Her Wolf Mate

2

The town is the busiest just as the sun is going down. Humans would attribute that to people ending their workday, but I know better. Arrow Brooke is no ordinary town. It is ruled by Mayor Donald Hamrington, a vampire. I’ve seen him in passing. He looks like he’s in his late seventies. His wife, on the other hand, is human, surprisingly. Ashley something.

I’ve seen her, too.

Very pretty and young.

It’s due to Mayor Hamrington’s influence that a lot of Others flit through Arrow Brooke. Considering that the town is surrounded by a forest so large that it’s easy to get lost for days on end, a lot of shifters have moved here as well.

That’s why my parents moved here fifteen years ago when we had been ousted from our tribe. They had come here with the hopes of starting anew.

It’s getting even darker, and my anxiety rears its head. But the entrance to the forest is still at quite a distance. I cross past a large bar, and my feet slow down as I glance inside. It’s only got a few people, but I catch a glimpse of a woman behind the bar. She has short, choppy black hair and piercing grey eyes.

I know who she is.

Seline Cross, the mate of Austin Cross, the Alpha of the Stone Creek Wolves. She is quite popular around town. Nobody could manage to quell the rumors of the events which took place two years ago, with Seline at the heart of it all.

I’ve always wanted to go inside and just take a proper look at her. I mean, I could. Universe has been dying to get me to go out for drinks. But I’m not allowed to leave the house unless it’s for work or study. And even that came at quite a cost.

As we reach the intersection, Universe turns to look at me. I can see that she wants to say something but is hesitant.

“Don’t worry about me,” I smile at her. “I’ll be fine.”

She’s only met Chris so far, and I remember how terrified she was of him.

“I can’t help it,” my friend takes my hands. “I wish you would take some money from me and just run away.”

“They’ll track me.”

“But you’re fast-”

My smile wobbles. How do I explain to her that the mark on my right wrist is not a birthmark but a seal to hold in my panther? A punishment that makes me weak and at my brother’s mercy.

I can’t run fast enough.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I hug her before dragging myself towards the tree line.

My hand on the trunk of a tree, I look inside the darkness, my panther whimpering restlessly. There was a time when I had loved running through this forest along with my parents and my doting brothers.

Now, my parents are no more, the violence of their deaths having broken our family. And my brothers, they have become monsters.

There are a few shifter packs that reside in the woodlands. But the territories have been scent marked so that no one crosses over. Our family tribe is small, so we don’t have much territory to begin with. There’s another Panther pack in the area, the Black Claw Tribe, and their Alpha is a particularly creepy man. My brothers like him though, since he allows us to hunt on his tribe's land.

I shudder, moving quickly through the trees.

I finally breathe a sigh of relief when I see the treehouses in the distance. Each treehouse belongs to one of my brothers. Everybody has one except me.

It’s an insult, I know.

But I’m past the point of insults at this stage.

I just want to survive.

I make my way to the family house, the one that my father built when we first arrived. It no longer has that feeling of warmth and safety I once associated with it.

I enter the house to peeling paint and a musty scent, the sound of some game blaring loudly from the living room. As I put down the keys on the table right next to the entrance, I noticed the vase that had been an anniversary gift to my mother was missing.

I bite my tongue to hold in my cry of dismay.

They must have pawned it.

Assholes!

Forcing in my anger and pain, I make my way to the living room. I’ve just reached the doorway when a new scent hits me, a different scent.

I instantly freeze, recognizing it.

Shit. No.

I turn around, planning to hurry to my room, when I hear Chris’s voice from inside, “Come on in, Thea!”

His voice is pleasant, but that has never boded well for me.

I pray to every deity out there before walking inside.

After our parents died, Chris became the Alpha of our small pack, the pack we had previously joined upon arriving, having kicked us out. I thought he would make a good Alpha, but I was proven wrong.

The large television screen is showing some football match, but nobody is watching. All five of my brothers were eyeing me, along with their sixth guest.

Nolan Claw, the Alpha of the Black Claw Tribe, is watching me with a smile on his face.

Nolan may have been handsome once upon a time, but his vicious and bloodthirsty ways had left his face with plenty of scars. However, deep inside, I know that even if he were still good-looking, I would throw up at the sight of him. He’s a terrifying panther, and I have enough knowledge about the females in his pack to know that I should never be alone with him.

My eyes flicker toward my brothers. I am the youngest of them all, the only daughter. In his mid-thirties, Chris is the oldest of us all, the Alpha of our tribe. Darius is his second-in-command, mostly because he’s the second son of the family. Charlie, Beau, and Lee fall in quick succession. Lee is two years older than me.

There had been a time when they had adored me and treated me like their little princess. But times have changed, and now their presence terrifies me.

“I told you to come home early today,” Chris watches me, a smile on his lips.

My blood turns cold.

“I – “I struggle to speak under the pressure, “I tried, but I have to walk so-”

His eyes darken, and I instantly snap my mouth shut.