Bethany didn’t know what to say to that. She’d never even considered the possibility of changing into a wolf. She thought that dormant meant that she just had some werewolf blood and that nothing other than the true mate thing would come out of it. The true mate thing was certainly weird enough, but transforming into a wolf, being part of a wolf pack, that was something else entirely.
“What do you want to do today?” Drake asked her as he wrapped strands of her hair around his fingers.
Bethany thought about it, but every time she considered something they could do, all she could think about was how Jen, Jacque, and the others were all doing things that put them in danger. She felt like she was on some vacation while they were risking their lives.
“Maybe we should,” she began but Drake was already shaking his head.
“There is no way I’m letting you put yourself in danger.” Drake tugged gently on her hair. “I just got you.”
“I just feel awful that they—”
Drake held up his hand stopping her. He climbed out of bed and jogged out of the room. Bethany frowned.
He was back in less than a minute with his cell phone up to his ear. “One sec,” he said into the phone. He reached out his arm, offering the cell phone to Bethany. She looked at him and then back to the offered phone.
“It’s for you,” he said.
“Who is it?” she asked him.
“Someone who can ease your guilt.”
Bethany took the phone and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey my little protégé,” Jen’s voice chirped through the speaker.
“Jen?”
“The one and only,” she cooed.
“Are you awake?”
“Well, seeing as how it’s a little after one in the afternoon here, yes I’m awake.”
“Where are you?” Bethany asked, confused by Jen’s words.
“I’m in South Carolina making new friends.” Her words were upbeat, but Bethany could hear the weariness beneath it. “That’s neither here nor there. Your fur ball says you’re feeling bad that you’re shacked up, getting it on with him, instead of out here playing with the rest of us.”
“He said that?” Bethany couldn’t help but laugh. Drake was rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he climbed back into bed beside her.
“Yep, those exact words. Hold on a sec,” she said.
Bethany could hear arguing going on and then someone, she thought it was Jacque, yelped.
“Sorry about that. Jacque was just getting a little too big for her breeches. I had to knock her down a couple of sizes. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, don’t feel guilty, Beth. You’ve been through hell and back. And you may not realize it, but now that you’re the mate of a Canis lupus, you’re about to go through hell again.” Jen paused. “It’s not all bad. You won’t ever have to worry about him cheating on you or leaving you. Although the not leaving you thing can get old because they kind of mean that literally. Like they never. Ever. Leave.”
Bethany laughed. “He does like to stay close.” Drake had wiggled his arm underneath her and pulled her body snuggly against his. He growled at her.
“Is that butthead growling at you?” Jen asked. “See, you can’t come help us save the world because you’ve got to get him trained. Try a kennel. I hear those are pretty effective. I’ve got some shock collars stashed in our suite. If you get desperate, by all means, zap his ass.”
“I think you’ve given Jen enough of your attention,” Drake told her through their bond.
“Drake says I have to go,” Bethany told her and then laughed when Drake poked her in the side.
“Tell Drakey poo that I’ll let that slide this time, but only because I’m like three thousand miles away or something, and sleep deprived. Oh, and don’t tell my mate you talked to me if you happen to see him. I don’t think you will because they’re hunting down Costin right now, but I like to cover all my bases.”
“The Alpha doesn’t know that you’re in South Carolina?” Drake asked.
“Drake, go back to ogling your mate and stay out of this convo. Bethany,” Jen said.
“Yes?”
“Give him hell, girl. It’s in the book.”
“There is no book.” Bethany heard Jacque say.
“What book?” Bethany asked.
“The handbook,” Jen answered, not clarifying anything at all.
“Oh, are you writing a handbook for dormants on the healthy transition of living with a new mate?” Bethany asked. “Brilliant idea.”“Why yes, yes I am.”
“That could come in really handy,” Bethany admitted.
“No it wouldn’t,” Drake grumbled.
Jen laughed. “Bethany, you can be my co-writer. Take notes. In fact, we can include a chapter on all that stuff you, me, and Red chitchatted about. Is your face bright red? I bet your face is bright red. Did you tell your mate that I told you all about ora—”
“Okay, thanks Jen. I totally won’t feel guilty. Be safe!” Bethany said quickly and then ended the call.
“What was she talking about?” Drake asked. “What did she tell you all about?”
“I don’t think we need to get into that right now,” Bethany said, trying not to blush furiously.
“So what do you think we do need to get into right now?” Drake asked her with a crooked smile plastered on his handsome face.
“I’m thinking I need to get into the shower.” Bethany started to climb out of the bed but stopped when Drake snagged her arm. She looked over her shoulder at him and couldn’t help but return his cheeky grin.
“Need some help?”
For a heartbeat she couldn’t speak. Flashes of what that could lead to and the things Jen and Jacque had explained to her ran through her mind before she had to time to block her thoughts. Drake sucked in a ragged breath and that was all it took to pull her from her fantasy. She couldn’t even look at him as she yanked her arm free and ran for the bathroom. She shut the door and had it locked before she heard his palm hit the wood hard enough to shake the wall.
“Bethany,” he rasped. To her surprise, beneath the desire, she could also feel his frustration and even a little bit of anger.
What could he possibly be angry about? she thought as she quickly undressed and turned on the water. The shower spray came out strong and was hot in no time, but it didn’t drown out her mate’s commands for her to open the door. Yeah, like that was going to happen.
“Bethany, we need to talk about this,” Drake called. His voice was rough with his wolf.
Oh, they most definitely did not need to talk about it. Before she’d talked to the girls, she hadn’t been embarrassed, but that was because she was too ignorant to be embarrassed. Now that she knew what went on between mates, there was no way she could talk about it with Drake and not turn the color of a tomato.
He continued to call out to her through the door but she continued to ignore him. She’d stay in the bathroom the whole day if she had to.
“I will come in there and drag you out if I have to,” he growled at her.
“Gah!” she huffed. Why couldn’t she remember to shut the bond down when she was thinking about things she didn’t want Drake to see?
“Because you should want me to see everything you think. You’re my mate. I should know everything about you.”
“Ha!” Bethany called out. “That is not going to happen. A person deserves some privacy, even from her mate.”
Drake growled at her. “So you don’t mind if there are things that I don’t tell you?”
Bethany once again thought about the things Jen told her and felt her skin heat. “Nope, I don’t mind one bit.”
Drake was fighting his wolf with everything he had. Now that he and Bethany had completed the Blood Rites, his wolf was chomping at the bit to do the mate ceremony and complete the bond in every way. He wanted their mate with a ferocity that surprised even the man, not that Drake didn’t crave her with every cell in his body as well.
The things that had run through her mind, the things Jen—he growled at the Alpha female’s name—had told his mate, made even him blush. What on earth had they talked about after he left her in the library two nights ago? He knew that she was going to ask them questions about the physical side of the relationship between true mates, but he had no clue Jen and Jacque would be so incredibly thorough.
As he stood at the bathroom door with his forehead pressed against the wood, and his hands on either side of his face, he fought the drive to remove the obstacle between him and what was his. He bit back the rising growl and frustration over not being able, once again, to touch his mate.
“Bethany,” his wolf rumbled as he pulled his head back only to thump his forehead back against the door.
He heard her sigh as she stepped under the spray of the shower. That sigh interrupted the concentration it had been taking him to hold onto control of the beast. Before he could register what he was doing, Drake twisted the doorknob and broke it as if it were nothing more than a toy. He pushed the door open with such force that it smacked against the wall and rebounded off. Drake didn’t even notice it hit his shoulder as he turned and stared at the shower curtain. He couldn’t see anything but her shadow, but it was the loveliest shadow he’d ever seen.