Alpha's Chosen

22

Meredith's POV

"Yeah... yeah shame" he says but I can see there is more behind his eyes.

"Did you not want them to visit?" I ask, head tilting, eyebrows frowning slightly as I again step closer, closing what little distance is left between us now.

"It's not that... its ... its just complicated" he replies, obviously not wanting to share any more details.

"Okay" I nod, ready to step back when he continues.

"They don't exactly get along" and those five short words are enough for me to undertsand.

His mate and his parents.

The three of them currently alone together back home without the wolf they all love there between them to keep the peace.

"Aren't families fun?" I smile, trying to take some of the sadness from his eyes.

"That's one word I wouldn't use" he says, small smile appearing on his lips as he does.

And what beautiful lips they are. Plump and rosy from the cold.

My eyes trail up to his, their forrest green unlike any I've seen before.

As the moments pass I notice them grow darker, the swirls of black twirling within, letting me know his wolf is near.

"What's your name?" I ask, my mind needing to know even if I'm not sure why.

"Ares" a deep voice purrs into my mind, making me instantly step back.

I look from Cole to the ground and then back again as I squint my eyes closed, shaking my head slightly to regain my sanity.

"Don't be scared. I'm not here to scare you" the deep voice says again and I look up to see Cole's eyes still glazed dark.

"But how are you here?" I reply, or think? Oh goddess please say he can't read my mind as well as my thoughts.

And as if this can't get any worse, my mind decides to replay each and every memory and thought, the worst ones at least.

Like the first time I saw Cole, how I mentally undressed him.

How everytime I'm around him I yearn to move closer, to feel his warmth upon my skin.

How I dreamed of him last night, his hands wandering my body, his lips upon mine.

'Oh goddess please no' I pray over and over until I notice the presence no longer there.

I look back up to see Cole's much lighter, more curious eyes looking down at me.

"Did Ares just..." he ponders aloud.

"Yes" I reply, equally as confused.

"Have you ever..." he continues.

"No" I reply, sure I have never expereicned something like this before.

"Even with an Alpha... your father?" Cole asks, his eyes turning darker again, making me flinch away, not sure I'm ready to.

Cole moves closer, his gentle hand on my jaw as he brings my eyes back up to his.

"Have you ever linked with anyone before?" he asks sternly.

The subtle shake of my head causing his brows to furrow further.

"What did he say to you?" Cole asks, making my brows furrow now.

"He ... you... Aren't you one?" I ask, Cole's gentle grasp still holding me close.

"Not all the time" Cole answers, eyes looking over my features as he does, "Not when we don't want to be".

"What did he say to you?" Cole again asks as his eyes return to mine.

"Just.... just his name" I stutter to reply, "And" I continue, gulping down my unease, "And that I didn't need to be afraid".

"You're scared of him?" Cole asks, his eyes acting like truth serium as my head slowly shakes.

Because no matter how big, how fierce, I'm not afraid.

Cole's eyes grow a little wider in surprise before darkening again, but this time I don't flinch, don't look away.

If he wanted to hurt me, if he wants to hurt me....

"I will never harm you" his says, his voice a gentle promise even as it again invades my mind.

"How is it you can speak to me?" I ask, the world begining to fade as I instead see a sleek black wolf before me.

"How is it you can see me?" he replies instead, the wolf himself seeming to reposition before adding, "If you are to see me, let it be from my better side"

"Better side?" I scoff with a smile.

"We all have one" he says matter a factly before moving around again to show his lesser prefered one. A small patch of marring and missing fur, a flick of his tail revealing a scar, years old by the looks.

"You think your battle wounds ugly?" I wonder aloud.

"I think them useful but ugly, yes".

"I think them beautfiul" I say, reaching out to touch his fur, only to be met back with reality, with my hand on Cole's chest instead.

I close my eyes, the back and forth jarring as my brain works to figure out what has just happened.

"Come with me" Cole says, placing his hand on my lower back as he guides me back through the encampment and to one of his packs vechiles.

Cole stops a moment before sliding the van door open, ushering me inside before closing it behind us.

I sit, elbows on my knees, hands over my eyes as my body continues to reel.

Did I really just see his wolf?

And why did that all feel so real?

Maybe Keith gave me something far stronger than pain and antiinflamotories.

Maybe he mixed the pills up with some hallucinogens or something.

Silence reigns but all the while I can feel Cole's eyes, his attention fixed solely on me.

My hands slide slowly down my face, my eyes sliding over to his as I wince, "I'm going insane.... aren't I?".

"No" he smiles, shaking his head as he does, "Not inless we both are" he adds.

"So I really... really ust spoke to... saw your wolf?".

"It would seem so" he says, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms casually over his chest as he does.

"And is.... has this happened to you before?" I ask, unsure what to ask as he seats at ease before me.

"No" he replies, my annoyance rising as he does.

"So you've heard of this happening to others then?" I plead.

"No" he replies again.

"So this has never happened to you or anyone you know before yet you sit there acting as if nothing unsual, nothing unsettling is occuring whatsoever?!" I never scream.

"Shhhhh" Cole says, his position no longer at ease as he leans forward to cover my mouth with his hand.

"Is it unusual, yes. Is it unsettling, a little. Am I confused by it, of course. I don't however see how letting the whole three packs outside those doors know about it is in any way helpful".

I continue to stare wide eyed, causing Cole to sigh, holding his hand in place as he continues.

"Wolves can link, sometimes even see each others wolves within their minds as they do. But that is defined to those within their packs. Mates. Parents. Siblings. Thats it. Not to those outside their pack, of no relation. And furthermore you acted as if my wolf was before you, as if you could reach out and touch him".

Pulling Cole's hand down I reply in question "Maybe.... maybe he was in my mind... and I'm just not used to it?".

"Even so, you shouldn't have been able to se him, even hear him".

"Does he know why?" I ask, Cole still leaning forward, still sitting close as his hand lingers in mine as his eyes glaze in silent conversation.

"If he is, he isn't sharing" Cole comes back to reply with a huff.

"Would he tell me?" I ask, Cole's brow furrowing as I do.

His eyes however glaze again, a frustrated Cole soon returning to me as he answers, "You won't be speaking with him again".