Unbound Mate

Chapter 2: Not For the Weak

Caden

Caden looked around at the small group surrounding him. They all stood in a shack in the middle of their makeshift village. In fact, all the buildings in their village were shacks. Everyone who lived here had been thrown into the outer pack lands with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Men, women, children, it did not matter to their shitty Alpha. Since shelter was a necessity, the residents here learned to build their homes with their bare hands and little resources. And since food was also a necessity, and the Alpha neglected to provide that for them as well, they were forced to go on raids to steal it.

"Are we all agreed?" Caden asked the quiet group.

Everyone nodded their heads, except one. Caden gritted his teeth when Roman stepped forward, straining against the Alpha energy he immediately began throwing off. The male was always being contrary, always finding issue with whatever was not his idea, and looking for every opportunity to challenge Caden.

Roman folded his arms when he stepped in front of Caden. He had curly brown hair and eyes a shade darker than his bronze skin. The male was the strongest and the tallest in their village, and he was not quiet about his feelings regarding who should lead their little pack. Roman, standing a few inches taller than Caden, stared down his nose at him,"We should be going out of the pack lands to get what we need. Sneaking past the inner gate is too dangerous."

Caden never minded being questioned. He understood people were afraid and sometimes needed reassurance. But this i***t seemed to always overlook the obvious.

"We can't make a run off pack lands Roman," he said through his gritted teeth, "you know this. We were attacked by rogues during the last run and with some people still healing, we don't have enough people for defense."

"I say we take our chances."

Roman's Alpha power was strong, but not the strongest Caden had to fight against. He was used to Alpha's trying to dominate him, and he wasn't backing down. "We've already discussed this." Caden's temper was rising over his irritation and he needed to get control before he suffered the consequences. "It's safer going into the inner pack lands, and we don't need as many people. Plus, we have others on the inside who will look out for us. It was decided and it's final." Caden also crossed his arms.

Many of the people who live here, human and werewolf, still have family on the inside. During our runs, we make sure to have a hide-out in between the food storage unit and the inner gates.

"This run is no less dangerous." Roman drops his arms and steps closer, baring his canines. "Just because you're too weak to be of any help doesn't mean you get to slack off. We're making the run off pack lands."

Caden went still and then slowly lowered his arms to his side. Hands curling into fists, he fought harder to remain in control. His voice was low when he spoke, "If you want to challenge me then do it Roman."

Caden couldn't beat Roman in a fight. Roman was the strongest here. But Caden also never lost either. This was one of the things Roman hated about him. Roman broke through when they were 18, as usual, but here they are at 21 and Caden still had no wolf. Yet, somehow, Caden always gave as good as he got, with his fights ending in draws. Caden wouldn't give up fighting back and no one has been able to overcome him in a fight since he was 15. So it was either a draw or death.

Roman knew this, and they'd had enough fights for him to know that Caden fought dirty. Caden could see the hesitation in Roman's stance while the look of anger and hostility raged in his eye. Caden prepared to defend himself if necessary.

Another member of their group stepped forward. One of the elders, Carla, put her hands on both of our shoulders, "that's enough, you two. We need all the able-bodied people we have for this run and no one wants to clean up the bloodbath left behind from one of your fights. Caden's plan is sound and we have already agreed to it," she said to Roman.

"We'll leave a few hours before dawn. Agreed," she stared down Roman. After a few seconds, Roman nodded his head and broke eye contact with me. Alphas were aggressive by nature and the need to dominate the weak was inherent. That he backed down surprised Caden. Roman walked away, and I relaxed my shoulders, slightly, but I could feel it creeping up on me. The sickness. I needed to get out of here before they saw me. Before they were reminded of how weak I truly was.

I spoke up, attempting to make my voice sound as normal as possible, but I'm sure the strain I was under was coming through, "Our priority is water, next is anything nutritious you can get your hands on. Also any bandages or medicinal herbs you find is a bonus but not mandatory. We've been working well with what we have and our crops have been holding up better than expected this year. Since we are unable to get to our water supply of pack lands, we'll have to take enough to last us until our next run."

Caden heard murmurs of agreement and no argument. Looking around the room, he spotted his sister in the background trying to sneak her way out of the makeshift building. "We'll meet back here before departing." He followed after her.

Caden felt a sharp stab of pain in his stomach and fought to not put his hand there. He gave nothing away on his face, took a deep breath, and stiffly made his way to his sister who just made it out the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Raven stopped in her tracks and turned to face him with a huge, forced, smile on her face. Raven was not his sister by blood, but they were raised by the same people, and he looked out for her like only a big brother would. He had assumed responsibility for her care and safety ever since their parents died 6 years ago. Ever since they were forced to come here. He loved her like crazy but the female never listened.

"I know you said to stay away."

"I did."

"And I had every intention of listening to you."

"And you didn't because?"

"I have a right to know what's going on too, Caden." She stomped her foot, "I should be hel..."

"No."

"But.."

"I said NO!"

"I'm old enough.."

"You're 10!" He said incredulously.

"In a half!" She said with attitude. Like he insulted her.

Caden sighed and bent his head to rub both of his eyes. The pain was starting to flare out to his back and up his torso. He had no time to deal with Raven's petulence. He had to get out of here and soon.

"You know the rules. Once your training is completed, then you can be eligible to participate in runs. Otherwise, you're a danger to yourself and to others." He tried explaining gently, but quickly. He had to go, he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"You haven't even come to see me train recently. I'm so much better. I could help you. But you don't care!"

"Raven I'm not in the mood to fight." He squeezed his eyes shut against a fresh wave of pain. Soon it'll engulf his whole body.

"Caden.....are you okay? Is it happening again?" Willow now had concern in her voice. Gone was the whining and yelling.

"Yea," he responded weakly, "I have to go but I promise to watch you train soon."

With that, he took off to the woods. Darkness started falling a while ago and by the time he made it into the woods there was barely any light. If he had his wolf he'd be able to see as if it were the middle of the day. He'd also be able to run faster but could go no faster than a human.

This was why people were always surprised he could hold his own in a fight against a werewolf. No human could. With him having werewolf parents, there's no way he was human. But this disability he had was definitely human-like. He'd had it for as long as he could remember. Thank the goddess it wasn't a full moon. It would have made it so much worse.

Caden got to a certain part in the woods and dropped down to his knees. The pain was radiating and pulsing through his body now. It felt like a huge muscle spasm was going off all over. His bones felt like they were breaking and he was so hot it felt like his skin should be melting off, but none of that ever happened. He tried preventing any sound from coming out but a drawn out groan slid past his lips.

This sometimes happened when he felt the aggression building up inside. Most times he can control his emotions, but Roman caught him off guard. Their plans had been decided days ago. With Roman included. This was supposed to be a recap of what was expected. Not a challenge from that asshole. Roman was challenged by the exiled Alphas every day. Before he had been exiled, he had been challenged by the pack Alpha's son and his Alpha friends for the majority of his childhood. He used to get his ass beat every day at school by that d**k and his dickhead friends. At 15, he began fighting back. Viciously. He'd learned to control his emotions once he was exiled, so that he wasn't left defenseless. The outer pack lands was not a place for the weak.

As the pain grew and became increasingly worse, Caden fell to the ground and curled up on his side. He hated this. Hated this weakness. He knew he would just have to ride it out because nothing would make it better. Nothing ever did. He wondered if he would be this way for the rest of his life. Not long after, his whole body began to seize.