Page 124 of The Black Witch

Jarod and Diana glance at each other, disapproval written all over their faces.

“But what if you don’tlovethe person? What if you don’t care for their scent?” Diana seems greatly upset by the prospect of such a thing. “Do you still have to mate with them?”

“Well, yes,” I say, realizing how awful this must sound to her. Itisawful.

“That is truly terrible,” murmurs Diana. She glances at my hands then Rafe’s. “Yet neither of you are fasted.”

I share a quick glance with my brother. “My uncle wants us to wait,” I tell Diana. “He thinks we should be older.”

“You absolutely should,” Diana states with an emphatic nod.

“I heard that your men mate with seals...even if they have life mates,” Jarod blurts out.

Diana turns to her brother, a mortified expression on her face.“Jarod!”

“That’s what I heard,” he says, shrugging his shoulders defensively at her.

Rafe sighs. “Some of our men do this. The seals are called Selkies, and they can take human form.”

“What?” I choke out, really shocked. “Aunt Vyvian told me people kept them aspets.”

Rafe cocks an eyebrow and shoots me an uncomfortable look. “They’re not pets, Ren.”

Disgust washes over me as the obscene truth of things falls into place.

“This is very sordid,” mutters Diana, embarrassed for us. “Perhaps these shocking things would not come about if you mated at a reasonable age with people you care deeply for, like we do. This is very unnatural, the way you mate.”

“There are happy Gardnerian couples,” I counter defensively. “My parents loved each other very much.”

“Which is why you and your brother have good morals, unlike the others of your kind,” Diana states emphatically.

“What happened to your parents?” Jarod asks softly, catching my past tense where Diana did not.

“They died when we were very young,” I reply, staring down at my tea. When I glance up, Diana’s face is filled with sadness.

“I am so sorry to hear this,” she says.

I just shrug, momentarily at a loss for words and suddenly aware of how late it is and how tired I feel. I think about my quilt and how much I wish it was still here so that I could wrap myself up in it. Diana’s hand gently touches my arm.

“You must come home with us the next time we visit our pack,” she says, her voice kind. “They would like you very much. I think you would find many friends there.”

I’m startled to find my eyes filling with tears. Blinking them back,I struggle to maintain my composure.“Thank you,” I say, my voice cracking as I keep my eyes focused on my mug. “That’s very kind of you to offer.”

Diana gives my arm a warm squeeze before releasing it. I look up at her, her face an open book like her brother’s, devoid of guile. Aside from the uncomfortably blunt questions about mating, I have a sudden feeling that I would actually like Diana’s people.

* * *

“It seems as if we may have been mistaken about them,” Aislinn tells me a few evenings later as we sit on a bench outside, staring up at the waning moon and discussing the Lupines. We pull our cloaks tight around us as a cold breeze rustles the dry autumn leaves clinging to the tree above us, our heavy book bags on the ground next to us.

“I know,” I agree.

“But really, Elloren,” she says, “some of their behavior. It’s still...reallyshocking.”

“But not evil, really.”

Aislinn is silent for a moment, considering this before speaking again. “But I just don’t understand. I overheard my father telling my mother about the Lupines once. The Mage Council sent him on a diplomatic mission to the Northern packs. While he was there, a male Lupine suddenly announced to the entire pack that he was going to mate with one of the females, and then he just...well, he dragged her out into the woods. Why would my father say something so shocking if it wasn’t true?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, my face tensing at the puzzle.

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