Chapter 10

10

Kane

I f I don’t breed my mate soon, I think my dick is going to explode. The smell of her arousal slamming into me over and over again was enough to nearly send me over the edge.

I’m not going to fuck her on the table like she’s some piece of meat. She’s worth more than that to me. And I want her comfortable, especially when it comes to experiencing her heat for the first time.

I hate that my supernatural history was erased from humanity after the Great War. If it were the old days, Tami would have been properly prepared by her village.

Based off her heavy scent of apples, her bloodline is from Kenya, or Southwest Cameroon. Her people understood the laws of Fate well, and some of the women from their villages could tell early on when a woman had been chosen by Fate.

But my woman is lost to her people thanks to colonization and her history wiped clean from her bloodline. She doesn’t understand any of this, why she felt the urge to risk her life in a dangerous blizzard to get to me. She needed safety and her body knew I could provide that for her.

As I rummage through the kitchen for pots and pans to cook her something to eat, I scowl at her for being so self-conscious about her hair. She unravels the long braid from the thick, natural curly texture, then runs her fingers through it.

I understand she’s uncomfortable with not grooming herself to this westernized standard. She thinks I don’t care about how she looks, but what she can’t see for herself is her natural beauty that’s radiating from her.

Her once straightened hair is now thick with beautiful long tight curls that fall just beneath her shoulders. She’s a vision in her natural state. She doesn’t need all of those products and heat added to her hair.

As a male, I know it’s best to keep my mouth shut in situations like this. I’ll just keep putting my foot in my mouth. I want my mate to be happy with me, not pissed off and irritated by my presence. She grins when she notices me pull the tablet from the drawer and start to search for cooking tutorials.

Tami uses the tablet while I’m working and it’s odd, she hasn’t tried to access social media at all during her time with me. She simply browses information on the lore of Wintermoon. She won’t find much on the internet, other than rumors and speculation.

I’ll take her to the Master Coven where our libraries are located if she wants to know more about our people. But that’s not happening until we get better acquainted with one another. It’s already going to be a painful trip onto the island so she can grab the supplies she needs.

The scent of her arousal is thick and filled with need. I don’t think we are going to make it through the night. Her body is screaming for me to breed her. But her mind… is hesitant.

“I can cook my own food sometimes,” she mumbles, running her fingers through her hair. I smile, ignoring her as I pre-heat the pan and start to warm some pre-cut turkey, along with two slices of bread.

“It’s my job to serve you, Tami. And it makes me happy to do so. So please, could we not fight about this today?” She lets out an adorable huff, then meets my eyes, giving me what I want.

“What am I supposed to do as your mate? Just sit around here and look pretty?” She mutters. She’s bored, sitting in this cabin all day.

I haven’t exactly made efforts to make it comfortable for her. Partially because we won’t be staying here. When we move back to my village, she will be busy getting to know her pack sisters and I don’t want to share her right now.

I think humans like to call this the honeymoon phase…

“Is that a problem, Tami?” I ask her.

I’m so sick of these formalities. She is my mate; I should be allowed to call her whatever I want. She’s my woman, my Goddess, my sweetheart. Her mouth flops open, a bit surprised by my candidness, and she quickly snaps it shut, blushing. I can see the heat rising in her cheeks.

“You said something about a curse earlier. A curse was broken so you could find me. What curse?”

The memories of enduring, waiting, and longing flood back to me and I shudder. I look up at her with a soft expression as I recall how agonizing it was to wait for her.

“It’s a very long history, but I’ll give you the shorter version. It started with the Great War. A witch fell in love with a human king that was not her fated mate. She went against Fate’s law, killing her fated which is punishable by death. Amir, our King, placed a bounty on her head to make her pay for her crimes. The human king forged a war to protect his love, but humans are no match against supernaturals. To protect humans, the witch along with members of her coven cast a spell on supernaturals, one that she knew would make us lose our will to fight. It was a curse, preventing all supernaturals from finding their fated mates. Shifters lost their ability to age and procreate, vampires became soulless monsters, and witches were stripped of emotions. The curse not only affected us, but the witches who cast the spell.”

I finish preparing her meal and place the plate in front of her, a turkey melt with two pickles, and a glass of apple juice, then walk around the counter to sit beside her at the attached bar. She looks at me with a pained expression. I smile at her and gently stroke her cheek. She doesn’t need to be sad for me.

“I lost my family in the Great War. My parents and most of my pack. The only living members of the Zorah pack are me and my three brothers. Levi, my oldest brother, became alpha of our pack by default due to his age and strength. My other brothers, Gabriel and Micah, are with him in our village. Levi found his mate first, then Micah. Now me.” She closes her eyes and leans into my touch.

I want to make love to her so fucking bad right now, she’s the only cure for this sadness I feel from the ache of waiting for her for so long. But I can’t take her like this.

“Only Gabriel is left without a mate now, but I’m sure his suffering will end soon. I think Fate drew me here. It was the reason why I couldn’t bring myself to take a break from patrolling the border. I think my wolf knew. We were waiting for you to come to us.” She opens her eyes and stares right at me, those beautiful olive eyes are always so easy to get lost in. She closes her eyes and sighs for a moment, her expression pained and full of frustration.

“Before I flipped my car off the road, it was just a simple night of me getting off work. Tiffany, my roommate, started spending time with the wrong crowd. I think she was into drug use. Julian, her boyfriend cornered me in my kitchen. He said I would make a great mother for his children.” She jumps at the growl that escapes me.

Another man intended to breed my mate? And live? Ha! I’d feed on his corpse for a week, then raise his children as my own. I draw in a breath to calm myself. I’m not trying to scare her from talking to me. But the only children that will be filling her womb will be from my seed alone.

“Please keep going,” I push, and she nervously shakes her head at me.

Fuck! I try not to growl out my frustration as I watch her grab her sandwich and take a bite of it.

“Is this boyfriend, the man you were running from? Is he what brought you to me?” She doesn’t have to answer me. I can see the answer written all over her face.

“I don’t want you to kill anyone for me. I’ve heard the horror stories, of what happens when humans try to interfere with fated mates of Wintermoon.” She says and I stifle a chuckle.

Oh, she doesn’t know the half of it.

“Will you tell me his full name at least?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.

Doesn’t matter, I’ll find his scent. I could smell another man’s scent on her panties when I unpacked them. That asshole has been playing with her underwear without her permission. My wolf howls inside of me, wanting vengeance. Feasting on his flesh seems like the perfect compromise.

“I think I’d like to save the rest of this conversation for the police once you take me into town. I want them to help me with this, not you.” She says and I narrow my eyes at her.

What? Why doesn’t she trust me to handle this? I could make him go away within less than twenty-four hours. I just need his scent, which I partially already have.

It’s faded from me over the past week, but it’s imprinted in my memory. Once I catch whiff of it again, I’ll be able to complete my hunt.

“Why is that?” I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral. She takes another bite of her sandwich and gives me a stern look.

“Because I don’t want that asshole to be the reason I lose you. Let the police handle it, and we can continue getting to know one another. Alright?” I give her a gentle nod, but my wolf is beaming with pride.

I want to snatch her into my lap right now and kiss her silly. She’s not protecting that asshole. She’s protecting me.

Oh, we are most definitely not going to make it through the night without me breeding her.