“Well, you’re not going up to that place,” Rob snapped. “You smell receptive. Every single male shifter in the near vicinity is gonna come sniffing around. You’re gonna need to put in for some leave with the McElroy’s until she makes her decision. I’ll get Greta to come by with the girls for a chat.”
“Um…what?”
“Didn’t tell you, did he? You shouldn’t have brought her here if the temptation was too high.” Rob shot me a look. “We usually leave our mates with their mothers or the mothers of their mates to safeguard them. Things run hot during a mating dance. I don’t know if Jaz has left home without an escort for a month.”
“She wouldn’t want to have…” Jai growled.
“Exactly.”
Rob stared into Jai’s eyes, a million unsaid things passing between them, before the younger man looked away, shaking his head.
“They were going to take her away from me again, with that bullshit about that place on the ridge.”
“I know.”
“Are they gonna back down? She can’t go up there, especially now.”
“You think they aren’t going to realise you were forcing their hand? You might have been able to argue your way around this in private, but now… This is disrespect, pure and simple. You threatened to go rogue? That might be your only option at this point.”
Fucking hell, they were throwing all of this terminology around that by the look on their faces was serious, but I had no idea what any of this meant. I was sick of people talking over my head.
“I’m making coffee. Anyone want one?” I asked.
“What? Oh, no thanks, love,” Rob said.
“Sorry, I made it sound like it’s an option. We need to sit down, and you need to explain what the hell you’re talking about.”
I walked into the kitchen, the dogs following hot on my heels. No food, not dinner time, I pushed at them, but softened this with a pat.
“Here,” Jai said, moving past me to grab the kettle, then filling it with water. His eyes, when they slid to me, were wary, and there was something hesitant about his hand on my hip. Fucking Jai, this was probably his first real moment of not being the golden boy. I reached up and traced one of the scratches that ran over his collarbone, feeling him still, then turn to me when I did. Water poured into the sink as he jerked the jug out, plonking it on the bench before leaning over and kissing me.
“It’ll be OK, Shan,” he said, placing light little butterfly kisses on my lips. I felt his words, but I wasn't sure if they were for his benefit or mine.
Once the kettle was boiled, we sat around the kitchen table with mugs in hand, as was always the case with pack gatherings. Rob eyed the both of us like a disappointed dad, and I supposed he was. His eyes dropped down to where my hand was cradled inside Jai’s.
“This hasn’t gone the way I would’ve wanted it, but Bethy’s always telling me to deal with what is, rather than what should be. Shannon, we didn’t educate you on the ways we find mates. Didn’t seem like we needed to. The old men were standing strong. Things might have changed when they passed on, but you both could have been well into middle age by then…” Rob shook his head. “You didn’t seem interested in anyone else so…” He let out a long sigh. “You need to go and see Jai’s mum, Shan, for the sake of showing respect at least. Jai can drop you over when he goes to give notice at his work.” He stared Jai down when he started to protest. “I’ll send one of the other boys over to cover you with the McElroys, but you need to stay close to her.”
Rob turned to me.
“I can’t tell you too much. That’s women’s business, but you need to know this. The pack, we get a lot of information from people by their scents. We can read strong emotions, like fear, anger, and arousal.” He slid his eyes to Jai. “And most importantly, our mates. Bethy? We’d grown up together, seen each other at family gatherings, even talked a few times, but after my first shift…” His eyes went soft for a moment. “I followed her around like a lovelorn pup, slept rough in wolf form outside the front gate of the family property until her dad would talk to me. He approached the senior men, asked them what they thought and… The first time I saw her, when we started our courtship, she smelled like roses and sun warmed grass and fresh baked biscuits all at once. I wanted to bury my nose in her, lick her all over and… Well, you know.”
I did, which made this super awkward. Jai’s lips twitched at that, but his fingers closed around mine when I went to pull away.
“After that, I was around every moment I could, and the family closed ranks around her. Fellas from all over the district suddenly realised Beth Cleary existed, and her scent tugged them closer. Pretty sure Pa Cleary sat on his veranda with a rifle across his knee until we were formally mated. We got to know each other, talk about what we wanted, how many kids…”
I watched his face fall at that. It was one of life’s injustices that Beth couldn’t have kids. She was a natural born mother.
“But at any point in time someone else could have swept in and sealed the deal. We know who our mates are, but women, they choose.”
“Thanks, Rob,” Jai said with downcast eyes, “for covering for me. I’m gonna have to front up to the pack and explain.”
“You are.”
“And I need to take you to Mum’s.” Jai watched my expression, then smiled weakly. “She’s not that scary.”
“Greta Heller is insanely scary,” I said. “I swear to god, Jai, if you turn around and jerk me about, I’m gonna kill you.”
“That’s not how it works, love. You’ll see.”
Which is how I ended up on the doorstep of the Heller home. Jaz came strolling out the front door, a sly smile on her face.
“You took off in a hurry last night, brother,” she said. “And here’s Shannon, to face the music.”
“I’ve got to go over to the McElroy’s to give them my notice. Can you look after Shan until I get back?” Jai asked.
“Leaving her to walk into the wolf den alone? Not smart, brother, not smart at all.”
“Who’s that outside, Jasmine?” their mother called from inside the house.
“C’mon,” Jai said, opening the screen door and gesturing for me to go through. “We better face the she-wolf together.”
Chapter 18
“Hi, Mrs Heller,” I said with a little wave.
She sat in a wingback chair in her very nice lounge room, knitting something—probably for the pack kids—at a rapid rate. I’d been in this room plenty of times, with its floral wallpaper and the green velvet couch and footstools with their flouncy skirting.
“Shannon.” She looked up and gave me that tight smile teachers and mothers seemed to master quickly. “So nice to see you again. You took off before we could talk last night.”
“Ah, yeah…” I looked frantically at Jai for help. “We got some bad news.”
“I heard what the alphas said. Cunning old foxes, using young love as a way to get what they otherwise couldn’t. Are you going to go back to that place?”