But they were right.
When my wolf said she was the right one, I told him where he could stick that idea. I even went so far as to do everything I could to make sure she wasn't free to marry me, but then I spent just a little bit of time with her.
And now I understand that to spend a lifetime with her, to claim her and call her my mate, isn't settling down, it's reaching up. I don't deserve her. She is so far out of my league that she's the one who would be settling down. She is giving her life, her chance at love, away for one reason and one reason only- to make sure her family is taken care of.
She is doing what she feels needs to be done to support her widowed mother, regardless of she would chose for herself.
She's kind, she's beautiful, she's giving, and she's a spitfire if she thinks you did her wrong. She's sacrificing herself and her happiness for her mother, and I'm willing to do the same.
Yes, my wolf will mourn her if I never claim her, but I'm also willing to put her needs and wants above the needs and wants of my wolf. If providing for her, protecting her, and loving her means letting her go, then so be it. But you are the last woman who should think she could fill her spot.
She's been here less than two days and she's already proven to be more woman than you are, so if you don't mind I'm calling this conversation closed. I'm naked, it's freezing out here, and I'd like to return to my bed, alone this time, please."
And with that, he spun on his heel and turned back to his tent, coming to a dead stop when he saw Sandra standing beside the tent.
"How long have you been there?"
"Since about the time you said,'What the fuck, Candace? How did you even get in here?'"
"I see. Just passing through and stayed to see the show?"
"Seeing her leave the tent airborne and half naked would have been worth the price of admission, but no, I was coming to see you, actually. To apologize for before. I'll apologize now, if you'll listen. Of course, if you wanted to take this inside... Although, the cold doesn't seem to be bothering you."
He followed her eyes and looked down at himself. He was naked, his erection still standing at attention as half the caravan watched them with interest.
"A perk of my wolf's blood," he said, grinning. He waved at the gathered crowd and turned to hold the tent flap open so she could precede him. "They have seen stranger things, but inside works. Come on in."
She started to enter the tent, but stopped in front of him, tilting her head and asking quietly, "Is it true that your wolf will suffer if I reject you?"
"Is it true that you came to apologize?"
"Right. First things first then."
He watched her from behind as she entered his tent. The last time she'd come inside they celebrated her engagement by exploring their lust for each other. He was curious to see what this time would bring.
Mac appeared silently beside him, grinning.
"I'll be right in, give me just a minute please."
She nodded from inside and he let the flap fall.
"Interesting evening you're having."
"I'll say. And it looks like it isn't over yet. What's up?"
Mac spoke to Naythan, oblivious to his nakedness or his erection. As pack mates, they had seen each other like this since they were cubs.
"Before you disappeared inside I just wanted to say 'I told you so.'"
"About what?"
"Your biggest fear was that you'd turn out like your father, I assume that fear has been laid to rest?"
"I have a female inside my tent, who says she was wrong about something and wants to apologize. Do you know how rare that is? Stop talking in riddles before she changes her mind and leaves."
Mac laughed good-naturedly and said, "You were afraid you'd mistreat any mate your wolf claimed, cheating being at the forefront. And yet you were just offered a chance to do so. From what I saw, you didn't even have to think about it. Even though you haven't claimed her, even though yours is promised to another, you defended her. You defended her honor, in public, when very few here would have blamed you if you hadn't. Tell me that your father would have done the same. Tell me you still think you are anything like him. Tell me that you still think you aren't good enough to honor and accept your wolf's choice. You're a good man, Naythan. The only one who has ever questioned that is you, which ironically is another marker of being a good man."
Naythan stared into the eyes of his good friend and pack-mate and felt all the doubts that had ever plagued him about being like his father fall away. He felt lighter, and he took a deep breath of cleansing, icy air before he shook Mac's outstretched hand.
"Normally I'd give you a big ole bear hug, but tonight I think I'll pass. Now get in there before your Christmas miracle decides you've kept her waiting too long."
"I hope that when you scent your mate, Mac, that it goes smoother than mine has."
"Me too, mate. Me, too."
Naythan said goodbye to Mac, and ducked into his tent feeling nervous.
"Allen said I'd be crazy to walk away from you," she started.
"I've always liked that man. He has a good head on his shoulders. Did you tell him that crazy is the least of your problems? I could make him a list to let him know what he's signing up for already. You're impulsive, to start. Easily offended and quick to jump to conclusions as well. You do have a quick wit, though. And an even quicker finger."
She smiled at him, mildly embarrassed.
"No, I was trying to hide all that until after the ink was dry. I did tell him that if I was one to listen to my heart that I'd have to agree with him."
"You did?"
"Yeah. You left painfully honest and direct off of that list you've got going."
"You are that, for sure. So far you're also really bad at apologies."
"I misunderstood your intentions when I woke up alone and saw money beside the bed. I can't say that I'm sorry that my mind went there, after all I don't really know you. But I should have asked you about it before I damned you. I should have at least given you a chance to explain before I rushed at you like that."
"I liked that part though. That was sexy."
"Allen also said that this mate scenting thing is a really big deal. Will it really mean a lifetime of pain for you if the mate you scent rejects you?"
He watched as she took a breath before she added, "If... I... reject you?"
"It seems that Allen has been saying a lot of things. You do what's best for you, Sandra. I mean that."
"What if you are what's best for me? I didn't expect you, Naythan. I had a plan, and I was all set to follow it. I was fine with marrying for money. It was a business decision, he got a wife and made his kingdom happy, and in return I got to take care of my mother. And then I had to run into you, and complicate things with feelings. It's not fair."
"But you aren't one to listen to your heart anyway, right?"
"What you said before, about being willing to suffer without your fated mate so that she, so that I, could be happy. You said you'd easily sacrifice your happiness for mine, and if providing for me meant that you had to let go of me, that you would."
"And I meant it."
"That's all I was trying to do, too. If it was just about pleasing myself, I would never have come looking..."
"I know."
"But then I also never would have found you. Here's where I'm torn. I don't have an inner animal that tells me who will be my best mate. What if yours is wrong? What if I choose with my heart and I let my lust break the tie between my head and my heart, and then we're miserable together?"
"So two thirds of you wants me?"
"More like 90% of me want you. Pretty much everything from here down wants you."
She held her hand up to her eyebrows as she spoke.
"That is a lot of you that wants me. That really looks more like 95%, to be honest. And I know that both myself and my wolf want you. So that's about two and nine tenths of three people that say we should give this thing a shot. I like thos
e odds. I'd take a chance on those odds. Hell, even Allen said you'd be crazy not to pick me, so that's three and nine tenths out of four who are leaning my way."
She smiled, "Why was it so easy to get engaged to a total stranger, not knowing anything about the life I was choosing to take on, but it's so hard to give into my heart when all it wants is you?"
"That's easy, there was no risk for your heart when you were choosing Allen. If you never give your heart to someone, there's no chance it will get broken, no chance of getting hurt. With him you were offering everything but your heart. Or your body, even. You really weren't risking anything important, but with me you know I want those, too. I want all of you. It's a much bigger jump."
"I don't want you to suffer. I want to trust your wolf, I want to trust my gut, but I'm scared."
"What's the worst that could happen? We spend the next part of forever having amazing sex, getting to know each other more over the years. We learn to trust each other and ourselves more and more while we travel, and while we live at the den. And fifty years from now, if you decide you made the wrong choice, I'll take you back and drop you off at Allen's gate, no questions asked."
"You make it sound so simple."
"It is simple. Here, let me show you how simple this can be."
Naythan cupped her face with his hands and leaned in for a kiss. When her lips opened under his, and she met his tongue with her own a joy he'd never felt before raced through him. This is where she belonged, and he knew it. He knew he'd make her see it as well, she only needed the slightest bit of a push whether she had an inner animal of her own to tell her so or not.
"So, if I agree to all this fated mate madness of yours," she whispered as his kisses left her lips and trailed down over the soft skin of her neck. "Where is my mother supposed to sleep? Does she get her own tent or will she have to share a bed with me?"
"The only one sharing your bed from here on out will be me."
"Her own tent it is, then. And when we get to this pack den thing you live in, does she get her own cave? Knowing her she'd happily adapt to living in a wolf den if it means that I chose love just like she did. Just like she wanted me to."
He slid his hands under the hem of her shirt and tugged it up and over her head.
"You think I live in a cave? We call it a den, yes, but...How rugged do you think we live? How poor do you think we are?"
"I don't know anything about shifters, bear or wolf. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into here. And while we're on the subject, what all is involved in this claiming thing? How bad does it hurt? I hear it leaves a scar."
Naythan stopped kissing his way down her beautiful body and looked at her in shock.
"Let me get this straight. You're willing to give this a shot, walking away from Allen to take a chance on trusting your heart. You're thinking that my claiming you will hurt, and that we live in caves. And you're still here? I'd pick Allen over what you're describing in a heartbeat. Why are you not running for the hills? Why are you picking me over Allen, exactly?"
"Because of the way you make me feel when you kiss me. Because my heart and my body say that my future lies with you. Because my gut says this is right, and because I finally understand what people mean when they say things like, 'I'd rather live in a cave-den with you, than live in a castle without you.'"
"No one really says that, you just made that up."
"Allen said it, about Colton. He said he'd gladly walk away from everything he had and live on the streets working for a living if he and Colton were allowed to really be together. That's the kind of love my parent's had. She told me it was worth waiting for, but I thought she was crazy. Who knew moms were so smart? I thought I wanted security, but it turns out that all I really want is a chance at what she and dad had. I want you."
He stared at her, seeing her in a whole new light. He knew she was giving up a lot to be with him, but he hadn't realized until right then how much she thought she was giving up to be with him.
"First of all I just want to say that that was hands down the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me. I know, that's weird to say, but I mean it. Nothing else you could have said would have made me want you more than I want you right now.
But Sandra, I think there has been a huge misunderstanding.
My pack and I, we work for the king. We provide security, in a nut shell. We patrol his lands, we take care of problems, and we go on trips like these, to keep the peace."
"Ok. I knew you guys worked doing something like that. What is the misunderstanding?"
"We are the king's men, we have the best rooms at the castle when we are there, and our den is, well, you'll just have to see it for yourself. I can't wait to see your face when you do, because it is definitely not in an underground cave.
. And your mother can live wherever she damn well pleases, with us, at the castle, or she can stay where she is, if she'd rather. I'm second-in-command in the king's guard, the only one higher than me is Bane. Trust me, she will want for nothing, and neither will you."
"Wait, you said you weren't rich."
"I'm not. The pack is though. I mean we aren't 'I own a continent' rich, like Allen's family, but we have plenty. We take care of each other, as it should be in a pack. What's ours is yours, we're a family. We rejoice when one of us scents our mates. We sometimes we make fun, but it's usually because we're jealous, or because we show our love for each other by harassing each other.
Jeeze, I can't believe you thought... Actually, now that I know what you thought, I can't believe you were willing to choose me over Allen. I mean true love will smooth over a lot of ills, as does great sex, but I'm not sure I wouldn't marry Allen to avoid the life you were thinking."
"Oh! So, this claiming thing, then. Am I wrong about that as well? Does it not hurt? Does it scar? I've also heard that it's kind of hot though. What's that all about?"
"Oh, it's hot all right. I'll give you a preview, but I'm not going to claim you."
"You aren't? I thought that was the whole point of finding your mate?"
"It's permanent Sandra, you'll carry my mark forever. I want you to be sure first. Even just half as sure as I am. It hurts, but since it's done during sex, it's more passionate than painful, or so I've heard. I haven't claimed anyone yet, so once I do you'll have to tell me if it hurt."
"Fair enough, I guess. So you don't have to do this claiming bite tonight? Even though I've agreed to tie my future to yours?"
"No, there's no set time on claiming. It's more like humans and their weddings. Some people date for years, decades even, before they decide to marry. Others get drunk and get married by the also drunk preacher in the back of the bar. It's how we marry. And the bite you wear is like a ring, I guess. For lack of a better example. A symbol you wear so the world knows you have a husband."
"But the sooner you claim me, the sooner it's official, right? That's when I get to tell mom that she doesn't have to move. That we're going to be ok."
"You can tell her now. Well, tomorrow. It's kind of late now. I'll send a messenger with money to your mother tomorrow. Maybe you can include a note, telling her that you're ok since you ran out on everyone and left her at a church thinking you were about to get married?
I'll take care of her, whether you tie yourself to me or not. My wolf has already taken responsibility for you and your family.
You get to decide when you're ready to wear my mark. You have time to decide, there is no need to rush into things. This isn't written in stone. My wolf has made his wishes known, to him you are already ours. You always will be. He will love no other, ever, as long as you still live.
The man in me can choose to accept or deny the wolf's choice. I have free will, same as you. Now it has been proven time and time again that the best unions are when the human side also choses the wolf's choice but it isn't law.
Now, once you are claimed, once you wear my mark, we are one.
When I claim you Sandra, I want you to need it as much as I do. I
want you to be proud to wear my mark. I'll not do it one second before I'm sure you are ready- but in the meantime- we can practice most of it... all but the final bite.
Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to pick up where I left off kissing you. You standing there with your top off, discussing wearing my mark, is making it hard to concentrate on anything other than your glorious body and how much I want to taste it again."
"No, no, no, it's my turn to taste you. You had all the fun last night. Besides, it has been brought to my attention that you've had a rough day and you're obviously grumpy and frustrated. Here, let me take care of that for you."
Naythan laughed as Sandra used Candace's words from a few minutes earlier to tease him, but his laughter quickly morphed into heated moans as she slid to her knees to make good on her offer.
* * *
Want to jump ahead about nine months and see Sandra round with child? Catch up with them in Bane's story Alpha Hunted: Keelyn & Bane, followed by Mac's, Alpha Hunted 2: Bella & Mac in the Alpha Hunted Series.
About the Author
Want to read more in this series?
Pop in on a pregnant Sandra here, and watch as Naythan's Alpha scents his mate (and a dead shifter) on a were-huntress named Keelyn.
* * *
Five years after witnessing her father's murder, Keelyn has become what she never wanted to be: a were-hunter.
Surprisingly good at the career she'd had thrust upon her that fateful day, she heads to the yearly gathering to pay her farm's rent with money earned from hunting werewolf hearts and pelts.
Bane and his wolf pack are also headed to the yearly gathering when Bane, the pack's Alpha, finally scents the female his wolf says is to be their forever mate. There's only one problem- she also scents of death and wet wolf hide.
When Bane follows Keelyn into the woods, neither are prepared for the passion, or the truths, they're each about to face.
Get Alpha Hunted: Keelyn & Bane Here!
Shifters in the Snow Page 27