(Logan)
Jaime frowns as she recalls what it was that she read, that had triggered the traumatic memory. Then she asks me a question.
âYou bit me? To mark me I mean?â
I nodded. âYes, thatâs how marking works. Itâs a bite, but the bite mark almost immediately forms a unique pattern on the skin that holds elements of each mateâs ancestry. Itâs all very mystical and mostly itâs just an interesting pattern. Yours is a bit unusual, more like a symbol than a pattern, but nevertheless beautiful.â
She looked at the mark of two wolves intertwined in an intricate spiral covering the inside of her wrist.
âSo, if I mark you, you will have the same mark? Will I have to bite you?â
I smiled and nodded again. âYes. The mark will be the same as thatâs how others know who the mated pairs are. Anyone can instantly see who belongs together. And yes, you will have to bite me too.â
She swallowed. âI donât know if I can do that. Biting, I mean.â
I smoothed my hand over her hair, reveling in the way the light glinted off the honey-gold strands mixed in with the caramel warmth of it.
âYou donât have to worry about that now,â I say, keeping my voice low and soothing. âYouâll know when and if you are ready to do that. But I think youâre right about maybe not being able to, at least not yet. You need to go through a shift first, meet your wolf, learn how to live with that side of you, with a pack. Youâll know instinctively what to do if and when the time comes.â
She stared at me as I speak, my words finding its mark, and I feel her relax a bit more. Then she blushes.
âWha⦠what about mating?â
My heart nearly skipped a beat and I smile, but I kept up the soothing hand smoothing up and down her back in the most un-threatening way I can think of.
âWell, to complete the mate bond weâll have to mate, yes. But once again, itâs not something either of us need to worry about now. Iâm sure you can feel the sexual attraction between us as much as I do. But Iâm as much human as I am wolf and Iâm not going to jump your bones any time soon.â
She gave a smile at that, a bit more at ease now.
âIf it happens, it happens, Jaime. I am beyond head-over-heels in love with you, I wonât hide that from you. I know that the mate bond has a role to play in that, but I donât care if itâs the mate bond or not â the more I get to know you, the deeper Iâm falling. Because I see and sense a woman who is strong, kind, and beautiful. And I will do my utmost to make you love me too. But first, we need you to heal.â
A tear rolls down her face and I use a thumb to gently wipe it away. Then I say: âI promised you weâll take it day by day, and I meant that in every way. Thereâs no pressure. And if you decide to walk away from me, from us, then thatâs fine too. All I ask is that you give me a chance; give my pack a chance; let us show you how loved and wanted you are.â
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
----------------------------------------
(Jaime)
We had lunch on the verandah out at the back of the house. I was right about the chicken. Maggie had made fresh chicken tacos and it was absolutely delicious.
Throughout lunch Logan and I both tried to talk about random things, whatever would pop up. We avoided the mating subject, and the marking subject, but I asked him questions about his pack and about Claw Ridge and the meeting he just had and any question that I made a note of asking when I had been reading before.
Thatâs how I learn that Claw Ridge resides dead center in the middle of four pack territories, where their borders meet. Logan is the Alpha of Moon Lake Pack, the southernmost pack of the four, bordering the Dark Moon pack along the Claw River towards the West, and the Forest Moon pack towards the East. The fourth pack is called Snow Moon pack, and they mostly occupy the more mountainous terrain to the North of the town.
Logan explained that the four packs decided to work together around 200 years ago, forming an alliance to serve as a deterrent to rival packs as well as human invasion. The idea was to keep the forests in this part of the world as pristine as possible. Each pack owned the land their territories outright, protecting it from logging, hunters, and farm encroachment.
The town of Claw Ridge allows the packs to maintain their âhumanâ front, brings in revenue for all four packs and the cost of services such as education and healthcare is shared between them.
But the fact that they worked and were in an alliance together didnât mean that they necessarily liked each other. There are always politics at play, especially around pack strength and financial security. And they werenât completely immune from attacks from other, non-aligned packs either. This was prime property and the envy of several packs out there that wanted to expand or needed to relocate because their territories were under threat of human invasion.
He tells me about his pack. Moon Lake Pack has access to Houndstooth Lake, the only one in the area, that brings with it an abundance of recreational activities for tourists. While the pack refers to the lake as Moon Lake, official maps will talk about Houndstooth Lake.
A famous ski resort skirts the lake on the Eastern side with its accompanying ski lodge nestling on the shore. During Winter this resort is packed to the rafters with tourists coming to ski its three slopes and skate on the lake. During Summer the activities shifts to fishing, canoeing, swimming, traipsing over a giant inflatable obstacle course in the water, jumping on a water trampoline and more adventurous activities such as hiking, canyoning and river rafting.
âAround 50 years ago I saw the potential to make the pack truly financially secure by using the resortâs success. So, I used it as a springboard to create it into what it is part of now - a whole chain of similar resorts and hotels right across the world. Thatâs where our packâs income mostly came from,â he says, and my brain wraps around one little part of that sentence - ⦠around 50 years ago Iâ¦.
I sit up straight.
âSo how old are you exactly. You donât look older than 25 maybe, but what you just said means you must be older,â I ask, both intrigued and a bit scared of what heâll say.
He smiles that melting smile of his and swallows a bit of the food he was chewing on.
âIâm 98,â he says and I swear my eyes popped out of my head.
âWhat? Really?â
He nodded. âYup. I took over as Alpha from my dad 22 years ago when he retired to go travel around the world with mom. Before that it was my role to update our warriorsâ fighting styles to include whatever martial arts I could master, and then I mainly took care of building our hotel and resort empire. Now, whenever thereâs trouble at a particular property somewhere across the globe, I send my folks to go and check it out.â
I stared at him, still dumbstruck at how old he is.
He stood up and took my empty plate to take it back to the kitchen. Then he placed a kiss on top of my head as he gave an impish smile.
âAnd just so you know, Iâve been waiting for you for over 80 years.â
I still stared at him open-mouthed as he disappeared into the house with our empty plates.