Page 50 of Confusing Hearts

“Simmer down, pup. That's not what I meant. It's just, dammit, Chase, do you have any idea the interspecies shitstorm this could stir up?”

“She's well aware her father will likely disown her. We're keeping things quiet through the remainder of the semester, or as quiet as possible to give her some more time with her sister.”

“I'm not talking about disowning—I'm talking about an all-out war, Chase.”

I hadn't even considered that as an impact. “I'm sure you're just overreacting, Kyle.”

“Just, keep a low profile, while we come up with a plan, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, if that's what you think is best. I had planned on bringing her home for spring break. Is that okay? I want to introduce her to the family.”

“Yeah, man, of course that's fine. And Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations man. You must have balls of steel to go through with this, but I'm really happy you found your true mate, even though she is a cat.”

I laughed. “Thanks, bro,” I said, hanging up the phone.

Jenna looked at me sadly. “Not as happy about our bonding as you expected, huh?”

I looked up at her, knowing she had been listening to my conversation. “It’s not that. Actually, he was happy for us. He’s just worried about your dad.”

“My dad? Why?”

“Kyle seems to think he could cause some trouble and take it out on the pack.”

“What? He wouldn’t. At least I don’t think he would do anything that extreme. Never speak to me again, yes, but beyond that?” She chewed on her bottom lip.

“Hey, don’t worry. Jenna, I’m serious, you can’t stress over what he may or may not do. If anything happens we’ll deal with it, one step at a time.”

She nodded and collapsed onto the couch next to me, snuggling into my side. I knew that as long as we had each other, everything else would work itself out.

I skipped my Thursday classes and when we got word that our graphics class had canceled, we blew off our Friday classes, too. I knew we couldn’t make a habit of it, but right then it was what we needed.

The remainder of the weekend seemed to fly by and by Sunday afternoon we were both in denial that we had to return to school. The cabin was far better than I had ever hoped. It was secluded and quiet. We had enough land to roam freely in our animal forms whenever we felt like it, as we had the night before with only the crest of the moon to light our way.

If I didn’t want to dress at all, that was okay. I had spent most of the weekend naked as the day as I was born. No fear of someone walking in on us, or even coming to the door. We resided in our own perfect bubble without prejudice or worry and we would always have it as a safe haven to just love openly and freely.

I knew the life we were creating together would be wonderful, but we also still lived in a world that wouldn’t always see past our differences. My fraternity brothers loved Jenna and enjoyed having her hang out at the house, but even they thought we were only friends, because in our world, cats and dogs didn’t mix beyond that.

A part of me didn’t want to return. I had tasted something sweeter and I didn’t want to give it up. Sleeping without Jenna tucked into my side or sprawled out across my chest seemed cold and empty. I wanted to be with my mate.

We could have petitioned for a mated room. We weren’t the first couple at the ARC to bond before graduation, but to do so would be to confess what we’d done. I was okay with that. My family knew, and they were the only people I truly cared about. I knew if my frat brothers couldn’t get past it, then that would be okay. I’d be okay without them, but Jenna wasn’t ready to risk losing her sister.

I didn’t know how we were going to pull it off. Our combined smells alone would tip off anyone near us. My wolf would naturally put off a scent alerting other male wolves that I was newly mated. It warned them of potential instability and aggression. How would everyone not see it just in the grin I couldn’t keep from my face? I knew I’d do anything Jenna asked, but hiding our bond was going to require Academy Award-level acting skills I wasn’t sure I possessed.

Jenna’s phone rang again as I was locking the door behind us.

“Tessa,” she said. “That’s the eighth time she’s called today. I know she’s just worried about me, but she’s driving me nuts.”

“It’s not like you to run off alone for a long weekend, or skip classes. After a couple weeks, hopefully she’ll get a clue and calm down.”

“Or she’ll never let me out of her sight again,” she groaned.

“Not an option,” I said adamantly. “Keeping to ourselves during the week will be hard enough. There’s no way I’ll survive through the weekend without you.”

She grinned and rose up on her tippy-toes to plant a kiss on my lips. “I won’t last that long either, though it does help knowing you will be just as miserable.”

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