Page 20 of Tracking His True Mate

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and looked away. My wolf whined and rolled over onto her back, ashamed of what Gabe thought of our choices.

“Oh. Um, do you have a…boyfriend…or something, Ella? Does he know that you’re living here with me?” He emphasized the word boyfriend to try to make his question obvious. He didn’t need to; what he was asking me was crystal clear. He wanted to know if I was fucking someone.

“Not here, no. But I had boyfriends back home. I don’t believe in the whole chastity thing, which is another reason I wouldn’t want a true mate. I wouldn’t want to be tied to just one man. I want my freedom.”

Horror crossed Gabe’s face before he could mask it. “Ella, I’m not trying to judge you. I think it’s great that you’re happy, but you are seriously overestimating what male werewolves are willing to put up with. Even regular chosen mates wouldn’t handle something like that very well.”

“Would you?” I asked, entirely serious.

“No way,” he answered flatly. “Just thinking about my mate looking at another male is enough to make me want to punch someone. And I’d absolutely send her over my knee if she gave another man any attention.”

“Okay, fine. But even if I had to be monogamous with achosen mate, I wouldn’t have the increased possession and the mind-reading. So that’s better than the other option, right?” I felt like I was grasping at straws. Gabe reached over and patted my shoulder awkwardly.

“It’s going to be okay, Ella,” he said, frowning. “Why are you so worried about true mate stuff all of a sudden? It’s not like you’ve met one here, have you?“

Gabe set his roll down. His brow furrowed until realization filled his eyes. I could almost feel the moment he finally put two and two together.

“What, Gabe? It’s not like I’m in a strange pack trying to escape a bad, true mate bond or anything, right?” I laughed bitterly, not daring to make eye contact with him.

“Hey,” he said, his voice much softer now. He placed a finger under my chin and forced me to look back at his face. “It’s going to be okay. If you are positive that this guy is bad for you, I’ll try and help you find a different mate. There are lots of wolves in this town who would love to bond with you. And if you couple with someone in Tumblewild, you can become a permanent member of the pack.”

That was precisely my line of thinking, but I was still hesitant. “But won’t they care that I’m not… you know… a virgin?”

Gabe sighed and picked up his roll again. “I’m not one for deceiving people, but maybe don’t lead with that? Let them get to know you, and after a while, they probably won’t even care.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him. My wolf looked perplexed, too.Any male who doesn’t care would not make a worthy mate, she declared. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Okay, fine. They’ll probably still care, but as long as youpromise to be exclusive with them from now on and not share any of the gory details, a good mate will leave it in the past.”

I had to smile at his confidence because inside, I had none of my own.

__________

Gabe wasted no time compiling a list of potential bachelors for me to meet. He woke me up early the following day to discuss some of his ideas. It was cute how excited he was, and I appreciated that he wanted me to stay in Tumblewild. Other than missing a few people in Dark Claw, I enjoyed living with him a lot more than when I was roommates with Ella.

“Are any of them gay?” I mumbled, reaching for a cup of coffee. “If my mate was gay, we could both see people on the side, and he wouldn’t care what I was doing.”

He looked at me, confused. “If a male in our pack was gay, he’d just mate with another male. This type of situation probably wouldn’t interest him at all.”

I sighed. He had a point there. “So, how did you choose these guys?”

“They’re good wolves, and they haven’t seemed eager to go find their true mates,” he said. “We’re going to have a pack run tomorrow night, and I might ask a couple of them to stop by here afterward if that sounds good to you.”

“Wow…so this is really going to happen, huh?” There wasn’t a point in drawing it out any longer, so I wasn’t sure why a feeling of dread was building in my stomach. At least this way, I’d get a chance to know them before binding myself to one of them forever.

I sat next to Gabe at the kitchen table when his phone dinged with a message.

Some of the stress that he had been carrying around melted off his shoulders as he read it, piquing my curiosity, “Good news?” I asked.

“Very,” he said, shoving it back in his pocket. “Our beta and a few of the council members will be back from their business trip today. There’s a ton of pack business that we’ve been putting off without them, and their return will take a lot of the pressure off me.”

He gave me an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, it also means that we’re going to have to cut this short because I need to prepare their offices. They’ve already taken off and should be landing in Flagstaff in about an hour. But we’ll do this tonight, okay? Promise.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, standing to follow him to the door and grabbing my keys from the hook.

Gabe nodded. “Sure. The big-wigs love having snacks from the bakery available when they arrive, so if you want to pick up the order and drop it off at town hall, that’d be great. Linda said it should be ready in about ten minutes, so you can head over there now.”

Happy to take the task off his hands, I followed him out the door, and we walked together to the small parking lot. I smiled as I considered my new life, feeling much more positive than the evening before.

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