My mate spent the night arranging for transportation for all of us back to his pack. He, the twins, Talia and I will go by helicopter. All the warriors and their mates will drive back. Jarvis arranged for a luxury bus for them. Warrior Peace protested about me being so far ahead of all of my warriors, so Jarvis arranged for a second helicopter for Warrior Peace, Yvette and three of his top warriors to travel with us. Since my warriors and Jarvis’ warrior have been training together since I was taken, they are all in agreement with this change. Warrior Peace has, in a sense, become my general, so it is likely that he will always travel the closest to me.
Once that got cleared up, we all decided to have an early night so we can have an early start tomorrow. I’ll admit that I’m nervous about meeting Jarvis’ parents and the other ranked members of his pack. I know everyone respects my position, but I want them to like me as a person. If this is going to be my home, I just want to be simply Seleste when I am there. The one thing that I enjoyed about being at my old pack and even being with Alpha Clark at his pack is that no one treated me differently. I was just a regular shewolf t them, even the ones who knew that I was The Chosen Protector.
“Don’t worry Lettie, everyone will love us. As I keep telling you, we are awesome.”
“Thanks T. It’s not often that a girl meets her mate’s family for the first time. You know, growing up, we thought our mate would be from our pack or one of our allied packs and we would already know them and their families. Jarvis’ pack is completely new to me.”
“I know, but remember Talia said that Jarvis’ family has been nice and very welcoming to her, so think how much more they are going to love you as Jarvis’ second chance, mate. I’m sure they are excited. No one would have ever guessed that he would have a second chance and were probably waiting for him to pick a chosen mate and luna. You being his second chance makes him and the pack stronger and I’m sure that makes his parents happier.”
“I know they will like the idea of what we bring to the pack, but I just want to be liked for me, just plan Seleste.”
“Everyone who meets you loves you, Lettie. You are sweet and loving to everyone. If they don’t like you, it’s their problem and not ours. If they disrespect you. Our mate will deal with them and if he doesn’t, we’ll deal with him.” Tamaska says with a smirk.
“Hey little mate. I feel your emotions, what has you so worried?”
My mate says as he walks into our room and pulls me to him.
“I’m just a little nervous about meeting your family and the pack.” I said.
“You don’t have to be nervous. They are going to love you and if anyone doesn’t, they can leave our pack. You are my mate, my heart and the luna of our pack.” Jarvis says.
“I just want everyone to like me for who I am, not what I am. I know it sounds crazy, but I have to be the Protector for everyone, but I just want to be plain Seleste in my home.”
“I think I understand what you mean, but I can assure you that my family will love you because you are sweet and sincere and genuinely care about others. They will see your heart and appreciate you. They will love you because the moon goddess has said that you are made just for me and I am made just for you. We will fit into each other’s lives and families perfectly. Look how well I got along with your over protective father.” Jarvis says with a smile.
“That’s true. I have one question though. Something T and I were talking about made me wander something.”
“Ok, ask me anything.” Jarvis says.
“Umm, I know you were not expecting to have a second chance mate, so is there a shewolf back at your pack expecting to be your chosen mate or one you are in a close relationship with?”
Jarvis takes a deep breath and hesitates for a second. In that second, my heart drops. I know I shouldn’t feel hurt by this. He is an alpha male, and he has already had a mate. I shouldn’t have expected that he waited for me after his mate died, but the thought of being around other shewolves that he has been intimate with bothers me.
“Calm down Lettie. Let him explain before you jump to conclusions. Just breath.” Tamaska says.
Jarvis stays quiet for at least 20 seconds or more. This is really going to be bad. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. Maybe we should have waited to mate and mark each other. I attempt to move away from Jarvis, but he pulls me close to him and finally starts to speak.
“I can feel your hurt and I am really sorry. Onyx has been giving me hell since you asked that question. He had been telling me to be patient, but to answer your question, I never promised to make anyone my luna, but there was someone that I have been intimate with regularly over the last few months. I considered making her my chosen mate, but I had not discussed it with her. I was getting pressure from the elders that the pack needed a luna, but nothing was decided. Onyx refused to consider marking anyone else other than our mate. I think he knew you were coming.”
“I did, and you should have listened to me when I told you not to be with that shewolf. Now my mate is hurt. If my mate leaves me, I will never speak to you again. We could have waited for her.” Onyx says.
“I honestly don’t know how I feel about this. You know I waited for you. Even after being rejected by my first mate, I waited for you. I did not know when I would ever meet you, but I knew I didn’t want to be with anyone other than my mate. I know it’s not fair because I knew I would get a second chance mate and you didn’t, but it still hurts. When was the last time you were with her?”
“The night before, you projected into the room with me and your cousins. I promise you I have not been with anyone else since I knew about you and I can promise you I would never be unfaithful to you.”
“Does she know about me?”
“Um, I don’t know. Most of the ranked members of the pack know, but I was more focused on rescuing you than making an announcement.”
“So as far as she knows, you are still available to her? Will I have to deal with drama when I get to your pack?”
“I don’t think she is that kind of wolf. I would never allow you to be disrespected by anyone. You are my everything. I already wear your mark and you wear mine. This is all I need or want.”
“Jarvis, I need you to understand me plainly. I want to be with you for life. I am committed to us, but I will not tolerate you being with other females or them disrespecting me because of you. So I think I should go visit my parents before coming to your pack with you so that you can get you pack in order before I get there. I have already been through enough emotional trauma and I refuse to go through anything else. I think maybe I should find somewhere else to sleep until we get things sorted. I don’t know if I can be here with you tonight knowing that you laid with another female just days before you mated me. At the very least, you should have told me beforehand, or maybe we should have waited to mate until you were in the position to be with me fully.”
I pushed away from Jarvis and tried to walk away. Tamaska was whimpering in my mind. I know she thinks I am being harsh, but I have to spend my life giving everything I have to the supernatural community. My mate is supposed to be mine alone. He is supposed to be my safe haven. I am not feeling that with Jarvis right now.
Jarvis holds me to him tightly. He is refusing to let me go. I can see Onyx peeping through Jarvis, trying to reach out to me. As much as I want to talk with him, I can’t do it right now.
“I’m sorry, Onyx, I’m not mad at you. I just can’t handle much right now. Everything is a little fresh and raw for me right now.”
“I understand, Seleste, just know that we love you and we would never purposefully hurt you.”
Onyx fades back inside of Jarvis. I know he is upset and I really don’t want to hurt him, but I can’t help the way that I feel. I have been strong for so long and held on for my mate and now I don’t know what to feel or think.
“Lettie, don’t push mate away. He didn’t know about us. Just like I couldn’t tell you about Onyx, Onyx couldn’t even tell Jarvis that he had a second chance mate. Jarvis thought he would be alone for the rest of his life or stuck with someone he didn’t have a bond with. Please Lettie, give him a chance. He really loves us.” Tamaska says.
“Seleste, please don’t leave me. Please don’t pull away from me. I am so sorry. I would have never been with another if I knew there was a chance that I would have a second chance mate. I did wait for my first mate. She had been the only one I had been with until a few months ago. I got lonely and sort comfort where I should not have, but I can promise you with all that I am that I would never do that to you. Maybe I should have waited to mate and mark you, but from the moment you appeared before Onyx and I, you have been the only thing I have thought about. I simply forgot about her. She will not be an issue in the future.”
“Jarvis, I will give us this one chance. But like I said earlier, I don’t like drama in my home. I am willing to leave the past in the past as long as your involvement with the female is in the past. I want us to work. I have deep feelings for you already and I know I can quickly fall heedlessly in love with you; however, if you hurt me, I will walk away from us. I have already survived being rejected, so I know I can survive anything. Please don’t put my resolve to the test. Now, having said that, I am going to trust you and trust that things will work out the way they should. Let’s go to bed. We have an early morning.”
“Thank you, baby, for trusting me. I won’t let you down.” Jarvis says.
We climb into bed, and soon Jarvis is in a deep sleep. I try to relax, but my mind continues to wander. I just have a feeling that something is going to happen tomorrow that I am not going to like. Something keeps telling me to guard my heart in this situation. Everything in me tells me that Jarvis is a good man. I know the moon goddess would not have made him my second chance if he wasn’t, but he may have opened a door that will be hard for him to close. He may have forgotten about that female, but I doubt if she forgot about him.
“T, I have a bad feeling. I don’t think things will go as smoothly as we had hoped with our mate.”
“As much as I hate to admit it Lettie, I think you are right. I am also getting a bad feeling. Let’s just watch and see. I want to give Jarvis and Onyx the benefit of the doubt. Lettie, if things go wrong, I’m not able to break the bond after we have been marked. We would have to go to the king for that, but it is possible, especially for us. Ultimately, the moon goddess wants us happy. We are stronger when we are loved and connected to others. We are strongest when we are mated. Let’s trust that the moon goddess has a plan.”
“Ok. I guess we should try to rest, whatever happens tomorrow, we will handle it like we always do.”
“I will be with you all the way, Lettie.”
After my talk with Tamaska, I relax enough to get some sleep. I trust the moon goddess and her process. I know Jarvis is my fated mate. Circumstances brought us together sooner than I planned, but no matter what, I believe we will always find our way back to each other.