Page 29 of Beyond the Grasslands

THORIN

I wantedmy mate with a passion that had become increasingly difficult to squash down. If it hadn’t been for another shifter who made a remark about us finding a den, rather than a parking lot, on our first date, I might have lost my cool and take Nika right there against the car.

She deserved far more, even if it seemed as though she would have willingly lost herself in that moment with me. Since then, we had gone out on a couple more dates. While they all ended with a hot make out session that tested both of our restraints, it was the day-to-day moments working with her that made me want to fall down at her feet and worship the woman she was.

It was difficult to believe that there was any gap in our ages at all. She was far more mature than Catalina had ever been her age. Nika was more poised, respected, and driven than even my own mother had been when she held the title of Luna.

It was the end of October already, and while we had another date scheduled for tonight, it had been put on hold when two council members showed up. Nika strolled into the office after receiving my summons and it was painfully obvious that she had dolled herself up for our date before getting the news to meet me in the office. She wore a little black dress, high heels withsexy little straps around her ankles, and her hair was piled in a a half-up, half-down way that left most of her neck bare to me but covered the scarred flesh at the base of her neck.

Nika wasn’t ashamed of her mark, but she knew that it bothered me, so that particular hairstyle had been for my benefit, and I loved her all the more for her careful concern.

“This must be the wonderful Nika Mayweather we have heard so much about.” Albert Rosen, who was the eldest council member, rose to his feet as my mate made her entrance and moved to the seating area between our two desks. “Albert Rosen, my dear,” The man introduced himself at her puzzled look. “This is Adrian Prentice, one of my fellow council members.”

Nika greeted both men before she came to my side and stood while we waited for the men to get down to business.

“It seems that you are in good health?” Adrian questioned my mate, as if he might have found her otherwise.

“I am both healthy and happy.”

I wanted to grin at Nika’s obvious statement to put the man off from speaking ill of me and any rumors that may have circulated and found receptive ears among the council members.

“Forgive my curiosity, but you two are purportedly moon-blessed, why have you not completed the mating ceremony and fully bonded yet?” His eyes drifted down my mate’s neck in a lingering look that set me on edge. When I didn’t bother to hold back a very hostile growl, he finally averted his gaze. Albert chuckled.

“Forgive my partner, he does like to provoke a reaction rather than listening to lip service people usually give us.” He smiled kindly but then his cold, gun metal gray eyes locked with Nika’s. “We do, however, require an answer to the question.”

“We have not bonded because I did not trust Thorin’s pack.”

“What does that have to do with the bond between the two of you?” Adrian asked.

“To be fully bonded to Thorin means that I become the Luna of a pack whose members not only treated me poorly, but drugged and assaulted me, as well as colluded with my kidnapper to remove me from the pack. I couldn’t in good conscience allow myself to turn around and become Luna to a pack who did not deserve my loyalty to them.”

“Does that mean you will step down from your position, Thorin?” Albert inquired.

“No, it does not. Nika was kind enough to give us four months’ time to weed out the individuals who wanted to see the ruination of our pack. We have most, if not all, of them in the cells beneath the pack house as we speak. The time also allowed Nika and the rest of the pack to begin to heal from the past trauma inflicted on all of them by the members of the pack who set out to bring about our downfall.”

“We understand that some of these members you speak of were responsible for the death of your father as well as the alleged death of Alpha Winslow’s oldest daughter, Bethany.”

“A woman who was meant to be your moon-blessed mate?” Albert tacked on when Adrian left it out.

“All of that is true.”

“We need you to explain what has happened within your pack and why you feel that the two of you are still qualified to run it, especially since you are as yet unmated in any official capacity.”

By the time we finished filling the two council members in, it was obvious that our date night would no longer happen. Once we showed our visitors to their rooms, I escorted Nika back to hers and stood there, ready to apologize, when she leaned forward and initiated a sizzling kiss that nearly singed me to my core.

“Why don’t you come in and join me for a movie? Our original planned date was ruined, but the whole night doesn’t have to be.”

“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to ask and leave room for her to change her mind. Still, I did, for her sake.

“I am sure.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me into the room. “Let’s enjoy our night.”

When she told me we should enjoy our night, my mind immediately rushed to the idea of us naked and rolling around her bed together until the sun came up. Early morning meeting with the visiting shifter council members be damned.

“Be right back,” Nika called over her shoulder as she moved toward the ensuite bathroom. I took the time to look around and notice all the little changes Nika had made to the room. It left me with a mixed bag of feelings about our situation. Clearly, she had settled in and made herself at home over the past couple months. There were little nick nacks, some of them gifts the children of the pack had bestowed upon her. While her room was tidy, there were things that made it feel lived in like the robe that draped over the side of a chair or the way her slippers peeked out from under the bed. A soft, blue throw blanket had been left haphazardly at the end of the bed.

The way she had settled made me happy because it meant she was one step closer to accepting that pack as hers. On the other hand, she started to settle into the wrong room. She was meant to be with me and it drove me a little mad to see her things so well loved and tossed and here and there around a room meant for guests, not my mate.

“Why does your face look like that?” Nika asked when she rejoined me in the bedroom. The dress she had worn for our date had been replaced with leggings and a loose-fitted tank top.

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