3

To say that I am shocked by this outburst does not begin to describe the emotions going through me at this point. It seems surreal that this is happening to me, and I begin to laugh hysterically at the comment.

“Me? Your mate? You have got to be kidding me, right?” I ask.

He seems rather hurt and confused but replies, “No, I am not kidding you. I am being completely serious right now. You must be my mate, and you belong here with me.”

I muse over this for a moment and try to put the puzzle pieces together. His scent, the way he got me off guard and seemed to genuinely care about me eating and being taken care of. Even his puzzlement over me being alone for the last couple of years makes it all snap into place. It is just too much. Two weeks ago, I had nothing. I lived in the forest on the outskirts of a pack for years and nobody ever suspected that I was there. Now, one mistake later and I am surrounded by a pack while the Alpha professes to possibly being my Mate. The one chosen by me by the moon herself to be my perfect other half. To protect me and provide for me at all times. How can I believe all of this at this point? How can it all be possible?

Not being a fainter, I do the next best thing. I collapse on the ground and try to process all of this information. The alpha rushes over to me looking worried and I just stare into his eyes. He has sea blue eyes that I cannot look away from. His jet-black hair forms short curls around his face. If not for the faint scar on the side of his neck I would say that he was perfect in every way. Still, the scar set him apart and spoke of a strength that not everyone has.

After an eternity with neither of us breaking eye contact, he says, “Surely, you can tell that I am your mate too, right? You feel this pull as well?”

“I am not yet 18 I reply back. My birthday is in 5 days, so I do not know for sure.” I confide.

“Where have you been hiding if your parents are gone, and you are not 18 yet?” He asks.

“In the woods. I have a home there.” I tell him.

“You, you live in the woods? All alone?” He seems flabbergasted. “I insist that you stay here until your birthday. Then, if I am not your intended mate, I will allow you to leave. Deal?” He asks hopefully.

I think it over carefully. On one hand, I made my promise to my parents to stay safe and keep away from everyone until I find my mate. This man might be claiming to be my mate, but I will not know for sure until my birthday. What if he is not my mate and this is all a trap? I open my mouth to tell him I would prefer to go back home but pause. The thought of going back to my hole in the ground is very disheartening and honestly after sitting with other people, talking and eating it makes me depressed just thinking about it. On the other hand, staying here and taking a leap of faith into the unknown seems scary and yet exciting at the same time. There are so many what ifs. What if he is my mate? What if I like the other people here? What if they are not out to get me and genuinely give a damn about me? What if I can make a family and a life here instead of hiding for who knows how many more years? Instead of the refusal that I planned on making I reply, “You know what? I think that I might just take you up on that. As long as there is more food of course.” I add.

“There is more food than you could ever eat.” He replies happily. “Come, let me show you to a guest room.”

I follow him through some sliding glass doors into a big, open floor plan kitchen that leads straight into a rec room. He leads me up the starts on the right to the fourth floor. There are only a few doors on this floor. One door at the end is rather large and ornate. He points to this door and says, “That is my room if you need me at all. Since you do not know anybody in the pack, I thought you might like to be closer to me. The door on the left is Kevin’s and if you want you can stay in the room on the right. The other two rooms are a private laundry room and kitchen if you do not want to head downstairs. If you are tired you can go ahead and retire for the night. I will have one of the women in the pack bring you some clothes before morning.” He supplies.

“Thank you.” I say slightly overwhelmed. Walking into the room I look around. The room seems to be almost entire made out of cherry wood or the slight darker mahogany. The walls are all cherry with a mahogany trim and most of the furnishings are mahogany. Even considering that the colors are similar they are just different enough to make the room gorgeous and appealing. Not sure what to do after all of the time living in a den I walk around and stare for a while. There is a French door that opens into a huge closet and another door that leads to an en-suite bathroom. The bathroom has both a stand-up shower and a garden tub. There is a mirror behind the sinks that I look at as I walk by.

The woman standing there cannot be the me! My hair is a gorgeous red color with waves that almost look unnaturally perfect. I have dark eyes rimmed by even darker lashes and lips that should not be that red. All in all, I look way different than I did at 8. It has been almost 10 years since I have seen my reflection. I am stunned by the woman looking back at me.

Deciding that it is past time to take a hot bath I turn the water on and let steam fill the bathroom. When the level reaches high enough, I strip off the borrowed clothes and step into the warm water. This is heaven. I do not remember baths being this amazing but as all of my muscles begin to loosen and the dirt is slowly washed away, I begin to feel like a new person.

After what feels like an eternity I get out and wrap in a fluffy towel. Walking to the bed I realize that I do not have anything to wear to bed. Considering I have not warned clothes in a long time I drop the towel and climb into bed. This bed is to die for. It has to be at least a queen size and I sink into it the perfect amount. It is amazing!

Thinking that I am going to fall asleep quickly I am rather surprised when a couple of hours later I still lie awake. Giving up, I do what I am used to and get out of bed. I take the blanket with me and curl up on the ground in wolf form with the blanket covering me. Even though the bed was comfortable it just was not what I was used to. The added comfort of the blanket on the floors makes me get the best night’s sleep I have had in years. I did not even notice when somebody came in and dropped off clothes before backing out of the room.

When I finally wake up, I am very confused as to where I am. Slowly, last night comes back to me. I open my eyes and see piles of clothes lying on the chair next to the bed. There is a note as well but in my recent years I have not practiced reading, so I barely spared the note a glance. Grabbing a pair of pants and a shirt I throw them on and head back downstairs. In the kitchen Kevin and the alpha are sitting at a kitchen island and whispering. When they see me, they both stop and look away quickly.

“Good morning beautiful.” The alpha says.

“Good morning, Alpha.” I reply respectively.

“No alpha nonsense.” He says back.

“You never told me your name though.” I comment.

“Really? I cannot believe I could have forgotten such a thing. My name is Dante. No need to call me Alpha since you are my mate. This here is Kevin, and he is my Beta. You can meet the rest of the pack later if you wish.” He supplies.

Beginning to feel a bit sheepish I reply, “Thank you for everything but I really can get back to my normal life. I do not have to stay here. You have no reason to take care of me besides thinking that I might be your mate. Until I turn 18 you cannot know for sure.”

“Nonsense, I am positive that you are. You can stay here as long as you want. I cannot imagine that staying in the woods could be any better.” He comments.

“No, not really. Although I did find it rather difficult to fall asleep last night. Felt like I could fall right through the bed in my sleep.” I replied.

“Sleep wherever you want. If you wish for another bed, I can find you one. I only hope that you can be happy here. For now, sit, I will make you some eggs and bacon and then maybe we can go shopping for clothes that you can call your own.” He offered.

“Sure, sounds good, I guess. I would rather not have you spend your money on me though. At least not until I determine for myself if you really are my mate or not. No offense, I have just lived on my own for a very long time and I find it difficult to trust anybody at this point.” I explain.

“That is quite alright. If you want to wait until after your birthday to go shopping, then that is what we can do. For now, I will make you some breakfast and then we can get to know each other a bit more.” He said helpfully.

As if on cue, Kevin vacated the room leaving me alone with Dante. As he cooked me food, I found myself talking with him about everything I could remember as well as asking questions about the household gadgets and pack life. All of it seemed so new and foreign to me that it is hard to believe that I am actually here talking to him. Maybe this really is the beginning of something exciting.