Irregular Mates

The winds whipped around me in a swirl of frozen air. I pulled my hood over my face to block the sharp shards of ice. Winter, I thought with an internal smirk. What is it good for? The ambient sounds, that’s it. Sounds good for a night of secrets.  I stepped off the sidewalk onto the curb, twisting my head from side to side with my hood as far forward as possible. Good, no headlights. I took a step forward and in a whirlwind of ice and air I was knocked to my knees. What the absolute f**k? I gasped at the cracking pain.  With shrill anger my head shot up. I looked around me to see what the hell knocked me on my ass so easily. I’m not easy to move. I may be a small, petite little creature, but my strength would surprise even the largest human.  My blurry eyes found a dark shadow barely visible against the black skyline. Heavy drifts of snow clouded the shadow even more. If I didn’t have awesome night vision then I would have just assumed I slipped on ice. Unfortunately, I do and I didn’t.  The shadow grew tall, towering over me. Then a wonderful smell engulfed me. I felt like I’ve been starved for centuries and was finally given a morsel of the finest cut meat. I took a deep breath, enjoying the fragrance for a moment. Awkwardly enough, the shadow figure seemed to do the same thing. Behind the sounds of the wind, I heard deep breaths.  “How the hell are you still alive?” his voice shocked me. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I was gasping for air trying to say something back, but he interrupted me. “You don’t smell human,” he pointed out curiously.  I tried to stand, my knees felt like liquid fire as the scratches bled and freely mixed with the snow piling up beneath me. My feet feel like ice. The blood stopped almost instantly as the wounds healed over. He took a step closer to me, placing his abnormally thick hand on my shoulder.  That isn’t a hand, Lynna whispered to me breathlessly.  Lynna? Is he…? He is. Do you smell it? Do you feel it? Lady, say something! I jerked when she yelled at me. I looked up and met the eyes of the most beautiful wolf I have ever seen. His eyes were the green of fresh summer grass and looked at me with admirable curiosity. His gray fur blew gently in the whipping winds, reminding me of the summer grass blowing in the summer wind. What the hell is wrong with me? Grass and summer? I am SO over winter.  His eyes were no longer looking at me with admiration. “Are you okay?” he asked.  I mentally shook myself. “Uh-huh, yea, I’m good,” I cleared my throat. “What the f**k were you doing that made you in such a hurry to knock me on my ass?” He seemed startled at my sudden outburst after basically being mute. He took a step back and shifted into his human form. Good god was he the most beautiful creature created by the Moon Goddess.  “My pack and I were chasing someone, but they got away.” he grimaced as if that loss physically hurt him.  “Your pack…” I trailed off as I looked behind us and saw five other wolves standing in the trees looking at us with both fear and joy. One of them, a little black wolf with dark eyes, shifted when we made eye contact. “Nick!” she yelled. “Get back here before that human has a panic attack!”  “Marsi, use your nose for once in your life,” another wolf had shifted, he was too far in the shadows for me to see him. “Off,” he said to the others. They scampered away into the trees. They took each other’s hands in one another and strolled towards us.  Okay so is no one going to acknowledge that all these insanely beautiful people are standing around in the middle of winter completely naked?  Nick seemed to think the same as me when he covered himself up with his hands.  “You’re right, Harmon. Her smell is so faint.” She sniffed deeply and seemed satisfied with herself.  “Keep smelling, Marsi. Smell beyond her.” Harmon let go of Marsi’s hand and she walked in circles around Nick and I. I was getting way too uncomfortable with a naked woman walking around me smelling the air. What was I going to do?  “Oh no,” she quivered. Her fear was immediately replaced with joy as she bowed to me and took my frozen hand in hers. “Luna, my apologies.” “Luna?” I asked in pure confusion. I can’t be a luna, I rejected my mate a long time ago when I first found him. My pack knew him all too well. He would mate with the omegas and treat them like garbage. He tried multiple times to get me before I reached maturity. The second I felt the bond, I dismissed it. It broke me for a long time. I moved away from my pack to this tiny town where nothing ever happens.  Well, where I thought nothing happens.  I mentally shook myself again. Are you stupid, Clara? Lynna snipped. I ignored her. “Luna, are you okay?” Marsi stood and let go of my hand.  “I am not a luna, I’m no better than a rogue.” “Nick?” Harmon bit his lip and looked up at the gorgeous and still naked man standing next to me. He shrugged and took my hand in his much like Harmon and Marsi did before.  “Come with us.” His voice was like silk wrapping around my body and giving me no choice but to follow.