Chapter Twenty Eight - Mind Links

The door closed and Jake lay still on top of her, resting his muzzle against her neck, his chest panting. Slowly she felt the shape of him changing. The soft, silky feel of his fur was replaced by warm skin as his bare chest met hers for the first time.

He kissed her neck and then spoke softly with his lips brushing her ear lobe. “My wolf can mind link with yours. You heard him speak, even though he was really only speaking to me. Then he warned your wolf we were going to bark, and she got you to cover your ears. Soon you and I will be able to communicate that way anytime we want to.” He sat, pulling her onto his lap. The size of his erection against her hip made Lia tense. “You’ve never had a human boyfriend either.” It was a statement, not really a question, but Lia answered anyways.

“Well, yes I have. But he knew I wasn’t going to be intimate with him unless our relationship got more serious, which it never did. We were just friends who liked hanging out together and we started holding hands and kissing a bit, more or less just because everyone was doing it and sort of expected us to because we spent so much time together. Over the summer he met someone else, someone who didn’t have to be home before sunset, and well,” she shrugged, “we hadn’t really had anything super special so I was fine with just moving on. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t go back to being friends, but life went on. We certainly weren’t ever topless and his pants definitely stayed on.” One side of Jake’s mouth lifted as he pulled her hips more tightly against him.

“Then that will probably hurt a bit the first time too,” he said softly. “Tell me, Lia, what do you know about intimacy? Both the human version of mating and the werewolf kind.”

She was surprised that she felt no embarrassment by his question and could answer him easily, without feeling even the slightest bit of discomfort. “We covered sex in school, so Gran didn’t have to touch on that at all. If she did I’m fairly certain I completely blocked it out. As for the werewolf mating...well, I have some very contradictory stories for that one. To hear the Rogues talk about it, it sounds wonderful and perfect, but from Gran’s tales,” she shuddered involuntarily, “I think I’d rather die.” They sat in silence for a moment.

“You’re more comfortable with me now, aren’t you? Not just my wolf, but me too. Since our wolves healed each other you’ve been more at ease with me, both being together and talking openly.” She nodded.

“Wolves are less complicated than humans. Our human side is important, reason over instinct has advantages, but listening to our wolves is important too. What matters to them is here and now.” Lia thought about that a moment and realized he was right. When they’d been running around the room she hadn’t thought about anything other than what they were doing. She was just doing it and enjoying the time together. And now, just talking, she was...just talking. Not worrying as much as she usually did about how someone was going to react to what she did or said. “Will you promise to talk to me when something is bothering you, Lia? We’ve got very different views on werewolf life at the moment and I need to know what you’re thinking. My wolf is to be able to talk to yours now when he needs to which is great, but we aren’t getting anything from you yet so you’ll have to actually speak out loud. I promise I’ll talk things out with you, not just assume I’m right, and I’ll answer any questions you have honestly. Deceit doesn’t come easily to wolves. It isn’t natural.”

“I guess that explains why I can’t ever seem to mislead anyone. There have been times where that was quite a problem.”

“Being honest is difficult for you?”

“Well, not exactly. But for example, when you first visited me, Albert asked if I’d seen a wolf. Had I been able to lie convincingly it would have been easier to just say ‘no’ than to think up an honest way to avoid saying yes. And sometimes people find me a bit too blunt. You know, when a girl asks ‘hey Liana, how do you like my prom dress?’, ‘the ruffles look like pink frosting with silver sprinkles’ or ‘it makes you waddle like a duck’ were definitely bad answers.” Jake laughed, the sound making her feel even more at ease. It occurred to her that it was the first time she’d heard him really laugh. She liked the sound of it. She took a deep breath and the smell of evergreen trees and rain filled her. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, delighting in the soft rumble of desire that vibrated his chest as it slipped softly past his lips. Had she really only known this man, this werewolf, for a few weeks? Was today really the only day she had spent any time with him? In some ways, it felt like she’d always been here, or always known she belonged here in his arms.

“As much as I’d love to sit here talking to you like this all day, we should get dressed,” he whispered against her hair. “David is livid. He thinks I’ve mated you before you’re of age, and possibly against your will.”

“How did he have any idea what we were doing?”

“He might have just been coming to talk to me, but your wolf might have been sending something out. I’ll ask him to be sure, but I’ve been told your wolf sends emotions and sometimes messages out to wolves you’re comfortable with. Gran, Ellie, Elsie, Marie, David... Maybe he felt your surprise when I nipped at you, or when you first heard me through the link, but whatever it was, at the moment he wants in to rip me to shreds. Mark and Dylan have his wolf pinned to the wall across the hall from my door and he won’t stop struggling against their holds. His wolf won’t even let us link. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Doesn’t he want us to mate?” Lia asked in surprise. “He’s the one telling me all the good points about mating and making it sound like such a wonderful thing.”

“Well, he’ll probably stop that now. If you have any questions you can ask me, or really any mated wolves here since I don’t allow forced mating in my pack. David's issue with this would be that you can’t scent me as your mate to know for yourself that it’s right until after you turn eighteen. It might take even longer since you haven’t shifted yet. We don’t know if waiting until you're 18 to shift will affect mating age or not. David wants you to know, and for that, you have to scent it yourself, so that you never have any doubt or worry. From what I’ve been told, it seems you’ve grown up with a pretty horrific view of what mating is. He hopes the sense of rightness and fulfillment that comes with scenting your mate the first time will give you some confidence in what mating really means to a werewolf. With luck, it might help Selene to see she was never truly mated, so she’ll worry less about you and maybe heal a little herself.”

“But you already know I’m your mate?”

“I do,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I scented you from halfway across the wildlife reserve and followed your scent all the way to your Gran’s house. Knowing how scared you were when you saw me was gut-wrenching. It was really hard to deal with in my wolf form. Wolves aren’t very good at reason over instinct, we live in the moment, on instinct. Come on,” He stood, lifting her easily as he walked over to where they’d strewn their clothing. “Let's go show David that you’re still his little lone wolf pup before one of those wolves draws blood.”

“Is it ever wrong?” She asked as she ran her fingers through her hair to make it more presentable, “Is there ever only one of the pair who scents the other as a mate?”

“Not as far as I know.”

Within moments they were both dressed. Jake opened the door and Lia was surprised to realize that she was only slightly taken aback at the sight of three wolves in the hall. She was actually more amused than surprised. She knew the large, grey one that held the grey wolf’s neck to the wall was Dylan. The multi-grey one she assumed was Mark. The big grey and white wolf that was being held down by the other two were very familiar. She’d never seen his wolf, but she knew his scent. She could hear his heart rate slowing as she moved into his view. She crouched down on the floor by his head and he lessened the effort he was putting into freeing himself.

“Hello dear old friend,” Lia said, a soft smile touching her lips. “I have been worried that everything would be different and strange now that I know, but somehow my life actually makes a lot more sense than it used to. I’ve never seen your wolf, but I know you.” She reached out and ran a hand down the side of his face. “You’re smell has always given me feelings of peace, calm, and security. Thank you for keeping Gran and me safe all these years.” David’s wolf eyes kept searching hers, but he was no longer struggling against the wolves pinning him and they began to loosen their hold. Liana smirked, hearing the voice of her wolf in her head and deciding to repeat the words out loud for the first time in a long time. “Don’t be too hard on Jake about that, okay?” She glanced over her shoulder towards the door just to be certain they knew what she was referring to. “He might think he runs things around here, but what happened in there was all my idea, he was just along for the ride.” She stood and sauntered confidently down the hall, leaving Jake and all three wolves staring after her with their mouths open in surprise.