“Kingston, put one finger in your right ear and turn your left ear toward me. I keep saying this and saying it, but the message seems to be passing straight through your head without lodging in your brain. I have done a compete search on Andorra Yasbit—A. Complete. Search—there is nothing to be found against her. She was a perfectly ordinary kid, and has remained a perfectly normal adult. She’s twenty-five years old and her former boss would love her to come back and work for him again. When I contacted him he assumed I wanted a reference for her and said she was his best worker by far. Smart, efficient, hardworking, and any time she got sick of traveling and wanted to go home there was a job waiting for her there.” York was sounding exasperated and Kingston had to admit it was likely his fault.
“Okay. Thank you. What about her father’s debts?”
“The father doesn’t gamble or anything like that. It appears he needed the money to buy the bar which he’s managing with his girlfriend. Which isn’t to say his methods of getting the deposit for the bar were ethical, but I suppose it’s his word against his ex-wife’s. Maybe he really thought the money was his. Maybe she just assumed she could spend it on her son’s college fees. Although, he didn’t pay to send his own daughter to college so why send his stepson? Anyway, that’s all irrelevant. He hasn’t got any record of fraud or skipping out on paying his bills. His credit rating was good enough when it came to becoming owner-manager of his bar in the Florida Keys. Just go mate the woman. Nevis likes her very much and I trust Nevis’s judgment.” York picked up his iPad and left Kingston’s apartment.
“What is this? Bully your Alpha day?” grumbled Kingston to Raleigh.
“Your attitude to Andorra is wrong, and everyone can see it except you. It was sensible to be wary of her at first. But she has proven her character over and over. Even when you forgot to feed her she forgave you,” Raleigh reminded him.
“Well I gave her food this time.”
“Bread and salad? Shit, Kingston, how many days would you be happy sitting in a room with nothing to do and only bread and salad to eat? Andorra has far more strength of mind than you give her credit for.”
Kingston’s gut churned. Hell, he wouldn’t have lasted through the first day with neither food nor water. But first, he was convinced she was deceiving him, and then he got involved in his work and forgot her. But still, a good Master would never have done that. He owed her an apology. More than that, he owed her whatever she requested from him, even leaving the mountain and never coming back. Kingston felt sick. What if his unfair treatment of her made his mate, their mate, turn her back on them both forever. He would never forgive himself. He should have listened to Raleigh. He trusted Raleigh and Raleigh had never been misled by any of the women in the past.
“I’m an idiot. I haven’t been a good Master to Andorra at all.”
“You have always been fair, but you haven’t been kind to her. And you’ve been damn slow to get the message that she’s not like all those other women,” said Raleigh.
“I can’t just let her out now, though. I need to do something more.” Kingston rubbed his hands over his face. Oh, shit. What a mess he’d made of this relationship.
“Ah, now there I can help you. I found a good place for us to take her to show her our wolves. I’ve been telling you for days that’s the next step we need to take.”
“I need to apologize to her first, for mistrusting her. But what if she’s frightened by seeing us in our shifted form? I should have been preparing her for that, too. It’s just that I want her so much but couldn’t believe she was the answer to all our hopes and dreams. And now I’ve pushed her away so hard I don’t know if she’ll still be interested in us.”
“Of course she is. She’d have run away otherwise. That part of your plan was perfect. It’s just that you should have trusted her sooner. Now, let’s get organized to take her on a picnic. I’ll get the food otherwise it might be more peanut butter sandwiches!”
Kingston laughed. Raleigh was good for him. He really should listen to him more. “And after she accepts our wolf forms we ask her to mate with us. I’ll treat her properly, I promise you.”
“I know you will. You are a good Master. Just a little obstinate now and then.”
“Can you get organized in half an hour?”
“Sure. I’ll meet you at her room then, shall I?”
* * * *
It wasn’t the world’s most romantic picnic, but Raleigh thought he’d done a reasonable job in the timeframe he’d been given. Kingston was just walking down the hallway from his apartment to Andorra’s room as Raleigh came up the stairs carrying a backpack with everything they’d need in it. Well, he hoped it was everything they’d need, anyway.