Then the vision was gone. Akash and Kai werein front of me whining in anxiety. ‘I said are you okay? Can you hear me,Aurora?’ Kai asked.
‘Maybe she’s having a seizure. I read aboutstaring seizures once,’Akash added.
I shook my head to clear it. ‘Not aseizure, a vision.’ I walked over to Kai to reassure his wolf I was okay.I licked his muzzle and then replayed my vision for him in my thoughts. Hiswolf’s eyes glowed and his muzzle opened. He was panting.
‘I know what you are. There are stories aboutyour kind,’he said.
‘My kind,’ I thought.
‘You’re a Matefinder. The most sought after,the most…hunted.’ Atthis, his wolf tipped his head back and howled. My fur rose up and my ears werestiff.
The other wolves ran to him to see what waswrong. ‘Alpha, Alpha.’ I could hear their concern. Jake brushed myshoulder as he passed me and it happened again! I no longer saw the pack infront of me. I was pulled into a vision. I saw Jake, then I was shown ahospital sign. ‘Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Scottsdale, AZ.’Then theroom #314 flashed in my mind. It was like I was walking into the room, lying uponthe bed was a frail, skinny female. She was sleeping.
A nurse walked in with a doctor and theywhispered. “Her white blood cell count is not good. She will be dead in twodays. Call the family,” he told the nurse. The nurse frowned. “She doesn’t havefamily. I’ll call a priest.” She was Jake’s mate. I didn’t know how I knew it;it was just there in my mind, a knowing. Then I flashed to months later. Therewas snow on the ground. Jake and the girl from the hospital were having amating ceremony, and Emma was sitting in the front row, her belly swollen withpregnancy.
The pack came into focus in front of me, Kaiwas in human form now, shaking me. I tried to send him the images of my visionbut then I hit a black wall. I blacked out.
I became aware of breathing on my face. I crackedopen my eyes to see a human Kai inches from my face, his eyes glowing yellow.
"Jesus!" I shrieked. "Youscared me." My throat felt dry. I felt weak. Kai didn’t move but he sighedin relief, breathing on me. "You scared me, too. I couldn't get brotherwolf to calm down." He backed up and I could see his eyes fading back tobrown.
"I'm fine. I just… when did I changeback to human?" I looked down at my body. Someone had clothed me. Iblushed.
"A little while ago. You passed out. Afteryou… discovered your gift."
I sighed. My gift. "Did you tell them?The pack.”
"They picked up on your thoughts. Whenwe are in wolf form we can communicate with the pack. It makes us betterhunters. Instead of communicating with just me, you sent it to the whole pack. Ihave to teach you to close your mind. Sadie and Jake are waiting outside theroom. They’re grinning ear to ear. If it’s true, Aurora, if you can find mates…"He cleared his throat, eyes gleaming yellow again. “…well that makes you veryvaluable to other wolves, to all wolves. You could be in danger."
I placed my hand on his. The touch seemed toreassure him and to be honest, my body ached to touch him.
He went on. “Our race has been slowly dyingout. Not many can survive thechangeand children can only be born tomates. Finding our mates has become harder and harder. Take you and me, forexample. If I hadn't saved you from that accident, you would have died a humanand I never would have known. I would have lived out my life alone, with nofamily." His voice became a whisper just them. He lowered his head, andfor one brief second he looked like a small child. I sat up slowly and wrappedmy legs around him.
"About this mate thing," I began.His face went slack; the Mount Hood Alphalooked nervous. He placed hishands possessively around my waist keeping me close to him. I instinctivelyplaced my hands around his large, tan biceps.
"When we're in wolf form, I feel likeyour mate. But as humans, I need us to start slow," I told him.
"Slow?”
Clearly he didn't understand the concept. Ibrushed my fingers through his thick hair, unable to keep myself from touchinghim.
"Slow. Like when we're human. You’re myboyfriend. I'm not ready to jump into some mating ceremony and have kids nextmonth. Okay?"
His laugh was deep and distinctive;it made me want to hear it over and over again. "Boyfriend. Okay. I can dothat." He kissed me chastely. "…for now." His eyes scanned mybody and my skin heated at his meaning. I let go of my hold on him anddetangled my legs, clearing my throat. He grinned, flashing his bright whitecanines.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” he said,kissing my forehead and standing up. I sat there frozen, not prepared for the commenthe had just made. He held out his hand, pulling me into a standing position.“You’re not used to being treated right, are you?” he asked, looking deep intomy eyes. My breath began to come out in ragged gasps. This was intense. Yet,something inside me assured me he could be trusted with anything. He was mymate. Mine. Made for me.
“No, I’m not,” I told him, breaking his intensestare. “The only experience I have with men is if they are raising their fistto me or walking out the door never to return.” My lip quivered at theadmission but I wouldn’t cry. He needed to know but he also needed to know Iwas strong. I had been through a lot and it took more than some hot Indian guykissing my forehead to make me become whipped. I wouldn’t be beneath him. I washis equal or there would be nothing.
His face fell at my thoughts and his eyestook on a sad look. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Mates means equals inthe wolf world. Dominance aside, you are my other half, my equal.”
I tucked a blonde lock behind my ear andgrinned. Okay, enough intense talk. I thought to myself. I grabbed his hand andled him out of the room.
Jake and Sadie practically leapt on me. “Areyou okay?” Sadie asked, grabbing my arm as if to inspect me. Jake hugged me,grinning. “You scared us.”
I was taken aback by all of the attention,the affection. Looking beyond Jake and Sadie I saw the rest of the pack in theliving room and trickling out onto the lawn. They were whispering; I heard oneof them say, ‘Matefinder.’
“I’m fine, thank you,” I told them.
