Chapter Two #2
“No, not all shifters are fated for bond groups. Adam isn’t part of a bond group, but he and I are fated mates.
” Gracelin pulls the collar of the tank she borrowed from me down, showing a gorgeous mark between her breasts, a combination of stars and moons, but unlike mine, which is black, hers is gold like the marks around my wrists.
“We were marked for each other by the goddess, similar to a bond group, but some shifters don’t get marks at all and end up mating whoever they want. ”
“No one knows how or why mates or bond groups are selected.” Violet frowns, her eyes clouded with worry.
“But bond groups usually receive their mark by their eighteenth birthday, and not many receive one after that. Their mate then receives their mark when the goddess deems the group ready, but it usually happens within a few years of the bond group forming. Watch Team One going almost ten years without a mate was unusual.” I wonder if she’s thinking about Talon.
I know she likes him, and I saw them dancing at the ball while I was being introduced to people.
Later, he introduced her to a group of men who must be his bond group.
I almost stepped in because she looked overwhelmed, but Ember joined them, and Violet seemed to relax, so I let them be.
“And what about individual mates like Gracelin?” I ask, and Gretchin shrugs.
“That can happen at any time, but usually before a shifter turns thirty. It would be awful if a shifter was in a relationship with someone and got married and then found out they were fated to another. Most shifters don’t enter into serious relationships until after that age so they don’t have to worry about broken hearts and the tragedy that would come with finding a partner and then losing that partner. ”
“That makes sense. Do you have a mate mark?” I ask her, but then I grimace. “Fuck, am I allowed to ask that?”
She giggles and pulls her collar down, showing me a black mark between her breasts. “Yes, but I haven’t met them yet.”
“How does that work?” I ask, leaning forward to get a closer look. Her marks are different from Gracelin’s. Hers are a series of geometric designs.
“Like a bond group, I register the mark with the mark registry and then wait until someone else gets the same mark. It’s been a year now. I’m hoping it happens soon, because I’m getting anxious,” she admits.
Gracelin reaches out and gives her sister’s hand a squeeze. “It will, and when it does, we won’t see you for weeks. Mating is an intense process.” She grins mischievously and winks at her sister who rolls her eyes.
“I remember. I’m just glad the rooms in the palace are soundproofed. None of us needed to hear what you and Adam got up to during those few weeks.”
“Mating? It isn’t just the marks and bam, you’re together?” I have so much to learn, and my head throbs with all the information, and maybe from the sparkling wine I’ve been mainlining.
All three girls giggle like schoolboys, and Gracelin shakes her head.
“No, when you are marked and meet your marked mate, there is an instant attraction, and you can’t keep your hands off one another.
You need to bite each other to seal the mating during sex, and if it’s not during sex, then it usually occurs very quickly after it.
Once that happens, the mark turns golden like mine, forever sealing you together.
” She points to a scar on her neck that I hadn’t noticed.
It’s the perfect imprint of an animal bite.
It’s silvery and faded, but it’s definitely there.
“You look like you got mauled by a bear,” I remark, leaning forward to get a better look.
She bursts out laughing. “That’s because I did. Adam is a bear.”
“And he bites you in shifted form?” I ask, sounding horrified, and then something else pops into my mind, and I can’t stop the flow of words. “Do you fuck in shifted form as well? I read a book that talked about knots and spurs and all sorts of things. Is that right?”
They all laugh again, Violet rolling off the bed with a thud, but Gretchin shakes her head and reaches down to give our friend a hand back up.
“No fucking in shifted form—you aren’t always mated to the same kind of animal—but you partially shift your mouth so you can seal the bond.
As for knots and spurs, if you’re mated to the same animal, then they can fuck in shifted form, and that’s when those things come into play. ”
I sigh with relief, and some of the tension leaves my body. “Well, that’s good, because could you imagine having to have sex with a six-headed hydra? Talk about a boner killer,” I grumble.
“But you aren’t just a hydra, are you?” Gracelin points out, and I shrug.
“No, I guess not, but I don’t really understand that. Your dad and moms talked about me being a dual shifter this morning, but it kind of went over my head, and I don’t remember much after I shifted the first time.”