The Werewolf's Mate

"Um, Naomi told me you wanted to see me," I opened Clays door. I never really noticed his room until now. His room looked like a five story hotel or something that came out of royalty. It was a castle and he was technically royalty in werewolf.

"Yeah, come in," He said, "There are some things we need to talk about, but first we should take a shower; we danced pretty hard on the dance floor. I could hardly keep up with you."

I blushed at his compliment. Then I realized that he said we should take a shower. Did he mean him and I together in the shower? I mean it's not like I haven't thought about it, but I've only known him for seven days. Four days if you don't count the days I was unconscious.

"You can take one first," he said as if reading my thoughts. He went into his dresser and pulled an old t-shirt and handed it to me. I went into his personal bathroom. It was three times as big as mine and was more luxurious. I quickly learned which dials to the shower were hot and cold and quickly took my clothes off. I took a shower really fast and made sure and scrubbed really hard. Of course since this was Clay's bathroom he only had men's' soap so I smelled exactly like him. So did his shirt. I became aroused by the smell, but quickly pulled myself together and went back into Clay's room.

He immediately stared at me with desire on his face, as if he knew I was aroused too. He went through his dresser again and grabbed sweatpants. He walked slowly to his bathroom door and turned.

"Make yourself comfortable," he grabbed the remote from on top of his dresser and tossed it to me. When he left I sat stiffly on his bed. I turned on the flat screen TV and flipped through the channels. I found the Animal Planet channel and ironically it had a documentary on wolves. I kept it on that channel and slowly inched towards the pillows. I fell asleep because his bed was so cozy and I was finally comfortable.

"Kat?" Clay gently shook me. I lazily opened my eyes, but they shot open when I saw Clay's upper body. I knew he had muscles because I felt them when we were snuggling, but damn!

"Liking what you see?" he smirked. He started flexing.

"Oh god," I moaned and face palmed myself, "You're such a dork!"

"Ha ha. You know if you're sleepy we can wait and talk in the morning," he said all of a sudden serious. That sounded like a good plan, but I needed answers. I shook my head.

"Naomi told me you wanted to asked me some questions," he stated. I nodded.

"I do. First off, I was wondering if it would be possible if I could go home and see Maia and my grandfather? I hope Maia hasn't filed a missing person case," I thought aloud.

"Yes. You can go and visit your family. By the way I hope you don't mind, but I went back to the picnic and grabbed our stuff. I used your cell phone to text Maia that I took you on a surprise trip to my condo," he cringed. I would've been mad, no pissed, but it was a brilliant idea and I was kind of proud of him.

"I would be mad at you, but that was a very good idea," I praised. He nodded in approval and then he came up from behind and encircled his arms around me.

"Your stuff is beside of the TV if you want it," he whispered in my ear.

"Secondly," I croaked, "Alex said something about how I was your mate. What does that mean? Does it mean boyfriend and girlfriend in your culture?"

He took a moment to say, "It means exactly what your grandmother wrote to you in her journal. Look, Kat, we were meant to be together; it was destined. Mate in our culture means soul mate in yours,"

He let me take a second to take it all in. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he kept his mouth shut until the reality of his words sunk in. He lightly kissed my shoulder until he said something.

"There's something else I need to explain to this mate thing, but I would need to show you something and it's kind of late. Let's get some sleep," he said. He got up and turned off the lights as I slid under the covers. He slid right under the covers next to me as we snuggled. We both fell soundlessly asleep.

***********************************************

"You'll have to be quiet," Clay whispered. We were outside his front door. He walked to the next door. From what I can remember from yesterday's tour that Naomi gave me this is Clay's father's room.

We walked into the room and the first thing I noticed was that it looked exactly like Clay's room, except it was dark, dusty, and gloomy. That's when I noticed Ylena was in the room. She got up and walked quietly towards us.

"He's been waking up and falling back asleep all morning," she said worriedly. I glanced at the old man on the bed. He looked sickly pale and I could tell he was dying.

"Kat this is my father, Rollin," he whispered as low as he could.

"You do not have to whisper, my son. This must be your love, Kat. I've heard so much about you," he smiled weakly. He raised himself slowly.

"Hi," I smiled sheepishly. He laughed, but then he started coughing.

"I hope you take good care of Clay," he coughed again. He closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Clay and I both looked at each other and then at Ylena. Clay took my hand and took me back to his room.

"You see the reason why I wanted to show my father to you is because when he dies I become alpha male of Forte Lupum and in order to do that I have to do a ritual with my mate. It's a blood bond. Kind of like marriage in your culture, except it's for good; no divorce or anything, but you wouldn't ant one anyway," he smirked.

"What do you do in the ritual?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"It's a ceremony with just Ylena, you, and I. We cut each other's wrists and pour our blood in a goblet in which we drink. It creates a blood bond. We'll become so connected that we'll hear each other's thoughts and you will acquire my youngness and maybe even gain my powers too," he said. I stared at him in surprise.

"Of course we could have a human wedding too if you want," he added. I thought about what he said. This was kind of crazy if you heard it from my part.

"What if... I say no?" I asked quietly. His head snapped and my direction and his blue eyes darkened.

"Then there will be no hope for the werewolves. I will not only die by not completing the ritual, but our species will become extinct with no leader for the pack that is leading the species to war," he said with a strong tone in his voice. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door.

"Hurry up, man, you're going to be late for your next meeting," a voice said.

"Shit," I heard Clay mutter, "Be right there!"

"I have to go. Sorry," he said in monotone. He pecked my forehead with a kiss and left. I can understand why he was mad at me. I really hoped he understood why I asked that question.