Falk Clan Tales - Chapter 86: Chapter 86

“Sunny? Did you send that huge order of mums to Flowers by Jill over in Barvale?” Mom asked, her voice carrying over to where Sunny sat hunched over her desk.
“Yes, Mom.”
“Good. The weather forecast is calling for some bad storms tonight. Looks like we are getting the tail end of some tropical hurricane, late for the season,” her mom informed her. “Anyway, I wanted to make sure they had everything they needed,” the older she-Wolf continued, mentioning something about impending accumulation of snow and strong winds.
Whatever.
Sunny was only half paying attention. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and everyone was just about finished winterizing their gardens. The produce section of the store was doing fabulously, and she had just finished sorting the tags for the delivery of Christmas trees they were expecting to arrive any minute now.
The lot had been cleared out, thanks to River, but the truck was late. She’d already set a few of their employees to stocking the new shelves with ornaments, lights, and other decorations she’d ordered for the holiday season.
One Daye At A Time Produce & Garden Center was growing by leaps and bounds. Sunny should have been thrilled. She had worked so hard to lift herself up, to help her family succeed financially, and to provide for the community in a way she felt they could all benefit with good for the environment, and for people, products.
Hell, I should have been a lot of things.
Of course, happily mated was the first that came to mind. Blasted Dragon! How dare he? Huge, growly beast with a bad attitude, walking into her life, and turning it upside down. Who did he think he was?
Stupid, big, sexy, perfect man.
Why couldn’t he have just gone to Home Depot or Walmart instead? Oh no. He just had to walk into her store. Without even trying, he had changed her life. Sunny had never felt such an intense, immediate attraction and connection with anyone before. Then he had to ruin it by going off and making idiotic statements like he was not good enough for her, and hey, since he could not do the job, maybe she could have his brother instead.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Anger and sorrow rose like the tide inside her, and her Wolf tossed her lupine head back, loosing a howl that shook the metaphysical plane where her beast dwelled, just waiting for Sunny to call on her.
Okay, Devine had a chip on his shoulder, and maybe it was for a good reason. She had heard the stories. Knew what he had done, but didn’t the silly man see that was not his fault? He was compelled to listen to his Alpha. That was how Clans and Packs worked. Sure, he’d had to do bad shit for a really bad guy, but he was different now. Better. Stronger. And he had a different purpose. She could be his purpose. If only he loved her, too.
She could forgive him anything, if he just loved her. If he just chose to be with her. Hell, Sunny was a fixer by nature. Her Wolf was built to be leaned on, and she would have been so fucking proud if he’d have chosen to lean on her, and not just shit all over their mating.
Devine thought he was a worthless monster cause he had blood on his hands. Well, Sunny had no problem taking those hands in hers and washing them clean through patience and love. But no. The stupid scaly jerk had to go and offer to sever their bond—no, transfer it.
He wanted to give their still new and fragile matebond to his brother or someone else she might want. Pain lanced through her, and she closed her eyes to catch her breath.
Fuck oh fuck—why?
It was not a half bad offer, really. Who wanted to be mated to someone who valued her so little? And let’s face it, he could not think that much of her if he wanted to give her to someone else within days of her claiming. If only she had viable options, but the stupid, stubborn Wolf inside her only wanted him.
That two-ton, fire-breathing jerk.
“Sunny? I closed down the registers, and Dad and I were going to go for a quick run before the weather turns, then go home for the night. Why don’t you get going?” Mom interrupted, leaning against the doorjamb with a sad smile on her face.
“I’m fine, Mom. I’m just going to give the truck another twenty minutes. We need those trees stocked before the big rush on Friday,” she reminded her mother needlessly.
The woman knew as well as she did the Black Friday rush of shoppers was an annual necessary evil. Her mom nodded her head and leaned in close for a hug. So pretty, just like Crystal, with blonde wavy hair that never seemed out of place, and a ready smile that charmed every man, woman, and child for miles around.
Sunny had not inherited her looks from her mother. Instead, she got her father’s big feet, frizzy hair, and freckles. They worked on a man, but on her, well, she’d always felt a little different. Not ugly. She did not have low self-esteem, but sometimes she wondered if she’d been born more classically pretty if things would not have been easier on her.
Maybe her Dragon would have forgiven his supposed shortcomings if she’d been a damsel who’d inspired him. Not a clumsy, big-boned she-Wolf who could probably out eat him in a chicken wing contest.
“You sure you’re fine, honey?”
“Yep. Go run with Dad. I’m good.”
It was the first time in her life she’d lied to her mother, and even though the older Wolf knew it, she let it slide. The Daye’s were not always known for allowing their kids to have personal space, but Sunny needed it. And she appreciated her mom so much right then for giving it to her.
Alone in the store now, she checked her phone. It was almost eight o’clock and the wind was picking up. Of course, one minute it had been endless Autumn days with soaring temperatures in the seventies, and now they were getting snow.
Sigh.
She walked through the back of the store to the semi-covered tree lot her father and brother had just finished building. The open lot was behind the store and closed in with a high, chain-link fence. She usually reserved this space for annuals and seedlings folks liked to plant in the spring. In the summer, it was usually full of pool and lawn care and products.
Last month, she had it converted to a Christmas tree lot, and would use it to store palettes afterwards. In fact, the truck coming with her trees was also supposed to hall away the three stacks of palettes she had already waiting. They were over fifteen feet high, left over from deliveries throughout the year. She hated to waste fuel and refused to throw them out. This way they would be recycled, maybe turned into mulch or something useful.
Sunny sighed, tucking her sweatshirt tighter around her body. Good thing she grabbed the hoodie off the back of her chair before heading out. She did not usually bother with outerwear, but her mom was right. It was cold as hell, and the wind had really picked up. The roof was supposed to be temporary, only slightly sturdier than a tent which—after their fourth of July rain disaster—Sunny was vehemently opposed to.
She’d seen this kind of quick solution in other lots and figured it was only a little plywood and some roofing tiles, what was the big deal? This way they could serve organic hot cocoa and fresh baked gingerbread cookies to the little ones while their families shopped for the perfect Christmas tree.
She’d tried it last year, but they’d had too much rain. The customers could not enjoy the treats and they were not at all thrilled with having to traipse through the wet lot to bring a soaked tree. She couldn’t really blame them.
So, this year, she’d had Dad and River construct this temporary shelter over the lot, and once the trees were delivered, and the palettes taken away, it would look great. The sound of wood creaking as the wind picked up and lightning cracked across the sky had Sunny biting her lower lip.
Where was the truck? Rain and hail were coming down hard, and she was scrolling through the emails on her phone until she found the one containing the phone number and name for her driver. Sunny dialed and waited.
“Hello? This is Sunny Daye from One Daye At A Time—” Sunny paused while the driver shouted over her.
“So sorry Miss Daye, weather turned fast, had to pull off at a weigh station—” Static was breaking up his voice, and Sunny blinked against the wind and rain that was pelting against her. “I can probably get there tomorrow afternoon—Miss? What was that sound? Miss!”
Sunny looked up. Thunder boomed, and the sky lit up with lightning as hail and rain battered against the roof. But that wasn’t the noise that had her dropping the phone and screaming for all she was worth. Somehow the wind had moved the palettes, and as they toppled onto the top of the roof and the poor, temporary structure could not handle the weight.
The door was too far away, and even as she tried to run. She knew she would never make it. Why did she have to be the only clumsy Werewolf in the whole damn world? The thought screamed inside her mind as she slid on hail and rain just as the roof came crashing down on her head.
Sunny had been taught to live her life with the least possible regrets, and yet right before the blackness took her, Sunny’s heart swelled with pain as her only regret rose above all her other thoughts.
She shouldn’t have walked away after their fight. She should have made him see there was no one else for her. Only him. Devine had been hurting. Her sexy, growly mate had been trying to explain his reticence, but she’d been so angry at him for what she saw as giving up on them. She’d wanted to punch him in the nose for assuming he knew what was best for her. Mad, scared, and hurt, but ultimately, she was the one who gave up on them before they had even started.
She. Her. Bright eyed and ever-optimistic Sunny Daye.
She’d let him just sit there while she’d forced a Change and tore out of that cabin in the woods, leaving him behind.
Dev, I am sorry. Sorry, love. So sorry.