Craving Tori: White Timber Pack(16)

I’ve been driving for a few minutes, not very long, when I notice a car following behind me three car lengths away. They’ve been following me since I pulled out of Ryan’s driveway. I slightly jump when I hear my phone ring. I look at it quickly before turning my eyes back to the road. It’s my mother, I’ll have to call her back when I get to Elizabeth’s. My eyes look in the rear-view mirror once more and the car is still there. I push on the gas a little, trying to get to Elizabeth’s quicker.

I see her house come into view. I slow down and put my blinker on to turn into their driveway. Once I’m in the driveway, I look behind me at the road and the vehicle that was following me passes by. I breathe a sigh of relief.

I turn the car off and hop out. Elizabeth comes out with a smile on her face.

“It’s about time you got here,” Elizabeth says with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, I was having breakfast with Ryan and his parents,” I mention.

Elizabeth nods. The closer I get, Elizabeth sniffs the air and her eyes go wide.

“Oh my God, Tori. You’re mated.” I nod my head with a smile. “Oh my God! I’m so happy for you,” she mentions, coming closer and wrapping her arms around me. She releases me and grins. “You’ll have to tell me all about it while we paint the baby’s room,” she says with a wink.

My cheeks heat just thinking of how Ryan made me feel.





We’re almost done painting the room when I remember that my mother called while I was on my way over. “Elizabeth, why don’t we take a tiny break? I should call my mother back. She called while I was on my way over,” I mention.

Elizabeth nods. “Yeah, I could use a little break. Would you like some Ice tea?”

“Sure. That would be great. Thanks,” I reply.

I walk through the house and out the back door where there’s a patio swing chair. Walking over to it, I take a seat before dialing my mother back. The phone rings twice before I hear my mother’s sweet voice on the other end.

“Hi, baby girl,” my mother says softly.

“Hi, Mom,” I reply.

“How’s everything?”

I shift on the swing, biting my lip. How do I tell my mother that Ryan and I are mated now? “Everything’s good. I’m helping Elizabeth paint the baby’s room.”

“Oh. I can’t believe Elizabeth is going to be a mother. It feels like just yesterday you both became friends and now she’s mated with a baby on the way.” I can picture my mother with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, it’s crazy to think,” I mumble.

“So? How are you and Ryan getting along?” my mother asks.

Well, here goes nothing.

“Ryan and I are... mated now-” I’m cut off by my mother’s scream of happiness on the other end. I pull the phone away from my ear. I guess it’s safe to say she’s happy about the news.

“Oh my God, my baby girl is mated. When is the ceremony?” my mother asks, excitement filling her voice.

I bite my lip hard, unsure of what to tell her. Ryan and I haven’t spoken about a date for the ceremony. It’s a little different for us than it was for Elizabeth. Considering I’m human and all.

“Umm, I haven’t spoken to Ryan about a date, but I’ll let you know when I know so you and Dad can be here,” I whisper.

“Oh, sweetheart. I miss you so much.”

I blink back the tears and smile. “I miss you, too, Mom.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing,” my mother mentions but then speaks up again. “Oh, wait. I forgot to tell you. Steve stopped by the other day asking about you. I wasn’t sure what it was about, but your father turned him away.”

I suck in a sharp breath. “What?” I whisper so low my mother doesn’t hear me.

“Well, sweetheart, I have to get back to cooking. I will talk to you soon. Say hi to Elizabeth and Ryan for me. I love you.”

I’m just about to open my mouth when the line goes dead, indicating she has already hung up. My body shakes from the news of Steve showing up at my parents’ house asking about me. I shake my head.

He doesn’t know where I am; it’s nothing.

Not even a minute goes by before I see Ryan run around back towards me with a worried look on his face.

“What happened?”

I look at him confused.

How did he know something’s wrong?

“What? How?” I mumble.

Ryan looks me over and sighs with relief that nothing is wrong with me physically.

“I felt that you were in distress over something through our bond. I rushed over here as quickly as I could,” he pants roughly.

I reach for him and he hugs me tightly against him.

“Ryan,” I mumble against his shirt. He releases his hold on me some and looks down at me. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I worried you through our bond. I didn’t think you would know,” I bite my lip, worried about how he’s going to take the news about Steve showing up at my parents’ house.

I shift against him, leaning slightly away so I can look up at him. “My mother called this morning while I was on my way over. I forgot to call her back until a few minutes ago,” I say, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Steve stopped by my parents’ house asking for me the other day,” I whisper, looking down at the ground.