Semua Bab How to Catch a Mate: Bab 11 - Bab 20

“Go get washed up, I brought more pie,” Elder Amer said giving us all her warning look. We all knew when to watch out. Apart from Chan, who was already twenty five and Curt who just turned twenty three, the rest of my cousins Keiral included were almost twenty. I was still nineteen, the youngest and the only black wolf to be born in the last sixty years. We were busy eating pie when Elder Amer spoke. “Was it worth it? Taunting your cousin is one thing when you’re a pup, but you practically ready to mate and you behave as though you’re five.” Keiral’s pie-stuffed grin was all teeth, crumbs flying as she leaned across the table, her gold hair swinging like a damn taunt. “Worth it? Hell yeah, it’s worth it. Chan’s wolf ain’t shit compared to my hustle.” She winked at Lechandray, who was mid-bite, her slanted eyes narrowing to slits sharper than a claw. “Keep dreaming, bunny bitch,” Chan shot back, her voice low and dangerous, pie forgotten as she leaned forward, elbows on the table

"Now get the fuck out of here before you piss me off.”His eyes narrowed, and I felt it coming. “You will not go to the Rinks, Ashlyn.” The heavy, suffocating weight of his alpha voice, rolling out like a magnetic charge short circuiting my brain. The command hit hard, laced with power that would’ve dropped most wolves to their knees, tails tucked, heads bowed. It was meant to break me, to bend me like I was just another pack member.The air crackled, his alpha ability pressing against my brain, just pissed me and my wolf off. She was content to let me handle him. But as her fury rose her patience dwindled. My wolf surged, her power flooding the clearing, wild and untamed. A force that didn’t just push back—it consumed. I stepped closer, so close I could see the gold flecks in his eyes, and the wolf surged forward. Her power rising. Shit The trees trembled. My silver eyes I felt it turn to crimson as it locked on his, and the black wolf showed her teeth. “I am a hundredth-generatio

“What’s the catch?” I asked, eyes narrowing, my throat a bit hoarse, “You gonna trot me out like some tamed pet? Show the pack you can leash the big bad black wolf?” He chuckled, shaking his head, and I wanted to smack that smirk right off his face. “No catch Ash. You’re a Honshu, vagina or not. I’m tryna help. Plus I’m leaving in a few days, gotta go pack for the Rinks. I’ll make sure to send you some pictures, you can map out your future home.” He winked, and the small smile on his face made me remember why I dated him. He was a nice guy. I opened my mouth to fire back, but my cousins’ howls cut through the night. They were calling me back, probably smelling some more drama on the wind. I glanced at Haden, his dark eyes steady, no pity now, just a challenge that made my wolf itch to prove him wrong. “Fine,” I said, voice flat but laced with defiance. “I’ll be at the Den. But don’t think this means I’m your project, Haden. I don’t owe you shit.” “Never said you did,” he replie

If someone had told me two weeks ago I’d be on cub duty, I would’ve laughed. Not a normal laugh, no. The bitter, hyena-style one that turns into a wheeze by the time you’re meant to stop. The one that makes people slowly back away and reconsider why they knew you. The Den smelled like wet fur, crushed berries, and my dwindling patience. With ten under-shifted wolf pups currently pretending they’re in some kind of feral bloodsport. I was elbow-deep in chaos, again. A chaos with teeth, attitude, and no off switch. One pup was attempting to climb the rock wall using only their claws and sheer audacity. Another obviously was growling low at Curt because apparently, a stolen toy sword was grounds for war. The rest were scattered like small furry landmines across the room. The smallest one, West, bared his tiny milk teeth at Austin, whose ear was already red and wet from the first bite. I hadn’t even finished mopping from the last disaster. There was half a bowl of lamb stew on th

When I stepped outside, the wind slapped me across the face like it had a damn grudge.Cold. Sharp. Unforgiving.Like it knew what the Elders had sentenced me to and decided to twist the knife a little deeper.I didn’t flinch. Didn’t shiver. I just stood there on the stone steps of the Elder Hall, face to the sky like I could scream at the clouds and they’d give a shit. My boots were still damp from the creek I’d crossed earlier, and my hoodie—if you could even call it that anymore—was threadbare at the elbows and smelled like the Den. Old sweat, cereal and probably piss.And waiting for me at the bottom of the steps?Haden.Of course. He just had to fucking show up. He’d stayed in the valley for almost a week. It felt like he was hiding something.He stood like some haunted monument to the past, hands shoved into his jeans, shoulders too broad for his stupid clean white shirt. His hair was damp like he’d just washed away the scent of her. Or maybe that was wishful thinking. And his e