Chapter Twelve
Catherine’s heart felt like it would leap from her chest. She tried to control her breathing but her adrenaline threatened to suffocate her. She looked around at Graham’s small bathroom. She tried the stained glass window featuring a rose garden one more time as she waited for Graham to tell her what to do. She halted her efforts when she heard a soft laugh coming from the other end of the phone.
“What is so damn funny?” she squealed.
“You knocked her out?” he asked, sounding thoroughly amused.
“What’s going on?” she heard another male voice ask in the background. “Are you… smiling?”
“Catherine beat Natalie’s ass,” Graham told the other male who responded with a burst of laughter of his own.
“Who’s Natalie!?” Catherine yell-whispered.
Graham stifled his laughter and took a breath. “Natalie is my sister.”
“What?!”
“I asked her to come over and show you around town since I’ll be busy with work for the next few days. I thought you’d go stir crazy. Natalie is my tamest sister and…”
“Tame?! Did you just call Nat tame?” the male voice in the background asked before another round of laughter. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”
“Shut up, Theo. Don’t make me punch you twice in one day,” Graham warned.
“Graham!” Catherine squeaked.
“Sorry, she isn’t going to hurt you… Well now that you’ve attacked her she may hurt you a little but she is 75% harmless.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He chuckled. “I left a note on your bedside table. I thought you’d be up before she got there.”
“Oh.”
“Do you need me to come home?” he asked gently.
“No… maybe. If you haven’t heard from me in ten minutes maybe you should come and make sure your sister hasn’t killed me in retaliation. I’m going to go out there. Wish me luck,” she said in a rush.
“Okay, Baby, good luck,” he whispered in encouragement.
“You’re going to need it!” the man, Theo, yelled before she heard the soft thud of someone getting punched in the stomach.
The line disconnected and she stared at the doorknob. She took a deep breath and opened it. She saw Natalie seated on the floor, tilted somewhat to the side as she rubbed her butt.
“Ow, my tushy,” she whined. Natalie looked up at Catherine and pouted. “Nice to meet you too I guess.”
Catherine rushed forward. “I am so sorry. Graham didn’t tell me you were coming and when I opened my eyes and saw you staring at me I panicked. That bitch showing up last night maybe put me a little on edge and…”
“Bitch? I take it you met Arabella?” Natalie asked, taking Catherine’s hand so she could stand.
Catherine nodded. “She was waiting in Graham’s bed, butt-naked when he brought me home.”
Natalie sucked in a breath and her eyes turned pitch black. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The expression was so similar to Graham she did a
1/3
Chapter Twelve
double take. Natalie seemed to be the female equivalent of her mate with rusty brown hair that fell just past her shoulder, a muscular build but feminine curves. When her eyes reopened they were their normal brown.
“Don’t worry, if I know my brother he’s already torn her to shreds for disrespecting you. I also accept your apology. That old woman makes me wanna fight
too.”
“Thanks,” Catherine whispered, looking around herself, unsure what to do next.
“Anyhoo…” Natalie began. She straightened up and her face brightened. “Welcome to Blackmoore!” She held her arms out and twirled causing Catherine to laugh. “I’m Natalie, Graham’s favorite sister. He says you and I are about the same age? I’m 27.”
“26,” Catherine agreed.
“Nice! I’m also mated to his best friend, Theo: mega hottie warrior God. You’ll meet him soon, I’m sure,” Natalie said, ushering Catherine out of the room and into the bathroom. Catherine wondered if she should tell Natalie she’d already sort of met her mate and heard Graham punching him. “So the plan is for you to get ready and then we’ll go into town. I’ll show you around. We can get lunch and then explore some more. Sound good?”
Catherine smiled at her new friend. “Sounds perfect.”
Natalie and Catherine spent the majority of the day walking around the small town of Blackmoore. They’d visited Natalie’s favorite coffee shop to kick things off with some caffeine and cinnamon rolls. Then they walked off their sugar high by strolling down Main Street and popping into the numerous antique stores and boutiques. Catherine convinced Natalie to take her to the library but was quickly forced out by Natalie’s bored sighs. For lunch they went to a cute seafood place where they ate on a deck overlooking the river that snaked through the town.
It turned out that Natalie and Catherine had a lot in common. From music to tv to favorite hobbies, they found a lot of common ground. By mid afternoon, Catherine was worn out and wished to go home. Natalie promised just one more stop, she had to drop something off for Theo at the training grounds.
Catherine’s stomach twisted with nerves as they walked toward the packhouse and the training grounds behind it. Graham apparently asked Natalie to stay away from the pack house. Catherine had a sneaking suspicion he wanted her to avoid the alpha for the time being. They walked around the packhouse and through the gardens in order to get to the training area. She spotted Graham’s mustang and her nerves picked up. It felt like she was in high school again about to walk into a class she shared with a crush, except this crush was supposed to be her soulmate.
“They’re out back,” Natalie said, looking down at her phone. Catherine noticed she didn’t have anything in her hands.
“Didn’t you say you had to give Theo something?” Catherine asked.
Natalie winked in answer.
They skirted the building and went to the outdoor training area. It was circled by trees. She noticed several trails leading into them. In the main field she saw sections marked off. There were at least one hundred men, if not more, training. There was an area where men were doing an obstacle course. Another where men were doing exercises like jumping jacks and burpees with a stern looking man yelling at them. Her eyes were drawn to the center where she noticed a dozen or more men sparring. Natalie took her hand and started guiding her toward the sparring field. As they walked Catherine noticed any male within a twenty foot radius would turn to face them and ogle. Several of them whispered to each other while scanning her body.
“See that one with the blond hair and do-me body?” she purred pointing to the closest circle of men.
Catherine picked out Natalie’s mate pretty easily. He stood in the center of a circle of men. He was shirtless showing off a few large tattoos and had the widest smile on his face that she’d ever seen. He seemed very thin but she was certain it was misleading because the number of tattoos indicated he was quite the accomplished fighter. He raised his arms and all at once the men circling him piled on top of him. A few seconds later, Theo was on the outskirts of them, laughing down at the pile of men who hadn’t realized he’d already escaped.
“Mm, I just want to jump his bones,” Natalie purred.
Catherine barely heard what she’d said because at that moment she’d spotted her own mate.
2/3
Surrendering to Destiny
