He seemed taken aback but then shook his head. “I wasn’t suggesting we do.”
“ Mates can’t separate.”
“ Not true. It’s possible, but it’s hard. Kiley’s separate from her mate.” He waved a hand in the white wolf’s direction. “It’s a struggle, very unpleasant. Let’s just say I don’t want to have to go through that. But I won’t make you stay either. You don’t know me.”
Olivia was watching the other woman now, a new respect rising. She’d never heard of anyone leaving their mate. Now that she knew, she picked up on the sadness that seemed to cloud around Kiley. There was a taint to her, like there was a huge weight on her shoulders and she was wagging her own personal war within herself.
“ How far away is your camp?” she asked quietly.
“ About a half hour if we run.”
“ Alright.” She shifted again, stretching in her wolf form. She let out a little yelp to get the other female’s attention, then waited for her to make her way over. Once there, Olivia nodded. “Hello.”
Kiley cocked her head suspiciously, but then grunted. “Hi.”
“ We’re going to head back now,” Jensen told his second in command.
“ I came to tell you something,” she said. “I’ve spoken to the village family, as well as their elders.”
“ And?”
Olivia didn’t know why, but his whole body had gone ridged at that comment. He looked very intense in that moment, like he wanted to jump out of his own skin.
Kiley flashed a slow wolfish grin. “They accept out terms. They’ll side with us.”
He laughed. “I don’t recall discussing any terms with you, but you did well. The mortals will be valuable allies.”
“ Wait,” Olivia frowned, “mortals? We’re siding with humans?”
“ I’ll explain later,” he said, his eyes pleading with her to understand. In a flash he was the large golden wolf she’d first met, and he jolted his head indicating the direction they had to go.
The three of them said nothing as they made their way through the forest, each no doubt lost in their own heads. Olivia knew that things were going to be different, and not just because she was in a different place. Her life had changed dramatically, and the future was a major unknown now.
She was attracted to Jensen, but could she love him?
Epilogue: Present Day
Jensen stood by the window watching the wolves that guarded the grounds as they made their way up and down the well trimmed lawn. How far they’d come since those days living in caves.
A warm fire crackled in the hearth across the throne room, the smell of burnt wood filling the air. The walls were made of a rich cherry wood, the ceilings high, reminding him of those old days in the echoing cave. The double doors at the other side creaked as they were slowly opened, followed closely by a set of light footsteps.
He smelled her long before her reflection danced back at him off the window, and there was already a smile on his face when he turned.
She was still just as beautiful as that day he’d met her in the woods those thousands of years ago. Her dark black hair tucked behind her ears, and her eyes already sparkling alive at the sight of him.
Her clothing was different, this being the twenty-first century. Navy skinny jeans tucked into leather boots and a bright blue tang top hugged her like a second skin as she moved forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. When she rested her head against his chest she let out a sigh that warmed him to the bones.
“ What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
“ I was thinking,” he said back, dropping his chin to the top of her head.
“ About what?”
“ Us.” He cupped her cheek when she pulled back to look at him. “Remember that day we met?”
A mischievous look came over her face. “Hard for a girl to forget.”
“ Oh, really?”
She slapped him playfully on the shoulder and then sobered a little. “What got you thinking about that?”
“ Tobias.”
She quirked a brow, clearly not understanding.
The elder Sinclair had been missing for a long time now, run off after breaking the law by turning a human. That very Were was luckily still alive, having survived the werewolf poison that had coursed through her veins. He’d left shortly after that, and hadn’t been heard from since. Until now.
“ Here’s here, Oli. In the city.”
She gasped, crossing her arms over her chest and moving away to think. She turned back a few seconds later. “Have you told Kiley yet?”
“ No.”
She nodded, then took his hand. “Remember how hard it was explaining to Tobias you’d left camp single and came back mated?”
He chuckled, appreciating her attempt to change the subject. “He couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t either. Took us a whole week to figure out that the fates hadn’t made a mistake.” He ran a hand through her hair, relishing the silky feel. “I should have realized I fell in love with you that moment by the lake.”
“ Which one?” she snuggled in closer. “Call Kiley. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can come to bed.” She lifted herself to her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his forehead.
He watched her hips sashay as she exited the room, throwing a flirtatious glance over her shoulder.
Jensen wasn’t looking forward to making this call. Even all these years later Kiley still had a temper. Still, Olivia knew him well enough to present him with the perfect motivation and before the doors shut behind her he whipped out his phone and was pressing speed dial.
Anything to be with his mate.
OPT
One of the perks of traveling for work is being in a different set of surroundings, which gives you options of what to do on your nights off. I had one night off and having blown the day away by sleeping, I figured that I needed to get out. I did a Google search and found two places that looked worthwhile; OPT and Club Asylum. One was a 15 minutes drive, the other was about 30 minutes. I figured it would be easier to hit up somewhere close.
OPT was one place out of three in this structure. Once I realized that its home was in the basement, I stepped inside — the place looked like it would hold maybe100. It was small enough that when I walked in, I could see the entire place from the entryway: There were about 10 people in the whole place, including the bartender. I felt momentarily shy, but people seemed relatively non-threatening, so it eased me up slightly. Two wall-mounted plasma TVs on either side gave it a pool hall feel, even though the place looked like it hadn’t been updated in 10 years. The pool tables were quarter-operated and given the appearance of the place, I wasn’t surprised. I was caught off guard when a female’s voice broke my train of thought. “Hey there! If you’re looking for pool, you can ask Jim and Sandy, I’m sure they’d play.” I looked in the direction of the female’s voice and replied, “Nah, I’ll just have a drink.” I approached the bar, sat down, and made myself comfortable. I noticed that the bar tap had a Coca-Cola logo, so I just ordered a Sprite.
As she poured the Sprite, I looked her over. Initially, I was impressed by her looks, but that’s all for show. It was my guess that she was the wife or girlfriend of whoever owned the place. “Just the one Sprite hun, or do you want to start a tab?” I took out my credit card and gave it to her. She was gorgeous! She looked to be in her mid 30s, having an accent like the locals, about 5’5, slender, gorgeous blonde hair that was put up and dressed in a top
