Free The Wolfing Way (Lifting the Veil) by Susan Laine Page A

different things over time. But I like being a cowboy. I love horses and the wide open plains and prairies, the Rockies, and the ranch. Even if I weren’t a lycan, I’d still probably be a cowboy—and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” Rafe told the truth. The ranch was his life and would always be. He loved his family and friends, and he adored his pack.
    So engrossed in reliving in his mind the life of his dreams, Rafe didn’t immediately notice how silent Kris had become. Blinking when he suddenly smelled the unease emanating from his mate, Rafe refocused his attention on Kris—and worried because Kris looked kind of sad but trying his best to hide it.
    “I’m sorry, honey.” Rafe began to backpedal. “I didn’t mean that I would never—”
    Frowning, Kris furiously shook his head. “No, no. I can tell you meant it. Don’t lie.” Biting his lower lip, avoiding eye contact, he muttered, “It’s better to know where you stand now than years down the line when we’ve both invested our hearts and—”
    “No lifestyle is worth losing you,” Rafe interrupted emphatically, steadfast in his belief.
    Kris paused for a moment. “I had trouble accepting the possibility that I might have to change my plans for the future because of you—and give up something I’ve wanted for a long time. It would hardly be fair of me to demand you to give up what you love when I’m not sure I could do the same.” When Kris looked up at Rafe, his smile was bittersweet. “I was just…. I thought about the fact that you’ve been a cowboy for two centuries now, and wondered if you might want to try something else…. It didn’t occur to me that you must’ve—obviously—done other things too. I’m still getting used to the fact that you have hundreds of years of experiences accumulated already—despite your youthful appearance.”
    Rafe reflected upon what he was hearing. “Yeah, I understand, honey. I do. Before the Unveiling we could travel all over the country because the likelihood of a confrontation was smaller then. The Unseen world intended to remain as such—unseen—so there were strict rules and regulations about contact with others of our kind so that we wouldn’t betray our presence and existence to humans. So, yeah, I’ve tried my hand in a lot of different areas—”
    “But after all those… tests and trials,” Kris clarified, “being a cowboy is where your heart lies. Here at the ranch with your family and pack.”
    “ You are my mate,” Rafe replied to what sounded like an accusation, unable to hold back the fierce growl. “You are family and pack too.”
    “But we’re not alike,” Kris inserted. “I don’t want to be a cowboy or a rancher—”
    “You don’t know that because you’ve never tried—”
    “I’ve never tried being an airplane pilot either, but I know I don’t want to be one, or even try it.”
    “There’s much to do on a ranch, and—”
    “Son, give him time to figure it out on his own,” Daniel King interjected from between Rafe and Kris, placing his big calming hand on Rafe’s arm and squeezing gently. Turning to Kris, his pa smiled politely. “There is no pressure, Kris. Time, as I’m sure you understand, is something we have plenty of. Even if patience is lost on the young sometimes,” he added, glancing pointedly at Rafe, who couldn’t help but blush over his father’s intervention. Rafe wanted to work things out with his mate on his own, and he didn’t need or want his father’s help.
    “Rafe mentioned you raise horses here,” Kris said, directing his polite inquiry at Daniel, in Rafe’s opinion probably to include the older man in the conversation or out of simple curiosity—and Rafe felt like punching a wall in frustration. He wanted his mate’s attention to be focused solely on him 100 percent.
    “Horses and cattle,” Daniel replied casually. “My daughter, June, manages the ranch, while my boys handle the animals and the livestock.