Chapter 4

After agreeing to talk about the dreams at a more appropriate time, we finished getting ready and went up to my grandma and grandpa’s suite for breakfast. As we got up to door, I started to knock but Luke stopped me to kiss me one more time. I blushed as I smiled at him. He whispered in my ear, “Just needed one more to tide me over for a bit.” I laughed and just shook my head as I blushed even more. He smiled, “That blush is going to be the death of me.”

I knocked on the door and dad opened it. I asked dad, “Dad, I don’t recall if you met Luke last night. Luke, this is my dad, Conri.” Dad nodded, “We have met before. I am glad to see that you’re my sweetie’s mate. She needs someone strong to be her mate.” Luke smiled, “I will always do my best for her. I always prayed that she would be my mate.” Dad smiled, “That’s exactly what happened to me too. I met my mate when we were kids at a party and I fell in love at that moment. I was ten.” Luke smiled, “I was around eight. I was fascinated with her. Everything I did after our first meeting was in preparation for her.” I blushed as dad laughed, “I did the same thing.” Trying to change the current topic of conversation, I pulled Luke away, “Time for breakfast.”

We sat at the table as mom was putting the biscuits on the table. As Luke was reaching for one, I reminded him, “You might want to keep it light. We’re going to my great-great-grandparents’ house for lunch. Trust me, you will want to wear pants with a drawstring or shorts. There has never been anyone who left my grandparents’ house with less than a miserably full belly. Those who walked in wearing jeans ended up leaving with their zippers down.” Mom laughed and nodded in agreement. Dad chuckled, “She’s telling the truth. I still have to wear sweats when I go there, but it’s worth it.” Luke smiled, “Dually noted. I will change before we go over there.” I smiled, “Good idea.”

As he started eating breakfast, he took a bite of his biscuit and his eyes rolled back in his head. I giggled as he asked, “Are these homemade?” My grandma smiled, “They are. Your reaction tells me you like them.” He smiled, “I’m only used to whop ‘em biscuits. These are way better.” I laughed at his term for refrigerated biscuit dough. My grandma asked, “What kind of biscuits?” He smiled, “Whop ‘em biscuits. You know? The refrigerated can of biscuit dough that you have to whop them on the edge of the counter to make the can pop open.” Everyone at the table laughed hysterically as grandma chuckled, “I love that name for those.” Everyone else nodded in agreement. We finished eating and I went to help mom and grandma clean the kitchen while Luke, dad and grandpa sat in the living room.

As we cleaned the kitchen, my mom asked, “How is it going?” I smiled, “It’s going great. He’s not just a werebear. He’s a warlock too. We both have magic. When we get to his place, we are going to practice our magic together and see if our magical abilities match as well as our personalities do. We have a lot of the same interests too. We both love to cook, so we agreed that we would be cooking together.” Mom smiled, “That’s perfect. I’m so glad that he is the perfect match. There won’t be a rejection for you. I’m so happy for you.” I smiled, “Thanks mom.” Grandma put her arm over my shoulder, “I’m so happy for my sweet Sylvie.” I smiled as I hugged her, “Thank you grandma. I am so happy with him! He’s super patient with me.”

After we were done, we still had a few hours before it was time to go to my great-grandparents. I asked Luke, “Would you want to go for a run? We have a few hours to kill before it’s time to go over there.” Luke smiled, “I would like that. Are you ready?” I nodded, “Why don’t we go to your room first and you can put on the clothes you want to wear to grandma’s?” He replied, “I’ll go like this. I want to be able to keep my stretchy clothes clean.” I laughed, “You got it. Let’s go then.”

We walked out the back door and approached the tree line. We each hid behind a tree and got undressed. I shifted into my grey wolf and heard the loud popping of Luke’s bones while he shifted into his huge, brown bear. He roars loudly while I howl and I lead the way. We run fast, dodging tree branches, jumping over tree roots and dead logs. When we got to the small lake, I stopped. Luke was going so fast; he couldn’t stop as fast as I did and ran into me. Luckily, I had stopped a good distance from the lake, so we both fell to the ground, just inches from the bank of the lake. I landed with my arms and legs sprawled out and he landed in the same position, with his arm over my back. I rolled away and walked to the bank of the lake. I took a drink and watched as he did the same.

We sat back and I nuzzled into Xavion. He picked up Nicona and he held me close to him. I never thought my wolf could purr, but she made a sound that sounded like a purr. I lovingly licked the side of his face and rubbed noses with him. He nuzzled his nose into my neck and took a deep breath. I smiled, knowing that he is taking in my scent. I love that he can’t seem to get enough of that. After sitting there for about thirty minutes, he stood up and put me on the ground. I stood there, staring at just how unbelievably huge and majestic my mate is. Damn, I am one lucky woman! When he dropped down to stand on all four feet, he crouched down to a playing stance, and I followed suit. I took off running and he followed as we retraced our previous route all the way to where our clothes are hidden and shifted back to our human forms.

I came out from the tree line and waited for Luke to come out. When he was done dressing, he came out of the forest and walked up to me. He immediately wrapped his arms around me, “Nicona is beautiful. I am so lucky.” I chuckled as I enjoyed the sparks, “I thought the same thing when Xavion stood on his hind feet. I am one lucky woman. Not only is my mate’s human form unbelievably handsome, but so is his bear. There is no way I could feel unsafe.” He buried his face in my neck and inhaled my scent.

We went up to his room and took turns taking showers. I dressed in a sundress and a pair of sandals while he wore a pair of basketball shorts. We walked up to my grandparents’ suite and met everyone as they were preparing to leave. My mom asked, “Ready to go?” I nodded, “Ready. We had a really good run, so now we are hungry again.”

We followed my family to my great-great-grandparents’ house. When we got out of the truck, grandma was waiting at the front door, “We have new muscles in the family! You get up here, hug me and then I’ve got a job for you."