ALEKSANDR I was pleasantly surprised when Rieka called me the next day, ready to get started with showings over the weekend. I had some other things planned for Saturday morning, but nothing that couldn’t be easily shifted or rescheduled, so I quickly agreed to a 9 AM meeting at the first of several properties she wanted to show me. Dustin is helping cover for me around the pack house, so it looks like it will be just me and Rieka this time. I’m looking forward to it, but I hope I can control my wolf and not embarrass myself or make Rieka uncomfortable. Instead of Dustin’s truck today I’m driving my Escalade. It’s black on black with leather interior and even black rims on the wheels. I bought this vehicle because I needed something that could fit more people than the truck Dustin drives. I pull up to the first property and see Rieka already sitting in her car waiting. She appears to be on the phone, so I park my car and wait until she sees me. She hangs up the call and gets

ALEKSANDR I’m still floating on cloud nine after spending so much time with Rieka yesterday. When she initiated the handshake at the end of our meeting, it made me feel so good to know that she wanted to touch me. I’m still not sure if she can feel any effects from the mate bond. It’s so rare to have a human mate that I’m really not sure what this will be like for either of us. I’ve spent most of the morning thinking about her and going over our meeting from yesterday in my head. I keep forcing myself to think about the properties that she showed me, but I can’t stay focused. I’m daydreaming about her ice blue eyes, and her perfect lips. She had some great ideas for how some of the properties could be used, and I can already tell that she would make an amazing Luna. I can also imagine what her lips would feel like against mine, but I keep reminding myself that I must move slow. She’s still grieving. My wolf whimpers. I know she’s not ready for a relationship yet. My next s

ALEKSANDR I was disappointed when Rieka didn’t reach for my hand upon my arrival at the property, but I want to respect her personal space. Wolves are so physical, but humans often like to keep a certain level of personal space. I’ve got to let her take the lead on this and move things at a pace that she’s comfortable with. It's possible that she doesn’t feel any effects from the mate bond at all. She also looked a bit distrustful of Drea at first, but Drea quickly introduced herself and explained who she was. That seemed to put Rieka at ease. Drea was right though, they seemed to become fast friends. Rieka was so comfortable with her, and I couldn’t believe the amount of personal information Drea was able to coax out of her. I listened to everything intently and committed all the information to memory. If I’m going to win her heart, all of these details about her life will be immensely important. It was great to finally learn more about Rieka’s kids. I feel like I have a be

ALEKSANDR I knew if I was going to pretend to be knowledgable about electrical work, I needed some help and fast. The very next day I mind-linked Chad and asked him to come see me at the pack house. He does most of the electrical work around the pack and if anyone can teach me how to help Rieka, it’s him. He wasn’t too busy, so he got to the pack house within the hour. I greet him at the door and welcome him in. “Thanks for coming over Chad. I was hoping you could teach me a bit about electrical work. I wanted to learn as sort of a hobby.” It was a half truth. Chad has a look of utter confusion on his face. “Uh… sure?” His voice goes up at the end in question. He's obviously really thrown off by my request. He probably never expected his Alpha to ask for a lesson on electrical wiring. “When… when would you like to start?” he stammers. “Well,” I continue, “I was hoping maybe today. I want to see how much I can learn in a week. For things like fixes around a house. You k

RIEKA Drea starts bouncing in place as she tries to contain her excitement. I try my best to give her a smile and pretend to be excited, but she must sense my apprehension. Her smile faulters for a second before she recovers and then her smile grows even bigger, showing off those gorgeous perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth of hers. For the first time since I met her, I can almost see how her teeth could look menacing. I know that sounds crazy, she’s not a rabid dog, but there is something about her teeth that suddenly strikes me as a potential threat. Before I have any more time to think about this new revelation about my friend, she takes my hands in both of hers. Her eyes are beaming with excitement and anticipation. I give her my best smile, “What is it?” Then suddenly she squeals “I’m pregnant!” I don’t know what I thought she was going to tell me, but that wasn’t it! My face quickly transforms from nervous, to shocked, and then quickly morphs into excitement! I c