Fighting Free

Ch. 4: The Mate

Samantha Townsend looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She felt ridiculous in the dress her mother had chosen for her. A hideous thing that belonged on a middle schooler at an eighth grade dance instead of a twenty five year old woman. It was easier to agree to wear the damn gown than to try to fight her mama on the idea. They had clashed on other subjects, but when her mother had worked herself into a tizzy, she became a stubborn mule; set into whatever idea she wanted like a splinter dug under skin.

She undid the bun at the nape of her neck, sure that if she was going to have to wear the horrid, velvet dress then she was at least going to make everything else about herself look dazzling. She made sure that her make-up was in perfect order and that not a stand of hair was misplaced. She would not be made a fool by her mother’s stubborn streak.

When she finally stood in the tiny living room they all shared, her mother had nothing to complain about. It was not done for her benefit, but was done in spite of her.

“You look beautiful,” her mother said, placing a final pin in her sister, Olivia's hair. Olivia was sitting on the ottoman as her mother rose behind her, setting each piece of hair in its perfect place.

"Thanks, mom,” Sam said flatly as she plopped on to an upholstered chair nearby.

“Sam, please watch your dress. Don’t ruin it before we get through the morning,” her mother chided.

“Does it really matter, mom?” Sam fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Why are we even going to this thing? No one will know if we skip the brunch.”

“Samantha. The Moon pack is one of the most influential packs. They have hundreds in their pack, hundreds of wolves. On top of that, the Moon Luna is said to have the purest blood. She is the Goddess’ daughter. Can you imagine how powerful she is?”

“If she’s so important, why would we even be on her radar?” Sam still couldn’t understand why her mother was so adamant on going. They were low in the pack hierarchy and rubbing elbows with Alphas and Lunas wouldn’t change that. Sam had been able to raise the family a bit when she started teaching at the pack schoolhouse in pack territory, but before then, they had no status whatsoever. Her mother worked as a hairdresser in one of the salons that was part of the odd amalgamations of businesses the Asher pack owned. And before their father passed away, he only left a blemish on their name. Olivia didn’t seem likely to help raise them up the ranks either since she seemed to have inherited their mother’s disposition to be silly.

Sam was more than OK with their current standing in the pack. She was happy teaching the few children in the pack and enjoyed the anonymity that came with the low rank, but her mother saw things differently. She watched and mimicked the Luna like she was some hero to aspire to and Olivia looked like she was picking up on her mother’s weird fascination with the higher ranking women in the pack. Sam found everything they did absolutely ridiculous.

“We might not be on their radar, but what if…” her mother turned away from Olivia’s hair and looked at Sam with a pointed look. Oh, sweet Goddess, thought Sam, she’s up to something stupid again. “What if… Olivia is Mate to the Moon Luna’s oldest son.”

Sam did a mental facepalm.

“Mom, no. You gotta be kidding, right?”

“What,” she said, turning back to Olivia’s hair, putting the last finishing touches to an extravagant coiffure.

“Olivia is seventeen. From what I hear the Moon Luna’s oldest is only eleven. They aren’t matched, mom,” Sam huffed.

“You never know,” she shrugged. “There have been Mated pairs with vastly different ages.”

“Yes, mom, but I hear that the oldest is Blood Bonded to another pack. That means there is zero chance that Olivia is his Mate.” Sam stared in disbelief at her. She wondered if it was actually possible for her mother to be so childish. It was like seeing someone buying yesterday’s lottery ticket, knowing it wasn’t winning, but hoping somehow the winning numbers drawn would change. It made no sense.

“Look, Sam,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, exasperated, “all I can do for you and your sister is hope. Hope that you two will be happy and find good places in the pack and maybe, just maybe find Mates.

“I don’t want you two to have to struggle like I did.” Her last sentence stung. It was common knowledge within the Asher pack that Samantha’s mother and father were not Mates. They had come together and created a family to make the pack strong, they sacrificed their happiness for the good of the pack, but it was not a secret that there was no love between the two. Her mother had never spoken of her father with kind words or felt grief when speaking of him like Sam did and it stung her to often hear the callous way she spoke of him. But she also understood that her mother’s lot was not one she wanted or wished upon anyone. It was the reason why she was happy to live her life on her own, without a Mate, without rank and without the things her mother was so worried about.

“What time does the brunch start,” Olivia asked like the two other women in the room had not been talking.

“In about half an hour,” her mother said, shocked by the time. “We better finish up soon. I want to be one of the first people there.” Sam let out a sigh. She knew she would never change her mother, so she gathered her frivolous dress and went to wait in her room for her mother and sister to finish getting ready.

She didn’t have to wait too long for her mother to show up at her bedroom door announcing they were ready to leave. All together, they walked out of their apartment in the pack house and made their way to the reception hall in the building next door.

Even though they got there early, there was already a line formed outside the doors of the reception hall. Sam’s mother cheerfully said hello to a few other female pack members that Sam knew were as preposterous as her mother.

“What do you think she will be like, Melissa,” her mother giggled and Sam rolled her eyes.

“Well, Jane, let me tell you. Connie, you remember Connie? Gertie’s daughter. Well, Connie told Gertie that she helped get the rooms ready for the Moon pack and…” Sam stopped listening. Olivia seemed consumed in her phone and was no help in lessening the mental anguish happening in front of her. Melissa was one of her mother’s close friends, but only filled her mother with rumors and nonsense. Sam prayed that the doors would be opened soon and she could get through this torturous day as quickly as possible.

As Melissa filled in their mother on what the Moon pack had asked for their accommodations, the double doors slowly opened. All around her, the tethering of women’s excited chatter filled her ears, but it was something else that made her heart crash wildly against her rib cage and made her breath hitch in her throat.

The scent that permeated the gust of cool air as the doors swung open was intoxicating. She could think of nothing else. She could feel it seeping into her every pore. Sam wanted to wrap herself in it and spend cold nights draped in the scent. She hadn’t even taken a single step into the room and she was already vibrating with anticipation of finding its source.

As the crowd began to file into the large room, she allowed herself to be carried along, thankful that the people could hide that her legs were failing her. Her whole body seemed to not be working properly. It took everything in her to keep herself from falling apart.

Then she saw him.

Tall and imposing like an ancient forest, his copper skin was smooth and reminded Sam of delicious caramel. Except the man looked anything but sweet. He was majestic and glorious and imposing. Sam could feel her heart threatening to burst through her chest, her hands ached to run her fingers through his long onyx colored hair, and all she wanted to do was wrap herself around this man.

Without her consent, her feet began to move in his direction. She left the anonymity of the crowd and faintly heard her mother’s voice calling to her, but it sounded so far away. Like she was calling all the way from yesterday. She dodged the empty chairs and tables waiting to be filled, finally making it to stand in front of the sublime man. When his darkened gaze fell on her, she felt herself fall down a precipice that she knew she was never going to crawl out of. This man belonged to her. Mine, the wolf inside of her growled.

Under his gaze, she grabbed onto the hem of her thigh length dress. Holding onto anything was better than the electric currents burning through her flesh at that moment. She bit her tongue to stifle a moan that his roaming eyes caused. His gaze felt like caresses on her skin and Sam felt utterly melted.

“Can I help you,” his honeyed voice said and she thought of a million things he could do for her. He could kiss her so long that no one would know where she ended and he began. He could touch her until he had mapped every inch of her body. He could lay her there on the ground and make her his until she was a sloppy happy mess.

But nothing came out of her mouth. She couldn’t even talk. Her body still refusing to work properly in his presence.

“OK,” he smiled flatly at her before walking away to the head table and sitting next to the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Each step he took felt like a stab in her gut. Each foot that grew between him and her was a s***h to her heart and when he sat next to the lovely woman, she felt the angry prickle of emotion in her eyes. Sam bit her lip to stop herself from crying, but willed her legs to work. Somehow, she was able to make them work enough to run out of the reception room and through the double door.

She stopped outside and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Had she even breathed inside that room? How could she when all she could smell was his scent, she thought.

And he had walked away.

He had rejected her.

Her heart broke into a million pieces. Her Mate had come into her life and he just walked away. He seemed completely oblivious that he was meant to be with her. That she was his. Tears began to flow from her eyes like rivers.

“Sam! Sam, are you OK,” her mother asked completely out of breath. It looked like she had run after her when she left the reception room. Sam couldn’t answer. Her body only felt the pain that ripped through her and refused to listen to anything else. “Sam… what’s going on?”

“Mom…” She sobbed harder as her mother wrapped her arms around her. “He walked away from me like he couldn’t feel it.”

“Oh, Goddess,” her mother pulled back as Sam shuddered from her sobbing. “He’s your Mate.”