Hope (Forbes Mates Book 5) Read online

  Hope

  By Grace R. Duncan

  Forbes Mates 4.5

  Miguel Garcia and Luis Rodriguez have been best friends all their lives. For the last year, they’ve been hiding the fact that they’re also destined mates. When Luis’s family finds out, they kick him out. Miguel’s family would keep them…except their alpha has been known to be downright violent against gay wolves.

  With the help of Miguel’s mother, they set out to find a pack that will accept them. They run into more that a few obstacles before they end up in Denver, at the national wolf headquarters, meeting the alpha prime. They’re stunned to find, not only offers to join more than one pack, but that their struggle can shine light on a bigger problem–and make things better for LGBT wolves across the country.

  Readers love Grace R. Duncan’s shifters…

  Devotion

  “Devotion is a gem. It’s sensual yet sweet and left me craving book two…”

  —3 Chicks After Dark

  “The romance was beautifully executed and I felt every up and down the main characters were put through…”

  —Inked Rainbow Reads

  Patience

  “I have to say I was impressed with this sequel. I saw growth in the author’s writing, and it was just a fun, loving read…. Highly recommend!”

  —Gay Book Reviews

  “Ms. Duncan has written a great second book in her Forbes Mates series.. and I cannot wait to read book three!! 4 Wolfy Stars!!”

  —Alpha Book Club

  Acceptance

  “If you loved the first two books of this series, Devotion and Patience, you will want to pick this one up!”

  —Diverse Reader

  “I can’t recommend this series or this book any higher – it’s truly wonderful. A MUST READ.”

  —Open Skye Book Review

  Forgiveness

  “The story is written in a sweet, considerate, positive, and emotional way, with a lot of love exposed.

  I love stories with wolf pack. They have an unconditional bond I wish people had.”

  —Diverse Reader

  By Grace R. Duncan

  From Dreamspinner Press:

  Beautiful boy

  No Sacrifice

  Turning His Life Around

  What About Now

  Forbes Mates

  Devotion

  Patience

  Acceptance

  Forgiveness

  Golden Collar

  Choices

  Coronation

  Deception

  Pandemus Chronicles

  Celebrating You

  Healing

  From the Abbey of the Brew City Sisters

  Lockdown, part of the Turn the Page…. charity anthology

  Self-published

  In Her Honor

  Secrets

  Three Hearts

  White Rabbit, part of the Resist and Triumph anthology

  Overcoming Fear (Pandemus Chronicles)

  Hope (Forbes Mates)

  Hope

  © 2016 Grace R. Duncan

  Second edition, 2019

  First edition published by Dreamspinner Press, 2016

  Cover Art

  © 2019 Jess Small

  Edited by Tricia Kristufek

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  A special thank you to Finn, Jen, Elizabeth, Patricia, and Sheryl for your help!

  Thanks as always to Sara for your cheering and reading and reminding me my brand of not-quite-sane is still okay.

  And, of course, to my husband, who never lets me lose hope.

  Miguel rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling, trying to clear his mind so he could get to sleep. The shadows danced across the plaster above him, and he tried to find shapes or patterns, but it didn’t seem to help. Too much worry, too many thoughts fought to occupy his mind, including his wolf’s restlessness, and that made it even more difficult. That last bit was strange, since it wasn’t anywhere near the full moon, but Miguel chalked it up to his wolf echoing his human worries and tried not to think about it.

  With a sigh, he rolled onto his side and kicked the sheet off himself. His lack of sleep could be partially blamed on the current unseasonable heat wave. LA got hot, sure, but it usually wasn’t as bad as it’d been. It didn’t help that his papá was something of a miser and refused to turn the air-conditioning up.

  Miguel got up to open the window wider when he heard his name called quietly through the opening. Even almost whispered, he’d know that voice anywhere. He lifted the screen and leaned through the window to see his mate and best friend, Luis, standing outside. “¿Luis? ¿Por qué estás aquí?”

  Luis didn’t explain why he was outside Miguel’s window in the middle of the night. He simply picked up a rather full backpack and handed it to Miguel, then put both hands on the windowsill. Miguel backed up and waited until Luis climbed inside.

  Peering closer at his mate’s face, Miguel frowned at the expression he found there. “¿Qué pasó, Luis?”

  Luis sighed, swallowed, and seemed to fight with himself for a moment, then blurted, “Mis padres no me quieren nada más.”

  “What do you mean, your parents don’t want you anymore?” Miguel switched to English, hoping the change would force Luis to slow down a little and be able to answer. Miguel usually tried to use English as a rule, but even after speaking it for so long, he still needed to practice and to get into the habit of using it by default. Luis’s family spoke Spanish almost exclusively though, so Luis used it even more rarely than Miguel did. It seemed, however, trying to force English didn’t help the matter.

  Luis just shook his head, though that, of course, didn’t answer the question. It just caused his dark, curly hair to fly into his face. “Lo siento, cariño,” he said instead.

  “What are you sorry for? You aren’t making any sense, baby. What’s happened?”

  After a few deep breaths, Luis finally answered—and in English. “They… they found out we are mates. My papá started shouting and yelling. It was my mamá that told me I had to get out.” He held his hands out helplessly. “They will probably call your parents.”

  Miguel pulled him in and wrapped both arms around him. “I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry they did that. We will figure this out.” He kissed Luis softly on the cheek. “My papá won’t like it, but they would not put us out. It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” He glanced at the dresser to find a bright blue 2:00 shining at him from the clock. “Let’s lay down and get some sleep. We can figure this out in the morning.”

  Luis tightened his arms briefly, then nodded and let go, kicking his shoes off. He pulled his T-shirt off, then shucked his jeans, and he and Miguel settled onto the bed, facing each other. “I didn’t want to get you in trouble.” He brushed his fingers over Miguel’s cheek.

  “Don’t worry about that.” Miguel chuckled. “We’re always getting each other in trouble.” He mentally patted himself on the back when he got a smile from Luis, but then the smile faded, and Miguel buried a sigh. “I can feel your fear through our bond, baby, so it’s bad. But it’ll be okay. You’ll see.” Despite the heat, he pulled Miguel in against him. Luis buried his face in Miguel’s neck, and Miguel kissed Luis’s forehead. “Te amo. Siempre,” he whispered, and Luis tightened his arms.

  “Te amo.”

  The world of fear and pain in Luis’s voice made Miguel’s heart hurt. He did the only thing he could—kissed Luis again and simply held him. The
worry of being found out about their status as mates had never been far from Miguel’s and Luis’s minds. They’d had no idea what would have happened if they’d been found out. Since they didn’t know any other same-sex mates, they’d had nothing to go on. But despite being wolves instead of pure humans, there was still bigotry about all sorts of things—race, national origin—in many places, including the wolf population, and they’d decided it’d been best to keep their relationship quiet.

  Finding out how Luis’s parents felt didn’t surprise Miguel as much as he thought it would. He’d been honest with Luis, though, and didn’t think his parents would put them out. But his parents could surprise him too. They’d always been warm and loving people, but he’d thought that of Luis’s parents as well.

  Despite his worry and fear, with his mate in his arms, he fell asleep almost immediately.

  Miguel did not want to wake up. He was having the most wonderful dream, where he’d finally claimed his mate and they could stop hiding who they were. They lay in each other’s arms, where they should be, instead of always apart, pretending to be just friends. Best friends, maybe, but only friends.

  “Miguel. Miguel!” The voice and shaking finally got through to him. Miguel let go of his dream and pried his eyes open. Luis was in his arms, but his mother was bent over them, worry, fear, and panic in her eyes. Not part of the dream. “Miguel! You have to get up! Both of you! Luis’s parents just called.”

  Luis sighed and sat up, rubbing his face, then looked up at Mamá. “Buenos días, Ma—uh, Señora Garcia. Lo siento para—”

  “None of that. You have nothing to be sorry for, and don’t you dare stop calling me Mamá now. If what they say is true, they are no longer my friends. You both need to get dressed. I will throw together breakfast. But hurry!” She nearly ran out of the room, calling another “Hurry!” as she went.

  Luis immediately stood and grabbed his jeans. Miguel focused on clean clothes for himself, then turned to Luis to see him already dressed and picking up his backpack. “Hey, leave that here. Let’s go talk to Mamá.”

  Luis hesitated, then set his backpack on the bed. “Cariño… I cannot ask you to get into trouble for me—”

  “One, you did not ask. I think we covered that last night. Besides, I would do it anyway. Two, you are my mate, whether we’ve claimed each other or not. I’d move the Earth for you if I could. And three, she knows, and my papá will know when he gets home from work. There is no way to avoid this.”

  Luis seemed to deflate. “I’m so sorry.”

  Miguel took his hand and tugged him toward the door to his room. “Please, stop apologizing. I know you do it a lot anyway, but really, not this time.” He shook his head. “How did they find out?”

  “It’s stupid. I was missing you, so I was sitting at my desk with your picture—the one from the beach—and my papá walked in.” His cheeks turned red. “I had been, uh, touching it, just brushing my finger over your face.” He cleared his throat. “He could not mistake what I was doing.”

  “That isn’t stupid. I miss you every day, every hour you aren’t with me.” He pulled Luis in and took a brief moment to kiss him lightly. “Maybe this will end up being for the best. Spending time away from you is driving me—and my wolf—insane.”

  “It is for me and mine too. I just… what’s going to happen?”

  Miguel shook his head. Luis had always looked to him to figure out what to do when they got into trouble as kids—and as the teenagers they still were at seventeen, both having just graduated high school. He’d been the one to figure out how to get them out of trouble most of the time. Miguel reached up and brushed a thumb over Luis’s cheek. “We knew it was only a matter of time before it would come out. Our wolves weren’t going to let it go forever. I don’t know what we’ll do, but we will figure it out.” He kissed Luis one more time; then they hurried down the hall to the kitchen.

  “Luis, get plates. Miguel, the silverware.” Mamá tilted a pan of scrambled eggs, dumping them into a bowl, which she handed to Luis when the plates were set out. She passed the platter of bacon to Miguel, then pulled orange juice from the refrigerator before they sat down.

  Miguel obediently closed his eyes when his mother thanked their patron goddess, Diana, for the food. When she finished, she met his eyes for a long moment. “I can’t stop this,” she said, then shook her head, interrupting herself. “Food first.” Once they had filled their plates—Mamá had to push Luis to take more—and were finally eating, she pursed her lips. “Are you destined?”

  Miguel swallowed his eggs and nodded. “Yes.”

  Mamá nodded and smiled. “Good. That will be good for you. Your papá and I are destined. When did you find out?”

  Miguel sighed. “Last May, right after Luis turned sixteen.”

  Her nose twitched. “And you haven’t claimed each other yet.”

  Miguel shook his head, even though it wasn’t a question. “We haven’t even bonded beyond kissing.”

  Luis choked on his eggs. “Miguel!”

  Miguel patted Luis on the back. “What? She should know.”

  Mamá waved that away. “I do need to know to figure out what to do.” She sighed again. “Your papá will not like this. He will blow up at first. But after a time, he will learn to accept it, if not understand. However, the problem is the alpha.”

  “Alpha Brock?”

  “Yes. He is….” She frowned. “He is very homophobic. I was afraid of this. I have suspected for a long time that you weren’t straight. I had hoped perhaps for bisexual and a female destined mate.” She shook her head. “It was there, between you. I just didn’t want to see it.” She ate another forkful of eggs. “I have heard… rumors of Alpha Brock’s dealings with gay wolves.”

  Miguel blinked at her. “What do you mean, Mamá?”

  “I mean, there are rumors that a number of years ago, one of our wolves turned out to be gay, and Alpha Brock, uh….” She blew out a breath. “He beat the man almost to death. Had it not been for the doctor intervening—and the man’s mate helping him heal—well, the story goes that he might not have survived.”

  Miguel stared at his mother. “That must be an exaggeration.” Before she could reply, a blast of fear hit Miguel over the bond, and his head whipped around to Luis. “I will not let that happen.” He took Luis’s free hand and held it tight. When Luis calmed down a little, Miguel looked back at his mother and saw a small smile on her face.

  “There is no doubt you are destined if you are bonded that much already just from kissing.” She swallowed, dropping her gaze to her plate. “I don’t know if the rumors are true or not. But you can’t stay. Not because I don’t want you to,” she hurried to add at Miguel’s gasp. “No, no, mijo. If not for Alpha Brock’s attitude, I would be thrilled to have you both here.” She reached out and cupped Luis’s cheek. “I love you both. I would want to celebrate your mating, not send you away.” She stopped and seemed to struggle with herself for a moment. “But I cannot ignore the rumors. And even if they are exaggerated, he will make your life miserable here.” She shook her head. “Finish your breakfast. Eat more, if you can. We have plans to make.”

  “Since I pay the bills, I will keep your phone on as long as I possibly can, until your papá is over the anger,” Miguel’s mamá said, pulling Miguel in for a hug as they stood outside the Los Angeles Union Station. She turned next to Luis. “You take care of each other. A mating is something to be happy about. When you get settled, you must celebrate it.” She hugged Luis, then pushed a small wad of cash into Miguel’s hand. “I wish it was more. I’m sorry we don’t have more.”

  “¡Mamá! Thank you for this. We’ll figure it out.” He hugged her, and Luis gave her another hug as well.

  She was fighting with herself again—as she had on and off all day—to keep from crying. “Keep in touch as much as you can. If you need anything else, I will try to help. If anyone has questions because you are still underage, they can call me and I will talk to them.” She
looked from one to the other. “You are amazing, brave young men. I am so proud of both of you.” She kissed each of them one more time, then helped them unload their bags from the trunk of her car. At the very last moment, she pulled a ring off her right hand and pressed it into Miguel’s. “You can sell this. It should get you at least enough to help feed you for a while.” With a final kiss to each and tears now streaming down her face, she hurried to get back in the car.

  Several hours later, Luis and Miguel sat in the station waiting room, a large duffel stuffed with clothing at their feet and both backpacks full of food. Miguel had all the money they had between them in his pocket—which wouldn’t last them very long—but Luis couldn’t complain. It was much more than he had expected after the horrible shouting match with his own family the night before. He truly hadn’t expected Miguel’s mamá to react the way she did.

  They had train tickets to Palm Springs, courtesy of Miguel’s mamá, and most of the convenience foods from the Garcias’ pantry divided between the two backpacks. He had no idea if the San Jacinto/Santa Rosa pack in Palm Springs would even want them, but if not, they could eat for a while, at least.

  But if Alpha Brock was so bad, would anyone want them? Were all alphas like that?

  Luis kept his fear and worry contained carefully. Even though they were barely bonded, Miguel would feel it, and they would go through another round of “It’ll be okay” and “How can you know?” and “Because we’ll make it so. We have each other. The rest we can work out.” They’d already done that twice and Luis couldn’t take a third.