“Because as long as our uncle thinks his plan is working, he won’t come up with any other scheme in an attempt to harm us,” Jackson replied.
“I like that,” said Dylon, approving of Jackson’s strategy. “The natural reaction would be to clear your names as soon as possible, leaving your uncle to think of new ways of going after you. By saying nothing, he’ll think he has you on the ropes and all he has to do is wait for the time to expire…a false sense of success. Good job.”
“Exactly. I plan on announcing my decision at a pack meeting when everyone is back but I wanted to ease your worry over Josiah’s complaint regarding Jake and Jessica.”
“Thanks,” said Cody, “we appreciate that.”
“Well, I’m going to take my son and go find my mate,” Jackson said, rising, “and have some fun.”
Chapter 21
The late afternoon sun lit up the room with a bright golden glow that finally forced Dakota to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the absence of emotions flooding his body and was surprised at how unnerving it felt. When he would block the emotions temporarily, he could always sense them hovering on the other side of the wall he created, but now, there was nothing. In a strange way, he felt naked, like someone had stripped away part of who he was—part of his essence—and now he was left with only the outward shell of himself.
Pissed at his reaction, Dakota pushed it aside, unwilling to dwell on it anymore. The Fates gave him the means to shut down that part of him and he refused to allow his unease to keep him from enjoying life the way everyone else could. Dakota looked at his wolf, wondering how he was, since they’d claimed their mate, and found him curled up sleeping with Slate’s wolf.
What the fuck? Why is my mate’s wolf inside me?His mind flipped back to the claiming when they bit each other and the intense pain he felt.Holy shit balls! That’s right…Slate’s wolf entered my body, then joined with my wolf. What the hell does that mean? First the Fates allow me to remove everyone else from my mind and then they make Slate’s wolf a part of me? What the fuck is it with the Fates? What did I ever do to them to deserve this shit?Anger rose in him even though he knew nothing good could ever come from it; there wasn’t any way to block Slate’s wolf.
Feigning sleep, Slate heard his mate’s thoughts and winced when he realized Dakota wanted to block his wolf. He’d been just as surprised when he found Dakota’s wolf inside him and would have to talk to hisparents about it. If he was right, this only happened rarely but he couldn’t remember why the Fates would do it—just that it was extremely rare. After listening to his mate’s rants, he was sure Dakota wouldn’t care how rare it was, or why.
“I know you’re awake,” Dakota murmured.
Slate chuckled. “Yeah, I’m awake,” Slate said, deciding to tackle the subject, “I was just thinking about your wolf inside of me and vice versa.”
“My wolf is in you?”
“Yeah, you got my wolf, right?”
“Yup. Is this normal for Fated Mates? I never heard of it before but then I didn’t pay much attention to the whole fated thingy.”
“Why was that? Because you didn’t believe in it?”
“No I believed in it; after all my parents were Fated Mates, but once I realized how rare it was to find one…and the fact I had decided never to mate…I never paid attention when it was covered in our health class at school.”
“Well, in answer to your question, what happened to us is very rare…that much I know. I plan on asking my parents more about it because I just can’t remember why it happens; all I remember is it’s connected to the Fates.”
“The Fates? So this isn’t normal for Fated Mates?”
“No. Not that I know of. Maybe I can ask my brother…”
“Because he’s a Dire Wolf too?”
“Yeah, I mean, this is uncharted territory…a Dire Wolf mating with a different species of wolf shifters…and maybe the Fates did it to protect our mates.”
“That makes sense, but Jackson never said anything about it.”
“Is it a big problem for you?” asked Slate.
“No, I guess not. I am used to everyone else in me so this is just another one.” Then realizing what he said probably hurt his mate, Dakota quickly added, “Sorry, that sounded bad. I was just surprised by it because Oracle never told me this would happen.”
“I’m not sure she knew, but you can ask her.”
Cursing his empath abilities again, he knew his reaction was caused by constantly living with other people’s feelings inside him. “Babe?” he said hesitantly.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry it sounded like I didn’t want you because that isn’t what I meant. I lived my whole life with other people always in me…well, I mean their feelings…so when I found out I could stop it for as long as I wanted, it was like winning every bet my brothers ever made. It was never possible before except for small windows of time, but even then it worked best if I was far away from everyone.”
“Is that why you hid in the cave on the mountain?”
