The Mating (The original Law of the Lycans story)

Chapter 9

Back at the house, Kane went off in search of John, and Elise found Helen in the kitchen once again. She was busily making sandwiches and chatting to three other women who were also helping prepare lunch. They all moved about the kitchen with the ease of familiarity, obviously having spent a lot of time here. Looking up, Helen smiled.

"There you are! Elise, I want you to meet two of my daughters, Zoe and Phoebe." Helen nodded at two young women who looked to be in their early to mid-twenties. Both bore a strong resemblance to Helen except that their hair was still dark brown, rather than liberally streaked with grey and their figures hadn't rounded out yet. "And this is Zoe's friend, Rose. She lives near the edge of the territory with her parents and works at the local bank." Rose gave Elise a shy smile and then leaned over the sink so that her hair hid her face. The girl was rather non-descript with pale blue eyes, brown hair, average height, and weight. She wasn't unattractive, but neither was there anything striking about her that made her overly memorable. Instinctively, Elise knew that Rose was probably one of the lower ranking members of the pack—not that it was a bad thing—but the girl would follow the lead of others and not cause any waves. There'd be no challenges coming from that quarter.

After greetings were exchanged, Elise pitched in with preparations for the late lunch. She found out that both Zoe and Phoebe were married with two children each. The young ones were off with their fathers to pick out pumpkins for Halloween, and the ladies were having a girls' day out with plans to go shopping once lunch was over.

"You should come with us," Phoebe invited. "Since you're new here, we can show you where the best stores are and maybe stop at the teahouse for a mid-afternoon break."

"Well... It does sound like fun." Elise hesitated briefly wondering what Kane would say but then shrugged. He'd likely be busy and not even miss her. "All right, I'll go."

"Great! Now let's get this food on the table and feed the men so we can be off."

Zoe went to fetch the males, and the other women carried the platters of food into the dining area. Elise noticed that the table had been stretched out to accommodate about a dozen people and sure enough, several men came traipsing in with Kane and John. The meal was noisy with everyone talking at once. Elise sat back watching the interaction, making mental notes of the relationships that she saw unfolding around her. Kane mostly sat and ate quietly while listening to the others, but she noted that the other men kept glancing at him for approval. When he did speak, the others listened without interrupting and seemed to take his comments seriously. Even if being Alpha did give him a headache, she could easily see that Kane definitely had all the needed qualities for the job.

Helen and her daughters were close and chatted about the children. Rose only occasionally chimed in to the conversation. Elise noticed that the shy young woman kept glancing towards a blond-haired young man named Daniel, but always looked away if he turned towards her. A smile played over Elise's lips. Rose had a crush on the fellow but was too timid to do anything about it. After studying the male in question, Elise decided he was equally interested, since he paid more attention to what Rose was doing than to the conversation the men were having.

Glancing towards Kane, she saw that he too was aware of the undercurrent between Rose and Daniel. For a moment, their eyes met and Kane gave a slight nod towards the soon-to-be-lovebirds, a smile ghosting over his lips before rolling his eyes. Elise gave him a reproachful look before smiling back. It felt good to have that little connection with Kane; a silent communication just between the two of them. The smile slowly faded from her face as she studied her mate, taking in his features one by one. She loved his thick black hair, recalling how it felt as she ran her fingers through it. His nose was straight, his jaw firm and his eyes were the most amazing amber colour that seemed to see right into her. Her mate. It was still hard to believe at times. With a start, she realized that Kane was studying her too and had a softer look about his eyes. She felt her heart catch in her chest for a moment and hoped he'd make eye contact with her again. For some reason, it felt vital that she see that look directly, but then John called his name and the moment was lost.