Matefinder (11 page)

                After two hours of Kai grilling Trent on how
he would treat his sister, how many kids they would have, where they would
live, when they would have their mating ceremony and 100 other things, Kai
called his sister. I could hear excited screaming on the other end of the
phone. Kai and I talked before he made the call and agreed to tell his mother,
father, and sister about my Matefinder abilities. Although he didn’t have the
best relationship with his father, he said he could be trusted. His father took
mating and werewolf species growth very seriously. Kai said if something ever
happened to him, that his father would protect me. I didn’t even want to think
about the prospect of something happening to Kai.

                After a few minutes on the phone, Kai’s voice
changed. “Hello, Papa.” His voice took on a serious tone and he put the phone
on speaker, looking at me and putting a finger to his mouth for me to keep
quiet.

                “Are you sure this boy is Diya’s true mate?
We have had prospects before but nothing worked out.”

                “Yes, I’m sure.”

                A heavy sigh. “How can you be sure? Her
markings are unique. His wolf may just look similar but not be a match. Is he even
good enough for her?” his father asked.

                “He is a good wolf, dominant, loyal,
successful and smart. He will be a good match for Diya.”

                “Son, I don’t understand how you can be so sure
this is Diya’s mate. I don’t have time for tricks. Mating needs to be taken
seriously, especially when my only daughter is involved. How exactly are you
sure this boy is your sister’s mate?”

                Kai chewed at his bottom lip.

                “To answer that question, I would like to
enact
Alpha Secretum
. I have information to share with you that is about
one of my wolves. If this information is shared with another pack it could
threaten the growth of our species.”

                My mouth hung open. We hadn’t talked about
this. I guess he didn’t fully trust his father. I didn’t know what Alpha
Secretum was but the hairs on my arms were standing up.

                “You want to enact Alpha Secretum? This must
be serious for you not to trust me in open conversation. Fine, I swear on my
pack magic that I will not share the following information outside of my pack.”

                “Not good enough, Papa. You must not share it
outside of telling your mate and Diya.”

                I could feel his father’s rage on the other
side of the phone.

                “You always loved to enact your power, Kai. Just
remember that’s a trait you got from me. Fine! I swear on my pack magic that I
will not share the following information outside of telling my only daughter,
Diya, and my mate, Maya.”

                Kai nodded. “Aurora, my new mate, is the Matefinder.
She has successfully paired two mate couples already. Sadie transferred to
Seattle pack and Jake has found his mate. She had a vision when sparring with
Trent. Diya and Trent are mates, she is sure.”

                I saw a fine mist creep out of the phone and
wrap around the words coming out of Kai’s mouth. Magic. That must be Alpha
Secretum, a pack magic that was keeping his words secret. I wonder what would
happen if his father broke the oath.

                There was silence for a long time. “I’ve
heard stories of…but,” he seemed at a loss for words, “this is incredible. Do
you know what this could mean for our species, for reproduction?”

                Kai gritted his teeth. “Aurora won’t be used
as a tool to grow our species. Talk to Diya about what you want to do next and
get ahold of me. Goodbye, Papa.” And he hung up.

                We sat in silence for a moment. “So, your dad
seems like an interesting guy,” I joked.

                Kai laughed and then changed the subject.
“Let’s go on a date.”

                I smiled. “Are you asking or telling me?” I
teased.

                He pulled me in close and brushed my hair
away from my forehead. “Alphas don’t ask.”

                I wore a little black dress, red ballet flats,
and bright red lipstick. We decided on a small Indian food restaurant that Kai apparently
owned. One of the pack members managed it.

                Kai was surprised that I knew what to order
and that I could handle spicy food. He couldn’t keep his eyes off me all night
and I liked how it made me feel.

                “Tell me about your family,” I said taking a
bite of the lentils and rice.

                Kai smiled. “Well, my Dada, which is my
father’s father, was a vegetarian like you. He was the nicest man you ever met.
He loved animals.”

                “Isn’t most of India vegetarian? I thought it
was a religious thing?” I had found it so easy to eat vegetarian in India.

                “They are. The humans, at least,” Kai
offered.

                “So tell me a story about your Dada.”

                Kai pondered for a moment and then started
laughing. “Well, when I was a young human boy, I was walking with my grandfather
to another village. We were with a group of cows we owned, to sell them as
milking cows. A man ahead of us had a small metal cage stuffed full with
chickens. There was not one inch of space for the chickens to breathe. Some
were bent at such an odd angle their feet and wings were broken.”

                “Oh, God.”

                “The second my Dada saw the man dragging the
cage along the road with the chickens scraping along the ground, he screamed, “Stop!’”

                Kai went on. “My grandfather stormed the man
and ripped the string from his hand, taking the cage. The guy was furious with
my grandfather and asked him what he thought he was doing. My grandfather told
him that it was cruel to carry the chickens like this, to cause them pain. The
guy actually laughed. He told my grandfather they were going to the slaughter
house to be sold for meat anyway, so what did it matter. My grandfather told
the man that one day he too would die, but he wouldn’t want to be tortured
beforehand.”

                I smiled. After a moment of silence, I poked
him. “So, what happened to the chickens?”

                Kai seemed to be off in his head, but he
focused on me. “He traded them for all of the money in his pocket, and the
watch my grandmother had gotten him. We weren’t a wealthy family. It was every
luxury we had.”

                “Whoa.” I sat back. Would I have done the
same?

                “We took them out of the cage and brought
them home. We splinted their legs and wings and gave them all names. They
squawked around the yard for years.” Kai smiled. I smiled, too. I liked stories
with happy endings.

                After dinner we went home to watch a movie. I
changed into yoga pants and a loose long-sleeved t-shirt. Right before Kai was
about to play the movie, he looked at me with the remote in his hand. “I don’t
want to keep secrets from you.”

                My heart started beating fast. That’s not
exactly a sentence I like to hear.

                “Okay, so don’t.”

                “After you ran off with Emma and I questioned
Sylvia, she told me that now that she has her memories back she remembered
something else. Something she didn’t show you.”

                I paused, waiting.

                “After you were turned human as a baby,
Sylvia also put a blanket over your natural witch magic. That blanket is still
there and she will remove it and teach you magic if you want.” He toyed with
the remote, chewing his cheek.

                “Oh. More powers, more weird stuff happening
to me without my control? Not now, maybe later, but not now,” I assured him. I
think we all needed a break from my issues. No way was I adding anymore to my
plate.

                He sighed in relief. I guess Kai wasn’t a
huge fan of me being part witch.

                The next day we toured the top two properties
we had picked out for Safe Haven. Kai told me price wasn’t an issue and so I
picked the old high school property. The gymnasium would be perfect for
training sessions and the cafeteria could feed a lot of families. We could
stock the classrooms with bunk beds and turn them into apartments for families
in crisis.

                Next we met with a contractor to plan out
what construction needed to be done to the property and how many beds to order.
Then Kai had us meet with a marketing firm and had promotional materials
printed up for Safe Haven. He also purchased a billboard and hired one of the
pack members to oversee the daily tasks of running the facility. We were going
to be able to help so many families. After calling local businesses for Safe
Haven donations, we collapsed onto the couch.

                Kai stared at me seemingly in deep thought.
“What?” I prodded.

                “You are the ultimate package: beautiful,
smart, strong AND a good person. How did I get so lucky?”

                I grinned. “Good karma I guess.”

                Before he could respond his cell phone rang. Kai
looked at the caller ID. “My father.” He groaned.

                “Hello, Papa.” Kai was very formal with his
father. I also noticed that he didn’t tone down his dominance with his father
like he did with me. He didn’t treat his father as an equal. His father pushed
and he pushed back.

                “I will keep them safe, you know that,” he
said through gritted teeth.

                His father said something else and Kai’s
nostrils flared. “Fine.” He hung up.

                I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

                “My mother and Diya will be flying out here
to meet Trent. My father will be sending my eldest brother, Jai, along for
protection because apparently my pack isn’t big enough to protect anyone.” He
groaned.

                My mouth hung open. “So I’m going to meet
your family?”

                “Yes, they will be here tomorrow,” he stated
calmly like it wasn’t a big deal.

                “Tomorrow!” I sat up. “I need to unpack my
room. It’s a mess.”

                Kai laughed. “It’s fine. No one will go in
there. You sleep in my room anyway. They can stay in one of the other four
bedrooms.”

                I started walking to my room. “If you think
I’m staying in your room with your mother here, you are crazy. Help me unpack,”
I added.

                He groaned getting up. “Aurora, we’re mates.
They expect some hanky panky to be going on.”

                I grinned at the words ‘hanky panky’ but then
let my face grow serious. “No, you only get to make a first impression once. Help
me unpack and move all of my stuff out of your room.”

                He frowned but followed me into my room.

                After unpacking, I spent the night snuggled
with Kai in his bed but swore I wouldn’t do so with his family here. The next
morning we were making breakfast when Emma knocked at the door.

                “Hey.” I answered the door and saw an ornate
gold-lined paper in her hand.

                “Special delivery,” Emma said and came inside
handing the paper to Kai.

                He glanced at the paper and nodded.

                “So?” I offered.

                “It’s from Shamus. Sadie has set a date for
her mating ceremony. Our pack is invited but we don’t have to go.” He was
trying not to show any emotion, but I gathered that wouldn’t be the greatest
political decision.

                “Don’t both packs usually go to a mating
ceremony when two wolves from separate packs marry?” I queried.

                “They do,” Kai said after a long pause.

                “But it’s understandable if they don’t attend
when the old pack’s Alpha dated the bride for six years and has a new mate,”
Emma threw out there.

                “Six years!” I shouted louder than I
intended.

                “Emma.” Kai growled. Emma looked down at her
feet mumbling an apology.

                “Jesus,” I continued, “that’s a mini
marriage.”

                “Six years to a werewolf isn’t a long time,” Kai
offered.

                “Which reminds me,” I pointed my finger at Kai,
“how old are you? How does this aging thing work in the werewolf world?” A six-year
relationship was a big deal. No wonder Sadie left the pack. Her wolf had found
her mate but did her human side still love Kai? I brushed off the thought.

                Kai grinned, seeming to enjoy the change in
topic. “I’m quite old in werewolf standards, over two hundred years old. My
mother, father, and I are some of the oldest werewolves around today. We have
survived because my father quickly became Alpha after his change and built a
strong pack in Delhi. Then my mother was able to bear children. Having thirteen
protective children in a large pack will keep you from getting killed in a
fight.”