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"Are you gonna tell me what's bothering you?" Caleb asks as he washes the dishes in the kitchen sink after dinner.
His carefully-planned-out kitchen fits along one wall of the cabin, taking up only as much space as necessary without crowding the bedroom. The space beside the woodstove is our dedicated living and dining area. Just across from that, a door leads to the newly added bathroom that was built off the back of the house.
"What do you mean?" I ask, looking up with a frown. Now that we have electricity, I've been able to tinker with my laptop in the evenings. The internet connection is still the absolute garbage that I grew up with, but it's better than nothing.
"Something's been bothering you ever since you got home," Caleb says, shutting the water off and turning to look at me. "You've been trying to hide it, but I can tell."
I start to protest but press my lips closed a moment later. "I've been thinking a lot about the future, I guess." I close my laptop and sit back in my chair. "We talked about breeding season a few weeks ago, and...that's just around the corner now." I drum my fingers along the tabletop and feel the familiar stirring in my balls whenever I'm around him.
I mean, it doesn't take much for him to arouse me, but this is different.
Right now, it's just a dull ache, but as we grow closer to the breeding season, it'll get stronger. A burning need to breed my mate. To fill him with my seed and impregnate him. My instincts will demand it. My wolf will demand it. I’ll be a slave to my primal urges.
And so will he.
Couples who want to avoid pregnancy can take steps to do so. Abstinence is all but impossible for a sexually active mated pair during breeding season, but there are certain herbal mixtures that can reduce the chance of pregnancy, as well as the human methods, like condoms or pulling out.
"It is." Caleb walks slowly to his chair and sits across the table from me. "If you're having second thoughts about pups..."
"No," I quickly interrupt him. "It's not that."
"Then what?"
"I...I don't know, exactly." It sounds stupid to say it out loud, but it's the truth. "I just feel...disconnected, I think? Like I'm missing something. I love working on my app, but I dread leaving you every morning. And when I come home, I feel like I've been away from you for centuries. It feels like you're blossoming into this fully fledged member of the pack while I'm...not." The words feel flat on my tongue, and I grimace at the sound of them.
Caleb reaches across the table for my hand.
I give it to him and look up into his eyes, suddenly realizing that it's been ages since I've spoken with any other member of the pack. I see Caleb, my parents, and that's it. And even then, I barely see my parents, and I only get to see Caleb for a few hours every night and morning before I have to leave again.
What will happen when we have kids? Will I be caught in this same routine even then? Destined only to see them for a little while every evening? Leaving before they're even awake in the mornings?
The very thought of it makes me shudder in agony.
"I've been doing some research lately," Caleb says after a moment of contemplation. "I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet because I'm not really sure how good of an idea it is..."
I raise a brow quizzically.
"This entire area has terrible cell reception," he explains. "But, just on the other side of the lake, you've got that ridge that provides a pretty commanding view of the area. And apparently, that's all part of the property here."
"Yeah." I nod in confirmation. "We do a lot of hunting along the ridge there. The ground's too uneven to build on, so it's mostly undisturbed."
"Right, but..." Caleb bites his lip as if choosing his next words carefully. "I think we could get a cell phone company to install a tower up there. It obviously wouldn't be as good as the internet service you're used to in Seattle, but having a strong cell signal would be a massive improvement over what we currently have out here, wouldn't it?"
I sit in stunned silence as I turn the thought over in my head and try to process everything he's saying.
"Plus, getting cell phone coverage out here would be a huge help in case of emergencies. I mean, if the power goes out, I lose access to the internet and my phone. So if there's an emergency, I can't call anyone for help. There's the radio, but there's no guarantee that anyone will be there to hear if I call."
"It's a good idea. And yeah, there are a lot of benefits, but...that would mean inviting a human company out here to install some of their technology on our mountain."
"It would," Caleb says with a slight nod.
"This pack has survived for a long time by minimizing human contact as much as possible. Humans are almost never allowed past my parents' house," I continue. "I can't even imagine allowing them to travel all the way to the ridge."
Caleb sits up a little straighter and looks me in the eye. "I know that working with humans is dangerous, and there's always the fear that hunters will find us, but...my pack has worked directly with human companies for generations. We're always careful, yes, but...we've never had hunters track us down as a result of that."
"But..."
Caleb cuts me off before I can poke holes in his plan. "This sort of thing is perfectly normal. People in remote locations sign contracts with human companies all the time for exactly this sort of thing. The benefits would be significant, and the drawbacks would be relatively minimal."
