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When I get to the Denali cabin, I stand outside for a moment and listen for signs of someone being home. After just a second, I can tell that it’s empty, and I walk in the front door. Since this is protected land, no shifter would dare break in and steal anything. If they needed shelter, it would be provided, so most of the time cabins like this aren’t locked. Except mine.
Walking through the house, I can smell the scent of the three wolves and human that live here. The wolf scent is strong, so it covers most of Snow’s, but I scent my way to her room easily enough.
As a bear shifter, our sense of smell isn’t as sharp as other shifters, but I’m a male and I would know my mate’s scent anywhere. When I go into her room, I see that it’s tidy and simple. A small bed with just a few things around the room. Nothing is out of place, and it's all very clean. It makes me feel a bit sad that my home was so messy when she came in. When I get back I’ll clean because it looks like she would appreciate that.
I take a bag out of her closet and pack what few belongings she has. Everything in her room fits into a small suitcase, and it makes another pang of sadness hit me. I didn’t have much when I first came to Gray Ridge. I just had a small pack with things that kind shifters had given me along the way. I’d told them all I couldn’t stay and I was looking for my sister, and they all tried to help as best they could.
Seeing Snow’s suitcase and thinking that this is all she owns makes me wonder what her story is and how she came to live with a pack of wolves she calls brothers when she’s fully human.
When I go to exit the cabin, I leave the note on the table. Before I turn to go, I find a pen and write something at the bottom. Hopefully, it helps them understand what is happening.
I’m okay. Don’t worry, guys. I found my mate and he is going to keep me safe. I’ll check in soon. Love, Snow.
PS She is mated to Koda, brother of Winnie, who’s mated to Alpha Stone. I will protect Snow with my life.
Once I’m finished, I take her bag and leave, heading into the woods towards the Alpha’s home.
It doesn’t take me long to get to Winnie and Stone’s place. When I get there, I don’t scent the Alpha, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I just need to talk to Winnie alone for a few minutes, and then I can get back to my mate.
I knock on the door and she answers a moment later, beaming brightly at me. Thankfully, she’s a female bear and she probably won’t be able to scent my mate on me when she reaches in for a hug. Our kind love to snuggle and are very affectionate, so I hug her back, thinking that she would know something was wrong if I didn’t.
When I pull back and walk inside, she looks at me funny for a half second, then I see her dismiss whatever thought she had. I hid Snow’s suitcase outside so she wouldn’t get suspicious. I just have a few questions and then I can leave.
“Koda, I’m so happy you came by. Micah is sleeping right now, but I can wake him up if you want to hold your nephew.”
I smile at her, shaking my head. “I’d love to see the baby bear cub, but let him have his rest. I know how it is in this weather. I just want to curl up and go to sleep.”
Winnie agrees and rubs her big baby belly. She’s pregnant with another baby, and I’m sure the cold has her wanting to nap a lot as well.
“I’m surprised you came out in this.” She nods towards the window. “It’s really coming down now. Stone went to go check on the pack to make sure everyone is stocked up and good to bed down for a few days.”
“I had to pick something up in town.” I look around, trying to find the words. “And I need to ask you a few things. Privately.”
She sits forward in her chair, looking at me with concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I just have some questions about…” I hesitate, then just decide to rip the Band-Aid off. “About your mating.”
Looking up, I see her cheeks turn red, and I hate that I’ve embarrassed her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just don’t trust anyone else to talk to about this. It’s hard not growing up with a pack or an Alpha to explain this to you, and it would be even more awkward if I asked Stone now.”
Winnie nods her head in understanding. “I can imagine. I was lucky that I had women to talk to about it. Okay. What would you like to know?”
I clear my throat and just go for it. Needing it over as soon as possible.
“Did you feel attraction right away? Did you know you were true mates?”
I don’t think this was the question she expected by the look on her face, but she nods and starts to explain.
“I felt attraction, yes, but from what I’ve heard, it’s different for us than for other shifters. I didn’t have the pull that some shifters experience, and that may be because I’m a bear. It was something that grew over time with me, and now I think I feel the same as others. I get separation anxiety when we are apart for too long, and I have an uncontrollable need to have his scent on me. I didn’t have that before.”
I nod, listening to her answers and thinking of what else I need to ask her.
“Dom and Ruby are mated. But she’s human.”
I help the Gray Ridge sheriff a few days a week so that he can spend more time at home since his mate had triplets. I help the shifters with what they need, being muscle when they need it and do odds and ends around the office. Dom and I have never had a serious conversation about his human mate, and I didn’t have a reason to before.
“Yes. Apparently, it’s not unheard of. It’s just rare. From what little I know, she felt the pull after their first coupling during the mating moon.” Her cheeks splash pink again, and I am just as uncomfortable talking about this as she is. “The mating moon is designed to bring shifters together to propagate the species. And from what I could gather from Ruby, that’s when Dominic was able to claim her for the first time. She felt the pull at its greatest then, and that’s when they, um, bonded.”
I nod my head, glad that at least one of us knows how this is supposed to work.
“So Dominic didn’t claim her until the first mating moon?”
She nods. “From what they said, he could have before then, but the transition would be easier if he waited. So he did.”
She lets out a little laugh and rubs her belly. “The mating moon gets all shifters though, not just the ones mated to humans. I guess this storm has good timing.”
“What do you mean?” I ask in confusion.
“I guess you wouldn’t know. Unless you’re mated, you don’t really pay attention to it as closely. But when the mating moon approaches, you want to make sure your house is stocked and you don’t have plans for a few days. I’m already pregnant, so the pull won’t be as strong. But all the other couples will notice a change.”
“But what does this have to do with the storm?”
She waves her hand like I should understand her meaning. “The mating moon is tonight, Koda. Shifters are going to be holed up in their cabins in a snowstorm, with Mother Nature telling them to breed.” She lets out a laugh. “Just be glad you’re not a newly mated shifter. I hear it’s pretty rough.”
A sinking feeling hits my stomach, and I feel like the earth shifts under me.
“Koda, are you okay? You look a little pale.”
I shake my head, trying to push away the thoughts running through my mind. “I’m fine.”
“Why all the sudden questions about mating?”
I shrug my shoulders and look away. “I’ve just been feeling lonely lately. It’s hard to be around couples and cubs and not want one of my own.”
Winnie reaches out, rubbing my knee. I put my hand on top of hers and look into her honey-brown eyes, the same color as mine.
“You’ll find her one day, Koda. And when you do, you’ll turn your world upside down for her.”
I nod, unable to tell her the whole story. I don’t know why, but I want to make sure that everything is perfect between Snow and me before I tell anyone. I feel as if our mating is something
special, and I don’t want to tell anyone for fear it will all disappear. Like waking up from a dream that’s too good to be true.
“Kiss Micah for me when he wakes up. And take care of this little cub, too.” I reach down and rub her belly before giving her a hug goodbye.
“Be sure to stock up on food if you’re going to be stuck in your cabin for a while.”
I pause at the door, my hand on the knob. For a second I wonder if Winnie knows about my mate, but there’s no way.
Looking over my shoulder, I smile at her and head out. I grab Snow’s suitcase from behind the tree and make my way into town for a few supplies. The storm is getting almost impossible to navigate, so I don’t have much time.
Chapter 5
