Mates Conquer Everything, Right?

I get out of the car and Igétas is by my side in seconds. He looks showered and is wearing shorts and a black shirt. He is hugging me and smelling my hair, I think?

“So, can I walk around safely now?”

“Yes, the danger has passed.” He looks at me with relief written on his face. He must be worried sick about me. How sweet.

“That’s nice,” I don’t know how to respond. “So, could you bring me home? I think the date is over.”

He growls low and tightens his grip on me. “You are not going anywhere. You are staying here.”

Igétas squishes me, making it a little hard for me to breathe, and Amanda tells him to let me go before I pass out.

“But the threat is gone, you said it.”

He takes a deep breath like he is trying to calm down.

“Yes, but there can be more out there. I don’t want you to leave the pack grounds while there can be anything out there to get you.”

“I know you want me to stay safe, but there might always be something out there to get me.” I sigh and take his hands in mine. “Yes, today there was a real danger, but what about tomorrow? You can’t be with me all the time.”

He growls again and I am a little unsure about his reaction. I only told the truth.

“Then from now on you stay here on the pack grounds. Sunday you will move in with us to the Packhouse.”

I am taken back by his statement and let go of his hands. The warm feeling of touching my mate fades out.

I am a little aware of the pack members standing outside and listening to our conversation.

The group from the car is still standing close to us. I want to go against his words. I want to say that just because I am human, he can’t command me. I just told him in the car. But here I stand next to him, silently. We stare at each other. I hear the whispering of the people in the back. I can’t hear what they’re saying, I know Igétas can.

The standoff will not take place, not here. He is my mate and I can’t defy him, not in front of the people he leads.

After ten seconds he knows I’m not going to agree or disagree with him, and he orders Amanda and Ela to have a sleepover with me. He leaves and looks over to the crowd that had formed and they all disappear.

We’re going to speak about this later. This isn’t finished.

“Here,” Amanda hands me a blanket and I lay down on the mattress Ela brought into her room. The room is not too small and we three fit in just fine. The color theme is pink, which doesn’t fit her personality.

“Why pink?” I ask her and she smiles at the candy pink walls.

“I was ten when I moved into the Packhouse. Every other girl wanted purple, pink, or red colors, I wanted to be like them. So instead of blue, I went for pink. Stupid right?”

“No, it is not stupid.” I say and sit up straight. “Why don’t you change it now?”

“I want to but I don’t have time to do it with school, training, and now also shadowing the warriors. I am happy if I can watch TV or read a book before I take a nap.”

I look around and it isn’t too bad.

Half an hour later Amanda, Ela, and I are talking. Talking about me.

After I explained how fun Holland is and what I miss the most, we went back to a topic I am still new to.

“How does it work? Is this room soundproof?”

Amanda smiles, “Of course it is. Werewolves have great hearing. We would go crazy if we could hear anything done and said in this building. Most houses are soundproof too.”

“I still can’t wrap my head around it. Every day I wake up thinking it is a dream.”

“It is difficult, however you are doing great, I never expected a human to be so comfortable around us.”

I think about what she said at Oliver’s birthday party: That I should go with the flow.

“Maybe that is because I have a mate.” I say and I look at my hands.

“Something wrong?” Ela asks and I need to remind myself that she is only fourteen years old.

“Why don’t you go downstairs and make some snacks for us?” Amanda says before I could ask for a minute alone with her. Can she read my thoughts?

The second she closes the door, Amanda’s eyes meet mine.

“Ask away.” She says and sits up in her green pajamas.

All I want to do is toss my questions to the side and ask her about her strange power. But I don’t know how long I have with her alone. “I have questions about mating and Igétas didn’t cover it all tonight. I don’t know if I can ask him about it without setting off Vasil.”

“As I said, ask away.”

“Igétas told me tonight about mates and that he believes we have a high level mating bond. How does that work?”

“First, I think Igétas is right and you two are at a high level,” She taps her chin and thinks for a second.

“There are multiple steps to complete the mating process. First is the kiss on the mouth. That’s a signal you accept each other and want to proceed with the mating process. “

That’s why he didn’t kiss me yet. He needs to be sure.

“The second and third step go hand in hand with each other. Sex and biting. Sometimes the biting can take place later, no more than a week is usual. If there is a lot of time in between the wolves will go crazy.”

She scrunches up her nose, “not that you will notice.” She adds.

I smile at her. She was straight to the point in her answer. And I make a list in my head. One kiss, two sex, and three biting.

“Where will he bite?”

“Most of the time it is the shoulder or neck so that everyone sees he and she are taken. But it can be placed anywhere.” My eyes transform into Bambie cartoon eyes.

“Wait, he bites me?” I ask, I don’t think for a second that Igétas could hurt me.

“It doesn’t hurt bad,” she giggles, and I just look horrified. “It heals right away.”

“Yeah, for a wolf maybe.” I roll my eyes and Amanda’s eyes soften.

“It is a beautiful thing, you will see.” She tells me and before I could reply, the door opens.

Not Ela, it is Igétas standing in the doorway.

’Can I borrow my mate for ten minutes?” He asks Amanda but I know it’s an order.

I stand up and follow him out into the hallway, staring at his back. He’s too broad to walk next to him.

He turns into a room and I follow and close the door.

We are alone. Time to talk.