Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Auctioned Mate Chapter 10

Laurencia

Dishes were piling up in the sink. Napkins were overflowing on the counter. The new convection toaster oven that Wendell had seen fit to purchase was taking up so much space that my jars had nowhere to go. Chaos had bloomed in my apartment, and I wasn't having a good time with it.

Steam hissed from the tea kettle on the stove. I used a kitchen towel to take it off the burner and set it aside, moving to work with the only counter space I had left. The baby blue porcelain teapot that Grandpappy had gifted me had lucky cats painted on it along with tiny gold coins.

Good luck, he said. You always needed lots of good luck.

I sighed while scooping a heaping serving of prickly pear and hibiscus tea into the teapot. Once the water was added, I set the lid on teapot and watched it steep for a moment. "Ren, if you brood over the tea, you'll spoil it."

I smiled back at the old man seated on the ground in front of the coffee table. White hair gathered around her widow's peak, making his golden tan skin look more leathery than usual. Thin limbs sported a beige tunic and gray sweatpants. His toes were bare, wiggling underneath the table like a giddy boy.

My smile went lopsided. "I know, Grandpappy."

He gestured to me to hurry up.

Laughter took the place of annoyance in my heart. Having Grandpappy here cleared whatever rotten energy had accumulated over the last week. Wendell was working on the treehouse, trying to rush through the renovations so he could get to fulfill his promises to our alphas.

The teapot was moved to the tray along with two small porcelain cups in saucers and a plate of cinnamon toast. I carried them to the coffee table, set them down, and started preparing his tea just how he liked it-with a slice of lime and two scoops of brown sugar. "What's on your mind?" he asked with a sigh. "And don't say it's because you ran out of oat creamer. I already checked your fridge."

My eyes rolled. “Grandpappy."

"You can't hide anything from me."

"No, but I can choose whether or not to share."

He smiled gently. "Yes, that's true. I've always given you the option." He lifted his cup, the liquid sloshing inside from him shaking. "Damn medication."

"What does Dr. Windsor have you on now?"

"Blood pressure stuff." He waved the question away. "I'm more concerned about you."

I sighed. That was just how he was, more concerned with everyone else than himself. "You probably need to eat with it. Here-Have some toast-Yeah, there you go. Dig in. That should help a lot."

Grandpappy munched happily on the toast while I sat my teacup in its saucer. I stared into the liquid. Creamy bubble-gum pink rippled then settled. It smelled like the old gum I used to chew whenever Grandpappy took me to the market. Smells like my dreams, I would tell him.

My heart was hurting. "It's cramped in here."

"It's a small space."

"I mean, with Wendell. He washes my dishes, but he doesn't wash his dishes in the morning before he leaves to work all day on that stupid treehouse." Grandpappy hummed.

"And then when he gets back, he bitches about how it's messy in here." I pointed to the corner near the bookshelf. "Those are all his dirty clothes. He refuses to wash them." "Oh?"

I nodded. "He takes up way too much space in the bathroom. It's like toothpaste exploded in there. And he complains that I'm leaving too much hair on the shower wall."

Those white eyebrows of Grandpappy's went right through the roof. "Is that so?"

"He keeps moving all my jars."

"What a tragedy, Ren."

I groaned. "Grandpappy, I feel like you're mocking me."

He chortled while reaching out to take my hand. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm not mocking you. I'm trying to stay with you here."

"I know. I'm sensitive."

"That's what I think I love most about you."

Tears stung my eyes. I didn't let them fall just yet. I just wanted to have a nice moment with my grandfather since I hadn't had a nice moment all week. Wendell had taken up so much of my time. Even when he wasn't home, I felt like he was crowding my mental space, making it impossible for me to do anything else.

I squeezed his hand. "I know. I'm just..."

"Tired?"

I nodded.

"That's to be expected with young love."

"Grandpappy, I don't love him. I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be with him."

He smiled wistfully. "I said the same thing about your grandmother when we first met. Bless her, she was a wild woman."

"Is that where I get all this from?" I waved my arm wide. "Because it sure didn't come from my mother."

"Dianne was...misguided." He meant my mother. "She didn't have the spark that you have. Sonny put her in a difficult situation."

I shook my head. "They were awful parents."

"I couldn't agree more, Ren. And they also did their best."

"Well, their best wasn't their very best."

He nodded solemnly. "I agree with that too."

The tears broke through, silently slithering down my face, carving sorrowful waterfalls into my skin where happiness should have sat. Yeah, things weren't great, but at least they weren't shitty, and at the very least, I could say that Wendell wasn't abusive. But if that was his only green light, then why was I with him? It wasn't like he'd made a huge effort to be a good mate or anything.

I wiped my neck where the bite ached. "Why would he do this?"

"Who, dear?"

"Wendell. He bit me, but he acts like it's a huge inconvenience."

Grandpappy sighed. "I think your mate is just trying to figure out why he's attracted to you."

"I hate to break it to you, but he's not my real mate. He rejected me five years ago, and he's rejecting me again."

"Has he left?"

I frowned. "Well, no."

"Then he hasn't rejected you."

"But Grandpappy..."

There was no use trying to explain my thoughts to him. That would take going over all that information that I didn't want to cover, some of which were detailed with personal things that my grandfather didn't need to know. Like how Wendell had taken my virginity.

"Maybe you need space," he pointed out, drawing me back into the present instead of letting me stew in my thoughts. "Go somewhere without him."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. I had been doing so much of that these days. "He won't let me go anywhere by myself."

"What is this? 1935?"

"You'd think."

He laughed suddenly. "Tell him you need to go get tea by yourself, and then go do that."

"What if he follows me?"

"Then set a boundary with him."

I shrank back. "But Grandpappy-"

"Laurencia Sharman, you are giving me enough buts to stink up this whole apartment."

I covered my mouth to contain my giggles. Grandpappy was good at making me laugh when I needed a laugh. And while I didn't necessarily want to laugh right now, I knew it was his way of cutting the tension.

He scooted around the coffee table so he could wrap his arm around my shoulder just like he used to whenever my parents were fighting late into the night. "You go out and tell him what you need, and then you take what you need. Understand?" More tears came without much thought, different than the initial wave. Happy tears soaked my face, tears my Grandpappy could bring out because he loved me so deeply-and he showed it too.

I just wished Wendell would someday do the same.

***

Iridescent letters marked the pair of columns for the supernatural market. Just about every language existed above my head including elvish which wasn't a language often seen around these days. Though I had spotted a few elvish vendors during my time here, they were few and far between.

Honestly, I didn't blame any creature for wanting to avoid this area. The vampire-wolf wars had sullied many relationships until its ultimate ending, and it had left a poor taste in the mouths of the community members here in the market since. While most vampires had gone into hiding, some had ventured out of their proverbial shadows, resuming life as normal-or as normal as normal could get when one existed beyond natural.

Each visit I made to the market solidified my support of the community. As a leopard shifter, I took pride in being open and accepting. Bygones needed to be bygones if we were all going to make it in the end.

Especially with those dire wolves hanging around. They had managed to hang back from the usual crowd on the ranch, but they didn't leave my attention. Blake had tried to make sure they felt welcome, but every morning brought with it news of another dire wolf running off into the wolves or joining a gang of bikers.

I ran my fingers through my hair while wandering the cobblestone path. I knew exactly what it felt like to be different. Every day spent with the Beaufort Creek pack made the fact obvious to me. And being around Wendell made it even more obvious. Weirdness was my nature. Since that was the case, I decided to lean into it, choosing to dance and prance my way through the streets instead of trying to act like everyone else. Here at the market, I didn't have to do that. I could walk barefoot and feel the cool stones under my feet. I could skip up to a booth, pluck whatever I needed, and pay in trade.

Nobody judged me here. And if they did, well, that was their loss of my business.

One of the booths close to the entrance drew me in. Baby newts crawled around in a fish tank with a merperson stationing the booth, granting me a gorgeous grin while extending a webbed hand.

"Farouk," I greeted while taking his hand. "New babies, huh?"

"Just born this morning. They make great familiars. You don't have one of those yet, do you?"

I laughed. "You know I'm not a witch. I'm a shifter."

"Ah, the impossible has happened before!"

"Keep dreaming!"

He squeezed my hand before moving on to someone else in the crowd. Stationary ponies with small wings sat in the stall next to Farouk's booth. Onward were many more booths with many different kinds of animals, some of them familiar to this realm and others difficult to describe. I spotted a unicorn near the fountain and darted in its direction, hoping that there was someone nearby tending to the sweet creature.

"Laurencia!" cried a familiar squeaky voice. I spotted the short mole woman standing just on the other side of the unicorn. "I knew you'd find us."

She reached her hairy hand up to the unicorn's neck and patted it lovingly. I circled the unicorn, staring in awe at its shimmering horn, glossy black eyes, and silvery white coat. "I can't believe it."

"He was wandering the outskirts of Gersbralda," she explained. "My hometown on the other side of this realm would have gobbled him up if I hadn't brought him here."

"For a small mole rat, you sure do have a big heart, lyanna."

She beamed, her whiskers flickering happily on either side of her face. "Are you here to give me my usual reading? I'm sure this one would love a card too. I can trade you some of his hair." "Unicorn hair? But that's-"

"Illegal in the state of Florida. South Carolina is different."

I chuckled. "Supernatural councils are everywhere these days."

"Well, at the rate the wolves have been reproducing..."

I snorted. "You can say that again."

"I said, at the rate the wolves have been reproducing="

"lyanna, sit down before you give me a hernia."

The sweet mole woman scooted two stools up toward the unicorn who was hardly disturbed by the noise around us and set a table between us. Black silk flew from her pocket which she grabbed right out of the air and draped over the table. A few other odds and ends poured from her pockets-a set of candles, her lucky griffon feather, and a crystal ball, the last of which gave her a hearty eruption of chuckles.

I stared at her. "It's not funny, lyanna."

"Yes, it is. It's hilarious." She elbowed the unicorn. "Right, Bernhart?"

"You named him Bernhart?"

Her tiny black eyes twinkled with cheer. "It means brave in my native tongue."

"And what native tongue is that?"

"You ever hear dirt clumps hit the water?"

My hands instinctively shuffled my tarot deck without me needing to check to make sure they were doing their thing. Iyanna told me about the glorious underground empire of the mole people while I plucked a card from the bunch.

She touched my wrist lightly. "Just the one for me today. How's my business going?"

"Ace of Pentacles," I announced as I set the card on the silk. "You're doing well, lyanna. And I wouldn't have even guessed twice considering how fast you run out of milk these days."

"Yeah, well..." She gazed up at the unicorn. "If this one can find a mate, we'll have a different kind of milk soon."

I blinked a few times in disbelief. "You can milk a unicorn?"

"Yes, but only when they're pregnant. Isn't that something?"

"How do you know so much about them? I thought they were extinct at this point."

Bernhart nickered.

"Don't be so rude, Laurencia," lyanna teased. "He's just one of a dozen."

"That's so small."

She nodded. "But something so small can become so big with the right attention, eh?"

I peeled the card from the table, tucked it back into my deck, and wrapped up the cards to return back to my bag. Just a few minutes later, lyanna was distracted by a customer who was showing great interest in Bernhart. That was my cue to keep it moving. Jellyfish-like lamps glowed near an alleyway. Getting away from the crowd for a moment would do me some good and give me strength to keep collecting things. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about Wendell showing up here. Mostly because I hadn't exactly told Wendell where I was going.

After shooing my Grandpappy out the door, I had left a note for Wendell about pulling a late shift at the thrift shop. I texted Skye and Jada, urging them (with great effort) to cover my buns while I went to the supernatural market. Assuming they both kept their word, then I would be safe from Mr. Guard Dog for at least another hour or so.

I just needed some time to myself.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, patted Bernhart's silvery nose, and then wandered toward the alleyway guarded by the glowing jelly lamps. Banners hung above the mouth of the alley bearing the usual translations of an announcement, something about the new hours of the supernatural market.

Relief blossomed in my core when I walked past that shadowy curtain. I couldn't see much back here without the jelly lamps, but there was a sliver of moonlight, and that was more than enough for a leopard like me. I leaned against the brick wall and tilted my chin toward the sky, wondering what would happen when I got home.

Wendell wasn't stupid. He would figure out where I went eventually, especially since I would have a few extra jars of supernatural herbs and spices. But the thing about taking space was that I needed to be emotionally disconnected from him too. Besides, he would leave soon enough. He did it before and he would surely do it again. Wasn't he just waiting for the right time to do it?

Mindlessness took hold as I stroked the bite on my neck. Thoughts continued to plague my mind, preventing me from monitoring my surroundings. The clink of a bottle brought me out of my weird trance, and I stared into the shadows of the alley, trying to determine whether the darker shadows were two figures or just my imagination.

Until one of them stepped forward.

The ghastly white creatures had huge black eyes, a tiny mouth, and frail limbs wearing a loose set of slacks and a tight shirt. Long gray hair hung around their shoulders. They were likely some offspring of a wraith parent mixed with something else. One of the wraith-like creatures procured a switchblade.

That wasn't good.

"Give us the goods, love," it spoke in a haunted voice. "Set the bag down. Walk away. Be a good girl now, love."

Nothing annoyed me more than being called a good girl by somebody who wasn't my daddy. Even those flirtatious men at the bar couldn't do such a thing. And since Wendell had swept back into my life, I didn't feel too inclined to take shit from anybody. My features tightened up and I lowered my head, preparing to shift. "In your dreams, ghost boy." "You'll be a good girl and set that bag down now."

"You can go fu-"

The creature shot forward with his blade, the metal glinting in the moonlight. I palmed the handle, twisted my body, and swung the creature around me into a dumpster. He landed with a loud cry, inviting the other creature to take a turn at me. This one wasn't armed with anything but sharp claws that he managed to sink into my shoulder.

I shifted my left hand and swiped his face. The blood-curdling scream he released practically silenced the market. After a few more swipes and a kick to his gut, he withdrew his nails and tried to grab my face.

Something howled down the alleyway. The creature spun about, whacking me in the face with its thin hair and sending me back toward the well-lit market. But I didn't want to draw attention to us. I didn't want anyone else to intervene or find me fighting these two weird creatures. They were probably just trying to mug me so they could get some food.

Another howl broke through the night followed by a vicious growl. A fawn-brown wolf stepped out of the deeper darkness toward the wraith-like creature, baring his teeth and foamy maw.

"Carl, we ought to get moving!" cried the creature in the dumpster. "Come on now, Carl!"

While the creature in the dumpster scrambled to get out, his skinny friend scurried up the brick wall. A flash of gray hair signaled his climb over the building, leaving us staring each other down in the alleyway. The frightened wraith-like creature skittered toward a door, flung it open, and disappeared inside without shutting the door. The switchblade hit the ground.

I smiled while picking it up. "Finders keepers."

The fawn-brown wolf trotted up to me and blinked.

I sighed while closing the switchblade and tucking it into my bag. "I'm in trouble now, aren't I?"

The wolf shifted.

And then boom. Wendell stood in front of me naked glistening with sweat on every delicious muscle that I could see in the moonlight. Thank the heavens for such gorgeous natural light because this was the perfect view. Especially if he was about to chastise me or something.

All this time, I had been worried about him leaving me, but it never occurred to me to leave him. Even when he accused me of being weird and chatty. Even when things got rough. Even when he ran after me after I specifically stated in my note that he shouldn't go looking for me, I didn't want to go anywhere that he wouldn't eventually be.

Yeah, I wanted space. I wanted to carve out something for myself in this life that he didn't have his fingers in. But at the end of the day, I wanted to go home and find this same exact fawn-brown wolf curled up on my silky pillows with his thick, fluffy tail wagging at the sight of me.

"Well?" I tried to command through a mouth full of drool. "Go on. I know you want to do it."

But he just stood there staring at me, eyes full of wonder and heart pattering away in his chest. I knew because I could feel it-I could hear it. I knew because he had bitten me.

Which brought to mind a horrifying thought about what I would feel whenever he did decide to leave.