Chapter 17

“I’m off to raid the pantry,” Shemika announced, darting out of the room and leaving Ylenia and Colette alone.

The topic of mates seemed to be a tricky one. Colette noticed Ylenia shifting uncomfortably on the other side of the couch. “You mentioned they vanished centuries ago. Wouldn’t that make them, I don’t know, revered?”

Ylenia nodded. “Yes, Colette. Every young lycan dreams of finding their mate.”

“So, what exactly ~is~ a mate, Ylenia?” Colette asked, her gaze fixed on her.

“Let’s start with the folklore,” Ylenia began. “Since it’s been centuries, it’s all passed down through stories. Mother Luna, the Goddess of the Lycans, created her children from the tears she shed at night. Heartbroken over her lost love, The God of the Sun Sol, Mother Luna wept for a millennium, each tear birthing the first generation of children. They were broken and in unbearable pain, often growing crazed with age. Mother Luna fell in love with her children and wanted to bring them happiness and joy, and through her newfound love, she birthed their mates. Mates are destined to be together and are your perfect match,” she said, her voice filled with awe.

“If they’re so wonderful, why do you two seem uneasy talking about them?”

Ylenia squirmed in her seat. “It’s not our place to say.” She laughed awkwardly.

“Can’t you just tell me? Consider it a sisterhood secret.” Colette rolled her eyes.

After a long pause, Ylenia spoke in a hushed voice. “It seems…to us…that you…and Sorin…” She let the sentence hang, but when no realization dawned in Colette’s eyes, she finished. “Are mates.”

Colette’s nose crinkled in a mix of disgust and confusion. “If mates did ~happen~ to exist, it definitely wouldn’t be like me and ~Sorin~. You know? He’s just—”

The image of Sorin’s naked body flashed through her mind. Tall and muscled, tan and strong. It gave way to the image of Sorin’s cheeky grin, his too-sharp canines, and the way his long tongue ran over his teeth when he was annoyed.

A blush crept up her neck, reddening her cheeks in embarrassment. “Just no,” she answered simply.

“I’m not saying that it’s entirely true.” Ylenia waved awkwardly. “It just seems to be pointing to that.”

“Why isn’t he here telling me all this?” she suddenly demanded.

Shemika returned from the kitchen. “My guess would be that he’s asking for an audience with our alpha, Dancescu. Since we’re bound by our laws, keeping you here without letting our alpha know would be painful. If he’s aware he should let him know and purposely go against the rule, ouch,” she said casually. “I would never ask for an audience personally. He sucks major—”

Ylenia silenced her with a hand gesture. “Don’t speak ill of our alpha. Anyone who hears may tattle to make themselves look better,” she warned.

Shemika rolled her eyes. “What’s he going to do? Punish me? I’m a she-wolf. He’ll just tie me up and have his way with me to ‘teach me a lesson.’ Like I haven’t been down that path,” she said in a bored manner.

Again, rape. What was with this pack? They were all sexed up and animalistic.

“I have a complete change of topic,” Colette said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.

The girls turned back to her, staring expectantly.

“I saw a woman as we were coming here. She looked like a goddess.”

Shemika’s face fell into a grimace. “Selene,” she said, offering up no further information.

Ylenia shrugged. “She’s the last of our she-wolf group. Well, the last in terms of breeding age and unmated. Which we’re all unmated. She lives at the temple and has more freedom to travel and do as she pleases, considering her title.”

“Title?” Colette asked, raising a thin, black brow questioningly.

“Yeah. She’s dedicated her life to Mother Luna and worships, like, all day. Any man who thinks they can take her unwillingly would just be asking for eternal damnation,” Ylenia said.

Shemika wandered around curiously. “This bitch is ~nice~,” she said jealously.

“You’ve never been here?” Colette asked, but it made her secretly happy.

Shemika shook her head, her long curls swaying. “No. Sorin is super secretive and keeps to himself. Besides, I’ve fucked, like, all the guys in this pack except him. So, I also think he’s a virgin,” she said flippantly.

Surely not. Sorin had the kind of sexual confidence only earned from years of experience with probably many women.

While Shemika spoke of her sexual experiences with the many men in the pack, not including Sorin, who she believed had never experienced sex, Ylenia seemed to grow uncomfortable.

“I can’t imagine anyone could find the time to have sex with him anyway,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “He’s, like, never here.”

Ylenia shifted awkwardly. When Colette gave her a hard look, she looked away quickly, almost ashamed. It was clear to Colette that Ylenia had definitely had sex with Sorin and just didn’t want Shemika to know for some reason.

“So, werewolves exist,” Colette started. “What else exists?”

“Everything. Humans are not ~that~ creative. You think they just thought up elves and nymphs and fae and vampires?” Shemika demanded, shivering in disgust at the thought of vampires.

Ylenia sat, having gone silent.

Colette stood up from the couch and paced, needing a moment to think. “So all scary supernatural stuff exists—and I saw Sorin turn into a wolf so I can never go home—”

Shemika chimed in, “Even if you hadn’t seen his wolf, I bet he would’ve brought you back anyway. Just my opinion,” she added softly.

“So…what’s going to happen to me? If you had to guess,” Colette asked, her large, blue eyes filled with fear.

Ylenia finally broke her silence. “Well…from what I’ve observed, there are a few possibilities. Usually, when a human sees a wolf, the human has to…die,” she said, wincing at her own words. “But we think you might be Sorin’s mate, so there’s some flexibility.”

~Death.~ The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Pretending to be his mate and living seemed a better option than dying. She could always plan an escape later. “Well, you need to have some wolf in you to be his mate. They’ll probably try to…well…unleash your beast.”

Colette’s frown mirrored Shemika’s, who had now moved behind the couch to join their conversation. “Unleash the beast?”

Ylenia winced. “Yeah. Regardless of how small your wolf DNA is, you still have a wolf. If they can bring it out, it’ll prove Sorin is your mate, or at least that you’re not human.”

“So, even if I have just a tiny bit of…werewolf—” She grimaced at her own words. “—then I’m not human.”

“Correct. Lycan trumps human, especially if they bring her out, then no one will ever know how distant your wolf ancestor was. You’ll smell like a wolf,” Ylenia said cheerfully.

“But…I don’t know if I’m Sorin’s…mate. He hasn’t mentioned anything like that to me. If we were ~meant~ to be together, wouldn’t he have told me?” She was struggling to understand it all.

Ylenia sighed deeply, shrugging. “I don’t know, sweetie. He ~is~ a man. Sometimes they do things that don’t make sense.”

Shemika raised a finger to interject. “My guess is that he wanted to ease you into the idea of being with him. Which is ~insane,~” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Why is that insane?”

“Well, wolves are sexual creatures, and with their population declining, their natural drive is even stronger to increase their numbers, so to speak. Mates, who can conceive, feel this drive more than anyone else,” she explained. “I would’ve thought that Sorin would’ve claimed you sexually the moment he met you.”

Colette felt a rush of arousal at her words. Sorin, claiming her sexually. She crossed her legs tightly. “But I really don’t think I am his mate. I don’t have those intense feelings you’re talking about,” she protested.

Ylenia’s face twisted in deep thought. “I’m not sure you would. Not with your wolf buried so deep within. It’s your wolves that are mated and would find each other. Since his wolf senses yours, he knows you’re his mate. Also, I’ve heard that wolves with mental health issues can have trouble recognizing their mate.”

“I don’t have mental health issues,” Colette retorted. They had ~just~ met. Was she implying she was crazy?

“I’m not saying you do. I’m saying there are cases, apart from yours, where even full-blooded wolves may not know who their mate is,” she clarified.

“But how would I know, without becoming a wolf?”

Shemika grinned mischievously. “I think ~I~ have an idea.”