Pack: The Wolf Within

Chapter Eight: Introductions

Scout

"Look. You weren't in any danger. He was... toying with you. With us. He..."

Rebel pulled away from me, both physically and emotionally. I could feel him looking at me, his curiosity not the least bit diminished by my half-assed explanation of what had just happened. Not that I didn't understand, I mean the wolf, Blue Eyes, had attacked him; though, it was just a test; if he had meant to hurt Rebel, there would have been very little I could have done. If it were his intent, chances are we'd both be dead.

"You still haven't told me who it was, who he is."

"He's nobody." I shook my head when Rebel rolled his eyes at that. I sat closer to him, pressing my shoulder against his. "He was the pack leader; the alpha."

"Your pack lead... I thought you didn't have a pack." He pulled away again, agitated.

"I don't. I said he was my pack leader. I haven't had a pack since..." I managed to occupy myself with a frayed thread from the blanket he'd thrown over me earlier.

"Since?" I can't say Rebel was jealous, but his tone suggested it.

I shook my head. This stuff was in the past; long forgotten, or it was supposed to be and I wanted to keep it that way. "He...."

"What?" He spat the question as if he knew what I was trying very hard not to say.

"He was my..." I shook my head. This was too hard to explain, rationally. "We were..."

"He was your mate." It wasn't a question, rather an accusation.

I looked away, shaking my head. The way he said it, I could almost hear the snarl of his wolf.

"So you were... I mean you two..." He didn't want to finish the question as much as I didn't want to confess it.

"It's complicated. I mean it's over, whatever it was. Has been for a while. We weren't mated. I was a diversion. He liked toying with me, using me. He had a mate."

"So what the f**k was he doing here? Why did he attack me?" Rebel rubbed his arm unconsciously where Blue Eyes had bitten him.

I shrugged. I didn't know, though I had an assumption. "I don't know. Maybe he's bored. Maybe, he's recruiting for his pack, maybe. And you're fresh blood."

"Fresh blood?"

"Packs need new blood to survive. To stay strong. I think, maybe, he was testing you. To see if you were a good fit for his pack."

Rebel shook his head. "How did he even know I was here?"

"He's known since you arrived. I found traces of the pack at the house the day after you got here." My wolf growled, recalling the scent outside. "They'll be back." This I knew without doubt. The test, if that's what it was, wasn't enough to determine Rebel's entrance into the pack. But it was enough for him to try again. If it wasn't a test, if it was something else, something I didn't even want to put to words or thought, then he'd definitely be back.

He appeared pensive. "What if I don't want to be in his pack?"

I shrugged. "That's not going to keep him from trying. Once he sets his mind to something..."

"And if I refuse?"

I couldn't help but smile as he rose and paced restlessly. I grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back down next to me. "Stop worrying."

"I'm not worried." He tried to pull away but I held firm.

"Really? Then, what is it?"

"I'm pissed." He growled.

This time I laughed aloud.

With brow wrinkle and fists curled, Rebel stood and paced around me in a circle. "What's so funny? I mean, this guy thinks he can come in here and bully me into joining his pack. Like some gang or something and..."

"He can't help himself. His wolf was thinking survival, for himself, for his pack. It's all instinct."

He plopped down next to me, again. "I can't believe you're taking up for him."

I sighed, shaking my head, draping an arm over his shoulder. "I'm not taking up for him. His wolf, maybe."

He leaned against me, propping his head on my shoulder, letting me hug him tighter. "Well, stop it. He scared the s**t out of me. Almost literally."

I kissed the side of his head. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I couldn't tell. You did a good job covering; it didn't keep you from reacting, from fighting back. Course that might be one of the things that draws him back. He likes a challenge."

"What do you mean, one of the things?"

I could smell it on the air and could only assume Rebel didn't recognize the scent for what it was. But, I'd been down this road before. At one time, I found the scent enthralling. The first time I caught whiff of it, I followed it for miles, running blindly, headlong trying to catch it.

The pack caught me unaware, surrounded me, biting and grabbing at me, the snarling and growling, deafening. I fought them with a ferocity I didn't know I had. The only thing I wanted was the source of the scent. When Blue Eyes arrived, I was exhausted, the pack had worn me down, I lunged only in response to their attacks. I was on the defensive. Blue Eyes bound into the pack with a fury, bowling over the other wolves. Three of the wolves were down before I realized what was happening. A fourth cowered, paws skyward, stomach and throat bared. Blue Eyes sauntered toward the submissive wolf, who licked at him nervously. Blue Eyes paid him no real attention, instead he eyed me curiously. He dismissed the submissive wolf with a curt bark and it ran as fast as it could. The scent that I had followed billowed from him in a pervasive cloud.

I watched him, waiting for the dawning realization. When it finally came, he tried lunging for the den's opening. I smirked at his outrage, holding him in my arms and pulling him tighter into my embrace. "Calm down. There's not a chance in hell I would have let him. You're mine." I whispered the last part and heard his wolf pup bark with satisfaction. My wolf clamored to be free and my beast grumbled with a satisfaction that Rebel's reaction to the scent was not the same as mine.

He is pack. Mate.

I nodded and hugged Rebel to me. "Look. Let's just go home. Mom will be waiting." I couldn't help but wonder at that. I'd never called her that before. Publicly, I refused to acknowledge it. Privately I yearned for it, embraced the idea of it. And now with Rebel...

He is pack. "If we're lucky, she'll have made a huge breakfast."

I heard his stomach rumbling in response.

We reached the house, the black iron gate at the back of the property, open. I didn't know if Rebel could smell it, but the breeze carried Blue Eyes' scent, a diaphanous cloud. He had marked the place, sometime in the night. I watched Rebel wrinkle his nose and glance around. I imagine his head echoed the cacophony that I heard from my wolf at the scent.

"It smells... familiar."

I looked at Rebel. "What?"

"That smell." He looked pensive as if trying to recall, then his eyes lit up and he raced towards the house. I snuffed at the air. Blue Eyes scent drifted on the breeze and Rebel's scent was pervasive, but there was something more.... something more Rebel, something part of his scent but separate of it too. I walked tentatively towards the house, picking up more scents, familiar, not to me, but to Rebel. One trace aroma gave rise to an image I'd seen before, an image drawn from Rebel's mind, an image that drove wolf and beast wild; insisting I step up the pace. I drew up short, pausing at the door. It opened abruptly in front of me and Rebel grabbed me by the hand and pulled me in after him.

We stopped in front of a red-headed. Rebel turned sideways, looking at me with the most beautiful smile. "Trish, this is Scout." He nudged me, squeezing my hand. "And this is Trish. She raised me since I was just a baby."

Trish and I sized each other up. By all outward appearances, the greeting was simple and amicable, but I could see her nostrils flaring, her eyes narrowed almost indiscernibly and I felt a physical repulsion, as if she pushed at me, not just me but my wolf and the beast; especially the beast.

Someone cleared their throat. I turned and saw him and it took all my willpower not to lunge. I knew, like I knew to breathe, that everyone heard my wolf's clamoring growl inside my head. The scent I recognized earlier, a scent, both cloying and pungent, subtly attached to Rebel, exuded from him almost forcefully.

Dalton

Rebel thought his name before speaking and with the thought came a flush of scents. I reached out to shake his hand. "You must be Dalton." He had a crooked smile and a strong grip and didn't seem the least bit surprised that I knew his name.

"And you are?" The question was rhetorical.

"Scout." There was nothing adversarial about him, still my wolf did not like him.

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