Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 71

Carter

When I got to the office, I was in my own world when Mazzie walked up to me as I made a cup of coffee before heading to my office.

“Someone seems happy this morning,” she sniffed. “Ahh, so Briar is finally succumbing to your boyish charms,” she teased. I rolled my eyes and turned to my office; she followed, shutting the door.

“Why are you so invested in Briar and me?” I asked, plopping down in my chair. Mazzie folded her arms and leaned against the door. I was genuinely curious what my best friend thought.

“Look, Carter, I’ve known you all my life, you're a good guy; you deserve to be happy. The way you look at Briar, for someone who knows you, it's not hard to see. You say she’s dealing with some trauma, and I know a little about that. What's holding you back besides whatever this shit bag put her through?”

“The thing is, Maz, I don’t know everything. The state of her, a week after she escaped, though, only a monster could do something like that, and unfortunately, he's a rich monster, and I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up yet to claim her. I suspect, though, she is only half wolf and doesn't have a clue. She was given a mate, and he did that to her when she rejected him. Briar, though, she hides it well from those who can't sense it; she lives each day with the lifeforce being drained from her by a one-sided bond. If I weren’t around to ensure she stayed strong, she’d be dead.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I know you saw it that night in her eyes, Mazzie, her wolf is rising slowly; it rouses, then vanishes. She’s lived among humans her entire life, and she doesn't know what a pack is or that she unknowingly rejected her mate. After what she’s been through, all of this could be what breaks her. I’ve got her holding on right now. I can’t let her take a step back. He gave me six months to get her wolf to the surface and prove she can hack it in the pack.” Mazzie whistled. 

“I’ve been waiting for her to tell me the rest, for her to come to a point I can tell her more. The thing is, she doesn't even know who her father is. She was told Jake was her uncle, that her dad had died. We all know there's no truth to that. Jake never told a soul about her, but he had planned to bring her here. He saw it, too. I’ve seen it a few times myself, but I need to know what I’m dealing with before I start opening new cans of worms I can’t close. I don’t have the time to wait forever. She needs to feel the pack, or she's never going to recognize the other part of herself, or the bond, and I’d rather she choose it before I tell her.

“What are you talking about, Carter? You're not making sense.”

“I wasn’t sure until this morning, I’ve never felt like that, I had a suspicion, but now I know, and the thing is, the stronger our bond becomes, the more unhinged her first mate will become when he senses the threat.”

Mazzie flopped down in the chair across from me. “Holy fucking shit, you’re serious.” I nodded.

I leaned back in my chair looking at the ceiling. 

“How can Lana and I help?” she asked, and I glanced over to her.

“Become the pack she didn’t know she needed,” I said, honestly. I had debated on telling them more, but after this morning, I had made a choice. I couldn’t do this alone.

There was no way in hell I was giving up on my mate, and I wasn’t too prideful about that choice not to call the cavalry in. One way or another, her wolf would rise. I just hope it happened before the bastard showed up.

Watching Briar move through the shop as my blood boiled at her dismissiveness had me tracking her every movement. Was she playing at the idea it meant nothing? Was she regretting it? Had I gone too far, too fast, with her?

Briar was the easiest backpack on a bike I’d ever had. She adjusted her weight with mine as we wound down the mountain with only the hum of the bike’s noise over the road to keep us company. I had hoped the drive would help her sort her thoughts. We were about to have a serious conversation, but not till she ate, and not where just anyone could hear. I pulled off into a random diner and explained all the safety precautions for stopping before I killed the engine. She just nodded at the instruction.

When we went inside, a gruff redhead with stern eyes went to seat us, but I just told her we would take it to go. She just pushed the menus to us and waited impatiently for us to make our orders. Briar eyed me before asking for country-fried steak and mashed potatoes, which surprised me. I don’t even think she looked at the menu properly; just ordered the first thing she saw. So I ordered two burgers and fries. She kept looking around, avoiding me. 

After I tucked the bag of food into the compartment under the seat, she got on and I drove us to the next overlook; it had picnic tables and a view of the sprawling city below. I parked the bike and we got off and I took the food to the table; she followed, again without a word.

Her eyes were on the city as she started choking down her food. I took her hand and finally she looked at me.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, Briar? Something is eating at you.” She forced down the mouthful looking back at the city below before she spoke.

“I don’t think you should be getting involved with me, Carter. If you knew all of it, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Eat your lunch, I don’t want to spoil your appetite.”