Alpha Aria

Chapter 8- Selene isn't Cruel

**JADE**

Leaning against the door of the Escalade, I looked ahead at the road leading to the Whispering Pines pack lands. My twin brother Brandon was in the bushes behind me, relieving himself. I twirled the apple I was chewing in my hands before crunching another bite of it. "Are you done yet?" I asked with my mouth full, slightly annoyed at the delay. “I want to keep going. Hurry up.”

Brandon zipped his jeans and walked up to the SUV, his feet crunching in the gravel. “Alright, alright. I am done. Why are you in such a hurry, anyway? Can’t wait to meet your mate?” He teased me.

I rolled my eyes. "That's rich, coming from you." The only reason he wanted to come to this stupid Alpha Summit was to try and find his mate.

His eyes twinkled in his usual playful way. "I make no claims to the contrary. I'm looking forward to finally finding mine."

I glared at him over the hood of the SUV. “You know I don’t care about that. Father is the one that wants that for me.”

“Oh come on, you don’t want to meet your mate? For real?” He looks shocked.

“No, it's not that.” I sighed. My heart ached, wishing that there could be someone out there for me, but I knew it wasn’t in the cards. Why would Selene give me a mate that I would have to turn around and reject? She wasn’t cruel like that. No, there was no mate for me. “I just don’t think I have one.” I grumble.

We get back into the vehicle and put on our seatbelts. We were only a few miles from the border and I was getting antsy. I wanted to be sure we had enough time to get checked in with their patrol, get to our rooms, unpack and get a shower. This heat wave was making me feel sweaty. Besides, tomorrow was a big day for me, it being the first time I would lead a ceremony as an almost official shaman apprentice. I needed to get plenty of rest. Brandon started the car and we continued our drive. “Why wouldn’t you have a mate, Jade?”

I give him a knowing glare. “Come on. You know why. Don’t be so dense.”

Brandon sighs. “Oh. That.”

Brandon was the only one in my pack that knew my little secret. Well, aside from Lexie. He had walked in on us making out when we were in junior year and I had somehow stupidly forgotten to lock the door to my room. My face flushed with embarrassment at the memory.

“Hey, Father said it's your turn to do the chores.” Brandon said as the door flew open. “Oh my Goddess, Brandon! Ever heard of knocking?” I cried out, a hint of terror in my voice. Lexie had jumped away from me in fright, squealing. Her bra was in my hand as I had been in the process of removing it, causing her cute t**s to bounce free. She covered herself quickly and looked at me, horrified, tears springing from her eyes. We both knew the consequences of our actions if we got caught. Brandon looked back and forth between us, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. I jumped up and pulled him into my room, shutting my door behind him. “Please don’t say anything to Father!” I begged him. “Please! Promise me!” He shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you… this… when?” He was blathering like an i***t and I shot daggers at him with my eyes. “PROMISE ME, Brandon!” I practically snarled at him. He finally looked me in the eyes and seemed to calm down from his stupor. He gulped and looked sadly at me. “Of course I promise, Jade. I would never do that to you.”

Lexie had run home after that and never spoke to me again. It was just too risky. To his credit, Brandon had kept his word. Father had no idea about me and I planned on keeping it that way. I valued having my head on my shoulders.

Of course, that didn’t stop Father from demanding I attend the Alpha Summit. I was 19 and was still unmated. He didn’t like that one bit.

“Yes, that.” I snapped, taking out my frustration on him, like I usually did. That was just how we were. I was the temperamental one while he was the laid back one. We balanced each other out.

"Jeez, sis. What has your panties in a bunch?"

"Ew, gross. I don't wear panties." I grumbled at him

"What? Whoa, TMI. I do not need to know that my little sister goes commando."

I glared at him, about to retort that I wear boxer briefs, but a strange sound caused me to pause. I shushed Brandon with my hand and held a finger up, listening carefully. "Do you hear that?" I ask him.

Brandon scrunched his eyes together as he concentrated on listening and then shook his head. "Nah, just the sound of the wheels on the road. What do you hear?"

“Stop the car.” I demanded. Brandon knew from my tone that I meant business and he also knew better than to argue with me. He pulled over and parked the car on the side of the road. I unbuckled my safety belt, opened my door and hopped out of the seat. I listened intently then headed for the tree line next to the road.

"Jade, what are you doing?" Brandon asked in a cautioning tone, probably questioning my sanity for the hundredth time in his life.

Concentrating on the sound, I passed the edge of the forest and followed its source. It was a high pitched buzzing sound, and as I moved further from the road it got louder.

From behind me I heard my brother curse and lock the doors to the car with a blip of the horn. Then he followed after me. “Jade? What happened to being in a rush? Where are you going?” I continued to ignore him, feeling pulled in the direction of this strange noise. Somehow, I knew it was important. Was Selene testing me now?

My shamanic training started when I got my wolf, Kyra, about 3 years ago and it became clear to the pack elders that I had the blessing of the Moon Goddess. I knew that Selene was going to visit me and give me a trial. Shaman Astrid never told me exactly how it would happen, but that it was going to happen soon. When I passed the trial I would become an official Shaman Apprentice, and my title and rank would change to Sage. Once that happened, I would be untouchable. Father would never be able to threaten me or hurt me again. It was a highly respected and coveted position in werewolf society. No one dared do anything to the Shaman or their Sage. It was also the only position of power that a woman could have in our pack. I had to pass the trial. I just had to.

The evening sky was still light but under the canopy of the trees it was a little darker. With my wolf vision, I could still see clearly, and I saw a blur of motion much further ahead in the trees. Above the buzzing sound I could hear the soft padding of someone's shoes running closer to us. I glanced back at Brandon. His eyes were open wide in curiosity at the direction of the movement and he looked at me and nodded. Okay, so it probably wasn’t Selene if he could see it, too. I felt slightly relieved and a little disappointed at the same time.

The buzzing in my ears became louder as the figure approached, then when it was close enough to identify as a girl, the buzzing suddenly stopped.

She was heading directly in a path of collision with me but she didn’t even see me. It was like she was blind, or her mind was filled with a vision of some kind.

My shamanic training training had taught me how to see people's auras, supernatural or not. Most werewolves could sense auras to a certain degree, especially ranked wolves, but actually seeing them was something only shamans and a handful of other supernatural creatures could do.

I breathed deeply and emptied my mind, focusing on the girl racing toward us. Her aura was blue with silver edges, but it was swirling with tinges of black. I knew that something had a grasp on her mind, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good. She was definitely a werewolf, based on the silver in her aura, but there was something else I couldn’t quite place. She was moving too quickly for me to linger on it. Her face looked panicked and my hackles raised.

Every instinct in me told me to help this girl.

She slammed into my chest and I tried to catch her as she ricocheted off of me, but it all happened so fast. I just barely missed her as she crashed on to the earth below. There was a loud crack and I saw that her head had smashed into a large branch on the ground.

Immediately, I dropped on my knees to the ground next to her to survey the damage. The girl looked older now that I could see her up close. I guessed that maybe she was 16 or 17. Old enough to have her wolf, for sure. She had curly fiery red hair swept up into a loose ponytail, but it was disheveled and large bits of it covered her face.

Then her scent hit me like a freight train, nearly causing me to gasp out loud. She smelled like cardamom and honeydew and when I touched her face to move her hair from her eyes, sparks flew up my fingers and warmed me. I couldn't believe it. Kyra was howling happily in my head. Mate! We found our mate! She's perfect!

Brandon rushed up to assist me, to my relief. I had never been more thankful that he was studying to be a healer. He held her head gently and ordered me to turn her on her side to get a better look at the back of her head. He hadn’t seemed to notice what I had just felt. I was still stunned, but shook my head to put it from my mind and concentrate on the task at hand.

I helped him hold her steady so we could inspect the injury. There was no blood, just a large lump swiftly forming where she had struck against the log. He said her neck and spine felt fine and he was confident we could move her without further risk. “That’s odd, she has stitches here.” Brandon’s words surprised me. I got a closer look, and sure enough, there were stitches on her head, not far from her goose egg.

I looked at my brother in confusion. “Why does a werewolf have stitches on a head wound? Those usually heal the fastest. It would have to have been some serious trauma to need stitches, right?”

He nodded. “Or the wound was made with silver, slowing down the healing. But I don’t see any signs of her flesh being burned at the laceration.” He was in doctor mode, all professional as he inspected the area thoroughly. “Regardless, we should get her back to her pack. Someone is probably missing her.”

He went to pick her up but I put my hand out to stop him. “Brandon, no. I will do it.”

He looked at me with a brow raised and snarked. “I know you are all mighty girl power and sh:t but I am stronger, Jade.” He reached to take her from me and I growled at him.

He pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. "You are such a brat sometimes, Jay. You need to chill out."

I hesitated, wondering briefly if I should reveal the truth to him. But this was my brother, my twin, my best friend. I knew this secret was safe with him. “She is my mate." I whispered, still in disbelief.

His mouth dropped open in surprise. Then he nodded, stepping back and allowing me to carry her. "I'm happy for you, sis. But damn…That's going to be a problem… what are you going to tell Father?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.

"I'm not telling him anything. Neither are you." I looked back down at the sweet face of my mate, whose eyes were starting to flutter open and closed. They were such a beautiful green and I felt a piece of my frozen heart that I had guarded so carefully for years melting into goo. I almost didn't recognize myself as I cooed at her. “You're okay. I've got you.”