Lyric & The Cats (The Wolf's Mate Generations Book 1) Page 7

  “I want her to stay, Mom.”

  “I know you do. Keep your fingers crossed that she can.”

  He thanked her for the vase and walked back to the house. Lyric was pacing in the family room, staring at her phone and chewing on her thumbnail.

  “Oh, that’s pretty!” she said, spying the vase.

  “Let’s get the flowers arranged and then you can call your parents.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said, letting out a faux sob.

  “You’re a fierce she-wolf about to conquer the teaching world by taking a job here in Ashland, and you’ve also got two amazing, doting males as your truemates. You can handle a call to your parents to tell them you’ve found your happily-ever-after.”

  “You are amazing,” she said, gracing him with a sweet smile.

  “I’m in excellent company.”

  Squaring her shoulders, she let out a breath and said, “Okay. I’m ready. Rip off the band aid. Jump off the dock. Just get it over with.”

  He kissed her temple and then sat on the couch, waiting for her to make one of the most important calls in her life.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hi honey,” Lyric’s mom said when she answered on the second ring.

  “Hi Mom. Is Dad around? I wanted to talk to you both.”

  “Sure, he’s in the office, let me walk over. Is everything okay? How did the interview go?”

  “Everything’s great and it went great.”

  “Well great!” she laughed. “Hey babe, Lyric’s on the phone.”

  There was a shuffling sound and a door closing.

  “Hello,” her dad said as the call was switched to speaker phone.

  “Hi Dad. I wanted to talk to you and mom together because there’s been a new development.”

  “What, you got the job in Indiana already?” he asked, his voice a little gruff.

  “I don’t know. The interview was great, but I won’t know until Monday if I got it or not.”

  “Okay,” her mom said. “Then what do you want to talk to us about?”

  Lyric inhaled deeply and looked at Elliott on the couch. He gave her an encouraging smile.

  “I found my truemates.”

  There was a pause that was so quiet she thought the call had been dropped.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  “We’re here,” her mom said, clearing her throat. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I came here to Ashland and I found my truemates in two mountain lions—Elliott and Evan.”

  “No,” her dad said, his voice a low growl. “You were supposed to be looking for a wolf to mate, not cavorting with cats.”

  Her hackles went up. She’d known they would be against it even as she’d held out a little hope that they might have a good attitude toward the situation.

  “You can’t say no to me finding my truemates, Dad. It just happened and I’m really happy. They’re great guys.”

  “Who are they?” her mom asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

  “Callie’s sons.”

  Now that she’d said it out loud, named her mates to her parents and showed a little backbone to her alphas, she felt more confident.

  “My wolf is really happy, Dad. They’re great guys. They’re both cops, and—”

  “You need to come home,” her father said. His voice lowered a little and her wolf let out a plaintive whine in her head at the authority that was laced in his tone.

  Her eyes stung with tears, and she blinked them away, turning from Elliott so he couldn’t see her face. “I’ll come home on Monday after I hear from the school. I’ll be safe here in Ashland with my mates and the pride.”

  “Honey, you don’t know what you’re doing,” her mom said. “You’re the daughter of the alphas and meant to be a pack leader. There’s no way that you’re supposed to be mated to two cats.”

  Lyric inhaled sharply. “If they were wolves, you wouldn’t mind then? You’d be happy for me to find my truemates except that they’re cats?”

  “That’s not what we said at all,” her mom said. “You’re young. You’re worried about your future. It would be easy to be caught up in the romance of the situation when your future feels so uncertain.”

  Before she could argue that her wolf wasn’t worried about anything but being with Elliott and Evan, her father let out a sharp growl that almost made her drop the phone.

  In a heartbeat, Elliott was at her side, his hand supporting hers to help her keep a grip on the phone and his other arm around her. Tears slipped over her cheeks and she sniffled.

  “Dad, please.”

  “You will come home, young lady,” he said, his voice lowering again, his wolf fully evident in his tone. His authority seeped through the phone and wrapped around her like a wet rag, dragging her wolf to the front. If it weren’t for Elliott at her side, she would’ve been on the floor on her knees.

  “No,” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she leaned into her wolf and the knowledge that her parents were very, very wrong about her romantic choices. “I’m going to stay in Ashland until Monday and then I will come back to Allen. With my mates.”

  “Lyric,” her mom said with a warning tone. “Your father is your alpha. Don’t make a foolish choice over a tumble in the sheets with some random males.”

  Elliott growled softly. She could feel his chest vibrating and feel his anger at her mom’s harsh words.

  Straightening her shoulders, she said, “That is what you did to Callie, right? You tried to make her choose between the pack and her heart. Please don’t do the same to me. I’m your daughter, not a pack member of no relation that you can boss around for no good reason.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” her mom said.

  “Enough!” her dad roared the word and Lyric’s wolf gnashed her teeth. “Come home now. It’s an order.”

  Elliott pressed his head against hers and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “It’s okay, sweetheart, we understand.” His voice was so soft she knew she was the only one who heard it. The fact that her mate was willing to let her leave only strengthened her resolve.

  “I’m not coming home, Dad. I am home.”

  She pressed the button to end the call, her wolf letting out a mournful sound at the severing of the connection. She was of two minds as her knees weakened and her whole world narrowed down to the words she’d said: on the one hand, she knew that Elliott and Evan were her truemates and there was no one else for her. But on the other hand, her wolf was tied to her parents as alphas and she’d defied a direct order from her father.

  Elliott drew her close and moved to the couch. She collapsed next to him with a groan and then turned into him, the tears rising to the surface rapidly as her wolf and her heart tried to reconcile what she’d done.

  She’d drawn a line in the sand with her pack and her alphas.

  The question was, what would her parents do now?

  * * *

  Elliott texted Evan. Can you come home? Lyric is upset.

  I’m on a call, I’ll be there as soon as I can.

  Okay.

  She has to leave?

  No, she told her parents she was staying and defied her dad’s direct order to come home. I think her wolf is giving her a hard time about ignoring the order. She’s pretty shaken.

  I’ll be there ASAP. Give her a hug for me.

  Will do.

  He texted his mom with a quick rundown of what happened.

  Do you need me to come talk to her?

  No. Evan’s on his way. This is for the three of us to handle, but I wanted you to know so you could tell our dads too.

  Of course. Let me know if you need anything.

  Thanks Mom.

  Elliott put the phone face down on the arm of the couch and wrapped his arm around her, linking his fingers on her shoulder. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No,” she let out a shaky sigh. “That was so hard. I didn’t...I wanted things to go better.”

  He rested his head on top of hers. “I know, sweetheart.” He closed his eyes and said the one thing he didn’t want to say, because he knew it was right. “If you need to go home because of your wolf, Evan and I will understand.”

  She leaned back and looked at him. Her eyes were hazel mixed with the amber of her wolf. He brushed the tears from her cheeks.

  “No, I can’t. Or, I mean I could, but I don’t want to so I’m not going to. My wolf is agitated because I had to choose. She wants to stay with you and Evan because you’re my truemates, but she wants to be loyal to my parents. It was difficult to say no to them, but I have to do what I know is right in my heart. Home isn’t in Allen anymore. It’s here in Ashland with you and Evan whether I get that job or not.”

  He was both elated and frustrated. He didn’t like that her parents were so against them being together. It wasn’t like her parents had met him and Evan and decided they were terrible people. They just seemed to automatically dislike them simply because they were cats. Or maybe because of who their parents were.

  “What do you think will happen?”

  “I don’t know.” She rubbed her eyes and sighed. Leaning against the couch, she gave him a half smile. “Thank you for being here with me. That was tough to go through.”

  “It was tough to hear. I’m sorry it happened, I’m sorry they don’t like us.”

  “I’d tell you not to take it personally, but that’s kind of impossible.”

  He snorted. “Yeah. But I’ll survive. I want them to like us, but if they don’t then it’s their loss. I happen to be a great guy and I’m going to be the best mate to you.”

  “You are a great guy,” she said. She leaned into him and kissed him. He tasted the salt of her tears and his cat let out a sad sound, a mix of a howl and purr. br />
  The front door opened and Evan walked in. Lyric eased from the kiss and stood, meeting Evan halfway with a little sob.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Evan said, kissing her and hugging her tightly. “We’ve got your back.”

  “I know,” she said, sniffling. “I just wish things were different.”

  Evan and Lyric joined Elliott on the couch. Lyric ran through the call for Evan’s benefit.

  “Do you need to go to Allen?” Evan asked.

  “No. I mean, yes eventually, but not today. I told them I was staying until Monday and I mean it. But I do think that we need to talk to your parents.”

  “I did tell Mom what was going on,” Elliott said.

  “That’s fine, but I think as the leaders of the pride, and them also being your parents, we should set up a meeting with my parents somewhere neutral so that all of us can meet and discuss the situation. I’d feel better if your parents were with us so it wasn’t just us against my folks.”

  “We can totally do that,” Evan said. “Do you want to talk to our parents now?”

  “No. Let’s table that for tomorrow. My parents need time to cool off anyway. I think they’re just caught up in their emotions and in case you couldn’t guess, my dad is not used to people telling him no.”

  Evan leaned forward to look at his brother. “You need to go back?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. But Dad said you could both come with me and ride around in the patrol car.”

  “Like a ride-along?” Lyric asked, her eyes going wide.

  “Yep. If you want.”

  “That would be cool. What do you think?” she looked at Elliott.

  “As if I’d tell you no,” he said with smile.

  He texted his mom to tell her they wanted to meet up in the morning to discuss the situation and that things, for now, were fine.

  Evan led them out to the patrol car. Elliott let Lyric sit in the front seat with his brother and he took up the back seat.

  “You never really sat back there for real, right?” she asked as she buckled up and looked back at him.

  “Never. I was a saint.”

  Evan snorted so hard he started coughing.

  “Shut. Up,” Elliott said.

  “I will tell you everything you need to know about my least saintly brother later,” Evan said to Lyric.

  “Remember, I’ll return the favor,” Evan threatened.

  Lyric giggled. “Okay, okay, I have a feeling that none of us were really angels and that’s okay. What matters isn’t the past so much as our plans for the future.

  “Well,” Elliott said, putting his hand on her shoulder through the opening in the protective glass, “our first date tonight is a great place to start the future.”

  “I really can’t wait,” she said. “I hope I get the job, but even if I don’t, I get you two and that’s pretty damn sweet.”

  Indeed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Evan enjoyed having his brother and their mate in the patrol car. Ashland was a pretty quiet town as far as crime went. The most excitement he might have on a shift is a stranded motorist. Once a farmer claimed someone was breaking into his barn and it turned out to be a stray dog trying to get inside for warmth. He’d helped his dad Ethan deliver a baby on a shift once, too.

  But crime-wise...not much happened in Ashland.

  He enjoyed showing Lyric around town. While he patrolled, they talked about the future, which was his new favorite thing to discuss.

  “I love how genuine your family is,” Lyric said.

  Evan stopped at the park and turned off the engine.

  “I’m sure your family is too,” Evan said.

  She hummed. Unbuckling, she turned in the seat so she could see both of them. “Yes and no. I mean, yes, my family is honest and caring, and my dad would walk barefoot across the country for me. But he—and my mom to a lesser extent—have this view of my future that’s very narrow. Find a wolf to mate and have a job in Allen.” Her mouth turned down and she inhaled sharply. “It doesn’t matter to them that I’ve wanted to be a teacher my whole life or that I can’t find a job anywhere near Allen to do what I love. They think happiness is within the pack, that if I stay in Allen I’ll eventually have the things I want to have. But I didn’t have the luxury of growing up in the pack with my truemate. They picked each other when they were kids. I mean...maybe if my mom and your mom hadn’t been estranged all these years then the three of us would’ve known that truth ages ago and...how different would our lives have turned out?”

  Evan nodded. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but you’re right. It would’ve been amazing to know you before yesterday, to know you were ours and have our lives planned out before this point. But that’s not how it worked out for us and that’s okay, too. We have from this point forward, and whatever happens with your family and pack, Elliott and I aren’t going anywhere.”

  “I’m glad. I want things to go smoothly with my family, I want my parents to accept you and be happy for me. I think it will happen eventually, but I’m not sure how long it will take.” She looked thoughtful. “Really, though, it doesn’t change anything. I’m here with you and that’s where I want to be.”

  “Job or not?” Elliott asked.

  “Yep. I feel like now that I found you guys, everything else will fall into place for me.”

  Evan reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’m so glad you clicked on that job offer.”

  “Holy crap, me too,” she said with a laugh.

  An hour later, Lyric’s spirits were lifted, and she was ready to go hang out with Fi to shop for their date. He dropped Elliott off at their house and Lyric off at his parents, and then headed back to patrol. He still had a couple hours left on his shift, but he couldn’t wait for their date. It was the most important date of their lives and he wanted it to go perfectly.

  * * *

  Lyric looked at herself in the changing room mirror. The dress was cute, with cap sleeves and a ruffled hem, but it wasn’t exactly what she was looking for.

  “So?” Fi asked through the curtain that closed off the room.

  Lyric pulled the curtain aside, the metal rings grating on the bar and making her wince. “Meh.”

  “It’s cute.”

  “Yeah. I’m not really going for cute.”

  Fi laughed. “Probably not for the first date with your truemates. I mean, I don’t want to think about my brothers and anything romantic at all because...gross...but I’m so excited for you three.”

  “I feel the same way with my brothers,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Yours won’t share, though, right? Mom said wolves don’t really go for that.”

  Lyric closed the curtain and undid the zipper. “Nope. Callie’s the first and only wolf I know of who’s mated to more than one person. It’s not usual, but that doesn’t make it weird or wrong.” Except apparently in her parents’ eyes. “Do you think you’ll have two mates?”

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of ambivalent about it. I figure I’ll know when I’m in the presence of my forever guy or guys, and if it’s one I’ll be happy and if it’s more than one, I’ll be happy too. I wanted to wait to meet my mate or mates until after college, but now that I’m so close to graduating, I kind of wish I was already mated. I’d like to be starting the next part of my life.”

  Lyric could relate. She handed the discarded dress through the curtain for Fi to hang up, then selected another dress. It was a black spaghetti strap sundress with a pattern of tiny sunflowers.

  Tugging it over her head, she straightened the skirt that fell a bit above her knees and fixed the straps.

  “Now this one I like,” she said, opening the curtain.

  “Wow, I love it! It looks great,” Fi said, smiling enthusiastically.

  “I just need cute shoes. Plus some extra makeup stuff. And a hair clip maybe.”

  “You can borrow my makeup if you want.”

  “Thanks!”

  “Oh! You should get ready at my parents’ house and have my brothers come pick you up there. That would be so cute!”

  Lyric smiled. Closing the curtain, she said, “I like that idea. I’ll text them.”