One True Mate (Westin Pack Book 1)

by Julie Trettel

  “It's okay, babe, wolves crave touch and closeness. It is perfectly normal. Don't ever feel afraid to reach out and touch me. It will calm your wolf, as it does mine. Did you feel a peace wash over you at my touch?”

  Oh, I felt something wash over me, but I'm not quite sure it was exactly peace. My heart was already racing just at his closeness, now I thought it may just jump out of my chest. But there was something searching in his eyes, like he needed me to confirm this for him. I nodded, even knowing I couldn't control the blush that was no doubt turning my face into a blotchy mess.

  He let out a small breath I hadn't realized he was holding and smiled so big it was contagious, and I found myself returning it.

  “Come here,” he said. Not demanding, not quite asking, but I still got the feeling he was treading in new territory here too.

  I gave a small yelp in surprise as he reached out and wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his lap cradling me like a small child.

  My wolf stirred in excitement, though she made no attempt to take control. I could not remember ever feeling so content. Both my wolf and I were at complete peace, and my entire body calmed. Even my racing heart stilled as I soaked up the warmth surrounding me in Kyle Westin's embrace. I laid my head on his shoulder and turned towards his neck. Without realizing what I was doing, I took a deep breath, letting his scent envelope me. It was a scent I knew well, but there was something different about it this time, something I couldn't quite place. I felt him shudder lightly around me.

  He turned and kissed the top of my head. My first instinct was to jolt and get away from him quickly, but I couldn't physically make myself do it. Instead, it was like this dam that had been holding back my deepest emotions for most of my life cracked, and with that small crack, everything broke free.

  I was crying, borderline hysterical, the big ugly, full body sobbing cries. I should have been humiliated to do that in front of him, but I wasn't, and I couldn't have stopped it if I tried. He just held me, slightly rocking in a soothing pattern and telling me over and over that he was there and everything was going to be fine now, that he would never let anything bad happen to me again. No one had ever comforted me in a such a way outside of my parents, and I craved it.

  At some point, he must have lulled me to sleep because the next thing I knew I woke up and couldn't remember where I was or what I was doing. I was in the in the most amazing cocoon imaginable. I felt safer than I'd ever felt in my entire life. I knew I was in my den before I even opened my eyes because I could smell my usual scents, but they were accompanied by a new smell. A masculine scent of pine and lemon that just smelled refreshingly like home combined with my usual den smells. I stretched and the palm of my hand rubbed against something firm, but comfortably inviting. A soft moan escaped as I turned and snuggled in closer. I sighed contentedly, opening my senses, surprised to hear a soft mumbling noise I couldn't quite place. With some concentration, the sound morphed into voices, and the hair on my body, even in human form, stood up.

  “Shhh, you're waking her. Go away.” A muffled rumble came much too close to my ear.

  Suddenly, everything from the day came crashing back in on me. I jerked and sat up quickly. I moved fast, real fast, imagining they saw little more than a blur as I retreated into my favorite hidey hole in the den. I sniffed the air in alert confusion, and let out a low growl when I smelled intruding females in my territory.

  “Oh my gosh! Did you see that?”

  “No, where did she go?”

  “I don't know. I've never seen someone move so quickly, especially in human form.”

  Human form, I thought? Oh right. I recognized the voices. Lily and Elise. My heart rate sped up in a panic before I remembered they knew now and they were all in on it too. The pain of that betrayal hit me like a ton of bricks.

  “Back off, and get back upstairs. I told you she wasn't comfortable with you girls in her den.”

  “We're her friends, Kyle. You're an alpha, you're a bigger threat to her than we are.”

  “It's not like that. You know she-wolves are very territorial. You two couldn't even share a bedroom once you both came of age, and you're sisters.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Lily said, “But really, I'm worried about her, Kyle. Where did she go?”

  I sighed as I crawled out on all fours, but still fully dressed and in human form.

  “I'm here. I'm okay. Sorry. I think I dozed off and was just confused waking up with new scents and voices here. Just got spooked. I'm sorry.”

  I couldn't help feeling ashamed at how I'd reacted. Kyle made a move towards me but I held up my hands.

  “Please, just give me a minute.”

  The hurt evident on his face at my words and actions felt like physical pain to me. It made no sense and my head was spinning as my new reality sunk in.

  Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I nodded to him. “Okay, I'm okay now.”

  “You were so fast, Kels! I've never seen a shifter move so fast, especially in human form. Wow!” Lily sounded super excited and impressed. “Can I clock your speed in wolf form? I'm dying to know if you're faster than Kyle.”

  “He holds the fastest recorded speed in the Westin Pack,” Elise filled me in. “And he's third fastest amongst all documented wolves throughout history,” she proudly exclaimed.

  I looked at Kyle, but he just kinda hung his head in slight embarrassment. It was clear how proud of him his sisters were, and it was kind of cute seeing him so humbled by them.

  “So, what's the record stand at?”

  “Sixty-seven miles per hour,” Elise told me.

  “And Kyle's at sixty-three last count,” Lily was quick to add.

  I looked at him, “Only sixty-three miles per hour?” I faked shock. “Bet I could take you.”

  He perked up and looked at me. One eye brow slightly raised higher than the other.

  “You're on.” I loved the mischievous glint in his eyes.

  “Lesson one, Kelsey,” Lily said with an exasperated sigh, “do not ever issue a challenge to another shifter that you aren't serious about, not even in jest. Man, you have so much to learn!”

  “Kyle, back off, please,” Elise said.

  “No, I understand, lesson one is on, let's go,” I told him lifting my chin to him in defiance.

  “Ahhh! Kelsey! Lesson two, looking another wolf directly in the eyes and holding that stare is a direct challenge.”

  “But you said I already made the challenge and I said, OK, so what's the big deal?” I didn't understand what she was trying to say.

  “It's more than that, Kels,” Elise tried to more calmly clue me in, “Kyle is an alpha wolf, not just any alpha, he'll one day take over as Pack Alpha. He's not someone you can just stare down. The respectful thing is to avert your eyes at the very least. I can't even believe you can actually stand to hold his stare for that long. Your wolf should be screaming at you to look away.”

  “Look away? If Kyle stared back at me that hard, I'd be baring my neck in a heartbeat!”

  “Baring your neck? What does that mean.”

  “Here, I'll demonstrate.”

  I watched as Lily walked down the stairs, suppressing the territorial demands of my wolf as she came to the bottom of the steps. Instead, I looked over to Kyle as he made eye contact with her. It was very brief before she dropped her head and averted her eyes, then turned her head to the right, exposing her neck to him.

  “That's a full act of submission,” Elise explained.

  “The wolf in the woods did that.” I said more to myself than anything remembering how I had copied them in wolf form.

  “Try it,” Lily encouraged.

  I hesitated, and saw Kyle nod his head towards the stairs. I waited until she was back up, out of my den, before I walked over and attempted to mirror what Lily had done. But I knew he was staring at me still and I couldn't help but look. It was like I was drawn to his eyes and couldn't look away. I bared my neck and heard his slight intake of breath from th
e action, but his pupils dilated and I kept his stare.

  “No, you're not supposed to be looking at him while you do it.” Lily instructed.

  I burst out laughing.

  “I can't help it, I feel stupid. Why does he get to look at me and I can't look at him?”

  “We have so much you need to learn before you're presented to Council,” she pouted.

  “It's okay, Kelsey, you're doing fine,” Kyle assured me after having been quiet for quite some time.

  “How about you? If you're the great alpha, do you ever have to bare your throat to anyone?”

  “On formal occasions, I do to my father and members of the Grand Council when they travel here, but only for formality purposes,” he informed me.

  I really did have a lot to learn!

  “And someday, we hope, to his mate, if there's anyone out there who can actually put up with him, and if he's ever lucky enough to actually find her,” Lily piped in.

  The look Kyle shot her to shut up did not go unnoticed by any of us. And I had to fight my wolf to maintain control. I didn't understand what they were talking about, but it clearly made my wolf very angry, and I had to bite my lip to keep from growling at her.

  “Mate?” I couldn't resist asking when I felt some control coming back and noticed him pale a bit at the question, making me even more interested in the answer.

  “You know, a mate, a….”

  Kyle cut her off, “We have time to go over all that stuff another time.” He flashed another look at Lily that clearly screamed, shut the hell up, but why?

  Lily busted up laughing.

  “Lil,” Elise scolded, “clearly Kyle doesn't want to discuss mating in front of Kelsey. Show some respect.” Then she jabbed her sister with her elbow and winked down my way. “Don't worry, we'll fill you in on all the fun parts later.”

  They both laughed and averted their eyes as Kyle stomped up the stairs passed where they were perched.

  “We racing or not?” he grumbled at the door.

  KYLE

  Chapter 10

  I didn't wait for them to follow me as I left Kelsey's house and headed for the woods just beyond. I knew they would come, and I could feel her the moment she left her house. Not just smell her, but feel her. It was an entirely new sensation for me.

  Something profound had seemed to happen when I touched her and held her. It was like she was already bonding with me, which I didn't know was even possible. I tried to shake it off. For two years, I had watched her and warned off everyone, taking pain staking patience to not show too much favoritism, and to equally warn off women and men so as not to alarm anyone to my intentions. But the intensity to claim her grew tenfold after finally having her in my arms. I knew I would have to work extra hard to keep myself in check where Kelsey Adam's was concerned.

  For now, I would enjoy openly running with my little she-wolf, and God knew I needed the relief it would bring me. Stopping at the far back corner of her property, I turned and waited for the girls to join me. When Kelsey walked ahead of my sisters and stopped in front of me, close enough to be considered inside my personal space, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. My wolf rejoiced, and I thought I would change on the spot when she reached out and placed her hand on my chest and looked up into my eyes, elevating her stubborn chin a little higher than necessary to ask, “Okay, so what's the rules?”

  I knew she could feel my heartbeat increase, they could all probably hear it, but I didn't care. Kelsey was touching me on her own accord. She needed me just as much, and the sensation of that knowledge was overwhelming me.

  I noticed the brief look shared between my sisters and I knew the questions would come. That's just what sisters did. They were going to kill me when they learned she was my mate and I'd never said a word in all this time. My stubborn resolve to have her make the first acknowledgment had never in a million years considered she truly just didn't know anything about us. But she would, and I would be the one to teach her.

  “What is the plan? Race to the office?” Elise guessed.

  “Yup,” I confirmed, not confident in what my voice would portray at Kelsey's closeness.

  I loved when Kelsey's already big brown eyes grew bigger with amazement.

  “I-I can't,” she stuttered. “I don't know the way through the woods.”

  “You can't run through the woods and be timed, Kels, you need to stick to the roads. It's 5 miles from this point. Don't bother asking how we know,” Lily giggled. “Elise will be at the one mile marker just on this side of town to calculate your first mile run. I'm calling Liam to the four-mile mark so we can get a true reading on your last mile, which is typically your fastest. Then I'll be at headquarters to get your five-mile run time and we can see what you're averaging per mile. I already know Kyle will run the full five miles in under five minutes. He's an easy sixty miles per hour on average, so you'll really have to run if you want to keep up with him.”

  Kelsey nodded, her back still to them and her hand still resting on my chest. She took a deep breath and I suspected she was breathing in my scent as I so often did hers, before turning to face them.

  “What's the route?”

  Elise quickly explained the exact path and made sure she knew it well. I, of course, already knew it like the back of my hand. Kelsey Adams wasn't the first wolf to challenge me in a speed race, albeit she was certainly the first she-wolf to ever attempt. I had run with her before and already knew she was fast, but I wasn't really worried and truth was, if anyone on this planet could outrun me, of course I would want it to be my mate. I wanted everything for her, so much it blew my mind.

  Her nerves picked up slightly, changing her scent and bringing me back to the moment.

  “What's wrong?”

  “Are we running in, you know.”

  She was so cute, she couldn't even bring herself to say 'wolf'. It saddened me all she had been through, and I knew her life was going to change drastically from here on. I only hoped I could make it a better one for her.

  “Wolf form, Kels, we're running in wolf form.”

  She seemed to struggle with that and her nerves increased still more.

  “But, uh, but, won't the humans think it's weird seeing two wolves running down South Street?”

  Lily snorted, holding back a laugh, “Sweetie, no one in San Marco will find it weird, I promise.”

  She hugged her in reassurance and I was taken back at the jealousy I felt watching, even knowing Lily was no threat to me and my mate.

  “Kels, there really aren't any humans in San Marco. Honestly, not for nearly fifty miles of the place. Everyone here is Westin Pack. Now down at the factories, that's a different story, but up here, that remoteness that probably drew you in and made you comfortable here, that's all designed on purpose.”

  “Oh,” she sighed. “What about the butcher at the grocery store in town?”

  “Samson? Yeah, wolf.”

  “And Cole Anderson?”

  “Wolf.” Lily grinned and wagged her eyebrows, “Definitely all wolf there!”

  I bit back the growl trying to unleash. Did she really just make a comment about another male to my mate? I took a deep breath. I needed to get a grip. Lily didn't know Kelsey was my mate, but if she made one more comment like that, I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep it a secret any longer. My wolf stirred and roared, remembering the tattoo on her thigh. It was me, she'd chosen to mark herself with me, but the thought that Cole's hands had been there on her, marking her body like that was difficult to think past. I had to get control of myself. I needed to run.

  “You can head into the brush and change so you don't ruin your clothes. I'll just be over there.” I pointed in the direction I was heading even knowing the odd look my sisters were giving me.

  I quickly stripped, leaving my clothes by a tree and changed into my wolf form. It didn't even begin to take the itch off as I knew Kelsey was nearby doing the same thing, and it was impossible not to picture her naked as I had secretly seen
on far too many occasions and dreamed about on far too many other nights. Shaking my big furry head, I walked over to the girls.

  “That was nice of you, big guy, giving her a little privacy like that. Probably don't want to scare her too quickly with the ways of the pack.”

  Then she proceeded to pet my head. Only Lily would ever dare and I shook my head and snorted in a light warning to back off. She just laughed and kept at it.

  “Okay, I'm heading over now. Give me ten minutes to get everything lined up. Already called Liam and he's meeting me at headquarters. We'll three way Elise in when we get there. Shoot, we need someone to signal you to go. Let me see if Chase is available.”

  I felt Kelsey change and knew she was crouched in the woods, watching and waiting, unsure of exposing herself for what probably felt to her as the first time. I got up and walked over to lay beside her, nudging her with my nose. In some ways, I could express things to her in wolf form that I wouldn't dare in human form for fear I'd scare her away. But I also didn't think she fully understood her actions, even the ones in wolf form, that should have been natural instinct to her, but then again, maybe that's exactly what it was, I thought, as she nuzzled over next to me and laid her head across my paws, fully exposing her neck to me. I nuzzled into it, enjoying her natural scent. I couldn't help but give her a big sloppy wet lick across her face before jumping up and running over to my sister.

  In wolf form, we could see fully and understand humans and shifters in human form, we just couldn't communicate vocally. Only mated pairs in wolf form could communicate in a sort of telepathic manner I didn't fully understand. It also wasn't something that just happened when mates first bonded. The bonding took time to fully develop, and talking telepathically was something only very committed, thoroughly bonded mates could do. I wondered if Kelsey and I would ever have that. I sure hoped so.