Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Seeing Snow’s suitcase and thinking that this is all she owns makes me wonder what her story is and how she came to live with a pack of wolves she calls brothers when she’s fully human.
When I go to exit the cabin, I leave the note on the table. Before I turn to go, I find a pen and write something at the bottom. Hopefully, it helps them understand what is happening.
I’m okay. Don’t worry, guys. I found my mate and he is going to keep me safe. I’ll check in soon. Love, Snow.
PS She is mated to Koda, brother of Winnie, who’s mated to Alpha Stone. I will protect Snow with my life.
Once I’m finished, I take her bag and leave, heading into the woods towards the Alpha’s home.
It doesn’t take me long to get to Winnie and Stone’s place. When I get there, I don’t scent the Alpha, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I just need to talk to Winnie alone for a few minutes, and then I can get back to my mate.
I knock on the door and she answers a moment later, beaming brightly at me. Thankfully, she’s a female bear and she probably won’t be able to scent my mate on me when she reaches in for a hug. Our kind love to snuggle and are very affectionate, so I hug her back, thinking that she would know something was wrong if I didn’t.
When I pull back and walk inside, she looks at me funny for a half second, then I see her dismiss whatever thought she had. I hid Snow’s suitcase outside so she wouldn’t get suspicious. I just have a few questions and then I can leave.
“Koda, I’m so happy you came by. Micah is sleeping right now, but I can wake him up if you want to hold your nephew.”
I smile at her, shaking my head. “I’d love to see the baby bear cub, but let him have his rest. I know how it is in this weather. I just want to curl up and go to sleep.”
Winnie agrees and rubs her big baby belly. She’s pregnant with another baby, and I’m sure the cold has her wanting to nap a lot as well.
“I’m surprised you came out in this.” She nods towards the window. “It’s really coming down now. Stone went to go check on the pack to make sure everyone is stocked up and good to bed down for a few days.”
“I had to pick something up in town.” I look around, trying to find the words. “And I need to ask you a few things. Privately.”
She sits forward in her chair, looking at me with concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I just have some questions about…” I hesitate, then just decide to rip the Band-Aid off. “About your mating.”
Looking up, I see her cheeks turn red, and I hate that I’ve embarrassed her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just don’t trust anyone else to talk to about this. It’s hard not growing up with a pack or an Alpha to explain this to you, and it would be even more awkward if I asked Stone now.”
Winnie nods her head in understanding. “I can imagine. I was lucky that I had women to talk to about it. Okay. What would you like to know?”
I clear my throat and just go for it. Needing it over as soon as possible.
“Did you feel attraction right away? Did you know you were true mates?”
I don’t think this was the question she expected by the look on her face, but she nods and starts to explain.
“I felt attraction, yes, but from what I’ve heard, it’s different for us than for other shifters. I didn’t have the pull that some shifters experience, and that may be because I’m a bear. It was something that grew over time with me, and now I think I feel the same as others. I get separation anxiety when we are apart for too long, and I have an uncontrollable need to have his scent on me. I didn’t have that before.”
I nod, listening to her answers and thinking of what else I need to ask her.
“Dom and Ruby are mated. But she’s human.”
I help the Gray Ridge sheriff a few days a week so that he can spend more time at home since his mate had triplets. I help the shifters with what they need, being muscle when they need it and do odds and ends around the office. Dom and I have never had a serious conversation about his human mate, and I didn’t have a reason to before.
“Yes. Apparently, it’s not unheard of. It’s just rare. From what little I know, she felt the pull after their first coupling during the mating moon.” Her cheeks splash pink again, and I am just as uncomfortable talking about this as she is. “The mating moon is designed to bring shifters together to propagate the species. And from what I could gather from Ruby, that’s when Dominic was able to claim her for the first time. She felt the pull at its greatest then, and that’s when they, um, bonded.”