Tinker sensed his melancholy and watched him with her ears up as he explained his age in relationship to her.<br/><br/>“Are you trying to say that because I’m so young that you don’t find me acceptable to be your mate? Or are you trying to say that because you have had so much life experience that I am boring?”<br/><br/>She stood and walked stiff legged around him as if she were menacing him. Then with a bound, she bowed, front paws down, hindquarters up, tail wagging.<br/><br/>“Silly Warren. You are my true mate. I will stick by you no matter what. There were younger males in our pack and they were shallow and brash. My father taught me that they had no substance. I was never drawn to that.”<br/><br/>She nipped at his paws and leaped back into the air, twisting her body around. She lunged at him, playfully and then jumped back.<br/><br/>“Warren, you are what my father would have called well seasoned. You protect me. You teach me. You make me whole. I have become a true shifter. I can’t promise you I won’t die. But I can promise you that I will never voluntarily leave you. I’m faithful. My father was faithful to my mother and my mother died trying to save his life. That is the blood that runs in my veins.”<br/><br/>Tinker licked his muzzle and nuzzled under his chin.<br/>“You are my Alpha. You are my world. “<br/><br/>Suddenly she sat down and howled a lovely wolf song. Her eyes and face became vigilant and sober.<br/><br/>“I swear on a blood oath, that if ever I find the one who hurt you, I will tear out her throat and lay her entrails open to the sky. Upon the Moon, so will I do.”