Distant Mates

Chapter Three

              {Izzabella’s POV}

            I’ve been friends with Wynter since we were children. My parents and I knew her secret of being the Alpha’s forgotten daughter. She never spoke of her relationship with her father, but I knew secretly she wanted the Alpha to love her more than anything. She just wanted to be accepted. On the other hand, Wynter would talk about her mother frequently. Any information she learned on her mother she would immediately find me and let me know as well. Her mother sounded like a wonderful woman. Wynter especially had most of her mother’s kind traits. Her generosity, her fierceness, and most of all her blind stubbornness. Personality aside, Wynter also showed a lot of physical traits her mother had. She had her long brown hair, even though the color was faded over the years. She had her bright blue eyes, which was once filled with life only to be replaced with a repetitive sadness now. Wynter also had her mother’s pale skin, paler now due to malnourishment. I couldn’t count the number of times I was caught sneaking food to Wynter. How often we would get beat up by Vicky and her army of mindless wannabe’s. Wynter made me stop bringing her food after hours, but occasionally I sneak a muffin here and there for her enjoyment.

            I did my best to sneak away from Wynter’s room and out of the large pack house most of the ranked wolves lived. My family and I lived on the edge of the pack territory in a small cottage. My father worked in patrols, while my mother was a pack nurse. My parents have always been kind to Wynter when she would sneak visits to us. I made my way down the road towards the village of cottages that surrounded the larger pack house. I bumped into a few of mom’s friends and did my best to end the small talk she created. “Izzy! Darling, how is Rebecca and Chris?” An older she wolf asked me as I tried to pass her. “They’re doing good, Ms. Coakley.” I replied, giving her a small wave. “Unfortunately, I’m late getting home so I have to hurry. We will talk more next time.” I told her scurrying off before she could reply.  Once I reached my parent’s cottage, I opened the door and zoomed inside, slamming the door behind me. “Mom! Dad! There is something important we need to talk about.” I blurted out, entering their bedroom to find them packing. “Mom, dad, I want Wynter to come with us.” I immediately unraveled my plan to them, not giving them a chance to reply or say anything.

            “Pumpkin, I know you care for Wynter very much, but this plan is just too risky. Are you really willing to put your life, my life and your mom’s life on the line if this doesn’t work?” My dad looked at me with great concern, his voice filled with sincerity. My mother wasted no time in blurting out her own opinion. “Chris, how long have we known Wynter? What kind of family would we be if we didn’t try to bring her along? She deserves an escape as much as we do!” Rebecca was beginning to get extremely passionate about the subject. She cleared her throat before continuing, “We get a chance to be free, lets show her the same freedom. You know as much as I that Wynter doesn’t belong here. Her mother would want so much more for her Chris.” My mother gripped my father’s hand in hers, looking him deep in his eyes. “We have to try.” Rebecca mentioned softly. My father let out a groan of defeat, throwing his head back. “I can’t believe we’re going to do this.” He let go of Rebecca’s hands and used his own to rub his forehead. “Count me in.” He mumbled in my direction. I leaned forward and gave both of my parents a firm hug. “I need to speak about this with Wynter now. I’m sure she will be so excited to hear this.”

{Wynter’s POV}

            The door clicked behind Izzy as she left my room. I managed to hoist myself up off the floor and gather my bathing supplies and some new clothes. I exited my room and made my way down the hallway with my arms full of supplies and new clothes for a shower. I knew no one else would be taking a shower at this time, It was midday and most of the low-level omega’s would be working or spending time with their mates or friends. I quietly entered the communal showers just in case anyone else was there. Luckily it was just me. The white tile was cold underneath my bare feet. I quickly got undressed and laid my spare clothes to the side. I closed the dingy curtain behind me and turned on the hot water. After a few seconds I could feel the hot water burn against my skin. I let out a sharp hiss before turning my back towards the faucet. I tilted my head back and let the water rush through my hair and over my face. Even though just a second ago it was searing my skin, now it felt lukewarm. I could feel my mind wander to what happened previously in the day.

            I can’t believe I always let myself get overpowered by simple omegas. The idea of fighting back seems like a good idea, but I can never bring myself to do it. I feel like it’s wrong to fight with other pack members. So instead of fighting I always let them leave me bruised and defeated on the floor. ‘I don’t deserve to be an Alpha’s daughter’ I think to myself, covering my face with my hands. ‘I will always be weak. I haven’t been trained a day in my entire life. I couldn’t fight back even if I wanted to’ I continued undermining myself before a small voice popped into the back of my head. “Girl what the f**k are you saying?! You are powerful! I’ve watched you practice your punches in your room! Stop underestimating yourself!” My hands slid from my face and my eyes almost popped right out of my head. “Who is there?” I said out loud. I heard a small growl of a chuckle. “You’re just as silly as I thought you would be. Wynter, my name is Juno. I am your wolf.” The voice said to me. “MY WOLF?! OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING.” I screamed with utter joy.

 I quickly covered my mouth after I heard the shuffling of feet around me. Once reality finally settled in, my face contorted with sadness. “Juno, I don’t think you’re going to like being my wolf.” I rubbed my arm, still feeling the lukewarm water rush down my back. “Wynter, I’ve always been here. There has never been a time where I haven’t wanted to be your wolf.” Juno did her best to comfort me, I could feel something wrap around my body as if she was hugging me from the inside. I could now hear other voices besides Juno’s. With other people around I made haste with my shower. I lathered shampoo into my hair and let it sit as I washed my body. I then let the water take control as it washed all the soapy suds out of my hair and off my body. I turned the water off and grabbed my towel from outside of the curtain. Quickly drying off, I got dressed and wrapped my hair in my towel. I tip toed out of the showers and down the hall, holding my shower supplies and dirty clothes in my arms.

Once I made it to my room, I leaned against my closed door, elated that I finally had alone time to process that I met my wolf. “Juno, are you there?” I whispered, making my way to my bed. “I will always be here Wynter. I thought I would never meet you, but I’m glad I met you when I did. You shouldn’t be saying those nasty things about yourself.” Juno scolded me in my head, making me flinch against my bed. “But Juno, it’s true. I’m weak and I don’t know how to properly defend myself.” I told her, laying my head back against my thin pillow. “Don’t worry Wynter, if the time comes, I will protect you. It’s been so long since I’ve had a counterpart, you’re very special Wynter.” With that being said, I was immediately brought back to reality when Izzy barged into my room.

“You’ll never guess what just happened!!” Izzy spoke out in an elated manner. “You’re going to come with me, whether you like it or not! Me and my parents have a whole plan ready. All we need is you.” She told me, pouncing on my bed to engulf me in a bear hug.