The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 72: Chapter 72

Reg whistled as he made his way through the Pride House. Work had been a real bitch today. It seemed like Maverick Development was forever rebuilding roads and repairing exit ramps for the great state of New Jersey.
Not that he minded. He was good at his job. Now that Brayden was the foreman of his crew, things went a hell of a lot smoother for them.
Reg did not miss his ex-foreman and ex-Beta, Blake. Not one itty bitty bit.
That asshole had been the cause of so much misery and he’d almost cost the Nari her life. Reg was particularly fond of Elissa Maverick. She was the perfect mate for their fearless leader.
Shame filled him as he recalled his part in those unfortunate turn of events. Luckily, the Neta had allowed Reg to tell his side of the story, and he’d been blessed with a second chance to prove himself to the Pride. They were the reason he felt worthy enough to remain in Maverick Point and to claim his fated mate. He owed a lot to Hunter and Elissa.
Ever since Rob had gone overseas, Reg had been responsible for taking care of himself. To his credit, Reg never gave up. Not even when he’d fucked up. Nope. He was not a quitter. Reg owned his fucking mistakes and learned from them.
And look how it paid off! He had his very own sweeter than honey fine as fuck mate waiting for him at the end of the day. He was one lucky motherfucker.
Grrrrrrr.
Reg jumped in the shower and scrubbed off the dirt and grime of his day from his skin as quickly and thoroughly as he could. He wanted to hurry up and head over to Gretchen’s place, but he insisted on being clean and fresh for her. She deserved him at his best.
Always.
His Tiger paced impatiently inside his mind’s eye. The animal was always near to frenzying whenever they were apart. He hated that she lived by herself. Wanted her with him, always, but she’d been human up until a few days ago.
He had to do things differently than he would have if she’d been born a Shifter. Differently was code for slowly.
But Reg was impatient. He tried to curb his eagerness, for her sake. Tonight he was going to broach the subject of living together. Fuck, he wanted that more than anything.
“Give her some time to adjust, Reg,” Mikey had told him.
The Pride healer was a little older, and presumably, wiser than Reg, what with his advanced education and all. So, he’d taken his advice gratefully, but he couldn’t stop the creeping sensation that something was wrong. That he was fucking up by waiting.
We are fated mates. Everything will be fine.
Or so he’d told himself the last few days, but he did not know how much longer he could hold out. No. He was done sleeping apart. Tonight he would ask her to pick where she wanted to live. He didn’t care where, as long as it was with her.
Mine.
Reg brushed his hair and donned a pair of soft faded jeans and a clean tee. It was sort of his uniform, he laughed at himself. Tonight was going to be special.
He had a surprise for his sweet Gretchen. Going slow was one thing, but he still needed her to know he was serious. Bite marks aside, he had a present for her, one she would hopefully understand and appreciate.
His cell phone rang as he pulled the pitcher of lemon infused water from the fridge to pour himself a glass. The sun was hot, in spite of the temperature capping at a brisk sixty-five degrees and Reg was parched.
He grinned and took a swig of the refreshing liquid. Ever since Hunter had mated Elissa, the Pride House had been stocked with all kinds of treats and goodies. Bowls filled to the brim with crushed red pepper kale chips and roasted dill chickpeas sat on the countertops for hungry Shifters. He nabbed a few and checked out who was calling him.
“Hey,” he answered with a mouthful of the scrumptious snacks. “I was just about to leave⁠—”
He was usually happy to hear from Gretchen, but his mate didn’t sound all that happy to be calling. In fact, she sounded upset, and that made his Tiger all kinds of angry. The chickpeas turned to dust in his mouth when she told him the unthinkable.
“What are you talking about, Gretch?”
“I don’t think we should see each other tonight, or maybe ever.” she began.
“What? Why not?”
“I just need some space. You do too. We should think about things, you know?”
“No. I don’t need to think anything over.”
“Well, maybe I do. I mean, where is this going, anyway? I don’t know anything about your lifestyle and I just, well, I just couldn’t take it if you were just playing around with me, Reg. I think maybe it’s better to end things now,” she returned, her voice thick and shaky.
“I’m coming over,” he replied and clicked the phone off before she could refuse him.
Reg was vibrating with fury. He looked down at the offensive, and broken, phone he’d crushed in his hand and chucked it across the room.
“Fuck!” he roared.
She doesn’t want to see me. Needs time to think. What did I do wrong?
A million scenarios played through his mind. What could have happened?
He thought of the last time he’d seen her earlier that afternoon, and for the life of him, Reg couldn’t recall a single thing he’d said or done to make his mate not want to see him.
“Reg?” Elissa padded into the room a look of concern on her face.
“Nari.” Reg nodded out of respect for the Alpha female of the Pride. Her eyes were wide as she took in his angry stance and the broken cell phone.
“What did that phone ever do to you?” she asked and pointedly looked at the mess of broken glass and plastic marring the kitchen tile, then flicked her gaze back at him.
“Shit. Uh, I’m sorry,” he grunted, and grabbed the broom and dustpan from the cabinet then proceeded to sweep up his mess. He knew Elissa would not go away without knowing what was going on.
He had to tell her what just happened, he thought and exhaled.
“That was Gretchen on the phone. She says she doesn’t want to see me.”
“Oh no! What happened?”
“I don’t know, Nari. I saw her this afternoon and things were fine-”
“Something must have happened.” Elissa pulled out a stool and sat down at the kitchen island and gestured for him to join her.
“Nothing, I swear. We ate, we kissed, we talked, we hugged. She had an appointment with a client at two, and I had to go back to the road crew,” he replied and clenched his fists. He tried his best to swallow the growl building up inside of him.
His Tiger was losing his shit, and this was no time to shift into his fur. The beast roared in his mind’s eye, demanding he leave now and go hunt his mate.
Find her, claim her again, make sure she knows who she belongs to.
“Who was her two o’clock appointment with?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled and ran his hands through his hair. Reg stopped. Fuck. He did know.
“Shit, er, I mean, wait. She had an appointment with Pamela at two.”
“Pamela Brown? Yikes. Well, there’s your problem,” Elissa said.
She rolled her eyes at him, like it was fucking obvious, but Reg had no idea what she was talking about. As usual.
“With all due respect, Nari, what do you mean?”
“It means that skinny bitch Pamela got to our Gretchen. After that meeting you had with her and her pal out back, she was bound to make more trouble. Or don’t you think I know what goes on in my own Pride?” Elissa growled with her hands on her protruding belly, looking for all the world like a fierce little mama Tiger.
Anger tore through him, and he’d never wanted to stalk and challenge a female so damn badly. Pamela and her friend were part of a group of she-Cats who’d messed around with Blake. They used to act all high and mighty because they were fucking the ex-Beta. Coming down a few pegs must have hurt their pride, so she’d gone after his mate.
Big. Fucking. Mistake.
“I said, what are you going to do about Gretchen, Reg?” Elissa interrupted his train of thought.
“Mine,” he growled before he could stop himself. “Sorry, Liss,” Reg looked at his Nari, and shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s okay. I understand, but I’ve known Gretchen for a long time. I know she appears strong and confident, but she has the same misgivings and hang ups as the rest of the female population.”
“Hang ups? About what?”
“A million things,” she said. “Her hairstyle. Her weight. How she looks in a dress. You name it, all women get those same misgivings. We all feel like that sometimes⁠—”
“Fuck tha- I mean, no. Unacceptable. She is my mate, Nari. She is perfect.”
“I’m glad you think so, but have you told her that? Have you even told her what it means to be mates? I mean, you’re still living here, Reg. It’s been more than enough time to get acclimated to the situation, hasn’t it? I would have gone mad without Hunter by my side for that long,” Elissa told him bluntly.
“Fuck. I’ve messed up again, haven’t I? All I wanted was to give her time to get used to the idea, and I wound up hurting her. I am such a fucking moron.”
His heart pounded in his chest. Why couldn’t he get this right? Well, he was a fuck up, but he could change. He would change. For her, he would do anything.
“Just a little hiccup, Reg, but you’ll fix it. Now, go get her.”
"Yes, Nari,” he replied, and that was an order he didn’t mind taking, for sure.
Reg was ready to go find his mate. He would hunt his shona down until he had her trapped in his arms where she belonged.