Chapter One
1019 Words
Present Day
Noah
I was meant to be dead.
To everyone who was important to me I was. My parents, my friends.
Fleur.
They all thought I was dead.
And in a way, I had been.
Noah had died almost nine years ago. Lost in action. His body never found.
So yeah I had died.
And for a long time, I thought I was dead. When I had woken up in that jungle, alone and bloodied and in more pain than I ever thought possible. I had believed it because it was the only explanation as to why my men had left me behind.
Too weak to even shift I had just laid there. Alone in my misery as the bugs crawled into my open wounds and I started to rot.
I would have died there as well if one of the villagers hadn’t found me.
They cared for me, tended my torn apart body and held me down when they cleaned my wounds.
That was the moment when I realised I was still alive.
The pain was unbearable.
If I had been dead it wouldn’t have hurt as bad. The agony told me I was alive.
Which was good because in the months that followed there was so much pain that I wished I had died.
Death would have been welcome.
If I didn’t have Fleur waiting for me back home I would have begged for it.
I might have even taken my own life.
It was always her face that kept me going. The memory of her smile the day we had secretly marked each other was etched in my mind.
She was mine, just as I was hers.
I couldn’t leave her. I had sworn to myself that I would get better. That I would be the strong wolf she needed me to be.
And I had gotten stronger.
But something always stopped me from going home. The months turned into a year.
And then another.
And then….
Swallowing hard I rubbed my palms against my thighs, drying them. And stared out into the night at the house in front of me.
My home. The one I had grown up in. Memories threatened to overtake me.
I had left it too long to come home.
My family thought I was dead. Lost in a foreign country on some secret mission.
Turning up now, literally on their doorstep in the middle of the night wasn’t fair on them. And I was being selfish because I needed my family around me.
I needed everything that I had had because before I left and joined the army.
I was tired of being on my own.
The villagers that had taken me in, respected me. They might even have loved me in their own way but they feared me more than anything else. Fear and respect because my wolf kept them safe wasn’t the same thing as having my family, my pack around me.
Taking a deep breath, I filled my lungs with oxygen. My shoulders straightened as I killed the engine.
I was being a coward.
They were my family. They would be over the moon to see me. Sure they might not understand why I had stayed away for so long but I could explain it to them.
A howl broke out, filling the night air the moment I stepped from my rental. Sending goosebumps erupting up my arms. Glancing upwards I searched the clouds.
I couldn’t see the moon, but I knew it would be full and round. I had almost forgotten. It had been so long since I had been on a full moon run.
My pack were out there somewhere. Their animals running free. Love matches would be made tonight….
Fleur.
My eyes scanned the woods. Now that I had thought about her I couldn’t think of anyone else.
Was my mate out there? Running with my pack? How would she react when she saw me?
Sucking in a deep breath, I sniffed hard. I couldn’t scent her anyway. Frowning, I closed my eyes and concentrated.
There was no sign of her.
Not anywhere.
She wasn’t on tonight’s run. She wasn’t on parklands at all from what I could sense.
My heart fell.
I needed to see her.
Her more than maybe even my parents.
Because she was mine.
There was a sound of twigs breaking at the edge of the lawn. Turning my head in that direction I watched as my father skidded to a halt. His claws digging up the ground as he stopped. His head lowered, he growled long and threatening.
Swallowing hard I tried to smile.
“Hello dad.”
The Growling continued. And who could blame him? He thought his son was dead.
“Roman, I ….”
My mother’s wolf came padding forward, her eyes widening as she saw me. Her shift was smooth as she morphed into her human form.
Had she always been so small?
“Noah?”
“Hi, mum.” I took a shaky step forward. My arms opening.
For several long seconds, the three of us stared at each other in silence. It was my mother’s tortured sob that broke it.
Rushing forward I caught her before she hit the ground.
“Mum it’s fine. It’s ok.”
Blinking through her tears she gazed up at me. Her fingers Reaching to smooth over my cheek. “Noah, is it really you?”
“Yes, mum. I’m home.” I tried to keep my voice level but my eyes were imploring as I met my fathers over her shoulder.
“Son.” Suddenly He was there. His arms wrapping tightly around the two of us.
“Everyone is going to be so happy you are back?” My mum hiccuped into my chest.
“I can’t wait to tell them all. And….” Her voice cracked. “Fleur…. Jesus does she know?”
“I came straight here. But where is she?” Stepping back I gazed in a wide circle around me. Like I could wish her into existence.
“Where’s my mate?”
- Writer
