Chapter 4

"Why is he here?"  I demanded, shooting a glare at my parents.  

"He came to meet us. After all, we will be family soon." My mother responded as if it was that easy to comprehend.

How could she easily accept some stranger into our home like it was no big deal?

"Why are you being so rude?"  My mother asked, narrowing her gaze. "Travis went out of his way to come here and you're treating him like that."

"Of course I am!"  How could she be siding with him over me?  I was her daughter!  "I never agreed to being his mate."

A giggle escaped my mother's lips, "Sweetie, you know that you don't get a choice in this. This is who the moon goddess chose for you and you should be thankful."

"Thankful...." I should be thankful?  Isn't it great that I was being forced onto someone and was about to get out of her hair? "What exactly am I supposed to be thankful for?"

"Marissa!" My mother snapped, beginning to lose her composure. "How can you even talk like this in front of your mate?"

My mate, my mate, my mate.  That seemed to be the only thing my mother had an interest in. Forget the fact that the guy was basically a stranger, and if he belonged to another pack, then it would be see you later for me. How could she not realize the problem here?

"Mrs. Holland, it's okay." Oh, the guy was sucking up now."I shouldn't have shown up unannounced like this. Of course, Marissa would be flustered by it."

"You bet your ass I would!" I growled.  Who was he trying to fool exactly?

"Marissa!" Oh good, my mother's parenting voice was coming out. Fantastic. " Travis do excuse her, usually she isn't this out of control. "

"Who are you kidding?" I grumbled, crossing my arms. Of course, I was always this rebellious. This was absolutely nothing new.

"Mrs. Holland, would you mind giving me and Marissa a minute?" Travis asked, smiling politely.

"Of course." My mother's face was blushing. It was actually blushing!

I watched as she sauntered out of the room. Yes, she actually sauntered like she was a teenage girl all over again, leaving me and the devil alone.

"So, why did you come here?" I snapped.

"Of course I came here to find my mate." Travis' voice came out smooth as butter.  "You escaped rather fast last night."

"I never agreed to accepting you." I pointed out.  He wasn't going to win that easily with me, and I wasn't going down without a fight. Even if his appeal was strong.

Smiling, he began leaning towards me, "You know that you can't fight it." His husky voice sent shivers of delight through my body and awakened Chloe, who had been missing in action.

"Wanna bet?" Two could play in this game. If he wanted to try going for seduction, then I would do it too!

"Are you challenging me, Marissa?" Oh?  Was he getting mad? Good.

Smiling sweetly, I grabbed hold of his collar, "Do you really want to play these games with me?"

He didn't know me, nor did he know what I was capable of, and if he wanted to find out, then I was more than willing to play along. After all, my stubbornness was not something to take lightly.

"Sure." Travis' eyes had begun to darken again as I leaned in closer.  "If you think that you can keep up."

"Of course I can." I cooed.  All I had to do was remain defiant to the very end and eventually he would give up, right?

"Alright then, let's bet on it, Marissa." Travis stuck his hand out, smiling ruefully, and man, that smile was amazing.

"Lets." 

We sealed the deal and began our bet of wills, shaking on it.There was absolutely no way that I would allow him to take me down.  And if he thought that he could defeat me, he was in for a rude awakening.

After that, Travis left in a hurry, making up some excuse about having work to do, leaving it just me and my mom.

"He was a nice guy." My mother cooed, placing a hand on her cheek. "You lucked out, Rissa."

Did I really though? I didn't think so.  "Can we just not talk about this?" I didn't want to continue to watch my mother gush like a teenager about my 'mate.'  It was really starting to creep me out.

"Why are you so against this?" My mother demanded.  Oh goody, she was getting angry for the guy. 

"Because I never signed up to have a mate." Was it that hard for her to understand?

"When I met your father, it was an explosive experience. I know you felt it with Travis, so why are you acting so sour? " She wasn't going to give up, was she?

"I'm going out."  I was over this and I didn't have to stick around and continue dealing with it.

"Marissa!" My mother called after me as i bolted out of the door. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

Where was I going?  I didn't have any clue myself, I just knew that I couldn't put up with my mother's talk about mates and happiness anymore. It was grating on the nerves and I was already in a bad enough mood that that man had shown up at my home.  I mean, why the hell would he even do that?

Growling, I picked up my pace and began making my way towards the woods.  Maybe if I went wolf and ran some it would help me clear my head, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, right?

Plan set, it was time to find a nice, secluded space so I could strip and then go through the transformation process without anyone spotting me. Again, if I was found out the world would end and we just didn't want that.

I managed to find a nice place in the middle of the woods with a brook and and a fallen tree that I could hide my clothes underneath.  After stripping off every bit of clothing that was on my body, I folded it up nicely and then stretched.

With nothing else hindering me, it was time to change.