Page 31 of Into the Grasslands

“It’s okay, really.” Nika’s hand came down on my own that now rested between us on the table. As soon as the contact was made I felt it again. The quick swipe of her lip hadn’t beenenough, but her hand on mine sent a jolting, pleasant zing of energy to zap between us.

“Wow,” Nika huffed as she slowly withdrew her hand from mine. Carlotta, one of the two widowed females from Mirage Island cackled in glee across the table from us.

“You invoked the old ways of courtship and didn’t realize what that meant.”

Nika and I both stared at her, puzzled by what she said. As far as I knew, the old ways of courtship was just an agreement to take a specific length of time to get to know your moon-blessed mate. It was mostly used for those mates who had to transfer to another pack and were basically strangers when they met.

“Please, explain, Carlotta.”

The good-natured widow’s eyes twinkled with humor as she spoke. “The courtship period, once invoked, works against the couple to keep them from getting too close physically during the time period chosen. It is why those courtships were usually quick, less than a full lunar cycle. Doesn’t anyone teach the old ways to the youth of the packs anymore?”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that invoking the courtship period creates a physical barrier of sorts between the couple and there is no need for a formal ceremony to make it happen?”

She swished her hand through the air, as if swiping away a pesky fly. “There was ceremony enough. You made a binding agreement between the two of you. That little zing you just felt will intensify with lingering touches, not diminish. So, fair warning, you will both have to remain chaste and refrain from touching one another. It is quite like electroshock therapy if you try to touch another shifter in an intimate way as well.”

I glanced around and noticed that a few of the older generation snickered as Carlotta explained things to us. How in the hell was I the Alpha of the pack and didn’t know this? I turned to Nika, who seemed highly entertained when shereached out and placed her hand on mine again - as if to test the theory. The zing immediately hit our joined hands and the longer she left it there, the more unpleasant it began to feel. Eventually, we could see sparks just as the stinging electrical charge stopped tingling and started to feel like mini shocks of white-hot electricity zapping our hands.

“That was very strange.” Nika removed her hand as she spoke. Her eyes came up to meet mine. “I did not realize that invoking courtship had this particular consequence.”

“Nor did I. Seems we need to add something to the curriculum for the children of the pack.” Carlotta laughed again, as did some of the elders of the pack as I made mention of educating the younger members to something I had been ignorant of. The way the older generations behaved, made it feel as though they left this information out of our educations on purpose.

After everyone got their little teasing remarks in about how my mate and I wouldn’t be able to touch, kiss, or give into the hormones that our closeness would bring, I finally leaned into my mate and whispered in her ear. “What did you mean earlier when you said something about seeing what I did?”

The smile that met me when she glanced up from her plate felt like a physical caress. “You split my pack and forced them to mingle with yours.”

“What do you think of that?” I worried that she would feel I had overstepped.

“I planned to do the same thing. It isn’t good for them to cling to one another overlong because it will ruin the chances of them bonding with your pack properly. Besides, they have things to learn. Some more than others.”

We both glanced in Janella’s direction. She was seated amongst some of the other single females of the pack and had plagued them with tons of questions throughout the brunch.Some looked upon her with amusement, others a tinge of pity. At first, they thought she was joking when she asked what something as simple as a pancake was. When my pack realized she truly didn’t know, they helpfully explained and offered to answer any questions she may have.

“That was a hell of an icebreaker,” I nodded to the group as Nika agreed. “Heartbreaking too. It makes me want to know who the male was.”

“Which male?”

“The man who took your friend to the island. I want to know who he was, why he was there that day, and where Janella comes from originally. Someone should have to pay for keeping her from the packs all this time. The island was never meant to be a dump for orphans. It was meant to house females who were available as second-chance mates.”

“We won’t get into how gross that is, but I see your point. If everyone started to drop orphans there, it would be awful. They wouldn’t survive.”

“We’ll get it shut down. The whole damn practice of throwing away pack members should have been outlawed long ago.”

“This isone of my favorite places in the Grasslands Pack territory.” Nika glanced at me as we walked through the forest to the spot that wasn’t only my favorite, but one of the rest of the pack’s as well. When the trees thinned and we stepped from beneath the canopy, there was a large space open to the sky and a huge pond that could nearly be classified as a small lake.

“What is this?” Nika glanced in both directions and noted that it flowed from a small river on both ends.

“That is the Sentinel River.” I pointed upstream. “It feeds into this basin and then flows out again as the Lupa River.”

“Why two names?”

“Legends have been told that people who drink from the river upstream are fine while those who drink from the river downstream of the pond turn into werewolves.” Nika’s eyes rounded and then she laughed. I chuckled along with her and delighted in the sound. I could already tell that making my mate happy would be a top priority. If for no other reason than to make sure her laughter was something I could hear daily.

“You don’t have to feed me silly stories. This place is truly magical.”

“While it sounds like a fun story for us, I assure you it is a true one. This anomaly is how we were able to procure such a large tract of land for our pack. The humans who live closest to us thought this land was cursed. I suppose older generations of shifters weren’t as careful as they should have been, and that was how the legend started. Someone, somewhere drank upstream and saw a shifter drink downstream before their shift.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“That part is speculation, but the legend exists, so humans did not want to swim in these waters. We are grateful to our ancestors who made it possible for us to have this glorious place without the need to hide who we are.”

“That’s amazing.” Nika moved to take my hand and the minute our fingertips brushed, the zing zapped us both back to full awareness. “Sorry. I feel the need to be closer to you and yet, my own silly request means that I have to deny myself.”

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