The Alpha's Warrior Mate

Dinner Is Served

“Oh my God, Anna! Are you okay?” Emily rushed to me.

“I’m fine. I was just on the training field sparring and missed a block.” I replied while ignoring the look Emily gave me.

“Anna... females in this pack aren’t warriors.” Jane said wearily, handing over a bag of ice.

“I figured as much.” I smirked while icing my face.

“Maybe you should go up and clean up before dinner?” She suggested.

“Good idea. See you later.” 

It was odd to me that with a pack as large as this one that no women were warriors. Didn’t they have the option?

“I’m not sure they do.” My wolf replied.

“Glad you could join the party.” I mumbled back to her. She didn’t reply.

I found the room I came out of this morning and threw myself on the bed. I knew my wolf wasn’t ready to talk because my face wasn’t healing as fast as it would if she were. Exhausted, I closed my eyes. What am I doing here? I wondered.

My eyes flashed to the door. I could smell him before he even opened the door.

“Anna? Can I come in?”

“Yeah” I replied.

He opened the door and I took that time to really study him. He had dark brown hair and soft hazel eyes. His white t shirt fit his broad shoulder snug and his jeans hung off his hips just the right way. Looking at him made my wolf purr in the back of my mind. 

“What’s up?” I asked sitting up on the bed ready for whatever was about to come my way. 

“Look, I’m really sorry. None of this is going the way it was supposed to.” He said much to my surprise. 

“You mean finding your mate abused and chained to a wall in another Pack’s basement?” I laughed because the words felt so insane being said out loud.

“No.. I mean... yes. But what happened on the training field...”

“Don’t worry about it.” I cut him off.

“I am worried about it.” He said darkly.

I locked my eyes on him. I couldn’t figure him out. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to. He moved to sit next to me on the bed. He showed me that he was lifting his hand up slowly and I sat perfectly still.

“Why isn’t this healing?” He said touching my cheek.

His touch felt like electricity. My breath hitched as we both sat in a trance over the mate bond. He leaned his head forward to touch his forehead to mine. It was like everything in the world was gone and we were the only two who existed. We sat still for several minutes until he pulled away. My wolf whined at that. 

“When I was taken by the Red Aspen pack, she fought. She fought every day. Most days, it was more her than me. As time went on, the abuse got... worse.” I snuck a glance at him. His face was stoic. “She slowly faded, until today on the training field. It was like she remembered what it was like to be alive. I felt it too. I was the head trainer in my pack. I was in charge of all of the warriors of Silver Crescent Pack. When we lost them all, it nearly killed me. I didn’t think Red Aspen took prisoners of war, but they did. I’m still not sure why.”

Ethan’s face was completely still. His eyes were focused on the floor. When he finally did answer, all of the emotion was drained from his face.

“Women do not train here. You will not train here. Jane will find you something to do to be a productive member of this pack. In the meantime, you need to get cleaned up, dinner is almost ready”

I felt like I had been slapped. Why had I said those things to him? The mate bond was too much and I knew it. I would have to be more careful in the future. I watched him stand up and walk towards the bathroom taking his shirt off.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked

“Changing my clothes,” he said simply.

“Shouldn’t you be doing that in your room?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m going to my closet in my room” 

Panicked, I looked down at the men’s shirt I had on that day. I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been. He came back out in a new button down shirt. He reached the door and lifted his hand to open it.

“By the way, my shirt looks great on you,” He winked and walked out into the hall leaving me with my mouth wide open in shock. 

. . .

I showered again after Ethan left. After not showering for months, I felt like it was necessary. This time, I opted for a pair of dark skinny jeans and a white blouse. I put my long, blonde hair in a braid on the right side. I looked in the mirror at my sunken in eyes. They used to be bright blue, but these days they were more grey. My cheek bones were more prominent than ever. I brushed my teeth taking care to be gentle on the side that was still healing from sparring. After one more glance in the mirror I headed downstairs. The girls were still in the kitchen, this time throwing ingredients into different bowls. Glancing out the back porch, three guys were hovering around a grill. Ethan was flipping burgers laughing at something Jacob was telling him. His gaze found mine and he smiled softly before turning back to the grill.

“Seems like you two are becoming friendly.” Emily said pulling me back to reality.

“Hardly,” I replied. “Anything I can help with?”

“Can you set the table? Dishes are in that cabinet.” Jane pointed towards a cabinet. I made my way to the table to put plates and forks at each setting. 

“DINNER IS SERVED!” A loud voice from behind made me jump causing a plate to crash to the floor.

“Oh s**t, Luna, I’m sorry.” Jacob walked rushed over to help clean the mess.

“No it’s okay, I just spaced. It’s my fault.” From the corner of my eye I saw Ethan walk out the back door again. The trainer from before followed.

“It’s okay, Anna. Ben and Ethan just went to grab some more food off the grill.” Jane hurriedly commented as she watched my face fall. She followed the guys outside and looked to be in a heated discussion with them both. They finally came back in and sat at the table, Ethan looking exceptionally grumpy. I waited until everyone was seated before I picked a seat in the middle. A low growl told me that was the wrong move.

“You belong next to your mate!” Emily shouted from the other side of the table. Her ability to be cheerful was starting to be what I admire most about her- and what was most annoying about her. I looked up and everyone was waiting. Sighing, I moved next to Ethan and everyone let out a breath. 

“So Ben said he met you earlier today?” Jane asked in my direction passing the salad bowl down towards Jacob who made a face and sent it toward Ethan.

“Uhh yeah, we just trained a bit.” I said looking hesitantly towards Ben, the trainer. I could tell from the way he acted around Jane that they were mates.

“Hah! A bit! She could kick most of my guy’s asses if she wanted to!” Ben said with a twinkle in his eye. 

“No way, Luna! That’s impressive! We’ll have to see you in action more tomorrow!” Jacob added. 

I was just thinking of how I wished Jacob would stop calling me Luna when a loud shattering sound echoed through the room. Ethan’s glass had broken from the force he was using to hold it. I flinched, knowing I hadn’t done much right today but hoping that he would calm down. 

“So... what pack are you from?” Jane asked trying to ignore her brother.

“Silver Crescent.” I said slowly.

Everyone but Ethan looked up to stare at me. 

“I see our reputation precedes me” I joked darkly.

The silence continued.

“I was the head trainer of my pack. My dad was the Alpha. We trained women and men, because we had to.” I said pointedly in Ethan's direction. “We didn’t have the numbers to just train men. We knew Red Aspen was coming and we knew there would be a war. We just weren’t ready for how many there would be. They ambushed us from all sides. I was their prisoner until a few days ago.” I said matter of factly while taking a drink of water.

The table was now completely still. I looked up from my plate to see everyone staring intently at theirs. Realizing they were having some type of conversation through their link I decided to try to change the subject. 

Clearing my throat, “Speaking of that, what day is it?”

“Friday.” Ethan said lowly.

“What’s the date?”

“October 4th, 2019.”

I stilled. The last I remembered, it was January and now he was saying it was October? That means I had been with Red Aspen for almost nine months. I nodded, finally understanding. Ethan shoved his chair back from the table and all but ran out the door. I didn’t know if I should follow him, so I excused myself to our room instead of facing the other two mated pairs by myself. I saw Emily shoot me a sympathetic look as I headed upstairs to our room. 

Our room.

Would he be back tonight? I was too tired to decide. I found some leggings in the drawer and the scent of Ethan’s shirts overwhelmed me. I grabbed one and pulled it over my head. I fell into bed, too tired to think of anything else.