The Mating (19 page)

Once they were outside, Julia stopped and rubbed her temples. “I know being stuck inside for an extended period is hard on any wolf, but to listen to Thomas tell it, he’s the only man to have ever been subjected to such inhumane treatment. I’ll tell you Elise, I love him dearly, but if he complains one more time today, I won’t be responsible for my actions!”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Elise looked doubtfully at her friend.

“Just you wait. One of these days, Kane will get a head cold or something and he’ll turn into the biggest baby you’ve ever seen. I swear, the tougher they are when they’re healthy, the worse they are when they get sick!”

“Gee, I can hardly wait.” The two women looked at each other and then laughed, before heading into the woods for a run. By the time they returned, Thomas was napping and Kane had left to inspect the site of the oil spill.

With the remainder of the afternoon looming ahead of her, Elise wandered upstairs to their sitting room. She searched through the stack of books that Julia had lent her, and finding one that looked suitably interesting, settled back to become lost in a romantic suspense set several centuries earlier.

Kane found her sleeping there several hours later and after a rather satisfactory interlude, they went down for dinner. As usual, it was a good meal with friendly conversation but Carrie and John got up immediately afterwards explaining that they were meeting Franz and Gisele at the local theatre. Helen also headed off to her room, insisting there was marathon of old TV shows on that she didn’t want to miss. As the room suddenly emptied, Elise and Kane looked at each other.

“Alone at last?” Kane raised his eye-brows.

“So it would appear.”

“Hmm—I wonder if they purposely cleared out so we’d have some alone time.”

Elise felt herself blushing at the idea, but wouldn’t put it past Carrie and Helen. She had a sinking feeling that those two were unrepentant matchmakers, who wouldn’t let up until she and Kane blood bonded.

*****

That day established a pattern for the rest of the week. Elise would get up, poke about the house, have lunch with Kane, visit Julia, read, and eat dinner. The others seemed to find various reasons to leave them alone each evening and Elise found that becoming her favourite time of the day. She would read while Kane finished up any urgent business or they’d watch TV together until bedtime. Then the rest of the night would be spent cuddling or having sex; Elise readily admitted to herself that her mate was a skilled lover and she was becoming addicted to his touch.

Helen pointedly looked at her neck each morning but never mentioned the blood bond again, though Elise could sense the woman was getting impatient with them. Elise paid her no mind though. It was between her and Kane and since he hadn’t brought it up, she wouldn’t either. At times, she did watch John and Carrie with envy. They often slipped an “I love you” into their greetings or departures and seemed to seek each other out, holding hands or brushing against each other. Would she and Kane ever become that close? A hollow feeling would sometimes appear inside her when she thought too much about it, so she firmly pushed the idea away.

Thoughts of Bryan also passed through her mind, especially in the mornings since she’d taken to writing in her diary again. She was trying to analyse her feelings for him and Kane, and found that writing them down seemed to help. To be sure, she missed Bryan and the good times they’d had together, but was coming to suspect that her feelings for him were more that of deep friendship based on years of togetherness, rather than an all consuming passionate love.

Her new existence was pleasant and on the one-week anniversary of her mating, Elise found herself in Kane’s office again, reading as he worked. It was a companionable way to spend the evening, the scratching of Kane’s pen and the occasional rustle caused by the turning of a page, keeping the room from being totally silent.

Despite her claims that her book was engrossing, Elise found her gaze wandering from the text and staring at Kane’s back as he bent over his work. It had been a good week, she reflected. The time spent with Kane had been nice, but she knew that he wouldn’t always be home for lunch nor have time for late afternoon romps. At this point in time, they were experiencing an unusual lull in pack business; the oil company negotiations were in the hands of the lawyers, they were still waiting for lab results on the oil spill and no further problems with Ryne had occurred. Somehow, she knew that a rush of activity must be just around the corner.

Yes, it had been a pleasant week, but a trifle long with nothing in particular to do. She couldn’t begin to imagine what she’d do once Kane became really busy again. The idea of spending the rest of her life just wandering around and reading held little appeal. Helen had the house thoroughly under control and, while Elise had helped with the various meals and cleanup afterwards, she knew her assistance wasn’t crucial.

Not being one to sit doing nothing, Elise knew she’d have to find something to keep herself occupied. Remembering her half-formed plan from the day she’d gone shopping with Zoe and Phoebe, Elise decided to raise the idea of getting a part-time job. She wasn’t sure how Kane would feel about the idea; did Alpha mates even work outside the home? She suspected that wasn’t done usually, and hoped she’d be able to talk Kane around to her way of thinking. Studying him for a moment longer, she decided, when he was finished his report, she’d broach the subject.

Satisfied with her plan, Elise went back to reading her book.

*****

“Elise?”

“Hmm?” Looking up, she was surprised to find the roles reversed and now Kane watching her. “Oh! Are you done your report already?”

“Already? I’ve spent almost two hours on the damn thing! But yes, it’s done. Listen, I was just thinking that maybe tomorrow, when I go to drop this paperwork off, you’d like to come with me, and we could pick out a car for you to use.”

“A car? For me?”

“Yes. A car. For you.” He chuckled at her surprised expression. “We’re quite a ways out and you’ll want to get about on your own sometime.”

“Kane—I don’t know what to say. That’s a great idea, but I really can’t afford a car right now.”

“What do you mean you can’t afford a car? You’re my mate. I’ll buy you a car. As a matter of fact, I was going to set up an account in your name tomorrow, too. You’ll want to go shopping and get your hair done and… Well… Whatever else you ladies do.”

She frowned a bit at his rather condescending view of how ‘ladies’ spent their time then realised that, to be fair, she hadn’t really done anything yet that showed great initiative. Well, now was the time to change that. “Um—that’s very generous of you, Kane. But actually I was going to talk to you about something. I was thinking that I’d like to get a part-time job.” Kane opened his mouth to speak but Elise powered on, giving him no chance to interrupt. “Back home, I helped out a bit in the office and around the house, and I earned a small wage from the pack’s general operating budget. I know you probably don’t need that kind of help here, so I was thinking I’d apply for a job waitressing in town.”

“Elise, you don’t need to work. Despite the possible financial problems the oil spill will cause us, the pack isn’t destitute yet.” Kane leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. Inwardly Elise winced. That wasn’t a good sign.

“I know, but I like the idea of having my own money and being a bit independent.”

“Well, the Alpha’s wife has an allowance because of her position. You’ll be ‘earning your keep’ by hosting visitors and cooking, and helping with meetings.”

“Not really. Those are Helen’s jobs.”

“Because she was the Alpha female. Now, as my mate, it’s your job.”

Elise had been afraid of this but continued on, putting forth her defence. “Helen’s done those jobs for years and she loves it. We can’t just take that from her. She looks so happy when she’s organising and cooking. I’m sure she’d step aside, if I said I wanted to take over, but I wouldn’t be nearly as good at it and she’d probably feel hurt and a bit lost.” Kane’s expression seemed to be wavering, so she pressed her advantage. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to avoid my responsibilities. Someday, when she wants to ‘retire’ I’ll take over, but until then I’d rather stay on the sidelines and help out now and then, sort of like being an understudy or an Alpha-female-in-training.”

“Hmm, I see your point about Helen. But you still don’t have to work. I have more than enough for the two of us.”

“But Kane, what will I do with my time? It was nice to just wander around this week, visiting and reading and napping but I can’t do that all the time. I’ll get bored with nothing to do. I’m not talking about anything full-time, just a few hours a day.”

Kane looked at her for a few minutes, and then sighed. “All right. It’s highly irregular, but I can see your point. I’m still getting you a car though and setting up an account. A part-time job waitressing won’t earn you that much.”

“Okay.” Elise conceded on the bank account, deciding it wasn’t worth arguing over and Kane was right. She would need a car, especially if she got a job. The account… Well, it could be opened and whether or not she ever used it, remained to be seen. Kane was her mate and if it made him feel good to think he was providing for her, then that was fine.

“Do you have any idea where you might apply for a job?”

“Actually, there’s a place in town called the Grey Goose. I was there with Helen and her girls the other day. It seemed like the sort of place where I’d feel comfortable working.”

Kane nodded. “I know exactly where it is, and yes, it would be a good choice. I can drop you off there tomorrow morning; you can talk to the manager while I take care of my business. Then we can go hit the dealerships.”

*****

The next morning, they drove into town and Kane dropped her off outside the Grey Goose. “I’ll only be about half an hour. Wait for me here when you’re finished and then we’ll go find you a car.”

Elise hopped out, waved as he left, then turned to face the entrance of the building. Chewing on her lip, she began to question the wisdom of trying to get a job. Sure she’d helped serve large meals at home when the whole pack got together, but her actual work experience was sadly lacking. It would be embarrassing if no one would hire her, especially after she’d insisted to Kane that she needed to work. Wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants, she took a deep breath and entered the Grey Goose Tea House, determined to put her best foot forward and hoping a cheerful, willing attitude would compensate for her lack of formal training.

Half an hour later she met Kane in the parking lot, beaming with excitement. “I’ve got a job! It’s only a few hours a week, until he sees how I work out, but at least that’s a start. At first I didn’t think he’d hire me, given that I had no experience, but then he got called away to answer the phone and when he came back, he said he’d thought it over and would give me a try. Isn’t that great, Kane?”

Taking in her glowing face, Kane nodded. “If it makes you this happy, then it is. When do you start?”

“Tomorrow I go in for some training and then after that, he’ll put me on the schedule.”

“Well, I guess we’d better get you some transportation then, hadn’t we?”

*****

The car lot was just down the road and soon Elise was walking up and down the rows of vehicles, her head spinning as Kane and the salesman engaged in deep conversation about engine size and fuel consumption. As long as it was an automatic, not too big, and a decent colour, Elise really didn’t care what she got. They finally selected a burgundy four door with a sporty grill and automatic everything.

“You can pick it up tomorrow.” Kane told her as they climbed back in his vehicle. “I’m having my mechanic go over it and check all the fluid levels, belts, tires, and brakes. Once he gives the go ahead, we’ll come back in and get it.”

Impulsively, Elise leaned over and kissed Kane on the cheek. “Thanks. I really appreciate you getting me that car.”

“I just want you to be happy here.” He put his hand behind her head and drew her close for a deeper kiss, then started the engine and headed for home.

*****

That evening, the others disappeared as usual, so the newlyweds would have some time alone. Helen was going to a friend’s for a card party while John and Carrie were meeting with another couple to see a production put on by the local theatre group. Elise and Kane watched a movie together; Kane complaining because it was a ‘chick flick’ and Elise defending the story. When it was over, Kane stood and put the DVD back in its case, then set it on the table so they’d remember to return it in the morning.

Stretching and yawning, he looked at Elise expectantly. “I think I might make an early night of it. Want to join me?”

“Well, I’m really not that tired—I did have a nap this afternoon.”

Kane walked over and pulled her up out of the chair. “That’s not exactly what I meant.” He nibbled on her throat and ran his hands up and down her back.

“Oh! Well, in that case, you might be able to persuade me to head upstairs.”

“Persuade? In the old days, an Alpha just chose his mate and carried her off.” Kane leered at her.

“Well, this isn’t the old days.” Elise replied smugly.

“Possibly not, but as you pointed out the other night, on some level the wolf mentality is always there.” With that, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her out of the room. Elise gave a shriek and tried to struggle—but not too hard. It was rather…exciting…to be carried off, after all!

Kane had almost reached the stairs, when the phone rang. He hesitated and then shook his head. “No—I’ll let the answering machine get it.” Shifting Elise in his grip, he reached over to turn the machine on before continuing on his way. Unfortunately, he wasn’t watching carefully and turned the phone onto speaker instead. Suddenly Marla’s panic-stricken voice could be heard.

“Kane? Elise? Oh God, let someone be there! I need help. It’s—” A scream filled the room, then the sound of wood cracking as if a door was being broken down. Footsteps and angry voices could be detected.