weirdest conversations I’ll ever have in my lifetime. I think for a moment.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just blurting it out.” I pause as a spectacular bald eagle soars above us, circling and then disappearing. “I’ve never seen one of those so close.”
“We get them out here all the time. What’s on your mind because I know it’s not eagles.” His arms wrap tight around my body, pulling me closer to him. Contentment and warmth spread through me. I could sit like this for just about forever and let the peacefulness continue.
Playtime is over though. “Mating. Claiming. I need you to explain these things to me.” His chest shakes again. “What is so damn funny?” I try to move but his arms become steel, not allowing me to go anywhere.
“Thought we went over all this?”
He’s kidding, right? Right? “We touched on it, but never really talked about it. And I need you to explain it to me because it seems like I don’t have a choice in the matter.” His entire body freezes like I’ve doused him in a flash of ice or slapped him across the face. Shit. What did I say?
“You always have a choice, Kenly. If you don’t want to be with me after the change, then I deal. But you always have a choice.” His tone is harsh, teeth gritted. I really pissed him off. Shit.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just trying to understand. You said before that you smell me and that is how you know. First, how do you do that, and second, why don’t I?” I’m pretty sure I know the answer to the second, but I need to hear it out loud.
He inhales deeply then tightens around me, his nose in my hair. Yep, kind of like that too. “Wolves have special abilities. We are stronger and faster than any humans. We can also hear, smell, and see things that the human eye cannot. Such as I can see in the dark with no lights. My eyes adjust and allow me to keep going on my way. I can hear things miles away and I can smell quite a ways away also. Wolves release a pheromone.” Like humans when they’re horny? “Kind of like humans.” Answers that one. “But it is a particular kind that only one select wolf of the opposite sex can smell. It is unique, and very special. When I first inhaled your scent, I knew right away.” I lift my arms and sniff under my arms. Not great, but not horrible either. His body shakes again. “Not that smell. That just adds to you. It’s hard to describe and I’ve never had to so I’m at a bit of a loss.”
I have to give the guy a reprieve. “Okay, so it’s something special and unique that only two wolves in the world will smell and when they do, they are mated.”
“Well, that was a lot easier to say.”
“But the doctor said that you smell me because the other wolves bit me. That their DNA is changing me. How do you know that you aren’t smelling one of them? That one of them isn’t your mate.” This has been plaguing me ever since he brought up the smell thing. Then with what the doctor said about the DNA, it didn’t fit.
“Two things,” he says without a thought. “One, I know because the three wolves that attacked you, were all males. Second, because my nose knows. It wouldn’t deceive me like this.”
I ponder his words and strangely, I feel a bit relieved by his answer. “And I can’t smell you because I’m human?”
“Unfortunately, that is correct. With the wolf saliva waking up the change, I smell it plain as day. You will more than likely not until you turn wolf.” My insides clench and a question is on the tip of my tongue and I want to ask it so damn bad, but I’m also afraid of the answer.
We sit quietly for a few long moments, and I will my backbone to straighten. “Max, if I’m your mate, what happens if I die during the transition?”
The tightness in his body returns, only this time, he’s stone and I don’t like it one damn bit. “First, this will be the last time I hear you say that you are going to die. Do you
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just blurting it out.” I pause as a spectacular bald eagle soars above us, circling and then disappearing. “I’ve never seen one of those so close.”
“We get them out here all the time. What’s on your mind because I know it’s not eagles.” His arms wrap tight around my body, pulling me closer to him. Contentment and warmth spread through me. I could sit like this for just about forever and let the peacefulness continue.
Playtime is over though. “Mating. Claiming. I need you to explain these things to me.” His chest shakes again. “What is so damn funny?” I try to move but his arms become steel, not allowing me to go anywhere.
“Thought we went over all this?”
He’s kidding, right? Right? “We touched on it, but never really talked about it. And I need you to explain it to me because it seems like I don’t have a choice in the matter.” His entire body freezes like I’ve doused him in a flash of ice or slapped him across the face. Shit. What did I say?
“You always have a choice, Kenly. If you don’t want to be with me after the change, then I deal. But you always have a choice.” His tone is harsh, teeth gritted. I really pissed him off. Shit.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just trying to understand. You said before that you smell me and that is how you know. First, how do you do that, and second, why don’t I?” I’m pretty sure I know the answer to the second, but I need to hear it out loud.
He inhales deeply then tightens around me, his nose in my hair. Yep, kind of like that too. “Wolves have special abilities. We are stronger and faster than any humans. We can also hear, smell, and see things that the human eye cannot. Such as I can see in the dark with no lights. My eyes adjust and allow me to keep going on my way. I can hear things miles away and I can smell quite a ways away also. Wolves release a pheromone.” Like humans when they’re horny? “Kind of like humans.” Answers that one. “But it is a particular kind that only one select wolf of the opposite sex can smell. It is unique, and very special. When I first inhaled your scent, I knew right away.” I lift my arms and sniff under my arms. Not great, but not horrible either. His body shakes again. “Not that smell. That just adds to you. It’s hard to describe and I’ve never had to so I’m at a bit of a loss.”
I have to give the guy a reprieve. “Okay, so it’s something special and unique that only two wolves in the world will smell and when they do, they are mated.”
“Well, that was a lot easier to say.”
“But the doctor said that you smell me because the other wolves bit me. That their DNA is changing me. How do you know that you aren’t smelling one of them? That one of them isn’t your mate.” This has been plaguing me ever since he brought up the smell thing. Then with what the doctor said about the DNA, it didn’t fit.
“Two things,” he says without a thought. “One, I know because the three wolves that attacked you, were all males. Second, because my nose knows. It wouldn’t deceive me like this.”
I ponder his words and strangely, I feel a bit relieved by his answer. “And I can’t smell you because I’m human?”
“Unfortunately, that is correct. With the wolf saliva waking up the change, I smell it plain as day. You will more than likely not until you turn wolf.” My insides clench and a question is on the tip of my tongue and I want to ask it so damn bad, but I’m also afraid of the answer.
We sit quietly for a few long moments, and I will my backbone to straighten. “Max, if I’m your mate, what happens if I die during the transition?”
The tightness in his body returns, only this time, he’s stone and I don’t like it one damn bit. “First, this will be the last time I hear you say that you are going to die. Do you
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