Page 36 of One True Mate

She giggled. “You're cute when you get flustered. Elise and Lily were cluing me in on a few things today that they didn't think you had any business discussing with me.” She frowned. “They don't know, do they?”

I shook my head. “No, and I'm sorry you had to find out from them.”

“From what they described, males in particular are extremely possessive and territorial. They can become aggressive when other males are near, and sometimes females, if they feel there's a threat, warranted or not. It's been two years, Kyle. How could you possibly control what they described all this time and never let on that you felt anything at all?”

She looked disappointed. I didn't know how to explain and I knew before I opened my mouth I was about to become a bumbling idiot.

“Kelsey, I just didn't know what to do. At first it was such a shock. Do you remember that first day we met? I could barely hold it together and couldn't get away from you fast enough. You didn't show any signs whatsoever that you felt anything at all, which made me angry and, well, hurt.”

“Oh, I felt plenty. Too much. I considered running it freaked me out so much, but I love my little cottage and was determined to make it work. It wasn't easy, but I tried to maintain strict professionalism with you. I knew if I let it slip even a little there was no turning back, and,” she chewed on her bottom lip, “well, one slip and look what happened.”

He grinned. “Are you sorry? Cause Lord knows I'm not!”

She grinned back at me and shook her head no. My heart nearly leapt from my chest. I took her hand and lovingly stroked it with my thumb as I had longed to do.

“Do you have any questions? About mating and stuff?”

She squirmed uncomfortably then sighed and shook her head yes.

“Everything we are feeling, you say we shouldn't be. What should I be feeling, Kyle?”

“There's nothing wrong with you, babe. You're worrying too much. Mating is perfectly natural. It's rare that one finds their one true mate, especially so young. We're lucky there.”

“One true mate? They didn't mention anything about that. They said I could have several compatible mates.”

I wanted to smack my sisters.

“That's true, you could have many compatible mates, but only ever one true mate. It's rare to find your one true mate, so for several generations shifters have just stopped waiting for it and settled for compatible mates instead.” I wanted her to understand the impact of what I was saying, and for once I was grateful that she didn't turn away from my gaze. “I knew I could never settle for anyone less than my one true mate.”

Kelsey

Chapter 15

What Elise and Lily had told me about mates was not the same thing as what I suspected Kyle was talking about. One true mate? Did he really mean that as it sounded, like I was the only mate for him and he for me?

Elise had described it much like normal human dating. A strong attraction, a getting to know you period, followed by sex to seal the bond. Though she was vague on that part, and we were rushed in our discussion and my limited lunch break. I knew wolves mated for life. Once I took a mate there would never be another for me. I was okay with that. I was even okay with thinking of Kyle Westin in the forever sense.

“What did you mean earlier about the bond between mates?”

“Only true mates can fully bond. It's a closeness of sorts, they can feel and sense each other more deeply than compatible mates.”

I nodded, not knowing what to say or think about that. We were clearly already sensing and feeling each other, though according to what the girls told me we hadn't actually mated or bonded, we were just potential mates.

“I still don't really understand the whole mating thing. How does that differ from just dating, engagement, marriage sorta thing?”

He looked flustered again. God was he cute when he got like that. Several times through the evening he had caught himself raking his hand through his hair. It was quite mussed at this point. I wasn't used to seeing the calm, cool, collected Kyle Westin so frazzled. I liked that I was the one to loosen him up.

My thoughts drifted to earlier. I would have let him take me right there in the open doorway and not thought twice about it. I had never allowed myself to want a guy in that way. I didn't think it would ever be possible for me. Now that I knew otherwise, all I wanted was to be underneath Kyle Westin and whatever else this mating bond thingy he was trying to explain called for.

Crap, he was talking again and I missed it.

“Does that make sense?”

I stared at him blankly. “Didn't hear a word you said.”

He looked at me like I was crazy and ran his fingers through his hair again. Hmmm, I loved when he did that, though I wished it were my hands.

He laughed and I blinked back to present.

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