Urquia

Chapter 9: Momma bear and the big black wolf

*Nathan POV*

-"Alpha, the woman and all her family are going on a trip of some kind. I think they're going camping from the gear they're loading on the jeep. What are our orders?" says Tom, slowly, on the phone.

He and Ramirez have been taking turns following them since the airport.

-"Follow them and send me the location. If they go wandering through the woods, it won't be safe for them. They might find bears or, worse, rogues."

-"On it, Alpha," he says, then hangs up.

Nobody in the pack knows she's my mate, except for my parents and Leo. Tom was a close friend until I withdrew from everyone.

I wanted to stay close to him, but every time I saw him with his mate, it just… made me feel jealous, so I avoided them. I think he's a great man and friend, and I know he doesn't hold a grudge. He understands. Knowing him, I bet his intuition is telling him she might be my mate, but he won't ask. I'll have to apologize someday.

I work for a bit, as fast as I can, so I can finish early and go see my mate as soon as possible.

Thirty-five minutes pass, and I receive a message with their location.

-'Shifting to wolf. Will send location when they stop.'

I call my delta, Ramirez, and tell him they might camp on our land.

-"Tell the warriors to let them be, but keep an eye on them, and tell the warriors to be careful. They are human."

-"Done," he says.

I kind of want them to be on our territory for their safety because they are entering no man's land. I'm worried they'll find rogues or something. I hurry up with my work and head to the pack house.

Tom called me several hours later.

-"Alpha, we've been going upstream along the river for a few hours. But they've been avoiding crossing our borders as if they knew where not to go. They've camped in between patrol border towers 19 and 20, but again, in no man's land on the left side of the river. I haven't smelled any rogues nearby, but I have smelled bears. I met the dogs when they were wandering around, and they know my scent by now."

-"Okay, I'll send you a few warriors to back you up in case anything happens. I'm on my way back to the pack, so mind-link me if something comes up."

-"Okay, Alpha," he says.

-"Tom?"

-"Yes, Alpha?"

-"You can call me Nathan," I say.

-"Okay, Alpha Nathan," he says in an amused tone.

I go to our pack house, say hi to my family. I go upstairs and take a long shower. I can feel the hot water relaxing my muscles.

On one hand, I really want to be upfront and tell her all I feel about her. I want to hold her and make her happy. I want to love her kids as my own pups. I want to protect them. But on the other hand, deep down, there's a fear in me. I fear she'll leave me again, and I'll lose the little sanity I have left. I fear I'll lose control over my wolf and I'll become feral. I fear for my pack, and I fear she'll reject me because of her husband or because I'm a werewolf. I know she's human, and that makes it even more difficult because they don't feel the intensity of the mate bond as we do.

-'Make her,' Shadow says.

-'That's easy for you to say. We already know she loves dogs,' I say, and he barks happily.

I guess I have to make cautious moves until we get to know each other better. I put on a black tank top, some gray sweatpants, and some sneakers. As I head downstairs, I see Leo talking to a warrior.

-"You know where they're at?" he asks as he sees me.

-"Wanna go for a run?" I say with a grin.

-"Let's eat first; I'm starving," he says, matching my grin.

We head to the kitchen, where a few omegas are cooking with Mom.

-"You are in a good mood," she beams at me.

-"Yes, I'm going running later," I say as I sip my water.

After lunch, we go toward the treeline, greeting my pack members as quickly as I can. Leo snickers at my impatience. I strip behind a tree and put the clothes in a special bag that has elastic bands that stretch when I'm in wolf form. I shift, and we run towards our patrol towers to the northeast.

As I dress, Ramirez is reporting everything they've done to me. Normal human stuff. I can hear music and laughter, so my mate is having fun. Leo stays with the patrol warriors, and I go and blend into nature to see them from across the river.

I hear her dad say -"You wanna try and see if you can beat me, baby girl?"

But her mom holds a shoe and points at them.

-"Oh no, if someone gets hurt, I'll smack you both with my chancla," she says, very serious.

-'Mom's a badass,' Shadow says, amused.

-'Yeah, she's scary,' I grin.

-'Alpha, I caught a bear scent nearby. What do you want us to do?' Tom mind-links.

-'Two of you follow the bear and try to make it turn around or deviate somewhere else. Be careful, and don't go too far.'

-'Okay, Alpha.'

I got distracted, and I didn't notice they had already started. I see them both on the floor, wrestling but laughing, so I know it's not serious. In less than two minutes or so, she's on him.

-"Kids, come help me!" I hear her yell.

Suddenly, Tom mind-links me again.

-'Alpha, we have a problem. We were driving the bear west, but we caught some rogue scents. If they see us, they may attack.'

"s**t," I say, while I see a shoe flying. I mind-link Leo to wait for me while I go downstream a bit so they won't see me. I cross the river, and Leo follows me in no time. We pass Ramirez, who is watching after the family, and head directly to where Tom and Walter, the warrior I sent with him, have left their scent for us to follow.

Approximately a mile away, we met with Tom and Walter. I sniff around, and the rogue scents are familiar. They are heading to where we are.

I stand high in front of my warriors and wait for them. They're seven of them. They look like bikers. I growl. An old bearded man who looks like the leader walks toward us, and as he sniffs the air and catches our scents, his eyes go wide. He lifts his hands in surrender.

-"This is no man's land. We don't want any trouble. We're just camping here."

I shift and put on my sweatpants. The bearded man waits, and I say,

-"We were trying to deviate a bear toward here. There are humans near our borders, and we don't want to harm them," I say with a stern tone.

He frowns, then realizes something. -"Ah, that must be Andy and her family," he says as his eyes soften.

My wolf growls in my head, and I narrow my eyes.

-"You know them?" I ask, realizing that's why their scents are familiar. From the club.

-"Yeah, we've biked together until they settled here. I got her a job at a club we visit every time we come around here. They are a nice family, but don't worry—they are not to be messed with. Those girls are badass; they don't take s**t from anyone. I'd be afraid for the bear instead," he says, and they all snicker.

-"They know about our kind?" I ask. He thinks about an answer.

-"I don't know. We were careful, and Andy was pregnant, so we would go to hostels instead of camping outdoors. But if they suspected, they never tried to find out." He sighs and adds,

-"Look, man, we sometimes camp together near the river. And when we're around here, we take care of them. If you want, we'll keep an eye on them."

-"That won't be necessary. My pack will look out for them," I say, not leaving him any option to retort.

-"What's your name?" I ask.

-"Charles," he says.

-"Well, Charles, if you ever need anything, just ask one of my patrols to speak to me or Leo, my beta," I say, and his eyes go wide.

I nod and turn around. If they protected my mate during her pregnancy, they deserve my gratitude and respect. I undress again and shift. We head back toward the camp. I sent Leo to check on the pack house.

-"Tom, you stay here and guard the family with Walter."

They bow in submission and go near their area. I cross the river. It's getting dark. I go to the north patrol tower to have a talk with the warriors. They tell me they have seen the women and the kids every once in a while, but they never crossed the river line, so they didn't report it. They thought the humans were harmless.

After dinner, the moon is already up, so I shift again and go near them. I see her with her mom. They're looking at the river and heating marshmallows. She looks so mesmerizing with her two-color braids. She seems happy. And today I've seen her genuinely smile. I'm happy her parents came.

My ears perk as I hear her mother say,

-"I feel it too, you know. We have to be careful."

Feel what? Can she sense us? She puts a hand on the ground.

-"It's probably an animal; I've got it covered," Andrea says and does the same.

So she does sense us.

-'Mate has skills; she is special,' Shadow says with pride.

-"Well, don't forget to put the food away from our tents," her mother says as she gets up, kisses her, and goes to her tent.

She opens a can and stares at the moon; her eyes wander to the river. Then her gaze locks on mine, and my heart skips a beat.

She blinks and focuses on me directly. I hold my breath, but as she rises up and gets near the river, slowly, my wolf and I are drawn to her. Before I realize it, I've stepped out of the shadows of the trees and gotten near the shore of the river, too. Her dog starts to growl at me, and she gasps. Her eyes are still on me, and Shadow stands up proudly. She shushes her dog.

-"Loki, go to Sam!" he obeys.

She looks at my wolf's eyes again, with so much admiration and curiosity, I'm tempted to cross the river. I see her look down and slowly try to take her phone out, so I hide again. She looks for me, disappointed.

-'Mate's not scared of me,' Shadow says with joy.

-'I think she likes you more than she likes me,' I say, amused.

I keep watching her until she goes to her tent.

-'Thank you, moon goddess, for bringing her to me,' I pray, looking towards the moon.

I don't know when I fell asleep, but when I wake up, it's dawn. I see her get up and stretch. She goes to the bushes and comes back after a while. Then I see her bring a bag near the fireplace. She starts a fire and puts water from the river to boil. Then she starts to stretch and do karate-like moves. She is so skilled and meticulous, I can't stop looking at her.

-'You're drooling,' Shadow says.

-'You, too,' I respond.

After a while, her sister and the kids get up and do the same as her. Her mom starts with breakfast, and her dad is just staring at them, drinking coffee with pride. Yeah… I feel the same.

I go to the patrol tower and eat with my warriors. Leo sent breakfast with the morning shift. I send David to Tom and Ramirez, who are still there, and send Walter back home. I shift again and just observe them. How they joke. How she enjoys being with her family. How she cuddles her baby with so much love. Even the kids are kind to each other. The little boy is very caring toward his sister. He looks around protectively from time to time.

They all do. Why would a kid so young be so suspicious of his surroundings? I wonder what happened to them for him to be so alert.

I go downstream and cross the river. I go toward Tom and Ramirez. Then her dogs come to us. At first, they start growling at me, but then Shadow stands up and growls back. They both start to whimper with their ears down and their tails between their legs. He relaxes, sniffs the air, and licks his snout. They wag their tails and rub themselves with him, Tom, and Ramirez.

After a while, we hear a whistle, and they bark back and start running toward the camp.

From where we are, we can see them, but they can't see us. We see my mate, her father, and the kids start walking north again, leaving the mother, the sister, and the baby in the camp with the dogs. I tell Ramirez to stay with David, while Tom and I follow their scents. I notice the rifle on her father's back, so they are probably hunting. We'll have to be careful not to get in their way.

They go up the mountain, and as the wind changes, the smell of a female grizzly bear goes through my nostrils, and I alert Tom.

-'Let's get closer. Keep your eyes open.'

As we get closer, I hear a commotion, and we approach, crouching slowly. I see the bear roaring at my mate, her father, and the kids. They are all standing together with their hands up high, waving them slowly. They aren't looking directly at the bear, except for my mate. She says in a surprisingly calm voice,

-"I'm sorry, momma, we got in your way. We didn't know you were living here. I bet you're just protecting your babies. I'd do the same. We are going to walk away now, and we can all spend the rest of the day minding our own business. Kids, Dad, don't turn around, but take small steps back and walk away slowly."

-'Alpha, what do we do?' Tom asks.

-'We wait. I don't want to kill the bear. I can hear the cubs somewhere behind her.'

They obey, and she stays put, blocking the bear's view of them. They are still waving their arms, making noise, and the father takes his rifle from his back slowly. Now she starts taking a few steps back, too.

Suddenly, he trips on a loose rock and falls to the ground. My mate's eyes widen as the bear starts to charge, but she doesn't run. I jump from where I was hiding, and Tom comes after me. I stand in front of her, facing the bear, and bark at it. I'm the same size as it. The bear stops, then starts roaring. I growl and snap my teeth, and after a few more complaining roars, the bear backs off and starts going its way with its cubs. I wait until I don't hear them to turn around.

Tom is looking between us. She has the rifle in her hands now. The kids are wide-eyed behind the father, who is still on the floor. He has a serious face, not surprised by us but instead assessing the situation.

-'She took the rifle from her father when he was pointing at me,' Tom said.

I look at her again, waiting to see what she'll do next. She has one hand up and then puts the gun over her shoulder slowly. She looks into my eyes.

-'Let's give them space,' I mind-link Tom.

I stand there, watching them as Tom slowly retreats to the woods.