Every Were Gets A Mate

Chapter 15

Picture is near where they are in Wyoming

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I was enclosed by comforting warmth and shaken gently.

"Jess! Jess! Jes-si-ca! Snap out of it." Cade's voice held urgency and frustration.

I blinked out of my hallucination and focused on Cade's face just inches from my own. He's still here?

The tension and worry disappeared from his expression, replaced by a calmly happy smile. "There's my girl." He ran his right hand down my hair a few times, petting me. It added to the soothing effect of his embrace. "Why'd you check out on me? Did I scare you?"

Scare me? Yes! "I thought you were leaving me."

He turned his head back and forth in a slow deliberate manner. "Never. I told you I would never even try to reject you. I'm never going to leave you. What would make you think I was leaving?"

"You kicked the door down."

"No, I didn't." He turned us and tilted his head towards the door. "Door's fine."

I looked over. He was right. The hotel room door was unscathed.

"I went berserk for a minute, but I never touched the door. When I turned back, your face was blank and you wouldn't respond to me. You scared me."

"Sorry." I went back in my mind to figure out what had happened. "I often imagine myself doing and saying things. I see the consequences unfold in my head, like a movie. But I've always known it was a daydream or visualization and not reality."

"Why would you do that?"

"Speaking my mind or doing what I wanted in Fury could get me killed. I'd visualize what I was going to say or do and examine the situation for danger. I'd practice and figure out the best way to get what I needed. I had to pretend to be submissive and obedient."

Cade frowned. "That sounds stressful."

"Yes. To relieve the tension afterward, I let myself imagine what I truly wanted to say and have happen. I've yelled at, cursed, and killed Fisher a thousand times."

"I've heard that if you visualize something enough, it will happen." We smiled at each other, but Cade's smile faded. "Why would you visualize me leaving you?"

"I think I believed so completely that you would leave that I saw it happen."

Cade gave me the slow head shake again. "You only just met me tonight. It's starting to feel like weeks ago, but it's only been hours. So I forgive your lack of faith in me." His smile returned. "You'll come to know, to trust, I mean what I say."

I was starting to see that and liked it very much. "Why'd you go berserk?"

"If Colton feels your physical and emotional pain, I'm certain he would know it if you fully mated with someone else."

I didn't understand. "But that won't hurt."

"The Knowledge Keepers in Black Hills said the psychic bond we have with pack, alpha, and mate is for survival. You are more likely to survive if you are part of a pack. A pack is more likely to stay together and work well together if it has an alpha with the power to command the individuals in the pack. The alpha can stop arguments and make people work together."

That made sense, for other packs. "It backfires badly when the alpha is a psychopath."

"Right. To not only survive but to thrive and pass your genes to a new generation, you need a mate. We feel our mate's pain so we know when they are hurt and need help. I believe Colton would feel our mating as a threat to his survival. He could tell Fisher, and Fisher could go on a rampage. He could kill off his entire pack or he could attack humans and reveal our existence."

Waves of panic battered my defenses. "We can't let either of those things happen. There are a lot of good people in Fury."

Cade squeezed my waist. "I assumed so since you were born there." He placed a chaste kiss on my lips, so different from the passion he had shown me just minutes ago. "I went berserk because this means we can't fully mate yet. We need to control ourselves until we know it's safe, no matter how difficult or painful it is."

Thoughts of keeping myself back from Cade brought tiny bee stings to my eyes. I blinked, trying to stay strong.

Cade caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers and gave me a little smile. "It's okay, Jess. My parents said the longer you can wait, the better it is."

A laugh escaped me, and I shook my head. "I hate that I can't get free of them. They ruin everything."

"We aren't ruined. We get to savor the anticipation." He tapped the tip of my nose with his finger and grinned.

I laughed and hugged him tight, loving that he could make me laugh at a time like this, loving him, loving that he was still there.

"Maybe I should go." He quickly added, "Just for the night."

"No!" I hated the desperation in my voice and calmed it. "Please don't go, Cade."

"All right. I don't want to anyway. But in that case, I think your idea of going to the bathroom is a good one."

I remembered the super magnet in my pants and smiled at the memory of Cade's initial reaction. "Okay."

We hugged each other tight and let go. I went to the bathroom and cleaned up. When I returned, the mountain of pillows had been spread out. Cade had taken off his boots and was lying on his side above the sheets, close to the left end of the bed, and facing inward. I got under the sheets on the right and laid down in a mirror-position so I could look at him.

It was after one in the morning, but we talked for several hours more anyway. I loved that he wanted to get to know me and me him, to figure out why we were perfect for each other. We talked about all our favorite things. They didn't all match up, but we had the same taste in music, so there wouldn't be any arguments over the radio on a car trip. We liked some of the same TV shows and movies, so we would be able to agree on things to watch together. We both found odd coincidences funny but slapstick not so much. People getting hurt didn't make either of us laugh.

We fell asleep with our arms stretched out, hands clasped in the middle of the bed. But I woke up with Cade spooning me, his arm around my waist holding me tightly to him. It felt right. It made me feel warm and safe and cared for. This was where I belonged, where I was supposed to be. I savored it for a few minutes and jumped in my skin when Cade said, "We have to stop."

"I thought you were asleep."

"Nope. I just didn't want to move."

"Me neither." I felt him moving his face against my hair, nuzzling, and smiled.

He was quiet for another minute. "We do need to get up. It feels like it's around ten."

I reached out and turned the alarm clock slightly so I could read it. "Wow. It's 10:05. How do you do that?"

I felt him shrug behind me. "I don't know. Internal clock? Anyway, I don't want you to miss check out time."

"Yeah. I'm surprised we slept so late."

"We stayed up very late."

"True," I agreed, but I still didn't move.

Cade groaned as he slowly pulled himself away from me. I answered with a whine but did get up. We packed up, had breakfast, and got into my Jeep. I let Cade drive since he knew where he was going. We headed away from the interstate and followed a meandering road through forest and hills on our way to Traveler's current camp. It was time to see this army and see if its alpha really would help me.

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AN:

Yay! We finally left the hotel room. Did you notice that we were in there for 8 chapters? :)

Poor Cade :( Everyone had so little faith in him! I was surprised because Jess said she was hallucinating. Yeah, she saw him leave, but she also saw the room fly apart. Is it confusing or is it really obvious if you look back at it?

Thanks for all the comments, even the ones fussing at me :) Your likes and comments really make my day.