“Oh, fine. You read and I’ll eat. Your ice cream’s melting, though.”
Lucy took a few bites while she scanned and flipped pages. As she read, her scalp prickled. This…this wasn’t her wolf. Not at all. She’d heard the stereotypes all her life, of course—angry lupines, low-IQ lupines—but she’d been raised to ignore them.
The way Kate had written about Jeremy, about wolf packs…this was documented. There were actual studies that said lupines—wolves—were subjected to the will of the strongest in their pack and called himAlpha. Actual studies that said wolves were more likely to commit violence. Based on this paper, wolves were…kind of scary.
But none of this was Jeremy. Lucy shook her head as she flipped another page and reached the last section of the paper.
VII. Mate bond: fact or myth?
She kept her hand steady. If the paper started shaking, Jodi would notice.
The author was not able to find any primary sources on the topic of lupine “mates.” It’s hard to know if this is something to be taken seriously or not. The theory or rumor is that a lupine will mate only once in his lifetime and that his connection to her is very intense and possessing. She might be human or lupine. If she doesn’t want to be pursued, she is likely to be at risk because of the behaviors discussed in the previous sections of this paper. Unfortunately the author could not find confirmation of this theory but will continue to investigate.
Lucy forced herself to finish reading, to set the paper on the table beside her plate of cooling brownie and melting ice cream.
“Wow, you took that very seriously,” Jodi said.
“Well, it’s…I mean, isn’t it sort of…inflammatory?”
Jodi’s brow furrowed as she forked a bite of dessert. “It’s not flattering, but Kate has a bibliography page. She didn’t make anything up.”
“No, I know, I just…I don’t know.”
She wanted to take the paper with her and thrust it into Jeremy’s face and demand an explanation. She scanned the works-cited page. Four sources. She fetched her phone and took a picture. She’d look them up later.
“Wow,” Jodi said.
“Never mind.” If she tried to talk about this, she might say too much. She might say,I’m dating a lupine. A wolf. But if he thinks I’m his one-and-only mate, he sure hasn’t mentioned it.
The taco shop had become one of their favorite haunts, but two days after her catchup night with Jodi, Lucy sat in a vinyl booth across from Jeremy and stared down at her shrimp tacos without a hint of appetite. Jeremy’s earth science class had prompted him to use his scant monthly disposable income on a rock tumbler—the amateur version, purchased from the science aisle of a big-box toy department. Few things could be more endearing than his excitement as he showed her the little pouch of smooth, shiny, worthless stones he’d brought into the restaurant with him.
She liked this guy so much.
But she couldn’t ignore what she’d learned this week.
Well, maybe she could. Suppose she pushed him away with her questions? She didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t want him to break up with her.
“Lucy?”
“Sorry.”
Jeremy squinted at her, his signature curious face. “You’re not usually one to zone out.”
“I, um, just have something on my mind, and I’m trying to decide…if we need to talk about it, or if I need to think on it more first, or…”
“Well, now youhaveto tell me.” He gave her a crooked smile.
Lucy took a few bites of taco and felt calmer. His smile was reassuring. She thought over their relationship so far, new though it was. Never before had she felt the need to walk on eggshells with him or keep a secret for the sake of staying with him. In fact, without noticing, she’d started to trust him. Really trust him. She would trust him now too. But she’d also choose careful words and do her best not to offend him.
“I sort of stumbled into some information this week about you. About wolves, I mean.”
Jeremy’s eyebrows arched. “What kind of information?”
Shoot. There was no polite way to ask. Lucy set aside her taco and wiped her fingers on her napkin. She cleared her throat, but the words still came out squeaky. “I read about this thing called a mate bond?”
Jeremy froze. Blinked. Sighed. “Crap.”
“Why?” Suddenly she did need to know the truth. “Because it’s a myth or—or because it’s not?”
