AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Again, he felt his lips quirk. Before he had the chance to type a response, another message came through: Does your pride know you plan to enter an arranged mating?
Yes. He’d recently announced it. All were behind him. Have you shared your plan with your pride?
My family knows, that’s all for now.
He twisted his mouth, wondering if maybe she was keeping it mostly to herself because she worried someone would give her problems—perhaps even her true mate. Are they being supportive?
Yes, they think it’ll be best for me to leave, though they wish that wasn’t the case.
Is anyone going to give you any problems, try to throw up roadblocks, or outright contest?
No, why would they? If by ‘anyone’ you’re referring to my TM, I don’t anticipate that he’ll react one way or the other.
Good answer, because he didn’t want to have to deal with anyone meddling.
Is anyone protesting on your end?
No, they’ve made it clear they’re behind me if this is really what I want. He wouldn’t have been able to say the same eighteen months ago—there were some who, irrationally still blaming him for something he’d had no hand in, would sooner see him forever miserable. But they’d thankfully switched to another pride.
What about your cat? Quinley asked. How does he feel?
Angry, in sum. Angry at Lucinda for committing to another man. Angry at her fiancé for claiming and impregnating her. Angry at Isaiah for never approaching her and telling her she was their mate—the cat still so sure she’d have chosen them if only she knew.
Isaiah grimaced as he typed,I’ll be honest, he doesn’t care much one way or the other that I mean to take a mate. He wasn’t even paying attention to the online conversation Isaiah was currently having with Quinley. The cat had pulled away from the world. He’s still angry at the situation with my TM.
Much as the animal felt betrayed by her commitment to another man and wouldn’t accept her now that she carried said man’s child, the cat wasn’t ready to let her go.
Isaiah’s recent attempts at dating had therefore amounted to nothing. The cat ignored the females Isaiah dated. He didn’t see them, didn’t want them, didn’t like them on principle… because they quite simply weren’t Lucinda.
It was why Isaiah had finally given serious thought to an arranged mating—something his father had initially suggested back before Lucinda was even pregnant.
If Isaiah claimed and branded a female, his cat would have no choice but to acknowledge her. He wouldn’t ignore her the way he did those who Isaiah had dated. The feline would view her as his, protect her, engage with her. And just maybe stop obsessing over what had happened with Lucinda.
Isaiah couldn’t see any other way of forcing his cat to let her go.
Not that that was the only reason Isaiah had chosen the arranged mating route. For him, there was plenty of appeal in it. But only if he could find someone on the same page as him.
He didn’t want to mate someone who was only looking to form alliances or solidify a place for herself in his pride. He wanted a woman who was looking to build a future with him. Hence why joining the website had seemed the best idea. It would pair him up with someone who shared his wants and goals.
He knew there were some in his circle who, despite supporting his choice, were skeptical that it would work out. But his parents’ mating had been arranged, and they were still tight all these years later.
His father Koen had explained that, though his inner animal hadn’t emotionally connected to Isaiah’s mother initially, it had thought of Andaya as under its protection once she was branded. The cat had acknowledged that she belonged to him and, like Koen himself, eventually bonded to her enough that an imprint connection had formed between them.
A shifter could form a metaphysical bond with someone who wasn’t their true mate. Imprinting wasn’t a process that was well-understood. It could happen to couples fast or slowly. It might spark to life even if they didn’t harbor deep feelings for each other. It also might not happen at all, and it could even reverse itself if things went tits up.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he saw that he had another message from Quinley: It’s understandable that your cat would disengage, though it can’t be fun for you.
No, it wasn’t. What about your cat? Is she on the same page as you here?
She wants a mate, but I think it’s more about filling a void than anything else.
Isaiah knew a thing or two about voids. His cat’s void was one huge gaping hole that might never be filled. Isaiah… he couldn’t say if he’d ever manage to fill his own. His soul would never be bound to its other half; would always be incomplete. And it would also carry the open wound of being kept apart from his true mate.
But then… Quinley was in the same boat, wasn’t she? They would have this in common. He liked the idea of that; of being understood.
Much as his head was kind of a mess, he did believe he’d be the best mate that he could be. He’d give it his everything, determined that imprinting would begin. He’d be loyal. Protective. Fully committed to the female he took as his mate, even as he might not be particularly possessive unless, or until, they bonded.
And as he looked again at the profile picture on his screen, he thought that maybe, just maybe, Quinley could be that female. The shadows in her eyes made him feel a sort of kinship with her, as did many of her answers and comments.
