Sixteen
Faint moonlight crowned behind the pack house of Wuffingas Estate as Tate slipped inside, but no one else was awake. Even as he lay down on his bed in the luxurious apartment that was his by right as pack enforcer, he could not sleep.
The scent of her. Irresistible, yet he'd had to resist. And when he couldn't...he'd fled.
Though the forest in the dark, all the way to his pickup, fishtailing on the half-frozen muddy tracks with his headlights turning every tree into a monster screaming at the sky as he'd desperately tried to put as much distance between his mate and himself as humanly possible.
He hadn't even been sure what woke him.
Only that when he did wake up, he'd had a dog humping his leg. Only she wasn't a dog. She was a wolf, and his mate, and she'd gone into heat, which wasn't supposed to happen to wolf shifters, and the scent of her had been damn near irresistible.
It had taken all his self control to wrestle her into the bathroom, and back into the chains that only existed to keep out of control shifters safe until they could properly manage their own shifting skills.
In all his years with the pack, both as a teen and now as one of the youth leaders, he'd never seen them used until this week.
Oh, he'd heard stories of bitten shifters, struggling to adjust to their dual natures needing to be chained for a few hours or a day, as Ylva or one of the pack leaders explained to them about the secret world they'd suddenly become a part of, until they calmed down enough to remove their own chains.
It was easier to do with human hands, but even a wolf could do it with a well-placed paw controlled by the intelligent mind of a shifter.
He and Shaw had practised their Houdini act more than once when Ylva wasn't looking.
He'd even let the kids try it, when the foul Scottish weather had kept them inside.
Of course, the knockout potion he'd hit Arwen with would keep her from breaking herself free for a few hours yet, or at least he hoped. They kept a couple in the cabin for emergencies, and again, this was the first time he'd ever needed to use one.
On his own damn mate!
They'd blood bonded without any kind of mating frenzy, but he'd promised her he would not ask any more than she was willing to give, and even though she'd crouched down on the bed and presented herself to him, whining, he needed her full consent.
As a thinking human, not a wolf, and most definitely not under the influence of an animalistic heat she should not be experiencing.
Ylva would know. She was the pack shaman. She'd know what was wrong with his mate and how to fix it.
But what if she couldn't fix it? What if Arwen was one of the few who, once shifted, could never shift back?
Tate tossed and turned, half wanting to go back to the cabin to Arwen, and half wanting to wake Ylva and demand answers, though it was hardly an emergency.
Finally, he drifted into a restless sleep. When he awoke, the house was bustling about, like it usually was in daylight.
This late in the morning, the kitchen was empty except for Narine, who sat at the kitchen table, doing the meal planning and writing out a grocery list for the week.
"I didn't realise you'd come home. The dishwasher's almost done with the breakfast dishes, so if you wait another ten minutes, I should be able to cook whatever you want for breakfast."
Tempting. Narine was a good cook. No match for Sienna, but he had yet to meet a better cook than his sister. "It's fine. I'll just grab a sandwich or something. I'm in a hurry. I need to find Ylva."
"If you want something that's faster than a sandwich, there's the rest of the quiche Sienna made. I could warm a slice up for you, while you make a coffee."
"That sounds perfect." And that was why Narine was Shaw's housekeeper. She noticed he was so distracted he hadn't even made coffee yet, but was too diplomatic to tell him he looked like shit and needed it too much to leave the house without it.
His coffee cup was empty as he gulped down the last bite of Sienna's divine quiche, so he set his dishes in the sink. "Do you want me to wash up?" The dishwasher was still humming.
"Don't worry about it. Ylva's probably at your parents' place. She's been out there a lot lately. Maybe you should pay them a visit."
Tate sighed. Narine hadn't been part of the pack when his father was the pack leader, so she'd probably never met the man. "I guess I'll have to." Anything for his mate.
He drove up to the cottage that had once been one of the enforcer barracks at each corner of the estate. Back when pack territory was enforced with violence against other packs, and the pack enforcers had outnumbered the women and children housed in the inner village, near the main house.
Now, all the Wuffingas enforcers could fit comfortably in his pickup. But he was the only one who'd set foot in his parents' cottage.
Ylva's station wagon was parked outside, the engine already cold. Whatever matter had brought her here, it must be serious to have taken so much of her time.
Tate knocked at the door.
Mother answered it. "My son." She offered her cheek for a kiss.
His father might be a right arsehole, and he knew his mother was a cold fish, but he knew she loved him. So he kissed her cheek, and followed her into the kitchen for a cup of tea.
Tea and biscuits, the store-bought kind. Not baked with love like Sienna's or Narine's creations. But to give Mother her due, they were shortbread biscuits from the Buzzy Barista, and not the cheap stuff.
While Mother brewed the tea in the same teapot she'd used for as long as Tate could remember, she also made small talk about the weather.
The snow, the rain, yesterday's surprising sunshine.
The possibility of a white Christmas, and whether he'd be taking Christmas lunch with them or up at the big house.
Well, the weather was safe enough, and Christmas was weeks away, so he couldn't answer that one.
With only two enforcers, and Hartwin as often as not on duty at the police station in the village, it made sense for Tate to spend his Christmas up at the pack house.
Shaw's parents had always made him feel welcome, and Shaw doubly so.
Especially this year, the first Christmas he'd get to spend with his sister.
He should get Sienna a gift. Not that he had any idea what to buy, but...
And Arwen. He had a mate now, and she was the reason he was here. Not pack business or family business, but Arwen.
His mother fell silent for a moment as she poured the tea.
The perfect opening for Tate to say, "I saw Ylva's car out the front. Is everything all right?"
Mother pursed her lips. She sipped her tea, then set the cup down with the delicacy of the society matron she'd been trained to be.
"Your father is ill, and he sought the healing services of the shaman.
She tells me she has done all she can for him, but your father is stubborn, and refuses to see anyone else.
" Mother did not approve, but she would never say the words aloud.
Not when it meant speaking ill of her husband.
"You could leave him, you know. You don't need to put up with him. He's not your mate. I can speak to Narine, and she can prepare divorce papers. Mother..."
"I will not be forsworn. I made my vows, and I will keep them," Mother snapped. Her tone softened. "He's your father, son. I will not see our family broken while there is still breath in my body, or breath in his."
Tate closed his eyes. If he had a cup of water for every time he'd heard her say that, he'd have enough water to drown the Loch Ness Monster. Though he'd be a fool to try it.
"And what of you? Have you found a mate?" Mother asked.
"Perhaps. I'd like to consult with Ylva about her, actually. When she'd finished with Father, of course," Tate said smoothly, sipping his own tea.
"When I am finished with her, more like.
I remember shamans being powerful. When a shaman can no longer heal the shifters in her pack, it is time for the pack leader to replace her.
" Father shuffled into the room and plonked himself down in his customary seat at the head of the table.
"What are you doing, serving these crumbly biscuits, woman?
It's cake I want with my tea. Cake, I tell you!
" He banged his fist on the table, making the teacups clink in distress. Even they could see the storm coming.
Mother and Ylva exchanged telling glances.
"I remember a time when my patients were respectful.
Doing what I told them, instead of ignoring my advice.
Be it on your own head, Gordan. If you are done with me, then I most certainly am finished with you.
Take my advice or don't. I'm too busy for time wasting fools.
Others have need of my time. Like young Tate, here.
" Ylva gave an approving nod. "Mate trouble, is it? "
Even in his parents' kitchen, Tate opened his mouth to spill everything to Ylva.
"So the boy might not be such a disappointment after all.
Claim her, bind her to you, then put a baby in her belly before she can blink.
Then challenge that foolish Shaw boy and take your rightful place as pack alpha, as I was.
" Father nodded, then slurped a cup of the tea Mother had hastily poured for him.
A second passed before he spat it out. "Bitter as sin, and overbrewed, as always.
Are you trying to poison me, woman? I should have you arrested for attempted murder. Call yourself my wife..."
Ylva rolled her eyes. "I'll go put the kettle on at my place for you, Tate. I'll have a fresh batch of amanita cupcakes waiting for you, too."
Sienna's signature dish. "I'll be there soon," Tate promised.
Ylva swept out of the room, power trailing behind her like an almost visible cape. His father truly was a fool if he couldn't see it.
Tate drained his tea and rose to follow.
Father glared at him. "What are you doing, boy?
You sit down and wait until I'm finished.
This is still my house and you will show me respect.
You will call out that Shaw boy today, and challenge him.
I will stand witness as you fight him, and the pack will finally have a proper leader again.
None of this co-leader nonsense. Your mother knew who was in charge when I was the alpha.
That Shaw boy would have been killed as the runt of the litter, if I'd had any say in it.
After Aspasia and that tree-hugger she married, that boy is the worst leader the pack has ever seen.
It's nothing but weak women with even weaker children.
When you're alpha, I expect you to cast out all the weaklings preying on the pack, and make Wuffingas strong again.
With our blood, not the blood of weaklings. "
"Like you wanted Helena Rubens to kill her daughter, Sienna, before she was born?
Ylva's right about you. You are a fool. Sure, Lowell Shaw might not be the best leader the Wuffingas Pack has ever had, but Sienna Rubens is the best thing that ever happened to this pack, and I'm not stupid enough to challenge her.
That's right. The girl you wanted aborted is leading the Wuffingas Pack now, and you know what?
I think if I was stupid enough to challenge her, she'd win.
But I won't. I'll stand beside her, just like Lowell Shaw will, and everyone else in the pack.
A leader protects the pack, ably assisted by the pack enforcers.
The strong protect the weak. As I will protect my mate.
Unlike you. It's Mum who protects and takes care of you, and she always has.
Without her, you'd have nothing. No home, nothing to live on.
Nothing. You know what? I'm done here. Bye, Mum.
" He kissed her cheek. "You know you're always welcome up at the main house. Especially at Christmas."
Tate marched out, and closed the door behind him. His father shouted something, but Tate couldn't hear it. And he found he no longer cared, either.
Arwen was who mattered.