Page 47 of Love That Sass

“Gwen,” he breathed, and smiled.

“Weylin?” she said again, uncertainty cracking her voice.

Her inner beast wanted to tuck tail and run. There was magic there, ancient and powerful. Something strange was happening, strange and important, she realized, taking in the somber atmosphere.

Thor began chanting in a language she did not recognize. The enormous man moved quietly, taking what looked like sticks and a jar of something murky out of a box.

“Come,” Lucy whispered, and the woman looked incredible considering her tummy dropped, and her pup was going to be born any day now.

“He’s speaking in an old, forgotten tongue. Those markings are the ancient glyphs of the original Dire Wolf Pack, the first ones,” she whispered, explaining what was happening even as Sheila placed her hand on one shoulder, Lucy’s on the other.

Eyes wide, Gwendolyn looked at everyone there in the circle. It was not just Dire Wolves, but their mates, too. Some faces were streaked with happy tears, others stoic as they watched Weylin prepare for whatever ritual this was.

“This is a sacred ritual from ancient times. That ink is special, magicked by friends of the Dire Wolves. It’s the only ink strong enough to mark their skin,” she continued in a whisper-like voice.

“Has Weylin talked to you about our origins?” Sheila asked, and Gwen shook her head.

“The Dire Wolves MC has a long history, a long brotherhood. We are all connected to our past, Gwen. To our present. And to our future. Thor can see it. The map of our lives through his bone deep connection to the ancients and our devotion to one another. We are descendants of the original wanderers, and before we came to Blue Valley to settle down, we were nomads.”

“He didn’t tell me,” she said.

“It’s different now. In settling down, the Dire Wolves have found their mates. They foundus. We are their homes, and they are ours,” Lucy said, bringing tears to Gwendolyn’s eyes.

“But what is this? What is wrong with Thor’s eyes? What is he doing to Weylin?” she whispered in awe as Thor’s chanting grew louder.

Just then, the big bald man placed his hands on Weylin’s shoulders, and Gwendolyn tensed. Only Sheila’s and Lucy’s hands steadied her. He slowly turned her mate until he faced her. Still down on his knees, back to Thor, Weylin’s emerald eyes flicked to hers, and he gave her a thin-lipped smile.

Thor slapped his hands, commanding everyone’s attention as he lifted something that looked like a pen and stuck it in the jar filled with a swirling, glittering substance. Weylin’s gaze remained locked on Gwen’s, not even flinching when Thor cut into his skin with the pen-stick.

“Thor is what we call touched by the Fates. His talents run deep, just like his Pack bonds.”

“I don’t know what that means, but he scares me a little,” she murmured, eyes wide as the bald Dire Wolf’s chanting changed pitch.

“See, he’s using a set of ancient bamboo tattoo pens to mark your mate with your story, Gwen. This is all for you,” Sheila told her.

Tears ran down Gwen’s face, and she sniffed loudly. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. Oh, this was big. She knew it was. Felt it down to her bones. Even her new furry half was in awe of what was happening.

Peace, happiness, and love pulsed through her, and she gasped, raising her watery eyes to the smiling ones of those men and women surrounding her and her mate. Gwen was still so new at this. She wasn’t sure if what she was feeling was coming from her, or Weylin, or everyone gathered inside that special space.

“I don’t want him to hurt,” she began, gasping as she watched.

“It’s tradition. You see, our tattoos tell the story of our Pack and our MC. But our backs we save until we find our fated mates. Those tattoos tell the story of us. Right now, Thor is inscribing the story of you and Weylin on your mate’s back. It’s an honor. A tribute. A way for him to show his love.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

Gwen touched her hand to her lips as she watched Weylin, straight and sturdy as an oak, despite the pain she knew he felt with every prick and slice of the bamboo needles as he got tattooed by Thor. Her heart felt so full in that moment, and Gwen finally knew what it meant to be loved.

Oh, she’d promised herself she was going to save her body and her heart for the man she was going to marry, and she did, well, in a roundabout kind of way. But she had no idea in doing so it meant she was going to step into a world of magic and mystery.

Secrets were not her favorite things, but she understood why Weylin had to keep this one. The truth about Shifters, the supernatural world, Dire Wolves, Pack, magic, and bonds were her secrets to keep now, too. And Gwen realized how precious a gift that truly was. Living with this kind of knowledge would be hard sometimes, but she felt strong here, with her Pack, with her mate.

She would keep their secret, because it was hers now, too. Gwen was loyal right down to her innermost secret heart. The one she’d gifted to Weylin. Just like he’d promised to keep her safe and protected, she vowed to do the same for him. Not just for him, but for all of them.

Gwen’s heart squeezed as she finally understood the depths of what he’d done for her in choosing her as his mate. Weylin had taken a poor woman whose last living relative was a shell of himself inside a care facility to a woman who was mated, married, and had friends. She had Pack now. And Pack was family.

“It is done,” Thor announced, slumping down on his haunches as he tried to catch his breath.

“I got you, brother,” Derrick, her Alpha now, blurred across the room, catching the big, bald Wolf before he keeled over on the spot.

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