Pathways

I was resting against Darren in the tent as the wind shook the fabric and an ungodly wail sounded through the air from the snow. Darren shook violently because of the cold and I did my best to warm him. Sadly there wasn’t much I could do, I just sprawled myself half over him. It would’ve had to been that way anyway, this tent was freaking small.

“So how did your father die?” I whispered, half expecting him to tense up and not tell me anything. To my surprise he simple moved his hands to my hair and stroked it mindlessly. He didn’t seem sad or scared, or even remotely emotional. He was content with it.

He wrapped a loose hair around his finger. “He was old. I was born when he was fifty because he had trouble getting my mother pregnant, she was only thirty so it wasn’t odd for her to have a child than.” He paused for a second and then untwirled the hair. “He wasn’t really a father to me, he more or less trained me to become what I am now. Every night I would see him and he would teach me how to fight. He didn’t live with my mother and I, he found a new mate after she had me and kind of forgot about us. So when he died last week the pack chose me and now the have a wonderful queen to go along with their forceful king.”

I giggled a bit, half out of nervousness. What would these people think of me? Can I do this? I’m not exactly a beautiful strong woman.

“Roe was my only family, I know how you feel.” I muttered, taking in his scent once more. My god he smelled so god damn good, he was like everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a mate. Big, handsome, and smelled like heaven. Sadly because I’m getting what I’ve always dreamed of so I’m still waiting for something to happen. “Is it warm where you live?”

He chuckled deeply, vibrating his chest. It tickled my cheek and I found myself smiling. “You’ll be living there as well, Rose. Yes, it’s warmer then this at least. We don’t live in log cabins, and the roads are cobblestone.”

I frowned a bit. “Doesn’t that hurt your paws?” It seems to me like your paws would be lost in the cracks in between the stones. That seemed like it would hurt, but maybe they are used to it because they’ve had it all their lives.

He thought for a moment then shook his head. “Not really, I guess it hurts if your nails get to long.”

I stretched against him, yawning a bit. I was tired but there wasn’t a reason to go to bed yet, I have way too many questions to ask. “What are the houses then, if they aren’t log cabins?”

Again he paused for a second, thinking about a way to describe them for me. Were they gorgeous castles? Or maybe trailers…

“They are mostly brick houses, covered in moss and vines. It’s extremely pretty. I prefer them over those log cabins, they look sturdier.” He explained.

I painted a picture in my head of a large two story red brick house with moss creeping up the front of it. I seen myself standing in front of it with Darren, he was pointing things out that I had never seen before and I was most defiantly watching in awe. The place I imagined was a larger village with the cobblestone walkways and the gorgeous houses. In my mind all the kids were running around without their parents because it was safe, this sounded perfect to me.

Darren shifted against me, pulling me a bit closer to him. I was content there, I didn’t find a reason to pull away. He didn’t seem to either. I need to open myself to him.

“Do mates always fall in love?” I hummed, I knew for sure that I had no knowledge about mating.

He looked down at me, playing with my dark brown hair once more. “No. Mates are generally attracted to each other because of smell. It was meant to tell each wolf that this person was a potential mate for bearing children. It’s a repopulation thing.”

I frowned and felt my heart drop to my stomach. “Oh.”

He froze a bit underneath me. Maybe I was being too cheesy, but I wanted to have someone love me. At this point it looks like no one will ever love me. “I’m sorry, Rose. I didn’t mean that we couldn’t love each other someday. But lets be honest, now we’re both feeding off from the lust. Your sent is driving me crazy.” I felt his nose against my shoulder once more.

I sighed. “Well, Darren. I think it’s say to say that I will not be…doing that with you until I can trust you.” He had just put my guard up, we may be a little tense for a couple of days.