9. Cade

Cade 

It had been two days since I said goodbye to my mate. I was having a hard time focusing on anything else. I missed her smile. I missed her smell. It was not usual to part with your mate after the meeting. It was unnatural. 

Under normal circumstances, we would have sealed our mate bond already. I had to keep telling myself we were almost there. The pilot had said as much. I was glad I had brought Mark and his Mate Helen. I asked Mark to come, and Helen had insisted she tag along.  

The plane finally touched down. There was fresh powder on the ground. And the aircraft swayed a bit. As we exited the small plane, I took in the area. It was covered in a white blanket. You could see hills in the distance. Helen spoke up. "What now? I am freezing my ass off." 

I thought it was cold for October, but then again, we were in the Arctic Circle. Quill had given us the latitude and longitude. According to the GPS, it was about 7 miles north of here. We had a handheld GPS thing that Mark had picked up for us.  

Since we didn't know precisely when we were coming, they didn't plan on meeting us at the research station. "We better get going." It was not long before I could smell her. The smell was getting stronger, and suddenly, I saw a small white wolf. It ran fast with its paws hitting the snow. I was knocked down flat on my back. I began to get licked on the face.  

The white wolf rubbed its head against my chest. I knew who this was, it was Kaya. The wolf got off me after a few seconds. Still leaning its body into me, I began to pet the animal. The wolf walked off up the trail. "Mark Helen, come on." 

We followed behind the white wolf till we came to a village. It was a little small. A bunch of children came running out of who knows where. They seemed amused by us. The wolf ran up ahead and into one of the tent-like structures. While waiting for Kaya, I saw a familiar face approaching us. It was Quill." Cade, Mark." He offered his arm, and I took it. I did like I had seen grabbing his forearm. He looked past me at Mark and Helen. 

Mark said. "Good to see you again, Quill. This is my mate, Helen. "Quill nodded. I looked past Quill, and there she was. She was standing feet behind Quill. I pushed past him and went to her. She looked up at me. I bent my head down and kissed her soft lips. 

I had missed her mouth; I missed her smell. I hardly knew her. But I craved her and hated that we had to be separated just after our meeting. But there she stood in this frozen tundra. We got lost in each other's embrace. I couldn’t wait until I could have her under me. Her small frame rubbed against me.  

"Eh, hum." Someone was trying to get my attention. I pulled away to see an older woman looking at me. She had a head full of silver hair and several tattoos on her face. "You must be Cade." “Yes." "I am Nieva." "Good to meet you." The older woman smiled. "Come with me." Kaya grabbed my hand, and we followed behind the older women. Once we reached a tent, she turned to me. 

"You can put your stuff in here for now. You won't stay in the tent tonight, but your Beta and his mate can." What did she mean by not staying in the tent? Would I be staying with Kaya in hers, or did she mean something else? If you want to change, clothes are there for you and your Beta. We will get clothes for Helen. You don't have to change. You may want to, though. It's up to you." 

She turned and faced Kaya. She must have mind-linked her because Kaya  smiled and blushed a bit. Then, the women left. Kaya pushed past me and went into the tent. I followed her. She bent down and picked up a quill and parchment.  

I put down my pack and watched as she wrote. "The sun is going to be setting in about 15 minutes. Mark and his mate should get settled. Then we can go eat. You will meet everyone, and we will leave after dinner if it is okay with you." 

I took the Quill from her. I examined it. I had never written with a quill, but I placed it on the parchment and began to write. "Where are we going to be going?" "Well, if it is okay with you, I want to seal our mate bond. It is custom here to do it away from the pack on the tundra under the stars and moon." 

She blushed when I looked up. Was she embarrassed? I kind of liked the idea of being out in nature to seal the bond. Just thinking about it though made my pants tight in the crotch. I had thought about this a lot over our days apart. I wanted what she wanted and had no problem doing it her way. She looked down at the parchment again. "We should get Mark and his mate. What is her name, by the way." 

I looked at her. "Helen. Her name is Helen." She looked back down and began to write. "Let's go get them." We walked out of the tent. Once we reached them, Kaya approached Helen and hugged her. She smiled at her. Helen smiled back. We followed her back to our tent. Once in there, she wrote on the paper again.  

"Come find me once you all are situated." She then leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the mouth. It was chaste. Not like it was when we first met, that was all passion. Now she seemed more reserved. Maybe she was nervous about what would happen tonight. I don’t know why though I mean it is not like she had not done it before. I had not met anyone over the age of 16 that was still a virgin.  Once out of the tent, I turned to face Mark and Helen. Helen looked down. "So, I take it we are sleeping on the ground. "I saw blankets, furs, and some sort of padding on the ground. It was big enough for two people to sleep in. They did not plan on me staying in the tent tonight.  

"There are clothes for us." "They want us to wear them." "I think more so they want us to be warm. I have a feeling it will be cold tonight." "Yeah, well, I am glad they gave us warmer clothes. I, for one, am freezing." Helen said as she dropped her pack and picked the clothes off the ground.  

"Can you turn around, Cade? I am going to change." "How about we all change.” We picked up our clothes, and I turned my back to give Helen some privacy as she did as well. We all changed, and once done, Mark began to speak. "Okay, I have to say these clothes are comfy as fuck. Also, I am shocked they fit everyone around here is pretty short. "Yeah, they are comfy, but man, are they warm. The material is lined with swayed, making it so soft." Helen said as she smiled. When we walked out of the tent, the sun had set.  

"It is early for it to be this dark." "Let's go find where everyone is. "I followed the scent of my mate. We reached a roaring fire. There were tables placed around the big fire. The three of us walked to the table at which Kaya and a few others were sitting. Some girls began to laugh, and Kaya's face turned red. Then I heard a woman speak. I turned to see the woman from before; her name was Neiva.  

"Welcome, guests. We are glad to have you here. Before we eat, let us thank the Gods for the bounty." Everyone bowed their heads. Kaya nudged my arm, and then I bowed my head, too. The women began to speak in a foreign tongue. Then, after a moment or two, everyone got up. Kaya nudged me, and the three of us got up with everyone else and went to where the food was being served. We all took bowls and returned to the table.  

  

"What is this?" Mark asked Quill. "Oh, this is caribou soup." I took a bite. It tasted amazing. I was surprised. I expected it to be a bland soup. "What is in this Quill? It is delicious. "Oh, um, Wild onion, potatoes, mushrooms and some salt. They grow out here in the summertime. We will probably see them for two more weeks, then they will be gone till next season." 

We finished eating. I looked at Kaya, and she grabbed my hand and smiled. She stood up and she began to lead me to a tent. I heard the young people snickering as we left. I followed her inside. She bent down and handed a big bag to me. 

I slung it on my back. Then she grabbed another large pack and put it on. She held my hand, and we made our way out of the encampment. She pulled me into the woods. We must have walked about three miles when she finally stopped. There was a clearing, and you could see the full moon in the sky. I looked at her and she looked so damn beautiful. Her face said she was so unsure of how to proceed, and I smirked at her I knew what to do.