Page 30 of Into the Grasslands

“Mirage Island is all rejects, not a pack!” An older woman shouted back to her Alpha.

“Miriam, I will not tolerate poor treatment of any of the women from Mirage Island. You will not insinuate they are rejects - with the connotation that they have done something to merit such a title. Two of the women who came back with us are widowed she-wolves and deserving of respect. Two others were orphaned and sent to the island as children.” Many gasps rang out amongst the pack as Thorin explained.

“It has come to my attention that the island is not being used for its original intended purpose. Instead, it is being used as a place to throw women who no one wants to look after, who won’t agree to abusive pack demands, and…” Thorin glanced down at me as if to seek permission to tell them about my plight. I gave a quick nod. “It has been used to hide a Luna away while the Alpha who could have been her mate indulged in an Alpha’s Harem instead of claiming his moon-blessed.

The outraged sounds of the pack could be heard all over the room. “Has she been there a year?” Someone asked. “Does this mean she can be claimed as your Luna now?” Another piped up.

Thorin pulled me closer to him and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “This is Nika Mayweather. Selene bestowed her with a special gift when she received her mate dreams. Nika was given a choice between two potential moon-blessed mates. One was the Alpha of her birth pack. I am the other.”

“How is that possible?” Again, it was the Miriam woman who spoke up and she did not seem at all happy about the news that her Alpha would have a Luna. Something was not right here. Other packs would celebrate the fact that their Alpha gained what the other so easily threw away.

“We don’t question the Goddess’s actions.”

“How do you know she isn’t lying to you because she’s ashamed of the real reason her moon-blessed mate threw her on that prison island.” Miriam’s snide tone threw me for a loop.

“Enough!” The base in Thorin’s voice could be felt throughout the room as the sound reverberated off the walls. Miriam finally took her seat again and bowed her head over her plate.

“I think what my mate was trying to say is that we all know you never did find your fated mate, and this woman obviously found hers and something happened to keep them from creating the mating bond. How do you know that she is indeed your mate?” While the man had been a touch more diplomatic, I couldn’t help but notice the malicious look he threw my way before he took a seat next to Miriam.

“When Nika explained her situation, she asked if I wanted to take the chance of snapping our initial bond into place. With all due respect to the woman who will hopefully become your future Luna, she offered me the chance to prove her words or walk away.” Thorin’s gaze slid over his pack, most of which were gathered in the dining hall. “I chose to take that chance. As many of you know, I searched all over for my fated mate, for years, without finding her. As it turned out, the woman who was meant for me was younger and the Goddess Selene must have hoped that I would be patient, so that I could be the second chance the lovely Nika would one day need.”

“May I?” I asked and then turned back to look at the same pack members that Thorin addressed. He nodded his head.

I explained my story to the pack, how I was away at university and what I came back to. Then I also explained how Selene had given me a choice of mates, but I left out the part about how both choices would seem to be bad options at first. That was something that I didn’t even want to share with theAlpha who wanted to claim me. I needed time to see how things would play out.

“Now that you know my story, because I have nothing to hide, I want to ask you for your patience. Thorin has agreed to my request to court in the ways of old. We will take a full lunar cycle to determine whether we want to officially become mates.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to become mates?” Someone yelled. “The Alpha needs his Luna to keep the pack healthy.”

“This is true, but after what happened with my other potential moon-blessed mate, I felt it was pertinent to get to know Thorin Greywolf. I don’t want to find myself in a similar situation a few months from now. I beg of everyone to understand that I wasn’t just crushed by what my old Alpha was up to, but then I was sent to Mirage Island where no woman should ever be sent because of someone else’s selfish desires. I encourage you all to get to know the brave, beautiful women who came back from Mirage Island with me.

“I implore you all to really understand what goes on there and why women are sent to the island. I hope everything works out with your Alpha and your pack because I see the stance your people have about that island. You don’t send your women there and that effort should not only be applauded, but should be the standard that all the other packs follow. Be proud of your pack, your Alphas past and present, and yourselves for being one of the few packs who treat their members with empathy and heart instead of as garbage that is no longer useful when their original purpose ceases to exist.”

A few people closer to us began to clap and smile at me. The sentiment traveled like a wave through the crowd after that. I noted the pack members who did not participate because they were the ones to keep an eye on. I wasn’t sure if Thorin noticed them among the crowd, as he seemed to be swept up in the pride of his pack realizing they had been doing the right thing by theirpeople all along. I glanced at the other women and noticed that Janella and Margaret both nodded toward the problem crowd before they returned my look.

Once we crossed into another pack’s territory our mind link capabilities from Mirage Island ceased to work. I had hoped that they would remain until each of us was brought into the Grasslands Pack as a member. Still, it served us well when we needed it most. By no means did I think we were out of the woods yet, especially considering there seemed to be an odd dissension among the pack, but that was something we could puzzle out as we got to know everyone.

Chapter 17

A First Date

THORIN

Nika had done the impossible.She managed to put most of the pack at ease, and offered them praise and pride-fueled compliments at the same time. None of it was put-upon. She hadn’t made anything up. She truly was in awe of the stance our pack took about rejected mates and what to do with them. I too felt my chest swell with the same pride as she praised my pack. Still, I hadn’t missed the looks that Catalina’s family threw her way as she spoke. They were not among the pack when the clapping and celebration broke out. Instead, they sat quietly and refused to be a part of everything going on around them.

I understood that it hurt to know that their daughter’s promised, chosen mate was moving on to another woman. It probably felt especially bad for them to know that had their daughter lived, we would have eventually been confronted by a moon-blessed mate for me that none of us knew existed. It would not have been wise or easy for me to deny that potential moon-blessed bond over one that was chosen.

It had been something that Catalina and I had discussed at length when we decided to give a chosen relationship a try. She had always told me that she would step back for the greater good of the pack if my moon-blessed mate ever presented herself. Ialways wondered how that would work, especially if Cat and I had managed to have children. Some of those conversations had taken place with her family present. They were the ones who encouraged us to think through all the potential problems, issues, power struggles, and even what would happen if either of us received our moon-blessed mate.

I would think, as a result, that they would be more understanding that Nika was there and would potentially become my Luna. It seemed a conversation was long overdue with them.

After the initial introductions, where each woman gave her name and spoke a little about herself - if they wanted to - the women all took a seat throughout the pack and enjoyed brunch. I purposely had Warren situate everyone so that there wasn’t a singular table that could hold all the women together. They needed to learn to integrate with the pack as soon as possible, so they wouldn’t remain a separate pack within my pack. That was not an acceptable way to move forward.

“I see what you did,” Nika leaned in to whisper before she put a bite of pancake into her mouth and moaned around the fork. I swallowed thickly as that sound coming from her beautiful, plump lips did something to me. The tiny dollop of syrup left behind on her lip also made me feel a little feral. I reached over and swiped the droplet up with the tip of my finger before I ended up doing it with my mouth.

Nika smiled up at me and finished chewing her food before she spoke again. “Thanks for being my napkin.”

“Sorry, I…” There was no excuse for what I’d done, but thankfully, she didn’t seem disturbed by my actions.

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