Every Were Gets A Mate

Chapter 22

Fidoro looked at me. "Jessica, have you contacted your parents yet?"

The change in topic threw me for a second. "Uh... No. I was going to call them when I got closer to see if it was safe to join them."

"So they don't know what's going on?"

"Not from me. I don't know if Colton or Fisher contacted Pacific Coast Pack yet."

Fidoro pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "Do you have a phone number for your parents? If not, I have one for Pacific Coast."

"I know their cell phone number." I had memorized it long ago.

"Great." He offered me the phone. "Be sure to ask them if Fisher or Colton have contacted them or the pack."

I set my bottle on the ground. Once I had the phone in my hand, I stared at it for a moment. It was a forbidden object. Tanner and I had walked to the human town nearest us whenever we could get away. They had a small library with computers for the public. We could email our parents every couple of months and send them packages with letters. It was more difficult to slip away when it was just me. We had only gotten to talk to them on the phone maybe twice a year. It had been over a year since the last call I had.

I dialed the number I knew by heart. On the second ring, my mother picked up. "Hello?"

Tiny pinpricks struck every cell from my ears to my nose. Moisture flooded my eyes and threatened to clog my sinuses. I could only talk softly. "Mom. It's Jess."

My mother shrieked, "Jess!"

A loud thunk sounded, followed by a smaller one. I heard Mom screaming my name and some scratching noises. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm still here."

"I dropped you." The tone of her voice indicated she had dropped her actual baby instead of a phone.

"I'm okay."

"Oh God, I miss the sound of your voice."

I could hear that she was crying, which made my own tears flow faster. "I miss yours too. I miss you so much. I miss your hugs."

"Jess." My name sounded tortured. It was all she could get out before blowing her nose.

Cade pulled his t-shirt off, grabbing my attention and giving me a shock. I stared at his chest for a moment before noticing that he was offering the shirt to me. "Sorry, I don't have a handkerchief or tissue. Use this."

Oh. That is so sweet!

He held the t-shirt closer to me and gave me a little smile.

I handed him the phone to hold, took the fabric, wiped away my tears, and blew my nose.

Mom had finished dealing with her own ugly cry. "Jess?"

Cade quickly lifted the phone to my ear.

"Yeah. I'm here."

A connected rush of words gushed across the line. "Are you okay? Where are you? No! Don't tell me! Fisher called and said you were headed here. He said you're his son Colton's mate and you're trying to reject him. He threatened to bring his entire pack all the way here and kill us all if we don't give you back immediately!" The hysteria in her tone was building to a peak.

"Mom! Mom, calm down! I'm fine. Colton is not my mate."

I heard her sigh with relief. "Oh, thank Fate."

"Well, don't be too thankful yet. Apparently, I'm Colton's mate."

"Huh?"

"I know this is unheard of, but Colton felt a mate pull to me while I felt nothing for him. That's why I refused to accept him."

There was silence from Mom's end for a moment. "That's crazy."

"I know, but I wasn't going to accept someone as my mate who was not my mate."

"Well... naturally." She still sounded confused, trying to make sense of all this.

"Fisher was about to alpha command me to accept Colton and turn me into a zombie baby factory, so I said the words to separate myself from the pack."

Silence. I had to pull the phone away from my ear, taking it from Cade, and make sure the call was still connected. "Mom?"

"I'm here! What happened?"

"They locked me up, but I escaped, took the Jeep, and headed towards you. On the way, just last night, I met my real true mate."

Mom gasped. "Who is it?"

I smiled at Cade. "His name is Cade. He's a tracker with the Traveler Pack. I'm with them now."

"Oh." She was silent for another moment. "Good! I've heard of them. They are a mercenary fighter pack, right?"

"Yes."

"They'll be able to keep you safe."

"I hope so."

"And you feel the mate pull with Cade, and he feels it for you? Like it's supposed to be?"

"Yes, and he's wonderful." I smiled at Cade again, and he smiled back at me.

Mom immediately sounded much happier. "I'm so glad, Jess. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom. And Dad, and Tanner. Are they with you now?"

"No, they're both out of the house, but they're fine, and they love you too. We all miss you." Her tone turned cautious. "We want you to be safe and happy with your mate, but do you think you can come visit us soon?"

"We're going to join Pacific Coast if they'll have us. Cade already agreed to."

A strange yip sound came over the phone, maybe a hiccup. "That's wonderful! I can't wait to see you both. When will you get here?"

Alpha Fidoro asked me, "Can I talk to her?"

"Mom, Alpha Fidoro wants to talk to you. Hold on a second."

I handed the phone back to the alpha as he quickly asked me, "What's her name?"

"Marina McIntire."

He spoke into the phone. "Mrs. McIntire?"

I could hear Mom's voice from the phone. "Yes, alpha, but you can call me Marina."

The alpha smiled. "Marina. I want you to know that we are going to take very good care of your daughter. As soon as I get off the phone with you, I'm going to call Alpha Driscol and offer to come there free of charge. If he agrees, we'll be able to help protect your family and your whole pack if Fury Pack decides to try to hurt you in order to get Jessica to comply with their wishes."

There was another moment of silence. I pictured my mother having trouble keeping up with this drama. "Thank you! Thank you, Alpha Fidoro! That is so generous of you. I'm sure Alpha Driscol will agree. He's a good man. He already told us that Jessica is still welcome here and that our pack will protect her, but I'm sure we'll be successful at that if we have your pack as well."

Cade and I smiled at each other.

Fidoro said, "I'm certain of that too, so don't you worry about a thing. We'll call you back to let you know our plans as soon as I finish with Alpha Driscol."

"Great! Thank you."

"Bye."

"Bye." She quickly yelled louder, "Bye, Jess!" as if I couldn't hear her already.

Alpha Fidoro yanked the phone away from his ear and chuckled before he hung up. He tapped the phone several times, probably looking up a contact, and started another call.

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A/N

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