Black Mountain Mates

Etana

        Now came the walking. At first, I was carried by the black wolf, then carried by a grey and white wolf, then handed off to the beautiful woman who was now back in her wolf form. She let me walk for a little while until I couldn’t keep up with them, and then she carried me, but much gentler than the two others. Almost like she had done it often before now. Sometime after that I fell asleep.

        I woke up to being gently set down. It felt like I was ungluing my eyelids as I glanced around. I instantly saw the black wolf and yelped. It growled lowly at me, irritated that I gave such a response before moving away. I looked down to see I was on what looked like a hospital bed. What the hell is going on?

        “It’s okay, little bit. We’re just going to clean up those pricks. Nothing bad, don’t cry.”

        I looked over to see the brown wolf in human form smiling that sickeningly sweet smile at me. Wary still, I nodded to her.

        She patted my head like I was a child. “Good girl. By the way, my name is Serena.”

        Pretty name for a striking woman. Not being able to help myself, I glanced over to the black wolf. His ears laid back a little as his eyes narrowed, and I quickly looked away.

        Serena huffed. “Don’t mind him, he’s brooding over having to get in the Honey Locust bush to get you.”

        I internally rolled my eyes. It was his choice. No one forced him to go in after me. I laid my head down on the table, making sure he knew I intentionally moved to not have to see him. He snorted again, but I ignored him.

        Suddenly a man the size of a mountain came in with a warm smile on his face. “I’ve got everything I need. Oh, she’s awake. Good. Now I’ll be able to talk to her.”

        Serena shook her head. “You can speak to her, but she doesn’t have a mind link to us. So, it’s one sided.”

        “Hmm.” Was all he said before slowly making his way to me. “My name is Dr. Grange. I’m just going to treat your wounds, that’s it, okay?”

        I raised my head and looked him over before laying it back down.

        He nodded. “Okay, let’s get started on your back and hind quarters. Those seem the worse places you got stuck at.”

        Dr. Grange went to work with the cleaning, and after a while I relaxed. At least until I noticed something he was also doing, studying my hips. Why would he do such a thing? I turned my head to glare at him, slightly showing my teeth.

        He let me go and smiled. “I’m sorry.”

        I laid my head back down, and he continued, talking over me like I wasn’t listening.

        “How are we going to get her to shift back? I’m guessing you three hunting her through the woods made her this terrified of everything?”

        Serena huffed. “We didn’t hunt her. Just…stalked I guess. We couldn’t just let her roam around the forest by herself. She would die. Something would come along and kill her. See how small she is?”

        I rolled my eyes on the inside again. They keep calling me small, but I was average size. I was the same size as most of the female Wulfkin in my pack. The size of your average wolf in the wild. I wasn’t a Runt. But, they seemed to think I was…

        “Well, without her tuning back there’s no way we can hear her. Unless you have some trick to give her connection to the mind link.” Dr. Grange said with a shrug, then froze for a second. He was listening to someone through the link. Then his face twisted to irritation. “No, I won’t do that. It’s not right, and extremely painful.”

        What was?

        The black wolf let out a short strong growl/bark. I was sure he was giving him a piece of his mind through the link. Poor doc.

        “It will not make her trust us anymore than she doesn’t already!” Serena added.

        The black wolf wasn’t having any of their arguing. He seemed like he was getting fed up, and I was sure his anger was going to lash out at me next.

        And I was right.

        He shoved Serena aside to grab me up by my scruff and carry me out of the room and outside. Behind him both Serena and Dr. Grange shouted, but he wasn’t stopping. I was dropped into the dirt out in the open. My eyes went wide when I saw I was in a village, a fully populated thriving village. All around there were massive wolves and wolves in human form walking about taking care of their business. I looked up to watch the black wolf shift back to his human form, and DEAR GOD. This man was impossibly beautiful.

        He had pitch-black hair in a faded long buzz cut with eyes bright blood red with black around their cornea’s making the red faint. His skin is darker, a medium tan. He had full facial hair that is groomed and fades into his hairline, and I was positive he was the poster boy for s*x appeal. His muscles were chiseled and sleek, and unfortunately my eyes went down farther to see he was most definitely the biggest and thickest I’ve ever seen. And that’s saying a lot since us wolves are not modest about nudity since we shift constantly. He had to be in his mid-late twenties, and man, he was as terrifying in his human form as he was in wolf.

        His black and red eyes glared down at me. “I don’t have time for this. Shift back now or I will be forced to make you!”

        I let out a whimper, but it wasn’t getting me anywhere.

        “Shift back now!” He commanded.

        Instantly, I recognized that tone. It was very different, but still familiar. This man in front of me, was an Alpha. I wasn’t going to be able to stop from obeying soon, it was taking everything in me to fight off the command he just gave me.

        He let out a very pissed off growl, shaking my little bones. “By authority of an Alpha, I demand you change back now!”

        Serena came running out from the building. “You’re only scaring her, Alpha Daejon! She’s just a...pup…“

        In the middle of her sentence I shifted back, unable to stop it due to the authority laced in his command. In a flash, my white wolf shifted into my very naked human form. My knee length long straight light cool blonde hair was exposed fanned around me, my striking cyan blue eyes remained the same though. My two dark stray freckles appeared, and I was instantly very cold under his gaze. My lean body showing curves and fullness not usually in young women like myself, but I had good wolfy genes. Round c-cup breasts, thin waist, sturdy hips, and long sleek legs.

        Alpha Daejon looked completely shocked as he gazed down at me, and while they were stunned I took out my anguish on them.

        “Go ahead and kill me! That’s what you brought me back here for, right? A show killing in front of your whole rouge pack? Do it then! I’m tired! I just want this to end! I knew I was never going to go home with a rouge tail, and that’s fine, but don’t beat around the bush. There’s no need to humiliate me further!” I shouted out, my voice wasn’t as full as it was usually, but I was working with what I had at the moment.

        Serena’s jaw was still gapped open by the time I got done with my ranting. “Rouge? We’re not rouges, little bit. We’re Dire Wolves.”

        What?

        I shook my head. “That’s not right…there are supposed to be rouges in this forest.”

        “No rouges. Just us, Runt.” Alpha Daejon said with a shake of his head.

        I glared up at him with my sparkling blue eyes. “I’m not a Runt!”

        He smirked down at me. “In this pack, you are.”

        Fury got the better than me. “Oh yeah? A pack that no one knows exists. Your nothing to the rest of the world. An unknown Alpha.”

        In a flash he was right in my face. “In this village, in this pack, you will show me respect, Runt.”

        Something I did when I was angry was develop a Napoleon syndrome. I think I’m bigger and badder than I actually was. So, with a smirk on my lips I rose to be on my knees. Displaying every asset, I had to him. “Is there anything about my body that says Runt to you, Alpha?”

        I watched his eyes turn black. And for a moment I thought he was going to snap my neck. The look in his eyes though were not of killing intent, maybe more…lustful? He leaned in a little more and inhaled my scent deeply before letting out a frustrated growl and getting up.

        “Until we figure out who you are, you stay here in the village. If not, I will personally hunt you down myself. And I promise, you won’t like what happens when I catch you.” He said over his shoulder as he walked to a dark grey house.

        Wait, what? I wasn’t allowed to leave? What the hell…

        “I can’t believe you got the Alpha to walk away…” Serena said coming over to stand next to me. “You’re an incredible, little bit.”

        I looked up to her and smiled. “I didn’t do anything. He’s still going to kill me soon.”

        She glanced over at me confused. “Why would the Alpha do that?”

        “Because I’m an outsider?” I stated, watching as he disappeared into the house.

        Serena raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never heard of a wolf killing its Mate. That’s like crazy impossible.”

        For a moment, I didn’t respond. It took me a few to process what she had said. “Excuse me, what?”

        “You don’t…feel the pull with Alpha Daejon? At all?” She asked, looking mighty confused.

        I shrugged. “He’s hot, if that’s what you’re asking.”

        Serena rubbed her face. “None of this makes sense. He can feel that your Mates, but you can’t yet. You should have heard him freaking out that he was Mates with a pup. We were actually all freaking out. What kind of sense does that make? And why are you so small?”

        I threw my hands up in the air. “I’m not small, I’m the average size of a Wulfkin. Completely average.”

        “Wulfkin? No, you’re a Dire Wolf. I can smell it in your blood. One or both of your parents had to be Dire. But it’s there strong and  proud in your blood, no mistaking it. That’s why we thought you were a pup. You’re pretty small for a Dire wolf.” She said with a shrug.

        “That’s because I’m a Wulfkin. An average Wulfkin. I’m not a Runt.” I said, feeling like I was getting nowhere. “Can I go home now?”

        Serena shook her head. “You heard Alpha Daejon. If you step foot outside the village…Let’s just say it’s not going to be a good situation for you.”

        I sighed. “I don’t get it. I’ve always been told a wolf feels their Mate at eighteen, so…why don’t I feel the bond with him? I know, because it’s wrong.”

        “Wait, no.” Serena said shaking her head. “Dire Wolves can feel their Mates from sixteen to nineteen years old. There’s no definite maturing date for Dire’s. We mature on our bodies own time. Some can feel their Mate Bond the day they turn sixteen, and others have to wait till they are nearly twenty. So, that’s why you can’t feel him yet, but he can feel you.”

        I watched her zone out for a second, no dispute that she was telling her Alpha this bit of information. When she came back, I decided we continue with this conversation.

        “It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. I have to return to my pack in three days.” I said looking to the bright yet hazy sky.

        Serena raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, what’s with the whole tail thing?”

        So, I gave her a lengthy explanation of the Lottery and the rewards. When I was done, she looked at me like I was a psychopath.

        “So, you mean to tell me…after all these years…” Serena shook her head. “We’ve been killing trespassers in our forests who have been trying to attack us for twenty years now. Are you trying to tell me that this whole time it was a game for your Wulfkin pack?”

        I shook my head. “Not a game. My pack hasn’t had a rightful Alpha for a long time, and since we don’t even have an Alpha lineage, the Elders do a Lottery once a year to try and get an Alpha that is ‘worthy’ of the title. Or at least that’s the crap they feed us.”

        Serena shook her head. “Your pack is insane. Coming into a Dire Wolves territory with weapons, and trying to kill us is not a way to determine an Alpha.”

        “I know. Hence, the reason I didn’t try to attack you. Just ran.” I said with a shrug.

        “Can I ask you another question?” She asked.

        I shrugged again. “Sure, go for it.”

        “What are your parents’ names?” She glanced over at me with a slight smile on her face.

        “Sarosh and Chidi Snowcap.” I said looking around, then down and realizing I was still naked. “Can I get some clothes? I don’t mind being naked and all, but I rather not be.”

        Serena looked down at my body and smacked herself in the face. “Yes, of course! I’m sorry. Let’s go get you clothes.”