The Human Mate

Emerald   I crane my head back and closed my eyes, the sun so bright I can see the glow through my eyelids, it feels good, warm, the sun on my caramel-colored skin, my hands in the dirt. I take a deep breath in allowing air to expand my lungs, while taking just a few more seconds of serenity before continuing digging and going in the house. My Mom, Juliette, gave me some hydrangeas to plant in front of the house, she wouldn’t tell me the color of them, she wanted it to be a surprise. She said the smaller things gives you something to look forward to. She was the best mom anyone kid could ask for. She was patient, unconditionally giving and sweet. I spend my days gardening and painting. I began gardening when I was twelve so, I had flowers and scenery to paint. Im eighteen now and I could paint all day if I could or if it didn’t upset him. Him being my father, Thomas, my mothers’ mate. He was the delta of our pack, The Silver Ring pack, which consisted of about four hundred wolves of different rankings, so we had a lot of land to comfortably fit every member. He was gone majority of the day doing his pack duties pretending to be a perfect loyal pack member but when he came home, he was a totally different being. And I lied before, the main reason I got into gardening was to look and keep busy, but I ended up finding it calming. My “father” constantly liked to remind me how useless I was, along with embarrassing, smelly, ugly, repulsive, and whatever else he could think in his simple mind at the moment, so I made myself scarce. Usually, the insults followed with physical abuse, and I would just take it every time. I had no choice but to, I was nothing compared to him, nothing compared to wolves in general. I wasn’t strong, quick minded or resilient like them and oh yeah, I couldn’t shift. Yup, I couldn’t shift, I had no wolf, lucky me. I was nine when my mom told me that I didn’t have a wolf and the reason behind it. It was confusing and a cluster f**k, but Thomas wasn’t really my father, we had no blood relation, but he was still my mother’s mate. So, who was my father?   My mom was an omega wolf, petite but beautiful, I took after her, having her bright emerald green eyes, same petite build at five feet tall and one hundred and thirty pounds and dark almost black full wavy hair that cascaded down my back. I was darker than her though, but we had the same face so im assuming I got my skin color from my dad. My mom found out Thomas was her mate when she turned eighteen like all wolves did. The thing is my mom knew Thomas before they were bound to be mates growing up in the same pack their whole lives. And she saw right through him unlike everyone else, they all fell for his charm. He fooled everyone around him, even Alpha Marcus. My mom knew he was evil, she saw how he treated low rank wolves as if he was at the top of the food chain and that was not someone she wanted as a mate. He belittled and threatened anyone he thought was beneath him as if he was the alpha himself, but Alpha Marcus didn’t portray that behavior, so it never made sense why Thomas would. Before my mom turned eighteen, she told me she prayed to celeste, the moon goddess every night asking for anyone but him no matter their rank or duties. Celeste certainly didn’t answer her prayers because when she turned eighteen, she felt the bond between her and Thomas. She had begun to wonder if the moon goddess was even real to mate her with someone like him or rather than that, bless him with a mate. My father, I mean Thomas knew she was his mate before my mom did because he was twenty-five at that point but that didn’t stop him from sleeping and making moves on and with any she-wolf that would let him and he made no point to hide it from my mom. After finding out that they were mates Thomas told my mom that she could never be his mate because she was weak and an omega. My mom was okay with it for obvious reasons, so she expected him to reject her then and there, but he didn’t, he just stormed away. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too but just not yet. They went about their lives separately for a few months and within those few months my mom met my dad – a human. My mom was strolling the packs border debating becoming a rogue to avoid the black pit in her life, we know as Thomas. She knew that he would come for her as soon he was bored of running through all those she-wolves and the mate bond was still pulling them together, she said she could feel it every day. She made herself scarce while he was off duty, finding an excuse to do any job as far away from the main pack house. So, she did it she crossed the border and walked for about an hour until she was surrounded by white trees and soft dirt. The trees surrounding the pack land were your typical brown, large and sturdy trees you see in forest pictures with hard light brown dirt. The clear difference in the terrain she her know she was as out and a far distance from the pack. My mom told me she didn’t have a plan and she’s never been off pack lands, but anything was better than Thomas at this point. Being exhausted she sat right before a lake she had found cupping some water to rub on her face but when she opened her eyes, she saw a man’s reflection in the water, my father. He had a crossbow with a silver tipped arrow aimed at her. Still on her knees she turned to face him and slowly stood up all while he still had the crossbow following her as she moved. They stared each other down for what she said was forever until he lowered his crossbow. He asked for her name, and she told him. At nine years old this part of the story had become a guaranteed nightmare for any female pup my age and hearing this I was so scared for my mom. I couldn’t help but ask if she was terrified because we were taught as pups to never stray off packlands and that there are hunters that wouldn’t hesitate to kill us just for being what we were. So, I asked her if she was scared and she told me she wasn’t it, she felt drawn to him and he to her. She finally asked him what his name was, and he told her, but I still don’t know his name, she refused to tell me saying it wasn’t safe and I had to accept it. She said my father convinced her it wasn’t safe for her to be out there and especially by herself, and she agreed because she had no idea what she was doing, and it was clear as day as she walked right into a hunter. So, he walked her back on that hour long journey back to the pack with a promise to see her again even they haven’t said much to each other just a bunch of staring. The next day my mom ventured off to find him again and every day after that for the few months that she managed to avoid her mate. She fell in love with him, and she thought he fell in love with her. She was sure he was the one, she felt it in her bones, but how could a mated she wolf feel a bond with a hunter. They talked about everything under the sun, nothing was left unspoken. She even gave her virginity to him as sacred as it was and that it was only meant for your mate. But my mom felt he was her mate and celeste had made a mistake. He was everything she prayed for, sweet, patient, caring and compared his looks to a Greek God.