But aside from that, being deep in the forests meant he could avoid—or ignore—calls from certain people and blame it on the lack of reception. Even now, as he drove to Main Street after working overtime, his phone started ringing the moment it pinged the nearest cell towers.
Glancing at the screen, he saw the caller ID flash his oldest sister’s name and blew out a breath. Genevieve was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. He knew what she wanted, but he was too tired to deal with her.
When the call went to voicemail, he let out a relived sigh, which was short-lived because his inbox now started blowing up. Checking the name of the sender, he groaned audibly. Vicky Woolworth. He’d rather talk to Gen and get a root canal and an appendectomy all at the same time than deal with Vicky. She was, as they said, twenty pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag. While he’d broken up with her years ago, she’d pop up every now and then. He had to keep blocking her and change his number whenever she got a new number or account, but that didn’t seem to stop her from trying. Looks like I have to call my cell company again.
As he stopped at the light, he turned his phone off, glad for the silence. Today was supposed to be his day off, but he got stuck working overtime after helping search for a lost panther cub who had wandered away from its mother. His plan had been to sleep in and meet J.D. and Anna Victoria at Rosie’s after they did wedding stuff. Instead, he had to shower at work and drive straight to Rosie’s. When he got there, Damon was already seated at one of the booths.
“Hey, Chief,” he greeted as he slid into the seat across from Damon. “Girls aren’t here yet?”
Damon Cooper, who was his best friend and boss, shook his head. “Probably running late. Rogers filled me in about last night. Good job finding that panther cub.”
“Yeah, she was pretty rattled, but once we got her back to her mama, everything was fine.”
“I appreciate you guys staying and getting it all handled,” he said.
“Of course, man. You know you can trust us for stuff like that.” He patted Damon on the shoulder. “You’re gonna be a married man soon; can’t leave the Mrs. waiting.”
At the mention of marriage and the Mrs., Damon’s face lit up. “Jeez, I can’t believe it’s really happening.”
Gabriel chuckled. “It definitely is.” And he was glad for his best friend. If anyone deserved happiness with a mate, it was Damon, especially after all the shit he’d gone through. When he returned after being discharged from the Special Forces, Damon had been a shell of who he once was. Therapy and time had helped, but he had been driving himself into the ground with work and keeping all those feelings locked up. When he met his mate, things had changed—and for the better. “So, speaking of which—your bachelor party.”
Damon groaned. “No. I don’t want one.”
“Ah, c’mon man!” Gabriel pleaded. “You only get married once, which means I only get to be your best man once. Besides, this is your last night of—”
Damon shook his head. “You don’t understand. I don’t need a ‘last night of freedom’, because as far as I’m concerned, the day I met Anna Victoria, she became mine, and me, hers. Besides, my bear would never allow me to even look at another woman.”
Gabriel didn’t quite understand the concept of mates—no one really did. It was just one of those things that shifters talked about, but couldn’t explain. Most shifters didn’t even meet their mates. His own parents weren’t mates. But apparently, from what he’d heard over the years, mating meant a special bond tied you to another person for the rest of your life.
Frankly, it sounded like a bad deal, after all, Gabriel pretty much already knew what was in store for his future. That’s why he was determined to enjoy his life now, while he was still free.
Lately, however, seeing how happy Damon was, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have another person who was the other half of your soul.
Ridiculous, he thought with a mental shake of his head.
His lion, however, mewled in disagreement.
“Morning, kiddos,” Rosie greeted as she walked over to them, coffee pot in hand as usual. “What can I get ya?”
“Just the coffee,” he said with a nod as Rosie filled the empty mug in front of him.
“And the specials for you?” Rosie asked Gabriel. “We have chocolate almond, cantaloupe, and bacon with egg.”
“You got it,” he said.
He and Damon chatted while waiting, but as soon as Rosie came back with their food, it was like his friend wasn’t even there. He stopped listening to Damon drone on about butterfly populations or some shit, and concentrated on the delicious-smelling feast in front of him. What was it about these pies? He often wondered if Rosie put some kind of drug in them to make them addictive, though only he and his lion seemed to be unable to resist.
He quickly ate all the pies, with Damon rolling his eyes as he demolished them. His lion licked its lips, wanting more.
“They’re here,” Damon announced out of the blue.
Looking toward the door, he saw Anna Victoria and J.D., his
