Not wanting to go into the specifics, he kept his reply vague. "It's a shitty story, but let's just keep it at I hadn't acknowledged to others that she was my mate." That had made her death all the worse and then he hadn't felt like he had the right to speak of her. Not many knew the complete truth and that was how he liked it. "When I informed my pack a few weeks ago of my plan to mate, I also informed them that my true mate died a long time ago. That's all they need to know."
And that's all you need to know, he didn't say but Angelina heard. She might have bristled at that but it would have been hypocritical; losing Jolie wasn't a matter she spoke of unless she had to.
"They will play along that we're true mates if it helps us keep our territory and stops my uncle from taking over the pack." Unfortunately, not all of them were supportive of a Wilgoz being in their pack, but telling her that wouldn't be a wise move.
A part of Angelina wondered what she was hesitating for. She wanted to get away from Reynald, didn't she? Well here was her chance. But it wasn't as simple as that, was it? No, because her chance came in the form of another big bad Guardian who had a price for his help. Hell, two wolves suddenly wanted to mate her – two Guardian wolves – yet neither actually cared even a tiny bit about her. She was a means to an end. Not exactly flattering and it certainly stung.
Angelina was surprised by just how much it stung considering that she hadn't envisioned ever wanting to take a mate; it would have felt like she was betraying Jolie. Yeah, that might not make a lot of sense given that they were kids when he died, but Jolie had been the one person in the world created for her, just for her. Created to care for her, to accept her, to love her.
And because of that, just as Jasson had pointed out, Jolie wouldn't have wanted her to be trapped in a mating she didn't want. Jolie would have wanted, no, expected, her to do whatever it took to escape that fate. This particular avenue, however, might be a bit too complicated.
"Even if I did agree to this deal, I don't see how we could fake a mating bond. It's an extremely intimate thing. Mates are all touchy-feely, they don't spend a minute apart, they smell of each other, they wear each other's mark and they have some kind of link that helps them sense each other's mood. How in the hell could we ever fake a metaphysical connection like that?"
"We'll only need to fake it when anyone outside my pack is around and that won't be often. Knowing that your freedom from Reynald depends on this should help you dramatically with your acting skills."
The man has an answer for everything, grumbled Angelina inwardly. Could she do this? Could she pull this off? It wasn't in her nature to cower from anything challenging, no matter how much danger or risk it involved. Maybe it was a lot to do with her latency; continually proving herself had always been a way of gaining some measure of respect. But this wasn't just some kind of dare. This was her life and all about what direction she wanted it to take.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "My dad's not stupid, unfortunately. He knows I don't want to be mated to Reynald. If I walk up to him and say 'Hey dad, guess what, it turns out my true mate's not dead and I found him' he's going to accuse me of trying to play him."
"And that's why we'll need to be publically seen to 'discover' each other. Maybe at one of the shifter clubs. No one other than my wolves will know we've met before that claiming."
Okay that was a good idea. But would it work?
Angelina stifled the urge to groan as indecision wracked her mind and body. Her wolf wasn't undecided. Oh no. With her elemental nature, her wolf wasn't interested in details or problems, she was only interested in whether Jasson was a potential mate. She liked his confidence, his determination, his heavy air of dominance, and she absolutely loved his scent. Her wolf was totally fine with letting Jasson mark her. In fact, she was craving it. Not good.
"Have you thought about what it'll mean to claim me even temporarily?" she asked. "Your wolf will know I'm not your true mate, and he may even understand that you don't consider this a permanent mating, but those will be itty bitty details to him. If you bite and mark me your wolf is going to see me as all his in every way. That means he'll be -"
"Crazily possessive, crazily jealous and crazily protective" finished Jasson. "That will help us with faking a mating bond. Though I'm sure that his understanding that you're not my true mate will be enough to keep him under control." His wolf was currently quiet inside his head, completely focused on Angelina as he waited for her response. His wolf approved of Jasson's choice. He had identified her wolf as dominant and assertive, and he very much liked Angelina the woman too. Liked her innate sensuality, liked her loyal streak and he especially liked her spunk. Just as Jasson did. And her scent…God, her scent.
He could sense that she was close, so close, to accepting his proposition. He didn't blame her for being wary or hesitant, but she had to know he was the lesser of two evils. "Angelina, I'm offering you a way out. If I were you, I'd take it. Unless you want to end up bound to Reynald for the rest of your life."
"That would never happen, no matter what."
"Maybe not. It seems to me, though, that there aren't any other avenues open to you right now."
"I was planning to go to my uncle's pack."
Oh he hadn't doubted that she had some plan up her sleeve. "You trust his Guardian to take you in, to protect you against Reynald when he comes for you? And he will come for you."
She swallowed hard. "I don't know if I can trust his Guardian because I've never met him, but I don't know if I can trust you to protect me either. I know Reynald won't just bow down and accept it; he has too much pride for that. He'll most likely turn up and challenge you. Are you saying you would honestly accept that challenge, that you would fight to keep me in your pack?" She didn't hide the scepticism from her voice.
"Yes, I would," he stated firmly. "I need this mating as much as you. You can still contact your uncle after joining me and then see about switching packs afterwards. Three months at the most is the length of time I'll need you to stay. Mediators don't usually ask packs to take longer than that to civilly sort out the matter. You could then say you've realized you were wrong about me being your true mate, whatever."