Chapter 31
2318 Words
Nick’s slowly mending bones were still too fragile for them to try and move him upstairs to a real bed, so they pulled a mattress out of one of the bedrooms and set it on the floor of the examination room, gently lowering him down on it. He didn’t let out a sound, his slow, shallow breaths were the only sign that he was still alive. After a decent amount of Luis’ blood, Nick did regain some color though, still looking pale and sickly but at least not like an actual corpse anymore. Small progress, but better than nothing.
He didn’t smell nearly as good as usual, probably because of how there was another werewolf’s blood circulating through his system, but Kate didn’t care. When Luis disappeared to raid the nearest grocery shop, she lay down next to her mate’s lifeless body, pulling a blanket over both of them. Perhaps she could at least keep him warm since there was nothing else she could do for him.
Feeling him close and holding his hand, which was one of the few parts of his body that didn’t sustain any damage, finally allowed her to relax, letting her mind freely drift over the possibilities of what was and what might be.
He nearly died, simply because he was around her. The very thing she was afraid of, the main reason she refused to let anyone into her life. But he somehow weaseled his way in anyway. And it was not just the mate bond. He was just so damn adorable it was impossible to resist his charm. And kind and understanding. Fatim called him perfect and Kate had to agree. He would be safer somewhere far away from her but, selfish as she was, Kate just wanted to keep him close, to never let him go.
But would he even want to stay anymore? Zoe was safe, thanks to him mostly, and wasn’t she the main reason he didn’t leave in the first place? Her mood darkened when she remembered the bus ticket he bought. He was already ready to leave and now that he went through so much pain and suffering because of the cats, why would he ever even consider staying? Mate or not, Kate was bad news for everyone around her. Like some bad luck charm.
It might have been a few minutes since she lay down, it might have been a few hours, when a loud chewing noise interrupted her thoughts. Kate squinted in the sharp light, her eyes focusing on a large figure sitting on the examining table right above her. Luis picked up another huge piece of meat from the plate he was holding and raised it to his mouth, his teeth tearing off a large bite.
“Eww, did you even cook that?” The meat looked mostly raw.
“I did,” Luis nodded with his mouth full, “for like a minute. What, cat, you roast your mice before you eat them?”
Kate sat up, carefully wrapping the blanket around Nick’s body, hoping to preserve some of the body heat she created. “No,” she frowned while getting up, “but I eat them as a cat. Eating that,” she pointed to his meat with disgust, “as a human would give me nothing but a stomach ache.”
“Well excuse me for being famished. I gave half of my blood to your boy over there. What were you even doing?” His eyebrow rose up as he gave her a suspicious look.
Crossing her arms in front of her body, Kate frowned at him. “Keeping him warm. Not that it’s any of your business.” Luis let out a quiet mhm sound and smirked at her, but didn’t add any comments. Probably because his mouth was so full he barely managed to close it to chew. “Hey, Luis?” Kate hesitated, not sure whether he would want to talk to her. But he seemed friendly enough, so she continued. “When you first met Oliver and found out you were mates, did you immediately start loving him?”
The werewolf gaped at her for a moment before swallowing the bite in his mouth. “Okay, that’s an oddly specific question. Where exactly are you headed with that, cat?”
“I’m just curious about the mate bond,” Kate shrugged, trying to sound as uninterested as possible. “It sounded pretty… strong.”
Luis’ eyes jumped between her and Nick a couple of times, narrowing as they did, but he didn’t ask. To her surprise, he actually went on to answer her question. “No, I didn’t start loving him. Or maybe I did but I would never admit it, not even to myself. I beat him up the first time he tried to mention it to me.” He sighed, lowering his head, looking almost ashamed. “He was just an Omega, nobody really batted an eye over me punching him every time he came too close to me.”
“Because you couldn’t admit being gay to anyone.”
Luis scoffed. “You said it yourself, most werewolves are traditionalistic assholes. The way I was brought up… I always felt like something was wrong with me, like I was not a real man if I wasn’t interested in girls like everyone else. And it got even worse after I found out Oliver was my true mate. I wanted him so f*****g much but I just couldn’t let myself act on it and it was tearing me apart. I was such a mean prick to him, I still don’t understand how he put up with me all that time and still wanted me even after all that. We knew that we would be kicked out of the pack if we came clean but at that point, it didn’t really matter to us. Everything sort of… clicked when we finally decided to be together.”
“But didn’t you ever feel like… being manipulated into it? Like your decision wasn’t your own?”
“Manipulated?” Confusion ran over his expression. “By Oliver?”
“No. By that goddess of yours. That she just chose someone for you and tied you together by this mysterious bond. That you never even had a choice. You had to act on it and it destroyed both your lives.”
An amused chuckle escaped his lips and he took another bite, chewing on it while thinking about the answer. “Okay, first? Becoming rogues was one of the best things that ever happened to us. Yes, it’s not ideal, especially when you get kidnapped by a bunch of crazy cats, but we could finally be free and that was worth it. And as for the other thing… I don’t know, I never really thought about it that way.
Yes, I might not have had a choice of a partner but it was not like anyone had caught my attention before I met Oliver. And I always could have rejected him, and don’t think I haven’t considered that. But… according to our mythology, the mate bond connects two pieces of one soul. And it really felt like that, like a part of me was missing before I accepted Oliver. Like he had the other part. The Goddess picks our counterparts so we would complement each other in every way, weigh out the other one’s weaknesses and support their strengths. It’s like some super-advanced dating app picking the perfect match for you. Why the f**k would you turn that down?”
It was clearly a rhetorical question and Kate kept quiet, her fingers tracing the outlines of her lips. Why the f**k would she turn that down?
With his head tilted to the side, Luis’ eyes narrowed as he watched her with growing curiosity. “So, my dear psycho cat,” he smirked, “why exactly are you interested in such an obscure piece of the werewolf culture? Or was it just a sudden interest in my life? Something you think you can use to torment me or make fun of me?”
“What? No!” Damn, paranoiac much? “I just heard Nick mention it and it sounded… interesting.”
“Sure, sure.” It was clear he wasn’t buying her lame excuses. “Whatever, the joke’s on you anyway, I’m done being ashamed for that part of my life.”
If only Kate could deal with the things she was ashamed of so easily. “That was really not my intention. Can you tell me how it works? Like, uh… technically?”
Luis gave her an evil smirk. “Well, sometimes I’m on the top, sometimes Oliver is, sometimes we just cuddle or give each other he-”
“I meant the mate bond, you i***t! I know how gay people have s*x! But eww, I did not need you to implant the image of your hairy sweaty ass near somebody’s face into my head,” she shuddered, grimacing in disgust.
He chuckled at her. “That word did not even cross my lips, my dear feline lady. Were you thinking about my ass a lot in the past few months?” His lascivious wink made her want to gauge her eyes out. “I have a theory about why you want to know about the mate bond so much. I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine. You can go first.”
Of course he probably figured it out, he wasn’t completely stupid. For a stinky dog. Question answered, by the way, the other werewolves still smelled atrocious to her. It was just Nick’s scent she was attracted to.
“Fine,” Kate sighed. Fortunately, Luis didn’t seem to be enraged by the idea of her being mated to a werewolf, so she decided to use the opportunity and get some information. She should have asked Nick about it when he told her, instead of freaking out when she had no idea what it even meant. “So, what exactly do you do when you find your mate? Is there some uh… a ceremony or something?” Damn, she hoped she wouldn’t have to wear a white dress. It was so not her color.
There was a smirk on his face but his voice sounded almost serious. “No, not really. If you choose to reject them, you just say the words and if they say it back, the bond between you is severed.”
Kate knew that there was such a thing as a rejection but had no idea how it worked exactly. And no desire to find out anymore. “And if you want to stay with that person?”
“Well, for starters, you accept them as your mate, there are specific words for that, and once both of you’ve done it, it strengthens the bond between you. You’ll be able to feel each other’s emotions and be connected in a way your tiny cat brain can’t possibly comprehend. Then there’s the marking part but that’s more of a private bedroom thing.”
Fatim’s fur bristled and she waved her tail from side to side, clearly irritated. “You are marked as their property? Like cattle?” Kate voiced out the cat’s thoughts.
“Goddess,” Luis rolled his eyes and lowered his head to lick the plate clean. “You cats and your f*****g independence. No, Catherine, it has nothing to do with being someone’s property. It just shows the world that you and the other person belong together, that you have accepted it and cherish the bond between you. When other werewolves see this,” he pulled on the neckline of his tank top, revealing a small pink scar on the base of his neck, “they know I have a mate and I’m not interested in anyone else. That’s what it means. It also completes the bond, reuniting the pieces of your souls, if you want to believe the folklore. The fact is, from that point, the mates will be stronger when they are together and weaker when they are apart for an extended period of time.”
Kate took a moment to think about his words. Did she really have the wrong idea about the whole thing? What Luis was describing didn’t sound so bad. Nick did try to tell her something similar but she never gave him a chance. Trying to run her hands through her hair she realized she really needed a shower. Her whole body was still covered by dried blood from the fight, her long hair tangled into a huge dirty mess.
“So,” Luis cleared his throat, watching her with great curiosity, “tell me, psycho cat, were you asking all these questions because this poor guy told you that you were his mate?”
Avoiding his look, Kate nodded. He told her much more than just that. He said he wanted to be with her and Zoe, to protect them. And he nearly died to prove his words. What more did she want? Kate smiled, remembering Fatim’s words. She really was completely stupid. But not anymore.
Quiet chuckling made her look up. “Wowza,” Luis looked at Nick with pity, “is he like some sort of a cannibalistic killer or something? I can’t imagine what horrible things he must have done so the Moon Goddess would punish him by having to spend the rest of his life with you. Poor kid.”
“Oh shut up,” Kate stepped forward to punch his shoulder. “You know, I’m pretty sure Anders neuters dogs here as well, so I’d be careful with my words if I were you. Stay here, I need a shower.”
“Yep,” he nodded seriously, “you absolutely do.”
***
Next update: Friday
- Writer
