Fire And Ice

Chapter 25 - Story Time and Hugs

Natalia's P. O. V

"So, here's what I've gathered, tell me if I'm wrong: there's the first and oldest set of twins, Brittany and Harry, the legitimate ones, who just turned eighteen on the ninth of June; then there's Keily and I who will turn eighteen on September fifth and finally, there's you, who's still fifteen."

We'd left the living room and had returned to the guest room Hailey was staying in after finding out we shared the same sperm donor.

I nodded in confirmation, "Every werewolf has a soul mate, or as we call it, mate. Mates are normally both werewolves but some werewolves get human mates. We're able to tell who our mate is when one of them turns eighteen. We know who our mate is by their scent – it'll be the best thing you've ever smelled. Mates are usually in the same age group, with a zero to two years gap and the guy being older but sometimes, there's a larger age gap, like my case, and the girl is sometimes older by a year at most. Tiffany, the mother of the legitimate twins, is Clark's mate."

"And our moms are what? Side chicks?"

"Even though we get mates, it's still possible to sleep with someone else. There are two options for that. The first one is that you do it while still connected to your mate. This brings your mate pain every time you even kiss anyone else. The second way is to reject your mate then sleep with the other person. This way, your mate only feels the pain once after the rejection and never again. Accepting rejection also hurts your mate. Rejecting and cheating on mates were once taboos but they happen more often these days."

"So, Clark just decided to sleep with his mate, a werewolf, and a Seer and whatever your mom was and who knows who else? What's he trying to do? Max out on XP points in the bedroom?"

I laughed at her analogy for all this, "You might have to ask him that. I wonder if we have any other siblings from him"

"He's definitely an asshole to have put his mate through that kind of pain at all. Do werewolves have any other specific weaknesses or things that cause them pain? I know for vampires it's sunlight, wood and one herb or another."

I nodded, "Apart from mate inflicted pain, silver and an herb nicknamed Wolvesbane burns us. Wounds caused by them heal at a human rate."

"Hmm... maybe I'll use those on Clark if I'm ever forced to meet him cause I didn't want to meet him before and I definitely don't want to now. Anyway, enough about him, tell me more about mates."

"Well, we weren't taught this in class, but I believe the mate bond is a mostly physical connection. We're taught that you're supposed to love your mate, and I think that's the reason we instantaneously fall in love with our mates once we know who they are, regardless of what they've done to us in the past if you knew them. We were made to love our mates from a young age."

She cocked her head, curious about my reasoning, "So, why do you think it's a physical thing?"

"You feel pain when your mate gets physical with someone else, not when they have feelings for someone else. To complete the mate bond, you need to mark your mate then sleep, otherwise known as mate, with them, both of which are physical acts. To claim someone else as your mate after a rejection, you need to mark and mate with them every three months. All these are physical things. Besides, we're part wolf, they're not famous for their emotions. Sure, you're able to sense their pain from a distance a few months after completing the mate bond but everything is mostly physical."

She placed a hand on her chin, stroking an imaginary beard, "That all makes sense, really. So, bottom line is, your mate is mainly the best person for you to sleep with?"