“Your fated mate? Who’s your mate?” Jake’s brow wrinkles in confusion.
“That’s the point; I hadn’t met her back then, and I was regretting that fact.” I gulp down some of my root beer before continuing. “And believe me, if you knew my parents—who married out of convenience and were never happy together—you’d wait for your true love too.”
“Fated mate? True love?” says Jake, who has a dreamy look in his eyes but then shakes himself. “Yeah, well, not everyone’s so lucky.”
“Perhaps not… but some of us are.” I pause and add, “However, even when we find them, things can get mighty complicated, mighty fast.”
Jake is back to scowling again and folds his armsacross his chest. “I think you better tell me what this is really about.”
“I swear, Jake, I never expected to find my fated mate in Riddle Hill… and in your family.”
The gold around his irises darkens, and he barks, “Don’t tell me… just no. I can’t see you and my sister together.”
“Yoursister? My mate isn’t Cassia—it’s Sophie!”
Jake’s mouth gapes open. “Sophie? Are you sure? The two of you are about as different as sunshine and shadow.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” My mouth turns up at the corners as I think about my Sophie. “She smells like springtime, and she has the most lustrous chestnut waves and perfect curves and makes me feel tingly all over. And then there’s my heart, which nearly exploded in my chest the first time I held her.”
A vein pops out on Jake’s forehead. “YouheldSophie?” He leans across the table and grips my sweaty performance tee with two beefy hands. “How dare you!”
“It’s not what you think! Sophie was sobbing after your grandmother clipped her wings this morning… and I gave her a hug to comfort her… and that’s when Iknewshe was my mate.”
Jake purses his lips, lets go of my shirt, and sits back down with a growl. “Granny Catbeam actually clipped Sophie’s wings?”
When I nod, he says, “Poor Sophie.” Then he sharpens his gaze at me. “But that doesn’t give you the right?—”
“I realize that!” I huff. “You don’t have to worryabout Sophie; she’s got plenty of spunk. She gave me a hard shove and told me to never, ever do it again. And I never will, without her consent. But it’s going to be really, really hard… knowing she’s my fated mate and not being able to tell her or hold her… or, er… well, you get the picture.”
“Confound it all—you’ve just lobbed a huge problem in my lap! I’d look out for any woman in this town, but Sophie is family; she’s like a sister to me.” Jake rubs the back of his neck, obviously thinking about what to do. I cling to the hope he’s a decent man and won’t run me out of town, which is his prerogative as the alpha and mayor of a supernatural village.
“If Sophie is truly your fated mate?—”
“She is,” I reply with full conviction.
“Then it’s going to be really hard working with her if she doesn’t feel the same way—and since Sophie’s not a werewolf, she may never feel what you do. At the same time, you’re part owner of the bakery and have every right to work there. But that’s not what worries me.”
I’m pretty sure I know what Jake’s going to say next, so I remain silent. But he surprises me with a question. “Do you have any idea what happens on the first full moon after a werewolf meets his fated mate, but she’s either unaware of their connection—which can happen for a variety of reasons—or even worse, she soundly rejects him?”
“N-no,” I stammer, realizing how little I really know about this whole fated mate thing.
“It’s called mate blight. Basically, the werewolf becomes a howling, snarling, whimpering mess andneeds to be locked up for everyone’s safety, including his own.”
An icy chill settles around my heart; what Jake is really saying is that I could lose my self-control during the next full moon, and possibly say things… or do things… I’d regret later. I run both my hands through my hair. “In that case I definitely can’t stay with Sophie. I’ve been avoiding going back to the cottage tonight… but other than living in my car… I’m kind of out of options.”
Jake rolls his eyes. “Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact Auntie Dragonfly trusted you enough to hire you and then bequeath part of the bakeshop to you, I’d send you packing right now. You’re the most troublesome werewolf I’ve had to deal with in… in forever. You get yourself arrested your first day here; you discover my cousin is your fated mate your second day here… and you’re all banged up.”
I guess Jake must have noticed my bandaged knees when I approached him earlier. He waves a hand. “Let me guess. You went for a run to clear your head and took a tumble. Am I right?”
“You’re right… and then I went back to the cottage to ask Sophie for bandages… but rather than pointing me to the supplies, she washed my cuts and bandaged them up for me. And I could tell she was suddenly uncomfortable around me afterward. That’s when I left.”
“You’re telling me Sophie actually patched you up?”
“Yes.” I nod. “And her touch was soft and gentle and?—”
“You can stop right there; I get the picture.” Jake stares up at the ceiling for a moment and then heaves outa long, growly breath. “I’m probably going to regret this, but under the circumstances, it’s the only thing I can think of on such short notice.”
“What’re you thinking?”
