TROUBLE IN PARADISE

WINTER PACK

Alpha Damon sat in the office as he mindlessly played with the knickknacks in their cradle. It bothered him to know that his pack wasn't safe and he couldn't do anything to help the situation. At 20, being an Alpha wasn't exactly a piece of cake as it seemed to everyone. He had to keep every werewolf in his pack alive and healthy. Everyone was his responsibility. He stared at the shiny surface of the metallic sphere as he imagined tearing the heads off every Autumn Pack member. For decades, the Autumn pack posed a threat to his pack and the hatred Damon harbored in his heart towards them was terrifying. How could he possibly not hate them? They murdered his father and threw him into the strange world of being an Alpha before he was even ready.

Damon was thrown out of his thoughts by a bold knock on the door.

''Come in'' Damon muttered, mostly to himself.

Beta Noir walked into his office wearing a grim expression on his melanin-defined face. Standing at almost 6'4 he could easily hover over a now seating Damon.

''Alpha'' he greeted, bowing his head in respect. Damon didn't feel he deserved the respect honored to him at the moment. He felt helpless deep down.

''Speak'' he said, still looking at his knickknacks.

''We caught some rogues in the Eastern part of the area. They were sent to spy around, and are presently under interrogation,'' he said.

''See what you can get out of them. If they don't respond, cut their heads off,'' Damon ordered. The vendetta has to end somehow. Noir nodded his head in agreement before turning on his heel and entering his office.

Damon scratched the roots of his raven black hair as he stood and walked to the wide-paned windows. He looked into the property of the Winter Pack but the beautiful scenery did nothing to his present frustration.

He needed to vent, to escape. He needed a run.

...

Damon's black wolf sped across the forest trees at the speed of light. One of the perks of being an Alpha is. Their speed and agility were thrice that of an average wolf. His muscles ached and pleaded for him to stop couldn't bring himself to do it. He craved the adrenaline that pumped through his veins, the wind that swept across his face. This was exactly what he needed. After running for what seemed like an hour, he slowed around the bark of a large tree. He was about to shift back to human when he heard someone singing. He could tell it was a female voice compelling him, pulling him, enticing him, and bewitching him. He quickly navigated where the sound was coming from. and veered in that direction. He cleared the twigs blocking his sight with his snout. Then he saw her.

She had her back turned to his face with her long auburn hair cascading down her back like a river. It was full, bouncy, and beautiful. Her voice kept him in a trance.

''mine'' his wolf growled. It was as if she'd heard him growl. She turned her face towards him and he sank back towards the trees, he wasn't ready to meet her yet. His wolf, of course, disagreed calling him a coward but Damon knew he didn't want a mate now no matter how badly he needed one. He just couldn't. He watched as her full plump lips stilled as she looked around. It was then he realized she was naked. His possessive wolf side wanted to run to her, protect her and shield her from wandering eyes but he couldn't move. At least she had her arm around her chest, not like it did anything but at least it concealed some parts of it.

Damon felt her guard drop as she continued singing. He was transfixed by her voice, soft and smooth. He felt pride swell in his heart, his mate an absolute beauty, so perfect. Although he'd only seen the profile of her face he could tell she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, maybe it was the mate pull but he seemed so certain of her beauty.

The longer he stayed within proximity to his mate, the harder it would be to stay away from her. All he wanted to do at the moment was run towards her and claim her as his. He knew the unmated werewolves around her would want to mark her but that will be against his better judgment. He took in her mouth-watering scent again before turning back to leave. It was the worst feeling he'd ever felt. His wolf whimpered within, sad that he couldn't be with his mate. He'd heard about the mate pull but he never knew it would be the strongest. He felt three times more attached to her than he thought. Leaving her was the hardest thing he'd ever done, harder than he agitated.

Damon's wolf ran through the woods and back to the pack house. He shifted back to his human form towards the gate. He was physically and emotionally drained. His wolf was sulking and he didn't know how to console him. He felt like a world-class asshole.

...

Venus stood up from the stump she was sitting on. She'd been lost in her song that she didn't notice it was already getting dark. She was tired of being a rogue. She wanted to meet her Xenitha one day or her mate and start a family but she couldn't. Not while Draco was on her tail. For a strange moment, she felt as if she was being watched. She knew she was being watched but by who?

Whoever was watching through the hoods of their eyes was more than just anyone.

She felt the pull, not just any pull, the mate pull. She smelt the scent that made all her senses go crazy. The scent she wanted to be enveloped in. She also felt resistance. Whoever the person was, was resisting. Restraining his wolf from uniting with hers. It hurt to be rejected by your mate. All her life she thought mates couldn’t live without each other, but she was wrong.

He didn’t exactly reject her to her face but he did not accept her either and that hurt. It was already getting and she needed to leave soon. Venus was exhausted and she needed to rest before another wrong.

“Spring flowers•Summer’s heat•Autumn’s fall•Winter’s ice,” she muttered.

She sealed her eyes and waited as she felt Ophelia take the light. Her bouncy auburn hair lay flat on her hair, her grey eyes turned blue. She looked at her left wrist and saw black ink flow into the varicose path forming her new tattoo.

“It's good to be out,” Ophelia said before transforming into her wolf and dashing away.