My Perfect Mate (7 page)

“Get your hands off my
woman!”

Ujarak opened his eyes and scowled at
him. “Feeling better, wuss? You made her cry, again. If you keep
doing that, I’m going to beat you to a bloody pulp.”

“Did I hurt her? Is she
okay?”

“No, she’s not okay. You couldn’t
handle the mating bond connecting your minds. You passed out and
scared her to death. Then the only way to help you was for her to
close down the link. She’s hurt, confused, and disillusioned. Plus,
she thinks you’re an alien.”

“An alien? I’m as human as you are,
bear man. I don’t like finding her in your arms.”

“Then you shouldn’t drive her to me.
I’m her friend, someone she knows. She can depend on me, unlike you
it seems.”

“I didn’t mean to pass out. All those
thoughts in my head. I guess it overloaded my system.”

“I wouldn’t tell her that. You’ll hurt
her more than you have already,” Ujarak growled.

“Hey, grumpy bear,” Susan said,
sleepily. “I can’t sleep with you growling.” She turned to look at
JP.

He felt a flash of hurt coming through
the bond before it disappeared. The bear was right. He’d hurt her.
Ujarak placed her on her feet. Jean-Paul caught her around the
waist when she would have tripped over the sheet.

“Whoops, sorry. I should probably get
dressed.” Susan refused to look at him and he noticed her lip
quiver. “We still have a ring to find.” Her voice quavered and she
closed her eyes a moment.

Jean-Paul opened his mouth. Instead of
speaking, he swept Susan up into his arms and carried her to the
bedroom. He pushed the door closed with his foot. Ujarak was
already between them, he wasn’t going to let that
continue.

“What is it with you guys? I know I’m
small, but I can walk.”

JP was glad to hear some sass in her
voice. Instead of answering her, he kissed her. Diving deep,
claiming and plundering. She wrapped her arms around his neck and
held on. “I’m sorry,” he said. He licked and nibbled. She moaned.
“I never meant to hurt you.” He kissed her nose and then her eyes.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed each cheek and then her mouth
again. “I’m sorry, I scared you. I’m sorry you had to close down
the link. It seems I can’t do anything right with you. You. The
most important person in my life. Please say you accept my
apology.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” she
said, sighing.

“Yes, I do. You don’t feel safe with
me like you do Ujarak. I’ve hurt you.”

“I know you didn’t mean
to.”

“I’ve let you down. It won’t happen
again. I’ll adjust to the link. I will make you happy.”

A knock sounded on the door. “We need
to get going or we won’t find my uncle,” Ujarak said.

“We’ll be out in a few minutes,”
Jean-Paul called out.

“We better get dressed,” Susan said
wiggling in his lap.

“In a moment. I want you to teach me
to control the flow of our link, so I can adjust as I need to. That
way, you’ll be free to relax and reach out to me as you need
to.”

“I’m not really sure how to explain
it. It’s like a muscle you squeeze to lower the flow. You might
need to practice a little.”

“Show me…”

§

The few minutes turned into half an
hour and then they packed the snowmobiles for the trip. Several
people of the village watched from the sidelines, but no one
approached. When Susan finally climbed behind JP to begin the
journey, she gave a sigh of relief. Ujarak’s family waved as they
left. It was still dark and would be until around noon, then there
would be almost an hour of light before the sun once more
disappeared. Ujarak led the way over a trail in the snow and
Jean-Paul followed.

Jean-Paul controlled how
wide their telepathic link stayed open. It came as a surprise when
he decided to test his new gift.
“Ready
for our next adventure?”
came floating
into her head.

“Yes, I’ll be glad when
it’s over.”
She sent back gently, still
worried about the pain he suffered from their minds
touching.

“Me too. I want to take you
to bed for a week. Maybe someplace tropical where you can run
around in a bikini and nothing else.”

“I’m not sure my wolf would
like that, besides sand chafes.”

“Poor wolfie, we’ll find
the perfect place. A cabin in the mountains, perhaps.”

“There are cabins at the
pack’s ski resort,”
Susan
suggested.

“Oh, no. Not surrounded by
your pack. Someplace where I’m not afraid of being
eaten
.” A mental chuckle sounded in her
thoughts followed by a shaft of pain. He tried so hard to get used
to the mating bond. She appreciated the attempt, but worried for
him.

“They wouldn’t hurt you,
unless they thought you were treating me badly.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed how
protective they are of you. Your polar bear friend,
too.”

“I like it. I’ve been alone
for a long time and things always seem to be difficult. Nothing
ever goes smoothly for me.”

“That’s going to change.
You have me now. We’ll make a good life.”
Susan couldn’t help the little niggle of doubt that crept
into her heart.

The small clumps of grass growing up
from the snow disappeared and soon in all directions there was
nothing but white. Susan looked at the stars in the black sky. She
shivered. It reminded her of the pictures she saw in JP’s memory.
Beauty so big it hurt.

§

Jean-Paul winced at the slash of pain
that crossed his eyes, but refused to shut down the mating bond
completely. Squinting, he followed Ujarak’s snowmobile onto the
ice. He assumed that like any tired muscle, there would be some
pain, until he built up his stamina. Magic took extreme levels of
concentration to focus and perform. He would master telepathy in
the same manner. Small bursts of work, slowly building in time and
energy.

He could feel Susan’s worry for him.
It touched his heart. She cared for him, even though love hadn’t
come into their relationship. Still, Destined Ones were meant to be
together. Love would come. He enjoyed the feel of her pressed
against him. Her body warm when everything around them was frigid.
Their snowmobile suits would protect them from the elements as they
traveled. Now if they could quickly find Ujarak’s uncle. JP worried
the man might not want to be found. Luckily polar bears possessed
an excellent sense of smell and Ujarak followed the path Itigaituk
used on the ice.

§

They’d traveled nearly four hours when
the dark of night turned to twilight and then the sun rose on the
horizon. Susan patted JP’s shoulder to get his attention. She
needed to stretch her legs. He pulled up next to Ujarak and
motioned him to stop. Susan jumped off the snowmobile, removed her
helmet and stretched, her muscles stiff from sitting so long.
Everything around them was white and without the sound of the
engines in her ears, she realized how very quiet it was. A slight
breeze blew across her face. The only thing she could smell was ice
and snow. Sounds of popping and cracking suddenly came from below
her feet. “Uh, guys?”

The ice below her feet suddenly gave
way. She fell. Susan grabbed at the ice trying to stop her downward
momentum. She kept sliding farther into the hole. Her wolf leapt
forward trying to save her. Fur ran under her skin and her nails
turned into thick claws and punctured the tips of her
gloves.

“NO! JP, don’t get off the
snowmobile,” Ujarak yelled. “The machine is dispersing our weight.
Susan, catch this rope!”

Susan ground her nails into the ice.
Her momentum slowed. Then she stopped. She hung halfway into the
hole with water covering her feet. Shifting might not even save her
now that she was wet. Her wolf pushed against her skin wanting out.
She gritted her teeth and kept the shift just to her claws. It
hurt. Most lycan’s couldn’t hold a partial shift. The water seeped
into her boots. The cold burned her skin. Ujarak threw the rope and
it hit her in the face. She hadn’t realized that she’d closed her
eyes.

“Susan, you’ve got to grab the rope.”
The panic in Jean-Paul’s voice drove her to open her eyes. The rope
lay across her arm and against her chest. She shivered. Could she
let go of the ice long enough to grab the rope without falling? Her
chest ached and her heart beat a rapid rhythm.

“Come on, Suzy-Q. Don’t give up on me.
Grab the rope,” Ujarak said.

She began to shake. It wouldn’t be
long before her body would shut down from the cold. She retracted
the nails of one hand and grabbed the rope. She wrapped it around
her wrist. Ujarak started the snowmobile and pulled forward. Her
arm jerked. She whimpered. Her teeth chattered.

Slowly they pulled her from the water.
Ujarak didn’t stop. He pulled her across the ice. She bumped and
slid. She couldn’t think.

§

Jean-Paul started his snowmobile and
followed after Ujarak. They only had a few moments before the
hyperthermia would kick in. Susan needed out of her wet clothes.
But where? Ujarak headed for a rise in the ice and snow. JP called
his magic. They needed shelter. Now. “Ice and snow, form and grow,
harden nicely, a palace icy.”

Sparkles of light filled the air ahead
of them. Suddenly walls of ice rose from the ground. JP kept the
vision of the palace in his mind. He remembered the stories of the
ice queen from when he was a boy. A peeked roof formed. Turrets
formed on the second floor. It was a bit much, but all he could
think of in this time of crisis.

Ujarak stopped and JP was off his
snowmobile and at Susan’s side in seconds. He gathered her up in
his arms. Her lips were tinged with blue. She shivered. He strode
forward to the door of the castle and pushed his way into the
interior. Ujarak followed behind him.

“What the hell? A castle?” he
asked.

“All I could think of,” JP said. He
laid Susan down and stripped off her boots. “Shift. She’s going to
need a warm body. Susan, honey, hold on. We’ve got you.” He
continued to strip her, hating that she wasn’t answering
him.

“You want me to hold her?” Ujarak
asked.

“I’m going to use my magic to warm and
dry her. She’ll need to shift to finish the healing.”

Ujarak began to strip his clothes off
and then called the shift. Soon a huge polar bear sat in his place.
JP picked up the now naked Susan and put her into Ujarak’s arms.
The bear held her against his body, covering her bare skin with his
fur. Jean-Paul called his magic. It would take a careful balance of
elements to not bring the castle down on their heads.

“Summer breeze, warm the freeze, heat
and snuggle, Ujarak’s bundle.”

Ujarak began to pant from the heat,
but kept Susan close. Jean-Paul focused on Susan’s core and feet.
He sighed in relief when her lips began to turn pink and her
shivering slowly stopped. He turned his attention to her wet
clothes and used the warm breeze he created to dry them. When he
was finished, he picked up the items and brought them to the bear.
He didn’t know how Susan would react when she realized she was
naked in the bear’s arms. Ujarak grunted as Susan began to
flail.

“Easy, honey,” JP tried to reassure
her. “You need to shift. Now, Susan.” He sighed in relief as white
lights swirled around where she lay hidden in Ujarak’s arms.
Finally a low growl sounded. The bear slowly lowered a silver and
gray wolf to the floor. She stood for a moment and then bounded
over to JP and jumped on him. He smiled when she licked his
face.

Ujarak huffed and headed for the door.
He pushed it open with his nose and went outside.

White lights again coalesced around
Susan and then she stood naked before JP. His hands automatically
went around her. He pulled her tight and kissed her hard. He could
have lost her. Never before had he felt such panic. She shivered.
He pulled back.

“You built a castle. A freaking ice
castle.” She looked around in awe.

“We needed shelter. I thought of the
story of the snow queen. I guess I let it go. Get dressed. You’re
shivering again.”

Susan laughed and began to
pull on her clothes. JP enjoyed the view. Susan wiggled into her
pants and his body warmed. She pulled on her sweater and he sighed.
Soon, he promised himself. As soon as the ring was returned
to
Ynys Afallon,
he was going to take his Destined One to bed. She sighed when
she picked up her gloves. “I guess these are ruined. My claws
punctured the ends.”

“How did you do that? I’ve never known
a lycan who could partially shift. Here, give them to me. I can
mend them using magic.”

“I practiced. It might be because I
wasn’t born a lycan. I don’t really know. One day I tried to get
just one of my nails to shift. It took a while and it hurt. But I
did it.”

JP mumbled a mending spell under his
breath and then handed the gloves back to Susan. “Here you go. I
guess we better find the bear.”