A New Wolf Life (Completed)

Ch 25 - Blame the Marshmallows

Copyright to VedaPettigrew

I sat bolt upright on his lap and looked him in the eye.

"If we have our mating ceremony here at the end of the Challenge, then you would be entering Black Lake as the fully fledged Luna Luna and no-one would expect you to prove yourself to the pack. The initiation would be moot."

Thoughts whizzed through my brain. Would I be ready for a mating ceremony by then? We'd only known each other such a short time.

But it wasn't like I would be able to go out and find another male for a mate.

But it took me almost three weeks just to be able to kiss him. Would I be ready for more so soon? No, I didn't think so.

But then, all my friends would be at my mating ceremony instead of a bunch of strangers and that was certainly appealing.

But, but, but. Too many of them floated through my brain as I looked at Dominic wide-eyed.

"What about Joan?"

He sighed and shook his head, "I'm not mating her too." I giggled and shoved him, which of course just made me fall back, he grabbed me and smiled before turning solemn, "I can't do anything for her."

Disappointment flooded through me. "I can't let her go through it alone."

"I want to go through with the ceremony anyway. All the important people we would be forced to invite are here already. Your friends and family will be able to attend. And best of all, I will officially be your mate, you will officially be mine."

"That all sounds wonderful, but it's so soon. I do want to be your mate, but there's so much we don't know about each other." I gripped his hand, hoping he would understand and not suffer hurt pride.

"We will be mating at some point eventually, it's designed by Ori. Why wait?" he frowned.

"Because, well, you saw how long it took for me to even be ready for a simple kiss," I blushed and dropped my gaze, "I won't be ready for more. Not by then."

He stroked my cheek, "I don't care. The kiss was worth the wait and certainly not the only thing I'm willing to wait for, but I'll be able to hold you at night. We could share a bed, I won't press you."

I held his hand against my cheek, "I like the sound of that."

"Me too," he leant in to kiss me chastely.

I squinted at him, "But going through the ceremony is serious. I feel like we would be rushing it because of the circumstances. Don't you?"

"No. I want to have an official claim on you, you have been walking around without anything on you to say your mine." His thumb stroked against the sensitive skin on my neck where my collar used to be.

"But everyone knows anyway," I reasoned, not wanting even a hint that I might get another one.

"I want more, I want to publicly claim you as mine. I need to know you are safe no matter who you run into."

My voice shook slightly as I questioned, "You want me to wear another collar?"

"No," he replied quickly and smiled as he leant in a placed a slow gentle necklace of kisses from one collarbone to the other. "I never want you to wear a collar again. But are you sure you're happy with an alternative? I can't let my beautiful mate walk around without anything on her saying she's mine."

"I'd rather have anything on me than the dog-collar. I cannot tell you how humiliating it is to wear one," I said earnestly before casting him a look from under my lashes, "You know, in the human world they wear rings."