“I’ll live.” Xander purred as he licked my face. “Since my mate is a wolf and all.”
Just his mate, huh? We’ll see about that…
* * *
After a big juicyhelping of dinner, I found Xander by the edge of the grove. He was in his cat form licking his paws clean. A sudden playful urge took over me. As a wolf, I slunk low to the ground to try and sneak up on him. His ears didn’t swivel back—that was good. That meant he didn’t notice me yet.
With my belly touching the grass, I took another paw step closer. Xander hadn’t moved except to wash his paw.
This is my chance!
I tensed my muscles and sprang.
From a total standstill, Xander leapt three feet in the air. I leapt into the space he’d been sitting in, then crashed on the ground. He landed on all four feet, graceful as ever, and grinned down at me.
“Nice try,” Xander said. “Next time, move slower. I heard the rustle of grass against your fur.”
“Stupid grass,” I mumbled.
“And you’re forgetting one important thing.” He sat next to me and shifted, so I did the same. When we were both in human form, he leaned over, buried his nose in my neck and inhaled deeply. I shivered. “I’d recognize your scent anywhere, even if I wasn’t sitting downwind.”
I laughed. “I’ll get you one of these days.”
“Keep trying, wolf.”
I was quiet for a moment before asking, “Hey, Xander? When you say you’d know my scent anywhere, it’s because we’re mates, right?”
“Well, I recognize the scent of wolf, and of you specifically.” At my slight frown, he added, “But I don’t think that’s the answer you’re looking for. What’s bothering you, Sage?”
I fiddled with my fingers. “Both my brothers had this amazing moment when they first met their fated mate. Like, their whole world realigned, and magical stuff like that.” I faced Xander. “And it was the same way when I met you. You felt it too, right?”
Xander’s eyes flickered with emotion. “Sage, I…” There was a strange flash of pain in his eyes. “I don’t know.”
Something was upsetting Xander deeply. I put my hand over his and leaned in close so he could feel my warmth. I stroked the tense muscles in his arm. He didn’t seem angry, but almost sad. I hated seeing my fierce alpha wounded by something invisible. I wanted to soothe that sadness.
“You can tell me everything, y’know?” I said softly.
Xander smiled through the melancholy in his expression. He sighed, then pulled me close. His arms and chest were warm. “I know. I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should have told you sooner, but instead I decided to be a cat about it.”
“Be a cat how?”
“Solitary and stubborn,” he said with a smirk.
I let out a laugh. “I’m gonna teach you to be like a canine. Open and honest and always sharing your troubles with your pack.”
Xander pressed a brief kiss to my forehead. He gathered his thoughts silently for a moment before speaking. “I already told you my what species my parents were. Do you remember?”
“Of course. A wolf and a mountain lion, just like us,” I replied. I would’ve sounded more excited, except I got the feeling it wasn’t cause for celebration in his mind.
“Yes.” Xander gazed up at the evening sky, already dotted with stars. His fingers linked with mine as he spoke, like my presence was helping to ground him. “My alpha father was a mountain lion shifter, like me. My omega father was a wolf.”
I listened carefully. Nothing Xander told me was bad so far, but I guessed that part was coming up.
“Both of my parents preferred to take a mate of their own shifter species, but they lived in a remote location, far away from here. They met by chance while my omega father was in heat. My alpha father convinced him they were fated mates, destined to be together, and they had me.”
I frowned in anticipation and clutched Xander’s hand tighter.
“But they weren’t,” Xander stated. “When I was born, my omega father was disappointed that I wasn’t a wolf shifter like him. He told me when I was a teenager that he intended to take me to join a real wolf pack, when I was old enough, but obviously he couldn’t do that when I’d been born a cat instead.”
