His Chosen Mate (Complete- Standalone)

Chapter 12

I was back in the shower getting ready to head into work.

“How’d you sleep,” I heard Troy ask from behind the door.

“Pretty good, you?” I was surprised to hear him this early but remembered I needed to keep my cool.

“I kept thinking about you,” he opened the door. “I wanted to check in with you before your last day of work.”

“That’s nice of you. Hopefully it’s quick. I’m excited about seeing your packlands, seeing your pack house, meeting your pack.” I said nervously trying to keep up the appearance of being a willing and wanting mate.

He opened the shower, he was undressed, his c**k was standing at full attention.

“Mind if I shower with you?” He didn’t wait for a response before stepping in.

He took the loofa out of my hand and started to wash my body. My body shivered in response to his touch. Going over my shoulders and down my legs. Then across my chest and down my stomach, he turned me around, washing my back. Then his hands came to my ass, “This looks familiar,” he pushed my head and upper back down towards the ground. My ass spread. “You will not tell me no.” He ordered as he lined his c**k against my entrance, “This time,” and rammed into me, pushing me hard into the wall. I braced myself as he plunged in and out of me, slamming his body into mine. The water on our bodies caused a loud slap, cracking sound every time he thrust himself deep inside me. The sound was blaring and becoming louder and louder when I realized it was my alarm. I jumped from my sleep.

Completely startled by my own dream, flustered and angry with myself. Having s*x dreams about the mate we need to reject, great.

Growing up, I thought I understood the mate bond and I wasn't a fan of them. The idea that free will was gone seemed a bit cruel to me. This was someone you'd likely be with your entire life with and you had no personal say in it. Seemed cruel and it had become a trend in some packs over the years to have chosen mates, like Full Howl. These packs had magic that made bonds and rank fall away. I didn't understand it fully but after experiencing my own body's betrayal, I wanted to be in a pack where I had choice. I know the moon goddess's fated mate was supposed to be a gift. I just couldn't understand it.

After getting dressed, repacking my things. I opened the hotel doors. “Should I call an uber or will you drive me?” I asked Vince standing alert at my door.

“I will drive you.”

He followed behind me as I turned my door key in at the front desk. I made my way outside. He told me to stand still and wait. He took off jogging to get the car, I assumed. It was then I noticed two wolves across the street. Their scent was faint from here but I knew, I turned around, scanning the area. Another was sitting beside me at the cafe tables outside, drinking coffee pretending to read the newspaper.

A black Lincoln Navigator pulled up a few moments later, a wolf I didn’t know hopped out, opening the passenger back door for me. Once inside, I noted two more wolves and Vince.

“Do you know where you are going?” I asked Vince.

“Yup.” Of course they do. Stalkers. This is why we hate shifters, they treat

We drove quietly for a few moments. As soon as we arrived, I hopped out and headed for the door. “Miss Craven, how long is this going to be?”

“I’m not sure. I would say at the latest two. I am expected to catch a plane at 4.” I explained.

He nodded.

I wanted to send my Uncle a message before starting work.

3 unread messages.

Kingston: I miss you.

Kingston: Be careful, I will see you soon.

Mac: I have a UPS delivery truck coming to your back doors to drop off at 10. You need to get on that truck, do you understand?

A plan, an escape plan. I realized.

Ashleigh: I will try my best.

Mac: If that doesn’t work, we will come in with force at 11.

Ashleigh: There are atleast 6 wolves here. That I have seen. Two fully armed.

I pulled the window coverings down and started to hang the grand opening marketing. A window washer was scheduled at 9. He came slightly early and Vince questioned him upon his arrival. Shortly after, Nick came walking up. I ran outside to greet him.

“Hi Boss!” I called. Giving Vince a notable glare.

“Morning Ashleigh, windows looks great!”

“They are just about to clean the outside, he just finished the inside.” I informed him.

“Perfect!” I held the door open for him.

“Maggie will be here at any moment, to sign off on the final walkthrough with us.”

“Perfect, how long do you think it will be? I have some of the fall sign packs coming. I want to check them in as soon as they get here. Don’t want to interrupt the walk through.”

“Five minutes tops, the store looks great.” Nick was already distracted in his phone.

“Want some coffee or anything?” I asked, “There is a Starbucks around the corner, I can have it delivered.”

“Oh absolutely!” Nick exclaimed.

Shortly after Maggie arrived, we did a quick walk through. Everything was good to go and I headed off to Starbucks with their coffee orders in hand. I got about ten yards past the building before Vince asked what I was doing.

“Starbucks, "I held the drink orders in my hand.

“I will get it.” he said.

“You sure?” I asked but I knew he wouldn't let me, this was all part of the plan. Get that beta far away.

He took the slip out of my hand. I tried to hand him some cash and he refused.

I hurried back into the store, looking at my watch. The buzzer to the back door rang, “I got it!" I announced. A standard UPS driver, asking for me to sign. “Get your stuff, lets go!” He said.

My bags were already at the door. I followed him as I heard a commotion in the front of the store. He put me in the back of his truck with packages and we drove off. We stopped a few blocks away. The driver was backing into a truck loading spot.

The doors opened and I recognized one of my cousins. Second or third, I don't remember how distant. But I recognized that face. “Travis?” He was a few years younger than me the last time I saw him.

“Hey Ash, we are switching vehicles, come with me.” He grabbed the carry on I had and I was moved into the back of a white box truck.

“We got one more swap, ok?” He informed me.

“You look different,” I said.

“So do you,” He replied, his eyes looking me over.

We drove for about ten minutes in awkward silence, before we were backing into another loading truck zone. "We are going in, you’ll see Trent straight ahead. Just follow him."

I walked into a kitchen of a restaurant. Cooks were all around preparing food but everyone ignored me as I walked through.

“Hey cuz.” Trent said to me as he led me through an empty restaurant. I recognized him as well. He was older, I think one of the sons of one of my Great Uncle. I recognized him as someone who took a lot of pride in being an asshole to me. practically drowning me one summer. I stiffened when I saw him and Travis pushed me ahead. "Go."

I looked around, nervously. just waitstaff setting up tables and wrapping silverware. Out front was a silver lexus with darkly tinted windows. “Get in the passenger seat” Trent called back to me as he hopped over to the drivers seat.

We took off and headed out of the city.

“So what kind of mess did you get yourself into?” Trent asked.

“Mac didn’t tell you?” I thought curiously about this. Was there a reason for them not to know?

“Nope. Just given instructions to pick you up and move you, scattering your scent and hiding your trail. So, that's what we are doing.” He said, I noticed him looking at me, studying my body. Pack wolves had a hard time concealing their disdain for my figure. They found it insulting that I wasn't as fit as other wolves. It highlighted the fact that I was a half human, that my physique wasn't as strong as it should be.

“I was working down in LA and stumbled upon my mate, Alpha Troy of the Venice pack.” I answered honestly.

His mouth opened wide, “Why did you get the pack involved with that s**t?”

“I asked Mac for help. I felt like a prisoner and feared for my life.”

“Well no s**t. He is a relentless force of destruction, leaving a path of female c*****e. He has been trying to have heirs for awhile. It's his side project when he is not out terrorizing the city.” he paused for a moment. “So, you are his true mate?”

“I guess.”

“This is so stupid, this is gonna start a war. You’re an alpha's kid, you could bear him a few pups. Take the edge of his reign of terror. Instead, we are all gonna suffer at your expense. No no no.” He was shaking his head.

“I don’t plan on staying in the pack, I plan on being rejected or exiled or whatever s**t you wolves do and going on about my day. I won’t be your problem.” I tried to reassure him but his anger reminded me so much of all the torture I endured as a kid, I felt uncomfortable and a bit scared.

Trent's grip was so tight on the wheel his knuckles were turning white.

“I didn’t realize he would involve anyone else. I also didn’t know anything about Troy, just that I didn’t trust him and got really bad vibes. I am sorry.” I was apologizing and I did start to feel guilty. Clearly, Ventura feared Troy. My uncle exposed the whole pack by helping me.

We sat in silence for about 40 minutes, out of the city and into the Angeles National Forest. I grew up here and felt a little uneasy as we made our way into the deep treeline.

We pulled up to what once was the packhouse of my childhood. It looked unlived in and unkept. The grass of neighboring houses overgrown. I could see Kingston's car and another black truck as we came up and parked.

Kingston came out of the house, followed by my Uncle. I practically jumped out of the car and ran over to Kingston. He threw his arms around me.

“Hi baby,” He squeezed me tight against him. He felt safe and warm and perfect.

“Thank you Uncle Mac for getting me out of there. I didn’t mean to involve the pack. Trent told me a bit about Troy, I didn’t realize.”

“It was the least I could do.” My Uncle Mac's voice had matured, he sounded more powerful, older.

“So, how does this work, exiling me?” I asked.

“What?” My Uncle asked.

“I had thought this entire time I was a rogue. Knowing that my scent marked me as the wrong pack, in the wrong place. I want to fix that.”

“You want to be rogue?” Trent said.

“Well I thought for the past decade I was. I was thinking if I joined Full Howl, I’d have a chance of breaking the mate bond.”

“OOOoooh you’re Full Howl then,” Trent said, looking at Kingston. His tone laced with accusation.

“What’s that matter?” I asked, a little defensive in my tone.

“Matters because they don’t reproduce heirs. Essentially, they are killing off their own lines. I bet this one had his nuts chopped off.” Trent said.

“Thats not true. It is a personal choice among our pack. A lot of our members are wolves that have already had mates and lost them or wolves of the l***q community. So, there is a lower than normal birth rate in our pack. But it's not prohibited,” Kingston explained.

“So, if you don’t want kids with my cousin, let her knock out a few with Troy. Like I told her. She is the daughter of an Alpha, she can handle Troy and having a few pups will surely calm him down. It's a win win, you’ll get her back without her maternal clock ticking, we wont have a war on our hands and Troy is likely to stop his f****d up reign of terror.” He was pleading his case to his father. Who honestly looked like he was contemplating it.

“My womb is not indebted to this pack. f**k you for suggesting I could have a few pups and abandon them to pacify a psycho. Please exile me from this pack.” I had desperation in my eyes as I asked my uncle.

“He is your mate, Ashleigh, he would treat you well. The Venice pack is one of the wealthiest packs in the country,” Trent said.

I turned to look at Kingston, “Let’s go.” I said with panic in my eyes, hoping he understood the urgency to get out of there.

“Hold on Ashleigh, I haven’t see you in ten years. First time I do, I am helping you out of a jam and you are asking to be exiled from my pack. That is no way to treat family.” My Uncle said smugly.

“See, my mom said you felt guilty for how you treated us, but that comment right there, tells me nothing has changed.”

My uncle's phone started to ring. He smiled looking at it but did not pick it up.

“You don’t understand. Troy wont stop, even if you can break the bond, he believes you are his. If you go into hiding, he will track down your friends and your family. I bet he’d even track down his friends and family.” Pointing to Kingston. "You are not quite grasping the depths of his psychoticness. I agreed to get you out only so I could use you to strengthen our alliance. You are still Ventura and having you mate with him and bare pups to him would solidify our peace negotiations, not giving you back would start a war. But I didn’t do it just for myself. I will make sure you are treated well. Having open negotiations allows us to set the terms. It allows you to set the terms. If we didn’t intervene, he would have just taken you from your hotel room, you would have been a s*x slave locked in some cell. Your mom would never know what happened to you. That's how Troy treats his women.”

Kingston was clenching his fists next to me. I could sense he was about to rip off my Uncle’s head but he was probably digesting this information too.

“Have you heard about Troy before?” I turned looking at Kingston.

“I have, he does have a reputation.” Kingston was avoiding my eye contact, he looked lost in his thoughts. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking but I knew he wouldn’t put his pack in danger. I recalled the story of his fated pairing and my heart sank. We hardly knew each other and here I was putting him in danger. It's not like him and I were mated. We’d gone on a single date, hung out a few times.

"Son, unless you want to go to war with the whole Venice pack." Mac started but I put my hand up to silence him.

I sighed, “I need a minute to think, I’m not running off. Just need to clear my head and cool off.” I said, as I kicked my shoes off. Moving behind the trees, stripping down to shift. It had been a long time since I had shifted but my blood was boiling.