A Pack of Their Own novel · Chapter 21 of 32
Chapter 21: Twenty Today
Nana Bess studied the mark on my shoulder for a full minute without a word.
I sat on a kitchen chair with my shirt pulled down, and she held her glasses on her nose and peered at it.
"Well," she said at last.
"Is it bad?" Roark asked from the doorway.
"It's not bad. I've seen one before." She let my shirt fall back. "Your grandfather's mother had one just like it."
"What does it mean?"
"It means a bear picked before the mouth did. A mate-mark, with no teeth." Nana looked at Roark. "I'd say she chose you somewhere deeper than she knows."
Roark turned a color I had not seen on him.
"We still have our rule," I said.
"Of course you do, honey," Nana said. "You've had it all along. The mark's only telling you who you're keeping it for."
Callie, at the table, put her face in her hands and made a sound of pure joy.
"Don't," I said.
"I said nothing."
"You were about to."
"I was about to say it's the best thing I've ever seen, and I once watched a goat eat a wedding cake."
Teddy slid onto the bench beside her with a plate of biscuits.
He had slept for ten hours and eaten for three. His left side was one big purple bruise, and he was cheerful anyway.
"I need to ask something," he said, to the table.
Roark looked up from his coffee.
"I'm eighteen, I don't have a pack, and my brother just burned our family's whole religion in front of two hundred people."
"Teddy."
"Let me finish. I'd like to stay here." Teddy spread his hands. "There's pie."
Keep reading free with an account. Start A Pack of Their Own from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend