Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series by Alicia Montgomery Page A

with Alex and Cady anyway.”
    Alex watched them leave the apartment. The Primul trusted his sister with him, but Alex wasn’t sure if he could trust himself alone with her. He groaned. He’d be alone with her all the time now. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.  
     

CHAPTER NINE

    “So no one really knows why Lycans have trouble producing offspring?” Alynna asked Dr. Faulkner as they sat in his office. She liked the kindly old Lycan, and it was a good thing he was the one giving her “the talk” so to speak. His office was surprisingly comfortable, with lots of knickknacks and photos from his various trips all over the world with his wife, Eileen. Though he was technically retired as Beta, he still served on the Board of Fenrir and was the clan’s designated doctor. “And you can’t really ‘make’ more Lycans by scratching or biting humans?”
    He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh no, my dear. Pure fiction, I’m afraid, but to answer your first question, yes. Biologically speaking, Lycans reproduce just like humans and only do so in human form. Sperm and egg, fertilization and gestation. However, it’s just very difficult for the actual conception to happen. The Lycan community has done some research into it, but for the most part, it’s just always been the case and few people want to mess with nature. We haven’t yet approved IVF to specifically produce Lycan pups, but after years of studying it, many Lycan scientists agree that it probably won’t will be viable.”
    “Why not?”
    “Well,” he put down his glasses and massaged his temples. “It could just be the law of nature. Evolution and such. Humans are meant to be the dominant species on earth. Having too many Lycans around might not be a good thing,” he paused.  
    “Oh,” Alynna said, her eyes dropping. She went quiet.
    “My dear, are you ok?” the doctor asked in a concerned voice.  
    She sighed. “Well, I never really thought…it’s just that…” she hesitated. “I’m young and all, which is why I haven’t decided about kids and such. But now that there’s a chance I can’t…” she trailed off.
    Dr. Faulkner looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Alynna…I apologize, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “Oh no. I mean it’s not your fault. Or anyone’s I suppose.”
    “Yes, well, I could have put it more…gently or prepared you for it. I mean, growing up as a Lycan, I’ve heard it my whole life and for me, that’s just the way it is. I had few Lycans friends growing up and I don’t recall many of them having brothers or sisters.”
    Alynna bit her tongue, her throat suddenly closing up. She thought of Grant, how nice it was to have dinner with him at the park and how bad things had ended up now. She decided mentally to at least not be so cold to him next time she saw him. “I guess that makes sense. It must be easier for you then?”
    “Perhaps.” Alynna saw him glance briefly at his wife’s smiling picture, sitting right beside his desk. The look in his eyes was wistful and slightly sad. “Well, let’s move on to other things? What else do we need to cover?” He glanced at his notebook, where he had made a list. He cleared his throat. “So, since you’ll be learning about shifting next, we should talk about that.”
    “Right,” Alynna agreed. She wanted to write everything down, but Dr. Faulkner assured her she didn’t have to and he’d send her books to read anyway. This session was just so she could have an actual Lycan doctor to go over the basics and more important, answer her questions.
    “So,” Dr. Faulkner continued. “Lycans have the ability to shift between human and Lycan form at will. In Lycan form, you’ll be able to control yourself and retain memories from your time as a wolf. You’ve experienced the shift twice now – and it sounds just like when a teen goes through his or first couple of shifts. Uncontrollable, blackouts, throwing up afterwards. Soon, that won’t