“Shoo. It's not like I haven't cleaned up after messy boys my whole life. I'll have this place spic and span before you're even done manscaping.” She waved him off and headed toward his kitchen.
“Yes, ma'am.” Awkward. Even his own mother didn't clean up after him and no one had ever told him to manscape. Aleksei took the hottest and fastest shower of his life, although he did in fact take an extra minute to trim up. It was getting a bit wrangly down there. Not that he intended any women to get close enough to notice.
Freshly clean, he did feel a bit lighter. Now for whatever was in that garment bag.
Oh fuck.
This was some high-end shit. He'd half expected to see a suit. But what he got was a fresh pair of jeans that probably cost more than his house, a black silk t-shirt, and a jacket that he couldn't afford in a hundred lifetimes.
There was even underwear, socks, and a pair of leather boots that he never would have chosen for himself, but he had to admit they were pretty damn nice. Somehow, every single thing in the bag fit perfectly, like they'd been tailored to fit his broad shoulders and his big ass feet.
Just how long had Selena been planning on coming over here? This was more than some simple task she was asking him to do if she'd had clothes tailored. Now he was even more nervous. But he would deny the widow of his former alpha nothing, so he got dressed, being careful with each item, and presented himself to her for inspection.
“There's the handsome Troika Enforcer I know. Turn around and let me see how the jacket fits from the back.” Selena made a little twirling motion with her fingers.
Aleksei had never modeled an outfit in his life, but he dutifully did as he was told. Selena swiped her hands along his shoulders and gave the bottom hem a tug to straighten his jacket. “Perfect. I do have a good eye. Okay, then. Let's go.”
“Are you going to tell me where we're going?” He glanced around the living room and kitchen like there might be some clue, but all he saw was that his dishes had been done and the inch-thick dust on his TV was gone. He hadn't even been in the shower that long. Selena must be in with some house elves to get his place looking so sparkling clean so fast.
“Nope. You don't need to know until we get there.” She grabbed him by the elbow and led him out of the cabin and to her Tesla SUV. “I'll drive. That way you can't get away.”
Selena giggled and Aleksei blanched. Was this some kind of matriarch mafia thing where she was going to drive him out to the desert and shoot him in the back of the head? He gulped down the tinny taste of self-hatred that made him think he deserved that fate. Selena and the Troikas weren't like that. They'd welcomed him home a hero and had their healer work hard to save his life. She would never execute him. Even if he deserved it.
Tonight, he would take whatever punishment Selena wanted to deal him. “I would never try to escape. I am ever the pack's faithful servant.”
Selena gave his cheek a grandmotherly squeeze, although to him she didn't look a day over fifty. “We'll see about that. Get in. We don't want to be late.”
Selena drove so fast that Aleksei got squished back into his seat. If he didn't know wolftresses had the fastest reactions of pretty much any species on the planet, he would be scared for his life. But they tore through the quiet streets of Rogue without even seeing any other cars. Where the heck was everyone? It was like a national holiday or something—
Ah, shit on a shingle. Today must be Thanksgiving. Selena was taking him to some kind of family dinner. She was right, he was already planning his escape. He wasn't feeling grateful for much these days and he did not want to sit around eating turkey and spilling mashed potatoes and gravy down his shirt with the people he most admired in the world.
“We're here,” Selena sing-songed and pulled up in front of the Naughty Wolf.
Oh god. This was even worse than he thought. She wasn't taking him to a family dinner. She was taking him to the strip club. What was next, she'd hand him a roll of dollar bills and tell him to buy something nice for himself? He couldn't take it. “I don't think—”
“I'm gonna stop you right there. Don't think. Just enjoy.” Selena got out of the car and waited on the sidewalk for him.
It took Aleksei three deep steadying breaths before he talked himself into getting out of the car. This was definitely going to be one of the weirdest Thanksgivings he'd ever had. He followed his matriarch through the front door of the club and prepared himself for an assault on his nose of alcohol, sweat, and glitter.
What he got was turkey and giggles. Instead of loud music and strippers dancing on the poles, he found a long table set up in the middle of the room with a full Thanksgiving dinner laid out. Men and women mingled around the table including all three of the Troika boys and their mates. His alpha, Max, gave a dude-head-nod of welcome and a grin that said he knew exactly what Selena had been up to.
“I've got someone I want you to meet, Aleksei.” Selena grabbed him by the hand and dragged him toward one end of the table. “I expect you to keep this young woman company this evening. She doesn't have any other family and she needs a strong man in her life to boss around.”
The hits just kept on coming. “You're setting me up on a blind date for Thanksgiving dinner?”
“Not blind at all. You should go into this with your eyes wide open.” Selena raised her eyebrows and tilted her chin to the side, indicating he should look behind him.
He turned and was instantly struck by lightning, Thor's hammer, the hand of Zeus. He couldn't breathe, and every hair on his body stood up on end. His wolf pushed to the surface and Aleksei had to swallow hard to keep from howling.
What was causing this extreme reaction?
He'd like to say it was the golden-brown turkey. Yeah. It was definitely that delicious-looking roast bird. It couldn't possibly be the woman carrying the main course toward the table on a platter. No, no. He wasn't affected at all by those plump thighs and juicy breasts.
Gulp. Aleksei found himself licking his lips.
Holidate
Holy crap on a cracker. That was the guy that Selena was setting her up with? That guy? With all the muscles on top of muscles? Geez. He had to be one of the Troika pack wolf shifters. He was too good-looking not to be.
Duh. Of course he was. Selena was all about getting all of the single men in the pack matched up with mates. A bead of sweat formed on her top lip and she swiped at it. That's what was truly going on here. The matriarch of the wolf pack wanted her to be a mate. This man’s mate.
Umm. What? She'd watched all the cray-cray stuff that Heli went through when she became Kosta's mate. She'd gotten psychic visions. Gal had become a freaking werewolf when she got together with Max. Helena was not even ready to get into a relationship with any guy, much less change her whole damn life for him.
Nope. No way. Even if he was the hottest, yummiest guy she'd ever met in her entire life. No.
She would have to implement the gravy down the front of his shirt plan. Helena bit her lip. Her date already had a scowl on his face. With that kind of mad on, she could tell he didn't want to be here anymore than she wanted him to be. When she poured the bowl of turkey-flavored gloop on him, he was either going to explode and eat her face, or thank her for giving him an excuse to escape this setup.