Chapter 13: Chapter 12 - Nat

Wednesday 2 December

~*Nat’s POV*~

I slowly took in everything Cody had said. Incredible as it seemed, it made a twisted sort of sense.

I believed what she had told me about werewolves; I only had to glance at the red wolf still watching me quietly from the brick fence to realise what she was saying was true. But I still had my doubts about me being one of them. I guessed I couldn’t know for sure until I got my memory back, or the next full moon forced me to shift.

Whichever came first... if, in fact, what she was telling me was real and not a sign of a delayed concussion that Auden had somehow missed yesterday.

Honestly, my non-existent money was on a delayed brain injury. That had to be more likely.

Right?

Right.

Admittedly, it had only been a day since my memories disappeared, so I assumed I would get my memory back first. And if what Cody said was actually true, my wolf’s voice would come back right along with them.

Yeah.

“So, are you ready to meet Kenzie, then?” Cody asked, getting to her feet, then pulling me to mine.

“Who?”

“Kenzie. She’s my Mum’s wolf.” She bobbed her head towards the red wolf.

I watched as the wolf, Kenzie, backed away from the brick fence to let Cody and me resume our seats. Once I had settled, Kenzie slowly crept forward, stopping just close enough to lower her head onto her paws in front of me.

“Go on,” Cody encouraged. “You can pat her. She won’t bite you.”

I glanced at Cody nervously. “Are you sure? She’s huge!”

Cody laughed. A snort came from Kenzie, almost like she found what I said hilarious too.

“She’s a little larger than the typical wolf, but Takeshi’s wolf, Kairu, is much bigger. He’s our Alpha,” Cody explained.

I got up and stumbled towards Kenzie. “Takeshi is a what now?” I asked Cody, as I reached my hand out to Kenzie, not taking my eyes off her jaw. She leaned her head into my hand and nudged it up. I could hear a quiet rumbling emanating from her.

“Takeshi is our Alpha. They’re what you call our leaders,” Cody said. “They decide things on behalf of the pack, or community, and look after us when we’re in trouble. Some Alphas can be right pricks, but Takeshi is a good egg. He’s taken care of us for… what…” She paused as she cast her memory back. “Gosh, it must be over ten years now.”

I nodded. It made sense to me that a community would need a leader of sorts, or a group of people who could band together to act as leader, to keep the entire community headed in the right direction.

“We also have a Beta and a Gamma. They work closely with Takeshi in the day-to-day operations of running the pack, like a second and third in command, if you will,” she continued. “Our Beta is Spence; you’ll probably meet him at some point if you’re here for another day or so. If you stay for the camp, you’ll definitely meet him. Takeshi and Spence are looking after all the camp mates for the first week.”

I could feel my hand being run through Kenzie’s fur as she rubbed the top of her head into my palm. Her fur was incredibly soft, and now that I was calm enough to notice, I saw that her fur matched the shade of red Auden’s hair was when she was in her human form. I also noticed that the fur around all four of her paws was white, just like she had socks on.

“Our Gamma is Kennedy,” Cody said. “He’s in charge of training at the school and works closely with our guards. He’s mated to our lead sentry, Kelly. If you come to the camp, you’ll meet Kennedy in the second week. The school he looks after doesn’t finish their year until a week into camp, so Takeshi and Spence look after everyone for the first week. You might meet Kelly, but you might not. Depends how busy he is.”

“Mated? What do you mean ‘mated’?” I asked Cody. I felt Kenzie nudging me back to the brick wall, so I resumed my seat.

A bright light filled the courtyard again, and I could hear the same noises I had heard earlier. Once the light died down, I glanced over at where Auden now stood naked. I looked away quickly. Cody smirked at me, as she handed the dressing gown over to her Mum.

“Mated is like a marriage of sorts in the werewolf community,” Auden explained, as she tightened the dressing gown around her waist and took her seat next to Cody. “Wolves can find a ‘fated mate’ once they turn nineteen or take a ‘chosen mate’ once they turn twenty-five.”

“Fated mate? Chosen…?” I queried. This all sounded strange, but I guess it couldn’t be any stranger than what Cody had already explained to me. This was just more strangeness.

“Oh, you’ll love this!” Cody exclaimed, clapping her hands together in glee. “Fated mates happen because the Moon Goddess matches wolf souls together. Once a wolf turns nineteen, they develop the ability to ‘sniff out’ their fated mate, but only if their mate has turned eighteen. They have to wait until their younger mate turns nineteen before the elder wolf can act on the fated mate pull.”

“Okay,” I said, taking it all in. That sounded pretty cool, actually. Knowing that there was someone out there made specifically for you? Where could I sign up? “What about ‘chosen mates’?”

“If a wolf hasn’t found their fated mate by the time they turn twenty-five, they can choose their own mate, but the chosen mate must also be at least twenty-five,” Auden explained. “The bond between fated mates is somewhat stronger than chosen mates, so most wolves want to wait for their fated mate. But say a wolf is in a position of power and they haven’t found their fated mate? Then, being able to choose a mate allows their dominant line to continue from a young age. Anyone can choose a mate; it’s not restricted to those in power, but most wolves will wait for their fated mate.”

I nodded. It was nice to hear that there was a back-up for people who couldn’t find their fated mate. I mean, the world was an enormous place, and it sounded like each person’s fated mate could be anywhere. Which begged the question…

“How do you find your fated mate, if you don’t live in the same community… or pack… as them? I mean, it sounds like it’d be hard to find them…” I trailed off. Maybe this perfect match thing wasn’t so wonderful after all.

“Most packs around the world sign up for something similar to an annual ball,” said Auden. “That’s where we were coming back from when we picked you up, actually. There’s a place near our pack borders called The Kincaid Estate. Every year in November, it hosts the Fated Mates Ball for all the Victorian packs. It usually ends up packed; about five hundred wolves over the age of nineteen all show up to the ball from around the state, to see if they can find their fated mate. Each state in Australia does the same thing, but in other months. Everyone tries to make it as easy as possible for those that want to find their fated mate to do so. Some really rich werewolves travel around the world constantly, going to every ball they can until they find their fated mate.”

“Why were you at the ball?” I asked Auden. “Based on what you’ve said, I know Cody is too young for it, and I’m guessing that you have already either found your fated mate or chosen a mate, since you have your husband and Cody…”

Auden nodded. “They asked me to help chaperone the Matlock attendees this year. Every Victorian pack is expected to send along chaperones for their attendees to stop things from getting completely out of control. Cody wanted to come along to help because we’ll be organising next year’s ball. I assumed Cody wanted to get some hints about what a typical ball is like, and she wants to help me organise it next year…?” She looked pointedly at Cody, who nodded enthusiastically until Auden looked back at me, then shook her head at me with a smirk. I couldn’t help but grin at her.

“And yes, I have already found my fated mates,” Auden continued. “Jackie is one, Caelan was the other. These are their marks.” She gripped the top of her dressing gown and pulled the neck of the gown aside, revealing two bite marks, one on either side of her neck, in the muscle joining her neck to her shoulder. I could see teeth marks as the base of each design entwined in an elaborate arrangement of swirls, lines, and shapes. They were very similar, but with slight, yet noticeable, differences. They looked like raised tattoos, however, where one was white, the other was black. “Jackie has one like this that is Caelan’s mark,” she pointed to the black mark. “And one from me that is white.”

“You can have multiple fated mates?” I asked, curiously, even though Auden had just stated that she had had two fated mates. I think my brain was still struggling to take everything in.

“If the Moon Goddess wills it, then yes, you can have multiple fated mates.” Auden paused, but when she continued, her voice had softened. “I think she knew Caelan would end up dying young, so she gave each of us two fated mates, so that Jackie and I could help each other when one of us had to leave.”

“Why is one white and the other black?”

Auden’s face fell. “When you go through the last process of establishing the fated mate bond, each wolf has to mark their fated mate in this general vicinity.” She waved her hand over one of the marks. “Initially, the mark is red because it’s like a wound to your skin, but over time, it will fade to a bright white, like this one.” She pointed to the mark on her right-hand side. “We like to say that the white is to reflect the purity of the fated mate’s love for each other.”

She smiled sadly. “When our fated mate dies, their corresponding mark blackens, like this.” She pointed to the other mark on her left-hand side. “It’s reflecting the constant grief we endure at our loss.”

Cody put her arm around her Mum’s shoulders. “It’s incredibly difficult for a wolf to survive the loss of their fated mate,” she said. “The anguish can be overwhelming. Only very strong wolves with a good support network can come through it.” She hugged her Mum tightly.

“That’s part of what Mum does as a doctor. Once she lost Daddy, she really struggled,” Cody explained. “She could tell that Takeshi was struggling too with his own loss, so she made him talk to her about it. He hated the process at first, but it was part of what got them both through their grief.” Both Cody and Auden grinned at the memory. I felt like there was a story there, but figured now was probably not the best time to ask about it.

“She now travels around the state helping fated mates through their grief and depression after they’ve lost someone,” Cody continued. “Not everyone wants the help, but those that do, come through their grief better in the long run.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if Jackie had refused Auden’s help. If the photos I recalled seeing were any indication, he’d either found a different way to work through things, or he was still struggling. He was no longer the cheerful man in the earlier photos.

Maybe the tension I felt rolling off him was in fact his unresolved grief rather than anger?