Page 34 of Jared

Steve watched as Jared settled himself onto the sofa next to him. He placed an arm around his mate, wishing to be close and hoping to provide reassurance.

“Yes. There is a natural hierarchy in packs, mostly parental, but the whole 'Alpha' thing with wolves is based on a misconception that became popularized in the 1970's. As men, we also crave social order, and more or less adopted the terms to formalize our pack positions. It speaks to our human side as well as our wolves. Hence why there is no big boss fight or anything in order for me to take over as Alpha. I mate and then my mate and I then oversee the pack. The betas help keep things running smoothly and see to security, and the rest of the pack are just ordinary pack members.”

“No Omegas?”

“Only in stories.”

“And if you bite me, I won't turn.”

“Well, no. But you will then have a lifespan tied to my own and a few other were related changes.”

“So, if you live a hundred years, I will too.”

“And if I die, you do too.”

“That's a hell of 'til death do us part.”

Steve nodded solemnly. “It is.”

“So, we'll have sex, you'll bite me and drink my blood like a vampire, I'll start to die, then you'll feed me some of your blood, and I'll become not a wolf but more than human.”

Steve winced. “Yeah.”

“And the bite feels good. It says here, it feels good. How the hell can that possibly feel good?”

“A mating bite triggers changes in my saliva.”

“Oh. The 'compounds enter the blood' bit. Your spit gets in the bite and drugs me. I'm going to

tell you, this scares the bejesus out of me. But it can't be all bad, right? Otherwise, no one would be mated.”

“Look, Jared...”

“No, stop. I want to be yours. I kinda wish I hadn't read this in quite so much depth, but I did. And I'm also kind glad I did, because now I won't freak out while it's going on. Actually, scratch that, I probably will freak out, but at least I'll know what's going on. Can we have a candlelight dinner and all that first? With lots of wine, then bed and the mating?”

Steve took Jared's hand. “Yeah.”

“Make us some reservations someplace really swanky, mister. The sooner the better, before I really do majorly freak.”

“Friday too soon?”

“Honey, tomorrow lunch would be even better but I'm sure that's too soon for a reservation.”

“I'll find us somewhere.”

“Stay with me tonight?”

“How about my place? Yours is still airing out.” Steve gave a sniff as he spoke. The source of the stench was gone, but air freshener did little to hide the lingering smell.

“Yeah, okay. I guess I'll be moving in with you anyways. Shortest lease ever.”

“I'm sure Des won't mind. As landlord, I know my parents will be thrilled.”

“Do we have to take over the pack right away?”

“No. We can take a honeymoon, get you settled with me in our place, then hold the ceremony to officially take over. So, not until about a month after. Gives my folks time to settle things there end too. Mom was talking about them taking cruise once we take over.”

“That sounds like fun. Hey, can we take a Disney cruise?”