Page 99 of Conner's Luna

I can't stop sniffling like an infant. Conner's Papa Smurf gives me a sympathetic smile as he drives down the main road through town that leads to the highway.

I press my head to the glass and stare. The streetlamps blur because of my tears, but I can still see the dimly-lit storefronts and white stone benches dotting the landscape of cobblestone sidewalks ringing the paved street. I even see a fountain, lit with blue lights under the sparkling water, in the center square.

It's a beautiful, affluent village straight from a postcard advertising the good life. The SUV Papa Smurf is driving is a Bentley. I didn't even know they made SUVs, but I recognized the eagle-wings symbol on the hood. It probably cost more than the house Dad and I rent.

Conner is from a different world from me altogether in more ways than one. A longing forAbuela’skitchen in Puerto Rico, with her special blend ofsofritomaking the air tingle with spice, wallops me right in the heart. Her wooden shutters painted turquoise and red to ward off evil spirits always seem to creak and sway in the wind off the ocean. Charms made from feathers and seashells and animal bones clattered and danced like macabre wind chimes. She would feed me too much, then tuck me in the little bed under the arched window with stories of fairies and mermaids. My dreams would be filled with spice and magic.

I desperately want to callAbuela, but it's already past one in the morning here so it's three in the morning there. I feel bad making Conner's papa drive me around this late at night. Conner's mom had pressed a thermos of coffee into his hand and one of chamomile tea into mine. He bundled me into the SUV before I could protest and I was so upset that I didn't even think of the time.

I twist the thermos in my hands.

"He's a good kid," Papa smurf says quietly.

I nod without looking at him.

"Did he tell you about mates?" he asks me.

"And about Trey and Lydia," I whisper.

"Ah."

It's quiet as he navigates onto the highway. Then, he speaks again. "Mates can be a tricky part of being a wolf." I hum, not exactly encouraging, but not wanting to be rude.

"It's important that both the feet and paws agree on the mate for a Claim to stick."

"What is a Claim?" I ask him.

He looks at me, a little surprised. "A Claim is fairly simple, I guess," he says pensively, "for all its importance. We Mark each other. Ah, when in the presence of your mate you produce a venom, so it's not just any bite." He taps his collarbone, showing me a faint white set of marks that resemble a set of teeth. "This side is T's. Mina's is on the other."

"Oh, yeah. Conner didn't go that far in his explanation," I say blankly. The scars aren't that noticeable at all, but now that he pointed them out the white crescent mouth imprint on his skin all I can see.

Papa Smurf laughs. "Then, you have sex. You often Mark and have sex simultaneously." The tips of his ears turn red.

"Sorry," I apologize for making him embarrassed. I can feel the heat in my own cheeks, too.

He grins, shaking his head. "I have some practice with this. We try to take turns with the pups. Just to warn you, T told Conner all about Marking and sex."

I laugh softly, thinking of the scariest-man-in-the-world and trying to imagine how that conversation must have played out.

"Sometimes a ceremony, and yes it's during a full moon, is held. That isn't a necessary part of the mating, though. Once you Mark and mate, it's a done deal."

"So... if a wolf-person needs to produce venom to successfully complete this ritual, then it's not about choice, is it?" I ask.

He softly says, "It can be. Mina and I are truemates. I rejected her when we were pups in high school. It's a terrible thing to reject your soulmate. One of the worst things a wolf can do to both their mate and themselves."

I hunch over a little, feeling ill suddenly. My breath catches on the wave of discomfort that sweeps me head-to-toe.

"You alright?" he asks me.

I nod, for the first time looking at him. He spares me a glance and smiles gently.

"Teague came into the picture and... well, there's a law amongst wolves. You can't disrupt a mating until both chosen mates are at least twenty-five. He Claimed us both." Papa Smurf shakes his head with a nostalgic smile on his face. "Asshole," he says fondly. "He found a way to beat the system. And believe me, his Marks stuck, choice or not."

"So... it is possible to Mark someone who isn't your mate?"

"Sometimes," he replies cautiously. "T sent me a text earlier, telling me that you're Trey Wilkinson's truemate?"

"Allegedly," I reply.

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