“That must’ve been awkward for the guy whose mate was in love with someone else.”
Nico lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t talk about it. It happened in another werewolf city across the country. None of us were there.”
So there were werewolves outside of Moon Ridge, too. That was kind of insane to think about.
“What happens after my wolf bites you? In-between calling meCupcake, Ethan mentioned sex.”
Nico dipped his head. “He calls most peopleCupcake. Started a few years ago. Don’t take it personally. The final phase of the mating process is called the Climax. The male and female werewolf are both overtaken by hormones that are only sated through a lot of sex. It’s painful for them to resist giving in to the urge, and lasts for multiple days.”
“Why would they resist that?” The question probably made me sound like a horny bitch, but it slipped out before I could reconsider asking.
“The process can end before a couple falls in love. Particularly if the male wolf hunts for a long time and the female doesn’t.”
I guess that made sense.
If the guy had been a wolf the whole time they were together, jumping his bones immediately could be weird.
I’d probably still do it, but like I said.
Horny. Bitch.
“So I should’ve waited to take my week off until the climax,” I said.
“Probably.”
I made a face. “It’s too late now.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Nico’s thumb dragged a small line over my upper arm. “I would prefer we spend your week off at my place so we have more privacy as you adjust to being a werewolf.”
“That’s what a murderer would say,” I said matter-of-factly. “I still don’t know anything about you.”
“I was raised by my grandparents after my mother realized she wasn’t interested in taking care of a child and left. My dad followed her. He sent letters and called now and then, but she was his priority. Mate bonds are like that.” He paused for a moment, studying me.
I waited.
He continued, “My grandparents wanted the same relationship with me that they had with my cousins, though they were raising me. They did their best, but I didn’t really have anyone to talk to and had to figure everything out on my own.”
“Being born an alpha meant that my childhood pack expected me to basically act as the father figure in the group. I was shitty at it. We weren’t close. When they started finding their mates, I found a few other guys living in the forest. Axel, Kai, and Enzo. Ryder, on and off too. We were the original Feral Pack members,” he said.
“What happened to them?”
“Ryder met his mate first. Charly. He wasn’t around much after that. Axel was second, a few years later. His mate is a demon, Morgan. Kai had a kid before his mate died, and ended up mated to a vampire a few years after that. Enzo was never interestedin women, and when Austin showed up to join the pack, fate set in and made them mates. Bonds between two men are rare, but they happen.”
So demons and vampires were real too.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what other kinds of magical beings existed. Dragons? Fae? Banshees?
I’d ask when it made me feel less uncertain. In a few weeks or something.
“What about two women?” I checked. “Can they be mates?”
“Werewolves are only born male, outside of extreme situations. There are only two female-born werewolves right now, and both are children. The only pair of mated women I know about are Graham’s ex and her mate.”
“Oh.”
Only men being born as werewolves was kind of stupid.
Guess that was nature for you, though. Like I told Nico,naturaldidn’t translate directly togood.
