Free My Perfect Mate by Caryn Moya Block Page A

lips.
    “Destiny picked you,” JP said. “But
don’t worry. Aisyt wants you. A Destined One is a gift. Forever is
a long time to live alone. I’m sure that’s why she rescues the
amarok. They have become her family and given her a purpose to
live.”
    “I wish we could do something to help
her amarok pack. The lycan’s would be happy to take them in.” Susan
bit her lip. The thought of children like Tikaani being left to die
in the cold turned her stomach. She pushed her half-eaten bowl of
food away.
    “Are you going to eat that?” Ujarak
asked. Susan shook her head and handed him the bowl.
    “I’m not sure they need more foster
families. What they need is acceptance.” JP set his empty bowl to
the side.
    “I agree,” Ujarak said adding two more
empty bowls to the pile. “I’m not sure how to go about getting it.
There are several nanuk villages along the Arctic Circle. It isn’t
just mine that has members, like my uncle, who are prejudiced
against the amarok and lycans.”
    “What can we do to change things?”
Susan asked.
    “Well, for starters we need to find
out how this all began,” JP said. “What happened in the past that
caused the rift between the nanuk and lycans? They must have been
intermingling for a long time to have their children become the
amarok.”
    “Does it really matter what happened
in the past?” Ujarak asked. “I doubt that my uncle even knows why
he hates the lycans. I thought it was because my father mated with
one and left Itigaituk out of the relationship.”
    “What do you mean?” Susan
asked.
    “Polar bears mate with more than one
bear,” Ujarak explained. “The nanuk can be polyamorous as well,
often ending in ménage relationships. My uncle thought he would be
included in my father’s relationship with my mother. Lycans are
different though, they have the mating bond connecting them to just
one person. My mother could never love my uncle in the way she
loves my father. So my uncle was left out in the cold. For once, I
know how he feels. My brother, Kumaglak and I often talked of
sharing a wife. Now he wants Anaaya. He made it clear when we were
home that I wasn’t invited to join them. I felt kind of lost. First
you bonded with JP and then my brother rejected me.”
    “You have Aisyt, now,” JP said
quietly.
    “Yes, and now that I’ve met her. I
realize I’d never be willing to share her with anyone. So, I’m more
like my father and mother than I realized,” Ujarak
grinned.
    “You seem happy about that,” JP
said.
    “I wonder if that’s part of the
problem between the nanuk and the lycans,” Susan said. “The
difference of wanting more than one mate.”
    “I’m not sure,” Ujarak shook his head.
“My uncle is always going on about the lycans stealing our hunting
grounds, but lycans don’t eat seal and whale. It’s only the caribou
we share a liking for.”
    “I hope we can figure something out. I
can’t get Qannik’s face out of my mind. When Aisyt said her family
tortured her, I wanted to hunt them down and rip out their
throats,” Susan growled, her wolf reacting to her anger.
    “Easy, little wolf.” JP patted her
knee. “No one wants to think about a family member being so cruel.
Qannik is prejudiced as well. She hates all nanuk. That’s the
problem with racism. Qannik has good reason to hate her family and
what they did to her. She shouldn’t hate every nanuk because of her
family.”
    “It’s a twisted path, isn’t it? I know
I really wanted to hate the nanuk families that sent Tikaani and
the other children away. Watching the little ones suffer broke my
heart. Thank goodness Mathis and Margot were willing to take them
in and give them a loving environment.”
    “It broke my mother’s heart both times
she sent her children away,” Ujarak said. “She did it for their
protection, not because she wanted to.”
    “I could tell she was upset while we
were at your house. I felt really bad for your mom.” Susan reached
over and