19. Nerves

Chapter 19

Nerves

THORIN

As Nika stood up by the pond, with clear intent to shift, I worried about my wolf as he seemed a bit unpredictable over the past year. There had been a time when we were melded together seamlessly as one. As it should be. Since taking over my father's pack, we had split a bit. While I hoped that the incident with my wolf running off had been because he was in search of his mate, it was still not normal for them to break away from what the human side was aware of. It made me nervous to be in my shifted form near Nika. It was possible that he would ignore the courtship rules and try to mark her anyway.

"Don't trust the process, huh?" Nika's jovial tone was the only reason I didn't let on that there might be a deeper reason hidden behind my decision. She might not want me if she knew my wolf had gone off script before.

"Something like that." I winked at her as she stood and disrobed right before my eyes. It was my turn to groan as the last piece of clothing dropped free of her body. Nika's ass was just out of reach, but all I would have to do was lean forward just a bit and… Before I could follow through, my mate was on four paws and her golden eyes stared at me reproachfully for a moment as if to tell me she knew exactly what I'd been thinking about doing.

"If you want to run for a bit, I will remain on two legs rather than paws and keep watch." It was somewhat of an admission. Nika's wolf chuffed out something that sounded a bit like a wolf laugh.

I watched as my mate frolicked around the pond and teased me as she darted in and out of sight through the woods. She was never out of sight long, and I was thankful for that. It was something that might push my wolf forward to give chase and neither of us were ready for that outcome yet.

"May I ask you a question?"

"You may ask me anything you like, and I will always give you genuine answers." Hopefully, she wouldn't come right out and ask if I'd started to go mad, or if my wolf was unreliable. We were on our way back to the pack as Nika stopped and turned toward me. I came to a halt immediately and looked down to see her lip pulled in between her teeth. "Nika, I meant it. Ask anything, especially if it is something that will put your mind at ease."

"There were people who did not seem happy with us being here, especially with me being your potential mate, during the brunch introduction." I sighed but nodded my head. "Why would they react poorly to you having a potential mate?"

"Miriam and her husband lost their daughter a couple years ago. She was my age, and they had hoped that the two of us would be mates. Their daughter never had the mate dreams, and we can only assume it was because Goddess Selene knew she wouldn't be of this world long enough to mate with anyone."

"Oh no! That's awful. I can certainly understand why they would be upset. Do you think this woman was meant to be your mate?"

I shook my head. "She was a very close, childhood friend of mine, so it would have been ideal. I don't think she was ever intended to be my true mate though. There were moments when I thought…" My voice trailed off before I could say too much. "Seeing you in action on Mirage Island with your people disabused me of that having ever been a possibility."

"How so?" Nika asked.

"You were magnificent out there. The way you kept your people calm, collected, and together. The way you offered choice to the women who had it stripped away from them previously and the calm assurance that you would do whatever they needed from you were all indicators of a strong Luna. I'm afraid those qualities were lacking in my friend. She was a lovely soul and sweet as can be, but she would have been one of the women who required a firm hand to show her how to survive rather than being the one to take the reins and get things done."

"I see." Nika resumed our walk, and I quickly caught up to be at her side. "Do you think this woman's family will be a problem going forward, or was their reaction one of shock?"

"I believe it to be shock, but rest assured that I will speak with them about their behavior this morning and make sure there are no repeats of their performance. It was unacceptable the way they spoke to you. I am sorry if it appeared as though I wasn't harsh enough, but…"

Nika waved that sentiment away. "Please, don't apologize for having empathy simply because I didn't understand the situation. If I were in their shoes, I might have felt entitled to a similar outburst."

"No, I don't believe you would have, but I appreciate you giving my pack the benefit of the doubt. It was good of you to ask rather than to hold it against them."

I meant every word of that. Nika continued to prove she was exactly the type of woman who made an excellent Luna. She made a better leader than some of the Alphas I had the displeasure of knowing.

"I know that our courtship is ongoing, but I would like to send out invitations to some of our allied packs, so that the Alphas and Lunas can come to our mating ceremony. It will be important for them to begin a working relationship with you sooner rather than later, and I feel it would be best for them to be introduced to you as you officially become the Luna of the Grasslands Pack."

"I see nothing wrong with sending out the invitations. Unless you have some major skeletons hiding in your closet, I don't see a reason why the ceremony should be delayed beyond our courtship period."

When her eyes met mine, I noticed the flush on her cheeks and wanted nothing more than to take her lips with my own. "You're so beautiful." The words slipped free without me even realizing I'd spoken them aloud until Nika's blush deepened.

"Thank you."

"I find it strange that you have such reactions to simple compliments."

Nika's shoulders bobbed. "I think you're the first shifter to ever say them to me."

"That can't be true."

"It is. Everyone in my old pack operated under the same assumption that Aiden was going to be my mate one day. I never dated as a result. Aiden never bothered to tell me what he thought of me. To be honest, we were never anything more than somewhat friendly to one another. Maybe, he wasn't a fan of his father's claim that I would one day be his mate. I'm guessing by the fact that he formed a harem while I was away in college, that he felt like he had to keep up appearances while I was in sight, but he made up for that the minute I was gone."

"You never dated anyone while you were away at university?"

She shook her head, and I couldn't help but think about the fact that my Luna was probably a virgin. There was no way I could ask if she had any meaningless hookups. I knew it was different from actually dating someone, and she might have… I cut that thought off. If she did, I would never judge her for it. I was not a virgin, but that didn't mean I wanted to know the details if she had other partners in the past. Just thinking about it made me want to hunt the imaginary people down and rip their heads off.

"I've never been with anyone," she explained quietly. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, considering I'm 20-years-old, but I wanted to wait for my mate."

"I can't say the same, but you should know that none of my previous partners - and there were only three - live among the pack. I'm almost 30, and didn't think I had a mate." I offered her the last bit as an explanation for why I didn't wait.

Nika nodded and glanced away, as if embarrassed. She might have been thinking about ripping those females apart the same way I had been with her imaginary partners moments ago.

"I guess that is to be expected since you're a bit older than me."

"Are you angry?" I asked somewhat reluctantly.

Thankfully, she shook her head. "Not at all. That doesn't mean I'm not jealous. If we ever cross paths with any of the women you have been with, I would appreciate a head's up before they say something that might trigger me to react."

I laughed then. "Sounds like you pictured doing to those women the same thing I wanted to do to any men who had been with you."

She bobbed her shoulders up and down again. "I guess that's the nature of our kind. We're possessive."

"For good reason, my Luna. What we will have between us when we are officially mated will remain sacred. I can promise you that."

"That's good because I would accept no less. You have the same promise from me. There will only ever be two of us in this relationship."

"I want to hold you so badly."

"Unfortunately, that would end poorly for both of us. We have less than a month to go, Thorin. I am looking forward to getting to know you better while we torture one another with our inability to offer more than the briefest touches."

Her playful tone and the little wink she threw in at the end made me grin at her even though I wished like hell my mate had never asked for the courtship period. Truth be told, I would have thrown her down to the ground and mated and claimed her right then and there if it was possible. She was everything I ever dreamed of in a mate and then she blew those expectations away too.