Forgotten Wolf

23 Mates

Sure, I have questions, but I have no idea where to start.

"Lots, but I can't remember them all. I think it would be better if you just started talking, and I'll ask them as they come to mind," I say, wanting to see where he takes the conversation.

Jude nods and takes another sip of his coffee before he turns those keen blue eyes to me. "What happened to you, Jess?" My heart stops as the question leaves his lips.

Wow, the direct approach. I thought my past would come up later.

"I don't want to talk about it," I whisper, dropping my gaze to keep him from seeing my shame.

He grabs my hand for reassurance, drawing my attention back to his kind eyes. "I know you don't want to, but you need to."

I look away as my chest tightens with long repressed emotions I don't want to deal with right now.

I refuse to talk about this.

"Jess, something, anything, it's important," he presses on, squeezing my hand. I can feel his gaze boring into me, waiting for something.

"Trish was right," I mumble in defeat. As my admission registers, his usual soft blue eyes turn hard as he ticks his jaw.

"What did he do to you?" He asks softly, his grip tightening on his coffee mug.

"Isn't it enough to know that it happened? Do you really need ever sick, twisted detail?" I say lowly, unable to control my voice. As the memories flood back, I'm overwhelmed by guilt, shame, disgust and fear, which in turn just feed my anger.

"Something happened, more than just him cheating on you to cause this kind of damage," Jude reasons. He's like a dog with a bone. He's never going to drop it until I give him something.

"Just assume you're right and he wasn't Prince Charming. Let it go or this conversation is over now," I snap. There's already too much on my plate to be digging around in the past.

My threat hangs in the air a moment before he relents. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to upset you," Jude says as his face falls. "I hate seeing you suffer, and understanding what has happened would help me to explain the next part."

Jude finally moves on when he realizes I'm not budging. "What do you know about mates?"

"Just what Claire and Xavier told me." I pause, trying to remember it all. "Something about wolves being paired up by the Moon Goddess, like marriage, I guess." I can't help but scrunch up my face at the foreign concept.

He sighs as he leans back in his chair. "There's a lot more to it than that. The Moon Goddess does make the matches. She sees into their souls to make sure they are the perfect fit, two halves of a whole that bring out the best in each other. You only get one mate in a lifetime. That's why they're so precious." A sadness falls in his eyes as he no doubt remembers his own murdered mate.

"On rare occasions, she may bless high rank wolves with a second chance, mate, but it's rare. A pack is nothing without its Alpha, so the Goddess may bless him again if his mate were to die or reject him."

"Why would mates reject each other if they are supposed to be perfect for each other?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

"Rejection is rare. I don't know why someone would ever reject such a precious gift." He looks confused and disgusted as he reflects on that point before moving on.

"The Goddess forms a bond between the two that lets them know when they've found each other." His attention wavers once more.

"That's the mate bond Jace was talking about last night?" I ask with a frown. "The one you guys say I'm fighting?"