“Amanda? Are you done packing yet?” Hudson asked when he knocked on her door.
“Yep, all set.” She said as she closed her suitcase and zipped it up.
“Come on, mom is almost done with making us breakfast.” He told her as he grabbed her nag and pulled her out of the room.
They walked down the stairs and headed into the kitchen.
Cynthia was finishing up making breakfast with Martha, the pack cook. Cynthia turned when she smelled her son, and her future daughter-in-law walked in.
“Oh, I’m so sad to see you both go. But it will be good for you both before you settle into your roles here at the pack. Now come and sit, you need to eat before you go.”
Hudson pulled Amanda over to the long table and pulled out a chair for his mate.
“See chivalry at its best.” He said with a wink.
Amanda rolled her eyes but smiled. She was enjoying the attention he was giving her.
Tabitha and Marco walked shortly after.
“I see the lovebirds have finally emerged.” Hudson teased.
Tabitha looked at him and growled.
“You two, get to the table. You don’t have much time to eat.” Luna Cynthia scolded.
The table was filled with an arrangement of different foods. Amanda was still not used to having such an appetite. She didn’t want Hudson to think that she ate too much.
“Is that all you going to eat?” Hudson asked.
Amanda looked at her full plate.
“My plate is pretty full.” She told him and then looked down at her figure. Her figure had started to change since her wolf had emerged. Her figure had already been curvy after turning eighteen. She was worried about becoming too curvy for Hudson’s liking.
Hudson brushed her hair behind her and kissed her temple before he whispered, “You’re beautiful, no matter how curvy you are.”
Amanda felt the heat behind his kiss and words. Her body instantly relaxed.
“So… excited to be my roommate again,” Tabitha asked as she put a piece of bacon in her mouth.
Amanda laughed and nodded.
“It’ll be a nice change.”
Tabitha laughed and agreed.
“It will be nice to have some girl time again,” Tabitha admitted.
“It feels a little weird, though, doesn’t it?” Marco chimed in. “Going back without Noah and Foster.”
Hudson growled when he heard Marco say his two ex-friends’ names. His father, Ben, gave them and his uncle an honorable pack burial. Hudson didn’t agree with his father’s decision. They were traitors to the pack. They deserved to rot in the ground with unmarked graves. His father explained that a good, strong Alpha forgives and doesn’t hold grudges against the dead. It also had been undetermined if they were disloyal to the pack or just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I know you are still upset, Hudson, but they were our friends for a long time,” Marco explained.
Hudson stood up, grabbed his plate, and headed for the kitchen.
Marco looked at Amanda and Tabitha with a sad look.
Amanda sighed.
She never liked Noah and Foster, they were always cruel to her, even when Hudson wasn’t around.
“You guys finish eating, I’ll go talk with him,” Amanda told him.
Amanda picked up her plate and headed into the kitchen. Martha was at the sink washing the dishes.
“He went that way.” She said as she pointed outside and took the plate from Amanda.
Amanda smiled.
“Thank you.”
Amanda placed her hand on Martha’s shoulder and rubbed it before heading out of the kitchen.
Amanda stepped out the front door and looked around. When she spotted Hudson, she walked up to his side. She tapped his arm gently.
Hudson stood there for a moment with his arms crossed over his chest. He finally looked down at his mate. He rolled his eyes, uncrossed his arms, and wrapped one of them around his mate.
Amanda wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him.
Hudson was still staring out into the fields.
“Hey?” she said to him.
He grunted back.
“It’s ok to miss them and be mad at them at the same time.” She said softly.
Hudson’s shoulders dropped.
“It just doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re right, it probably doesn’t make sense to you. But remember, they were still not the greatest to me.”
Hudson’s grip tightened.
Was it always going to lead back to him and how he treated her? It seemed so long ago after everything they had been through, but it hadn’t even been a year.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against the top of her head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hudson, I didn’t mean that towards you.” She tried to explain.
He turned and put his finger to her mouth.
“I know.”
He leaned over more and kissed her.
Hudson let out a sigh as he felt calm.
“Maybe you’re right.” He told her.
“About what?”
“Maybe we do need some normal in our life to get past the hurt we’ve endured recently.”
Amanda squeezed Hudson.
It hurt her to hear her mate sound so sad.
“Come on, let’s get Tab and Marco and get on the road.”
Amanda nodded, she turned to make her way toward the packhouse when she was picked up and thrown over Hudson’s shoulder.
“Hudson, I can walk, you know.” She yelled while she hit his back, which of course, didn’t phase him.
How about some help, wolf? She said to herself.
That was what she got as a response.
Great, just great.
Ever since that dreadful day, her wolf took over and killed the Lycan King. She and her wolf had yet to get along. Her wolf buried herself deep inside her, only making noises when their mate was close or far away.
Hudson chuckled.
“Got to get out of this sour mood somehow.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath.
Her wolf purred at the touch of their mate.
Traitor!
Hudson put Amanda down once they got to the SUV.
Amanda crossed her arms and pouted at her mate.
“Don’t pout, love, if you’re good, I’ll take you out later.”
Amanda’s heart lifted when she heard this.
“Really?” she asked.
He lifted her chin and stared into her hazel eyes, “Only if you’re good.” And tapped her chin with his knuckle.
Amanda stared at him for a moment. She wondered what he meant by that.
Hudson chuckled as he watched his mate.
He then whistled very loudly.
“Let’s go!” He called out.
Tabitha and Marco came out of the house, followed by his mom and dad.
Cynthia walked over to Amanda and pulled her into a hug.
“We’ll see you before the next full moon?” She asked Amanda.
“I promise to be back for it.”
Cynthia then walked over to her son.
“Watch out for her and protect her.”
Hudson nodded his head.
“Don’t worry, Mom, I Moml.”
Ben walked over to his son and shook his hand.
“Good luck, son, make sure you watch your back, you can never be too careful.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Hudson got into the back of the vehicle and pulled Amanda against him.
“Alright, Stan, let’s head back.”
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)