by Siobhan Muir
“So even an omega can be in an honored position?”
“Yes. Despite this, some alphas have a difficult time treating them with honor.”
Julianna snorted. “True enough! Miss Solaris and the other alphas treat the other packmembers like the dirt under their feet, something to kick out of the way.” She swallowed the last of her tea with a grimace, the dregs burning her tongue as much as the treatment of the other packmembers. “But I can see how the betas and omegas see serving the alphas as an honor if the alpha is aware of their own service. They may be lower ranked, but it only makes my responsibility to them more important.”
Sebrina just looked at her for a few moments with approval and something else in her expression. Was it pride and gratitude or sorrow and regret?
“It is a wise leader who looks at leadership as service.”
“Thanks…I think.”
Sebrina gave her a half-smile. “There’s a hierarchy among the alphas as well. It’s based on age, seniority, and strength. For example, because she’s better known in the pack than you and is related to an old Callowwood family, Mistress Solaris is higher ranked, but you’re known to this town since you were a child, even if you weren’t considered pack until recently. That places you higher than Mistress Wolensky, who isn’t from Callowwood, but is still well-known. You’re more highly ranked than Mistress Cutter because you’re older and more experienced in life, even if that life hasn’t been with the pack. However, Mistress Winthrop is higher ranked than you because of her familiarity with both the pack and Callowwood, but below Mistress Solaris because Mistress Solaris is older and has more experience. You must be careful of both these females, daughter.”
Julianna nodded and smiled at Cindy as she meandered to their table. “You ladies ready to order?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Julianna ordered the egg burrito, and Sebrina had steak and eggs. Cindy gave them both a smile and said she’d bring back more tea on her next pass.
“Cindy’s not alpha, is she?” Julianna asked as she watched the café owner stride through the tables to the kitchen.
“No, she is beta.”
“But she’s alpha in her own household, right?”
“That’s correct. To her children, she will always be higher ranked.”
“Good thing. Even human mothers don’t tolerate their kids mouthing off.”
Sebrina laughed. “I’m sure that’s true.”
“My mother certainly didn’t.”
Sebrina immediately sobered, and Julianna caught a stronger scent of regret from the older woman. What does she have to be sorry about? It wasn’t Sebrina’s fault Julianna had grown up with humans. Was that why the Paiute woman helped her learn the ways of the Moon Singers, because she’d been raised human?
“Why are you helping me, Sebrina? Why have you gone out of your way to make sure I know the rules of this game?”
The Paiute woman said nothing for a long time, a mask of stoicism hiding all her thoughts. Julianna scented roiling emotion, but it was so muted, she couldn’t identify it. What is that about?
Then Sebrina gave her a half-smile and a single shoulder shrug. “You’re new to this, daughter, and you must know for what you’ve been chosen. Also, I sense in you a seeker of the old and honorable ways. You don’t tolerate injustice or undue hurt to others, particularly those in your care. This is a good thing and something the pack needs.” Then the smile became much wider and smug. “Besides, Jefferson Lightfoot is your Mate, so you must past the tests so you can claim him and he can claim you.”
Julianna heard the capital “M” on the word mate, and an odd feeling skittered up the center of her back. The combination of excited lust and indignant fear made her shift in her seat. She raised her head and squared her shoulders as if she faced an opponent with whom she had to do battle. The fear made her angry, and she pulled her lips back a little to expose one elongated canine. She didn’t remember it catching on her tongue before.
“There won’t be any kind of ‘claiming’ until I understand exactly what this Mate business is all about,” she said in a low voice, hoping she could disguise her growl.
Sebrina paused, reading Julianna far more accurately than she would have liked.
“Something about Mating distresses you?” she asked carefully, cocking her head to one side. “It’s perfectly natural. You don’t smell like a virgin—”
“I’m not a virgin!” Julianna clenched her hands into fists, willing her voice to drop. Cindy’s son Bucky could probably hear them in the kitchen. “But I’m also not willing to just let any male take what he wants from me. Jeff already tried that at the party, and I set him straight in a hurry.”
Surprise bloomed across the older woman’s face. If Julianna hadn’t been so angry, she would have laughed. “Did he?”
“Yes. Tell me what gives him that right. Tell me why I shouldn’t just cold-cock him and be done with it.”
“Because he is your Mate.”
“And that means what, exactly?”
“It means he is meant for you and only you.”
“How do you know that? How do I know that for sure?”
“Among the pack, there was a gift bestowed upon our people by the Lady Moon, or the Goddess, as many now call Her,” Sebrina explained. “Not only did She give us long life, but She also gave us the ability to sense our perfect Mates, the one who would protect and serve us for all our lives. It works for both males and females because we mate for life. We’ll recognize this Mate by our feelings–the need to touch and breed with this person will be almost overwhelming. Some can scent it and recognize it on others as well as themselves, but most just feel a need for physical intimacy that consumes the Mates. They can barely keep from touching and they feel as if they must copulate each time they are near each other.”
Maybe she does know. How embarrassing if everyone else does, too!
Good, then those other bitches will steer clear of your Mate, her Sister quipped.
“Once the process begins, either through a kiss or mating bite or physical loving, you and your Mate’s scents will change, and any west of left field person will know you’ve mated with your True Mate.”
Julianna jerked. “I can’t even kiss Jeff until I’ve passed the tests?”
“No. Also, any person of the opposite sex who touches you, but is not your Mate, will smell and feel wrong to you, as if you have fleas constantly stinging or biting.” Sebrina grimaced theatrically and shook her head. “For males, I understand it’s like static electricity constantly stinging you. It tingles and pulls like little pinpricks. The Mated partner feels a painful charge or the intruder reeks like a junkyard dog, but this only happens after the Mates have begun the mating bond that will hold them together for life.”
“All this from a single kiss of a male?”
“No, the kiss or bite from your True Mate.”
“There’s biting involved?”
Sebrina laughed at her outraged expression. “It’s not as bad as you might think.”
“And once I find this ‘True Mate’ and kiss him, any other man who touches me will stink and make me physically uncomfortable?” Sebrina nodded. “How long will that last?”
“It’s strongest the first year after mating,” Sebrina admitted, “but it fades into the background over the years. You’ll always feel uncomfortable being touched by a male not your True Mate, but it won’t be excruciating after the first year.”
“Excruciating? It’ll be excruciating during the first year?”
“Not necessarily. Everyone is different.”
“Great.”
“Be aware, your Mated partner will know it when his female is being touched by another male, just as you’ll know when he is being touched by another female. There will be no hiding affairs from your Mate. Nor can he hide them from you.”
“Well, that’s good,” Julianna remarked drily. “I’ll know when he’s fooling around. That’s certainly a step up from before.”
Sebrina cocked her head to one side, her eyebrows rising. “Before?”
Julianna grimaced and looked out the window, wishing Jeff’s Camaro would drive down the street and whisk her away from the ugly memories.
“My first husband regarded me as a steppingstone to better, and younger, things.”
Sebrina growled with such fury Julianna jerked her gaze back to the older woman’s face. Her expression was stoic as ever, but her eyes glowed with anger and disgust.
“This will never happen with your True Mate, daughter.” Her anger seemed disproportionate to Julianna’s story, but perhaps the older woman was incensed on behalf of all women left by philandering husbands. Sebrina didn’t seem to have a male with her. Maybe she’d experienced something similar.
“That’s good,” Julianna said airily, trying to dispel the tension at the table. “What other benefits are there in having a True Mate?”
Sebrina shivered a little, and sadness filtered into her expression. “Your strength and longevity increases, and you’re never alone in times of danger. Your True Mate will know when you need him.”
“That’s kinda cool. Is that from the mating bond you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
They stopped speaking as Cindy brought more tea and their food. She winked at Julianna and nodded to Sebrina then departed to help others. Julianna filtered through their discussion while she picked up her fork. The scents of her food made her mouth water, but her mind kept going back to some of Sebrina’s comments at the candidacy party and earlier.
“How do you know that Jeff is my True Mate or that I’m his?”
Sebrina smiled a very smug and knowing smile.
“This I have known since your father’s funeral. He couldn’t stop fidgeting, as if he had to get closer to you and hold you as you grieved. Your scent changes when he’s close to you, just as his changes when you’re close to him. He hides it fairly well, but not well enough to escape my notice. This is why you were chosen as a candidate for Luna.”
“Were you the one to nominate me?”
“I was.”
Julianna nodded. “Thanks…I think.”
Sebrina sighed. “I know this will be a hard time for both of you because he must make it look like he’s considering all the candidates. He must treat them with the same courtesy as he does you, but he has already chosen you in his heart. Now you must pass all the tests so he may claim you.”
Julianna frowned, and her feminist side rose to the fore. “That hardly seems fair. Why can’t I just claim him? He’s my True Mate, isn’t he? It’d kill him and me if he mated with another female.”
“It would be miserable for you both,” Sebrina agreed solemnly. “But he’ll never Mate with someone else, though he will copulate with the successful Luna candidate to pass on the line. He’s the Successor, and the female who stands beside him must pass all the tests, even if she’s not his True Mate. He will have to turn away from you if you cannot pass them. He’ll have to breed with the female who does pass, and Mistress Solaris will try her best to be that female.”
“Won’t they all?” Julianna shoved food into her mouth to keep from snarling.
“Yes, but I sense Mistress Solaris is different,” Sebrina warned seriously, and Julianna looked up at her, concerned. “You must be careful of her, daughter. She’s dangerous to the unwary. She is strong and willful, a worthy rival, but she isn’t always direct in her rivalries. She doesn’t understand that the pack is weakened by this.”
Julianna felt her Sister rush to the surface, and she declared, “I will pass the tests, Sebrina, because Jeff is my Mate. Mine!”
Sebrina jerked back in surprise and shivered at the power in Julianna’s voice. Julianna let the possessive rage burn through her, reveling for a moment in its heat. Brenda Solaris might pretend she was higher ranked or more deserving of the post of Luna, but Julianna would fight for it, and win.
Sebrina said no more, and they finished their breakfast in silence as Julianna’s aggression seeped away. Cindy came by to make sure their teapot was always full, but otherwise left them alone with only the occasional thoughtful glance. She left the bill on the table with a little nod for them to take their time.
At last, when the food was gone and the teapot empty, Julianna wiped her mouth with her napkin and looked up at Sebrina. The older woman watched her carefully.
“I just have one more question about the testing period.”
“Yes?” Sebrina asked warily.
“What about sexual needs during this time? His or mine?”
“Sexual needs?”
“Yeah, you know, during the testing. Can he have sex with anyone not a candidate? Can I?”
“No,” Sebrina stated flatly.
Julianna wasn’t surprised with the answer. “Why?”
“Because it would reflect badly on you as leaders. If you cannot control your sexual urges prior to becoming the alpha pair, how likely are you to be able to control the pack as a whole? The packmembers would see it as a weakness, and you’d be disqualified as a Luna candidate.”
“What about Jeff? Would he lose his Successor status?”
Sebrina’s silence filled the booth.
Dammit, is there a double standard even among werewolves? That’s bullshit!
“Yes, I believe so,” the older woman agreed at last. “But it has never happened before. There’s no precedent. But I believe the Alpha would be forced to choose a new Successor or continue as Alpha until another male has challenged and won.”
“Huh. Thank you for explaining.” Julianna reached into her purse and drew out a twenty as her mind churned with her thoughts. “I think I need some time to think on it. Can I see you tomorrow?”
“Of course, daughter.”
Julianna squeezed Sebrina’s hand as she rose and retreated from the table, waving at Cindy as she headed out the door. No touching or kissing Jeff, no sex with anyone else, and the need to jump the man stronger than it had ever been before. It’s shaping up to be a great summer.
One thought offered her bittersweet cheer. At least she’d stopped Jeff from doing something he shouldn’t at the party. It had saved both their candidacies that night.
Chapter Six:
Time Management
Jeff ran through the invoice Kyle handed him while the others unloaded the delivery of beer and hard liquor through the back door of the Wolf’s Den. Bottles clinked gently in the boxes as they were stacked in the backroom. Jeff usually loved this process of setting up the bar for the night, but the sight of the different microbrew logos couldn’t distract him from the ache in his gut.
He refocused on the invoice. Everything looked to be in order, but he never left a delivery to anyone else. He’d learned that from his father. A true leader took responsibility for making sure things ran well. Being aware of problems before they became huge made the difference between a good leader and a crappy one.
“Looks good, Kyle.”
“Thanks, boss.”
The man looked a little haggard, and Jeff wondered if he’d been sleeping enough. Hell, Jeff hadn’t been sleeping much either, not with his True Mate in town and sleeping somewhere else.
“You all right?”
“Sure,” came the terse reply.
“Eloise?” he asked knowingly.
Kyle sighed, and his shoulders drooped. “Yeah.”
“She still engaged to Scatterstone?”
“Yeah.”
“That sucks. But I still think it’s gonna work out. She wasn’t pleased that Scatterstone told you to back off.”
“Oh, I can tell. My phone has been so ringing from her calls and texts.”
“Just give it a little time.”
“Two weeks isn’t long enough?”
Jeff snorted. “Not hardly. Scatterstone’s probably muddying the waters. But Eloise is a smart girl. She’ll see through him.”
It was Kyle’s turn to snort, but he didn’t disagree.
“I’m gonna
go up front. You okay back here?”
Kyle nodded, and Jeff left his beta supervisor to do his job. Jeff wound his way through the stacks of beer and liquor boxes, his mind returning to his own dilemma. He usually inspected the boxes but today he strode directly into the bar and tried to find something to keep himself busy. He nodded to a few of the “early” customers sitting at the bar. There were some others playing pool, but the sunshine streaming through the windows reminded him it was too early to have a large crowd.
Which only meant he had more than enough time to think about Julianna Morris and how much he wanted to sink his cock into her warm, snarling heat.
He groaned involuntarily. Shut the fuck up!
You know it’s true, his Brother insisted.
Yeah, I know, but it doesn’t help that she won’t talk to me or even see me. Hell, it’s been two weeks since she stomped out of the house after crushing my balls!
You’re her Mate. You must dominate her. She will come around.
Oh yeah, that’ll really work. Didn’t you get the memo at the party? Grabbing her was dumb! She can kick my ass six ways from breakfast. But I’d give damn near everything for her to do it again. At least I could see her while she does it.
He’d had plenty of time to get to know the other candidates for Luna. There were endless dinner invitations, “casual” interactions on the streets of Callowwood. Even Mischa Wolensky had cornered him at Smith’s to “discuss” the benefits of going with organic meats rather than those that were commercially processed. He’d met with them all and had been polite, even cordial, but his insides writhed with the idea they’d want him to touch them. He could barely tolerate their hugs. They smelled off, not quite rancid, but definitely not right.
Only Julianna is right. She’s your Mate!
Thanks, genius. I got that already.
Each of the others wore a silver wolf’s head pendant the size of a nickel on a leather cord where everyone could see it proudly proclaiming them as candidates for Luna. Made of pure silver mined from the hills of Nevada, the tokens were antiques, handed down through the Alpha’s family for successive candidates. Though he enjoyed seeing the tokens displayed, he wished he’d seen one in particular. Attached to one gorgeous wrist.