His Perfect Mate [Nehalem Pack 6] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) AJ Jarrett (7 ebook reader TXT) 📖

and he could still picture her as she had been. He opened his eyes and looked down at Carl. “But one thing I’ve learned is the memories do become fuzzy and you might not remember every little detail but you won’t forget them. They are always close to our hearts.” He shrugged. “At least that’s what I think.”

“I like that.” Carl brought his other hand over to rest on Jake’s wrist. “The one thing I won’t forget is how in love my mom and dad were.” Carl chuckled. “He used to chase her around the house and when he’d catch her he would lift her up in the air and swing her around. Of course, Casper and I thought it was so gross and would tell them to stop.” Casper’s frowned down at the ground. “I’d give anything to see my dad chase my mom around like that just one more time.”

“Sounds like they were true mates.”

“Mates? That’s not a real thing.”

Jake tripped over his feet at Carl’s words. “Excuse me?” he said loudly enough that Holden and Seth turned to look at them. “You don’t believe that mates are a real thing?”

“Tobias said that was an old wives’ tale that parents told to young wolves so they wouldn’t be promiscuous.”

Jake let out a harsh laugh. “And you believed him?”

Carl yanked his hand from Jake’s grasp. “Don’t laugh at me.” A low growl erupted from Carl’s lips.

“I’m not laughing at you.” Jake stopped walking and pulled Carl around to face him. His mate’s face had reddened and his nose flared with each intake of breath. “I’m just upset that someone would tell you something like that. It’s not right and it wasn’t fair for Tobias to lie to you.” He tried to explain. “A mate is someone you love without reason. Someone you would lay your life down for. A person that you feel an undeniable pull to and all you want to do is hold them and make them feel safe. It’s the purest type of love there is.”

Carl’s gaze fell to stare at the dead brown grass. Jake’s heart pumped in rapid pulses as he waited to see what his mate would say next. Did he believe him or did he still believe in the lies Tobias had told him? Jake couldn’t fault his mate if he did. Being held prisoner for so many years might have brainwashed Carl to believe everything Tobias said.

“He lied to me,” Carl mumbled under his breath. In a fast movement Carl’s head shot up and Jake took an instinctual step back. “I feel like such an idiot.” Carl brought his hands up to cover his face then turned to look away from him. “So my parents probably were mates. Jesus!”

“Hey.” Jake lightly grabbed Carl by his wrist and pulled his hand away from his face. “You can’t beat yourself up over this. You were young when you went to live with Tobias. He was supposed to teach and guide you in the ways of being a wolf but instead he only taught you what he wanted you to know.”

“But still.” Carl shook his head. “One of my parents’ friends would come to visit us when we were young.” He looked up to meet Jake’s stare. “She’d talk about mates and us finding ours. When I asked Tobias about it he told me it was crap. I can’t understand why he’d lie about that.”

Jake’s teeth started to lengthen and slid down to dig into his bottom lip. Rage unlike anything he felt before started to build in his chest. Tobias took advantage of Carl and his naivety. It made him want to rip the man’s throat out even more than he did before. Carl had spent over nine years with Tobias and had no reason to think his alpha and lover would lie to him.

Jake dropped his chin forward to rest on Carl’s head. “It’s not for you to figure out. You know the truth now and that’s all that matters.” He had to bite his tongue to keep from telling Carl that they were mates. Carl had to deal with enough truths today and Jake didn’t need to pile it on even thicker. Carl ran hot and cold and Jake really didn’t know how his mate would react to finding out.

“Come on, you two,” Seth called back to them. “It’s getting late and we need to make camp before the sun goes down.” Seth looked up to the sky and Jake followed his gaze. The sun had lowered and so had the temperature. They needed to get settled before night rolled over the landscape.

“We better catch up or Seth might leave us behind,” Jake lightly teased. He urged his mate forward and followed a few paces behind.

* * * *

They walked for what seemed like an hour before Seth finally stopped and went about setting up a campsite. Night had fallen and the wind had picked up. Carl wrapped his arms tightly over his chest and tried to keep warm.

The last time Carl had been camping had been with his dad when he was just a little boy and he didn’t necessarily think what they were doing now could be considered camping.

Frist off, Seth wouldn’t allow them to build a fire. He feared that Tobias might be scouting the area for signs of Carl’s return and didn’t want to take the chance of discovery. Carl understood and agreed wholeheartedly on that. He didn’t doubt for a second that Tobias was keeping watch for signs of his return.

Then Seth neglected to bring a tent. He thought it would be too much to carry and would just slow them down. Another thing Carl agreed with him on but that left them with only two sleeping bags and four men to share. In Carl’s estimation a big problem.

“Here.” Seth handed Carl a bag filled with brown-looking meat. At his blank look Seth explained. “It’s beef jerky. This trip was a little unexpected so