Hudson continued to hold Amanda and calm her down.
“I just spoke with Zachary, and they think they know where Vita is. Zachary promised he would text to give us an update as soon as they know something.”
Amanda nodded as she continued to stay curled up in Hudson’s arms.
Her wolf let out a purr, but then caught a whiff of something or someone.
Amanda leaned into Hudson and started to sniff.
Hudson looked down at her and froze. He closed his eyes as they rolled into the back of his head.
Damn.
He knew exactly what Amanda was doing.
Her wolf could smell the scent of another wolf. And not just any wolf, a female wolf.
Ophelia.
“Hudson? What’s that smell?” she asked him. “I can’t stop trying to figure out that smell.”
“It’s your wolf, she can smell the scent of another wolf on me.”
Amanda stopped sniffing and pulled away from Hudson.
“Another wolf?”
Hudson let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hands through his hair.
“I ran into someone who I hadn’t seen in a while and she got close to me, but I tried to pull myself away and didn’t think her scent got on me.”
“Her? Who is she?” Amanda couldn’t help the hint of jealousy in her tone.
Hudson rubbed his hands on the top of his pants.
“My ex from high school,” he admitted.
Amanda looked at him with narrowed eyes as she went through her memory index of all the girls she had been Hudson with in high school. There was only one that stood out the most. Her eyes widened as she pushed farther away from him.
“Please tell me it’s not…”
Hudson nodded his head slowly, confirming her worst fear.
Amanda’s heart started to race, and she could feel her wolf getting jealous.
“Ophelia is here!” she exclaimed.
Hudson grabbed Amanda’s hand to send some calming energy to his upset mate.
“I had no idea that she was going here. But yes, she’s here. You don’t have anything to worry about though. She’s a part of my past. You are my present and my future,” he assured her as he slowly pulled her close to him.
“It’s you that I love, not her,” he said as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
Amanda started to calm down as she felt Hudson rub his hand up and down her arm.
“Why can’t this be easy for us?”
He leaned back and lifted her chin so that he could look at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Us, our relationship. Why does it seem like there is always something stopping us from being together?”
Hudson understood.
He pulled her back into him and hugged her tightly.
“I don’t know, but is anything really easy?”
Amanda let out a sigh.
“I guess not.”
“Some things are worth the challenge. Aren’t we worth it?” he asked as he tickled her side.
Amanda giggled.
Hudson thought that was one of the best sounds to hear.
“Yes, we are definitely worth the challenge,” she answered.
“And once we are mated, things will become easier for us,” he confirmed.
Amanda shook her head and laughed.
“What?”
“You always go back to once we’re mated,” she chided.
Hudson shrugged.
“It’s the truth.”
Hudson pulled away and started to get up from the bed. Amanda reached up and pulled on his arm. He turned back around to look down at her. He loved staring into those gorgeous hazel eyes.
“Will you stay with me tonight? Please?” she asked him.
Hudson smiled and nodded.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Tabitha to let her know what had happened earlier, and that he would be staying the night in their dorm.
Tabitha responded with a thumbs-up.
“I sent a text to Tabitha to let her know I was here.”
Amanda yawned as she made room in her bed for him. Hudson pulled off his jacket and laid it on her chair and then crawled into the bed behind Amanda. Once he settled, he pulled her into his arms.
He heard he let out a heavenly sigh. His heart was filled with love and joy, being here with Amanda and having her in his arms.
He didn’t want to ever let her go.
Ruby wiped the same spot on the counter for the thirtieth time. She was anxious to hear from Deak or Zachary about news on Vita. they had been gone for a while and had yet to check in with her. She looked up when she heard the door chime, hoping it would be them.
It wasn’t.
An older woman stood standing at the door and stared at Ruby. it had been someone she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“Hello, Ruby,” the woman said as she walked toward the counter.
Ruby’s heart started to palpitate as the woman got closer.
“Hello, Mrs. Warren,” she stuttered as the woman stood right in front of her.
“Please, Ruby, you can call me Madeline,” she corrected her.
Ruby gulped and then nodded.
Madeline looked up at the menu.
“Could you make me a chai tea, dear?” Madeline asked nicely.
Ruby smiled before turning around and starting to make the drink.
“It’s a beautiful café that you have here, Ruby,” she said with a hint of an English accent.
“Thank you,” Ruby said as she passed the cup of tea across the counter.
Madeline picked up the tea and saucer and walked over to a table that was close to the counter.
“Will you come to sit with me, so that we might catch up?”
Ruby took a deep breath as she walked around the counter and took a seat.
Madeline sat quietly as she inhaled the wonderful smell of her tea before she took a sip.
“It’s delicious. You really have made a name for yourself dear. Your parents would have been proud,” Madeline praised.
Ruby froze when she heard Madeline talk about her parents. They had passed away a few years ago but the pain was still there. For a while Ruby had thought she didn’t have any family left, that was until she found out about Amanda. Ruby started to smile as she thought about Amanda.
“So, what brings you back?” Ruby asked as she changed the subject to her parents.
“I’m trying to get a hold of my son. Have you heard from him?” Madeline questioned as she continued to drink her tea.
“No,” Ruby told her as she got up and started to wipe the tables around her.
“Ruby dear, I know it’s been a long time since we’ve talked but it’s very important that I talk with him,” Madeline informed her.
“Why would you think I have talked with him recently?”
“Because, my dear, he’s in love with you.”
Ruby paled when she heard those words come from the older woman. Ruby had always thought that his parents didn’t like her because she wasn’t a part of the coven.
She felt a set of fingers lift her n as she looked into the woman’s crystal blue eyes.
“Zachary was a fool to let you go all those years ago,” Madeline confided.
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)