Page 68 of The Enforcers: NOAH

She doesn’t want a true bond.Noah’s heart sank, but he knew he had to explain all the options to her. Jace was right, he had to be fair to her, let her know what she would be getting into.

He put down the brush and rested his hands on her shoulders. Somehow, this was easier to do if they weren’t facing each other.

“Wolves have three different kinds of mates,” he said. “True mates are bound together by destiny. When they recognize and accept the bond, the magic is formed. Regular mates are more like human marriages. It’s a mutual agreement that can also be dissolved if one or both parties decide they don’t want it any more.”

Mina leaned her head back against him. “But you don’t want that. You want a true mate. Magic.”

Noah bent his head and let his lips drift across her shoulder. “Yes.”

“And you want to believe I’m it.”

He traced the line he’d just kissed with his fingers. “Yes,” he said.

Then he gently turned her to face him. “But whether you are or not, you and Brock need someone to look after you in the shifter world. Someone who only cares about you, who isn’t an alpha with a whole pack to think about. Someone who will fight for you and protect you, and who will give you the legal status you need to be safe.”

“Would a regular mating give me that?” Mina asked.

Noah shook his head. “Regular matings can only be between two wolves. You would have to be a claimed mate.”

Mina raised her eyebrows. “Whoa. That sounds disturbingly patriarchal and property-owning.”

“Yeah,” Noah said. “Wolf packs as a whole are not really all that progressive. Silverlake is an exception, which is one reason I want you and Brock to go there. But even they can’t change the laws.”

“Which are?”

“The only way for a human or a shifter of another species to have any rights in the wolf community is to be bound in a claiming ceremony. The one doing the claiming bites the other one during sex, usually right here.”

He touched the muscle between her neck and her shoulder. “Done with intention, it binds them together magically, and makes the claimed mate part of their community, under the same alpha bond the claimer is subject to.”

“So, wherever you decided to go and whatever alpha is there, I would have to obey him?”

“Yeah,” he said. “If we went to Silverlake, I’d pledge to Jace Monroe, and I’d have to do what he said. If he chooses, and he’s dominant enough, he could force me to obey him.”

“And because of my bond with you, he’d be able to force me to obey him too.”

“If he wanted to, yes. But Jace isn’t that kind of alpha.”

“It’s still fucking scary.”

He rubbed her shoulders. “I know,” he said softly. “But it’s a necessary power for shifter alphas, so they can keep control over their pack and prevent their animals from getting out of control. And it would be necessary for you, because it’s the only assurance the Shifter Council would accept that you’re not a threat to shifters.”

“You mean, like a guarantee of good behavior. So I wouldn’t tell people about you, or post videos on YouTube.”

“Something like that.”

Mina dropped her eyes. “What if I didn’t want to mate with anyone?”

Noah took two deep breaths. Don’t growl. Don’t growl.

“It would probably cause dissension in the pack. Females are rarer than males, and the unmated males would fight over you. You’ve proved you can bear shifter cubs, which would make you desirable.”

“They’d fight over who got to have me? What is this, medieval times?”

Noah shrugged. “Mating is a primal urge. But Jace Monroe already told me he wouldn’t allow you to be forced or pressured, which means that if you won’t accept me as your mate, he probably won’t take me into the pack. So you don’t have to worry.”

“Wait,” Mina said. “If I won’t accept you as a mate, Jace won’t take you either? That’s not fair.”

Noah turned away. “He’s afraid I’ll lose it over you, or make trouble if you decide you want to be with someone else. Some other wolf.”

Mina came up behind him, her hand light and soft on his back. “Would you? Lose it over me?”

He sighed. “Woman, I already have.”