Page 2 of The Artsy Girl’s Guide to Mating with a Werewolf (Mate Hunted #2)

two

GRAHAM

I stood in the kitchen uncomfortably while Abby’s friend’s wolf sniffed nearly every surface in my house. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Maybe the scent of another woman?

Female werewolves were possessive, but not usually to the extent a male wolf was. And most male wolves wouldn’t go to the trouble of sniffing everything.

There wasn’t a trace of a woman’s scent, so I wasn’t worried.

Just shocked.

I’d never even met a rejected female werewolf. Now, I was being hunted by one? How? Why?

What the fuck was I even supposed to think about that?

Most guys only got one shot at the mate thing, and mine had gone to hell as soon as it started.

I was supposed to be alone. Fate had basically declared that with my last mate.

So why was there a woman trapped in her wolf form, sniffing around my bed?

And why hadn’t I thought to ask her name?

I rubbed my eyes.

I’d gone outside to point her toward Nico’s place because she was looking for Abby. How had that turned into this?

How was I supposed to feel about it?

I didn’t know.

There was one thing I could do though:

Figure out her name.

I started looking through the drawers in my kitchen, trying to find my phone.

I was pretty sure it was in the house.

None of the guys communicated over text, so keeping track of it wasn’t exactly my priority.

Abby’s friend’s wolf—I needed to stop calling her that—padded over when she noticed me searching my kitchen. She bumped my pajama pants.

I was wearing the ones with s’mores on them that Ethan had bought me as a joke the year before.

Shit.

Fuzzy pajamas were hardly a good look when meeting your possible mate for the first time.

“I’m looking for my phone,” I explained. The woman was clearly suspicious. Or her wolf was, anyway. An explanation seemed like the best call. “I can’t remember where I put it.”

That didn’t make me sound like a catch any more than the pajama pants did.

Was I supposed to try to win her over?

I didn’t know.

Women being hunted by male werewolves never tried to win any points with their guys, but this situation was obviously different. We’d both been rejected—or rejected someone, in her case. Neither of us was new to the world of werewolves. That was bound to change things.

I figured it was, at least.

The wolf disappeared.

Guess she needed to sniff my bed some more.

I didn’t find the phone in the drawers, so I headed into my room to check the nightstand.

The wolf was already walking toward me with the device held carefully between her teeth.

I accepted it. “Thanks.”

She nodded, sitting down on her haunches and eyeing the phone.

If she was suspicious about finding other scents in my house, she was definitely going to have issues with not knowing who I was texting.

I sat down on the wood floor in the bedroom doorway, tilting the screen toward her slightly as I unlocked my phone. If she had the password, I didn’t think she could be worried about potential secrets.

I pulled up my messages with Nico—the last one was three months ago—and typed out a text.

Me:

What’s Abby’s friend’s name? I forgot to ask.

After sending the message, I waited.

And waited.

The wolf leaned in closer, and I absentmindedly scratched her behind her ears. She didn’t seem enthusiastic about the touch at first, but when I tried to pull my hand away, she followed it with her head.

At least I hadn’t screwed that up.

“He’s probably busy. I think the climax just ended for them,” I explained.

The wolf nodded.

“I’ll just call you Furball for now,” I told her.

She snorted, but didn’t pull her head away.

If she wasn’t pulling away, she couldn’t have hated the nickname.

After a beat of hesitation, I added, “I know a guy who’s mated to a woman who rejected her first mate.

I’m pretty sure she hunted him, like this.

I haven’t seen him since he and his mate took turns visiting us to get their shifting pain under control.

They had little kids. Probably still do.

Anyway, I think I’ll ask him how the process went. If you don’t care.”

She nodded beneath my hand.

I continued scratching her fur as I checked my phone for the guy’s number. I was pretty sure his name was Elliot.

It wasn’t in there. Should’ve seen that coming.

I sent a text to Ryder. He was sort of a part of my pack, and sort of a part of Elliot’s pack, so he’d have Elliot’s number. I might get a faster response if I texted his mate, Charly, but I was pretty sure that would piss Furball off.

Ryder and Char were both a lot more into normal city living than anyone in my pack, so there was a decent chance he’d answer quickly anyway.

Me:

Hey, do you have Elliot’s number?

I waited again, still rubbing Furball’s head. She was leaning more of her weight against me as time passed.

A few minutes went by. Ryder finally responded with Elliot’s contact information, followed by a question.

Ryder:

Why?

Me:

Long story

Ryder:

Now Char is curious

I grimaced.

Furball leaned in.

She wanted to know about his mate, Char. Or why she was curious. Or something.

I didn’t think hiding the truth would make a great impression on the suspicious female wolf. It took a few minutes to come up with a decent response, but I sent it when I did.

Me:

Seems like I’m being hunted by a female werewolf. I wanted to ask Elliot how the process worked

Ryder:

Fuck

We thought you were going to ask if his mate could teach you dance lessons or something

I scowled at the phone.

Furball growled in agreement with my scowl.

Me:

Nah

Ryder:

Being hunted by a woman who rejected her mate after being rejected yourself sounds like a shitshow

Me:

Thanks

I wasn’t touching the shitshow remark with a ten-foot pole.

The last thing I needed was for another woman to reject me. I’d barely survived the first time, and Carly had made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t interested in me.

Furball was already just a few steps away from snuggling.

What if I was a sucker for snuggling?

How was I going to avoid getting attached?

Even if I didn’t, what the hell was I going to do when she walked away from me?

And if she’d already rejected one mate, what were the odds that she’d want me?

Logically, I knew there were valid reasons for a woman to reject a man. There were plenty of assholes in Moon Ridge. My pack had coached most of them through shifting painlessly. I knew the majority treated their mates like they walked on water, despite being assholes.

But there would be at least a few who wouldn’t treat their mates right.

Most of them would lose their minds to their wolf when they were rejected. Most of us did, in general.

I’d come close to that myself.

If Furball had walked away from her mate because he was an asshole, I might have a chance with her.

Experience told me she’d probably left him because she was only attracted to women. I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through another round of that.

After a beat of hesitation, I called Elliot.

No point in putting it off.

Regardless of my potential second rejection, I needed to know how the mate hunt, chase, and climax were going to go. If we’d just swapped roles, it wouldn’t be a huge change. If it was going to happen differently, I’d like to know beforehand.

The phone rang a few times before Elliot answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, man. This is Graham. From the Feral Pack.” I sounded awkward, and looked at Furball to see if she’d noticed.

She was still leaning against my hand while I scratched her fur. Her eyes were open, but she didn’t look suspicious anymore.

“Hey, Graham. What can I do for you?” Elliot didn’t sound as uncomfortable as I was.

“I think I, uh, kind of triggered a female werewolf’s mate hunt. I know the same thing happened for you, so I got your number from Ryder to ask how it worked.”

“Damn. Congrats, for starters.”

“Thanks. I… do you know the odds that she’ll reject me?” I couldn’t help but blurt the question.

Furball’s eyes narrowed.

Her suspicion was back.

Fuck.

I needed to get it together.

“Have you ever heard of a hunting wolf rejecting their mate?” Elliot checked.

I blinked. “No.”

“They don’t. Your wolf is the only one who could reject hers in this situation.”

I blinked again. “My wolf would sooner chew off his own paw than reject someone.”

“Then you don’t need to worry about rejection, do you?”

I sagged against the doorway a little, more shock rolling through me.

If he was right, I was going to have a mate.

An actual mate.

A full-on, sealed-bond mate.

We’d have to go through the climax to get there.

Whatever blood was left in my face drained away.

“What if she’s only interested in women?” I asked.

“Her wolf wouldn’t be hunting you if she was only interested in women, Graham. Enzo never hunted a woman, did he?”

No.

He hadn’t.

Neither had his mate, Austin.

Holy fuck.

I was going to be mated to a woman who might actually have a sliver of a chance of being attracted to me.

“He didn’t.” That was all I managed to say.

I needed help, but most of my pack was made up of jaded, unromantic assholes. Myself included.

How was I going to win over a female werewolf?

“The process is exactly the same as it usually is, but she’ll hunt you.

Liz’s hunt was around a month, so it wasn’t too long.

By the time she bit me, she was ready to skip the chase, so she told my wolf to bite her and he did.

We went right into the climax, though it hit her slower than it did me because she was exhausted after the hunt. ”

“Okay.” Things would be mostly normal. I could handle mostly normal. “Thanks for the explanation.”

“No problem.” I heard a baby cry on his side of the line. “I’ve got to go cuddle a newborn, but good luck.”

“You too.”

Elliot chuckled, hanging up the phone. I dropped mine on my leg, looking down at the screen as a new message came through.

Nico:

Your mate’s name is Stella

I looked over at Furball.

She was leaning against me as much as possible, now. She’d gotten comfortable fast. That was good.

I was pretty sure it was, at least.

As sure as I was about everything else. Which wasn’t much.