Chapter 14
1524 Words
When I was completely naked, I closed my eyes and let my beast take control.
She burst out effortlessly.
These days, shifting hardly hurts anymore because the magic inside my body handled most of the change.
Mom's pack had taught me that long ago, before shifters and the first-blooded witches made peace, the witches had cursed shifters by forcing them to share their souls with what they believed was a horrible creature.
Instead, that punishment became something beautiful.
Humans and beasts formed a perfect partnership.
It gave us greater strength, longer lives than humans, packs, bonds, and many incredible abilities.
Sometimes the most beautiful flowers really did grow from the worst places.
I shook off the last feeling of the shift and stood to my full height.
I quickly noticed that I was larger than Cora's wolf.
Her thick mahogany-colored fur shined beautifully as she happily bounded toward me, while her blue eyes remained exactly the same.
She rubbed her head against my neck, and I couldn't help admiring how comforting it felt.
Kael joined us a moment later.
He was enormous.
He stood much taller than I did and looked large enough to carry someone like a small horse if he ever had to.
Unlike Cora, he didn't bounce or play.
He moved slowly and carefully like a true predator.
Even though the alpha was usually gentle in his human form, his wolf was every bit a Ryker.
My wolf couldn't have cared less.
She was simply thrilled to be there.
We were finally running with a pack.
To her, it was every dream coming true at once.
Kael came closer but didn't rub against me the way Cora had.
He remembered to keep his male scent away from me.
Find mates, my wolf cried inside me.
In wolf form, I couldn't clearly remember why we were supposed to stay away from Ryker and his pack.
They were so close.
Thankfully, before I could do something incredibly foolish, like running off to find the Blackthorn Pack, Kael let out a quiet bark and headed deeper into the forest.
Cora gently nudged me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I let go of all my worries and happily followed them.
Many different scents filled the forest as we ran.
One scent kept catching my attention over and over.
It carried a lingering sweetness like caramel.
At first, it made me nervous.
I had spent my entire adult life avoiding shifters.
But once I reminded myself that I was safely inside pack territory, being surrounded by the scents of my own kind became strangely comforting.
At first, Kael ran at a fast, demanding pace.
Even though I wasn't the strongest shifter, I loved stretching my legs.
Eventually he slowed down, letting us simply play and enjoy ourselves.
I was almost overwhelmed by how happy I felt.
Cora suddenly pounced on me.
I rolled across the forest floor, my white fur collecting little sticks and leaves from the ground.
As far as I knew, omegas were always white wolves.
They were the only shifters with completely white fur.
Combined with my bright blue eyes, my appearance always reminded me of the Arctic.
That suited me perfectly because I loved winter, even though I wouldn't want to live surrounded by snow forever.
After running for about an hour, we stopped beside a beautiful creek where water gently flowed over smooth rocks.
Our wolves drank from the stream before settling down nearby to rest.
Cora lay against my right side, while Kael rested on her other side.
I had never known peace like this existed.
Feeling Cora's warmth against me and hearing both of their hearts beating together with my wolf's made it feel as though I had finally found a family.
A home.
Even if it wasn't truly mine.
I slowly closed my eyes as a cool breeze moved through my fur.
The sweet scent I had been following all morning suddenly became much stronger.
Now I could clearly recognize the separate smells of caramel and cinnamon.
The scent wrapped itself around me.
Immediately my wolf jumped to her feet, completely alert, ready to chase after it.
Kael instantly leaped in front of me, deep growls rumbling from his chest.
I wasn't experienced enough to understand every alpha command in wolf form.
But instinct told me he wasn't threatening me.
He was warning me not to follow that scent.
Then another growl echoed through the forest.
It was much louder.
Much more powerful.
Its threatening sound shook the air around us.
Kael immediately turned toward the danger.
I flinched as the overwhelming dominance of another shifter spread toward us.
A large wolf with tan-colored fur slowly stepped out from between the trees.
His scent grew stronger.
It pulled at my wolf exactly the same way Ryker's scent had.
Another scent match.
Another scent match was walking directly toward me with complete focus.
His wolf was even larger than Kael's.
As he stepped fully into the sunlight, streaks of gold shone through his tan fur.
His dark blue eyes stayed locked on me.
I wasn't simply another wolf to him.
I was prey.
And he was very clearly the predator.
Kael refused to move from his protective position.
For a second I almost shifted back into my human form.
Then I remembered I'd be standing naked in front of my scent match.
That sounded like a truly terrible f*****g idea.
Keeping my wolf in control wasn't much easier.
She was already angry that another alpha stood between us and our mate.
She growled several times at Kael.
Only the respect she felt for everything he had done stopped her from attacking him.
Powerful dominance rolled from the tan wolf.
Kael slowly stepped backward.
Then I felt the familiar rush of energy as he shifted back into his human body.
“Orion Jackson,” he snarled. “What the hell are you doing?”
I deliberately kept my eyes looking straight ahead.
There was no chance I wanted to accidentally see Kael's bare ass and balls.
Thankfully, that wasn't difficult because my wolf was completely focused on the biggest predator in the forest.
Apparently his name was Orion Jackson.
Another wave of energy rushed through the air.
The giant tan wolf disappeared.
In his place stood a giant...
Well...
A giant tan man.
I lifted my eyes to keep my attention on his face and broad chest.
Orion looked like the perfect golden boy.
His skin had a rich caramel-gold color.
His blond hair was short and slightly messy across his forehead.
His deep blue eyes were so intense they almost looked violet.
He never took his eyes off my wolf.
Even so, he stayed where he was, leaving a respectful distance between us.
He was beautiful.
Not in the sharp, rugged way Ryker was.
Orion was handsome in a completely different way.
A square jaw.
A straight nose.
Perfect white teeth.
He looked like the classic all-American hero.
Everything about him radiated strength and good looks.
Of course the goddess had decided to give me a pack full of gorgeous alpha males.
She was never going to make it easy for me to resist all of that obvious masculinity.
“She’s my scent match,” Orion said quietly.
Even though he had sounded so intimidating moments ago, his voice was now full of amazement.
“Ryker told us last night... but damn... this feeling is even stronger than he described. That first hit you feel the moment her scent reaches you...”
He slowly crouched until we were looking at each other at eye level.
So far, I had managed not to look below his broad shoulders and muscular arms.
The amount of self-control that required nearly exhausted me.
“You smell like chocolate and honey, omega,” he said softly. “And your wolf is such a beautiful girl. The two of you are the sweetest, most wonderful thing I've ever experienced.”
Ryker expressed himself through growls.
This alpha wore every emotion openly on his face.
Looking at him, I wished I could shift back so I could actually speak to him.
“Let's head back to the cars,” Kael suggested. “Let Aria get dressed first so she'll feel more comfortable talking to you. She's still new to pack life. Today is her first time running with other wolves.”
For a brief second, I thought I saw a hurt flash across Orion's face.
But he quickly hid it.
“I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. It's just impossible to ignore the pull of a scent mate. I'll meet you back at the parking lot.”
He shifted back into his wolf.
It was the fastest and smoothest transformation from man to beast I had ever seen.
Orion might not have been the leading alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.
But in almost any other pack, he would have been.
He was stronger than Kael.
And I was beginning to realize that surviving all four alpha scent matches wasn't just difficult.
It was somewhere between incredibly unlikely and absolutely f*****g impossible.
- Writer
