Chapter 10

Fated and Mated

My mate was acting differently. I sensed a change in her. Could I hope that she was ready to accept me? She was watching me more, and when she did, a warm look was on her face. It gave me hope, although I tried not to hope too much. What if I thought she was ready, and I was wrong? I didn"t know if my heart could take it.

It was breakfast time, and things had changed significantly in the last couple of days. Grant was working back in his office and only helping now and then. Tyne and Moe had gone home but promised to return when they could. Their business was busy, so allowing Harry to stay was already a favor. Damon and Marissa had also deserted us, but it was hard to complain when, as busy as they were, they had taken the time to get this investigation started. I had no doubt that part of what Damon would be doing was discovering the council"s involvement and what was going on.

I say the council, but I only mean a small part since Damon was also a member and was not informed of what was happening. Apparently, a few councilmen were more important than the others because they had been on the council for over a hundred years. Personally, I thought that made them less effective because they were set in the ways of the old council, and we had all seen how bad that was. Maybe I tended to be pessimistic, but I was waiting for Will and her mate to be pulled from the investigation.

Maybe I should have worried more about being pulled myself. This morning, I got a message that they had an assignment for me. Generously, they said that I could go back to this investigation once I completed my assignment. I wasn"t sure that I believed them. That might be because they lied often. I sent Damon a message so he knew I had an assignment and would have to leave. I labeled it as FYI so that he would know I wasn"t expecting him to take any action. He had already done so much, and every time he got involved in such things, it always caused him trouble.

I would discuss this with my mate and see if she would be willing to accept that we had sealed our mating. If she did, I would have to move from my current residence and move in with her. The house I was living in was not mine, so it would be okay for me to move. My job could be based out of anywhere. Living here would also make assisting the investigation easier whenever I wasn"t working. It was upsetting that they knew many people were going to die if they weren"t found, and yet they were doing this anyway.

Putting it out of my mind as best I could, I followed the wonderful aromas to the kitchen, where breakfast was being made, and coffee was already available. "Harry, you are a lifesaver. You have no idea how much I need this coffee," I admitted.

"We all need it since Will and Nicky have been recalled. I will have to go back and work on my business a bit before I lose it, so it looks like it"s up to you and Jagger." Harry explained.

"About that, I"ve been recalled as well. They said the need is dire and immediate, and when I"m through with this, I can come back and finish whatever I need to do. Not sure that I believe them. I wonder if they realize that they are allowing a large number of people to die or if they even care?" I observed.

"Someone is manipulating things," Will growled. That must be her wolf half making its appearance.

"It would be hard to see things any other way." I agreed.

"What will we do about it?" Lou asked.

"There"s nothing we can do. We don"t have any proof that more people are locked away. It is only a belief. You have your daughter back, and they will point that out. That is what this investigation was all about, to begin with. The fact that we stepped outside of it can only be held against us. If Grant can compose a list of missing wolves, we could send a message to their pack alphas. If the pack alphas raise enough hell, maybe something will be done. That"s all I"ve got." Jagger admitted.

"I agree. At least it gives us something to work with. Maybe some of the alphas can take some of our information and look for their people." I suggested.

"What"s going on down here? You guys were so loud you woke me." Belle asked.

"The werewolf council is pulling the investigators. They"ve been reassigned. Damon and Marissa had to get back to their work. Tyne and Moe have a business to run, and so does Harry. That doesn"t leave us with much. What are your plans?" Lou asked.

"I still plan to go after these guys. What about you?" Belle wondered.

"I plan to have a family meeting and see if I can get some help. Two or three more people will be enough to offer protection and help us get people resettled," Lou explained.

"I"m with you on that. You have the meeting. See what you can do, and we will follow the list," Belle approved.

It would be time to leave in the morning, so I had to get things in order today. Lou and Linda put out the order for their family to meet. There was no time to set up a special meal or do anything like that. This would be a quick meeting that got information out to everyone. Linda put in a little bit of information and put a paper clip on the pages. Luke multiplied those by fifty, hoping that many family members would be able to make it.

When they left, it was nearly lunchtime. Belle and I were on our own, and I was doing my laundry. It was true that some witches magically cleaned their clothing. I didn"t think Lou would unless it was urgent, and she had to. By the time she came back, she looked tired and unhappy.

"Did things not go so well?" I asked.

"Some would say they went wonderful. I got volunteers, but most were young and reckless. We will attempt to do what we can for a week with different witches helping on different days. At the end of the week, we will see how much good we"ve done and decide if we will continue," Lou explained. "Start in the morning since the day is already halfway over."

She and Linda sat at the table, discussing their various actions. "I can"t believe you found someone willing to track the family," Linda observed.

"I can"t either. I thought no one was interested in it, but Emily does. Maybe I should have guessed that since she is a history professor." Lou admitted.

"I"m just glad you no longer have to worry about that part of things. Everyone should send her their information so she can put it all in a program," Linda explained.

My only thought was that she had decided to follow how the white wolf family was organized. That was smart of her, and she could take those things that worked well and reject those that did not. I was all packed and ready to go in the morning. While I was unhappy about the mission and unable to continue this one, I could do nothing to change things. I"d heard back from Damon, who was very upset but could not do much about how things were.

I wanted to talk about our life with my mate tonight. Linda had left right after lunch, and Jagger was already busy with several other things. Belle was the only one who would be left behind, but she was good to have on your side. I wasn"t sure why she was staying since she had gotten back, though she had wanted to. Maybe it was because some of the other victims had also been fae, and I"d always heard that they never let anyone get by with mistreating one of them. Belle personally was the revenge type, and I doubted any of these people would be treated well if she caught them.

I knew I needed to talk to Lou before I left, but she seemed busy, or maybe she was still avoiding me. I didn"t know much about romancing a woman or having a real relationship with one except as a friend. It was hard to say if my Lou was even the typical woman. She"d undoubtedly not acted like it from the moment I met her. It was finally supper time, and Lou cooked for the three of us. She"d made Italian, which was one of the things we"d not had that much of since we started our investigation. It was fettuccine Alfredo. I always heard that it was a complex dish to cook. It had chicken with it, which she served on top. There was also garlic bread, but she had added cheese to it. There was a large salad, and though most wolves didn"t eat much salad, I probably ate the same amount most humans did.

It was a spectacular meal. I was sure that, with the amounts Lou cooked, Belle would get enough. She had made a large pitcher of sweet tea with lemon for us to drink. She had put so much effort into it that I hoped it meant that she was trying to impress me. I would even be happy if it only meant she was in a good mood and ready to discuss our mating. We all ate with hearty appetites because Lou now had the appetite of a wolf. I noticed that she was beginning to sweat and hoped it wasn"t a sign that her heat was coming. Usually, it started faster, but sometimes it was skipped. I had hoped that would be the case. I took a deep breath. It didn"t look like that was the case after all. I could smell her strong feminine aroma. It made me ready to take her to the bedroom.

I should have planned on this because it would be a problem. I couldn"t leave my mate in this condition, but since I didn"t know my mission, it might be dangerous to bring her with me. Maybe I was wrong? Yeah, I wasn"t the lucky type. The only one I knew to call was Damon, and I wasn"t sure what he could do because he hadn"t even been told what my mission would be. I looked over at Belle and realized that this might upset her. No one wanted an upset wild fae, least of all me.

I decided to wait and tell Belle about the issue with Lou in the morning. Cowardly? I looked at it as necessary. As soon as we were done eating, we went ahead and did the dishes, and then it was time to go to the bedroom.

"How do you feel, sweetheart?" I asked.

"Is it me, or is it hot in here?" Lou responded.

"Sorry, darling, it"s you. I think you are going into heat. Do you know anything about that?" I asked.

"Harry mentioned something after she realized we were mated," Lou explained,

"You knew it was time?" I wondered.

"Yes, but I wasn"t sure how I wanted to handle it," Lou admitted.

Handle it? What was there to handle? We were mates, and we should have been together like mates. Now, we were going to have to make up for lost time. I hoped I could make things easier for her. Every female was different in how they handled their mating. Some had heat, and some didn"t. Some of those found it easy and bearable, while others had difficulty getting through it. Those with a hard heart felt like they were burning up, and their mate needed to be with them constantly to get them through it. Even those who found it easier had to eat a lot because they were feeding the change. The change was a hungry beast, and they would eat more than Harry or even Belle until they got done. For some, it was a few days. For others, it was closer to two weeks.

My mate led the way up the stairs, and I followed closely. She hadn"t wanted this mating. I still wasn"t sure how she handled it. It felt awkward and would feel more awkward until we got into bed. I couldn"t pretend to feel hurt. I took the choice away from her, and I knew it. She had the right to be angry, but I hadn"t seen her anger yet. Since she took her time getting used to it. Maybe I wouldn"t know that anger. I believed if she accepted me that, everything would work out, and eventually, she would love me the way I had already started loving her.

We were in her room, or rather our room. I took my clothes off and threw them on the floor. Her temperature was higher than it had been downstairs. It hadn"t taken long. A shower was a good idea.

"I"m so hot," Lou complained.

"I know how to cool you off. Follow me into the bathroom," I directed.

"A shower might help, but it can"t fix this," she informed.

"No, but you know I can," I offered.

"Yes, I know. I feel the need. It is strong and growing stronger," Lou replied.

We headed into the bathroom, removing clothing and tossing it on the floor. Lou was typically immaculate, but the need overwhelmed her. That made me feel happy. I was about to get my mate on a pure animalistic level. She had held back before, but there would be no holding back now.

I set the water to make sure that it was warm and not hot. I wasn"t sure she could take more heat when she was already consumed by it. We stepped into the walk-in shower. I noticed there was plenty of room for both of us. As soon as we were wet, I lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around me. Leaning her against the shower wall, I slowly entered her. I knew she would be ready because she was deep in her heat. She was tight. I slid in slowly, and it felt incredible. Lou moaned and held me tighter. Starting slowly, I could not keep that pace and had to go faster. She had me in a death grip. Her pussy squeezed me as tightly as her arms and legs did. It was going to be fast and hard. There was no way that I could hold back.

It was a good thing she seemed to be right there with me. As I pounded in, she did her best to meet me even though she could not move very much. The walls shook, and I feared they would come down around us, but they held up. We were close, and I needed to hold back just long enough for her to go first. Her orgasm was sudden and unexpected, and she gripped me so tightly I could not move, and I exploded inside her. I was sure she would become pregnant, and I welcomed it. I only hoped she would as well.

That I had taken the edge off our passion, I began to wash her. I started with her hair and used that shampoo that smelled like candy. Coconuts had always been a favorite of mine. My mate enjoyed me washing her hair, and I did a thorough job. Once the shampoo was rinsed, I added her conditioner and left it on while washing her body. She was so responsive that I began to grow hard again. Once I was done, I noticed how wonderful she smelled. I started to wash myself, but she slapped my hands and took over. I loved how her hands felt on my body and how she washed my hair for me. No one had done it for me since I"d been a child.

When we were done with our shower, we went to bed. That was where we stayed, resting and making love until lunchtime. In her condition, my mate could not do without food. It was needed to feed her change and ensure everything went well. We headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Belle sat and appeared to be waiting.

"Anything for lunch?" She asked.

"Let me see if there are any leftovers."

We pulled plates of food out of the refrigerator, took one, and heated it up. Lou gave it to Belle before turning back and heating more. I got the next plate, and she took the final one. More plates were waiting. Someone would surely be hungry for more. No surprise that was Will. She heated up another plate then sat down and ate. Lou got up and heated another plate for herself, and I got the last plate. I was full, but I doubted the other two were. I had heard horror stories about the appetites of females in heat. Belle was just naturally hungry and fed her magic. She was like a Hummingbird and never seemed to sit still.

She got up first, went through the refrigerator, found more leftovers, and heated a plate. I thought that might be enough for her now. Lou also got another plate of food, and judging by how slowly she was eating, I guessed that she wouldn"t be eating anymore, either. Her appetites were sated for now. I started my computer and checked to see if anyone had answered my emails about my mate"s condition. Only Damon had bothered. He told me not to be concerned about the current mission. He volunteered to take care of it.

Why was I surprised that nobody else had bothered to answer? When something was needed, Damon always dealt with it. I had heard of a project getting councilmen out into the field to work with wardens. As wonderful as that sounded, it was voluntary, and those who participated were those who supported Damon already. There was also a rumor that the first two joining the program had found their white wolf mates.

It was a shame that councilmen weren"t forced to participate and actually do some work, especially as well as some were paid. I say some because even with a lot of the rot that had been cut out of the council, I still felt many that needed to go. They did favors in exchange for money, which shouldn"t be allowed. I heard that was common in the human world. I have to admit that it was common in our world as well. Attempts to eradicate it entirely always seemed to fail. All we could do was try to keep it in check and not allow it to take over. Since Damon had told me not to worry about my assigned task, I didn"t. I felt confident that he would handle things for me. Instead, I gave my mate all of the attention she needed.

We stayed in bed again, making love and talking until we got hungry, and then we went again to look for food. Belle was there as if she had known we would come.

"We don"t have any more leftovers," Belle sadly said.

"What kind of food do you want?" I asked.

"I feel like Mexican, but if that"s not available, then maybe fish and chips," Belle responded.

"Maybe we can do Mexican today and get the fish and chips tomorrow?" Lou asked.

"Can we pay cash? I can"t use my warden credit card since I am not on this investigation right now," I explained.

"I'll put in the order, and Belle can pick it up. That leaves you to pay cash for it. Does everyone agree?" Lou wondered. Everyone did.

Lou had a go-to order that she multiplied by three so each person would have a certain amount available. It was generous. There would be leftovers to snack on later if anyone got hungry. She put the order in and gave me the amount. I dug the money out, giving Belle just a little bit extra. We sat around and talked for a little while, and then it was time for Belle to pick up the food. She was back in no time, and I was amazed at how fast she"d made that trip.

The food smelled amazing. It reminded me of how hungry I was. If I was hungry, my mate was starved, as was Belle. We all ate quickly, and we were done just as quickly. I knew it wouldn"t be long before we needed to return to the room and care for my mate"s needs.

"What time will your witches be here?" Belle asked.

"My guess would be seven after they have eaten breakfast," Lou replied.

"Will you be going or staying?" Belle wondered.

"I hope to go, but five welcome, and we"ll have an extra in case I can"t go. I don"t know much about this condition that I have." Lou admitted.

"I expect you will want to stay with Lou whether she goes or stays?" Belle assumed.

"She will need me, especially if she goes. Maybe some good can come of this," I responded.

"That is my hope as well," Belle answered.

Everyone was done eating, and the leftovers were put up. The decision to go or stay would not be made until the morning. I knew Lou would want to go, but I didn"t know what condition she would be in, and neither did she. Once we entered the bedroom, Lou jumped on me. I almost fell. I hadn"t been expecting it but managed to stay upright. I kissed her deeply as I walked to the bed. I slid her down on the bed, and then I began to undress. She was ripping her own clothing off and tossing it on the floor. Her need hit the level where she didn"t care about anything except being made love to. I felt my own need rise as I finally stood there naked, waiting for her to remove the last couple of pieces of clothing.

"I need you now," Lou demanded.

She was lying there and touching herself as she waited for me to take action. I got on the bed over her and let my weight fall on my hands as I moved to slide into her. Oh, Goddess, my mate felt so wonderful. I started off slow to make sure she was okay and that her body accepted mine. I would die if I hurt her. Her legs came up around me, and I felt her toes pushing into my butt cheeks. Yes, that was perfect. I sped up not just because of my need but also because of hers. She cheered me on, whispering encouragement in my ear and rising to meet me. Lou wanted me to go faster because she needed the satisfaction of a release.

Faster and faster, I moved, slamming in as deeply as possible. My mate squirmed, trying to help me get deeper. And she was so close, so I reached my hand between her legs and rolled her Neb in between my fingers, and she went off like a rocket. As soon as that happened, I slammed in hard and exploded. Goddess, there was nothing like making love to my sweet mate.

The world of silver, so she was on top, and I held her tight. I was never going to let her go. Tired and sleepy, we both fell asleep. Like in the room when I woke. It was what came in around the edges of the curtains. I wasn"t sure what time it was, but we needed to get up if we wanted to eat breakfast and make our decisions. I did so and took a shower first. After dressing, I decided it was time to wake my mate. Usually, she was a morning person, but with all the changes occurring, she was not.

"Go away," Lou said.

"You need to get up, sweetheart," I urged.

"I"m tired," she informed.

"You said you wanted to help Belle. Some of your family is coming to meet you," I explained.

She let out a terrible moan and then sat up. Lou hurried to the bathroom, and I heard the shower come on. That was usually the best way to wake up when you didn"t feel like it. I could not do anything, so I went downstairs to see about breakfast. I was happy to see Belle was cooking. I went and got a cup of coffee because that was also made. She was making a great deal of pancakes and sausage. She handed me a plate. I sat and ate. There was extra for a snack later.

Lou finally made it down to the kitchen. I had to admit she still looked tired, and I felt bad about waking her. If I hadn"t woken her, she would have made me feel worse. I was finished, and the ladies were halfway through when the first knock on the door came. I immediately opened it and saw Linda and Jagger. I had not expected them. I thought that the council sent Jagger somewhere. They went to the kitchen, sat with a cup of coffee, and conversed.

There was another knock. I did not know I came in, followed by another. The last knock came, and I led two more witches in. It surprised me that most of them looked young. I thought they would have older witches with more magic and time. All these young ladies probably had jobs they"d had to take off from. I was sure my mate knew what she was doing, so I stayed out of it. Maybe some of these witches were older than they looked. Lou and Belle were done eating. The serious meeting would begin.

"We have a list of people potentially involved in the slave ring. The plan is to pick a name and see where it takes us. Every time a name is done, we will write down the information we have found, take care of anyone we have taken into custody, and then pursue the next name if there is any time left in our day. Do you have any questions?" Lou asked.

Everyone shook their heads because the plan was clear. We all formed a circle and did what we had been doing. In seconds, we flashed, and it seemed much quicker. I suspected it was because there were more witches. I was the only one in this group who wasn"t a witch. I was sure they all knew we wouldn"t be able to continue this for long. It would no longer matter at some point because there was no way the people left behind would survive long enough to be found. We still all felt the need to do this and hope and pray to the Goddess that we would find as many people as possible.