar scent. I didn't see Oscar anywhere and panic began to spike in me.

  "Hey, hey, hey, calm down," Jacob immediately started. "He's right over there. Hasn't left my sight for even a second, but he did make a quick friend, and it's good for the boy to have a male role model besides me, even if for only an hour."

  I was furious. It was probably the only thing keeping me from a full panic attack. There was a wolf in the building, and he was alone. Wolves were pack animals. They rarely went anywhere truly alone and those that did were almost always trouble.

  Could he smell me, too? Could he smell Oscar? I rounded the corner prepared to protect my son, only to be met by the golden eyes that had haunted me every second of the last two days.

  It all suddenly clicked in my memory. Liam Westin.

  "Liam," I whispered.

  Liam

  Chapter 5

  When I arrived to check in at the hotel, there was the faintest smell of her lingering in the lobby. Somehow, I knew she was no longer there.

  I checked in and went up to my room to drop my things. I had driven through the night and should have been exhausted, but I paced the floor of my room feeling more caged in than I had in years. My wolf was restless, despite having let him out for a run before making the trip. He had been agitated since we had first seen the girl.

  I felt a brief tug towards the girl, but she was gone too quickly. My wolf was acting obsessed, like we'd just found our mate, but I knew that wasn't true. I mean, I'd know without a doubt, wouldn't I? I reasoned it was only the eerie resemblance to Madelyn that drew me to her.

  I had made my way down to Fisherman's Wharf, figuring the open waters would be as much solitude as I'd find in this city, or at least give me enough of a false sense of open space to calm my wolf.

  Wrong. There were people everywhere and that only heightened my agitation. I suddenly remembered an old video game museum, not like actual video games, but old pre-video game stuff, that I had visited on my last trip to the city. Maybe I could blow a few hours getting lost in a game.

  Wrong again. Walking down the Pier and into the museum, I caught the faint smell that was uniquely hers, but stronger even was the kid's. I looked around, quickly spotting the older man he told me was his papi. Looking down, I could see Papi holding the small hand of a kid just out of my sight.

  I wandered around for only a moment before feeling a small tug on the tail of my perfectly tailored suit jacket. I turned around, a little surprised to find the kid beaming up at me.

  "It is you. What are you doing here?" he asked innocently.

  "I'm so sorry," his papi exclaimed, reaching for the boy. "Oscar, you know better than to run off and talk to strangers," he started scolding.

  "He's not a stranger. We met at that restaurant we stopped at. He bought me a chocolate milk."

  I laughed. The kid definitely had a good memory. "It's fine," I assured the older man. "It's Oscar, right"

  The kid excitedly nodded.

  "Not every day you meet a kid at a bar, but boy was I glad for it. Gave me the best advice ever."

  "You got it?" Oscar asked excitedly.

  "Oh yeah. You gave me serious uncle points with that basketball suggestion. His mother texted me saying it was the first thing he ran for this morning, and all he's wanted to do today."

  "See, I told ya." Then he turned to his papi to fill him in. "Remember my first basketball hoop and basketball Mommy got me for my first birthday?"

  The older man nodded and smiled affectionately.

  "I told him to get the same for his nephew."

  "Genius," I praised, surprised that I really meant it.

  The man eyeballed me curiously for a minute, sizing me up, before extending his hand. "Jacob Winthrop."

  "Liam Westin," I returned. There was a slight flicker of awareness in my name, but before I could consider it, it was gone.

  "Liam, will you come play this one with me?" Oscar asked.

  "Mr. Westin," Jacob corrected.

  "Liam's fine, really. Preferred even. Mr. Westin is my father," I joked. In actuality, since taking over as CEO of the Westin Foundation, I was "the" Mr. Westin of the family, but it didn't feel right to me coming from the kid.

  "Well okay, then. You're sure he's not bothering you?"

  "Nah, I love kids and I'm here for a few days early to enjoy the city. No plans or anything for today."

  "Okay, if you're certain. I'll be just over there."

  I gave him an encouraging smile and turned back to the kid, briefly wondering where the hell his mother was.

  Aside from Zander, who was much smaller and didn't talk as much, I hadn't really spent much time around pups. Sure, there were always kids around San Marco, they just hadn't really affected me since the time I was one. If Oscar was any indication, they were pretty easy though. I just listened and kept feeding him coins while he prattled on.

  He told me his mom was single and they lived with his grandparents who weren't his Mom's mom and dad. He was seven years old and in second grade, but was homeschooled, and he was obsessed with basketball.

  I quickly realized the kid had no filter and began to question him being a shifter pup at all. Maybe I'd been completely wrong about the mom, too, and it was only her resemblance to Maddie that had me imagining it all, but then the kid hit me with something that had me second-guessing that theory too.

  "I knew it was you the moment I smelled you." He shut his mouth quickly and turned wide, worried eyes towards me. "I wasn't supposed to say that. Mommy doesn't like me to talk about it."

  I glanced at him, understanding what he was telling me. "How about I tell you a secret then, too?"

  He nodded, still serious, but a little more relaxed.

  "I can smell you, too."

  "You can?"

  I nodded. No idea why I had just told him that.

  He leaned in and lowered his voice, very seriously asking, "Can you tell what I had for breakfast?"

  The little pup was actually testing me. "Pancakes." I smiled. "But the dribble of syrup on your shirt would have made me guess that anyway." I wiped off the spot and he giggled.

  Suddenly very serious, he leaned in and took a big whiff of me. "You only had coffee and your tummy's saying you're hungry,” he whispered, a second before my stomach growled in protest. We both laughed. "I have good ears, too," he whispered. "Do you have good ears?"

  I smiled. "Yeah, I do."

  He got very excited about that. "You smell a little like me and Mommy."

  It was only a statement. All wolf shifters had a hint of that woodsy, natural scent. It was the smell that alerted us most easily to others of our kind.

  "Are you my father?"

  I had just taken a sip from my water bottle and started to choke. It took me a moment of hacking and coughing to be able to talk again. "No, Oscar, I'm not your father," I told him, watching his big, brown, hopeful eyes turn sad. "How about another game?" I asked, not knowing what else to do.

  "Okay," and just like that he transformed back to the sweet, chatty kid.

  He won the game with only a little assistance from me. I gave him a high five, then was showing him how to do a secret victory first bump, when I smelled her. We both turned at the same time to meet furious, shocked brown eyes. It felt like I'd been kicked in the ҆nads.

  Mate.

  The word played over and over again in my head. I was staring at Oscar's mom, Jane, the Madelyn Collier doppleganger, my mate.

  She was clearly just as shocked to see me. "Liam," I heard her whisper, making my heart flutter in a weird and unexpected way.

  "You know my mom?" Oscar whispered, grounding me back to reality. His grandparents were standing just behind her, watching us closely.

  I knew without a doubt I was
staring at Madelyn Collier. Maddie was my one true mate. Knowing it didn't absolve the shock of it, but with all eyes on us, I chose the safest route.

  "Jane, it's nice to see you."

  Using the name I had overheard at the restaurant seemed to startle and confuse Madelyn, but she recovered quickly.

  "Liam, what are you doing here?"

  I didn't quite know what to say, so I grabbed Oscar and shoved him forward. "I'm playing games with the kid."

  Oscar shot me a traitorous look.

  "Oscar, how do you know this man?" she asked him.

  "We met at that restaurant we stopped at the other day, and then ran into him here. Papi said I could play with him."

  Smart kid. Throw the old man under the bus, but Maddie wasn't taking the bait.

  With hands on her hips, she turned back to me. I shivered at the clear display of mom eyes and my wolf cowered under the stare of our mate.

  "Coincidence?" she questioned.

  "Actually, yeah, it was." Though I didn't confess that it was, but only because I was stalking her.

  "Mommy?" Oscar interjected, taking the heat off me momentarily. "How do you know Liam?" His tone was accusatory and she sighed. Her shoulders started to sag.

  "Liam and I grew up together. He has a twin sister, Lily." She smiled fondly as she said it. "We were best friends from about the time I was your age."

  I caught a silent exchange between Jacob and the woman as Oscar's questions began flying from his mouth.

  Maddie held up a hand and squeezed her eyes tightly, like she was counting to ten. "Oscar, why don't you go with Papi and Mimi, and let Liam and me talk for a bit?”

  "But Mom, he's starving. He skipped breakfast. We should at least feed him first."

  I suddenly felt like a stray dog the kid was trying to ease in before asking to keep.

  "I'm pretty hungry too, Janie. Why don't we grab some lunch? Let the shock of seeing an old friend sink in before talking," Jacob suggested.

  "Fine," she said, like she knew she wasn't going to win that battle anyway.

  "Would you like to join us for lunch, Liam?" The older woman with her asked.

  I smiled brightly. "I'd love to."

  "Oh good. By the way, I'm Annie, and It's so nice to meet an old friend of Jane's."

  I smiled arrogantly at Maddie. "Jane and I go way back."

  She glared when I emphasized the name Jane, and shoved me forward. Annie faltered a little and somehow I knew that this Jane didn't make personal contact much. I fought back a grin, taking it as a sign of her wolf recognizing me, too.

  As we were heading down the stairs near the sea lions, Oscar grabbed my hand and pulled me aside, tugging me down to his level. He cupped his hand near my ear and whispered. I think he may have spit a little in there, too. "Did you do something to make Mommy mad?"

  "No."

  "Did she do something?"

  "No," I assured him.

  "Okay, ҆cause warning, that is not her happy face"

  I tried not to laugh. "Thanks for the heads-up."

  "Anytime."

  I caught Maddie watching us, but couldn't tell what she was thinking. Oscar's small hand never left mine.

  As we got back down to the pier, he stopped. Staring out across the water, he sighed. His whole body sagged, looking so much like his mother.

  "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" Clearly the kid was upset by something.

  Maddie came up behind us, rubbing his shoulders. "Oscar was excited to see Alcatraz. He researched everything about it, wrote a paper on it for school even. He found what tour would actually let us on the island, but they are booked solid all week."

  "Oh," I said, wanting to make it all better. I took out my phone and started to dial a number. "What day and time were you hoping for?"

  "Any!" Oscar told me with a pout and Maddie cast a concerned look my way. I knew I'd do whatever it took to get them on that island. Fortunately, I knew it wouldn't take much.

  "All four of you?"

  They all nodded, but Jacob added, "Well, Annie and I only have today and tomorrow for sight-seeing. I'm in town for a convention, but Oscar and Jane have all week."

  I nodded and dialed Steph's number.

  "Hey Lee, what do you want?"

  I laughed. "Why do you think I want something, gorgeous?"

  "Gorgeous? Oh, you want it bad. What is it?"

  I tried to fake some innocence. "Can't I just call and check on an old friend?"

  "Never. If you wanted to just check in, you'd have called Mark. If you need a favor, you always call me."

  I laughed, knowing she was right. "Okay, you got me. I need a tour group of five to the island."

  "Private?"

  "Of course."

  "When?"

  "Tomorrow. Anytime."

  "Tomorrow? You ass, you're in the city and didn't call?"

  "Maybe . . ." I gave her a sec. "So . . .we good?"

  "It's a good thing you're so cute. One o'clock okay?"

  I pulled the phone away. "One, tomorrow?" I asked as four shocked heads nodded my way. "Yup, one's great." I confirmed.

  "You owe me," Steph said.

  "My life," I responded. We always ended calls that way.

  Hanging up the phone, I turned back to them, all staring awkwardly at me. I decided to address Oscar directly. "One o'clock tomorrow off Pier 37. I'll introduced you to my friend Steph, who will take you all out to the island."

  He looked skeptical. "Is it legal?"

  I laughed. "Yes."

  "You're sure? ҆Cause it's illegal to go without a special permit and there's only one charter that has it, otherwise we'd just take any boat over."

  "I'm sure. Steph owns that company. She's a good friend and does private tours on occasion, or at least when I ask nicely."

  "Wait, you’ve been there before?" he asked excitedly.

  I laughed. "Yeah, a few times."

  That started a never-ending stream of questions and information flowing from him as we headed across the street to a bakery for lunch.

  Maddie placed her hand on my arm and moved closer to me. "Thank you," she mouthed, genuinely smiling.

  My mouth went dry and my hands started to sweat. My wolf instantly calmed under her touch. We had just pleased our mate for the first time and the emotions that surged were overwhelming. I swallowed hard and nodded, unable to speak.

  Clam chowder in a bread bowl was a personal favorite and popular request. I placed my order quickly and waited as the others did too, insisting on buying for everyone. I'm not sure Jacob entirely appreciated it, but he eventually conceded.

  While we waited, Oscar dragged me around to look at the crazy sourdough sculptures they had for sale, before finally settling on a bear. Maddie came over to protest, but I just looked at her and mouthed "Sorry" as the cashier handed me back my card. Oscar loved it. Sure it would probably never get eaten, but who cared. The kid was happy.

  "Too late, Mommy," he gloated as I gently elbowed him in the back and gave him a serious look to be quiet.

  She just shook her head and sighed. "Nothing good will come from you two meeting," she mumbled as she walked away.

  Oscar helped me carry the food to a table they had secured outside. It was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot though, mild for San Francsico. The sun was shining and people were everywhere, some going about their daily routine, others clearly tourists.

  "So what's next on the agenda, Oscar?" Annie asked.

  "Cable car ride," he exclaimed excitedly.

  Maddie looked at me and then back at them and before she could open her mouth to speak, Jacob intervened.

  "That's what I've been most looking forward to doing with you. Would you mind if we ditched your mom and it was just you, me, and Mimi?"

  Oscar looked at his mom and I noted the worry in his eyes. I instantly knew this seven-year-old felt responsible for his mother. Why? How did that happen? He was just a kid. I realized Maddie and I had a lot of catching up to do.

 
"Will you watch after my mom while we're gone, Liam?"

  I was emotionally struck by the kid asking me. I could easily see his mom meant the world to him and his protective nature reminded me of Kyle as a kid. The boy was a natural Alpha.

  I nodded seriously. "Yeah, I suppose I can put up with her for a few hours." He raised an eyebrow up at me in a comical way that made me laugh. "I'm kidding. Yes, I'll hang out with your mom. We have some catching up to do anyway. Won't let her out of my sight. Promise." I grinned at Maddie overtop of his head, but the look in her eyes reminded me of a frightened wolf that had just been cornered, and I didn't like it. Neither did my wolf.

  After lunch, we said goodbye to them and Maddie looked at me awkwardly as I offered her my arm. She seemed hesitant, but took it as I led her across the street. We walked along the wharves in an uncomfortable silence.

  When we finally got through the worst of the crowds to the end of one of the piers with relative solitude, I turned to her. "Mad . . ."

  "How did you know?" she interrupted.

  "Know what?"

  "To call me Jane. Why didn't you call me Maddie?" She struggled to say her own name and I wondered just how long it had been since anyone had called her that.

  "I heard Annie call you that when you stopped at the restaurant. I might not have even noticed you at all, but you were having some sort of attack and she was talking loudly enough to draw my attention. I honestly didn't know it was you. I mean, you still look like you . . . well, sorta. More like a grown-up, more beautiful version of the girl I once knew." I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and caressing her cheek as I said it, but when she flinched away from me and then turned her back on me to walk to the water's edge, it felt like a punch in the gut.

  I suddenly felt terrible for everything Patrick and my brother had gone through finding their mates. Neither had had an easy time with it in the beginning, but was this really how they felt through that whole time? Kyle had fought the mating call for two years. How had he survived if this was what he endured every day of that time?

  Taking a deep breath, I walked to her, trying not to let my pain show, but I wasn't an Alpha like them. I wasn't as strong as they were and I was sure one look at me would show it all.