Page 41 of Untamed

"Little Luna," Thjis waits for her to make eye contact.

She tilts her head to one side, adorably, looking at my brother with a curious stare. Excitement races through me. She looks like she's ready totalk.

"Are there pancakes? Fuck, I hope so," Sarj growls out as he stomps into the room.

My luna looks at my little brother, startled.

But not as surprised as Sarj.

"Fuck me! I mean, shit! I heard you found your mate, In, but I didn't think... shouldn't you two be holed up at your house or some shit?"

My teeth grind together as my jaw shifts. "This is my little brother, Sarj,Qitsuk." I stroke her back.

"How old is she?" Sarj asks abruptly.

"Young," Rhet replies for me.

"Too young," Thjis says with disapproval and a warning glance at me.

I scowl. I didn't shower this morning, and neither did she. My mate is too nervous with me. How am I supposed to take her clothes off and clean her without causing her to panic? So, she scents of me and our activities from last night. It's faint, I did wipe her skin clean, but nothing other than a shower can remove the smell entirely.

Thjis points a finger at me. "Careful you think with your head and not your dick, In."

I growl, offended. "I know what she needs, Thjis."

"She's too young for a full mating, In.," Rhet supplies quietly.

"She is a shifted female," I reply stubbornly. My hands start to clench into fists. Not good. I don't want to beat my brothers up, and I sure as hell don't want to do it with my mate in the room.

"She's still young, In. Just don't rush anything."

As suddenly as the argument started, it's over. My cat stands up and starts to walk away until the chain tightens between us.

"The fucking chain needs to go," Thjis huffs under his breath.

I toss him a warning look. The chain stays. Standing, I join my mate as she wanders into the living room with the vaulted ceiling.

The chain is yanked a moment later. I growl out a warning instinctively, but my mate is already at the wall next to the bookshelves.

An old, yellowed map hangs on the wall next to the garden window.

My mate is studying the map as if it's a lifeline. She traces territory lines of packs, her fingers finding each stenciled name of a pack. The map is old. Some of those packs don't exist anymore.

She can read.

I wrap my arm around her waist, feeling leery of showing her a map that may aid her in running from me. She's so intent on looking it over, her golden eyes wide, almost frightened.

"It's a map of the territories all over North America," I murmur, kissing her hair. Reaching over her shoulder, I show her RustClaw.

"This is our pack, my Bliss, the RustClaw. Our territory has expanded in the last few years. This map must be about fifty years old."

I show her the river. "This is where I found you." I trace the river north to where she may have come from. Now that the map is in front of me, I find myself wondering where, exactly, my mate was hiding for so long.

Maybe I can figure it out. "Next to the river, this mountain range is the Rockies." I show her the names written over the dark brown peaks with faded orange colors covering most of the range; KilClaw, DuskPaw, KilPaw. "These two packs are gone." I point out the DuskPaw and KilPaw territories. "KilClaw has taken over. Alpha Argus. He's a good male. He and his father expanded the territory decades ago. My good friend, Penny, is the future luna of the KilClaw. She's mated to the alphason, Ilian."

I stop explaining the relationship when I realize she's looking at the other territories. She probably doesn't understand pack politics, so I try to simplify it.

"Here, to the north," I trace more names, Mauja or IcePaw, SeaPaw, EngWolv...Adlartok. "The Mauja is where my Ma was from," I tell her quietly. "They're territory is far, far smaller now." I clear my throat. "The SeaPaw are gone." I can't bring myself to look at the Adlartok , so I move on. "EngWolv is still here. They're good hunters."

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