Chapter Four

Blake

“Where-” I started to say but heard someone moving in the forest. “Shit.”

A she-wolf’s heat can bring out male wolves for miles, even if it is not your mate. The pull to respond to a she-wolf’s arousal leads most wolves to violence. I needed to get her to one of the safe houses before I had to start fighting them off.

I picked her up, holding her as tight as I could. Her skin was burning my hands to the point of blisters, but I didn’t feel it from the adrenaline. A she-wolf cannot tolerate the heat for very long. Not mating or getting her body temperature down could be fatal. Her body temperature was way too high already. ‘You cannot let her die.’ Alex said, responding to my thoughts.

‘Would you please stop right now? I need to focus.’

Many of my friends got their wolf around sixteen and were instantly best friends. In sync with them, loving them. Mine had something up his ass from the first time we spoke. I was six.

He showed up when I was in a fight at school that I was losing spectacularly. Alex pushed his power into me to give me the upper hand in the fight, and I ultimately won. ‘You are weak.’ He had said to me, ‘You are going to be alpha and need to be strong for our mate. Get the fuck up.’ So, we did not have a good start. It only got worse from there.

There was a safe house close by that was empty as far as I knew. I did not stop running until I practically knocked the door down. All the safe houses were at the farthest point from the central pack lands. They were scent-proof and soundproof. Sometimes, female wolves would go into heat unmated, needing help to survive. There are a lot of tricks, but it’s usually a girl’s family who watches over her. What the hell type of people would let her go off alone? Or maybe she was rogue? She didn’t smell like a rogue, but she also didn’t have any pack scent that I could detect, which was unusual. Maybe she had never been part of a pack, so she couldn’t be rogue?

What shitstorm did I stumble upon? I wondered. But whatever it was, this was my mate. So I had to do whatever I could to keep her alive. Keep her safe and happy. She was my only chance to have a Luna as far as my wolf was concerned. So she was my only chance not to die a virgin.

‘You care about the most juvenile things.’ I’d have conceded to Alex on that one. The last thought was not critical right now.

I also would have never had the chance to experience love or any of that without her. And even if Alex gave up and we had chosen someone, I agreed it would never feel quite right, especially not after experiencing her scent. I was instantly addicted to it. Nothing else would ever compare.

Once through the door, the she-wolf who lived here slammed it behind me, and I heard the lock click. Someone was always here to make sure if a female came on their own, they could get the support they needed. It’s something my parents put in place and were quite proud of.

We had saved many she-wolves from being forcibly mated by a wolf who could not control their urges or perhaps even from death. The advantage to getting the posting was you could have a whole house to yourself or share with one other she-wolf. Most of the pack’s houses are crowded. Some liked it, but others, not so much.

“Alpha?” I didn’t say anything to her.

I pushed past her and ran upstairs. There was a cold plunge pool on the second floor, and I placed her in it as gently as I could. In a few minutes, her body had cooled down enough for her eyes to open.

“Darling, can you hear me?”

“Don’t call me that.” She said with a growl.

 It was her wolf coming through. The eyes were too gold for this to be the human side of her, unless it was some genetic defect. I have known only two wolves who could not shift their eyes. Rick  and his brother, Jacob. So, it would be unusual.

“What is your name then?” I spoke as carefully as I could. Her wolf was afraid, and it rolled off of her in waves, which put Alex on high alert.

“Kiara.” I pet the side of her face, and she pushed her nose into my hand. “Mate. I’ve been looking for you.”

“What is her name?” I could tell she didn’t appreciate my question.

“Don’t worry about that. She is unimportant. Foolish human. She doesn’t even know I’m real.” She had this pouty look on her face. This was a point of contention between the two of them. However, I needed clarification on what exactly she meant.

“What do you mean?”

“She doesn’t know anything about having a wolf. She takes these drugs to silence me. She wears silver, which weakens me. But I cannot bear it any longer. I need you.” She then wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me close to her.

Passionately, her lips crashed into mine. I held back just a bit. Keeping myself under control was very important right now.

“I see that’s-”

“Let me talk to Alex.” She said, utterly uninterested in me. “It’s been hundreds of years now… I need…” And then she was gone.

The eyes became this icy green color, and she let out a howl of pure pain.