You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 10: Gabe

“How about we walk and talk?” Garrett suggests. “There’s a place I think you should see, Jeannie, and we can tell you about the Moon Goddess along the way.”

I know where he plans to take her because he already mind-linked me about it, and I think it’s a good idea. It’s the perfect place to tell her about mates and werewolf families. I only regret that he seems to be doing so much more of the talking than me. In my head when I suggested this meeting to her, I pictured myself being more active in explaining these things, impressing her with all my knowledge. I wanted to be the one to reveal all the good stuff.

But then Garrett had to go and ask her about her hair, and it completely threw me off. I mean, I was curious about it too so I’m glad he asked, but her revelation that it just magically changed color like that on her sixteenth birthday is messing with me. Garrett is right. She’s probably a mage.

I have nothing against mages, and in fact, I actually find it kind of exciting that Jeannie is so special. She doesn’t even seem to know that she’s a mage, and she seems kind of worried about the potential that she could be. She’s been hiding the parts of her she can’t explain because, well, she can’t explain them. And it sounds like her grandparents didn’t know what to think of it all either, so they probably weren't mages.

And that’s not good news. At least if she came from a family of mages, we’d know her bloodline and her history. The Elders would have something to go on when they evaluate her as my prospective Luna. But one thing the Elders aren’t fond of is unknowns. If her power comes from somewhere further back in her family line than any of her living relatives is aware of, then we have our work cut out for us in figuring out who she is and where the magic comes from.

The clock is already ticking, as Garrett pointed out earlier, and time is running short. Less than a year. That’s how long I have left to present a suitable mate to the Elders and have them approve her so that they can sign off on me as the next Alpha. I can’t exactly take them an orphan with inexplicable magical powers who knows so little about where she comes from. They’d deny me in a heartbeat, and I can’t say they’d be wrong to do it.

Which means we need a backup plan. I’m not rejecting Jeannie and taking another mate just to be Alpha, and the Elders won’t approve of a mage we can’t explain. That means I need to talk to Garrett about taking over as the Alpha prospect. He likes the Indigo Moon girl, Leslie I think is her name, and I know her Alpha father is eager to see her mated to a prospective Alpha. The Elders have no reason to deny that union, especially since Elder Stirling is now gone. He was the only one who knew the truth.

No prospective Alpha from the Bentley family can be allowed to become Alpha unless mated to his or her fated mate since we don’t know which of us are Tyler’s offspring. Any child of his will not be able to produce an heir with anyone but a fated mate, and an Alpha must produce heirs in a timely manner to keep the Alpha power renewed through the generations. Which means that Garrett is a risky choice for Alpha. His fated mate rejected him, and he and Leslie are unlikely to produce offspring together.

But there is precedent for a childless Alpha to pass the Alpha power to a relative who is not his child. The former Alpha Nicholas of Silver Crescent declared his brother’s son Morgan to be the Alpha’s heir when he came to power, and he and his chosen mate never had any children of their own. When it was revealed that his nephew was the fated mate of my own sister Stirling, the Elders wasted little time approving their relationship and allowing Morgan to take over as Alpha. It helps that it was a Bentley coming to power as Luna, but I think we can use this precedent to our advantage when the time comes.

Garrett can declare our soon-to-be-born nephew as the Alpha’s heir, and all will be well with New Horizon once again. And if all else fails, my younger twin brothers are already mated to their fated mate, and they're the ones with a pup on the way. I’m hesitant to suggest them as my first-line backup plan though. Garrett is older, and I’ve already wronged him enough. He shouldn’t be overlooked yet again just because I screwed up his chances with his fated mate.

And then there’s the issue of Levi and Isaac being twins who share the same mate, the same as my mother and her mates. People are already whispering about their suspicions that they might turn out to be the next Alphas because I’m getting older and remain unmated, and the things they’re whispering aren’t ideal. It seems that the people are bothered by the idea of twin Alphas becoming a New Horizon tradition and that becoming the thing our pack is most known for.

“The moon is certainly important to our culture, and our connections to our wolves are heightened during a full moon, but we’re not Lycans,” I hear Garrett telling Jeannie, and look around to notice that we’ve made it out of the packhouse. I guess I was zoned out and following them on autopilot this whole time.

“As you’ve already seen, we can shift at will, regardless of the moon phase, and we also are not forced to shift when the moon is full,” Garrett goes on explaining, still leading us toward the woods out back. “Our wolves do experience a heightened urge to shift during the full moon, but we already have that built-in to our pack traditions. We all meet in our sacred clearing after sundown during every full moon, and we let our wolves out for a midnight run as a pack.”

“And that’s because your Moon Goddess uses the moon to communicate with her children?” Jeannie asks, seeming fascinated by everything Garrett is telling her.

“It’s more that the power of the Moon Goddess herself is heightened when the moon is full, and we feel her presence more acutely,” I finally manage to find a place to chime in. “We’re stronger during a full moon, and our connection to each other is also stronger.”

“Hey, welcome back,” Garrett teases me, turning and smirking my way. “Nice of you to join in.”

“Ha ha,” I answer sarcastically. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought for a minute there.”

“Anything you’d like to share with the class?”

“No, I was just thinking about mates,” I answer about as honestly as I’m comfortable with. I was thinking about mates, just not in the general sense.

“Great, then I suppose you can take over telling Jeannie about the biggest and most important way that the Moon Goddess influences the lives of her children.”

“Mates?” Jeannie asks uncertainly. “Is that something else you do more of during a full moon?”

She’s too cute. Bless her adorable, innocent heart. She seems worried that all these wolves she’s living with are going to turn into primal beasts who only want to hunt and mate during a full moon, and probably wondering where the best place to hide might be.

She’s not entirely wrong about that, Simon pipes up. Our urges to hunt and procreate are more intense during a full moon, and that's also when females tend to have their heats.

Fair points, but Jeannie doesn’t need to know all that. No one will touch her. We may be nothing but beasts inside, but the men controlling those beasts are still stronger. Besides, I intend to make it known that she’s off-limits.

“The word ‘mate’ is used two ways in the werewolf world,” I begin explaining in response. “It is a verb, as you’re suggesting, but it’s also a noun, and that’s what I’m talking about here. And a mate is more than just a s****l partner. To a werewolf, a mate is a life partner, literally your other half.”

“Like a soulmate?” Jeannie asks next.

“Yes, exactly,” I confirm for her, and I can feel myself smiling like a creep. I don’t know why, but just hearing her say that makes me warm and tingly. “But even more than that. As Garrett was alluding to, the Moon Goddess has her hand in it in a big way.”

“Which we’ll explain more about when we get to our secret spot,” Garrett cuts in. “This is probably a good place to shift, and we can run the rest of the way.”

“A ‘secret spot’ sounds very mysterious,” Jeannie teases, laughing.

I love seeing her like that. Usually, it’s only Simon who gets her this relaxed, but she seems to slowly be getting more comfortable around Garrett and I. I only hope that it’s not him who is responsible for it. After all, he’s been doing most of the talking.

“It’s special to our family, though I don’t know how ‘secret’ it actually is,” I admit to her. “I think it’s mostly that the pack knows it’s special to the Alpha’s family, and they leave it alone. Even so, it has always served us well as a place to go and talk, and it’s a fun run to get there.”

“I’m a fast runner, but probably not nearly as fast as your wolves, so is it okay if I get on Simon’s back?” she wonders.

Her question comes as a bit of a surprise considering that we were just talking about how Simon wants to take her for a run earlier. I thought that it was implied by this point.

“He’d love that,” I tell her honestly. “And that was the plan anyway. This is only a fun run if you’re a wolf, or riding one.”

“Okay, good. And is it okay if I turn around while you guys undress?”

It’s no wonder I can’t keep my hands off her. She’s so cute I just always want to be hugging and loving on her. Even when I try to resist, I can’t. It feels way too good.

Which is why she ends up in my arms before I know it, and I kiss the top of her head for good measure. She’s blushing by the time she pulls away from me, and that only makes me want to do it again.

“Go ahead and turn around, and I’ll let you know when it’s safe to look,” Garrett offers, no hints of teasing or joking around to it, which I think Jeannie appreciates.

Nudity may be no big deal to us, but we understand that she’s not as comfortable with it. Even if she’s not human, she was raised as one.

“And then I’ll show you how to safely ride on Simon’s back before I shift myself,” he tells her. “You guys don’t have to wait for me though. I’ll catch up.”

She still hasn’t turned around as instructed and I’m eager to get going, so I opt for the playful route.

“These clothes are coming off in three, two, one,” I count down, teasing her by lifting the hem of my shirt.

She blushes again, rushing to turn around and cover her eyes, and both Garrett and I are laughing now. I’m not going to mock her modesty, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with it. It’s also nice to be sharing this quality time with my mate with my brother. I expected him to be more bitter and jealous when I finally found my own mate, but he’s been surprisingly supportive and helpful.

I only hope he will be on board with my plan to make him Alpha so I can finally have a way to try to make it up to him.