Chapter 147

Michael POV

We have breakfast with Shawna's brother and father, and there are no awkward questions or uncomfortable silences. Her dad is a tall man, but relatively thin. Besides running patrol, he's also a fisherman. He spends most of his time on the lake, catching trout and bass. Most of his catch gets sold in town at the market. The man who owns the market meets him at the dock every day to collect what he's caught. It's a relaxing way to make a living. I ask him about what he does in winter, and he tells me he ice fishes. People in town just think he's a hermit; they do not suspect anything. I'd be afraid to fall in, I tell him, and he laughs. "You weigh double what I do, Alpha. I don't worry about it." Her dad took note that I was an Alpha, but her mother, not so much.

"What about you Ben?" I ask as we are finishing up breakfast. "What do you do?"

"I'm a warrior, but sometimes I go out with my dad to fish. It's peaceful out there on the lake."

"You guys are kind of up here in the middle of nowhere, hidden. I'd think it's peaceful all the time," I note.

"There are more people than you think, and plus, because we are so remote, we can get on each others nerves," Ben replies. "It's why Shawna used to wander off into the woods alone. It was two days before we realized she was actually missing," he looks apologetic, almost guilty.

"It's not your fault Ben," Shawna says.

"Maybe not directly, but we knew what was happening between the Alpha of our pack and the Godsend Pack," Ben replies. "We should have had more patrols out there, and more sentries posted at the entry points."

"Did you know they took me?" Shawna asks.

"We suspected eventually. There was no proof though. The Alpha even had a meeting with Alpha Chris, wasn't that his name dad?" Ben asks his father.

"Yes, that's his name, "I answer for him. "He's dead now."

"Oh," Ben says surprised. "We hadn't been told her was executed. Anyway, there was no sign that prisoners were being kept there. He claimed to not even have a dungeon. He let us search, well not me, but Jarod was there, and Malik," he looks over at his sister pointedly and she sighs.

"What's with that Malik guy?" I ask. "He seemed a bit pissed when we showed up."

"He's pissed alright, he thought Shawna was going to mate with him, he knew she wasn't his mate, he was going to take her for a chosen mate," Ben says.

"Why? Are there not other women here?" I ask.

"Shawna is beautiful," her father states, "all the boys liked her at one point or another. I'm glad you are her mate though Alplha, you can protect her." He stands and puts his dishes in the sink. "Thanks for breakfast sweetheart. I'm going fishing. Your mom will be home after lunch, just warning you," he smiles and waves as he walks out the door.

"He has a mate now, so he should get over it," Ben says standing. "I have to get to work too. I'm glad you are good sis. Cassidy wanted to know if you'd come over for dinner tonight? Mom and Dad aren't going though, so it will just be us."

Shawna smiled, "That's even better. We will be there."

After Ben left, it was just Shawna and I. "What do you want to do?" I asked her. "It seems your Mom won't be home for a few hours."

"Oh I can think of a thing or two," she winked. "First, I gotta clean up the mess I made cooking." We worked together to get the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned. Afterward. we went back to the bedroom and I made love to her the way I wanted too. No one was home to hear us. It felt odd to have to restrain ourselves, but I didn't want Shawna to feel uneasy and her mother seemd to do that to her. Around ten in the morning, we went into the living room and decided to watch a movie. I couldn't remember the last time I had literally had nothing to do. I felt like all we had done in the past couple of years was deal with the fallout of that dungeon that Shawna had been held captive in. I was glad to see all of that behind us. I was even more happy to be planning our future together.

We were sitting on the couch, a movie playing, Shawna was asleep on my chest. I looked up when the front door opened and her mother walked in just after twelve. "Oh hi," she said with a wave. "Is she asleep?" she asked.

"She is," I said quietly. Her mother took off her shoes and placed them near the door. She walked into the living room and sat down, leaning her head back and closing her eyes for a moment. I watched her but didn't say anything. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and focused on me.

"I'm sorry for last night, I was awful. It's just been hard, and I don't know," her voice caught. "I'm glad she's okay. I know she probably isn't really okay." She looked away. "She's lucky she has you."

"You should probably apologize to her," I said softly. "It doesn't really matter what I think, she's your daughter."

"It matters," she insists. "The Alpha told me who your family is Michael, it matters." It was hard for me to hold in my laughter, but I didn't want to wake up Shawna. Her mother was something.

"So it matters because of who my family is?" I asked. "I'm not the Alpha of the pack ma'am. Our mating means nothing to your Alpha, if that's what you're inferring."

"No, no that's not it. I'm just messing this up left and right," she sighs. "I mean they are all very respected, that's all. I know more about it all now. The Alpha was kind enough to clue me in on some things, now that my girl is home safe."

"You do know we aren't staying, right?" I asked. "This is a quick visit. We are going to Georgia." She looked a little hurt, but just nodded in affirmation.

"Mom?" Shawna stirred on my chest and then sat up. "What's going on?" she asked, looking between the two of us.

"Nothing, I was just apologizing to your mate for my behavior," her mom said. "I'm sorry Shawna, my behavior last night was not my finest moment. I hope you can forgive me." Shawna stilled and stared at her mother. "Shawna?" she said.

"Umm, okay. Yes Mom, but please stop with the questions." Her mother nodded.

"Also, we are going to Ben's for dinner tonight," Shawna said as she stood. "I guess you aren't going? You don't like Cassidy?"

Her mother looked uncomfortable. "It's just, well you know, she's followed Ben around since they were kids. She trapped him, that's why I don't like her."

"That's not what Ben told us," Shawna said. "He said they are true mates, they ran the mating moon run and it confirmed it."

"I think he just says that because she got pregnant," she proclaims. "He is embarrassed."

"No mom, he's not lying. And you better get yourself together, because you're going to be a grandmother. If you keep acting like this, you won't have any of your grandchildren coming around." The room went quiet and I realized that Shawna wasn't far from the truth, her mother was lining her self up to be a very lonely woman.