“Well, marriage is an agreement decided by two conscious individuals. Mating is determined by fate,” one of the guys clarified.
“But yeah, you might as well be married to him,” Tea added.
“Shit.” My face warmed. “Why did he go wolf, then?”
“It’s complicated. Can we explain in Rocco’s house? You’ll have to stay there for a few days. Maybe longer.” Teagan kneeled beside me, gently taking my arm.
“Wait…” I trailed off. “My instant-husband comes with a house?”
There was another pause.
I finally looked away from the wolf, glancing back at the group behind me. All of the hot skyscraper dudes just looked sort of stunned.
“Yeah,” one of them said, his forehead wrinkled in confusion. “He’ll put your name on the lease as soon as he’s back in his human form, assuming you let him.”
Seriously.
Holy shit.
“I’m kind of in love with you,” I told the wolf.
He licked my face, and I grinned. “How do we get him back in human form?”
“Come to his house, and we’ll explain it,” Teagan tugged lightly on my arm. “Just be careful not to go near any of the other guys. Rocco will be possessive.”
I snorted, standing up. Though I tried to take my hand off the wolf’s face, he rose with me, moving so his face remained snuggled up against my palm. His fur was soft, so I didn’t mind. “That’s definitely not going to be a problem. Do you know how many guys I’ve touched in the last five years?”
Silence sounded once more. “You probably shouldn’t,” one of the skyscraper dudes began.
“Zero. I have touched zero guys in the past five years. And I don’t plan on touching anyone today, including my insta-hubby, so let’s move on. To Rocco’s house.” I gestured toward the house.
A snort and a soft chuckle came from the men behind me as Teagan led me toward Rocco’s place.
“I can’t say this is how I expected today to go,” Teagan remarked, as we walked.
“Guess we’ve got that in common, then,” I tossed back. “Get explaining.”
“Alright,” Tea began, before we even reached the back door of the townhouse. “So basically, a werewolf is just a person who shares a body with a wolf. We can’t communicate with our wolves, but they exist on top of us. When we’re in wolf form, the human part of us can’t communicate with the outside world or move in any way. The opposite is true too; when we’re in human form, the wolf can’t communicate with the outside world or move in any way. That is Rocco’s wolf, not the same man you spoke to earlier.” Tea gestured toward the wolf.
Honestly, that was a relief. I could interact with his wolf, and not need to worry about the hottie he would eventually turn back into. “Cool.”
Tea continued, “Right. So when a werewolf meets his mate—all werewolves are men, it’s this weird nature thing—the wolf shuts the guy in a box and takes over. It’s called the ‘mate hunt’ and basically, he’s just going to follow you around and snap at anything that gets near you until he’s certain that you aren’t going to reject him. Then, he’ll bite you, and you’ll turn into a werewolf.”
“That’s simplifying it a bit,” Ebony pointed out.
“Eh, it’s her first day. She needs simple.” Tea waved her off.
“If you want more details, just say so,” Ebony added, as one of the guys reached the sliding glass of the back door. He tugged it open, and gestured all of us inside. I recognized the brown-haired dude as Jesse, Teagan’s boyfriend. Err, mate.
I nodded, telling the women silently to continue.
“When you’re a werewolf, the next stage of the mating process begins. That’s the mate chase, and your wolf will be watching him like a hawk and testing him to determine whether or not he’s a suitable mate. Which he will be, because he’s Rocco.” She tossed a hand toward the wolf. “After that, your wolf will bite him, and then all that’s left is the climax. During that, you’ll be overwhelmed with lust, and fucking like rabbits for a few days until it’s out of your system.”
My eyebrows shot upward. “You had me up until the sex.”
“The sex isn’t required,” one of the guys clarified. I glanced over at him, and dodged his gaze when he tried to make eye contact. Dark hair, a tiny bit of scruff… damn, he was gorgeous too. “The climax lasts around a month if you don’t have sex, you’ll just feel a lot of lust during it. It’ll be painful if you choose not to… find relief together, but you can choose that.”
Well, that wasn’t so bad, I guess.