neck, the same place where he’d spent the night nuzzling, indeed transferring his scent to her and taking hers on himself as well. It was the natural next step in the courting process between werewolves, but he’d left out a few details when he’d explained about mating. He wasn’t sure how she’d react when she realized he’d been branding her against other werewolves and in turn doing the same to himself to ward off interested females.
“Oh.” Over Jessie’s head, she looked at him with wide eyes. “Is that so? Well, I suppose it’s because we’ve spent so much time together lately. Things like mating and marriage and love take time and respect, not just smells.”
“That’s not what my grandma said. She said—”
“Jessie, go help your brothers with the cereal.”
“But—”
“Baby, please go help your brothers. Lucy and I are going to get dressed and we’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Jessie nodded and scrambled out of the room, even closing the door behind her. Scott got up and dug in his dresser for a pair of sweats for Lucy to wear. He wanted her comfortable. Maybe she’d want a shower and—
“So, I think we need to talk about mates again because it sounds like I’m missing a few details.”
Why the hell had he thought he could avoid the question? He pulled out sweatpants and a sweatshirt. The morning was cool and he hoped by the time it warmed up, they could run to her house and get her some fresh clothes. He turned to her and found her waiting.
“Mates, right. What Jessie was saying is only one piece. The other things I said are true. It is a voluntary commitment. It’s similar to marriage, but better because where marriage can be looked at as legal by some people, or even religious by some, to us, mating changes us down to our blood. At least it does if the mating is right.”
“Right, and the smell thing?” She sat up and finger-combed her hair.
“The smell thing is how we recognize our mates. It’s not a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. We can run into multiple females who smell ‘right’, I guess you could say. Other things, like compatibility, aren’t ignored because they smell good.”
“What do I smell like?”
He hadn’t expected her question, but it was better than what she could have asked. He grinned and walked closer, taking a long, slow sniff of her neck. She giggled and swatted at him, The giggles broke the tension and he finished abolishing the stiffness with a long lick to her cheek.
“You, my dear human, smell like sunshine and fresh cotton. And sweet, I can’t get over how completely delicious you smell. Even when you’re mad or upset, it’s like you’re coated in patience and sugar—those things aren’t the norm for werewolves. Hell, it’s not very often you find that kind of combination in any species, but you’ve got it.”
“And now you smell like that too?” she asked.
“Well, maybe a little,” he admitted. “You’re right about the time part of it. The more time we spend together, logically, the more our scents will mingle. With mated couples it’s different. The scent goes deeper, it intermingles and eventually becomes one until you can recognize a mated couple even though they are thousands of miles away from each other, just by their shared scent.”
She looked thoughtful a moment and he was relieved the revelation hadn’t angered her. He didn’t want her stressing about the mating stuff. Her being in the dark about the whole thing was probably best. Without other werewolves around, it wasn’t like the fact smacked her in the face everyday anyway.
“So are we mated, Scott? Did you do something I didn’t know about to make us mated?”
Shit. There was no answering without either telling a truth she might not be ready for or without bald-faced lying. Not that he had anything against lying when it fit the situation, but lying to Lucy screamed ‘horrible idea’ on all fronts.
“Well—”
She pushed to her feet,
“Oh.” Over Jessie’s head, she looked at him with wide eyes. “Is that so? Well, I suppose it’s because we’ve spent so much time together lately. Things like mating and marriage and love take time and respect, not just smells.”
“That’s not what my grandma said. She said—”
“Jessie, go help your brothers with the cereal.”
“But—”
“Baby, please go help your brothers. Lucy and I are going to get dressed and we’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Jessie nodded and scrambled out of the room, even closing the door behind her. Scott got up and dug in his dresser for a pair of sweats for Lucy to wear. He wanted her comfortable. Maybe she’d want a shower and—
“So, I think we need to talk about mates again because it sounds like I’m missing a few details.”
Why the hell had he thought he could avoid the question? He pulled out sweatpants and a sweatshirt. The morning was cool and he hoped by the time it warmed up, they could run to her house and get her some fresh clothes. He turned to her and found her waiting.
“Mates, right. What Jessie was saying is only one piece. The other things I said are true. It is a voluntary commitment. It’s similar to marriage, but better because where marriage can be looked at as legal by some people, or even religious by some, to us, mating changes us down to our blood. At least it does if the mating is right.”
“Right, and the smell thing?” She sat up and finger-combed her hair.
“The smell thing is how we recognize our mates. It’s not a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. We can run into multiple females who smell ‘right’, I guess you could say. Other things, like compatibility, aren’t ignored because they smell good.”
“What do I smell like?”
He hadn’t expected her question, but it was better than what she could have asked. He grinned and walked closer, taking a long, slow sniff of her neck. She giggled and swatted at him, The giggles broke the tension and he finished abolishing the stiffness with a long lick to her cheek.
“You, my dear human, smell like sunshine and fresh cotton. And sweet, I can’t get over how completely delicious you smell. Even when you’re mad or upset, it’s like you’re coated in patience and sugar—those things aren’t the norm for werewolves. Hell, it’s not very often you find that kind of combination in any species, but you’ve got it.”
“And now you smell like that too?” she asked.
“Well, maybe a little,” he admitted. “You’re right about the time part of it. The more time we spend together, logically, the more our scents will mingle. With mated couples it’s different. The scent goes deeper, it intermingles and eventually becomes one until you can recognize a mated couple even though they are thousands of miles away from each other, just by their shared scent.”
She looked thoughtful a moment and he was relieved the revelation hadn’t angered her. He didn’t want her stressing about the mating stuff. Her being in the dark about the whole thing was probably best. Without other werewolves around, it wasn’t like the fact smacked her in the face everyday anyway.
“So are we mated, Scott? Did you do something I didn’t know about to make us mated?”
Shit. There was no answering without either telling a truth she might not be ready for or without bald-faced lying. Not that he had anything against lying when it fit the situation, but lying to Lucy screamed ‘horrible idea’ on all fronts.
“Well—”
She pushed to her feet,
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