Garrett still couldn’t believe how beautiful Autumn was and how much she'd affected him since he'd met her. Every hour that she was in his presence, he grew fonder of her. Last night had been hard for him with her sleeping in the bed just three feet away from him while he lay on the couch. He barely got any sleep thinking about her. All he wanted to do was protect her and suddenly getting rid of Simon became more of a priority for him. Not because of the money, but because it mattered to him that Autumn was safe and happy.

And he wanted her all to himself.

She slid her half empty fry basket to the side and pulled the glass of water from the middle of the table towards her.

“About this mating thing…I’m curious,” she said.

At the mention of the word “mating”, Garrett glanced up sharply across the table at Autumn. She was running her fingers up and down the sweat of the glass of chilled water, drawing patterns as she went. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, but he could tell she was holding many of her frustrations inside. With everything she’d gone through over the past years, she’d come out a strong woman. Most women Garrett knew would’ve caved under the circumstances. But not Autumn. She was content on fighting for that tavern with everything she had.

She had no problems shifting the attention to him. All humans were slightly curious about shifters, but not all of them knew enough about them. However, their mating rituals usually weren’t something Garrett got asked about. Most of the time, women wanted to see him shift just for the hell of it, which was a no-go for him. To date, no human woman had ever seen him shift into his wolf.

“Ask away,” he said.

“What exactly is it? This mating, biting, and imprinting business.”

“Well.” He rubbed his hands together, thinking of the best way to put shifter things into perspective for a human. “There are differences between the three. Among our kind, matings are often referred to as a permanent and irrevocable union between true mates. The only way to find out if one is a true mate is to first imprint on someone. If the union is a true mating, the imprint will become permanent and a birthmark will be transferred between the two. Biting someone, on the other hand, will mark him or her temporarily. It’s imprinting without the sex, but it doesn’t hold the same weight. Usually, it’s done when two wolves who seek to track each other, either voluntarily or involuntarily.”

“I see. So marking by biting or imprinting isn’t really permanent unless the two are true mates?”

“That’s right. Under the usual conditions, imprinting is only temporary.”

“How does the imprinting happen?”

“While having sex, a wolf’s essence will transfer to his or her lover. If at least one of them is a shifter, the union creates a sort of chemical imbalance in both the male and the female. The couple can continue to have sex, which means it will just take longer for the imbalance to correct itself, or they can wait it out.”

“Chemical imbalance?”

“Increased sex drive, carnal cravings. The urge to continuously have sex with this person. The outcome is more emotional and psychological than anything else. One of the main instincts of our kind is to find a mate and have offspring, so naturally, the imprinting occurs to ensure that we keep having sex with women until they’re pregnant with our pups. While the imprints remain intact, both will continue to crave the other. It leaves them in a constant state of arousal.”

“Then what if a pair only has sex once and chooses to wait it out. Do they walk around horny all day until the imprints fade?”

He laughed. “Basically. The imprint lasts about a week. Wolves learn how to abstain in the absence of the person they imprinted on, but humans are a different matter altogether.”

“You know, I’ve heard the stories about how some of my friends seek out shifters to have sex with to take them on this sexual high like it’s a drug.”

“The stories are true,” he said.

“I’ve even seen a few hookups at the tavern.” She blushed. “I mean, I don’t see them having sex, but I’ve overheard women openly propositioning shifters for sex.”

Her scent intensified, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his chair. Her interest in the sex life of shifters made him react in ways that he’d normally be able to suppress. But there was no suppressing the sudden smell of her arousal or the hard evidence of his—two things that simply wouldn’t go away.

He breathed in and out steadily and then looked around the room to make sure no one was witnessing his meltdown.

“Have you ever been propositioned like that…for sex?” she asked.

Garrett caught a glimpse of the small smile that momentarily crossed her lips. Her eyes were filled with innocence, but asking him about his sex life was anything but innocent. He cleared his throat and prayed to God that his dick wouldn’t burst through the fly of his pants and reveal just how turned on he was.

“Do you really want the answer to that question, sweetheart?”

“I could see women asking a man like you.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “You know what? I’m being rude. I talk to a lot of shifters like you at the tavern, but not like this.”

“It’s not rude at all. In fact, it’s perfectly normal to be curious about what you don’t know and what you haven’t yet experienced.”

“My dad was married to Melisandra and she’s a shifter and they never talked of imprinting and all that stuff,” she said. “When wolves find their true mates, wouldn’t that be like imprinting times ten? I couldn’t imagine walking around wanting to have sex all the time.”

“Pretty much, but it’s not like that all the time. Over time, true mates have managed to control their urges when they’re not together. The difference is that true mates carry each other’s birthmarks. All shifters have them, but not all humans do.”

“I don’t have a birthmark or at least I’ve never seen one on me anywhere.”

His gaze swept over her flawless skin and he imagined for a moment what she would look like naked and writhing beneath him. Why did he suddenly feel the blinding need to fuck and imprint on a woman? He’d held those urges in for so long, only succumbing when he and the wolf inside of him had built up too much aggression, usually right after a job was completed. Autumn brought out the side of him that wanted to imprint because of a wolf’s need for companionship and natural mating urges. His wolf was sending out pheromones all over the place. Even the couple of shifters sitting and eating inside the small deli were beginning to take note.

“Have you ever mated like that with anyone that could have been your true mate?”

“No.”

“Then you’re single? No girlfriend or anything?” she asked, as a heated blush spread across her cheeks. “Sorry, that’s not of my business.”

“No, it’s fine and yes, I’m single. I never really stay put long enough to get involved with any woman on a long-term basis.”

“So you have sex with them once and then leave them…aroused for several days?”

He chuckled. “You’re persistent, aren’t you? Actually, yes…I’m not the type to stick around because of my profession.”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” she said.

“I’m honest when it matters the most.” He winked. “I don’t go around telling all women that I’m a shifter and that if they have sex with me, they’ll have the urge to fuck me day and night for days afterward.”

“Okay,” she said, and then pressed her lips together cautiously. “But that would probably be icing on the cake for some women.”

“Yeah, it probably would be, but I doubt they’d want a wolf outlaw,” he replied. “And quite frankly, I don’t know if I ever want to put any woman through the commitment and stress that my job requires. Being away from home most of the time. That sort of stuff. I don’t want to hurt anyone again.”

“Again?”

Garrett shifted in his seat, realizing how easy it was to talk to Autumn, even with the dozens of questions she’d asked him so far. He didn’t know whether he should see this as an advantage or disadvantage. He was more propelled to tell her the truth about himself than any other woman he’d met before. It was strange. Her signature scent of nutmeg and cinnamon continued to fuck with his reasoning and his judgment. And that scared the shit out of him. He had an important job to do with a deadline, but all he could think about was getting Autumn to safety.

“I had a long term relationship before.”

“What happened?”

“I put my work before her. I admit it now, but I couldn’t before. She wanted to settle down. She wanted me to give up my lifestyle, along with my profession, because it was too stressful for her. I met her when I was twenty-one and we spent a year and a half together while I trained to become an Enforcer for my Pack. At the time, dozens of shifters were in competition for only a handful of Enforcer positions. Needless to say, I didn’t take the Enforcer job I was offered. Neither did my brothers. We made a pact with each other that we’d defend from the outside of our Pack versus the inside. I joined them with one universal mission of seeking justice for all shifters, whether it involved humans conspiring against us or our own kind threatening our existence and going against our customs. We were, and are still, known as wolf outlaws to those humans that know about us. We’re also mistaken for lone wolves most of the time.”

“When you say that you’re protecting your own kind from threats to your existence and going against customs, do you mean like what Simon's doing?”

“Yes.”

“Melisandra used to say the same thing about Simon. She stopped going to the pack meetings a long time ago when Simon became the Beta.”

“His actions ignore the rules that have been in place to protect us. He’s being accused of murdering his Alpha. That’s the same thing as a vice president conspiring to murder the president. It’s just not done. If we fail to govern ourselves, others will step in and try to take that privilege from us. Based on history, humans with power have been known to strip our rights from us under the assumption that we’re all wild animals and uncontrollable.”

“You know what I think? I think you’re one of a kind and that you’re brave for doing something for your Pack that not everyone can or will do,” she said, her eyes lighting up with compassion. “To risk your happiness for something like this takes a whole lot of courage.”

He smiled. “I’m happy doing it, so I’m not risking too much.”

“Just your time and your life…your love life,” she replied.

He nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Was she your true mate?”

“Who? Donna?”

“Donna?” she inquired. “Was that her name?”

“She wasn’t. And if she were, there would’ve been nothing, not even my choice of job that could’ve prevented us from being together. It’s different for true mates. It’s like we’re preprogrammed for this special person that completes us. Dane says it feels like she’s your other half. You can’t live without her. Nothing will stop you from being with this person. The fucked up part about it is that true mates are also hard to find. There’s no guarantee that we’ll ever find one in our lifetime. Maybe one in fifty of us ever finds our true mates.”

“Wow. So what happens if you don’t find your true mate?”

“We go on with our lives. You can be with someone even if they aren’t your true mate and you can also love them just as fiercely.”

“Like Melisandra and my dad.” Her gaze dropped to the table. “When I first met her I was skeptical about her intentions. She spent so much time with my dad while he was supposed to be grieving our mother, but she also helped him get through a tough time.”

“We all need someone like that in our lives,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“Yes, we do.”

“We should get back on the road. A driver will meet us near the county line. He’ll take you to see Johnston, the family lawyer. I’ll stay here and follow the lead you gave me about Simon. You can stay at my lodge in Aspen Valley while you get things straightened out. I don’t think you should return to Cross City until everything is settled. I mean, really settled.”

“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the same city with Simon anymore. The sooner he’s gone, the sooner I can revamp the tavern.”