Chapter 55 Leticia
LETICIA
ASTROPHYSICS TO A CAT
“He’ll be just fine.” Betty looks over at me from the kitchen. She leans a hip against the counter and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “He’s the baby of the family, but I raised him right. He’s strong enough to protect himself.”
“Well, I wasn’t worried about that until just this second.” I look at the door Royal left through.
“Come, sit, walk me through this recipe.” Betty nods to a chair pushed into the kitchen island.
I sit and talk through a recipe for chicken and dumplings as she cooks. It feels good to at least kind of help, but I keep wanting to get off the chair and just join in. It’ll be a long five weeks.
“Tell me, what kind of wedding were you thinking about?” Betty smiles coyly at me.
“Well, I hadn’t really been thinking?” I smile back, trying to appease her. “My mom and her sisters were planning my wedding to Steffano, and we found a dress they really liked on me but . . .”
“But the wedding wasn’t about you, it was about them?” She glances at me, stirring the pot to keep it from boiling.
“Very much not about me.” I absentmindedly flip the page of the recipe book.
“Well, as much as I’d like to say this one will be all about you and Royal, it won’t be entirely.
The pack will want to celebrate. On the first full moon after your wedding ceremony, there will be a big gathering and a pack run.
But they’ll be respectful of your wishes.
” She dips a clean spoon in the pot and hands it to me over the counter.
I blow on it before tasting it. The flavors are a little muted, but it’s delicious. I hand her back the spoon. “Could use more of everything, but on the right track.”
“You’ve got a real knack for this.” Betty sets the spoon aside and starts seasoning.
“Thank you.” I flip the page in the cookbook back to the recipe. “What’s it like being a wolf?”
“Oh, considering becoming one of us?” Betty steps back from the stove to grab some spices.
“Not really? I don’t know. Royal and I didn’t talk about it a lot other than how . . .” My cheeks are turning pink, and I feel the heat as it runs down my neck.
She’s just so easy to talk to, but you shouldn’t talk to your fiancé’s mother about sex.
“How?” Betty tries to encourage me.
“How different we are anatomically speaking.” I try to downplay the interaction.
“How he can’t get a human pregnant.” Betty surmises. She looks me over and must see my red face because she says, “Well, there’s nothing to be ashamed about, dear. We all do it.”
“I just never, uhm.” I clear my throat. “Never really had someone to talk to about these things, and maybe I’m talking to the wrong person.”
She smiles, brushing her bangs out of her face. “You can come to me with anything. I’ve always told the boys I’m a place of knowledge, not of judgment. Though sometimes some judgment does happen when they do some really messed-up things.”
“Like marrying a woman without her knowledge to prevent her from being married to a mafioso in Italy?” I giggle.
“Precisely.” Betty seasons the food and keeps stirring. “Well, being a wolf has its positives, healing more quickly for one, and I would love more grandchildren. But there are dangers that come with it. What if we’re found out by humans?”
Silence passes between us for a few moments. Why is it that the idea of kids isn’t so scary with Royal?
“But that doesn’t have to be a discussion for now. Let’s get another college grad in the house and a married couple. Then we can talk about being happily mated and grand babies.” Betty is all smiles. It’s bright and lights up her eyes. Her happiness reminds me of how Royal looks when he’s happy.
“What does that mean, fated mates? I heard you say that to Royal, but I didn’t ask. We were a little busy.” I think back to just barely a week ago, when I found out I had a second, but more wanted, arranged marriage.
“Well, I should really let him explain it to you, but since he’s not here . . . We believe that there’s a person out there for everybody and that one person is fated to be with you. You’re a matched set, and nothing is stronger than that bond.” Betty offers me another tasting spoon.
I taste and nod. “That’s it.” Then I hand her back the spoon. “So is it common to find your person?”
“Usually mates are easily found, though sometimes people get impatient and settle before they find the one. Like Valor did with his first wife. They were head over heels in love, but not fated mates. But he most certainly is fated with Antonella.” Betty adds, “Ian and I are fated mates.”
“How did you know?” What if I’m not really his?
“It’s a feeling you get. Well, your wolf usually recognizes it first, and then you come to understand it.
It’s an intense connection. And once it hits you, you don’t know if you’d be whole without it.
I’ve heard it’s not as strong between humans and wolves, but you should still feel a really strong connection to Royal.
” Betty tries to explain, but I imagine it’s like explaining astrophysics to a cat.
But what she says . . . I feel that. I do feel a connection to Royal. It’s why I couldn’t say goodbye when I was shipped off to Italy. It’s why I let him text me every day and didn’t block him. I didn’t want to be without him.
So that’s what this is. Fated mates.