~~~Jackson~~~
“You have to meet with Valerie tomorrow,” I informed Stephanie once she returned from her lunch break with Scott.
“I’m not scheduled to see her until Saturday when the store is closed to show her around town some more,” she said, handing me a container of food.
“Well, I’m moving up the time. I want you to meet Valerie in the morning and spend the day with her.” I said.
“Why the sudden schedule change?”
“She didn’t eat at the restaurant last night or the bakery this morning, and she didn’t come with Anne to get lunch. Anne said she had a customer, and I know a few parents have gone by there to check out the store, but I think something else is stopping her from being amongst us. I want to know if someone has done something to her to make her want to hide in that damned bookstore.”
“You mean someone other than you?” she asked, giving me an angry glare.
“Me? What have I done?”
I knew I’d been a little distant to Valerie, but surely my behavior wouldn’t have that much of an impact on her.
“Oh, don’t play stupid with me. I talked to Azure. She knows about the mark on Valerie’s hand. She told Valerie what it means and that her mate will have one as well. Valerie didn’t tell Azure that she suspects you are her mate, but Azure figured it out by watching the way the two of you interact with each other and because she’s your niece and knows you. Azure also says the fact that you won’t talk to Valerie upsets the woman. She says that you barely acknowledge her presence when you’re around her. Do you know how unwanted that can make a person feel?”
Stephanie was leaning against her desk with her arms crossed as she spoke to me, but I could see her skin ripple with the need to shift and attack me.
“Fuck.” I slumped against the door frame of my office with a sigh. I figured I was causing her some discomfort by my silence, but I hadn’t meant to isolate and outcast her with it, especially since I couldn’t seem to help being silent around her.
“If you want her to feel more at home here, you’re going to have to talk to her. Treat her like a person instead of scowling at her all of the time. Do you know that she told Azure that she thought someone put the mark on her hand as a practical joke?”
“Yeah, I overheard that conversation.”
“Jackson, we can’t let her go on like this. From the things she has said and the things I’ve uncovered, she’s spent her entire life being the butt of people’s jokes because of her weight. She’s never had a serious boyfriend. Hell, the woman hasn’t had sex in years. All because people in her world treated her as if she wasn’t worthy of their time or love due to her weight. I promised her that our world would be different.”
“We are different,” I snapped. My wolf growled and scratched for me to let him lose. He felt trapped and angry with me for not going to Valerie right that second and fixing things.
“We aren’t if her mate refuses to talk to her. If Valerie even suspects you’re her mate and you go on treating her this way, she’s going to feel as if you’re ashamed to have her as your mate.”
“I’m not ashamed of her,” I told her and my wolf. “She simply isn’t ready for what it means to be my mate.”
At Stephanie’s incredulous look, I said, “Fine, I’m not ready either. Wolf might be, but I’m not.”
“You are ready. You’re just scared to admit that you are. I’m not saying that things aren’t moving too quickly. They are. I had hoped Valerie would have more time here before you got up the nerve to touch her, but you did touch her. The mark is proof. Now you don’t have a choice. Neither of you do because both of you are going to start yearning for each other soon. That mark isn’t just a symbol that the fates want you two together, it is a sign that your desire for each other is strong and is only going to get stronger. Pretty soon that desire is going to throw the two of you in bed together before you’ve gotten to know each other, and I have a feeling that she isn’t going to be happy about that.”
“No, she won’t.” I agreed. I buried my face in my hands and sighed. “All right, don’t meet her again until your scheduled time. I’ll go by there this afternoon and try to talk to her. She isn’t going to be happy when she hears my voice and knows who I am, and knows I’ve lied by omission to her.”
“Suck it up and take your punishment,” she said. Her voice lacked sympathy for my situation.
“If I didn’t love you, I’d fire you,” I said, shooing her to her office. I needed to strip and go for a run.