“You want to find your soul mate.” The sadness was back in her eyes again.
His shoulders dropped. “I suppose that sounds silly.”
“No, not at all.”
He hated the pain suddenly back in her eyes. “I just want to be sure I’m making the right choice,” he said softly, trying to draw her out of whatever deep well she had dropped into.
She sucked in a breath and nodded. Some of the darkness lifted. “Okay. Three possible mates from other packs. Advantage: political alliances. Disadvantage: possibly not your soul mate. What if you chose none-of-the-above? What if we went wide in our search? I don’t know, are there a lot of eligible female shifters in the greater Seattle area?”
He smiled—at the effort she was putting in and the fact that it seemed to distract her from the sadness. “Actually, there’s not really an abundance of alternatives. Female wolves are much more rare than males—it has to do with infant survival rates and, well, other factors. Witches for one.”
Olivia’s eyes bugged out. “Witches?”
He frowned. “You know witches exist, right?”
“Um… yeah… a little. I mean, I’ve heard stories about that, too.” She cleared her throat. “What does that have to do with female wolves being rare?”
“Witches hunt them.” Jared scowled. “Mated female wolves especially—they have powerful magic. The witches cut out their hearts to obtain it.”
“Really?” She looked stricken and a little disbelieving. “I mean… God. How could a person do that?”
Jaxson let his face go cold. “Witches aren’t people, Olivia. Not the way you and I understand them. Witches are cold, power-hungry, and generally full of themselves enough to think the rest of us exist to serve their crazy-ass whims. If you meet one in a dark alley, don’t play the hero. Run the other way. Fast.” He knew all too well how quickly a witch could ruin your life.
The blood seemed to drain from Olivia’s face, and Jaxson cursed himself internally. He was no better than Jared, scaring the crap out of a woman he hoped would stick around long enough to… well, until Jaxson would be forced out the door of Riverwise himself. Maybe then he could have someone in his life. Not a mate—he would never have that—but maybe he could have something less magical, but still beautiful. Maybe with a gorgeous, smart woman like Olivia, even if she wasn’t a shifter. He’d long known that a human would be his only choice in the end. If his wolf would stand for it. He certainly seemed to lust after Olivia, so maybe… Jaxson reached out to touch her hand, trying to calm the quivers in it. Her skin was crazy soft, and the spark of touching her washed through him.
Maybe being with a human could have its own kind of magic.
“Don’t worry about witches,” he said, trying to keep his voice soothing. “We haven’t had any encounters with them in forever—and I don’t anticipate we will. I was just saying that’s why there aren’t as many female shifters around as you might expect.”
She nodded, but slowly pulled her hand out from under his. Then she folded her arms across her chest, which only reminded him of how ample it was.
He forced his gaze up to meet hers.
“So,” she said, “the three females from the three packs—those are your only real choices?”
“I’m sure there are other female shifters in the city. But if I snubbed all three of our potential allies… well, I’d better have an extremely good reason.”
She gave a sharp nod of agreement and unfolded her arms again. “Okay. So here’s what you do. You make an announcement that you’re taking this mating business very seriously. Issue a press release, or whatever you do in wolfy shifter circles.”
He cracked a grin. “Wolfy?”
She waved a hand at him. “Wolves. Big and bad. However you want to spin it.”
He leaned across the table and snatched her waving hand out of the air. “But we are big and bad.” Damn, she was drawing him in without even trying.
She blushed, and it took everything he had not to pull her in for a kiss, but then she gave him the devil eye. “Save it for the ladies you’re trying to mate with.”
“Ouch!” He dropped her hand and leaned back, but he had to bite his lip to contain his smile.
“Now, listen up,” she said, full bossy mode. “I’m about to solve all your problems.”
He managed to tame the smile a little. “Do tell.”
She drilled into him with those big brown eyes. “You’re taking this mating business seriously, so you’re going to date all the girls. It’s like The Bachelor, only for shifters. You’re not doing this to be picky or choosy or anything obnoxious like that. You’re doing this for the good of all the packs—to make sure you make the best match, for both you and your future mate. The problem is, of course, that this will take time.”