Mates?

ALLIE

When I arrive home, I’m relieved to find Danielle sitting in the kitchen alone drinking a cup of coffee.

I’m pleased that none of the guys are with her. Lovely as they are, I don’t think they would be the best people to confide in that I think James could be my fated mate.

“Hi,” I begin. “Have you had a good day?”

“Yes.” She turns to look at me and seems to sense that something isn’t right. “What’s up? You look worried.”

I decide to come straight out with it. “How do you know if someone is your mate?”

She looks surprised. “I thought all wolves knew about mates; it’s the most important thing to us werewolves.”

“I understand the concept: your soulmate, the one perfect person for you, chosen by the moon goddess.

“But I don’t know what that means in practice. What it’s like to have a mate. How you tell who they are. I don’t know anything about that stuff.”

“Right, I’m sorry. I forget sometimes that you didn’t grow up in a pack, so won’t have seen first-hand how the mate bond works.”

“I haven’t spent a lot of time with other wolves, and it wasn’t something my mom told me much about,” I agree.

“We spend most of our time longing to meet our mate. When we are mated and marked, it’s a celebration, the best day of our lives, the moment we become whole.”

She stares hard at me. “Do you think you have found your mate?”

“Possibly. He thinks we are mates, but… We can’t be. We aren’t right for each other.”

“Okay, so what do you feel for him? How do you react when you’re in his company?”

“I feel lots of different ways. I feel passion. I want him. But lots of women want him. He’s a good-looking guy. He makes me so angry though. He can say horrible, hateful things.”

“About you?”

“No, not specifically me. About what I am. He hates loners.”

“He’s a pack wolf?”

“Yes.”

She whistles. “Well, that makes it more difficult. Not insurmountable. Loners can be accepted into packs if their alpha agrees. If you’re his mate, you stand a good chance. It depends on the pack.”

Danielle considers. “You say he believes you’re mates. If he’s willing to admit it, that’s a good sign. Some wolves would just reject you, however painful that may be for them.”

“You can reject your mate?”

“Yes, but few wolves choose to do that. You’re rejecting the moon goddess’s plans for you. The pain is terrible. And once you’ve rejected your soulmate, you’ll never find another.”

We’re both quiet, for a moment, and then she asks, “Did he say that he wanted to reject you?”

“No. I suggested trying to find a way out of this, but he wasn’t happy about it.”

“So, what else do you feel? Are there any physical symptoms?”

“Like what?”

“Tingling when you touch, your wolf going crazy when she sees him?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“But nothing. It’s pretty clear that this pack wolf is your mate.”

“He can’t be.”

“If he can accept it, why can’t you?”

“Because it’s Alpha James.”

Danielle is silent, stunned.

Finally, she speaks. “Wow. Then you’re in trouble.”

JAMES

“So, what are your plans for tonight?” Alexander asks me. We’ve been working on the pack’s business model all day and have finally finished.

“I’m going to attend warrior training. I haven’t been able to complete a full training session in weeks.”

It isn’t good for my leadership of the pack. They need to see me fighting and training alongside them.

“So, you don’t fancy coming to a party with me then?” he asks.

“A party?”

“I know they aren’t your favorite way to pass the time, but ~she~ will be there.”

I don’t ask who. I know he means Allie.

“I don’t think I would be welcome at a party for rogues, do you?”

“Again, as I keep telling you, repeatedly: they are not rogues. They are loners. They’re nice people. If you spent more time with them, you might learn that it’s not just Allie who is special.”

I sit back in my chair and stare at him. “I’m sure they would be thrilled if I turned up at their party. It would put a bit of a dampener on their fun, don’t you think?”

“Probably,” he concedes. “But we need to find a way for you to interact with the loners without shouting and threatening them. They’re terrified of you. Your reputation for killing rogues is legendary.”

“I don’t like rogues, but you know very well that I don’t kill them out of hand. The only rogues I’ve killed are the ones that have tried to hurt my family or my pack.”

“I know that, but you seem to take great delight in creating a reputation for cruelty,” he scolds me. “It isn’t fair, and it can’t be helping you to win over Allie.”

“It isn’t,” I admit. “I actually think she’s more horrified by the fact that there is something between us than I am.” I loosen my tie and slam my laptop shut. This conversation is getting to me, and I know I won’t be able to carry out any more work today.

“Why should she have an issue with it? I’m an alpha. I could have my pick of eligible she-wolves. I’m expected to mate with a ranking wolf, but the moon goddess has paired me with a packless nomad.”

“Who is intelligent, hardworking, and caring. Not bad qualities in a luna,” he points out.

“You have to remember that most loners learn to fear and hate alphas. She’s spent her life fleeing alphas who have ordered her out of their territory on pain of death.

“To her, you aren’t a catch. You’re someone to avoid.”

“I haven’t thought about it like that,” I admit.

He leans forward and says, “Well, you should, or she will never accept you. You have to show her the real you, the one you only allow those close to you to know.

“The person who cares about his pack and his family, who is prepared to protect them from the very real dangers that await all of us out there.

“Don’t think that the rogues will differentiate between us and loners like Allie when they attack. If what we think is coming really is coming, then she will need your protection.”

I growl. “And she will have it.”

“I know, but now you need to convince her to accept it. At the moment, she probably thinks you’re as bad as Ryan.”

“How could she?”

“Most wolves don’t know what is going on with the Savage Wolves Pack, and that has worked for us. We don’t want to cause panic.

“But it means she sees alphas and pack wolves as the bigger threat. They have been persecuting her all of her life, but she’s never met Ryan or been exposed to the atrocities his pack has caused.”

“I won’t let anyone threaten her again,” I insist.

“To keep that promise you need to win her trust, and that will be a difficult thing for you to do. I’m looking forward to watching you try to win her over,” he says with a laugh.

“And you call yourself my friend.”

“Your best friend, and you know it.”

Alexander is the only person I can speak to about Allie. Others might suspect that she’s my mate, but he’s the only one, apart from David, who knows the truth.

He’s also the only person I know who has spent time with her, and as much as I hate to admit it, his theory that she might not want to be my mate has proven to be true.

“I saw her today,” I confess. “I told her I thought we were mates, and she wasn’t happy. She pretty much told me today that she wanted to break our bond.”

Alexander looks shocked. “She didn’t!”

“Yes, she did. So what do I do about it?”

“You need to stop acting like the entitled alpha and expecting her to fall at your feet. You’re going to have to make an effort to get to know her, to respect the person she is.

“Stop putting her and her friends down as rogues. Stop treating them as if they’re no different from the savages who attack packs.

“You’re going to have to change your attitude. Do you think you can do that?”

I think about it. “Yes. She is my mate, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make her mine. I want to be with her, to look after her. I need her to join my pack so I can protect her.”

“It won’t be enough just to accept her into the pack and make her a pack wolf,” Alexander cautions. “She doesn’t value packs, but she does care for other lone wolves.

“Will you be able to accept that? To support her and agree that there are lone wolves who deserve to be respected and valued?”

“I don’t know. That would be a big step,” I admit.

“You know my past; you know why I feel the way I do. You know rogue wolves are the biggest threat to packs. I can’t leave my pack unprotected just to make my mate happy.”

“She wouldn’t expect that. Loners are as vulnerable to rogue attacks as pack wolves. More so, because they’re less able to protect themselves. I honestly think this would be good for you ~and~ your pack.”

“Really?” I ask skeptically.

“You believe the moon goddess selects the right mate for everyone?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Then you have to be open to the possibility that she has chosen Allie to be your mate, not in spite of her being a lone wolf but because of it.”

I sigh. “So what should I do?”

“Well, you can start by making friendly overtures to the loners at the university. Reassure them that you have changed your mind and they aren’t going to be thrown out of Linton.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“You do that, and we can discuss how to woo a she-wolf,” he teases. “She isn’t going to just throw herself at you like those desperate females in your pack.

“You’re going to have to take the time to get to know her and show her that you’re a good person.”

“I’ve never had to do any of that before,” I confess.

“I know, but lucky for you, you have me to help you. I’m your fixer, and this is one situation that I’m happy to help fix free of charge. It will be fun to watch.” He gets up and walks toward the door.

“Thank you. I think.”

“Oh, you’ll thank me once I’ve finished.”