Page 9 of Aching for His Mate (The Wolves of Luven #5)

Domitia woke to the sound of someone clanging around the kitchen.

She hoped it was Iota.

She stretched and rolled out of bed after the best sleep of her life. Domitia was pretty certain she closed her eyes, passed out immediately, and hadn’t even twitched a toe in the last ten hours. She threw on a pair of shorts, used the bathroom, then walked downstairs to either see Iota or confront an intruder.

Thankfully, her wolfy mate was the one making a racket in the kitchen. He had two frying pans and a pot on the stove and a full breakfast laid out on the table.

“Uh, good morning?” Domitia said.

“Hi. Breakfast is on the table. Eggs, toast, bacon, strawberries, and I made oatmeal too. Added a bit of maple syrup to that. Coffee and apple juice are in the cups.”

Domitia looked over the legitimate feast in front of her and raised an eyebrow. “Are we…leaving? Do we need to eat a lot for some reason?”

“No.” Iota paused his cooking for a moment. From here, it looked like he was making some sort of potato fry, a stew, and a jam. “I’ve been called into work. I’m not supposed to have to work for at least a week, maybe longer, but the wild wolves are close and they need everyone out there.” He paused and exhaled. “I’m sorry. I should stay home and show you the city, take you to the store…”

“It’s cool. I like that you have steady work.” Plus, Domitia could explore a new city without Iota. She’d done it dozens of times before. “You work security?”

“I do. Not the best hours, I’ll be gone overnight a lot, but it’s dependable. I’ll never need to change careers.”

Domitia nodded.

“I’ve made enough food for lunch and dinner, too. I can show you how to warm it up on the stove, if you’d like.”

“Yes! Please. Teach me how to use the stove.” Nothing against Iota’s cooking, Domitia appreciated his initiative to feed her, but she loved to cook. She wanted to make her own meals for the first time in years.

“All right. It’s pretty easy. Each knob controls a different burner, and how hot you want it. I usually cook at about halfway unless I’m boiling water, then put it all the way to the right. Just turn it on a little to keep something warm.”

“Got it.” Domitia was going to have so fun with this. “Do you want to take some of the food to eat while you’re working?”

“Oh.” Iota scratched the back of his head as his cheeks pinkened. “I’ll…I’ll grab a rabbit or something.”

“Oh! Wait. Do you patrol in your wolf form?”

“Not the whole time. But I’ll definitely shift to catch my meals. I’ll run too far to keep my lunch somewhere I can remember. It’s more of an eat on the go situation.”

“So is it always rabbit?”

“For a day like this, yes. Mainly because the population is out of control and we’re their main predator. I could take down a deer but I can’t eat a whole deer in a day and I would never want to waste that much meat.”

“So, rabbit it is.” Domitia absentmindedly stirred the stew a couple times, then tasted it. “Show me where your spices are.”

“Is the stew bad? I can make something else,” Iota offered quickly.

“No, not at all. But I really like to cook. And now that I know how to use the stove, I’ll probably want to cook for you sometimes.”

“Oh. You don’t have to. I can cook for you. That’s sort of a wolf thing. Feed our mates.”

“Okay,” Domitia answered. She wouldn’t push it. “Do you have to leave soon?”

“Yeah. About ten minutes.”

“Do you mind sitting with me while I eat?”

A smile spread across his face. “I’d love to.”

They settled in their seats and Domitia took a bite of bacon. “Tell me two things about you I don’t know.”

“Hm. I have an older sister named Bevie and last week I was planning to go visit her all winter to try to find my mate in Muchan, where she lives.”

“What! Well, thank that Moon Goddess I was released in summer. Good thing I wasn’t more injured.”

“More injured?” he prompted. “Beta said you still have some appointments.”

Domitia hesitated. She’d been trying to keep things light with him and didn’t want to deal with an overprotective wolf, especially when they barely knew each other. There was no reason for him to go all wolfy over something that happened a long time ago.

“It’s not a big deal, old arm injury. They’ve gotten it so much better though. Could barely move my right arm. Now, I can do most things. Probably shouldn’t hold a baby or anything breakable, but otherwise I’m good.”

Iota nodded and didn’t press.

“But Muchan. That’s the city in the south right?”

“It is.”

“Hadie dropped off some books for us to read in the hospital. That’s where they were printed, right?”

“Yeah. Lot of industry there.” Iota sighed. “I should go.”

“I can walk you out,” Domitia said and started to stand.

“Please stay and eat. And have a good day. I put some money on the table by the door, if you want to go shopping or anything. Vallie is three doors down if you want to see her.”

“Thanks, I’ll say hi to her. Hope work is good.”

“Goodbye, Domitia.”

“Goodbye,” she echoed.

*

Domitia waited all of three minutes after Iota left to scarf down the rest of her breakfast and then head out the door to find Vallie.

She scooted up her friend’s stairs and knocked on the door, then waited patiently for someone to answer.

Which Vallie did. Wrapped in nothing but a towel.

“Oh,” Domitia said, startled. “I can come back.”

“What? Oh, no you’re fine. Lamdba got home about an hour ago, we had a quick tumble, I showered, and now he’ll be passed out for at least seven hours. What’s up? Is something wrong? Where’s Iota?”

“Had to work. Until tomorrow. Was not happy about it at all.”

“Whoa. I didn’t think that was allowed. Lamdba took at least two weeks off. Well partially because he had silver poisoning from crossing the wall and then we had our mating frenzy…I guess it wasn’t too traditional.” Vallie stepped back in the house and motioned from Domitia to follow her.

The layout was similar to her and Iota’s house, with different furniture.

“We weren’t too traditional either,” Domitia began.

“Shut up. Did you already sleep with him? Are you in the midst of the mating frenzy? How on earth will Iota work!”

“Okay, you are being very loud and just said Lambda is sleeping.”

Vallie pulled a face. “That man can sleep through anything. Tell me everything.”

“We are not in the mating frenzy. But I did let him, you know, touch me a bit.”

“Good for you. If I hadn’t been climbing over the wall and back into Balaur, I totally would have fucked Lambda on day two. The Moon Goddess knows what she’s doing. My mate is hot. I’m sure you feel the same way.”

Domitia nodded, but didn’t say anything. She did find Iota handsome and so far he seemed sweet, but love, lifetime commitment—those both still felt very far away.

“I’m going to get dressed and then I’ll take you to town. We’ll have a total friend day. We can visit Tella and Phaebe, maybe sneak some muffins into the hospital for Verona, Natya, and Eelia. We’ll have a blast. But first I need clothes.” Vallie hurried up the stairs. “You won’t even realize you are supposed to be hanging with your mate in an hour!”

Domitia sat on the couch and thought about Iota, running around the wilderness surrounding Luven. Security was a big job, and he’d be gone a lot.

She worried she should care, but right now, the idea of a lot of time doing whatever she wanted sounded amazing.