Page 48 of One True Mate

In the meantime, I quickly changed and headed back to my parent's house in preparation for the Pack Council meeting. A part of me was dreading the outcome of the meeting, but like my mom had said, what's done was done and nothing they could do or say would make me less mated at this point.

The Pack Council was comprised of seven men, including my dad. They were all older, except for Cole Anderson who was only a few years older than me. Ambrose, Saul, Mallick, Quinton, and Neil made up the remaining board members. No, they didn't have last names. Until about two decades ago when it became trendy and safer in the digital age, shifters rarely held last names outside of the pack name. As far as they were concerned, they were all Westins. But an entire town of Westins would look a little odd to the outside world. It never used to matter, but with credit cards, and electronic IRS forms and so on, it was determined necessary and most of my generation had begun choosing their own names for just such purposes. Sometimes it got a little weird, like one Miss Willow Flowers or Christine Canine. That one had nearly started a riot, but she'd batted her long dark lashes and flashed her perfect pearly white smile and the board had dropped it. It was hard to say no to Christine Canine when she set her mind to something. But whatever.

When I walked into the room, all eyes turned to me. I watched Saul take a deep breath and shake his head in disappointment.

“She better be worth it, Kyle.”

I couldn't erase the grin on my face if I'd tried. “Oh, she is.”

Cole chuckled. “You see the tattoo I gave her?”

A growl slipped out as I tried to control my jealousy that this wolf had touched my mate and marked her, even if it was with my picture.

“I take that as a yes. Tried to talk her into making it black, but she said she wouldn't have it any other way.”

I couldn't help but grin a little sheepishly. I did love that Kelsey had chosen my wolf to adorn her body, even before she knew it was me.

Ambrose cleared his throat, “God, son, we can smell her all over you. You could have at least taken a shower before you came.”

I know I blushed. They thought they were just smelling her scent on me, they hadn't figured out it was our combined scent they were smelling. Newly mated pairs shared the same scent much stronger than at any other time. It alerted other wolves to the fact that they were mated and potentially volatile in the early days post consummation.

“I take it this is why you're here today? Are you finally ready to take a mate, Kyle?” Neil asked solemnly.

“Gentleman,” my father interrupted, “we have a bit of a sensitive situation here. And this is, as always, in complete confidence of the Council. As you know, Kyle has been quite vocal about allowing the lone she-wolf trespassing on our land to stay. Not just stay but left alone. Kelsey's been here for more than two years and has finally come forth and relayed her story to me. It's a hard one to hear, and my heart goes out to the girl, but Kyle's protection of her throughout this time has been entirely selfish in nature.”

That got a few mumbles and whispers.

“That's not exactly news to any of us single wolves, sir. Kyle's marked his scent around her property and been in more than one scuffle over her.”

I snorted, yeah, that's true, but then Dad and the rest of the Council had been entirely unaware of that, so I gave him a half-hearted glare thanking him for ratting me out. It just made him laugh again. He was certainly enjoying me being in the hot seat.

“Kyle, while you youngins may not be surprised by it, I can assure you there will be plenty of pack members upset that you've chosen this particular she-wolf. And she would need to be properly prepared for challenges before you dive in and do something crazy. As always, we, the Council, would like the opportunity to meet with her and trial her to verify she is indeed a compatible mate for you. In the meantime, we'd ask that she be reassigned to a new office and you keep your distance from each other. If you are certain, we'll move through the process as efficiently as possible.”

Another growl escaped as my wolf grew agitated.

“I'm sorry Saul, but that will not be possible.”

They certainly were not happy with my blatant defiance.

“Kelsey Adams is my mate. My one true mate. This is not a matter of compatibility.”

Their disappointment quickly turned to shock.

“But you've been in her presence for over two years, Kyle. How is that even possible?”

“You should have known immediately.”

“It's near impossible to find a true mate and not act on it. Two years, Kyle. I'm sorry but she cannot be your one true mate.”

“Hush down, now and hear it out,” my dad calmly spoke. “Kyle came to me almost immediately upon meeting Ms. Adams. He did know immediately, but given her unique circumstances he chose not to act upon it. We considered telling you all, but as we were unsure of what to do with the girl, and Kyle was making no advances toward claiming her, I opted to keep this to myself.”

“I thought she was denying it or that she couldn't feel our connection. I didn't know she was just even more stubborn than me.”

That gained a snicker from most in attendance.

“Look, Kelsey wasn't raised in a pack. She didn't even know shifters were real. She grew up in the human world.”

“A late bloomer then?” Mallick guessed.

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