Dire Choices

The forest was quiet. No birds or rustling animals. Nothing, just our sprinting steps crunching the leaves under foot. The fur on the back of Griffin's neck the moment we entered the forest, and I felt equally uneasy. He freezes suddenly, and makes our body sit low in the brush watching for signs of movement.   About an hour ago one of the pack hunters mindlinked everyone, letting us know there was evidence of nearby feral rogues. I quickly shifted, along with many others, to aid in the defense of our pack. We have a rather expansive territory, though most of it is outside our small city. Really, it just makes it a pain to patrol, and even harder to defend.    Griffin and I hone our senses to try to detect anything out of place as we lay low. After a moment, the wind changes bringing to our nose something odd. It’s like a humid rainstorm and cinnamon. It was enticing in this frigid weather. Griffin whines softly. He must like it too. I wish I could ask, but he is focused and would get upset.   Griffin's ears shift and we can make out distant growling. Then forest erupts into vicious sounds; growling, snarling and bodies thrashing about in the undergrowth.    "Someone found the ferals!"    "Or the ferals found someone," Griffin growls. Griffin dashes away towards the sounds, and sure enough my pessimistic wolf is right. The smell of blood is thick in the air, but so does the odd smell. Thankfully, none of it smells like our pack mates. We can hear the other hunters howling around us in response to the noises further off.   Griffin launches us into a space between thick shrubs and trees. Five sets of eyes reflecting the moonlight stare at us in shock. My wolf snarls, and I can see our powerful alpha aura affect the group instantly as they sprint off yelping in different directions. The smell of blood and the delectable cinnamon and rainstorm is over powering. It’s hard for me not to give way to Griffin’s instincts. He is enraged, which is not like him. Griffin braces himself to make chase after the largest of the rogues.   "Wait!" I screamed realizing there's a body near where they had been standing.    The body on the ground is that of a long limber wolf with red fur. It begins to shift into a wiry boy, and my heart races. I feel ecstatic, hot, scared, and enraged all at once. It feels like every part of me going to burst with the intensity of the cacophony of feelings rushing through me in the instant I see his face.   "Mate," Griffin rumbles happily.   "Oh f**k," I say, more to myself then anyone.   "No." I can feel my body getting hot and shaky. I can't wrap my head around it. "No no no no. This can't be our mate. You're mistaken."   "I'm not, and he's dying," Griffin whines. I've never heard him make such a pathetic noise. He gives me back control and we shift. Sure enough, as I rush to the boy's side, he is bleeding heavily. He its covered in mud and blood, but I can make out his pained child-like face. His green eyes stare up at me.   "Mate?" the boy says, his tone filled with confusion and fear. It’s sound is as sweet to my ears as his smell.   He quickly passes out. My heart begins to break at seeing him, and my wolf’s feelings well up inside me like a tidal wave. Goddess it is almost too much. How could the Moon Goddess give me a male mate?    "We should leave him," I say. My voice quivers, already ashamed of myself as soon as the words leave my mouth. I feel such need to help and protect him, but my whole life would turn upside down.   Griffin growls low.   "I know. f**k! But if we did, we could pretend he was a feral and not deal with this, this f****d up situation," I say trying to convince myself more than Griffin. My heart feels empty and in pain at just the thought of my mate dying though.   "Get him help! Now!" Griffin snaps. Griffin's right, besides mate or not I can't let him die. I can smell traces of the Snow Moon pack on him. Faint though it is against his heavenly smell. f**k it's so good.   "Wilder!" Griffin barks again. Right, goddess why is my life so backwards that my wolf had reign ME in?   I mindlink to the pack letting them know the directions the feral ran off in as I scoop up the boy and race with him back to the pack house. Hopefully I did not stall to long.