by Noah Harris
Dante nodded absently, understanding exactly what those before him had meant. Part of the reason he hadn’t given every explicit detail to Erik had been that Dante didn’t know how to explain it. He’d thought it was a lack of ability on his part, as he wasn’t a terribly eloquent person. That no one else had been able to find the words to adequately explain the experience before was comforting. It didn’t change the growing sense of worry gnawing at him, as everything Rosa said so far fit the bill for what he’d felt with Liam.
“Okay, so they get a weird ass feeling, and a bond starts forming? What, they just…daydream about one another or something?” he asked lamely, trying to squeeze as much information from her as possible while she was on a roll.
“Some werewolves don’t even question it when it happens, so their bond just feels like a normal courtship to them. Well, as normal as a courtship can be when it’s from your True Mate, I suppose. It’s the ones who fought it or didn’t realize what was going on right away that have the most to tell,” Rosa explained as she spooned out the food.
Dante frowned. “People fight it?”
She nodded. “Sometimes. After all, the Joining happens because Gaia wills two people together, not because they willed it. Sometimes there are people who fight that, whether because they’re stubborn about free will, or they just plain don’t like the person who’s gonna end up being their True Mate. Some people are like you, don’t have a romantic bone in them, and don’t realize that what they were feeling was anything special.”
“Okay, so how did they figure it out then?” he asked, knowing he liked Liam just fine and that wasn’t the issue.
Rosa chuckled. “Because Gaia is a stubborn goddess, and she won’t be denied when she really wants something. That’s what I meant about the bond. Once the Joining happens, that bond starts growing. Both people end up being around each other more, spending more time with one another, doing more together, all the normal courtship stuff. Sometimes it’s a slow thing, because they don’t realize why they’re wanting to be around that person so badly, but they do. Some people say it feels like something in them is missing unless they’re around the other person, while some just feel antsy and nervous if they’re apart for too long. It don’t matter how it comes about; both people are drawn to one another, and that’s that.”
Dante accepted the bowl she extended to him. “You make it sound so final.”
She sat down without fanfare. “That’s because it is. We’re talking about Gaia’s will here, not some passing fancy. The Joining is the moment when a goddess reaches out and touches two people, telling them they’re going to be together forever because they’re meant to be. No amount of fighting, whining, struggling, or distance is going to change it. Once the Joining happens, those two people are bound to one another for as long as both of them live.”
Dante stirred his porridge, the smell of cinnamon and cloves wafting pleasantly up from the bowl. “You can’t tell me there haven’t been times when someone’s managed to avoid it.”
She chewed thoughtfully for a second before shrugging. “I suppose it’s possible, but only before the Joining happens. The two people have to talk to one another, touch one another for the Joining to happen. Some people believe everyone has a True Mate out there, but we don’t always find them and so we miss experiencing the Joining. But every person I ever heard of that experienced the Joining either ended up with their True Mate or suffered for it.”
Dread began to creep into his chest. “Suffer how?”
“You can’t flout the will of the goddess without paying a price of some sort. A True Mate isn’t just a mate with an extra word thrown in for no good reason. A person’s True Mate is someone they’re tied to for the rest of their life. Both human and wolf sides of them are going to want to be around that person, and they don’t feel right or complete without being around their True Mate. People who lose their True Mate or stay away from them end up…sick. Some end up so sick they die, or just become empty shells. I don’t envy ‘em that. At least people like you and I can keep on going if we lose our mates,” Rosa said with a frown.
He grew silent as he quietly ate the food Rosa had given him. He hadn’t known that True Mates could actually become sick if they weren’t around one another. There was no feeling of sickness or weakness in him from being away from Liam, but he didn’t think he had been away from him for long enough. He was certainly feeling anxious, wishing he could talk to the man to figure this out. It wasn’t quite the feeling of incompleteness Rosa had described, but it was definitely uncomfortable.
Rosa eyed him thoughtfully. “I can’t believe you look like you’re actually listening to me when I’ve explained something. Are you sure there ain’t something you wanna tell me?”
Dante looked up, eyes wide. “No, there’s nothing going on that you don’t already know about.”
She didn’t look convinced, but she nodded. “You going to be seeing Noah later?”
Dante nodded. “I’m sure he’ll find me a bit later.”
“Or maybe you should find him,” she said.
Dante shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I could be doing that too.”
What he wanted was to spend the day trying to find Liam. He knew he should probably leave the Loner alone until he was ready to talk, but after hearing Rosa’s explanations of the Joining, he didn’t know how long he could wait. He was almost completely sure that’s exactly what had happened between him and Liam, but he needed to know for certain. What he needed, was to hear the confirmation from Liam himself before Dante tried to figure out what to do.
“You been being careful around that Liam boy while you’re at it?” Rosa continued.
Dante hoped he didn’t look too guilty as he shrugged again. “I kept what you said in mind.”
“Good. Don’t need you bringing any more trouble into his life than he’s already had,” she said.
Her tone told him the subject was closed, and he frowned at her as she busied herself with her own bowl. She knew him well enough to know her parting shot would raise his curiosity. Yet he knew better than to try and argue with her, especially when she accompanied that tone with a look that said he would be wise to keep his mouth shut.
He sighed, continuing to eat his breakfast in thoughtful silence, privately wondering what had happened in Liam’s life and if it was already too late to not add any more trouble.
Chapter Ten
Two days had passed before he saw Liam again. Dante had fought the urge to hunt the former scout down, or at least he’d tried to. The time between waking and going back to sleep had been spent with Noah. It wasn’t necessarily the most effective way to distract himself, but Dante felt that it filled the time waiting for Liam to reappear. He thought it telling that Noah hardly seemed to notice how distracted Dante was, or how little attention he was paying him when they were together.
At moments, he felt guilty for not giving Noah his full attention. The alpha was perfectly polite, and treated Dante with perfect respect and grace. He was very good-looking, and Dante knew damn well there were plenty of people who would have happily taken Dante’s place as the target of Noah’s attention. If all had gone according to plan, Dante would have been set for life with a strong pack, an attentive mate, and the good possibility of a prosperous future.
Yet none of that mattered to Dante as much as the idea of being around Liam once more. He found himself zoning out in the middle of a conversation with Noah, to wonder not so casually where Liam was hiding. He didn’t dare ask and risk drawing attention to either himself or to Liam, so he simply tried to keep his ears sharp. There hadn’t been any word or mention of him, but it didn’t stop Dante from thinking about him non-stop.
When he finally saw him, the sight of Liam standing across the clearing he and Noah were walking through cut off whatever reply Dante had ready for the alpha. The Loner’s face was unreadable, standing in the shade of a clump of trees as he watched Dante and Noah. Dante didn’t know how he knew, but he could
sense Liam was ready to talk again, and that he would find Dante later. He wasn’t sure if that knowledge was somehow the product of the Joining’s effect on him, or if he just knew because that’s how it had been when they’d talked the last couple of times.
Dante nodded his understanding to Liam, glancing at Noah to nod and smile even though he had momentarily forgotten what it was they were talking about. When he glanced back, Liam was, unsurprisingly, gone. It was as if the former scout had never stood there in the first place, but Dante’s heart rate sped up as he thought about the meeting that was to come.
It took a few hours before he was able to safely detach himself from Noah’s side. He could never quite figure out if Noah was offended by his departures, or simply took it as part and parcel of the courtship process. The alpha was unfailingly understanding when Dante excused himself, equipped with whatever excuse he felt was the least offensive. It was almost impossible to determine if the alpha was even all that interested in Dante, or if, like Dante, he was simply going through the motions.
Once he was away from Noah, Dante took his time to wander around the sept until the attentive and interested gazes directed toward him dissipated. When he felt that the sept was no longer watching him, he slipped away into the woods. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be going somewhere specific, but he felt that when he reached it, Liam would appear. He suspected the Lone Wolf would find him once Dante was far enough away from prying eyes and ears to suit Liam.
An hour later, and Dante found an expectant looking Liam sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree. He was dressed in a scuffed pair of jeans, and a loose-fitting shirt whose red color set off the man’s dark coloring attractively. His dark eyes followed Dante as he approached him slowly, giving away no hint or clue of what he was thinking. The sense of shadowy mystery that always seemed to hover at the edges of Liam’s aura was obvious as he waited for Dante in the shade of the trees.
“Didn’t know if you’d taken off or not,” Dante said in way of greeting.
“You would have known if I’d taken off,” Liam answered.
Dante nodded. “Yeah, I guess I would have, huh?”
Liam looked at him, sighing. “So, you’ve figured it out then?”
Dante shifted uneasily, not liking how awkward it felt to talk to Liam.
Liam nodded his head toward the fallen tree. “You want to sit down?”
He did, if only because it would put him closer to Liam. What he really wanted to do was draw the man closer to him, feeling the press of their bodies once more. He’d known how badly he wanted to see Liam again, but he hadn’t realized how much he would want to touch him once he did see him. It seemed like a miracle that he managed to sit down on the log without immediately reaching out to bridge the distance between them.
“I can be a little slow sometimes, but yeah,” Dante told him quietly.
Liam cocked his head. “You look about as happy about it as I would expect.”
“I don’t really know what to feel,” Dante admitted.
“You know, that’s what I liked about you from the moment we first talked. You’re so open and honest about what’s going on in your head. You blurt out the truth without thinking whether it’s a good idea to say it or not,” Liam said.
Dante snorted, shaking his head. “That’s one of the things that’s always gotten me in trouble. The Elders say I lack proper tactfulness for someone who’s supposed to be the heir of a noble pack.”
Liam wrinkled his nose. “That’s because that’s what an Elder is supposed to say. They’re not supposed to understand that it’s not your fault you’re the last of your last pack. You didn’t choose to be the sole heir of your family’s legacy. It was forced on you. They know that, but I guess they have to do their own duty and try to make you be…I don’t know, their version of what’s respectable.”
Dante smiled, looking at Liam out of the corner of his eye. “And what’s your version of respectable?”
“Asking me what respectable means is like asking a criminal what the law means,” Liam said.
Dante raised a brow. “Why don’t you tell me anyway?”
Liam looked at him, puzzled. “You really give a shit about what I have to say?”
Dante shrugged. “There’s not been one thing you’ve said to me that wasn’t interesting to me in some way. I like the way you think and I like the way you talk. It made me sad to see you go quiet when Rosa was around, because I think the two of you would’ve had a blast talking to one another. You’re both interesting like that, but I think you’re more interesting.”
“You’re only saying that because of the Joining,” Liam said bluntly.
“Eh, maybe? Doesn’t sound like anyone really knows what happens to two people before the Joining even hits. And, it sounds like sometimes people who don’t like each other very much end up going through it together. So, it doesn’t sound like someone liking someone else matters too much when it comes to Gaia’s will. But, I liked you just fine and thought you were interesting before the whole Joining thing happened,” Dante admitted.
Liam stared at him, a look of wonder on his face. “See? You just, say whatever pops into your head and deal with the consequences of what comes afterward. And if you’re trying to seduce me with brutal honesty, I want you to know that it’s totally and completely working.”
Dante laughed. “Damn, you caught onto my master plan before I had gotten your pants off.”
Liam chuckled with him. “You can’t trick a trickster. I’m onto you.”
Dante wanted to tell him how much he liked the sound of the man’s soft laugh. The sight of him smiling was enough to ease some of the tension that had been building in his shoulders and back over the past couple of days. It was soothing, just being in Liam’s presence and seeing something besides stoic seriousness in the man’s expression. It didn’t make him want to grope the man any less than before, but at least he could content himself with being happy around him.
“I know meeting with you was probably a bad idea,” Liam said after a moment’s pause.
Dante shook his head. “If you hadn’t shown your face, I would have had to find you myself. Don’t know how I would have done that, but I would have found a way. We needed to talk.”
“Yeah, but I don’t feel much like talking at the moment,” Liam told him quietly.
Dante was glad he wasn’t the only one, nodding in agreement. “It’s hard being around you. At least there’s not a whole lot of wind out today. That would have been really distracting.”
Liam looked at him in surprise. “The smell thing hit you too?”
“Yeah, wait, what do I smell like to you?” Dante asked in interest.
“You’re telling me that you’ve never wondered what you smelled like before?” Liam asked with a smirk.
“Never really worried about it before,” Dante answered with a shrug.
Liam sighed. “You smell like healthy moss and sun warmed sand. Like the beach you’re so fond of hiding out on. It reminds me of summertime around here…yeah, you smell like summer to me. Why, what do I smell like, dirt and twigs?”
Dante shook his head. “No, you smell like the hidden places in the forest. Earth, stone, and cool water.”
“Ooh, I’m a mystery,” Liam said with a dismissive laugh, but couldn’t hide the faint pink that tinged his cheeks.
Dante leaned in closer, taking Liam’s hand in his own in a sudden impulse. “Maybe, but you’re one I wouldn’t mind solving.”
Liam blushed a little harder. “That was pretty cheesy as far as lines go.”
Okay, he couldn’t deny that. “Maybe, but I mean it.”
Liam stared at their joined hands. “This is a totally bad idea. You know that, right?”
He did but, “My life has been one bad idea after another.”
“Yeah, but we’re talking a whole different level of bad idea here,” Liam warned.
Dante knew what he meant. Pushing for something more between him and Liam was
a lot different to playing a few pranks or skipping out on lessons. His life had been set up since a young age so he would inevitably end up spending his life with Noah. If they were to back away now, there might be a chance that they could spare themselves anymore struggle. There was no guarantee they could avoid the effects of the Joining now that it had happened, but he knew they wouldn’t help matters by continuing to spend time with one another. Any more time spent with one another, doing anything at all with one another, was an invitation for more pain down the road.
“Over the years, Erik worried constantly about the day I would have to leave the sept. It always seemed to hang over his head, bothering him. Every time he brought it up, I told him that was tomorrow’s problem. No matter how many times he brought it up, that was what I would tell him. I think he only stopped because he knew what I would say, or he would repeat that phrase to himself over and over again. Eventually it stopped being just a phrase for me, and actually began to mean something,” Dante said suddenly.
Liam nodded, seeming to understand. “So, what you’re saying is, all my worries are tomorrow’s problem?”
Dante smiled at him. “You got it.”
“Is that really how you got through your life?” Liam asked with a faint laugh.
“Hey, it’s worked so far, right?” Dante asked.
Liam’s answer came as he closed the distance between them, suddenly pressing his lips against Dante’s. It had been exactly what Dante wanted, but it wasn’t what he was expecting. His surprise gave way to pleasure as he reached out to cup the back of Liam’s head. With a faint grunt, Dante swung himself off the fallen tree so he could comfortably stand between Liam’s legs. The Loner pulled Dante in closer, his hands searching the stretch of Dante’s back.
All the worries and concerns that had cropped up in the course of their conversation were wiped away in the moment of that kiss. Liam’s deep scent filled his nostrils, sending a wave of desire through him. He groaned faintly, pressing himself harder against Liam’s taut body. Liam responded in kind, trying as desperately as Dante to bring their bodies closer together.
