The Mating (The original Law of the Lycans story)

Chapter 20

Elise spent most of her drive to work thinking about Kane. His childhood explained a lot about him now as an adult. As Helen had pointed out, not having a stable home or a real pack while growing up, made him fiercely protective and loyal of what he had now. And his consideration of her as a new member of the pack made sense too. How many times had he felt that awkwardness, moving somewhere new and trying to fit in? Then there was his speech about 'moments of great disappointment'. She kept coming back to that, but it could have any number of meanings. At one time, she thought it might have referred to Marla, or it could be about his brother turning on him, but now she wondered if it was his mother leaving him behind, or possibly even his whole childhood.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Kane was a very complex person, with one foot in the past—dealing with the ancient traditions and animal instincts of a male werewolf and pack Alpha—and the other in the future—trying to follow modern cultural norms and expectations. She imagined that the two extremes often fought for dominance inside him, requiring a great deal of self-control. On top of that, he had experienced more than his fair share of difficulties growing up, yet despite it all he was still one of the nicest men she'd ever met.

Did Kane take after his mother or his father? Probably the former, if Helen and Carrie's recollections of Carter were to be believed. The man reportedly had a nasty, uncontrolled temper and while Kane had shown his anger on a few occasions, it seemed to be kept on a leash. Carter also had—how had they put it—a 'roving-eye'. Had Kane and Ryne been aware of that? And if so, had they followed the man's example?

Kane certainly seemed to know what he was doing in bed and he had to have gained that knowledge from somewhere. She knew he'd been involved with Marla, but who else? No other names had been mentioned within her hearing, but he was far too sexy and too much of a male to have remained celibate for most of his life. Lycan society had a bit of a double standard. The males were allowed to roam, but for the most part, the females were mated young. A few, such as Marla, went against the tradition—times were changing, after all—but it wasn't the norm.

If Kane's experience wasn't gained within the pack, it was probably with some of the human females in town. They were notoriously susceptible to the aura of power that surrounded a werewolf, though most of them never found out what exactly drew them to the strong, good-looking men. All weres were secretive about their true identities. They had to be in order to survive.

Her arrival downtown ended her train of thought. A quick glance at her watch told Elise that she only had a few minutes to park the car and get to the Grey Goose for the start of her shift. Pulling into a parking spot, she moved to turn off the engine only to pause when she noticed a warning light was lit up on the dash. Darn! Supposedly a mechanic had checked the car over thoroughly, but apparently something had been missed. Well, she didn't have time to worry about it now. After work, she'd stop by a garage she'd noticed the other day and get it checked out. Locking the car, she ran across the street and hurried into the restaurant.

~~~

Her shift was busy and when one o'clock finally rolled around, Elise breathed a sigh of relief. Taking off her apron, she hung it on her hook and grabbed her coat, thinking longingly of sitting somewhere quiet and putting her feet up. As she rounded the corner towards the door, the sight of a tall, sandy-haired man brought her up short.

"Bryan!" Joyfully, she launched herself across the remaining few feet and jumped into the open arms of her childhood friend.

"Elise!" He spun her around and then kissed the tip of her nose. "It's so good to see you." He smiled down at her, his hazel eyes warm and welcoming.