Is It You

Malachi POV 3

I watched as my mate pretended to be mute in front of me. For the last two days I’d been fascinated with the idea of meeting her and giving myself a proper introduction but she wasn’t responding as I'd hoped.

Weren’t long lost mates supposed to be crawling over each other? I was pretty sure I wasn’t that awful and I had a generally good reputation among multiple packs. Nervousness began to build in the pit of my stomach.

“I hope you’ve already discussed with your parents,” I continued, from her lack of response, “I want to return to my pack as soon as you’re comfortable with leaving. I hope you can... accept me”

My voice sounded as if it would crack. She looked up at me again finally with those brown eyes and shyly gave me a smile.

“Is rejection on the table?” She asked.

“No,” I growled.

Marcel was trying to scare her into accepting us. He had waited so long for this that no one was going to make the decision for him. I pushed him back with some strength and breathed.

Our mate is acting strange, Marcel deciphered.

I nodded in response and looked at her again. She was standing a foot away from me with her arms wrapped around herself. I couldn’t quite place why she seemed hesitant to respond to me, much less be in my presence. I had to be imagining that she was this...detached.

“I’ll go with you whenever you’re ready,” She finally answered. “Just let me know when I should pack”

I clenched and unclenched my fists.

I watched to be alone with her. Spend time with her. It’d been so long since I had any kind of feminine energy around me. I could already sense Marcel’s anger being tamed just by being in her presence. I had almost grown tired of his temper tantrums.

“This evening if possible. I could have my Beta drive us over without a problem”

She nodded at this some more and then shrugged her shoulders. “It works for me”

With that, I slowly backed away. There were a lot of things I wanted to discuss with her but it seemed better to wait until we were to ourselves. I waved her goodbye and she gave me a tight smile. I exited the house and followed the work path back to the main area. I found Wildon chatting idly with Alpha Hendrix who had a sharp knife in his left hand.

“What’s going on?” I inquired as I walked up behind them.

Alpha Hendrix gestured to the knife in his hand. “The dead she-wolf has to be dissected for a few answers. Apparently she was drunk and a few blood results indicate she was high off ecstasy as well”

I looked over at Wildon and grimaced. The use of human recreational drugs was becoming more common among teenage wolves. Majority of their teachings took place in human schools and we couldn’t monitor every child under our kind. I also had a few issues with some of the warriors at my pack but Declan handled it before I did.

“That’s a problem we’re going to have to find a solution for real quick,” I noted.

Alpha Hendrix nodded and motioned to the infirmary as he walked off. I turned to Wildon and placed an exhausted arm on his shoulder. I felt physically and mentally drained as I hadn’t slept for the last two days and my mate’s emotional distance concerned me.

“Everything good, wise one” Wildon asked.

“No, it’s terrible. She doesn’t seem to like me and I have zero idea how to handle it” I confessed.

“Felt like you were talking to a brick wall?”

“Yeah, how’d you figure?” I asked.

He gave a look that was supposed to speak volumes.

“You’re a brick wall too” He pushed my arm off and pinned me with a stare. “At least you share your denseness in common”

“For f***s sake, I’m not even going to address that”

I folded my arms across my chest in an effort to calm myself. He was hitting too close to the truth and I didn’t usually handle insults well. I knew he meant good by it but it had me worried. I needed to adjust to her as well and not only complain. It had to be as awkward for me as it was for her and I should have considered that.

“We leave this evening. Get my Jeep ready and have her escorted out. Alpha Hendrix has already given get clearance to leave”

He nodded and I shooed him off to get started. I needed some alone time to myself to think. I started towards the open expanse of trees and pulled at my shirt. I needed to go for a run.

Human form

I frowned at Marcel.

What? I don’t want my fur matted with mud. I want her wolf to see me in my proper glory.

I rolled my eyes at him. If she was rejecting us then it was useless. 

“Be prepared for a possible rejection. She seemed hell bent on ditching us in the cold”

Marcel howled in agreement. Though he trusted the mate’s wolf, the human body was a whole different obstacle.

But now that I think about, I can’t sense a wolf in her

I pulled off my shirt to free my chest.

“What do you mean?”

Marcel circled a spot in my head and sat down.

I can smell that she’s my mate but sense no wolf. Doesn’t add up to me. If she had no wolf, she wouldn’t have a scent.

I flexed my muscles as I started to break into a jog and followed a beaten path through the woods. I wasn’t entirely naïve to Harbor Moon territory but I didn’t plan on going too far. I just needed enough space between the woman who was starting to run circles around my head.