Chapter 30
I don’t know how I slept that night. I’ve missed my parents so much and having dad here is unreal. Alaric and I didn’t end up furniture shopping as planned, instead spending all Saturday with my dad getting to know him again. We had dinner in our little studio apartment and watched a movie together, and on Sunday we had dinner at Alaric’s parents’ house. Dad and Raven caught up, with Raven regaling old stories of his time at Swan Moon Pack. Like most young Beta pups from the north, he spent three months training under my dad. And Raven could not believe I was the little girl he’d met all that time again (hey I was eleven, not little).
I know Dad’s told Mum about me, and I expect her to walk through the door anytime, but I have no idea when. And I can’t help but play scenarios in my head about how it’s going to happen and how I’m going to act when I see her again. I can’t believe that only three days ago I said to Alaric I wanted to see my parents again, and now Dad’s here!
“Guess what?” I tell Rob when we arrive at our station for border patrol on Monday morning.
“What?” He asks, putting the jug on for a cup of tea. We’re patrolling the southwest border today, which is long and big, so have decided not to walk it and watch the cameras instead.
“My dad is here,” I grin, all excited. I’ve wanted to say something all morning but each time I’ve opened my mouth to say something, someone else has spoken.
“Your dad? Like your real dad?” Ben asks, coming out of the bathroom.
“Yeah. He’s the commander of the Northern Rangers, who are here to help train the pack,” I say proudly.
“Wait a minute, your dad is Ranger Dixon?” Ben asks. I nod.
“So you’re a Dixon, not a Daniels? Your whole name was a lie?” Rob asks.
“No! Well, yes. My name isn’t Evie Daniels. But Dixon is my father’s nickname. I’m Georgiana Athentree,” I admit.
“So, all this time you’ve lied to us?” Rob asks, looking all serious. I gulp.
“No, I didn’t lie, per se. I merely kept the truth to myself. Evie is short for Evangeline, which is my middle name and…” I stop, looking at the two whose faces look increasingly angry.
“And I changed my name…” I murmur, feeling guilty.
“She lied to us,” Rob says.
“Yup, she’s a liar,” Ben agrees.
“I didn’t want to be found,” I whisper. Rob and Ben are my friends, and I look up to them. The more they talk, the worse I feel.
“Can I call you George?” Rob asks, placing a cup of tea in front of me.
“You’re not angry with me?”
“A little bit. You should have told us,” Ben says. I nod, my lower lip going as tears fill my eyes. I’m not going to cry. I’m going to stand up, hold my head high and walk to the screen room. That’s what I’m going to do.
“So, can we call you George?” Ben asks. I shake my head.
“We’re teasing. But we’re now going to call you Georgie-porgy, just saying,” Rob adds. I look up at them, and both buggers have smiles on their faces.
“Fuck off,” I mutter, making them both laugh loudly.
“Yeah, you look like a Georgie-porgy. I always knew Evie wasn’t your name,” Rob states.
“No, you didn’t!” Ben retorts.
“Yes, I did!”
“No!” the two bicker. I roll my eyes.
“I’m going to check the monitors,” I mutter.
“Sure, thing Georgie-porgy,” Ben calls as I walk off.
“Don’t forget your tea!” Rob adds. I shake my head and run back into the living room, pick up the tea and return to the screen room, Rob and Ben’s laughter following me.
The rest of the shift was boring. Except for the teasing I got from Rob and Ben, the shift went as expected. Rob, Ben and I rotated watching the monitors while the other two practised sparring outside. The houses that are used as border patrol stations are well looked after, with bedrooms, living areas and a kitchen. This station has three bedrooms, two of which have beds and one which has monitors connected to the cameras across this part of the territory. Part of our role while on patrol is to make sure we look after the house and make sure it’s clean and tidy. So, I vacuumed and mopped during one of our rotations.
I was thrilled once we got back to the pack house. I left the boys at the food court and went to Isabella and Erin, who were sitting at our usual table.
“Hello!” both Erin and Isabella grin when I arrive.
“Hi,” I say back.
“How was work?” Erin asks.
“Boring,” I reply. My friends have heard my stories about border patrol, Erin even going as far as saying she’d like to be a Border Patrol Delta, but I just shook my head, telling her she’d hate it. Currently, I’m one of three she-wolves on border patrol, and it sucks. Like really sucks.
Isabella and I go get our food and return to Dawn waiting for us at the table. I smile when I see her.
“So, guys, I have something I need to tell you,” I begin, watching my friends for their reaction. I’m hoping it’ll go better than with Rob and Ben.
“What is it? What’s the tea?” Dawn asks.
I open my mouth to tell them about my dad being here and also my real name, when guess who comes over to our table, ruining it all?
“Well, hello there handsome. Who are you and how can we help you?” Erin asks, grinning. Conner stops looking at me and winks at Erin, making her smile even wider, if that’s possible.
“Well beautiful, my name is Conner, and I came over to speak with your friend. But since I’m here, I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight,” Conner grins.
“She’s not interested Conner,” I state, making Erin give me a look.
“Georgiana, are you jealous?” Conner asks, making me roll my eyes.
“No. I’m just stopping my friend from making a big mistake. Now what do you want?” I ask, aware that I have the attention of all my friends.
“We need to talk,” he replies.
“I barely know you. What’s to talk about?” I ask. I don’t want to talk to him either.
“You’re my mate. We need to talk about that,” he says, making me laugh.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my ex-mate, Conner, sorry I forgot his last name, the arsehole who rejected me and then spent the next few months whoring himself around my pack,” I introduce.
“Come on, babe, don’t be like that. You’re still my mate, no matter what that dipshit Alaf says,” he replies.
“I don’t think it works like that, actually,” Isabella says softly.
“Yeah, and her mates’ name is Alaric,” Erin adds, folding her arms.
“Him? He’s nothing. Georgie’s my mate, the one I’m destined to have pups with,” Conner says proudly. Dawn begins to cough.
“Are you okay?” Isabella asks her in concern.
“I’m fine,” Dawn says, coughing.
“It’s just, aren’t you sterile?” Dawn asks Conner.
“What? Of course not!” Conner protests.
“You rejected Georgiana, therefore, you’re sterile. I may not be a wolf, but even I know that,” she says, taking another bite of her curry.
“And I wouldn’t put Alaric down. He’s a Beta wolf. Better than you in every way,” Erin adds.
“You can go now. Tootles,” Isabella says, waving her hand at him.
“I want to speak to you, Georgie…” Conner protests.
“I think what my friends are politely trying to say is, fuck off. Your charms are useless here,” I state.
“And I’m already linking all the she-wolves I know just that. Spreading the word,” Erin grins.
“Good luck in getting laid tonight,” Dawn laughs. Conner looks shocked, his face beginning to go red.
“Bye!” Isabella smiles. Conner looks at us defeated, and I can’t help but smile. I always thought seeing him again would kill me, but no, I feel absolutely nothing for him. He swears under his breath and walks off, my grin getting wider.
“So, your name’s Georgiana?” Dawn asks. I nod.
“I was going to tell you that, before he came over,” I agree.
“My name is really Georgiana Athentree. But you can call me Georgie,” I say, hoping for a positive reaction.
“Well, I’m glad. I’m the only friend with an ‘E’ first name now,” Erin smiles. I return her smile and shake my head. Of course, she would think that.
“Also, I wanted to let you know that my Dad is here. He’s the leader of the Rangers,” I say.
“You mean the wolves that are here to help the pack with their training?” Dawn asks.
“Cool,” she responds when I nod.
“So that’s all, nothing else you want to tell us?” Isabella asks.
“I don’t think so. I hope that it’s okay. I was nervous telling you all. I’ve been Evie for five years now. I hope you don’t hate me,” I reply.
“We don’t hate you,” Isabella says.
“Yup. I already knew you were lying about things anyway,” Dawn says, making my friends look at her.
“What? She lied about her age. She’s older than she’s been telling us,” Dawn adds, shrugging her shoulders.
“Well, I never hated you, Eve-Georgie. Just a little bit jealous,” Erin says, indicating a little bit with her thumb and finger.
After lunch we all went back to work, and I went to the new sparring room. On Monday’s I take a class of young Delta’s for staff lessons, and although I’ve been teaching less than a month, I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
I walk into the room and see my students milling around and chatting. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistle to get their attention. Conversation stops and they move towards me to listen to what they’re learning today.
“Good afternoon. Today we’re going to rotate through three activities, free-standing targets, sparring and skill improvement. Listen for your activity,” I say. They nod and I quickly separate them and send them to their activities.
As my students work, I wander amongst them, adjusting their hand positions and posture as I watch them perform. I also give them tips as I go, watching as they attempt to make their adjustments.
After fifteen minutes, I whistle to them to stop, and then I rotate them.
“Jovic, watch his hand movements, not just the staff,” I say to a Delta, who nods at my tip. Jovic is one of the boys who herded me across the border when I first arrived. This is his second week with me, and he’s been incredibly respectful, taking on every suggestion I’ve made. I was wary about letting him into my class at first, but he’s proved me wrong with his attitude and willingness to try.
“Just keep trying,” I tell Jovic before I move on.
I smile as I scan the class. Those at the free-standing targets are practising hitting their staff on the numbers or using the staff as a balance to throw themselves feet-first at the target.
I’m about to walk over to them when I hear a loud gasp from the other side of the room.
“Keep going,” I warn my students, some who’ve stopped to see what’s going on. I turn around and see another version of myself with her hands on her mouth.
“Mum!” I grin, running over to her. She opens her arms as I approach and wrap my arms around her small frame. Although we look alike, my mother is shorter than me by about five centimetres.
“Georgie, is that really you?” she cries.
“Yes mum, it’s me,” I cry back.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I enjoy the comforting hug from my mother. I never realised how good this felt.
“Your dad said you looked good, but baby girl, you look good,” Mum grins when we finally separate.
“Thank you,” I smile, taking a step back and looking at my mother. She’s put on a few kilos, but they suit her. Something stirs behind Mum, and I do a double-take.
“Frances? Is that you?” I ask. Frances steps out from behind my mother, a hopeful smile on her face. I grin and run over to her, grabbing her in a hug. Out of all of my high school friends, I’m surprised she’s here, but so happy that she is.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. Frances chuckles, her already rosy cheeks going redder. I smile, remembering that about my friend, she always sported rosy cheeks that perfectly complemented her red shapely lips, tan skin and brown hair and eyes.
“It’s a long story. Tara wanted to come but she has a young pup now,” Frances says.
“And her mate’s a bit of a dick,” she whispers in my ear.
“Oh! And Hadley?”
“Hadley… uh… sorry, we’re not friends with her anymore,” Frances says.
“Why?” I ask, furrowing my brows. Hadley was the popular one out of us four, the one we all followed.
“That’s another long story,” Frances says.
“Is there anywhere we can go to talk, peanut?” Dad asks. I look over at my students and nod.
Whistling, my students stop and give me their attention.
“Hey everyone, my parents are here from Swan Moon Pack, and I haven’t seen them in years, so I’m cancelling the class. You can carry on or stop. It’s up to you,” I announce. Some of my students cheer and most of them begin packing up their equipment.
“Are we still on next week?” Nina, one of my students asks.
“Of course,” I reply.
“Good because I’m loving this class,” Nina says, before tapping my arm and walking off.
“See you,” some of my students say as they walk past. I return their goodbyes and promise I’m not leaving the pack when asked until finally all my students have gone.
“I never knew you could fight,” Mum says once it’s just us left in the room.
“She’s very good,” Alaric adds.
“That’s because I taught her,” Dad says proudly.
“You did?” mum asks.
“Secrets out,” I grin.
“When?” mum asks.
“When you were teaching at night and on Saturdays. And when I took her camping,” Dad admits.
“For how long?” mum asks.
“Years honey, years,” Dad says.
“Oh, my goddess, I can’t believe you kept that from me,” Mum comments, whacking Dad on the arm.
“You could have done afterschool training with us,” Frances pouts. I smile and shake my head.
“Music was my passion then,” I admit.
“Have you played much since?” Frances asks. We’re following Alaric who is walking ahead with Mum and Dad to Miss Coffee.
“No. The instruments here aren’t that good,” I admit.
“Hey! I would have gotten you what you wanted if I’d known,” Alaric shouts from ahead. I smile.
“Alaric has offered a whole room in his house for my instruments,” I whisper to Frances.
“He sounds like a keeper,” Frances whispers back.
“Have you found your mate yet?” I ask. Frances shakes her head.
“No. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Frances sighs.
“Maybe he’s here,” I say, giving her a nudge.
“Maybe. And maybe I’ll meet my mate when I’m old and grey and need a walking stick,” she comments.
“Worst case scenario,” I comment, making her laugh.
And we’re back at Miss Coffee. Luckily, I like this place, because it almost seems like I need to bring my sleeping bag here considering how often I visit. We take a seat, and although I’m not hungry, Alaric brings over the menus for us to look at.
“Are you still teaching mum?” I ask. Mum grins.
“Yes. You know, Jennifer finally got her wish. She’s performing for the Queen at the end of the year,” mum grins.
“Really?” I laugh.
“Who’s Jennifer?” Alaric asks.
“Jennifer is one of Mum’s students. She has a tiger mum who’s been pushing her to perform for the Queen since she was what, eleven, twelve?” I ask.
“Thirteen,” Mum confirms. I nod.
“But Jennifer always struggled with the piano because her fingers are short,” I add.
“She’s not playing the piano. She took up the cello. She’s quite good at it,” Mum says.
“Really?” I ask. Mum nods and we talk more about her students I remember and about some of her new students. I admit to her that I teach pre-schoolers music at the pack’s daycare, making mum smile and ask how it’s all going.
“Good. We’re practising playing ‘Bingo’ at the moment, where the students play their instrument instead of clapping,” I tell her.
“That sounds like fun,” Frances says. I grin.
“It is,” I smile, but working with pre-schoolers and musical instruments is a recipe for disaster. A noisy disaster.
“Well, Frances has been learning the piano,” Mum then says proudly.
“Really?” I ask my friend, who blushes and nods.
“Kara says I’m getting good too,” Frances smiles.
“So, when did this start?” I ask. Frances looked over at Mum and Dad, who nod.
“I came by to visit your parents a week after you left. Tara and I were upset when we found out why you left, and we’ve been visiting your mum and dad every week since,” Frances says.
“Tara’s son Heath is learning to play the piano too,” Mum says proudly. Frances nods.
“He thinks he’s better than me and likes to tease me about it,” Frances adds, making Mum laugh.
“He’s a little ratbag,” mum adds. I smile, sad that I’ve missed out on so much of my friends and families’ lives. And this makes me feel guilty.
“Are you okay?” Alaric asks. I smile at him and nod. He knows I’m not but leaves it at that.
“So where are you guys staying?” I ask.
“At the pack house,” Mum replies.
“Yeah, I’m in the room next door,” Frances admits, giving me a look.
“The rooms are soundproofed,” I say.
“Thank goddess,” Frances mutters, making me laugh.
“Shush,” Mum scolds, giving my friend a nudge.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Alaric asks my parents.
“Does your apartment have a kitchen?” Mum asks.
“I know, right? The guest rooms don’t have them” I say, leaning forward.
“I know, there’s not even a mini-bar or microwave!” Mum replies. I nod vigorously in agreement.
“I miss cooking with you Mum,” I pout.
“Why don’t you guys cook at ours and then we can have dinner together?” Alaric suggest.
“I like that idea,” I smile.
“Talon and I will go grocery shopping and we’ll meet you at your apartment at five. Then you three can spend some time together?” Mum suggests. I look over at Frances, who grins.
“Sounds like a plan,” I agree.
My parents go to leave, both kissing me goodbye.
“What do you want to do?” I ask Frances, who shrugs.
“I might leave you to it, ladies, I have work to do,” Alaric says, getting up.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yeah, babe. You have fun with your friend,” he tells me, pecking my lips quickly with his.
“So, what do you want to do?” I ask.
“Can I show you how I play?” Frances asks, which is how we end up spending the next few hours playing and singing in the music room.
//\\///\\\//\\
Mum arrived with groceries just after five and us girls worked together to make roast chicken with vegetables for dinner. It was nice, working in the kitchen with mum again. Dinner was on the table at six-thirty, and we all sat down to eat together. By the end of the night, the apartment was filled with love and laughter. I pouted when it was time for my parents and Frances to leave.
“We’ll do dinner again tomorrow night,” mum tells me as she leaves. I nod but keep hold of her hands.
“I don’t want you to go,” I sulk. Dad chuckles.
“We’re here now, you’re not alone, okay peanut?” I nod and let Dad give me a final hug goodbye.
“Are you okay?” Alaric asks once the door finally clicks shut. I nod but don’t say anything.
“Are you sure?” he asks, wrapping me in his arms.
“No,” I reply, shaking my head.
“I’m here,” Alaric says, kissing the top of my head.
“Thank you,” I say looking up at my man.
