Chapter Five

“First, you need to remove your dress.”

“Are you just trying to get me naked?” The look on his face told her he had thought about it. Excitement zinged in her blood as she pulled the dress over her head. She waited while he undressed as well.

“Now sit on the floor.”

The thought of her bare butt on the cold floor made her hesitate for a moment but when she saw Conor do it without an issue, she did the same thing.

“Now, do you remember what you might have been dreaming or thinking when you shifted in your sleep?”

“Not really. I just remember running through the woods. I had never felt so free.” She closed her eyes as she felt those same sensations.

“Perfect.”

She opened her eyes to look at him. Sarah went to speak and found it too hard. She frowned and tried to bring her hand up but found that too difficult also.

“Look down.”

She tilted her head at him then looked down. She had paws! She turned in a circle and saw a fluffy tail as well.

“Come on. There’s a path we can take that was created for anyone who wants to use it.” He led her out a doggy door.

She turned around and looked at it once she was on the other side.

“I know. It’s a way to poke fun at ourselves, but in this form, we can’t open doors, so it does work for us.” He led her away from the backdoor and to a path not far from the house. Conor started in a trot.

Sarah did the same and found he was easy to keep up with. They did pass other wolves out running as well.

“You need to stop and bow.” How did Conor move around her so fast? “That is Max and his mate. He is the head alpha. You need to show respect.”

She did as he told her.

Max stopped in front of them.

“So, this is the young woman who just learned she is a werewolf?”

“Yes, sir.” Conor held his bow.

“How are you acclimating?” asked Max.

“She’s only known for a couple of days, sir.”

“I understand that,” said Max. He glared at Conor for a moment before focusing on Sarah again. “I also want to be sure she knows we’re here for her and will do what we can to make her transition easy.”

The wolf with him went over to Conor. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“I should be here for Sarah. She can’t talk yet.”

Sarah was surprised to hear the voice coming from the other wolf was female.

“I went through the same thing, and I was able to communicate non-verbally. Now, come with me or Max will take your refusal as an affront and a possible challenge.” The other wolf trotted away a short distance then turned back and looked at Conor. “Coming?”

He looked at Sarah for a moment then dropped his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

Sarah studied the wolf in front of her. He was huge. Much larger than Conor.

“Do you know who I am?”

She shook her head no.

“Then why did you bow earlier.”

She looked down the path where Conor went.

“Conor told you.” Max sat down in front of her. “Have you tried to talk? Did he explain how to do that?”

She shook her head.

“Okay. First, I want you to sit.” He waited until she was comfortable. “Now, close your eyes. Think about how effortless it is to talk in your human form. That ability is still inside. Reach for it. Feel your throat make the noises that make your words. A wolf can growl and bark, so they can make sounds. Use that ability to speak.”

She nodded and centered herself. Closing her eyes as he recommended, she focused on her throat. Remembering how easy it was to talk as a human. Everyone she had met in wolf form had no trouble speaking. She should be able to do this. The question was should she try? “What would I say?”

Max laughed. “You learn quick. Let’s walk.”

“Sure.” She got up and trotted beside him. “So, who are you?”

“Max Santos.”

“Oh. Oh! Thank you for the meal my friend won.” She thought for a moment. “Holy crap! Is Becky a werewolf too?”

“If she was at that dinner that means she works for my company, and I only hire werewolves.”

“Oh, I’m going to get her. She could have told me a long time ago.”

“And what would have happened if she had told you?”

“Well,” she looked at him, “I probably would have called her crazy and lost her as a friend.”

“There are werewolves who never learn to shift.” He looked at her again as they walked. “They have all the attributes, but don’t shift. We didn’t know enough about you to know if you were like that. Catherine was the one who brought your story to my attention. She’s the one who alerted us that you didn’t know what you were. That’s when she asked that we wait and see if you ever developed the ability to shift. She wondered if maybe you weren’t supposed to know you’re a werewolf.”

“Are there people like that?”

“Yes. Most have the werewolf gene. Somewhere in their genealogy, they had a werewolf mate with an ancestor, but they’re not full-blooded.”

“But I am.”

“It seems so. Now that you are aware we would like to help you find out why you were raised by humans. Do you know anything about your real parents?”

“Not really. I was an infant when my parents adopted me. I was told my birth mother told the orphanage my name which is what is on my adoption papers, and I have a blanket with a weird design that I was found in when I went into the orphanage.”

“So, you did go into an orphanage.” Max was quiet for a moment. “Where were you adopted from?”

“Um, Germany. My parents were there to adopt a child, but the mother changed her mind after having the baby. I had just arrived. In fact, they hadn’t had time to process me, so I was offered in place of the other child. My mom said I was a gift, and everything fell in line so they could adopt me.”

“Germany? Yet Sarah is a very Irish name.”

“I know. My name on my adoption papers says Sorcha. It made me wonder if my birth mother was Irish.”

“When you get a chance can you give Catherine a picture of that blanket? We might be able to find out who your real parents are. If you’d like to know.”

“Part of me would. I’d like to know why she gave me up.” They continued down the path. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve noticed that everyone bows to you. Conor, who told me he was an alpha, bowed to you too.”

“Did he explain how he’s an alpha?”

“Yes, sir. He told me about him and his brother and how they were both alphas but his brother was the eldest so he would be the leader of their pack.”

“That’s right. Each pack has one alpha to rule the pack, but they might not be the only one within that pack. You need to have a backup in case something happens to the head alpha. Conor is an alpha, but he won’t be leading his family pack. His older brother will. That’s why he was able to become the chef he has become.”

“He mentioned how you helped him out with that.”

“I’ve known Conor a long time and the man can cook. He also loves to cook. It was the perfect marriage.”

“Catherine told me the people here are from all over the world. Are you in control of all their packs?”

“No.” He laughed. “I am trying to bring our people together, and I have had packs join mine, but that is here in the states and a few packs in Ireland. The goal is to move into the twenty-first century with the human race. We can use technology to help us if we’re smart enough to start now. I don’t want our people hunted down because technology won’t allow us to remain hidden for much longer. It’s one of the reasons I wanted this college created for our people. It’s hard to keep your wolf under control for months on end while in school with a bunch of humans.” He paused for a moment. “Catherine started to refer to me as the high alpha. My desire to unite all of us is something no other alpha has ever tried. I don’t want to take over all the packs, but I do want them to follow me. Understand what needs to be done to keep our people safe.”

“That is very ambitious.” She saw Conor, the female wolf, as well as two new wolves. “Who was the wolf that took Conor away?”

“My mate. She might be helpful to you. She grew up human, so she’s had to learn quickly like you now have to. Alicia knows what you’re going through.” He looked where she was looking. “The other two are Catherine, I believe she is your boss, and her mate, Jacques.”

“Conor looks concerned,” Sarah commented.

“That’s because he has no clue what we’ve been talking about.” Max looked over at her. “I think he’s attracted to you. As my mate says, if he starts acting like a neanderthal he’s trying to show you he can protect you.”

“Great. He’s already shown me his ass at least once. What else can I expect?”

Max laughed at that. They were close enough to be heard now which ended their conversation.

“Everything okay?” asked Conor.

“Yes. Max taught me how to speak in this form.” She nodded at Catherine and her mate then bowed to Alicia. “I am sorry I didn’t know who you were.”

“You are brand new to this, so I understand.” She walked over to Max and rubbed her shoulder against his. “Tomorrow, after Catherine’s appointments we’ll have lunch together. Then you can ask me any question you might be afraid to ask anyone else.”

“Thank you so much.” She bowed her head again, trying to show proper respect.

Max and Alicia moved on, leaving her with Catherine, Jacques, and Conor. She wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sarah. You still good to meet at the office at ten-thirty?”

“Um, I do have a few questions so if you don’t mind can we meet a little earlier? Can I bribe you with a coffee in the morning? Your usual?”

“Please. Every time I go to the shop, they mess up my order.”

“So that’s why you wanted me to be your assistant. You want me to get coffee for you.”

Catherine laughed as she bumped her shoulder against Sarah’s. “See you in the morning. Does ten work for you?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Then it was just the two of them.

“You ready to head back?”

She nodded.

They headed back to their house. Sarah was trying to put everything in perspective. She knew Max talking to her was not something that happened every day. She remembered seeing him and his family at the dinner and anyone who approached him treated him like a God. She had a bunch of questions but decided to wait until she spoke to Catherine and Alicia. She was pretty sure Conor wouldn’t know how to answer the questions she wanted to ask, and he would probably react badly if she asked him the wrong way.

***

Conor wanted to know what she and Max talked about, but he didn’t want to overstep. Max showing interest in her also showed she was under his protection. If anyone tried to harm her, they would have to answer to Max. That included hurting her feelings. Conor had seen his anger before and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. He would have to tread carefully when he had to discipline her.

“You’re quiet.”

“Sorry.” She looked at him. “I’m kind of in awe of Mr. Santos. Can you explain to me the difference between an alpha and a high alpha?”

“High alpha?”

“That’s what Max called himself.”

“Max’s people have been trying to come up with a phrase for him. He’s the head alpha. The best way to put it is if you were to put a bunch of alphas in a room, they will fight with each other to prove who is the strongest, smartest. If you add Max to the mix, they would stop fighting and turn to him to hear what he has to say.”

“That’s kind of amazing.”

They made it back to the house and trotted through the doggie door. Once they were inside Conor shifted and pointed to the dress she had on earlier. He pulled on a pair of loose-fitting drawstring pants.

Sarah shifted and slipped on her dress as quickly as she could. He knew her modesty would only be temporary. Once she got used to shifting, she wouldn’t care who saw her body. He might not like it, but that was part of their society.

“You know it’s a big deal to have lunch with Max’s mate, right?”

“I figured as much.” She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. “I don’t know what is expected of me.”

“Alicia is new to our world as well. She is a little less formal than you might expect. She has learned a lot about our traditions and history. She can tell you some of the things she’s had trouble with so you will know it’s not easy to adjust. We will give you time to learn.” He went to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water. “She has had a crash course in our lore. She should be able to answer all your questions.”

“I hope so. I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong at every turn.”

“That’s because I’m not the best teacher.” He handed her a bottle of water.

“Are you kidding?” She took it from him and took the lid off. “What about the chefs you’ve worked with? They worship the ground you walk on because they learn so much. I just can’t seem to handle the learning curve.”

“You are going to do fine.” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “Look at us. Let’s stop our personal pity parties and relax a little. Want to watch a movie? I have popcorn.”

“Something funny?”

“No werewolf movie?”

She stared at him for a moment then came at him.

He started moving so she couldn’t catch him. Laughter poured out of her as she chased him. He maneuvered himself so he could get behind her then crept up and wrapped his arms around her. “What are you going to do now that I have you?”

She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What would you like to do?”

“I think you know what I want.” He smiled as he picked her up. “I was going to show you why I like this style of dress, but now I get to skip right over that because now I get to touch you the way I want.”

“And how do you want to touch me?”

Conor set her on her feet. He touched her face then slipped the dress off her shoulders. He started pressing kisses against her collarbone. When he was ready, he pushed it down a little farther and exposed her breasts to his gaze.

“Um, can I have my arms free?”

“Nope. I kind of like having you at my mercy.” He inched her back toward the bedroom and their bed. “You are afraid of the dominating attitude men of our race have. I want to show you that it’s not to force you to submit, but to protect you. Our women are important to us and we’re very protective of them. It does come across as dominating, but our women don’t seem to be bothered by it because they still keep us in our place.”

“I’m not sure if I feel comfortable with this.”

“My goal isn’t to frighten you, but to get you to let go. To trust me to keep you safe. We can use a safe word if that will make you feel better.”

“Like what?”

“How about meow? Or cat?” He eased her back onto the bed.

“Meow?” She laughed at that. “Okay, that will work.”

“Good. Now relax and enjoy.” He knew she wouldn’t listen to him until he made her forget about everything except what she was feeling. He pulled off the pants he had put on, then joined her on the bed. Using his fingers, he brushed them along her jaw before he captured her lips with his.

The goal was to relax her first, then arouse her. He kept the kiss soft and gentle. A soft sigh escaped her, and he knew he could now work on arousing her. Breaking their kiss, he moved down to her jaw, planting soft kisses there as well. Conor started moving his hands. First, he used the gentle touches he had used before to relax her as well as to start to fan the flame of her arousal.

He slowly moved down her throat, then gave her a quick nip on her collarbone before he moved to her breast. While he focused on one, he used the time to pull the dress up so he could reach her core. His fingers worked their magic. Sarah started moving, trying to free her hands so she could touch him, but they were still trapped by the dress. When he started kissing his way down her body, she stopped moving. He could hear her heart pick up speed. The sound of her breath shortened in anticipation.

Her body tightened as he moved to her core. The moment he latched onto her she moaned. He loved the way she reacted to him. In bed, they were a perfect match. Out of bed, she was overwhelmed. Here, though, she was able to be submissive. She knew the joy she would feel if she allowed him to be in control.

He knew the same joy when he was in control. All she needed to do was realize that their intimate time together reflected the world outside and she would find everything so much easier.

Conor loved the taste of her. Her scent captivated him. As she became more aroused her scent changed, driving his arousal higher. He needed to feel her body take him in. Climbing up her body, he touched her face as he drove in deep. She arched against him. A sigh escaping her told him she wanted the same thing.

***

Sarah sighed when she felt him fill her. She butted heads with him because she didn’t understand the alpha dominance, but in bed? He seemed to know exactly what she needed. Conor set a strong pace. One that excited her. She kept up with him and her body begged for more. He had learned she liked to start with quick thrusts. Her body tightened around him. Then he changed the pace to slower deeper thrusts that had her quaking.

Each stroke brought her closer to her release. She could feel it build inside her. Her heart started beating faster. Conor pressed kisses against her throat. He started quaking as well. They raced each other to their goal. Joy filled her as she felt her orgasm starting in the pit of her stomach. It flowed through her, igniting her ecstasy. She felt like she was floating. Bliss surrounded her.

Conor sighed as he shifted so he could take her in his arms. “Every time is better than the last.”

***

Sarah picked up their coffees and made it to Catherine’s office before Catherine showed up.

“Nice dress. Conor?”

Sarah turned toward Catherine’s voice. She lifted the coffees she promised.

“How did you know?” Sarah looked down at it.

“I’ve known him for a long time and most of us do wear loose-fitting clothes when we first learn to shift. It made sense.” She used her key and opened the door. Catherine handed Sarah another key. “This is for you. There are going to be times when I might send you here to pick up things I might need.”

“Thanks.”

“We have two appointments and then we’re free. Alicia wanted to know if you had a problem with me joining you two for lunch.”

“No.” She might have said that a little too quickly. Sarah bit her lip. “Um, I’d love to have you there. I don’t know what to say to Mrs. Santos and you could help me with that.”

“Funny, she felt the same way. She is used to speaking her mind and wasn’t sure how you would handle it.”

“I have about a billion butterflies in my stomach.” Sarah walked into the office. “It’s kind of a relief that she’s nervous too. Conor gave me this long list of things to be aware of, so I don’t offend her.”

“Conor is a worrywart. You’re going to be fine, and I think you’ll love Alicia.”

“I hope so. I do not want to offend the mate of the high alpha.”

“Who told you that?” Catherine set her things on her desk.

“Mr. Santos did. He explained the difference between him and someone like Conor who told me he was an alpha.”

“Max amazes me at times.”

“Amazes you? I didn’t know he knew who I was until he came over to us and started asking me questions.” Sarah put her things behind Catherine’s desk and took the chair where she could take notes. “He is beyond amazing.”

“That’s what he does. He knows things you wouldn’t think he should know.” They talked a bit more when a sharp knock on the door stopped them. “We’ll pick this up at lunch.”

***

Sarah didn’t know what to do with her hands.

“Sarah. Relax.” Catherine put her hands on top of Sarah’s. “Alicia isn’t going to chew you up and spit you out.”

“I’m sorry.” She put her hands under the table. “I guess my mind went a little crazy while taking notes. I don’t want to make a fool of myself, but I also don’t want to upset her.”

“You are overthinking this way too much.” Catherine patted her hands. “You need to relax. Take a deep breath.”

Sarah tried. Her heart started to flutter when she spotted Alicia coming toward their table.

“You’re just as nervous as I am,” commented Alicia as she sat down in a chair at their table. “I’m not some big bad werewolf who growls and snarls at people who disagree with anything I say.”

Sarah looked at her and started laughing. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to insult you but to me, you are mated to the big bad werewolf who would growl and snarl if I were to upset you.”

“You and I are a lot alike. I didn’t know this world existed before I met Max. Believe me, it took a lot to convince me that all of this was real.” She paused when their waitress brought them menus. “Max knows you’re confused by all of this just like I was and felt I would be the right person to answer most of your questions.”

“Really? Your contact with Max made you realize you were a werewolf?”

“No.” Alicia looked at Catherine for a moment. “I was human before I met Max.”

“Wait. What?”

“Have you ever heard of the Tears of the Queen?”

“No.” Sarah shook her head. “Am I supposed to?”

“You didn’t grow up with the legend.” Alicia pulled something out of her pocket and placed it on the table. “There is lore amongst our people. One that is thousands of years old. The legend is a story about the mate of an alpha who is killed. His mate cried tears when he died that turned into red diamonds. That’s what Max hired me to find when I first met him.”

“Are these supposed to be those tears? They’re not red.”

“Pick them up.”

Sarah looked at the necklace, then at Alicia. She shrugged before she picked it up. The stones started to change color, shocking her and making her drop the necklace. “What the hell?”

“The legend is if you have all the Tears together you can turn a werewolf human,” said Alicia.

“And they can turn a human into a werewolf,” guessed Sarah. “Is that what you did? Use them on yourself.”

“Yes. I had my reasons, but I proved they work.” Alicia took the necklace back and the stones turned white. “That’s how you can tell if they work. If they have been used the stones are white. If they haven’t been used on the person touching them, they’re red.”

“Are you saying that I could use them to become the human I’ve thought I was if I want to?” Sarah picked up the Tears again and studied them.

“You can, but understand that once you use them you can’t change back. That’s why they’re white for me. I used them and can never use them again.”

“That sounds pretty permanent,” said Sarah.

“It is. I had to think long and hard about this. I couldn’t go back if I wasn’t happy. But I love Max and that was what helped me to decide.”

“Are you unhappy now that you’ve learned the truth about yourself?” Catherine asked Sarah.

“I don’t know.” Sarah turned to her. “There is so much to learn, and I feel like I’m making one mistake after another.”

“I’m going to beat Conor,” muttered Catherine. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing crazy. It’s just I don’t know what everyone else does and it puts me at a disadvantage. I wouldn’t have known who Max was if Conor hadn’t told me.” She looked at Alicia. “I had to ask Max who you were. These are the things I don’t know and should.”

“You have to give yourself time. I didn’t know anything when I first became part of this world.” Alicia smiled. “I think the first thing we need to do is get you caught up on the lore and the who’s who of the werewolf world.”

“Am I going back to school?” Sarah asked.

“Pretty much.” Catherine pulled out her phone and typed. A few seconds later Sarah received a text. “What I just sent you will cover the basics on most of our lore. There is also a book we all received as a child to know proper etiquette. That should be a quick and easy read. I’ll send you more as I figure out which books would help you catch up. How many languages do you speak?”

“Um, six. Why?”

“Some of the books are in another language and not all have been translated yet. French, Spanish, German, what else?”

“Russian, Japanese, Italian, oh, and Gaelic. I’ve been teaching myself the language.” She gave them an embarrassed smile. “Conor’s swear words started it.”

“Really? Good.” Catherine typed on her phone again. “How comfortable are you with it?”

“Pretty good. I have a strong enough hold on the language that I can read enough to study the history of Ireland through some really old texts. A lot of that was slow going because I had to look up so many words in the beginning, but after a while I could recognize common ones and could figure out the gist of the paragraph.”

“Another linguist?” asked Alicia. “How about Latin?”

“I studied it in school, but no one speaks Latin so I don’t count that one. It does help me with other languages.” She picked up a glass of water the waitress had dropped off when she gave them a menu. “I’m surprised no one commented on my swearword statement.”

“Oh, we heard it,” said Catherine. “And we will get to that. I want to make sure you have everything you need first.”

Her phone binged several times. “This is a lot of reading.”

“You have a lot of catching up to do.” Catherine put her phone down. “So, let’s talk about Conor. How big of a crush do you have on him?”

“I’ve seen all his shows, even the more obscure ones he did in Ireland.” She gave Catherine a sheepish smile. “I told you I was a fan.”

“Yeah, I just didn’t know you were close to stalker status.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Right.” Catherine went to speak but Alicia put her hand on her arm.

“Now that you’ve been with Conor are you happy with the situation?” asked Alicia. “Is he treating you properly?”

“He’s a bit overbearing, but he’s not mistreating me. If anything, he’s overprotective.”

“How so?” Alicia picked up her water.

“He doesn’t like for me to go out without him. Conor also tends to glare at any male who happens to look my way.”

“Really?” Alicia and Catherine looked at each other. “I don’t mean to be nosy but how’s the sex?”

“Excuse me?” Sarah wasn’t sure if she liked this.

“Has he howled?” asked Alicia.

“That hasn’t been proven,” said Catherine.

“Are you denying that Jacques howls when he climaxes?” Alicia stared at Catherine.

“No.” Catherine dropped her gaze.

“Thank you.” She turned her focus back to Sarah.

“I’m not sure I understand the question.” Sarah didn’t miss how Catherine backed down when Alicia questioned her. The etiquette information was the first thing she would read. Hopefully, Catherine marked it for her.

“Then I’m going to assume he hasn’t. You’ll know what I’m talking about when it happens. As time goes on the orgasms you two have could get more intense.”

“How is that possible?” The moment the words left her mouth she realized she said too much. “I mean…”

Alicia and Catherine laughed.

“I’ve never seen Conor protect anyone the way he’s protecting you. I think he’s attracted to you,” said Catherine.

“I don’t know about that.” She didn’t know where to look. The one place she refused to look was at either woman.

“He told you the truth about his wife.”

“That’s because I confronted him about it.”

“There have been others before you who slept with him even though they believed he was married,” said Catherine.

“Are you saying the only reason he told me was because he wanted to sleep with me?” Anger filled her. She had hoped he cared for her.

“Not at all. I’m saying the exact opposite. He shows all the signs of a male who found his mate.”

“Mate?” She frowned. Sarah never thought he’d be serious about her. Conor was married to his work.

Let’s start over,” said Alicia. “Werewolf males are unique. Although every pack has only one alpha to lead them every male has a little alpha in them. It’s part of their DNA. They have been the protectors. You have given us the impression that Conor is doing the same thing to you. That is a typical sign that he might be interested in you as a possible mate. All we are trying to do is figure out how accurate our assumption is. If he is interested in you that is one of the first things we need to cover. Even though the males are our protectors it doesn’t mean you can’t stand up to him. We want to be sure you know how to do that. I didn’t have anyone to stop me when Max pissed me off in the beginning.”

“She was lucky that Max was understanding because she didn’t know our ways. He liked pushing her too. She showed she had the backbone to be his mate because she wasn’t a mouse,” Catherine said.

“A mouse? Really?” asked Alicia.

“A kitten?” asked Catherine.

“Meow.”

Catherine bumped her shoulder against Alicia’s. Sarah wanted a friendship like what they had.

“I have no trouble standing up to people,” Sarah said.

“Uh, huh,” said Catherine. “You were so nervous when you first started with me, I wasn’t sure you would make it a week.”

“That’s because I had ruined five other appointments. I was so nervous I messed everything up in each one.”

“I think you knew, deep down inside that they weren’t like you, and you couldn’t be yourself. You were nervous, but I knew you could be a great assistant once you got over it.” Catherine smiled.

“Even though I made the mistake of ordering the books you wanted in paper versus having them loaded onto your tablet?”

“That was you?” asked Alicia.

Sarah nodded.

“My office was filled with books and pamphlets for about a week before she could send them all back,” said Catherine. “But you learned from your mistake, and we learned we worked well together.”

“Conor is going to push you. He probably won’t realize what he is doing. He needs to see if you will keep him in line if he gets off track. That you’ll be there for him no matter what.”

The waitress walked up and asked if they were ready to order. Alicia and Catherine were but Sarah hadn’t had time to read the menu. She scanned the menu while the others ordered. Sarah heard what they were ordering and ended up getting the same thing. It was one of her favorites.

Once the waitress was gone Alicia asked another question. “Do you have any questions?”

“Honestly? I don’t know what to ask. You’ve told me so much already I think I need to process everything and do some reading before I can ask anything.”

“Then let’s just talk.”

***

Their lunch was fun. Sarah couldn’t believe some of the stories they told about themselves and their mates. How Alicia refused to believe in anything about the Legend of the Tears and how hard she tried to get out of helping Max.

They got tired of her calling him Mr. Santos and demanded she call him Max when the three of them were together. Alicia promised to talk to her mate so he would give her permission to call him by his first name the next time he spoke to her.

Catherine didn’t have any more appointments, so Sarah decided to get some reading done. They had eaten on campus in the facility cafeteria. She wasn’t sure why they were calling it a cafeteria when it was more like a restaurant.

The house was quiet, and she wanted to take advantage of it. A soft meow stopped her in her tracks. “Conor?”

Her cat had been lying in a small ray of light that slipped between the drapes. She was sure she left the door to her room closed after she fed him earlier so how did he get out? Conor might be a little upset when he found out she named her cat after him, but she never thought she’d ever meet the man, let alone share a home with him. “How did you get out?”

She went into the room and found the water dish full and his litter box clean. The real Conor must have cleaned it before he went out. Since her cat was already out and Conor was gone, she didn’t see why she had to put him back again.

Sarah got a cup of coffee, picked up her tablet, and sat in the overstuffed chair near the floor lamp. Catherine sent her a list after she had left the cafeteria. It was the order she wanted her to read the books. What made her smile was the last text had said: "This is what I suggest anyway. You can read them in any order you want."

Conor jumped up on the chair and curled up beside her. She petted him as she opened the first book on the list.

The book was the one that was used in their schools that gave an intro to werewolf etiquette. It was a quick read for her. Next was about the hierarchy of a pack. Next was 'The Legend of the Tears.'

That one fascinated her. This was all about Alicia and Max. She could see them in the poem. It was beautiful.

The next one was about the way werewolves mate. The history and the signs to look for. She learned that a lot of couples were brought together by a seer. That person, who was normally female, saw things in members of their pack that they felt would be compatible with another. As the world had more people, the packs had to change the way they did things. This was when mates came from other packs. For the alpha it would bond the two packs. Any mated people from different packs did bring those packs closer together. They normally didn’t fight with each other and were known to come to the aid of the other if the first pack was under attack.

In the middle of this book was a handwritten section explaining how Max was bringing the werewolf world together. She continued to read even though she was starting to yawn. If she had to she would get another cup of coffee.

***

Conor came back to the house with an armful of groceries. He had an idea for a new meal and figured this was the best time to see how well it would work. Classes wouldn’t start for another week or two. He still had a few shows to shoot to finish this season’s competition, but he didn’t need to go back into town for a few days. This would keep him busy until then.

He had thought that Sarah would have been back by now, but everything was quiet. He put his bags on the counter and worked on getting everything cut and ready for the pans. Working steadily, he had his vegetables ready and his pans were on the stove and getting hot. The protein he chose for this was filet mignon.

A bang in the other room made him stop. That sounded like an iPad hitting the floor. He stepped into the living room and found Sarah sound asleep in the overstuffed chair. Her cat sat beside her. Pulling a blanket from the couch he moved an ottoman and put her feet on it before he draped the blanket over her. He picked the tablet up from the floor.

Conor couldn’t help but look at what she had been reading. He almost dropped it when he saw the mating ritual on the screen. Was she expecting something from him?