COMET
My balls were aching, and it wasn’t because I’d just found my mate in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina. That kind of ache could have been fun in the right circumstances, but no. This was from my decision to take a piss near an electric fence.
Alden, my wayward owl, had explained several times in the last few hours, but he seemed worried I’d be mad, so he kept apologizing. He seemed to calm down more every time he explained, so even though I understood, I let him do what made him comfortable. At the moment, he was running me a bath in the largest tub I’d ever seen in a home. It was big enough for my whole reindeer if I felt like shifting and taking a bath. The idea had merit, but I’d never do that in a stranger’s tub. The fur alone would have been a nightmare to clean.
Checking the water for the hundredth time, Alden came over to me where I’d perched on the edge of the counter. “The water is perfect, not too hot, and I added some Epsom salts to remove the stiffness in your muscles. Now, let me help you in, and I’ll leave you to soak while I make some dinner.”
“Thanks for doing all this, but it’s really not necessary. I train hard back home, and if my muscles aren’t sore or griping at me about something I’ve done, I figure I haven’t worked hard enough. But you were hurt today, too. Why don’t you get in and soak, and I’ll find something for us if you don’t mind me poking around your kitchen.”
He looked confused for a solid minute, opening his mouth to say something, then changing his mind before trying to come up with another answer. He was adorable when he was confused, his white-blond hair falling over his wire-rim glasses and looking like the little owl I had first met. He was slight and on the thin side, but I had held him close and knew he was mostly muscle, just more of a runner’s physique than my muscleman body.
“I’m sorry to mess with your plans, but you’ve been taking care of me nonstop the last few hours. You refused help with bringing in all the firewood for the night and wouldn’t let me haul the corn out for the squirrels, and you even insisted on going out into the storm to cut the branch that was falling and blowing against the window. You’ve got to be exhausted, and I haven’t forgotten that you hurt your wing today.”
I hopped down from my perch on the counter and gently touched his shoulders. Looking down at him, I placed a finger under his chin and nudged up until his eyes met mine. “We both got banged up today by the weather and other things.” He smiled shyly and tried to hide behind his glasses and bangs, but my other hand reached up and brushed the hair behind his ear. “We’ve got things to discuss, but I can’t keep letting you take care of me without a little reciprocation. The storm is picking up, and the power might go out. So soak in the hot water while I get us some food.” I didn’t give him the option of responding. I just gave him a quick hug and then left the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind me.
I took a few minutes to look around the cabin and find out what I could about the mysterious man I was destined to be with. He had books everywhere and picking up a few, I noticed some were craft books for authors. His laptop was open to a work in progress, but I didn’t read it. Well, not much. He was talented, and I wondered if I’d read any of his work. I loved novels with mysteries and thrills the most. I could never understand how they came up with all those plots and twists. It was genius the way a good novel could weave a story in five different directions and still make it all wrap up in a perfect bow at the end.
Done with my snooping for now, I walked across the living room, checking on the fire while I passed it, then went into the small kitchen to find something to eat. I was surprised to find steaks, ground beef, and even chicken in the refrigerator. I knew some bird shifters preferred to be vegetarian, and some other herbivore shifters also chose to eat that way. I was not one of them. I needed protein for my human body to function and build the muscles I wanted. My reindeer was an herbivore, but I most definitely was not. As an owl shifter, I should have known he was a meat eater, too. Owls were straight-up carnivores and predators. As delicate as they seemed, they were first and foremost hunters.
I decided burgers would be the perfect dinner, so I quickly seasoned the meat and made patties to put into the cast iron skillet I found in the cabinet. I searched around for buns, but I changed course when I couldn’t find any. I found flour and other staples, so I made hamburger steaks and gravy instead. Cooking on the fly with whatever you had in the pantry was a skill my dad had taught me well. Living in the far north, we had learned to make the best of what we had. When the beef was cooked, I’d made the roux and added some beef broth, then had just added the patties back into the pan to simmer when I heard the bathroom door open.
“Something smells delicious.” Dressed in a big fuzzy robe, hair still damp from the bath, Alden looked like a wet dream come to life. My balls still ached, but I didn’t care. Lust hit me in waves the closer he got to me. His soft hair was curled around his ears the way I wanted to curl my tongue there. He had no idea how hot he was, which was a damn shame. It was going to be my mission to make him realize it every day.
Alden passed by me at the stove and leaned over to smell the steam rising from the skillet. I gripped the counter so hard I felt the laminate begin to crack with the force it was taking me not to reach out and manhandle him. He had no clue as he leaned back and smiled up at me with steam fogging his glasses. “I don’t know what it is, but it smells divine. If you can cook this good all the time, I might not let you go when the storm lets up.”
Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
“I don’t think you’ll have much choice in that.”
The smile edged closer to a grimace, and then he was moving to the cabinet to get plates and silverware for dinner. I could let him pretend a little longer, but he had to know the signs as well as I did. Hell, anyone should know the signs of finding your mate better than me since I had never thought I would find mine. The odds were very, very slim that I would, so I’d never thought much about it. But here I was in this cabin with my mate, an owl shifter in North Carolina, and every hidden feeling I’d never thought I would have was bubbling up all at once. I felt like I wanted to provide all the things he needed—shelter, food, comfort, and security. I wanted to talk about the freaking future, for God’s sake, but he didn’t seem ready to admit it.
As we ate dinner, mostly in silence, my inner monologue started to turn negative. Why didn’t he want to acknowledge our connection? Was he disappointed? Was I not what he’d expected? Tundra told me I wasn’t smart enough to be a mate for someone like him, and Alden was so much better than Tundra. My appetite died as the evil voice in my head kept bringing up my worst fears. I had been looking forward to feeding my new mate the food I had prepared, but the thought that he was already disappointed in me made it all dust in my mouth. I finally got tired of the silence in the room and the roar of my own inner saboteur in my head, so I dropped my fork onto my plate with a startling clang and pushed back from the table.
“I think I’ll go run a bath for myself now if there’s any hot water left.” I got up, leaving the plate on the table and running away from the look of relief I was sure I’d see on Alden’s face when I left.
“Hey, wait.” I didn’t want to stop. I felt hopeless and didn’t want to face the truth.
“I said, wait a minute.” The firm clasp on my arm was unexpected, and before I knew what was happening, I was being spun around to face an angry Alden.
“What’s got into you? I thought we were going to have a nice dinner and get to know each other, but then all I get is silence when I try to start a conversation, and then you get up and storm out. What did I do? If I did something, tell me. I’m not a mind reader.”
Running a frustrated hand through my hair, I couldn’t believe he would think this was anything he’d done. “You haven’t done anything wrong. As far as I’m concerned, you’re perfect. I’m the fuck up here. Listen, I know we’re skirting around this thing, but we might as well rip the bandage off. We’re mates, right?”
Alden’s face went pale, and he dropped his hand from my arm so fast that the lack of warmth in that spot felt like a cold burn.
“And that right there tells me everything I need to know. Look, if you’re disappointed, just say so. We don’t have to be together if you’re that upset about having someone like me as your mate. I get it. The dumb himbo isn’t a prize, especially for a guy that’s smart. I mean, you’re a writer, obviously. Who would want a big ox like me, right?”
“Shut up.” The words were whispered so softly I wasn’t sure they weren’t in my head, along with all the other words telling me I was stupid and not good enough.
“I’m not even one of the lead instructors for the reindeer. I teach the younger ones who want to get a head start on training, not the ones who are actually about to join the ranks. I’m just the heavy lifter on the sleigh and teach the kiddies how to take off and land.”
“Shut up.” I heard him say the words this time, but it didn’t register why he was saying them. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to stop now.
“Hell, the guy I thought was mine found his mate and left me without even a thought. Why would you—”
“I said shut up, Comet. You haven’t told me your first name yet, so deal with Comet for now.” I started to tell him my name, but he held up his hand palm in my face, and I finally took the hint and shut up. “You’ve obviously got a very destructive thing going on in your head, and Lord knows I’m familiar with those voices, too, but in this instance it’s a bunch of bullshit.”
Alden dropped his hand, then turned, sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, hitched an eyebrow at me, and tipped his head to the seat next to him. I slowly shuffled over, then flopped onto the seat heavily enough to rock him closer to me. Instead of scooting back, he settled into my side, rested his head on my shoulder, and looked at the fire. I stared into the flames, watching them dance above the embers below, glowing and spitting sparks when the wind from outside would travel in.
