What if I tried to mate her?
I’d had my suspicions since the last full moon, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that Tegan was more to me than just my girlfriend. Admitting it felt scary.
I’d spent so long with Jade, sticking things out in the hopes that the mating bond would fall into place, that things would click and I’d feel the urge to claim her, but it never did.
That’s because there was someone else the goddess had chosen for me.
Tegan was my mate.
Because my parents were great, we’d had plenty of talks about mating when I was growing up. I could have done a simple internet search as a refresher, but I wanted to talk to a couple who had experience with this sort of thing, even if my parents were both wolven.
Gods, my mom was going to absolutely lose her shit when she found out I had a mate.
I started the video chat, staring at myself on the screen while I waited for my parents to pick up.
My dad answered, shifting what I assumed was the tablet my brothers and I got them for Christmas last year upward, until I could see his face.
“Hey, son. We weren’t expecting a call from you today.”
I puffed out a tight breath. “Yeah, I, uh, I have something I want to talk to you and Mom about.”
His bushy brows furrowed. The last time I called them like this was when I broke things off with Jade. “Give me a second to grab your mother. She’s out in the garden.”
He set the tablet on the kitchen table, giving me a perfect view of their recently remodeled kitchen. Bit by bit they’d been renovating the old farmhouse I grew up in. It was strange seeing everything new and pristine, but my parents worked hard. They deserved a nice, updated home.
Tegan did, too.
“Give us one second, sweetheart,” Mom said, walking into the kitchen. She had her big sun hat on and her favorite pair of yard work overalls. “I was weeding the garden. Getting it ready for spring.”
She loved to garden. She and Tegan would have that in common.
Mom washed her hands, then she and Dad sat down in front of the tablet.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” she asked, giving me her full attention. “Is everything okay?”
I was lucky to have such amazing parents. They made me feel so loved.
“Um—” Gods, it was hard to even bring this up. It was wild that my mom mentioned mating the last time we talked about Tegan and here we were. It must have been some weird mom sixth sense.
They stared intently, waiting for me to continue.
“I think Tegan is my mate,” I murmured.
My mom gasped. “See, Zeus.” She shook Dad’s arm frantically. “I told you. I just knew.”
“How did you know?” I asked, my ears perking up.
“Atlas.” She laughed, staring down her muzzle at me. “I’m your mother. I could see it in your eyes when you talked about her.”
“How—how do I know for sure?”
“Well, how did the last full moon go?” Dad asked.
“I kept going to her house. Running back and forth all night long until I passed out. I couldn’t keep myself away from her.”
My dad nodded, a wide grin on his face. “Sounds about right.”
I ran my hand along the back of my neck. “It’s just really unexpected. It’s throwing me off a little bit.”
