Bloodlines: Fated Mates (Book 6 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 22

Matt lay there staring at the ceiling. He was mated to a woman who didn't know what sex was. He guaranteed she had no idea what mating and marking were, but apparently her wolf knew more than she did.

He wondered what had happened with her. Some things she seemed to know, but others, she didn't. She knew she'd been born in California, but she didn't know what pack she was in. There was only one pack in California. Though there had been two. Was she possibly from Redwood?

He needed to talk to someone and his first thought was Aria but no. She was probably with Ian and he wasn't about to bother them. Ian knew what sex was.

He finally decided on his own father. Ragnar was very wise, as he'd been on the earth for well over a millennium. It was hard to wrap your head around. Dad?

He wasn't even sure what time it was. Hopefully he wasn't asleep.

What's up?

Can we talk?

Through mind link or in person?

In person if you could possibly come to my apartment?

I'll be down shortly.

Matt crawled carefully out of bed and left the room, gently pulling the door closed behind him. He walked out to the living room. A knock sounded at the door a moment later, and he opened it, letting his father in.

He wasn't overly surprised to see his father holding baby Cole in his arms, and he sat down in the overstuffed rocker. "What's going on?"

Matt sat on the couch and sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about Abby."

"Is she sleeping?"

"Yeah."

Ragnar nodded. "Go on."

Matt quickly told him about how they found her, battling the bear and how Noelle had used her blood to save Abby, healing her as best she could.

"None of the pack was with us. That bear was huge and cranky. We sent Aria to get help and they brought us all back.

When Abby finally woke up, I convinced her to shift, and I found out she's been in wolf form for at least three years, living on her own. I asked her how long she's been a rogue, and she didn't know what a rogue was. When I explained that to her, she said she was in a pack."

Ragnar frowned at that, though he still didn't say anything.

"She did tell me she's from California. So she's either from Sierra Nevada or Redwood. I asked her to come back here with us and she agreed. She knows what a mate is. As far as I know, she has no idea she's at Regal Eclipse and she didn't even ask."

"Did she say why she's on her own?"

"She said Marcie died and that's who she lived with. She also said she was supposed to stay away from the Alpha," Matt said, thinking back over his conversation with her.

"Did she say how she died?"

"In her sleep. She said she was old and didn't wake up one morning," Matt said.

Ragnar grew quiet again for a moment. "She might have been in Redwood, and has no idea the pack was dissolved."

Matt looked up at him. "You think Liam or Finn would know who she was?"

"Maybe. Finn might have even slept with her," Ragnar warned him.

Matt frowned. "I don't think so."

"Maybe not if she was told to stay away from the Alpha, but Finn was the Alpha's son. You have to accept it might have happened." Regnar set the chair to rocking again.

"She doesn't know what sex is."

Ragnar looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Matt sighed and rubbed at his face. "She has no qualms about getting naked in front of me. At all. Doesn't seem to phase her. Last night I gave her something to wear to bed and she just stripped her clothes off in front of me and I turned away because.."

"It's your mate," Ragnar finished.

"Yeah."

"Is she sleeping in your room?"

"I gave her a choice but that's where she wanted to sleep. She said her wolf told her I wanted to mate her and she wanted to know what that was." He sat back. This conversation was about to get awkward, but he'd known that going in.

"What did you tell her?"

"Sex which she's heard of, but she doesn't know what it is."

"Did you explain?" Ragnar smirked at him.

Matt frowned. "No." He wasn't even sure how to go about that.

"Sounds to me like she has some education but she's also been sheltered. I'm amazed she doesn't know what the name of her pack is. I can almost guarantee she didn't go to a school because Redwood had their own schools on pack territory," Ragnar mused.

"So you think I should talk to Liam and Finn?" Matt asked.

"I have a feeling Liam might know more than Finn, but you never know. The Finn pre-Emily was very different from the Finn you know."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked. He really didn't know much about them.

"He was a player, and rather.. irresponsible," Ragnar said with a laugh. "He was very different from Liam. Emily settled him, along with everything else that happened. I think Emily is pregnant."

Matt's eyebrows flew up at that. "Really?"

"Yes but they haven't announced it yet." Ragnar looked at him meaningfully.

Matt nodded. "I won't say anything."

"I think there's something in the water here," Ragnar chuckled.

Matt smiled. "So what do I do?"

"Just take it one day at a time. You might want to get her used to being around people because if you become a liaison, she's either going to have to stay here or go with you."

"I know."

"And we need you to be able to do that right now," Ragnar told him.

Matt looked at his little brother and nodded. "I'll do what I need to."

Ragnar nodded. "How do you plan to explain sex to her?"

Matt gave him a withering look. "Like I'm going to tell you that."

Ragnar laughed and stood. "Good luck with that. Just take it one day at a time. At least she knows that she's your mate."

Matt nodded at that. He wasn't wrong. When his father had first met his mother, she had been aware that she was his. He met her the day Matt's father had been killed. She was not a member of Regal Eclipse at that point and therefore never would have had a second chance mate. But she'd been asked to join. She had been staying with them, trying to recover from the loss of her mate, and trying to deal with having a newborn. Him.

Ragnar had told him later that she been at a very dark place during that time and had contemplated suicide. It broke his heart knowing that she'd been in such a bad place. Talia was a wonderful person so cheery and absolutely loved his father. He couldn't imagine her being like that, and now that he was mated himself, he couldn't imagine watching Abby go through that dark place.

It had taken three months before Talia had joined the pack and realized she was mated to Ragnar. But she had already been drawn to him before that. He couldn't imagine how difficult it had been for the man, knowing she was his but he couldn't claim her. He had still been there for her though, using his part of the bond to ease her heartache.

"Thank you for coming down and talking to me," Matt said, studying his father. He appreciated the man more than he could ever say.

Ragnar nodded. "Anytime." He left the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Matt headed back down the hall to his own room and slipped inside. Abby hadn't moved at all and Matt crawled in bed next to her.

He laid there for a long time thinking over the conversations he'd had with both Abby and his father. This was all definitely going to be very interesting