Northern Lights: Bonded in Blood

Chapter 5

I had my arm looped through Clark's. It was a brisk day so we wore light overcoats for the walk. Heath was like a child as we strode towards the waterfront. He moved between walking slowly behind us to almost jogging ahead of us. His pace was erratic; Heath was obviously nervous but there was little we could do to calm him down. I saw the line of sailboat masts a couple blocks up from us, the Empress on the other side of the street. Pulling Clark's arm closer to my chest, he reached up to take my hand in his. We stopped at the corner by the hotel, looking across at the waterfront. There were several people walking past, starting off their Monday morning the same way they always had.

Heath scanned the people across the street. He sniffed the air frantically, searching for her scent. We followed his eyes intently, waiting for his word. People crossed in back and forth, artists and entertainers were setting up their stations. Clark's arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me flush with his side. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. Heath's eyes darted back and forth, he was growling subconsciously in frustration. He was getting annoyed that he couldn't sense her.

Then, it happened. Heath took a long, deep breath, closing his eyes. He exhaled slowly to savor the scent. When he opened his eyes we followed his gaze to a tall woman who just stepped across the street onto the waterfront. She was slender with chestnut hair down to her shoulders. She had on a long brown leather jacket, red scarf and knee high brown leather boots with skinny denim jeans tucked in. Her face was strikingly beautiful with perfect plump lips covered in flaming red lipstick. Her skin was porcelain white with dark eyes and eyelashes. Heath's mate was beautiful, there was no denying it.

Clark reached over to his brother, resting his hand on Heath's shoulder, "Go now." Heath didn't look back to us, his body moved forward across the street. He disregarded the traffic which was unwise, almost being struck by a taxi cab. As he approached the woman, she took out a guitar out of her case and started to play and sing. We could hear her across the street, she had a lovely voice. I held my breath as Heath approached her slowly, cautiously. She offered him a smile as she sang and played her instrument. He stood in front of her listening and smiling at her like a love struck fool. At the end of her song he tossed all the money in his wallet into her guitar case. She laughed out loud, bending over to retrieve the cash. She tried to give some of it back to Heath, he shook his hand at her. He moved up to her and they started talking. I looked up at Clark, he watched his brother with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"Is that what you looked like when you first saw me?" I asked playfully. He looked down at me, kissing my forehead, "No, I was far worse. I stalked you from the moment I caught your scent but I didn't want to scare you off. Heath at least looks like a human; I was a young wolf running on hormones trying to keep my composure." I laughed, pushing my body into his, "You weren't that bad. You were very sweet to me."

Clark smiled, kissing my lips softly, "I am glad because I was absolutely terrified I would ruin the moment." I pulled my mate with me up the stairs to the Empress Hotel, it was time we got along to the welcome brunch. We weren't sure if Heath would be joining us or not, but he would find us when he could. Clark took one last glance over his shoulder after his brother, I could feel his relief through our bond. He wanted Heath to be happy, now he had a chance to have everything he deserved. My mate was a loving brother, such a good person.

We made our way into the hotel. The welcome brunch was upstairs where we sighed into the conference. I searched the crowds for familiar faces but I didn't see any yet. It turned out we were actually early so we found our seats. The food wasn't served yet so Clark and I discussed the day. We agreed to split up for the two panels in the morning, then come back together for lunch followed by the speaker in the afternoon. Clark was eager to go to the tactical panel, he missed the hands-on work of training. I was so engrossed with our conversation I didn't notice two men had approached Clark and I. We turned to see Duke and Brett from Midnight pack along with another man we hadn't met yet. I smiled, rising up to chat with them. Clark's body stiffened quickly, he still had reservations about Brett from our previous meeting at Heath's Alpha ceremony.