His Online Mate

Chapter Five

Chapter Five: The Pack House

"Rule number three of surviving a werewolf pack: Don't fall asleep next to the Beta. Rule number four: Definitely don't feel him up at 6:00 AM."

Willow POV

Waking up was a slow, hazy descent from a nightmare into something far more dangerous.

My body felt warm—so hot I was practically sweating beneath my hoodie. I shifted, trying to pull my duvet higher, but my leg collided with a solid, rock-hard wall. I groaned softly, burying my face deeper into a pillow that smelled distinctly like pine needles, crisp winter air, and fresh, sun-warmed linen.

Wait. My dorm room pillow smelled like cheap lavender detergent and old laundry sheets.

My hazel eyes snapped wide open.

I wasn't in the middle of my twin mattress. I was lying on the thin rug on the floor, pressed flush against the broad, bare chest of Beta Jess.

My heart did a terrifying, violent somersault against my ribs. I had somehow ended up completely tangled with him in my sleep—my left arm was tossed casually over his ribs, my knee was pulled up over his hip, and his heavy, muscular arm was wrapped tightly around my waist, pinning me to his side like a velvet-wrapped iron bar.

Panic surged through my veins. I tried to squirm backward, but my movement only made him tighten his grip in his sleep, pulling me closer until my chest flattened against his cut abs.

And that’s when I felt it.

A heavy, unmistakable, rock-hard ridge was pressing directly against the thin fabric of my sweatpants.

Morning wood.

My breath hitched sharply in my throat, a wave of pure, liquid heat rushing straight down my spine. My cheeks burned so hot I thought I was going to combust right there on the floorboards. I slowly lifted my head to look at his face.

Jess was opening his eyes. His long dark lashes fluttered, revealing eyes that were completely swimming in a deep, molten gold. He didn't look startled to find me tangled in his arms. He looked like an apex predator waking up next to his favorite meal.

"Morning, Sunshine," he rasped. His voice was impossibly deep, thick, and gravelly with sleep, vibrating straight through his bare chest and into mine.

"What... why am I on the floor with you?!" I choked out, trying desperately to wriggle away, but the movement only caused our hips to rub together closer. A sharp, breathy gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it.

Jess let out a low, dangerous growl from the back of his throat—a sound so dark and primal it sent a shiver straight down to my toes.

"You didn't stay on the mattress, human," Jess murmured, his large hand sliding down my hip, his thumb lightly tracing the bare skin beneath the hem of my shirt. "You tossed and turned like a wild animal all night and tumbled off the edge of the bed around 3:00 AM. I wasn't going to let you bruise yourself on the hardwood, so I pulled you down onto the rug with me."

"You... you should have thrown me back onto the bed!" I hissed, my hazel eyes locking onto his lips.

He leaned down, his face stopping mere inches from mine. The magnetic pull in the small room amplified tenfold, the sweet scent of wild honey and pine filling the microscopic gap between our mouths. My heart hammered like a war drum against my ribs. I hated him—I hated how arrogant he was, how easily he took up all the space in a room—but in this quiet, breathless morning light, every cell in my body was screaming for him to close the distance and kiss me.

"I tried," Jess whispered, his dark eyes dropping to my mouth, his breath warm against my skin. "You clung to me."

My breath caught in my throat. He dipped his head lower, his lips hovering a fraction of a millimeter from mine—

PING. PING. PING.

The loud, shrill vibration of his military phone shattered the moment like a brick thrown through a glass window.

Jess froze instantly. The golden amber in his eyes flickered and vanished, replaced by a dark, intense focus. He reached out with one long, scarred arm, grabbing his phone off the floorboards without releasing his iron grip on my waist. He unlocked the screen, his jaw tightening until the bone clicked beneath his skin.

"Miller," Jess rasped into the receiver, his tone shifting instantly into full military precision. He listened for three agonizing seconds, his entire body going completely rigid beneath me. "Where?... Understood. I'm bringing the human with me."

He hung up the phone and sat up in one fluid, effortless motion, lifting me back onto my feet as if I weighed nothing at all.

"Get your jacket," he commanded, his voice stripped of all warmth and playfulness, replaced by pure Beta authority. "We're going to the Pack House."

The drive off campus was tense, dark, and utterly silent. Rain lashed against the windshield of Jess’s heavy black truck as we wound through the dense, fog-draped mountain roads surrounding the academy. I kept my face turned toward the window, my mind racing in a million directions.

I hated how my body reacted to him. I was supposed to be a strong, independent scholarship student proving that humans belonged at Moonlight Academy, yet one look from Beta Jess made my brain turn to mush. And worse, Mark’s unanswered text messages were still sitting on my phone, a silent reminder of the quiet, safe life I was leaving behind.

When Jess pulled the truck up to the main Pack House buried deep within the private forest reserve, my stomach dropped into my shoes.

It wasn't just a house; it was an ancient, sprawling stone manor surrounded by high iron gates, stone gargoyles, and towering pine trees.

And it was crawling with wolves.

The moment Jess stepped out and opened my passenger door, guiding me out by the elbow, dozens of cold, amber eyes locked onto us from the porch, the courtyard, and the stone balconies above. Whispers erupted instantly like dry leaves caught in a sudden wind.

"Is that a human?"

"Why is the Beta bringing a fragile girl onto pack grounds?"

"She doesn't belong here..."

"Is Alpha Miller insane?"

I pulled my hoodie sleeves tightly over my knuckles, stepping closer to Jess's side despite my pride. The atmosphere was thick with hostility—a heavy, suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe. The pack mistrusted humans, and having a scholarship kid walk into their inner sanctum during a serial-killer crisis was a recipe for disaster.

Jess placed a heavy, warm hand on the small of my back. The heat of his palm seared straight through my shirt, sending a shockwave down my spine. He swept a dark, lethal glare across the staring crowd of werewolves, and instantly, every single one of them dropped their gaze and stepped back.

He was marking his authority, shielding me from their aggression, but I could see the tight, agonizing tension in his broad shoulders. He knew better than anyone how dangerous this was. Bringing a human here was a scandal; claiming one would start a war.

He ushered me through massive double oak doors into Alpha Miller’s mahogany-paneled study.

Alpha Miller stood behind a heavy carved desk, looking grim and exhausted, his golden Alpha eyes bloodshot.

"Robert Vance was trying to bridge the gap," Miller said without preamble, his deep voice heavy with sorrow. "He was working as a liaison between human integration politics and shifter security. He believed humans and wolves could share this land peacefully."

My phone chimed softly in my pocket. Simultaneously, across the room, Jess’s military phone buzzed in his hand.

I pulled out my phone, my fingers trembling as I saw an automated, delayed dispatch email ping from the Runeclash server client.

AUTOMATED DISPATCH FROM USER 'UNDERDOG':

If you are reading this, I'm already dead.

The breath was knocked completely out of my lungs. My hands shook so hard I almost dropped the phone onto the rug. Robert... no...

Before I could process the words staring back at me from the screen, the heavy double doors of the study burst open with a loud slam. A pale, blood-spattered pack enforcer stood in the doorway, his chest heaving as he gripped the doorframe for support.

"Alpha! Beta!" the enforcer gasped out, sheer horror echoing in his voice. "We found Robert Vance's body near the North Perimeter. He's... he's mauled to pieces, sir. There's nothing left."

The room spun violently. Horror washed over me in a freezing wave, my vision blurring with sudden, hot tears. Robert is dead. Underdog is gone.

I staggered backward an inch, my knees buckling, and instantly, Jess was there. His large, warm hand clamped around my elbow, pulling me firmly against his side to keep me upright.

I looked up at his stone-carved profile through my tears, completely unaware that the brooding Beta holding me up in the real world was the exact same gaming partner who had just received Robert's final farewell message beside me.