Chapter Two

Avery's POV

He had been silent on his ride to the old pack of his birth. They had originally lived just outside of the Redwood Territory in adjacent shifter towns. He didn't really understand why he was coming back here, his parents had split when he was younger. His father had rejected his mother to follow some little she-wolf whore that had stolen his attention for the time being. He didn't understand those who would reject their fated mate, just to be with someone that would never truly make them whole. It was despicable, but it just showed to reason. Fated mates or not, there was no real loyalty in finding a mate. You could give someone the very best of your years, and they would still turn around and stab you in the back.

His father was the Alpha of the Red Moon pack, had a fated mate, and beloved wife. Two children that adored him, and turned his back on them for some fling. It made Avery hate his dad with every breath he had in him. He didn't understand why it was important for him to come back here. Why should he care that the pack chose the son of Harper Witherson to follow his lead as an Alpha, when the man never gave two shits about his son in the first place? The whole thing rubbed Avery the wrong way. He wanted nothing to do with this mess. 

"Avery. Please be reasonable. Your father has passed on, and as his only son you've been given the reins of the Red Moon pack. You'll finish out your education in Redwood and then take the mantle of Alpha. Being an Alpha of your own pack is what you've always wanted. Look at this as an opportunity. You'e been given the mantle of your own pack, your claim for pack leader has been approved pending your graduation by the Alpha King himself. All you have to do now is do your duties. Some of your old friends from childhood are waiting for you. Perhaps you'll even find a mate of your own, perhaps a nice girl to steady that hot temper of yours." His mother stated. Avery couldn't help but scoff in response. "Mother, no offense. After seeing what the value of a True Mate was to father, I have absolutely no intention of picking any kind of fated mate. If I feel the Mate Bond, I will reject the girl immediately to spare myself some misery down the road. You can't trust people these days, and I'll have no she-wolf making a mockery out of me anytime soon." 

He could see the deep frown setting on his mother's otherwise youthful face as she only sighed sadly. Ultimately it was his choice to accept a mate or not, what's the point? He was fine doing things on his own, He was a natural born Alpha, so there would always be girls to see to his carnal needs. He didn't need some girl hanging off of him in the hopes of becoming his Luna. He knew that it was basically standard procedure. If the Alpha of a pack finds his mate, that mate becomes Luna. Therefore if he doesn't pick anyone, he has no river of girls fighting to be his Luna and he skips all the headache of protecting a mate and can focus his attention on the wellbeing of his pack. All the mate and Luna nonsense is completely not needed. 

"Anyway, we'll stop off in Redwood first, so that you can get your class schedule, you just need to complete your final testing to graduate and everything can move forward as planned. We'll be there in about half an hour." His mother said, skipping over the unpleasant bits of their conversation. He was surprised to see his sister, Avaline, still sleeping across the backseat. She was only a couple of years younger than him, but he was actually fortunate that she didn't remember their deadbeat dad. She didn't need his mess transferring to her too. The worst part of this whole thing would be having to listening to a bunch of idiots praise a man who was not only a worthless father, but a worthless husband as well. The old man probably was a shitty leader to boot. 

They arrived at the school a few minutes past normal lunch time. He decided he'd grab both class schedules for him and his sister. Avery slipped out of the car and headed into the school. He found a peculiar scent when he stepped into the main hallway. It smelled like sweets, like warm honey and lavender, and he almost did a double take when he heard a feral voice growl from inside of his head.

 Mate! Listen up loser, we have a mate. I don't give a shit about your little internal daddy issues, don't you dare reject her! 

Aries definitely had a mouth on him, that stupid mutt. The two of them rarely saw eye to eye, but they did work well together. If Aries was stirred up, so it had to be the real thing. Wasn't that just lovely? On the first day he was back in the area his stupid wolf sniffs out a mate. He didn't care if the wolf didn't like what he was about to do, he had no choice in the matter. The girl, whoever she was would not be tied to him, not only did he not want to be mated to anyone, but he knew that being tied to him would be more torture for the poor girl than it was for him, and nobody deserved that. So, he would start his way through the school and find her, he'd reject her outright and have the mess dealt with once and for all. 

The scent led him down a hallway full of lockers to a little altercation between two older girls and a small little wisp of a thing. He had to kick himself intenrally for this but, she looked like a junior high kid. She was short, a tiny little weakling and at first he thought he was seeing things, but the scent was coming from her. She had long raven black hair and a set of mesmerizing eyes. She was pleasing to look at, but shit she seemed like a weak little runt. How could she be so fucking small? That wasn't overly important to him at the time though. These other two she wolves had the girl on the ground while they took turns landing kicks into her ribs. 

"You were Jame's mate? Don't get any ideas bitch! Of course he rejected you but don't think you can look at him longingly with those pathetic little eyes of yours! You're nothing! You were never going to be Luna, and if I have my way that title will be mine!" A tall blonde girl screamed as she landed kick after kick at the poor creature. The girl had already balled up into a fetal position and used her arms to protect her vital points while the attack continued. Avery was pissed at this point. He couldn't fully comprehend the source of his own anger, but he called out to them, using his Alpha Tone. "Stop it!" The two girls stopped immidiately, unable to physically move as his voice resinated through them. "Wh-" He heard one of them say. 

That's right! Protect our mate!

Avery blocked his wolf out and moved up behind the two girls. He grabbed one by her arm and slung her across the hall to connect painfully with a locker and he kicked the other straight in the stomach and sent her flying backward. It wasn't something someone would do to human girls, but these two were wolves and needed a lesson in respect. He bent down and offered up his hand to help the girl up. Her eyes were the palest blue he had ever seen, and he was almost at risk of becoming lost in the blue pools. He had to force himself to remember what he came there to do.

As the girl resettled on her feet he turned to shoot a warning glare at the two girls that were picking themselves up. There was a fear settling in the female's eyes, and suddenly with tears welling in her eyes she spoke. "I reject you! Whoever you are. They'll never leave me alone and you've just made it worse!" Her voice was like a siren's call and he almost didn't register what she said until he felt the pain clenching his chest. 

The female didn't so much as give him the opportunity to accept it, she just ran off down the hallway and dissapeared from his sight in a single movement. Damn the little runt was fast! He held his hand over his chest until the pain slowly begain to fade. He couldn't help but wonder two things in that moment. Who the hell was she? More importantly, what the fuck just happened? Did he just get rejected?