Irregular Mates

Family Tragedy

“Wait, what do you mean they’re all dead?” I asked angrily. My family wasn’t dead. I haven’t seen them in years but I knew they weren’t dead. I would have heard about the entire Redwood pack dying. 

    “The Redwoods were killed when the only heir to the Alpha disappeared. She was promised to the…” the older woman paused in deep thought. “You, you’re Clara Redwood.” She pointed at me with a long, skinny finger, reminding me of a creepy witch casting a spell over me. 

    “I am,” I held my head high while clutching the sheet closed to my bosom. I offered her no explanation. “Now tell me why my family is dead!” I yelled at her. They couldn’t be dead. The two men finally looked away from my back and took a curious interest in our conversation. 

    “Clara Redwood…” Nick whispered to himself. “Holy s**t!” I shot him a dirty look, but when I met his eyes I was captured in their green depths. My anger faded away, completely replaced by the raw urge to mount his face and give him all my pleasure. 

    Nick shifted awkwardly trying to casually cover his groin as if he was reading my thoughts. My head shot up again. I don’t even know this man and I’m thinking about oral s*x. What the hell. 

    I cleared my throat, “Is someone going to explain to me what happened to my family?” I felt like after all this time I shouldn’t care. Especially after what they did to me. They deserved their fate. Somehow, though, I missed them. It was a shock to hear that they were gone. 

    The woman brushed some ash off the bed and gently sat beside me. She took my hand in hers which was relatively warmer than her. Her ice was balm to my fire. Suddenly, I felt closed to this woman. She had a sternness about her but also a comforting feeling. A tear I was unaware of fell down my cheek. She wiped it away and caressed my cheek in a motherly fashion. 

    “It’s my understanding that you were promised to the heir of the Black Sky pack. Your father, Blake, wanted an alliance and that was the only way to get it.” 

    “That wasn’t all. My father treated me like a slave after my mother passed away. When I finally matured, I was mated to a piece of scum that r***d and pillaged our omegas. I rejected him after he came after me. Although this did please my father, he was enraged that my mate would be someone so ‘weak’.”

    “Wait, you were mated prior to meeting me?” Nick interrupted. He looked almost angry. His eyes darkened. He took a few steps closer, popping my personal space bubble and was practically glued to my side. 

    “Oh Nick, knock it off. You know just as well as I do that wolves can sometimes get a second chance. Obviously Clara is. Pipe down,” she scolded. This has to be his mother, I thought. “Go on, honey.” 

    “Anyway,” I glared at Nick who looked down, embarrassed. “I found out later that day that he had planned to pawn me off to Black Sky. They wanted our status, we wanted their numbers. My father was angry all the time. He wanted constant war among our kind. I couldn’t let that happen. 

    “Between the years of abuse and being forced to marry someone I wasn’t fated to, I decided it would be best if I ran away. I spent about four years traveling around until last year when I found this town, Redwood. I thought the name meant something. Clearly it did,” I eyed Nick, who looked up from the floor and gave me a small smile. 

    “Gross.” A voice behind me gagged. We all turned around surprised to see Marsi standing there. 

    “I forgot you were here,” Nick laughed. 

    “As always,” she sneered. She looked at me and gave me a concerning look. “So after you left, you had no contact with them at all?” 

    I shook my head. 

    “Black Sky killed them all because you weren’t there,” she said bluntly. She wasn’t placing blame, but it sure as hell felt like it. 

    “Whoa wait, that doesn’t make sense!” Harmon almost screamed. He seemed just as surprised as us at his outburst. In a much quieter tone, he explained, “Phoenixes can’t die.”