Favor Redeemed Ch. 04

Amelia had watched him turn fully into a large brown wolf and for the first time her she thought, "I guess werewolves are real." Though she had known of their existence since she was a child, it had still a bit mythical. They had all seemed so "normal" so far. Then she noticed the food still on the table. Her mind told her, "You should not eat that. You should walk to your room, grab your stuff and leave." But one of her long-time coping mechanisms had been to eat when she was upset and she was upset. She also told herself, if you eat this now, maybe you can skip lunch or something. She sat down to the biscuits and sausage gravy and quickly ate them. They tasted so good, but she knew she probably did not have much time, and she did need to get to town sooner rather than later. After a few gulps of the orange juice she left the office and the waiting area, and almost bumped into Reyna in the hall.

"What happened?" Reyna asked immediately, a shocked expression on her face.

"I upset Alpha Brendan," replied Amelia as she began walking back to her room.

"Honey, I already knew that," Reyna said as she walked with her.

"He thinks I am his mate, but I am not," responded Amelia.

"Why do you think you are not?" Reyna asked

"Because I am already married." Amelia said a little incredulously.

"What does that have to do with anything? You could get divorced." Reyna also sounded slightly incredulous.

"I am going to get divorced, but that doesn't mean I want to be with anyone else" said Amelia.

"But you are his mate." Reyna insisted.

"That can't be. I'm not even a werewolf," Amelia said exasperated.

"He could change you," Reyna interjected, trying to find a solution.

"No! He's wrong." Amelia whispered vehemently as they reached the door to her room.

Reyna stopped and looked closely at her, sensing that she wasn't going to be able to say anything at this moment that would change Amelia's mind.

"Do you know where my car is?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, but you should not leave." Reyna said, slightly panicked and mentally told her mate, Jeremiah, that Amelia was preparing to leave. "Amelia, look, I know this is all a lot to take in, and I gather you've been through a lot recently, but you are the Alpha's mate." She put her hand up when Amelia started to interrupt her with a denial and Amelia stopped. "If you try and leave, and he has not claimed you yet, then it will drive the Alpha crazy."

"He's already crazy," Amelia muttered under her breath and began collecting her things.

"No Amelia, you do not understand." Reyna explained. "I know that something happened between you this morning that was upsetting enough that Alpha Brendan left. I suspect that the reason he left is because he was becoming agitated and upset and did not want to hurt you. Once a wolf finds their mate, both of them will want to finish claiming each other and the longer they wait, the more their instincts take over and logic leaves. If you run from him, his instinct is going to be to drag you back here and forcibly claim you."

Amelia shuddered at Reyna's words, wondering if it would hurt as bad to be "forcibly claimed" as it did to be beaten up. Fear crept into her voice and her scent as she whispered, "Will he kill me?"

Reyna looked at her completely shocked, "No! Mates can't stand to hurt each other, much less kill each other."

Amelia let out a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. "I can't stay here. Do you know if my car was able to be fixed?"

Reyna asked, "If it isn't will you at least stay until it is?"

"No," Amelia answered emphatically. "But if it isn't, then I need to change and I need to limit what I take with me. I am sorry, it looks like I will have to leave some of my things here for a while." She walked to the bathroom and began braiding her hair and then packing her things.

"What are you going to do? Walk to town? You'd never make it before nightfall. It's at least 15 miles and people drive crazy on that highway."

Amelia turned and looked Reyna directly in the eye and said, "What choice do I have. I can't stay here." She got some clothes and headed to the bathroom. Just before she closed the door she said, "Don't look so worried Reyna, there is a fair amount of traffic on that highway and I'm sure that someone will stop and offer me a ride."

Reyna's eyes nearly popped from her head as she imagined what the Alpha would do if he found his mate hitchhiking. She sent a panicked message through her mind to Jeremiah's and told him that Amelia was leaving and short of imprisoning her, Reyna didn't see how they were going to stop her. She also told him about Amelia's willingness to hitchhike if necessary.

Jeremiah responded that this would push the Alpha to do something rash and Reyna agreed, but she knew how determined Amelia was. Both of them could see a disaster about to unfold, but did not know how to stop it.

Reyna watched helplessly as Amelia came out of the bathroom in jeans and a t-shirt and knew they were running out of time. To buy a little bit of time she asked Amelia, "Before you start walking, can you give me a few minutes to check on your car?"

Amelia sensed her desperation, but would be much happier to have her car than walking so she said, "Yes, I can do that. But Reyna, I won't wait forever."

"I understand," said Reyna and ran to Jeremiah's office and rushed inside and shut the door.

Again she asked her mate, "What are we going to do? You haven't told Alpha Brendan have you?"

"Do I look like I want my head ripped off?" Jeremiah asked her.

"I don't think, given how things went this morning, that imprisoning her would be a good idea," Reyna remarked and Jeremiah agreed.

"I don't understand why she can't accept the Alpha as her mate," said Jeremiah and Reyna turned to look at him with disbelief.

"You don't understand?" she asked. "For one thing she's human and even if she knew we existed, she's never been around us. For another we believe she's been abused by her husband, why on earth would she want to leave one man and go jump in bed with another?"

Jeremiah shook his head and repeated the question, "Well what are we going to do?"

"Well let's think," Reyna said. "She came here to get a job. Is there a job that we can give her that would keep her safe?"

"The Inn" they said simultaneously. "We could move a couple of the Betas out there to make sure she is protected." Jeremiah continued.

"And she would have a place to live on-site," said Reyna.

"But she doesn't have any experience with running an Inn," pointed out Jeremiah.

"But if she's the Alpha's mate then she is an Alpha too, and this would be a great way of seeing how she does," countered Reyna.

"Ok, this just might work," agreed Jeremiah.

"Let me go get her so we can propose it to her. And make sure her car is fixed. We will both also probably need to go out there too," said Reyna.

Jeremiah nodded and said, "Agreed. Let me start working on it."

Reyna slowly walked back to Amelia's room and she noticed Amelia's door was open and she was no longer sitting on the bed, but staring out a window. Amelia turned as Reyna knocked on the open door, and asked, "Is my car fixed."

"It will be in a few minutes," Reyna replied. "But Jeremiah and I think we might have found a job for you, like you wanted, and would like to talk with you about it."

Amelia smiled at the prospect of a job, but was a little wary. She wondered if this was a ploy, like the "personal assistant" job that the Alpha had offered her. "The job isn't here, is it?" she asked.

"No, it's in town, near the lake" she replied.

"Alright," Amelia agreed and once more walked down the hallway toward what she had come to think of as the "office area." She walked into Jeremiah's office and this time Reyna sat next to her.

"Amelia," Reyna began, "It occurred to me as we walked down here that none of us have invited you to stay and get to know us. We do have a job to discuss with you, but I think all of us would like to get to know you better and let you get to know us."

"Is this because you really want to get to know me or because your Alpha thinks I am his mate?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Reyna looked away and said ruefully, "Because you are the Alpha's mate."

Amelia sighed, "Well I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on that subject."

Jeremiah jumped in and said, "Then let's talk about this job. Are you familiar with the Luna Inn? The hotel near the lake?"

"Yes, I think everyone knows that place" Amelia replied, "I guess I should have realized it belonged to y'all, given the name and all."

Jeremiah smiled to and said. "Yes, it does. What you do not realize is that the first floor is a steak house and offices, with only a couple of handicap accessible rooms. The second and third floors are guests rooms, and the top floor, which is extra insulated, is a kind of secondary den."

"Secondary den?" Amelia questioned.

"Yes," Reyna replied. "As you may have realized we prefer to live in packs and have several businesses in town. In fact, the pack founded the town and tried to keep humans out of it, but after the Civil War, it was more difficult because people moved away from the coast. Anyway, the lake became a popular place because a water source is often important, so soon we had other families in the area."

"Like the Becketts," said Amelia matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Reyna acknowledged. "Since we have so many interests in town, some of the wolves like to stay there. Particularly the younger, unmated ones who want the comfort of a pack but to have some freedom from parents. There is also the community college nearby and several of them attend classes there, so they want to be closer to it than we are here. "

"Ok, so what does that have to do with a job?" Amelia asked.

"Well, we need someone to manage the front desk. We had a member of the pack doing it up until three months ago, but then she got mated to a wolf from a different pack, and left to live with him in his pack. The wolves that live there have been taking turns, but it is not consistent and having someone to just keep a schedule of who does what when would be helpful. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes, I can" Amelia said. She had always had leadership positions in school and even though that had been a long time ago and she was a different person, she liked organization and was sure that she could do this. She did have a concern, though and asked, "But do you think that they will follow me?"

"Yes," Jeremiah replied. "For one thing, the majority of the pack members who live and work there are Omegas, so they are pretty much used to someone else organizing things. Second, everyone knows that they have to take a turn with the different duties. And of course, word is probably going to spread that you are the Alpha's mate so . . ." Jeremiah abruptly cut off and Amelia looked at Reyna who Jeremiah was also looking at and she was staring daggers at him.

Amelia's heart sank. "I don't think it would be a good idea then. I don't want everyone to think I'm something I'm not."

Reyna broke in, "Amelia, if you stay anywhere in town, you are likely to interact with the pack members. And whether you like it or not, no matter what you say or think, as long as the Alpha believes you are his mate, then everyone in the pack is going to believe it too. In fact, if you are not working in one of the pack-owned businesses, you are likely to have a lot of traffic from pack members wanting to find out about you."

Amelia shook her head. "So then how do I convince the Alpha that I am not his mate?"

"You don't." Reyna answered. "You have to understand, every wolf has a mate. However, not all of them are within the pack. This is why the packs in an area try to remain friendly and get together frequently. From the time we are teenagers and make our first shift, we are know our mate is out there and we are looking for them. I know it is different for humans, and to pick on an old cliché, its not love at first sight, its love at first sniff. Each human and wolf has their own unique scent, and each werewolf knows the scent of their mate as soon as they smell it. Alpha Brendan has been waiting sixty years to find his mate."

"Sixty years?" Amelia asked on a gasp. "How old is he?"

Jeremiah responded, "He's 76 years old. Remember, we age much more slowly than humans."

Amelia felt like her head was going to explode. It was all too much to take in. Normally her mouth would have been running away from her, but at the moment she was speechless and unsure of what to do next. She looked back and forth from Jeremiah to Reyna.

Finally, Reyna asked gently, "So do you think this solution will work?"

"Does the Alpha know about your plan?" Amelia asked.

Reyna shook her head and Jeremiah answered, "No."

"I don't suppose you are going to keep it from him?"

Reyna and Jeremiah responded at the same time, "No."

"Amelia," Reyna said patiently, "I know this is all strange to you, but the Alpha will need to know you are safe and protected. He will not want to force you into anything, but he is certainly going to want to claim you."

"When he finds out, do you think he will forbid me to have this job?" Amelia questioned.

"No, he is actually a very reasonable man," Reyna replied. "I think he knows that you need a little time to, um, adjust to everything. If you are with the pack still, he will know that you are protected, and that will help him to give you some space."

"Alright then," Amelia agreed taking a deep breath. "I'll do it."

Reyna smiled at her and reached over to give her a gentle hug. "I know you don't know me, and you have no reason to trust me, but I do think that this will work out in the end."

Amelia just nodded, her mind running away with her. "You can do this, you can do this, you can do this." She kept telling herself. Then a thought struck her and she asked, "I don't want to rain on the parade, or sound greedy but does this," she held her fingers up like quotation marks, ''job' also pay anything besides a place to live?"

Jeremiah sighed and said, "This is a real job. The pack does live fairly communally, and everyone has a job, but we do pay wages of a sort." He then grinned and said, "I mean, if Reyna wants to buy chocolate then she has to have a budget to do that with, right?"

"And if Jeremiah didn't have an allowance, he'd buy every electronic gadget ever made." Reyna replied with a smirk.

Amelia smiled at the couple, and guessed that this was probably a long-running argument. "Ok, that sounds fine then." She was too intimidated to ask how much they were going to pay her. She hoped that she could save most of it if they were going to provide her housing.

Reyna also said, "It's also a little different at the Inn as well because several of the pack members there are involved in outside interests. Those that live here are involved too, but they are often involved here or at one of our agricultural sites."

"Agricultural sites?' Amelia echoed.

"Oh yes," said Jeremiah. "We learned as a pack a long time ago that food was something everyone needed. We aren't much for growing fruits and vegetables, but we have a dairy cow herd and a beef cow herd, as well as a free-range chicken farm."

Amelia couldn't help but laugh at the thought that popped into her head, "You mean the wolves are really guarding the hen house?"

Jeremiah groaned, "Oh no, she's going to be another one. Like we haven't heard that joke a hundred times."

Despite her laugh, Amelia was impressed. So far she could tell the pack had two types of cow herds, a hotel, and an auto repair shop. "How many businesses do you own?

Jeremiah and Reyna exchanged a look. "Well the pack owns about 10 or 12, but there are couple of pack members that own their own businesses. For example, the auto repair shop is actually not owned by the pack itself."

Amelia nodded and tried to keep up with it. She imagined that it really didn't matter, she was just being nosy. After all, it wasn't like she was going to be joining the pack or anything, no matter what they thought.

She then remembered to ask, "So is my car fixed so I can get going? Are you going to call them and let them know I'm coming? Or give me a letter or something? Or, I guess you said no one was really in charge at the moment, so is there a way to let them all know at once or do I need to tell everyone individually? Is there a list of names so I can know who I can assign and when?"

"Amelia," Reyna said, stopping her anxious flow of words. "Jeremiah and I will take you out there." Then when she saw that Amelia was about to object she said, "I mean follow you, I'm sure you will want to drive yourself."

"That sounds great. Let me go get my things and then tell me where my car is and we can get started." Amelia was bubbling with excitement at having a job. She promised herself she would make them so happy they had her there, they wouldn't know what do without her.

Reyna smiled at seeing Amelia smile. In fact, her smile was so bright it lit up her whole face and made Reyna feel brighter too. She looked over at Jeremiah and noticed her normally straight-faced husband smiling as well. Maybe this is what the pack needed, and that is why she had been selected as the Alpha's mate.

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A short time later a small caravan of vehicles was once again winding down the road and turning on the highway toward town. Amelia thought that the number of vehicles she was sandwiched between was unnecessary. There was a car in front of her with two betas and then Reyna, Jeremiah, and another two pack members in a suv behind her. She had expected only Reyna and Jeremiah to go with her to introduce her. When she'd asked she about the "extra" people Reyna had told her with a smile that werewolves preferred to travel in packs, and that made sense. She also gathered that the two in the suv with Reyna and Jeremiah were also moving to the inn.

Amelia felt happy for the first time in a long time. However, as she turned onto the highway, a sense of loss tried to creep in on her. She decided it was because she was really leaving the home she'd had for pretty much her entire life, but she was determined to smile and move forward. She had been a little annoyed when she got in her car to realize that someone had put additional gas in it. When she'd asked about it, Jeremiah had told her that the wolves that had fixed her car had needed to drive it around for a bit and so they had needed more gas. She wanted to protest but her mother's voice echoed in her head, "Manners are important" and so she sighed and said, "Thank You." Now as they continued driving into town it seemed like it was taking forever and she really was thankful for the extra gas because she was not sure her car would have made it on what it had.

As they drove up to entrance of the Luna Inn a true smile at its loveliness appeared on her face. Amelia had always loved the Inn. Rather than looking like a hotel it looked like a huge Victorian house in white with a wrap-around porch and balconies opening from French doors. Because of the way the Inn sat it faced the lake on two sides, and a beautiful wooded area on the third.

She had always wanted to stay here, but had never done so. She had been to the restaurant twice. Her parents had taken her family there as a special treat after her high school graduation and after she'd eloped John had taken her there to celebrate. Now, she was going to get to live there, though it was not going to be the romantic situation she had always dreamed about, it still had a bit of magic to it.

She liked that the parking structure looked like an old-time carriage house on the outside, but was actually a two-tiered structure on the inside. It fit much better with ambiance without being cheesy, well at least not cheesy to her. What she had not realized is that with what looked like a wall on one end was actually a door that lowered down to show a third, underground level to the structure. She felt like she was being initiated into a secret as she followed the car in front of her through.