AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to make it worse, but you can’t hide from this. I hurt Caleb when I left the pack. I knew what we were becoming to each other but I left anyway, and when he came to find me he found a human woman in my bed.” Jace was quiet for a while his hand still on Ryan’s shoulder as Ryan waited for him to continue.
“It had taken seconds to want her, a chemical reaction so elemental I couldn’t ignore it. Seconds to feel for her what it had taken months to build with Caleb. I know how deeply I hurt him. He never hid it from me, and for a long time after we mated, I felt such shame because I did love him. Before I ever left the pack, I loved him.”
“You’re fine now though. Happy, mated with a family.”
“Things could have gone another way. We had to learn to fit together as three people. In the beginning, I felt awful for wanting them both I felt disloyal to each of them, now I couldn’t imagine being mated to just one of them. We were never meant to be mated pairs we were always supposed to be three.”
KELLY WAS BAKING cookies, the smell of the shortbread and sugar cookie dough had her mouth-watering as she used the cookie cutters to make uniform shapes. She realized that her senses were sharpening again and wondered if she chose not to stay mated to Ryan if they would dull again. Her wolf protested the thought that they would leave him with a swift sharp pain at the idea
Setting aside the cookies to cool she turned her attention to her research. There was a steady decline in the number of children born from mate pairings, barely perceptible at first the phenomena had only become noticeable within the last few years.
It seemed that younger wolves who’d only recently begun shifting had greater success having a child when they mated early. It would be tempting to think like humans it was easier to get pregnant earlier in life, but Kelly wasn’t certain that was the answer. It shouldn’t matter with lycans, since their physiology ensured they aged slower, and were fertile far longer than humans normally were.
Sara had been able to get pregnant right away, and she hadn’t even been trying. It made Kelly wonder if there was something about being lycan that now made it more difficult to conceive. The power to shift was tied to the moon, but it was also grounded in nature through the earth and though their kind sought out the cleanest most untouched areas. It was getting more difficult to find such places, so the problem might have been environmental as well.
She would have to run her theory past Jonas to see what he thought. Testing the idea would be nearly impossible now that Sara was a lycan, but Jace had said theirs wasn’t the only pack to have a member mated to a human. It was kept under wraps since humans weren’t supposed to know about their kind, but the council might make an exception and allow the human mates from other packs to be studied if it would mean that they could find a cure for everyone.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
She was eager to talk to Jace about her ideas. Figuring he’d be the best person to approach since he’d mated a human and was on the council. As a member, he’d have access to the names of the mates and which packs they were in. It wouldn’t be easy to convince him. Ryan would have to agree as well, and it would be unlikely that they’d send her off to investigate but the thought that they might send someone had excitement humming through her blood.
She made her way over to Jace’s house smiling at several people she passed along the way. She noticed right away that where they’d let her blend into the background only days before now she was suddenly visible again.
It felt good to be reclaiming her position in the pack, but it also made her realize how intricately tied she was to Ryan through what little of the mating she’d allowed to this point. If she chose not to remain his mate would she also lose her friends and status within the pack again? She didn’t think she could go through that again. It was too much to consider and made her sad. Kelly kept her head high, refusing to let anyone see her turmoil.
Caleb opened the door when she knocked and the warm scent of contentment that he emitted made Kelly smile. She wondered if all blood mates smelled that way.
“Hey Kelly, come on in.” He stepped aside “The guys are out back or I can take your coat if you’d rather sit inside?”
“Inside I think. I’m still feeling the cold more than I’d like while healing up from my injury.” She hated to admit to him. Wolves were always on guard for anything that could make them appear weaker. Even to members of their pack.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better. Jace and Ryan need to do something about that family. I’ve always hated how close they settled to the pack and now they’re shooting at us? It’s certainly made some of us feel unsafe.” Caleb took her coat from her when she shrugged out of it, hanging it in the hall closet.
“I hadn’t realized I’d caused such a stir.” She could feel a blush beginning to heat the back of her neck.
“That’s because I’ve been busy trying to get you well.” Her head whipped around at the growl behind Caleb and her heart somersaulted at the sight of Ryan leaning against the door jam.
The heat of Caleb’s hand where it rested on her shoulder when he’d taken her coat was now nearly unbearable under the weight of her mate’s gaze.
He looked pointedly at the contact, jealousy briefly flaring in his eyes before he stepped forward claiming her mouth in a searing kiss that screamed of possession. As she melted into the embrace she heard Caleb chuckle.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find one of my mates.” Ryan didn’t release her lips as Caleb left them alone, and soon she was clinging to him, her lungs aching from lack of oxygen.
“God, you make me crazy for you.” He breathed the words against her lips as he pulled back. The words seemed torn from him and they made Kelly smile, even as a sense of melancholy settled in her chest.
She didn’t make him crazy. He hadn’t wanted her before the mating. It was only now that his wolf felt a biological need for her that he wanted her at all. The thought had tears stinging her eyes. Ryan nipped at her lower lip as she pulled away. She wet her lip with the tip of her tongue soothing the slight sting.
RYAN LET HER escape their embrace, wishing that she would allow the walls she’d built around her heart to soften. She headed into the house and he followed her, feeling a bit like a lost puppy as he trailed behind her.
“Are you going to stay for lunch?” His brother asked glancing up from where he was holding Caleb. A stab of longing went through him as he watched the two together. Ryan caught Kelly’s eye, desperate for that connection with her.
“Yes.”
“No.”
They both answered at the same time and even though he wasn’t surprised that she’d said no he wanted her to stay. He wanted her to see the relationship that Jace had developed with his mates and maybe realize that even though they’d had their challenges, they shared a deep love for one another.
“You must have wanted something. Let’s talk about it over lunch.”
