Alpha's Untamed Mate

Unwanted

"How bad is it?" He barely even heard the voice talking to him. Asher was too caught up in his thoughts and a very chaotic storm of emotions. Carrying his brother back to their territory was one of the hardest tasks he'd ever had to accomplish. It was not due to the weight he had to carry. No, it was because it felt like someone had strapped tight shackles around his ankles, pulling him back to her—his mate. He didn't even know her name. He needed to know her name. That's all he could think about while he was waiting for his brother to come to.

"Asher?" He jumped a little when a hand gently landed on his shoulder. He turned to face his mother. Her brown hair was streaked with grey, and her hazel eyes filled with concern for her son.

"He... he will be okay. He'll just need some stitches. He was... he was lucky."

"And you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he averted his gaze, knowing that his mother had a knack for seeing right through him.

"What happened out there?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. It was the truth, after all. He didn't know what had happened to his brother. Not exactly. What he knew was that the most beautiful creature walking these lands found him. She saved his life, and then she disappeared.

He wanted to go after her, but he couldn't just leave his brother behind. He couldn't just leave his pack. His father stepped down from being Alpha only a couple of years ago, and both Aiden and Asher were still trying to fill in his shoes as leaders of one of the biggest packs in these woods.

The pack merged with another pack about a year before they were born. The stories tell a tale of an epic battle between the rivaling packs, but their father ultimately won. It was the night their sister was born. Technically, Annaleigh was only their half-sister, and she was human. Very much so. But no one ever talked about that. She was family, and they loved her despite their differences.

Annaleigh, though, felt the need to explore the world. The moment she turned eighteen, she left. Not for good. No, she dropped by every now and then. She would stay for a little while, cause the occasional trouble around here, and then leave again, off to her next adventure. She was a thunderstorm all wrapped up in a human body.

Except there was one thing about her that made her unique. Stupid, but unique. She was immortal, cursed by her Godmother, a powerful witch, to live forever. Neither her mother nor Annaleigh would have survived if it hadn't been for that curse.

"Mom?" he frowned at her. "When you first met Dad, did you immediately know that you needed to be with him?"

She looked surprised by his question but answered nonetheless, "No. But I was human at the time. I didn't know about werewolves. I was very busy surviving as it was. When I first met him... I thought he was strange, but I felt drawn to him. It took him saving my life and the truth about who he really was to realize that I needed to be with him. We had to overcome one or the other issue throughout our early years. Why are you asking?"

Asher sighed heavily and ran a hand through his thick, dark locks. Even though Asher and Aiden were twins, Asher looked more like their mother. They were tiny details you'd only notice if you looked long and hard, but they were there.

A long time ago, he and his brother decided to wear a specific color to make it easier for people to tell them apart. He wore green, while his brother stuck with blue.

"It's nothing," he tried to brush off his mother's question.

"Ash, I know you, and I know that you're keeping something from me! What is bothering you? You know I'll find out one way or another."

He was very aware of her motherly abilities to get the information she required, especially when it involved her children.

"I think I found our mate," he sighed after a moment of contemplation. There really was no use in not telling her.

"You think? Shouldn't you know? Is she human?"

"No," he shook his head. "She's a wolf, but she's different."

"I bet she is," Lila smiled at her son, proud and happy for him. She didn't quite understand the deep-set frown between his brows and the unsure expression on his handsome face. "What's her name? Where is she? When will we meet her?"

"I... I am not sure. She wasn't very happy when she realized who I am. She saved Aiden, but she made it very clear that she wanted us gone. I think she has lived out there on her own for longer than any wolf should."

"She is a rogue? She's not the one who did this to your brother, is she?"

"No. She helped him," Asher shook his head. He didn't know her, but he knew that she wouldn't kill and attack someone like that. She helped Aiden. Maybe it was because she sensed he was her mate.

"But she wanted you to leave? She recognized you as her mate?"

"She did," he sighed, frustrated and angry at his situation.

"Well, you don't know her story. Maybe she has a reason for acting the way she did. She'll come around," Lila patted her son's shoulder.

"She was afraid of me," he shook his head. "Why would she be afraid of the one person who would never harm her?"

"Have you considered that it may have nothing to do with you? Sometimes, if we go through trauma, the mind turns everyone into a threat. It can't be helped. Only time and a lot of work could heal such wounds."

"Trauma? Why do you think she's traumatized?"

"She has isolated herself willingly. She is running from something!"

"How do you know?"

A sad smile tugged at his mother's lips, a look he rarely ever saw on her. "Because your sister's biological father was an abusive asshole, and I ran away from him to save Annie and myself. I ran into the woods not knowing what I was getting myself into," her smile turned happy again.

"I... I didn't know that. Does Annie know?"

"No," she shook her head. "I don't want her to think she could be anything like that man. She is not. She was raised by her true father, and he gave her all of his love. That's all I need her to know. That she is loved and that she is a good person."

"Crazy. That's what she is," Asher mused, but his expression turned serious again. "I am sorry you had to go through that."

"Me too," she put her hand on his shoulder, "but in the end, life turned out to be good. I found love, I had all of you, our pack is healthy and thriving. I couldn't ask for more, and now it's your turn to find that happiness."

"I am not sure how to do it. She doesn't want me. Us."

"Hm," Lila hummed thoughtfully, "do you want to change her mind?"

"Yes, I do, but I can't run off leaving the pack without an Alpha."

"But you won't leave it without one," she smiled. "Your father may have retired, but he's still the boss," she winked at him, "you know."

That much was true. Aiden and Asher led this pack, but in the end, if their dad felt like he needed to steer them in a different direction, he would. He always had the last word, no matter what.

"Where is he anyway?" Asher asked, wondering why his father wasn't here to check on his son.

"He's out there, trying to find who did this to your brother. He's mad!"

Asher tensed at her words. He had the same intention. He was looking for the rogue that disturbed the territories all around, but the only rogue wolf he came across was his mate.

What if he would kill her, thinking she was the one that hurt Aiden? His scent was all over her place. It would lead him right to her doorstep.

Their father wasn't one to hold back if his family was in any danger. He started a war just to save his mate. He was a good man, but he could be ruthless if he needed to be. There has always been a hint of darkness in him, the kind that only his mate, their mother, could fill with light. But his mother was standing next to him. She wasn't there to talk some sense into the man she loved.

"I have to go!" Asher glanced at the door of his brother's room. He will be okay, but he wouldn't forgive himself if he let anything happen to the woman hiding in the woods, the one they desperately wanted to call mate.