June
Jerod and Carmine, who would have guessed. After all that searching, it was pretty hilarious that she mated with the warlock and not another wolf. I didn’t even know that was possible, but it was hard to argue with what I’d seen.
After I got my breathing under control, I didn’t have much else to do but sit around waiting for Dom and enjoying the scenery. It was rather peaceful. The nature around me was all a beautiful, tangled mess. For all the parks and trails I could walk back in Seattle, I liked the look of the untamed trees here better. The only thing missing was a place to buy a latte.
The screen door creaked open and Dom emerged.
“Are you feeling any better?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I stood up, glad to finally be doing something. “Actually, Carmine and I had a weird interaction with Alpha Evander. And I think she wanted to ask you some questions about the pack before he came, but I don’t know what her questions may have been now that she’s otherwise occupied.”
Dom snorted a laugh. “That’s putting it mildly. So, what did Evander do that was weird?”
“He might be messing with something that smells suspicious. We were walking this morning, and Carmine sensed something weird. So odd that she didn’t recognize that it was Alpha Evander at first.”
Dom’s brows knit together as he frowned. “Did she describe the smell?”
“No,” I said. “But Alpha Evander said something strange was reported on pack lands and that he sent everyone else away from it so he could investigate.”
“And you don’t believe him?” Dom asked.
I shook my head. “Something wasn’t right.”
“I should be a good wolf and tell you to trust your alpha.”
“But?” I urged.
“But I’m not going to.” Dom looked around, glancing at the cabin behind him. “Let’s take a little walk.”
It wasn’t far past the cabin that the wolf territory opened up into the wide fields where we’d first met Smokey. A light breeze rustled the grass in waves as it rushed across the rocky ground.
My eyes wandered over to Dom. Always so serious. He was staring into the middle space between the two of us. I had so many questions about him. If he was a beta’s son, how strong was he? I understood why he and the others left the pack all those years ago, but why come back?
“How old are you?” I asked.
I asked the question before it registered that I probably didn’t want to ask it out loud, and I slapped a hand over my mouth. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me.”
Dom’s serious facade crumbled as his face spread into a wide grin, laughing at me. “Where did that come from?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks as I glanced away from him. “Carmine is almost forty. It was kind of a shock.”
“Ah.” Dom nodded. “I’m sure it was. Wolves can live maybe four hundred or so years if they aren’t killed first. It’s hard to have an exact estimate, you don’t meet too many old wolves.”
“That’s really sad,” I murmured.
Dom shrugged. “There’s a wide world of supernatural things that you have no idea about yet. It’s not always a safe place to be.”
The thought of a whole world that was unknown made me shiver. It was the same reason I was afraid of the bottom of the ocean or deep space.
“Wait, but there are a few old wolves here in Moonpeak,” I said. “What about them?”
“Moonpeak’s very isolated. The two packs in Newfoundland keep to ourselves. Other than the occasional traveling young wolf, we don’t attract unwanted attention.” Dom stopped walking and stared at a mountain peak in the distance. “I’m thirty-four. It’s not so much in wolf years.”
“You left when you were twenty-four?” I asked.
“Twenty-three. My birthday was the next month,” Dom answered.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “That must have been awful.”
Dom’s jaw twitched. “Who told you?”
“Smokey,” I said.
“Look, June, I brought you here because there are good people here who can take care of you. I’m no teacher and I’m no babysitter. The wolves here are better at this stuff.”
“But I trust you. And I’m asking you.”
Dom sighed and stopped our walk. He scratched his head and looked down at me with tired eyes. With a grunt, he sat down on the ground then laid on his back, putting his arms under his head for support. “All right, New Bite. I brought you here, I’ll answer your questions. But after this, I have things to do, so I can’t promise I’ll be around. Deal?”
Sitting down next to him, I pulled my legs up to my body and wrapped my arms around my knees. “Deal. First question, where is Evander’s beta? Does he not have one? Is that even allowed?”
“He doesn’t have one and I don’t know why,” Dom said. “Next question.”
“Am I the only one who’s suspicious of Evander?” I asked.
Dom chuckled. “You being nosy is what got you bitten back in Seattle. Keep your head down and worry about yourself. You’ve got a full moon coming up in a couple of weeks.”
I frowned. “That’s no way to get help with a problem.”
“Look.” Dom rolled onto his side, propping his head up with an arm as he faced me. “We don’t need help with this, we need focus. Your intuition’s spot on, but I promised to bring you to a good pack and I did. Amelia and I have a plan and we need time to get ready. I won’t say anything that would be dangerous for you to know, but I won’t be leaving you here with an alpha you can’t trust, got it? I’d hate to have dragged your ass across a continent just to see you get hurt when you got here.”
Dom had been a lot of things since we’d met. A leader, a planner, and sometimes a jerk, but mostly for good reasons. I respected him a lot after the trip we’d just been through together, even if I hated the decision he’d made to bring me with them. I could at least understand it, and it was hard to admit now that I was here, but I had no idea if another solution would have even been possible. And if I was going to be stuck here for a while, I wasn’t going to sit here unprepared. “You’re going to challenge Evander.”
Dom sighed and laid on his back again. “Nosy and sharp. Not a safe combination, June.”
My name from his mouth was so rare it caught me off guard. I shrugged. “You guys might get hurt, and I wouldn’t want to see that happen.”
“No one comes out of a challenge unscathed,” Dom said softly. “That’s why you don’t need to be a part of this, it’s our fight and we’ve been working toward it for years. You don’t need to be involved.”
Leaning back, I let my eyes drift down Dom’s profile. He carried himself so tense, alert. The way he got everyone moving in the best direction he could at the time, the way he made sure everyone was fed and warm. Maybe it was a wolf thing, or maybe I recognized the group caretaker when I saw it. “Growing up, I was the responsible one.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, but let me continue.
“I split my cupcakes in half when someone dropped theirs, I made sure Granny was taking her heart medication when she had trouble remembering to do it, and I’m the one in the office everyone expects to go on errands and do the coffee runs.”
“You’re starting to sound like a doormat,” Dom teased.
“Maybe, but I think you can relate to what I said.” Sitting up, I crossed my legs and plucked a piece of grass, holding it taught. “I think you’re the caretaker, just like me, or at least something like it. They respect you, you’re a leader. I respect you,” I said softer. “But you’re going to snap under that pressure if you don’t have support.” I pulled the blade of grass tighter, and both our eyes stayed on it as it snapped in two. Dom was silent, still watching the grass as I dropped it.
“Maybe I did think you were a jerk for half the trip here,” I said. “But that’s not what I think anymore. I think you’re a guy who lives life making the tough decisions for other people. And I think I’m a nosy enabler who doesn’t like to see people get hurt. So, if you’ll let me in on your plans, I want to be ready to help where I can.”
“Why?” he asked. “Why do you want to risk anything to help us?”
Shrugging, I sighed through my nose. “Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s in my nature, I guess. I like the pace of this village, the community here has so much love for each other and no one is left behind. None of these people deserve to be under Evander’s thumb. Something isn’t right here, and I’m not going to sit by if I can help.”
Dom reached out a hand, and I took it. “It’s a deal then, New Bite. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to make a move.”
“Deal,” I said, heart pounding at the unknown danger I may have just forced my way into. But I wouldn’t regret it, I could feel that in my bones.
“Hey, if you see a woman who looks like Amelia, let me know right away. We’re looking for her twin, Naomi.”
“Naomi? Got it,” I said. “I’ll look for her on my morning walks through the village.”
“You’re really taking to this place, aren’t you?” he asked, a boyish smile taking years off his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
Yes. God, yes. It was in every breath of fresh air I took. It was in the walks I went on every morning, it was in the wolves I’d met, and the kids I watched playing in the fields, and the deer and elk and produce I’d gotten to eat. It was in everything about this place.
“Yes,” I said. “But I have a life at home. I’m torn.”
“Tell me more about it,” Dom said. “You’ve seen where I come from, tell me what you’re leaving behind.”
“Kat, my best friend,” I said.
“The one you sent money to?” Dom asked.
I nodded. “She’s ninety percent anxiety, ten percent sweetheart, and I love her to pieces. She keeps me sane when I have bad days at work.”
“The therapy clinic,” he said.
“Yeah. It’s what I want to do, but the environment there isn’t ideal.”
“You are a caregiver, aren’t you?” he mused. “What else are you leaving behind?”
“My morning walks.”
“You’re right, can’t walk out here,” he teased.
I shoved him playfully. “Shut up.”
“What else are you leaving behind?” he asked.
“My apartment, we finally got it decorated so cute, and it was right down the street from a coffee shop.”
“Name a block in Seattle that doesn’t have a café,” Dom said.
“Fine, fine.” I laughed. “I love Kat, and walks, and coffee, but Granny and Grandad are gone. I was going to do a semester at school this fall, but I guess I could do that online. Are you trying to convince me to stay out here?”
Dom shrugged. “I’m trying to convince you to follow your heart. You look like you live your life stressed.”
I grimaced. “Maybe.”
“All right then, let’s talk about your shift instead. Anything about it that has you stressed? We can talk about it and see if I can help alleviate your concerns.”
“Shifting,” I said. “I’ve accepted that it’s going to happen at this point, but it still scares me. You’ll probably laugh, but I don’t like pain.”
“No one does,” he said. “There’s nothing funny about that, and it doesn’t make you less of a wolf. Maybe think about it like an athlete would, have you played any sports?”
Once upon a time I lived and breathed track, until the accident. “Yes.”
“Then you remember pushing limits,” Dom said. “Pushing yourself, think of your shift like that. Your body will be strained, yes, but get in that headspace you get into when you’re at the top of your game. When you pull through to the other side, you’ll feel like you’ve conquered the world.”
I knew exactly what he meant; I could almost taste the sweat and feel the sun on me during some of my best wins on the track. “I think I can do that.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Any other worries?”
I frowned. “This mate stuff is too bizarre for me. I’m picking my own partner.”
Dom chuckled. “All of this stuff you’ve heard is unavoidable, it can be avoided if you really want to, except the shift. If you really want to go back to Seattle, do it. You might have to fight your inner wolf on that if she’s comfortable here, but it can be done, and I’ll do what I can to find you the nearest pack where you can be happy and safe. Your first shift is our responsibility because Amelia bit you, but if you really want to go after this, I’ll help you. Same goes for this mating stuff, if you can and want to resist it, then do so. Rejections don’t happen often, but they do happen, and no one is going to force you into it.”
I shrugged. “That does make me feel better. It’s just that Carmine and Jerod were both ready to jump right into it, no questions asked.”
“Carmine has had this expectation to find a mate since she was born, it’s part of our culture to accept the partner the moon made as our match. Not all, but most, are happy with that arrangement. And Jerod, I still can’t believe Carmine’s match is that warlock, but he’s a part of this world, too, and he knows damn well what a mate is. His friend, a witch named Dani, she was also mated to a shifter. It’s rare, but it’s possible.”
“They accepted it because they’ve seen it, then,” I murmured. “But I haven’t lived with this, and I don’t handle the unknown very well.”
Dom shrugged. “Let’s say you meet someone and you’ve never smelled anything or anyone better in your life. You’ve found them, and from what they say, you’ll know beyond the shadow of a doubt. Let’s say you meet your potential mate, nothing has to happen until you’ve marked each other, and any decent wolf will wait for you to be ready. You can take all the time you need to get to know them.”
“Oh, I like that. And I can still say no?”
“Always.”
“What’s the mark thing?” I asked.
“It’s a bite, and before you ask, no, it’s not painful. It goes right here.” Dom reached out with a gentle hand to brush the skin on a sweet spot on my neck. I gasped, and as though my body betrayed me, I moved my head back and exposed my neck a little more.
Why did I do that?
Dom’s breath caught, I heard it. And then he snatched his hand back and stood up.
“Did that answer your questions?” he asked, clearing his throat.
“Yeah,” I said. I held a hand over that spot on my neck, my face bright red. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Dom wasn’t meeting my eyes anymore when he spoke. “Let’s get you on the way to Linda’s, I don’t think Carmine is going back with you right now. I’ve got training to do, I’ll keep you in the loop when we’re ready to challenge Evander.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
Dom started back and I followed. My heart was still thumping in my chest. This whole conversation had sent my head spinning, but at least I got to tell him about the weird thing with Alpha Evander this morning.
I admired Dom’s strong back as we walked into the tree line and back to the cabin. I didn’t know what gymnastics my heart was trying to do right now, but it had better stop before I shifted. I had enough to think about right now, and I didn’t have time for this mate business.
The full moon was in less than two weeks, and I needed to be ready for it.