Without Reservations

McIntyre’s place. He thinks his new mare is expecting.”
    “Ah. Are you still coming over Wednesday night for dinner?”
    “Yeah, probably.” The question was, would it be only him or would he be taking his mate to dinner too? Chay winced at the thought.
    “Your mother will be disappointed if you cancel.” His father’s tone made it clear he would be too.
    Chay grinned. It was nice to be loved, but sometimes being an only child put a lot of pressure on him. He adjusted the rearview mirror and checked on his…the wolf. “Listen, Dad, I have kind of a serious question for you.”
    “Okay, shoot.”
    “How do you know when you’ve found your mate?”
    “Why?”
    “Come on, Dad, just answer the question.”
    Joe sighed. “Chay, you’ll find your mate. You aren’t that old. I didn’t meet your mother until I was thirty-two.”
    Thank goodness his dad didn’t read more into the question. He wasn’t ready to tell his parents, not yet. Sadly, he suspected the fact his mate was white was going to be the least of his worries when his parents found out.
    “When you do find your mate, Son, you will feel it.”
    Yeah, he’d already figured that much out. “But how do you feel it?”
    “It’s like an intense longing…sort of. Kind of like an adrenaline high at first. Your body will respond before you even realize it’s your mate. I don’t really know how to describe it, Son. You’ll just know.”
    www.samhainpublishing.com 15
    J.L. Langley
    Chay sighed. That’s what he thought. And his dad was right, he did know. It was just… “Dad, has anyone ever gotten confused? And think they found their mate, but they didn’t?”
    “None that I’m familiar with. It’s not something you can mistake or confuse with anything else. It’s an instinctual sort of reaction.”
    He gave a quick peek at the mirror, spotting pale fur in the backseat.
    “I wanted to make sure it’s not something I can miss by accident.”
    “You’ll know, Son.”
    “All right. Thanks, Dad.” Chay took a deep breath, willing himself to relax. He couldn’t help it if nobody liked the idea. It’s not like he chose his mate. This was a good thing, not a bad thing. Why did he feel like it was such a huge obstacle?
    “You have got to be the only man alive who has wanted a mate since he was four. Son, you’ll find her, I promise.”
    Him, not her, Chay corrected mentally. He squeezed the phone between his shoulder and ear and pinched the bridge of his nose. Lord, why did this have to be difficult? There were too many variables. What if his mate woke up and wanted nothing to do with him? Or what if he was a teenager, like Frank had thought? Chay didn’t think so, but his mate was awfully small. How would his parents react? “Listen, Dad, I’m almost to the McIntyre place. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “All right, Son. Good luck and let us know about Wednesday.”
    “Yeah, I’ll do that. Bye, Dad.” Chay hung up as he pulled in to Bob’s drive. He started to turn off the truck, but he didn’t know how long he’d be. Would it get too cold? Chay rolled his eyes at his own idiocy. How cold did he get in fur? Not very. He cut the ignition, unfastened his seat belt and turned sideways, resting his arm on the seat back and his chin on his arm. With his other hand, he reached back and stroked the wolf’s shoulder. “What am I going to do with you, Little Bit?”
    His mate was still out of it. The wolf hadn’t moved from where Chay had put him. He looked very sweet and peaceful…innocent. He was a 16 www.samhainpublishing.com

    Without Reservations
    handsome wolf. Actually, he was more pretty than handsome. Not that he was feminine exactly, but his size wasn’t at all masculine. In human form, the top of his head would probably only come to Chay’s chin. Chay ran his fingers across the snout and over the closed eyes. He’d be willing to bet those eyes were a pale sky blue.
    Chay’s dick hardened even more at the thought. He groaned and pulled his hand away to adjust himself. He should’ve called Frank to come get this little bit as soon as he’d patched him up and he could’ve pretended like nothing was different. Even still, he should send the man on his way when he woke. But Chay knew he wouldn’t. He had no earthly idea what to do with a male mate, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to keep him.
    A knock on the window startled Chay out of his thoughts. Chay opened the door and grabbed his bag off the front