He Came From The Wild

Chapter TwentyOne | Perfume.

Carolina spoke before being able to think it through, her wolf eager to tell her leader the truth before the human could lie. "He's my mate."

"What?" He gasped, not expecting that at all.

"Hey! Manuel, you're home!" Oliver interrupted the moment, not sensing the mood until he had stepped outside and now he regretted interrupting.

"Yes. Ah, morning Ollie. Why don't you start breakfast before the others get up?" He suggested and needing an out, Oliver didn't protest. He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

"Your mate?" Manuel repeated, looking at Carolina with worry as he studied his daughter. She looked thinner if that possible in the two weeks he'd been away. Dark circles were appearing under her eyes and he could feel her stress.  "Then what's the problem?"

Carolina didn't answer, too embarrassed. When she finally did speak, it wasn't about Braydon. "I'm going to go help Oliver. You know he can't do much more than cereal."

Manuel was quick, swiftly moving ahead of her to block the door. "Look at you darling! What is going on?"

His daughter was a beautiful, strong shifter. Why he wasn't being introduced to this mate now was confusing to him. Maybe their connection was still establishing. Finding each other was the first step so why did Carolina look like someone had died? Was it issues with his pack? Perhaps she had told him she wouldn't leave her home and the pups? He wouldn't mind if that was the case. He wasn't a pack wolf and despite knowing how much his daughter had wanted to join one, he would rather she didn't. He had a pack here for her, but if worse came to worse, he might be able to work something out on her behalf with the new pack. It's what he did after all.

"He doesn't want me." She mumbled weakly, finally admitting the problem out loud. Any walls she had in place cracked and the first, hot tear rolled down her cheek only to be followed by more until she fell into her fathers embrace and let it out. "He loves a human."

"What?" For the second time that morning Manuel was speechless. "That can't be right! If he is your mate, your bond will bring you together."

"I thought so too, but he fights it. How stupid is this, he wants us to be friends!" Carolina then told her father about Braydons past and his connection to Chad and the others. She didn't mention much about Miranda other than how loyal Braydon was to her and Manuel stayed quiet as she got it all off her chest. "What am I going to do Dad?"

It broke his heart seeing his daughter so weak. She was one of the proudest she-wolves he knew and for her to be reduced to, this, wasn't acceptable.  "We'll work something out sweet heart. I think you're right to keep him around. If he can resist the pull to you now, it'll only be a matter of time before his wolf breaks through and he won't be able to deny his feelings."

Carolina didn't know how long she keep doing that for. It was eating her up inside and just thinking of him leaving last night to go back to her had a fresh stream of tears falling. Yet if her father thought that it would work, she was willing to keep it up. Not all bonds were quick to be established, but the truth of that matter was that they always did. 

"So, when can I meet him?" Manuel asked, intrigued about this other male.

"Um, tomorrow he'll be here in the afternoon."

"Good, good. Now go freshen up, you don't want the others to see you like this." With a final hug, Carolina slunk off upstairs and Manuel was left on his own to think about the sudden turn of events.

-x-

Meanwhile Miranda led a tired Braydon around the farmers market. They hadn't spoken much that morning, and when Miranda tried to bring up mates, Braydon remembered something he had to do, like brush his teeth or hair. Out of options, he then dragged her out of the apartment, talking about needing coffee. Considering he didn't drink, Miranda knew he was putting it off. What was he not telling her?