My Perfect Mate (2 page)

“The hunt is why I’ve come. I need to
speak to Mathis,” Ujarak answered.

“Put me down. I don’t need to be
carried around,” Susan complained, but couldn’t deny she liked how
Ujarak held her so gently.

“Hey, you’re the one crying all over
my sweater. Now why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Where is
Jean-Paul?” Ujarak set Susan on the couch and then sat down beside
her and draped his arm over her shoulders.

“Tikaani, can you ask Marie to put on
water for tea?” Margot instructed her adopted son. He dutifully ran
into the kitchen. “Okay, Susan, spill,” Margot said. “Everything
was fine up until Christmas and then suddenly Jean-Paul isn’t
around anymore and you’re slowly sinking into depression. Don’t
deny it, we’ve all noticed, and are worried about you.”

“Jean-Paul isn’t a lycan,” Susan said.
“I’m not sure what he is, not that it matters with the mating bond
choosing him as my perfect mate. He was very sweet to me while he
was here. I thought we were working up to cementing the bond in
place. I know he wanted me, I could smell his arousal. I thought he
wanted to give us both time to get to know each other better,
before we jumped into bed. Then he left and went back to Quebec
City. He said he needed to get back to work. I haven’t heard from
him since. I called and left messages, but he never calls back. I
guess he doesn’t want me.” The emptiness in her heart wanted to
swallow her.

“I’ve never heard of the mating bond
failing, Susan,” Margot said. “There must be something else going
on. Mathis should be here in a little while. He wanted to get home
early tonight and take the children for a run. He’ll know what to
do.”

“Somebody should punch Jean-Paul,”
Ujarak said, patting Susan’s shoulder. “That’s what needs to be
done. I can’t believe he left you. Everyone talks about the gift of
the mating bond and knowing you’re destined to be together. What
kind of idiot walks away from that?”

“I guess the idiot who is supposed to
be mated to me.” Susan couldn’t help it, the tears started again
and Ujarak pulled her back into his arms. She hated crying, hated
feeling so weak.

“I’m going to rip him to pieces,”
Ujarak growled. He could do it, too, if he was in his bear
form.

“I’m afraid some of Susan’s depression
is from being separated from her mate. The mating bond is causing
her to grieve for Jean-Paul. I’m going to call Mathis.” Margot got
up and walked into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry to be so weepy,” Susan
said, her breath shuddering. “I’m not normally like
this.”

“I know, Suzie-Q. Don’t worry.
Offering a shoulder to cry on is something friends do.”

“Are we still friends then?” Susan
asked, wiping at her eyes.

“Of course we are. It was stupid not
to say goodbye. I was hurt you’d choose someone over me.” Ujarak
handed her a tissue.

“I didn’t exactly choose. The mating
bond did. I can’t help that it works that way for lycans. I don’t
really understand it myself since I’ve only been a lycan for six
months.”

“I know, like I said, stupid.” Ujarak
pushed her blond curls back from her face. “Do you wonder what
might have happened if you weren’t a lycan?”

§

“I want that ring!” the Queen of the
Fae shouted. “The gryphon’s eye is a powerful talisman. Jane
Griffin should never have given it to her Destined One.”

“I think she hoped it would
bring him safely back to her,” Jean-Paul suggested quietly. He
stood in the queen’s chambers after being summoned back to
Yns Afallon,
home of the
Fae.

The queen looked otherworldly in her
robes of silver covered with pearls and crystals. She paced in
front of her desk. “Instead, he and the ring were lost to the ice
of the Arctic. That’s the problem with Destined Ones. Your time
with them can be so fleeting. Are you sure you want to tie yourself
to this lycan? She won’t make your magic stronger since her kind is
immune.”

“Even if our time together is
fleeting, it will be worth tying our souls together, Your Majesty.
We will meet again, and again, in each lifetime we choose to live.
Immortality is lonely when you live only one lifetime, alone. The
earthlings get to experience everything new with each life they
live.”

“True, but each life they are ignorant
of the last.” The queen shook her head. “I think that would grow
tedious, having to relearn everything new each time. I won’t try to
dissuade you. She’s your Destined One and I can’t change
it.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’ll get you
the ring. I know someone related to the polar bear shifter you saw
acquire it. I’ll try and set up a meeting.”

“Excellent! When you have the ring,
send it through the portal. With my nephew causing trouble in
England, I’ll need its strength added to my power.”

Jean-Paul bowed deeply and backed out
of the room. Once out the door, he spun and hurried to his chambers
in the castle. Three days would be three weeks on Earth. He needed
to get back to Susan. The lycan mating bond tugged at his heart and
a feeling of loss threatened to unbalance him. The queen’s demand
to return to court couldn’t have happened at a worse
time.

Now he must retrieve this Gryphon’s
Eye ring. Claiming a Destined One wasn’t easy for a Fae Lord.
Permission from the queen must be acquired, as well as the handling
of his personal items.

Once bonded, he wouldn’t
return to
Ynys Afallon
. Luckily, there were
several members of the court willing to purchase his castle and
other properties. He’d made them pay in silver and magic items. You
could never trust Faerie gold to be real once you left
Ynys
Afallon
.

He put his treasures into a small
strong box and locked it with a spell. He put the ring he’d chosen
to give Susan in his pocket and gathered his cloak and weapons. A
knock on the door surprised him. Who could be calling at this late
hour? He needed to get to the portal.

Jean-Paul opened the door to find the
captain of the queen’s guard waiting for him.

“Sir Dinadan, is something the
matter?” JP asked.

“Sir Hywel, I heard you found your
Destined One. May I speak to you a moment?”

“Of course, come in.” JP ushered the
captain inside his rooms. “I go by Jean-Paul, now that my duties
take me back to Earth, and yes, I found my Destined One. She is a
lycan, though once she was human.”

“I wanted to encourage you
to go through with the bonding ceremony,” Dinadan said, running his
hand through his brown hair and sighing. “I miss my Clara every
day. I left her when our daughter was still young, and returned to
my duties as captain of the guard. I should’ve stayed and bonded
with her, but I feared giving up my immortality, and my life here
in
Ynys Afallon
.
I always felt that romantic love would only bring heartache, and
things were complicated between us. Don’t make the same mistake I
did. Grab onto your Destined One with both hands.”

“I plan on doing just what
you suggest. That’s one of the reasons I returned to
Ynys
Afallon
. I needed to get my personal items
taken care of as well as get permission from our queen. But,
Dinadan, if you miss your Clara so much, why don’t you ask Her
Majesty for an assignment on Earth. Destined Ones can’t be
separated by law.”

“I’m no longer in favor
with our queen. One of her nephews has gone to Earth through one of
the portal gates without permission. I have disciplined the guard
on duty. I fear now wouldn’t be a good time to ask Her Majesty for
a change in post. Perhaps in a few weeks, when her
Gwarcheidwad y Earth
returns with her errant relative.”

“Don’t wait too long,
remember each day here, is a week on Earth. I’m traveling through a
portal to return to Earth and my duties as
Gwarcheidwad y Earth
in
Quebec.”

“Let me take you to the portal now.
You can get through faster if I escort you.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
Jean-Paul picked up the coffer and glanced around the chamber. So
much beauty surrounded him that he would never see again, but there
was a certain beauty waiting for him on Earth. The ache in his
chest told him, he needed to get back.

§

Ujarak glanced at Susan in the
passenger seat of the Jeep. Her nose was still red and every once
in a while she would swipe at her eyes, like he wouldn’t notice
that she still cried. He drove through the streets of Quebec to the
old quarter, and finally found a parking space near the granite
building they sought.

A woman walked a small dog down the
street and piles of snow still lay upon the ground, making
sidewalks icy. Ujarak looked from the building to the piece of
paper Mathis gave him. He’d really hoped his big brother would take
over once Ujarak told him about the accidents happening around his
uncle. Being the father of six pups did take a lot of time. Ujarak
could understand why Mathis didn’t come with them. It galled him
even more that the one man he had to talk to was the
girlfriend-stealing Jean-Paul.

“Why don’t I knock on the door and see
if anyone’s home?” Ujarak suggested.

Susan nodded and took a shuddering
breath. Rage swamped Ujarak. No one should be allowed to hurt
Susan, especially not her mate. She’d had a rough time of it with
being turned into a lycan against her will. She didn’t need this.
He got out of the car, marched up to the front door, and knocked
loudly. He almost hoped Jean-Paul wasn’t home. Then Susan would
know he wasn’t ignoring her.

The door opened. Jean-Paul seemed to
have a glow around him. Ujarak blinked and the glow disappeared. JP
smiled at seeing Ujarak. Red covered Ujarak’s gaze. He pulled back
his arm, his hand fisted, and punched Jean-Paul in the face. “How
dare you make Susan cry,” he yelled. “You bastard, what kind of
mate are you? Three weeks, you’ve been gone. You’re lucky Susan
didn’t do something stupid, all for the love of a bastard like
you.”

Jean-Paul landed hard. Blood poured
from his nose. He squinted up at Ujarak from around the hand where
he pinched his nose. His stocking cap had fallen off and his long
dark hair fell wildly around his face. Ujarak noticed the tips of
JP’s ear appeared pointed.

“Is she all right? I got back late
last night.” JP pulled his hat back on and then went back to
holding his nose.

Ujarak heard the car door slam. Susan
ran over. “What have you done?” she asked, pushing by him and
reaching for the man on the floor. “Are you all right, Jean-Paul?”
Ujarak hated the worried tone in her voice.

“I’m fine, sweetheart,” Jean-Paul said
climbing to his feet. “No, don’t get mad at the polar bear. He’s
right to chastise me. I see from your face that you’ve been crying.
I just got back from my trip. Mathis called right before you
arrived and colorfully explained my screw-up in rather explicit
terms.” Jean-Paul put his arm around Susan, and pulled her farther
into the house and under his shoulder. Ujarak was hard pressed not
to growl from seeing someone else touching her. “You, too, Ujarak.
Come into the kitchen and have a glass of something. I need to
explain a few things to both of you.”

Jean-Paul led Susan down the hall. She
pressed a tissue to his nose. Ujarak huffed and followed after
them.

§

Jean-Paul whispered a healing spell
under his breath to stop the bleeding and glanced at the woman who
fussed over him. He’d never had anyone fuss over him before. Like
most Fae women, his mother wasn’t particularly warm.

“Sit, Jean-Paul. I’ll get something to
clean off the blood.” Susan hurried to the sink.

Jean-Paul admired the way Susan’s
jeans hugged her slight form. The sweater she wore set off the
highlights of her blond ringlets. She was small compared to Fae
women, and the lycan females he’d seen. Jean-Paul liked the way she
fit under his shoulder.

“Don’t trouble yourself, sweetheart.
It’s almost completely healed.” Jean-Paul smiled and wiped the last
of the blood from his face with the tissues she’d pressed into his
hand.

Ujarak stood in the doorway, a scowl
on his face. Jean-Paul knew the bear had thought to claim Susan.
Then the mating bond snapped into place when he was shot. Susan was
Jean-Paul’s Destined One, or heartmate as the lycans called it.
Still, he didn’t realize that she would grieve over him if he left.
The Fae and witch-kind didn’t suffer from that malady.

Susan hurried over with a dishcloth
and wiped gently at his face. “I’m sorry he hit you. I didn’t know
he’d really do it.” JP captured her hand and pressed a kiss to her
palm. He smiled when she whimpered. Her eyes glowed a moment and a
hungry wolf looked out at him. JP didn’t mind, Fae appetites were
strong. Her wolf would be a good match for him.

“It’s okay. I didn’t know about the
reaction you’d have from my absence. Forgive my ignorance. Mathis
explained when he called to tell me you were coming.” Jean-Paul
glanced at Ujarak. From the line of his jaw, he wasn’t happy about
Susan attending to JP’s injury. The polar bear would have to get
over it. “Mathis also said you needed to speak to me,
Ujarak.”