Slowly, the tension in the room began to lift and we ate in earnest.
Once all the sandwiches and pies and two jugs of the lemonade were demolished, I finally began to relax.
I sat back in my chair and put a hand over my stomach. “I didn’t realize I was that hungry.”
“Me neither,” Xander said. Then he reached across the table and squeezed Monique’s hand. “Thanks for that.”
He was thanking her for more than the food, of course. Somehow, her presence had defused the situation between me and my Alpha. The problem wasn’t resolved, but now we were back in control of our wolves, and maybe we could think about this more logically.
She smiled at Xander. There was a tug at my heart, but this time it was a soft ache. Nothing too painful.
Was it possible? Could we share a single woman? Love her, care for her... bed her?
I cringed at the idea of sharing my woman in a sexual way.
For as long as I could remember, I’d prayed for a fated mate. I’d known, of course, that the likelihood of finding her was low, especially once we reached maturity and the statistics of our pack became obvious.
Monique was exactly what I wanted; what I needed. A woman to love me, and someone I could love in return. But was that possible if she also loved another?
That fact had not been in any of my dreams for the future.
“So,” Monique said, “let me just get this straight. Wolf shifters have a soul mate, called a fated mate, and youboththink I’m that woman. For both of you.”
I glanced across the table at my Alpha, who nodded tightly.
“The moment we both saw you, we knew,” Xander said. “I’ve been fighting the possibility, but I know what I felt. And I saw Kyle’s reaction to you. It was the same as mine.”
“So, what now?” Monique asked.
Xander huffed out a sigh. “I suppose it’s possible. After all, up until a few days ago, I didn’t realize we could have a fated mate outside of the wolf shifter species.”
“You didn’t?” She tilted her head, frowning at him.
“We believed that all fated mates were wolf shifters,” I said. “But when we asked the leader of our pack about the curse, he explained that it was possible to have fated mates who weren’t wolves.”
Monique narrowed her eyes. “What curse? You mentioned earlier that the high warlock was going to help you remove it, but you didn’t say anything about what the curse entailed.”
I quickly explained everything we knew. By the time I’d caught her up, her mouth was hanging open.
“Whoa.”
“Yeah.” Her eyes were so wide, I half-grinned at her, even though the subject matter was serious.
She blinked a few times, as though snapping out of a spell, then shook her head. “Something about this doesn’t sound quite... right.”
Xander glared at me. “I told you that guy was bad.”
I shrugged. “I agree, but what choice did we have? He’d have taken our blood anyway. At least this way, we get something for our pack. Hopefully.”
Xander grunted, which was his way of agreeing with me.
“What’s the plan, then?” Monique said. “Stay here for a few days and hope the high warlock will actually help you break the curse on your pack?”
I nodded.
“Then what?” Her throat worked strangely as she swallowed hard. “You just... go home?”
My wolf snarled so loudly I was afraid the sound might have escaped out loud.