“How much farther to Uncle David’s lands?” Kaycee asked softly, not wanting to disturb the melody of the woods.
“Half a day. If we leave here just before sunrise we’ll be there in time for lunch,” the woman answers with a smile, remembering fondly the giant teddy bear of a man David was when she had first met her mate and his family.
Both girls shared their own soft smiles upon seeing their mother’s, despite not understanding the why behind it. As they fell silent once more their father trotted out of the trees carrying a young fawn easily between his jaws. Laying it down just outside the magical barrier created by his mate, he shifted into his human form, his amber aura flashing as the crunching-rip played across his skin as his bones reshape themselves. Standing surely he glanced around the surrounding trees, the muscles beneath his tanned skin bulging as his twisted around to see behind him. His shaggy dark hair lent him from his native heritage blew about in the wind, his only garb a hunting knife secured to him by a cord looped loosely around his neck in such a way to survive the shift between forms.
Deciding that the family’s pursuers were not near, he entered the barrier after picking up the fawn to bring with him. His eyes, a deep rich brown similar to Kaycee’s, swept over his family to insure they were unharmed in his absence. Seeing all was well he crouched and began butchering the fawn. The girls’ mother gently moved from the twins, leaving them to cuddle together, and left the barrier to gather some branches to cook the meat on. Since the girls could not shift yet, raw meat would not be good for them.
Returning into the barrier the mother created a fire pit for the branches, lighting them with a spell. Her task complete she moved over to her mate and wrapped her arms around his crouched form, her petite size showing even more against his seven foot broad shouldered height. He paused in his preparations to touch where her arms rested on him before continuing to separate the final cuts of meat. Moving to stand once more, his mate released him and grabbed some long straight branches from nearby to place the meat on as the man carried the meat to the fire. After the father sharpened the branches both adults skewered the meat and held it over the fire to cook.
Katherine, feeling braver now that her father was back, pulled away from her sister to go sit on her father’s lap, snuggling into his leafy scent. He smiled down at her, his height making her seem even tinier. Kaycee mirrored her sister by going to sit on their mother’s lap.The girls watched the meat cook, enjoying the heat from the fire and their parents’ warmth, as the adults swept their gazes between the woods, the fire and the girls.
“Daddy,” Katherine prompted, “Will we be safe with Uncle David?”
The man looked down at his daughter, giving her a tight grin as he spoke in a deep soothing tone, “We will be Flower. At the very least he can help us return you home since Alpha Mason has a more established and trained group of Cappas.” Satisfied with his answer Katherine smiled and burrowed further into his arms.
“Why can’t we go back now Daddy?” Kaycee pouted, knowing she’d feel safe again once she could get a warm hug from Alpha Mason, who despite how often Kaycee’s antics disrupted meetings or the little girl colored on important paperwork, never treated Kaycee as an annoyance.
“Monster, we have to get to safety first. I promise we will call Alpha Mason as soon as we get to David’s pack house,” her father chuckled, reaching out to playfully rub the top of her head. This caused both girls to smile happily at the normalcy of the action, forgetting for a moment the shadow of unrest hovering just outside the barrier.
When the meat was cooked to the point the parents felt it was safe to serve to the girls, they pulled it away from the fire. Calling the fire back to herself the woman took the father’s knife and cut easily chewable pieces off for the girls who devoured them quickly. Once the girls had their fill the adults finished the rest of the meat between themselves. Settling in to sleep, the adults positioned themselves so the girls would be curled between them for safety and warmth. Kaycee, breathing in her sister’s lilac scent, wraps her arms around Katherine, before they both quickly fall into a deep sleep, as children often do, causing their parents to smile at the innocent image despite the situation surrounding it.
The man raised his gaze to his mate and studied her face in the darkness. Frowning he shifted closer to his family, prompting the woman to meet his eyes. She looked at him with concerned and reached out to touch his face.
“What’s wrong Jonathan?” she asked softly so not to wake the girls.
“Gloria, do...do you regret…” Jonathan started before his worries took his words from him.
A soft smile graced her face as she moved to kiss him softly over the girls sleeping forms. “Never.” she told him, again remembering those first few years of their relationship.
Gloria had been visiting a small tourist town near Jonathan’s family’s pack lands with her best friend Valorie. Cornered by a couple of aggressive Vampires who were refusing to take no for an answer, she and Valorie were rescued by the well built sons of the pack’s Alpha. One look at the two massive Weres sent the Vampires running in fear.
Valorie, being a Hybrid Were fox, had recognized David as her mate immediately and had slipped off with him often throughout the rest of the trip, leaving Gloria on her own more than the young Wiccan had expected. Jonathan, thinking she was only human, had nervously kept her company. He had recognized her as his mate but did not wish to push the bond upon her, causing his wolf to be very agitated. It fought him for control as it became possessive, Jonathan barely keeping the wolf at bay while watching other men flirting with Gloria, though it did often howl internally with joy as it watched her shoot each one of them down with a practiced grace.
Gloria, for her part, was confused at the body language Jonathan had directed towards and around her. She had recognized his aura as being Were but had not known much about them despite being close to Valorie. Stealing a moment of David’s time, she asked about Jonathan’s behavior. David, when Gloria told him she was Wiccan, explained about the mating bond. He spoke about Jonathan's likely struggles, since they had both assumed she was a magicless human, unaware of the supernatural aspects of the world. It was because of that vein of thinking that Jonathan hadn’t pushed for more from her in fear her rejection. David had ended his explanation, true to his giant teddy bear personality, by promising her that if she chose to not accept the mate bond he would protect her from his younger brother’s wolf if it reacted badly and Jonathan lost control.
The next night, Gloria wanted to push Jonathan so he would give her more of a reaction and prove David’s explanation about his brother’s behavior as truth. Planning on saying yes to a few of the men she had previously scorned, she dressed in a more provocative manner than the previous nights in hopes to prompt a situation where Jonathan would feel compelled to tell her about the mate bond himself. Gloria found her plan worked better than she had hoped when she took off her long coat that had covered her outfit on the trip to the club. Before even one suiter had come over to try to engage her in conversation, the wolf had pushed and won control for one moment, pinning her against the side of a table in a heated kiss.
Upon wrestling back the wolf once more, Jonathan had immediately drug Gloria out of the club so he could clear his head in the cool air outside and try to explain himself without making her feel trapped in the crowd in case she got scared away. Once outside though Gloria had wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with the same passion he showed in the club. When they broke apart, they stared into each other's eyes for a long time until their gaze was distracted as David and Valorie starting to catcall the other couple, having followed them outside to insure Gloria’s safety, teasing them in good fun.
Taking Jonathan back to her hotel room she had confessed about being Wiccan, knowing that he was Were due to being able to see his aura and confronting David about Jonathan’s behavior. Jonathan told her he still wanted to take things slow so not to make her feel rushed into the mating bond. As her holiday visit to the town was coming to a close and she had obligations within her coven as an acolyte to the high priestess, Gloria was thankful for his thoughtfulness.
For the next few months they talked on the phone every night, learning about each other and growing closer despite the distance. When she finally felt ready to completely accept Jonathan's wolf and allow him to turn her into a Were, she passed over her responsibilities to others in the coven and returned to visit him, insisting on going out to the club again.
While enticing him to dance, Gloria waited for Jonathan’s wolf to start pushing for control before pulling his ear down so she could whisper that she was ready and asked him to take her somewhere he felt would be safe to change her. She still had to smile at the look of shock and awe on Jonathan's face as she pulled back to look into his eyes that glowed in the amber color of his wolf right before he scooped her up into his arms and rushed them back to her hotel room to complete the mating bond.
Though the Rogue Syndrome affecting Jonathan’s father’s view of their mating when they shared the news with Jonathan's family had dampened their joy of completing the bond, Gloria couldn’t have imagined being happier than with her acceptance of Jonathan as her mate and allowing him change her during the process. After leaving, finding and settling into Alpha Mason’s pack, and Jonathan earning his place as Beta, Gloria felt that her life couldn’t get to be more perfect. The day the pack doctor told them that she was pregnant with the girls, Gloria’s idea of perfection expanded to include them, though she thought Jonathan’s happiness at the news was much greater than hers as he ran to every member of the pack to share that he was going to be a father. Looking back at the suffering of the last few days meant nothing compared to having her mate and daughters in her life.
“I’ll never regret meeting you, letting you change me, having the girls. None of it.” she told him.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Jonathan pulled Gloria’s lips firmer against his, kissing her in an attempt to express the awe, love and devotion he felt in having her as his mate and the mother of his children. Pulling away he smiled back at her, his voice low with admiration, “Me either.”
With a final kiss he motioned for his mate to lay down and rest with their daughters while he kept watch into the night, his Beta rank allowing him to function without sleep for now as he strove to protect his family. He knew the moment they were safe he would be out for days to recover, but he couldn’t sleep knowing they were in danger.
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