The Mating Rules
Book 3 – Chapter 3

Isaac’s POV

My father’s words have played on repeat in my head for the last two weeks and I am no closer to making a decision than I was when he walked out of my office.

Part of me longs for an other half, a person to greet me after work, to listen when I’ve had a bad day and who will share their day with me. Someone I can take out on dates, laugh at movies, and curl up beside at night. That part seriously considers the option of a chosen mate. I would be able to get to know her, fall in love, create a bond, something that Jamie bear would talk about incessantly before Hadley and Caden stormed into the clearing the night of her claiming.

My lips tug as I think about the battle the three of them had, Caden with the person he wanted most dangled in front of him with the threat of being rejected. Hadley, having lost so many people, was so sure that he would lose his mate too, fighting through his own feelings of worthiness to replace his happiness, and then there was Jamie bear. The only she wolf I knew who was desperate for a love affair, turned her nose up at a fated mate, wanted to replace love the old fashioned, human way.

Now, years later, my best friend has his dream girl, Hadley has the family he craved, and my sister was wooed by two men that she fell so madly in love with, it was as if the mate bond didn’t even matter.

The other part of me still craves my one true love, the woman chosen especially for me by the Goddess. I trust in our eternal being, believe she has a plan for us all and I can’t let go of the fact that maybe, just maybe, my time is coming and that my patience will be rewarded with the most perfect mate.

I g***n loudly to myself, rolling over so I can bury my head into my pillow and block out the bright, vibrant colours of my room, wanting to just be swallowed by the blackness that matches my mood.

Silence is all that returns to me, no whispered promises or feeling of warmth as though someone is listening. I’m left confused and hopeless, trying to hold on to some sliver of belief that this time, this full moon, I will be rewarded with my other half.

‘Please Goddess’ I whisper into the cotton pillowcase that pressed to my cheek, ‘please let me replace her. I’m a good guy, I’ll treat her like the amazing person she is, just please, PLEASE let her call to me this full moon.’

Silence is all that returns to me, no whispered promises or feeling of warmth as though someone is listening.

The thought of her being out there, waiting for me to replace her aches within me, the knowledge that, should I take a chosen mate, my own mate will also be denied her perfect other half. Of course, there is always the chance that she has already chosen her own mate, fed up with waiting for me or believing me dead.

In my mind, Indigo whines softly as he always does when my thoughts turn to our mysterious mate. We are closely connected as all werewolf counterparts are to their humans and he can hear my thoughts as if they are our own.

‘What do you think Indie?’ I murmur softly, focusing on the huge brown wolf with a white front paw, in my mind.

‘Want mate’ my wolf replies simply, as he always does.

I sigh deeply, shaking my head, ‘a chosen mate or do you want to keep waiting?’ I push.

Indigo stands up, shaking out his thick fur, ‘want mate’ he repeats.

I roll my eyes, damn wolves, they are strong and fearless but conversationalists they are not.

‘Would you be angry if I took a chosen mate?’ I reiterate, trying to get some sort of response from the animal.

Indigo’s mouth opens and I cut him off quickly, ‘and don’t say you want your mate’ I huff, ‘we have established that already, I need to know if a chosen mate would be OK with you.’

The wolf snaps his jaw together, tilting his head as a rumble of displeasure rolls through him at being interrupted. Yeah, Beta wolves are not far off Alpha wolves, they also hate to be disrespected, even by their own human counterpart.

‘Want . . . love’ Indigo finally grumbles, ‘no more alone.’

I nod, absorbing his words, ‘yeah man’ I sigh, ‘I hear you, it has been lonely while we have waited.’

My wolf nods, settling back down in my mind, his head resting on his paws as he huffs out a breath.

I’ll be honest here, I haven’t been celibate these past fourteen years, I have waited many moons for my mate, but after three years, 36 nights of disappointment, I accepted that maybe my fated other wasn’t as close as I’d hoped. So no, I’m not a virgin but of the few she wolves I have had relations with, none were any more than a release on both sides as we awaited our true partner.

I lean back against the headboard of my bed, placing my arms behind my head as I stare at the blank screen of the tv that adorns my wall.

The question rolls round and round my head on a never ending loop until I want to pull my own hair out just to try and make it stop.

Glancing at the calendar that hangs on the wall to my left, I sigh deeply at the deep red circle that adorns the date of the next full moon before sitting up and reaching out for my father through the mindlink.

‘Son?’ my father’s voice replies seconds later, his tone tinged with worry that makes me smile despite my plagued thoughts. ‘Are you OK? Caden? JJ? The kids? Did something happen?’

‘I’m fine dad’ I reply with a chuckle, ‘and other than not being able to keep away from each other, Caden and Jamie bear are perfect. The kids are as annoying as always so I’m guessing that they are also fine’ I add, smiling as I hear the familiar growl of my father’s wolf down the link, showing his displeasure at my description of his perfect grand pups.

‘So what are you contacting me for then?’ my father asks gruffly.

‘What? Can’t your first born just contact you to catch up, make sure that you are OK, still alive, not going senile in your old age?’ I respond, my grin growing wider.

‘Watch it pup’ my father’s wolf growls, pushing forward, ‘we can still beat your a*s if the need arises.’

I laugh, my father’s wolf chuckling back at me before receding back.

‘I’ve been thinking’ I finally admit, ‘about what you and I spoke about in my office, about . . replaceing a chosen mate.’

I swallow thickly against the wrongness of the words around my tongue.

‘Really?’ my father perks up, his attention completely on me now, ‘you are going to take a chosen mate?’

I huff out a breath, choosing my words, ‘I am going to attend one more full moon, give one more chance for the Goddess to bless me’ I reply quietly. ‘If my mate still doesn’t surface . . .’ I sigh roughly, ‘I will take a chosen mate.’

‘Isaac’ my father murmurs to me, ‘I know that this was a hard decision for you and just know that your mother and I will be praying to the Goddess that your fated mate appears in two weeks but also know how proud we are of you. I can’t even say I know how you feel to be in this situation but I know that you are a strong and brave man and the woman you end up with, be her fated or otherwise, will be very lucky to have you. Your mother and I? We will welcome her with open arms, whoever she is, she will be our daughter, know that.’

I nod, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes, ‘I know’ I whisper, ‘I know you will treat her as if she was fated to me, even if she isn’t.’

‘I’m so proud of you son’ my dad mutters, ‘I just know that you are destined for a great love, I can feel it.’

I laugh huskily, wiping at my eyes, ‘I sure hope you are right’ I say before saying goodbye and cutting the link.

Laying back down on my bed, I stare up at the ceiling, the weight of the decision I just made like lead in my chest. Two weeks, that’s all I have before I’ll either be reveling in the joy of finally replaceing my fated mate and feeling that completeness that others have spoken about, or all my hopes will be dashed and I’ll be tasked with replaceing a woman to complete me without a mate bond.