“No.Hell, no,” Lovel shook her head vehemently.“Everyone in the pack knew they were lovers, but they weren’t exclusive.Chanin had others, and Minsi...Well, that she-wolf tried to wrap her legs around any male who would let her.”
“Others?”Morlie swallowed loudly.“Do I have to watch my back from other women coming for me?”
“Not at all,” Lovel declared.
Morlie was happy to hear she didn’t have to prepare to be attacked by more women.
Lovel picked up the platter of cookies and moved it closer to all of them before she took one.“As wolf-shifters, we are extremely sexual beings.However, we only have one mate to whom we are faithful.Usually.”Lovel winked at Amira, whose pale skin turned pink under her flirting.
Lovel’s statement gave Morlie an opening she couldn’t resist.“Then how is it that you both are Bleddyn’s mate?Well, that’s what he said anyway.”
“It’s true.”Amira smiled, and her eyes lit with pure joy as she slid her hand into Lovel’s.
“Amira completed Bleddyn and my relationship in a way we never thought would happen.”Lovel leaned over and kissed Amira’s cheek.
“Amira, you were human, right?”When Amira nodded, Morlie continued.“Were you marked?”
“On the inside of my upper thigh, but I don’t have any recollection of it happening.”
“Were you sick, too?”Morlie’s throat felt tight.Her mind gazed inwardly to the gaping hole where days, months, and over a year were lost to her.
Amira nodded again, and her eyes misted some.“I have snatches of memories during the months I was sick of my mom’s face, seeing my dad worried for me, and just the pain and the tiredness of it all.But, when I finally came out of it, I was here, healed, and with a male declaring I was his true-mate.”
Morlie glanced over at Lovel.“Were you and Bleddyn already together?”
“Yes.”Lovel glanced around the room.“We already had the home.We made it ours and claimed each other, believing he didn’t have a true-mate.It was a risk, but many take it since the human wars and blindness destroyed so much.”Lovel tugged the top of her blouse to the side and showed the bite mark along the side of her neck.
Morlie winced internally, wondering if she could take such a vicious mark.
Lovel went on.“Several months ago, Bleddyn accompanied the Alpha to the council meeting, as he does every month.It wasn’t strange that he came back carrying a sick human.We have a few others who were Lupine matches.But when I spotted him across the field with the small human this time, I knew.Something inside me knew she was his.And Bleddyn’s dejected expression confirmed it.”
“But you all seemed to work it out.”Morlie looked pointedly at the two women’s clasped hands.
Amira met Morlie’s gaze.“We did.But it wasn’t easy and took several weeks and a lot of patience and understanding.”Amira glanced at Lovel and then back at Morlie.“You see, being ill was a blessing for me.”
Morlie frowned.She hated being sick and feeling helpless and a burden.“How so?”
“As you know, our government pushed hard for all women of age to get pregnant and conceive.I was my parent's only daughter, and they were leaning on me hard to contribute more to the family, help financially in the most lucrative way—”
“Through the pregnancy stipend,” Morlie confirmed.She and Kai discussed it as things worsened, but Kai didn’t want to do it.She said the money never lasted, and it made people more dependent on the government, and they ended up in a vicious cycle with more mouths to feed.
“Yes.”Amira’s gaze slipped away to stare out the open window.“I knew I wasn’t attracted to men from a young age.I feared daily that my parents would force me to be with a man for the money.I worked as a garbage collector when I contracted XD87867.I was relieved at first because, as long as I was ill, I wasn’t eligible for the program.Then I got sick, and I wasn’t aware of anything.”
Lovel got up and started cleaning off the table but left the plate of cookies.
“Then you woke mated to a man anyway.”Morlie felt bad for Amira.
“Really, two mates,” Lovel added from the sink where she washed the dishes.
Morlie looked at Lovel and then back at Amira.“What?How is that possible?”
Amira laughed.“Trust me.It took us a long time to figure out, especially when Lovel tried to keep her distance from Bleddyn and me.She thought we needed time.Which we did, and Bleddyn was kind and patient with me.”
“I also knew Amira was his only hope of having children.And the pack needs to grow.”Lovel came back to them with the pitcher and refilled all their drinks.
“Couldn’t you have provided Bleddyn with children?”Morlie stared up at the tall woman.
“No,” Bleddyn's lips lifted into a small, sad smile.“Lupine females lost their ability to breed following the Great Catastrophes.”
