Chapter 152

Shawna POV

The sun was setting as we walked out of the lake and up to the rock where we had haphazardly tossed our clothes earlier. We dressed and then took a seat on the sandy shore to watch as the remnants of the day slipped behind the mountains on the other side. I sat there, twisting my hair to ring out the water while Michael rubbed lazy circles on my back. "Should we get back?" he asked. "It's going to be very dark soon, especially with the trees hiding the moon."

"I know the way,"I told him. "Are you hungry?" I asked. "I can make us something if my Mom didn't cook, or we can go to the pack house."

"Whatever you want," He said, standing and pulling me up with him. He smiles,"Actually, let's go to the pack house."

We took a couple of steps, and then I turned and gave him an inquisitive look. "Wait a minute, is this so you don't have to do the dishes tonight?"

Michael shrugged and tugged me forward with him. "Let's go, woman, I'm hungry. You wore my ass out, and you haven't fed me. I need protein." I laughed and led him down the path back to my parents' cottage. All the lights were out, so I'm guessing they weren't home, which meant my mother hadn't cooked. Chances were also that my father was eating at the pack house too.

"I guess we go to the pack house, dad is probably there," I told him as we passed the dark cottage and headed down the path that would lead us to the pack house. "Might be a good sign that my mom isn't home, hopefully she was kind to Cassidy today."

"Maybe," Michael said, putting his arm over my shoulder as we slowed to a normal pace now that we weren't tredgeing down an incline.

A few minutes later, I opened the door to the pack house and we walked the ten feet to the door that led to the dining hall. Michael was right behind me. The room was lit up with light and voices when I opened the door. Everyone turned and stared as we walked in and got in the food line. I heard a few people whispering, "Is that Shawna?". "Who is that massive hottie that's with her?" "I wonder if Malik knows she's home." "He's mated now you idiot." After a few other whispered questions, the room went back to it's chaos of chatter that was unintelligble.

"Um, Shawna, why are people talking about you and Malik?" Michael whispered as we made our way down the food line, loading up our plates.

"I don't know," I lied. I did know, but I didn't think it mattered much and I didn't want to talk about it. Malik and I were ancient history.

"Shawna," he growled quietly. "Don't lie to me."

I sighed as we came to the end of the line and looked around for an empty table. I spotted one towards the back and walked towards it. Michael was right behind me. I sat so I could face all of the gossip mongers. Maybe if they looked at my face they'd stop with their nonsense. We sat and Michael reached for my leg under the table, giving me a gentle squeeze. "I'm just concerned Shawna."

"I know," I turned and looked at him. "I told you Malik had a thing for me. We did date for a while but I always thought he was to pushy and had a mean streak. It was never going to work out. We actually broke up a year before I was kidnapped. You know that I wasn't a virgin when that happened, I told you that."

Michael swallowed and nodded, "So Malik?"

I took a deep breath and stared him in the eyes. "Michael, I love you. You are my mate, my everything. You saved me, you healed me. Anything before you is not relevant. You have my heart."

"Do you think he understands that? Because he's standing in the doorway right now giving us the death glare," I snapped my head around to see Malik and Jarod standing in the doorway. Jarod was whispering in his ear and Malik finally turned away from us and headed to the food line.

"Let's just eat and get out of here," I told Michael. "We won't be here much longer and then we won't ever see these people again."

"Right," Michael huffed. I should have told him before we got here about Malik. I honestly didn't think of it, he's not important to me. He had been a boyfriend of sorts, but he was always a bit much for me. He had an anger streak that made me uncomfortable. Truth be told, I felt bad for whoever his mate was. I was the luckiest woman alive to have found Michael. I didn't want Malik's disposition to ruin our day.

We sat in silence eating, until the chair across from me scraped back and Jarod sat down. "Hey, how are you guys? Did you have a good day?"

Michael snorted. I replied, "It was really nice, how about you?"

"Wished I wasn't on patrol. It was a great day for a swim in the lake." He was making small talk. Perhaps he sensed the tensio. After a few minutes, Jarod lowered his voice. "Listen Shawna, don't worry about Malik. He's a dick. You know how he can be when he doesn't get his way. He's kind of pissed that you weren't his mate and that you found happiness. He shouldn't be since he has a mate. I think he was taken aback a little bit when we ran into you at the lake earlier. He'll get over it."

Michael looked up. "See that he steers clear of us. I don't like the way he looks at Shawna and his unprovoked hostility towards me will get him killed." I squeezed Michael's bicep and could feel the tension rolling off him.

"Yes well, he's hopefully not so stupid as to challenge an Alpha over a she-wolf," Jarod said quietly. "Malik can be a hot head but he's not a total idiot."

"Hmmmph," Michael replied and finished off his steak. We sat quietly for a few more minutes, finishing our meals in silence.

"We should go," I said. "Jarod when can I meet your mate?" I asked as I stood.

"How about tomorrow?" he answered. "Come for lunch. I have night patrol tomorrow so I will have her fix us a nice lunch."

"Sounds good, good night." Michael stood and took my hand. He nodded at Jarod.

"Thanks for the invite man, we will see you tomorrow." He looked over at me and I nodded in confirmation. Then we walked out of the dining hall without a look back. We walked to my parents cottage and when we came in the front door, my dad sat reading by lantern and a low fire burned in the grate.

"You kids have a good day," he asked, setting his book on the side table.

"Yeah, but we will head to bed I think. We ate at the dining hall, Mom wasn't here." My father looked as us quizzically for a moment and then nodded.

As we went to walk to my room, my dad spoke up. "Michael, can I talk to you while Shawna gets ready for bed? I think I need to tell you something."

Michael released my hand, kissed my cheek and whispered for me to hit the shower first. "What's going on sir?" he asked as he took a seat opposite my dad. "Everything alright?"

"I'm not sure," was all I heard as I entered the bathroom and shut the door. I had a feeling about what my father wanted to talk to him about, but I was going to leave it alone. Maybe my father could shed light that I couldn't.