To Be Protected

Chapter 3: Courting

Mathis's POV

Once Jackson was out of my view I got straight to work on getting all of the things ready that I would need for tomorrow. If I'm going to leave a good impression on my potential mate I will have to be prepared. Luckily this area seems to be very abundant and it shouldn't be too hard for me to prepare something worthy for me to have Jackson's attention. For my first order of business I would need to find a place to make a nest, which I did without too much searching. Where I decided on was a large tree that sat in a clearing and the nest would be placed was at the base of the tree that would be in the shade most of the day and the tree provided protection for our sides and back while being open in the front.

First, I stripped the leaves from some of the low branches of the surrounding trees and placed those down first. Then I collected a soft moss and lined the nest with that and filled in the rest of the space with fern leaves. As I worked my mind wandered to the Omega and I smiled lightly. I knew that I wanted to be with him the moment that I saw him in my trap, and according to my clan laws he already belongs to me.

In my clan if you save another, they are indebted do you, but if they are from another clan then they become your spoils of battle. When we fight other clans and win we gain all of their Betas and Omega for our own and they are treated a bit different then the Omegas that we already have but they are still treated well. So technically Jackson is already mine but like said before, I don't want to force him into anything. It would be much better for the both of us if he becomes mine willingly, so I'm going through the necessary courting ritual.

Finishing the nest I left it behind as I trekked to the river and quickly caught three large trout and managed to catch four rabbits on my way back to my camp. Plunking down on the ground in front of the nest I skinned the rabbits and cleaned the fish before laying the rabbit pelts in the nest to make it more comfortable.

Once I had the fish and the rabbit meat stashed away I though about what I should make to give to Jackson. I could try to make him a better garment since the one he has on was tattered and repaired many times and looked to be old, but I wasn't the best at sewing and crafts like that. So my mind then switched to his necklaces that he was wearing. He had three of them on, one with large green bluish stones, another with small red stones broken up by larger black stones and another that was all white stones and they all looked to be well taken care of except for the red one with the black stones. That one looked to be newer then the rest but it was also dirtier and more scratched.

Then it was decided, I was going to make him another necklace. Collecting the necessary grass I set that aside as I scoured the area for the stones that I would use, and I settled on a few stones that shone white in the sunlight and others that glittered green like his eyes. They would sure suit him well. Once I had a small palm full of the glittering stones I retreated back to the camp and wove the grass into a strong rope and incorporated the stones into it as I went. When it was finished I looked it over for any weak points and once I was satisfied I stashed it away and then focused my attention on starting a fire. Once that was dealt with I sighed and laid back on the nest as I folded my hands behind my head and looked to the stars as I settled and waited impatiently for the evening to come.

Jackson's POV

My eyes snapped open at the crack of dawn and I sighed impatiently. The whole night I had barely gotten any sleep because I was so excited to meet with Mathis again, I just hope that no one tries to get in my way. Laying in my nest of old furs and leaves impatiently I counted down the minutes until early morning before rolling to my feet. If I wasn't going to sleep then I might as well get ahead on my chores so no one has anything that might keep me back. Making sure not to wake up my Alpha sister or mother I slipped out of the house and headed over to the small hut on the other side of the clan.