The White Wolf

Chapter Three

~Payton~

After using magic, the last couple of days, I am weaker than normal. Magic is draining, everything comes with a price, nothing is ever free. Being on the run hasn’t allowed me to continue my training as much as I should off, I need to start training again. My shoulder and leg have healed but are stiff. I shower and get dressed, which let me tell you, was a chore. Lifting my shoulder to put a top on hurt, moving my leg to pull my leggings up hurt. Could have done with Jake being here when I got up so that I had help. I gingerly walk down the stairs and into the kitchen, everyone was talking about training until their eyes landed on me. I should have waited outside and listened but after the walk down the stairs and getting dressed I needed food.

“Carry on as you were,” I say awkwardly, “training huh? You guys need to train more” I shrug, “Hey Claire, can I have a high protein breakfast please?” I smile, she nods and starts to make food.

“Payton, we were also discussing whether you should be staying?” Steph says awkwardly like she didn’t want to be the one who said but also felt like she should at least give me a heads up.

“Oh well, that’s the pack decision and Jake and I will listen to the what the pack decides, however, I will not reject anyone, so that your Alpha is still him, so he can still function.” I nod at Steph. After our conversation about what it is like to lose a mate, I couldn’t do that to Jake, I could do that to myself, but I don’t have a pack to run, or people depending on me. I couldn’t do that to him, never.

“Oh, the pack decides your fate?” Steph questions me, that makes her uncomfortable for some reason.

“Well yeah, if I stay, and let me be clear I want too, I would make Luna, therefore, I believe that the pack should have a choice, they can choose me, or not” I half-smile, of course, I want to be chosen, the thought makes me terrified, they could and probably would choose the Luna they all know. Jake’s ex. It’s their logical choice.

“Well, while you’re here, we wanted you to train us, but Jake” the way he says Jake makes me wonder what else they were saying, “thinks that you're not ok to train us” Caleb raises his eyebrow at me.

“Oh, well Jake had training from the best pack, he can train you, you don’t need me, but I can if needed”. I shrug, it’s not that I don’t want to train them I do, but Jake has been trained by the same people like me and if I’m not chosen, he can do just as good a job.

“You see, Jake’s been meaning to train people for a while now Payton, but his Alpha duties keep him pretty busy, so he doesn’t get the time to train us, but you, you can train us, train the warriors then work down to other pack members.” Caleb had been thinking about this a lot.

“So, you all want me to stay?” they all nod, “You want me to stay and be your mate, Jake?”

“Like that was ever in question,” he says, crossing the room taking me in his arms and kissing me. Well, it was in question, quite a bit actually but hey, if they want me to stay I will.

“Ok, who is your best fighters?” I question, I mean the four that were at the table last night were classing themselves as warriors, but I wouldn’t class them.

“Me, Noah, Thomas, and Logan are considered warriors as we have had the best training within the pack, Nick is a good fighter too but he’s the Beta, so he doesn’t get classed as a warrior” Caleb offers.

“Oh, well you guys will come outside and attack me we shall see how good you are.”

“erm, five men against you, just you, that doesn’t seem fair does it?” Caleb notes.

Steph laughs, “she killed the last five guys who dared to attack her, like you guys can win” she smiles at me, Claire hands me food it was a sausage sandwich with bacon. She also handed me a smoothie; how did I miss her making that. I start on the sandwich and taking sips on the smoothie. The smoothie was actually pretty good, by the taste I could tell that there was ginger in this, and possibly nutmeg too, not sure I want to ask.

“Payton isn’t your shoulder still sore?”, Jake’s face is full of worry, concern clouds his voice.

“Well yeah, it will be for weeks, but it will help keep me strong and it gives them a chance to actually win doesn’t it”  I wink at him, “You will come across me in human form, you will attack as you would normally if found out in the forest, you can shift when you like, and if going for a kill strike, gently bite and that person is out of the fight” they are all nodding, “Jake will want you to take it easy on me, do not listen to him, give me everything you normally would so I can see what you need improving on”. They all seem happy with the fact I am injured and that they could possibly win. “Jake, do you have any bandages, I need to bandage my shoulder and leg up” As he goes to grab the bandages, I finish off my sandwich and hand the plate to Claire. The others start making their way outside.

“Claire is everything ok?”

“Umm, yeah sure, be careful Payton, Jake’s ex, well they were in love until the day before you showed up, she is loved by the pack and given a choice the pack would probably choose her,” she says, clearly uncomfortable, playing with her hair.

“I know, I am prepared for that, she might be the logical choice in that respect, but where I am from the pack wouldn’t expect the Alpha to reject his mate, so I’m hoping the pack will give me a chance.” I half-smile at her, her voicing my concerns make them more real, more valid. Jake re-enters the room with bandages.

“Payton, this isn’t a good idea, when they are wolves, they won’t be in control as much as you think they should be, they don’t have the same control that the shadow pack taught me, Payton.” His voice is tight, he clearly doesn’t want me to do this, but I can’t see how they will improve, or what I need to teach if I don’t do this. I start wrapping the bandage over my leggings, in the hope it will remind them that I am injured, hopefully, it will distract them enough for me to win. I used to do this in training, the other students would be gentler on me and I could win by pure sympathy. When I start on my shoulder, I start to pull my arms out of the sleeves. I wince every time I move my shoulder.

“We will teach them that, but in case, stay close then please, being their Alpha will mean they will stop on your command” I smile at him and kiss him quick. “Jake, I’m a great fighter, and I am willing to help you train your pack, but please I saw how you were with the girl yesterday, your reaction told me you still love her, so please, don’t string me along, we don’t have to reject each other, but we also don’t have to be together either, just think about it”. With that I finish bandaging up and head out to the others who are stood around talking on the clearing, his silence spoke volumes to me, it froze my heart, he didn’t deny it. The boys where roughhousing outside, “hey so are we ready?” I try to smile but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes, they all notice.

I go stand in the middle of them,

I need you; I say to my wolf. I know you're angry, I can feel that but beating them like this will not help you. I leave it there but allow the wall between us to disappear. I feel everything hit me all at once, I can feel danger coming, I can hear everything on the territory, I can smell everything on the wind. I know my eyes have changed to the signature ice blue when my wolf comes into my body. The little intake of everyone’s breath, lets me know they all have noticed. I can feel the ache of my shoulder, but I can feel the pressure of the air change as they move to fight against me. I start with purely defensive moves, defending myself. They start to shift, one at a time on the outskirts of the fight, using human and wolf to fight against me, until they have all shifted. I freeze, I can feel their wolves hunger, they have very little control over their wolves, making them hard to defeat but these wolves aren’t used to fighting and therefore they want blood, my blood. The human is like a back-seat driver, can advise but has no control, essentially only the driver can turn the car. I will train them to be able to connect to their wolves better, to respect their wolf, and to help channel their energy. My wolf and I are like a racing team, whoever is sat in the passenger seat have valuable information and therefore we are more of a partnership.  This is going to be fun. I take Noah out before he turned into a wolf by punching him in the face then pretend to snap of the neck,

“Goddamit!” he joined his Alpha and Steph who were whispering about me like I couldn’t hear. Noah was tall, blonde with shaggy hair, brown eyes, his body so toned he had a v all down to his pants. He also has a tattoo on his left side rib cage. He stands away from Jake and Steph as they seem pretty invested in their discussion. I slip up and Nick, in wolf form, lunges at me and I didn’t move quick enough, he opens up my leg. Everyone freezes thinking Jake would go off on one, but he didn’t even notice. My wolf whimpers, I can feel her heartbreaking. After a minute of everyone holding their breath, then I notice that the girl was walking past, I shift and lunge, Nick, we then start fighting properly. Nick growls at me furiously. Jake looks up and notices that I’m bleeding, to tries to come to me, but I growl low, warning, and furious. I go back to fighting. He chooses her. I feel so angry that without thinking, I release my full white wolf power on them, I take out Caleb so shifts back and takes his clothes from Noah. Caleb has brown curly hair, cut short but styled nicely, he’s very tanned compared to the rest of them. That means that Nick, Thomas, and Logan are left. They are circling me, I shift back into human, dam, my leg is bleeding, Jake tries to come over again.

“forget it, Jake! You didn’t even notice because you were too busy staring after another girl. You do not owe me anything.” I growl at him. I put my hand out to stop him from coming over. I turn my back on him and my wolf whimpers. We carry on, I feel my heart breaking, my leg is killing me, then I jump up, not as high as I had hoped but I still manage to get over them and twist so that I’m on top of Logan and bite his neck gently to say I’ve won. He shifts back and goes to the group. Jake is standing away looking pissed, but the others are talking about techniques. When a random wolf appears out of nowhere. This wolf scent of vaguely familiar but not of this pack. He smells like cotton, but it was mixed with something else, linen maybe? this is the mate of the wolf from yesterday.

I shift, into my human form which has now stopped bleeding but there’s dried blood on my leg.

“We have your mate, shift now and I promise no harm will come to him” I bark. My leg hurts now. I try to stand tall as the other wolves had turned around and where backing up behind me. “NOW” I growled.

He didn’t shift, Noah, Caleb, and Logan had all shifted and were standing next to Nick and Thomas.

“Don’t make me fight you, I will win, I am surrounded by wolves ready to fight, you are in the middle of this pack, you and your mate, will not make it out alive”.

The wolf shifts, and turns into a man, he’s got blonde hair and blue eyes. “Now what your mate said last night makes more sense,” I say thinking out loud.

“Can I see my mate?”  Jake chucks a pair of pants at him from one of the wolves. Not liking the fact that his mate is stood with another man naked, regardless of the situation. Guess I wouldn’t like him being around a naked woman, even if she was into other girls.

“I need more information” Jake pipes up and starts to walk towards me. As he gets to me, he stands so close, so I move over.

“Look, I don’t know you, but you were chucked out of your pack for being gay, they aren’t like that here, so give them a chance, but they do not tolerate your mate trying to harm or take a child,” I say as I walk towards the newcomer. “follow me” I start by walking towards the house. Jake grabs me by the arm, and motions for the others to carry on inside, the newcomer stops near the door.

“Payton,”

“Don’t bother Jake, I may be your goddess-given mate, but it’s clear you still want her. So, don’t bother, I asked you to be near to make sure I didn’t get too hurt and Nick although accidentally, hurt me and you didn’t even notice! Jake just please don’t bother. I will help sort out the pack so they can fight and hopefully stop the issues you’ve been having, but then I’m done. I will not be hurt by anyone.” I could feel the walls that were dropping around him build instantly back up. I walk up to the guy.

“Mates aren’t easy… give him a chance, you can’t expect for him to give up his life because you walked into it” the guy says as I get close to him. Maybe he had the same problem.

“Oh, can’t I? well then how would you feel if your mate was so distracted by his ex that you got hurt.” He growled and shoved me up again the wall.

I laugh, “See,”

I shrug and show him to the lounge the boys had the good sense to take him out of the shackles he was in and bring him upstairs to the lounge. He instantly goes to his mate and checks him over “See, that’s how mates are meant to react when their mate is hurt” I say to Jake. “I’m going to go and sort my leg out, hope you guys get this all sorted,” I say as I start towards the stairs. I make it upstairs and to my room, I felt Jake’s eyes on me, right up until I was out of sight. I take off my trousers and head to the bathroom. My leg is healed now but I needed to clean it up. Steph comes and checks on me and tells me dinner is nearly ready. As I come downstairs, I notice that the mates were still here I raise an eyebrow, wondering what was said. During dinner, they decide I should fight everyone using my full power. I also learn that the two newcomers, are Marcus and Joshua. Also known as Marc and Josh, they will also be staying in this pack as they don’t want to be rogues, but where forced out for being ‘abominations’. The behaviour has always disgusted me, in my old pack, everyone was treated equally regardless of whom their mate was. We judged people on their pack loyalty, their personality and their fighting skills.  

After dinner, the adults go outside and play fight. One would think it should be the other way round, adults being adults and children play fighting and having fun. They all want to test me, but I’m weak and there is no way I can win against them all.

“Same rules as before” Jake shouts as they all descend on me. There are eight of them. This is going to be close especially with me weak and Jake in the mix. See I know he is a black wolf, white wolves have only ever been mates of black wolves, so, therefore, he must be a black wolf. Think this is the time to assess them, pick out their wolves and give feedback. Not sure I will remember everyone though. I am still mad at Jake too so that will be a great fuel at keeping me going. My wolf whimpers at the thought of Jake with another girl.

I start slow and use hand to hand combat to keep them going. I mentally withdraw the wall between me and my wolf, but she doesn’t come into my body until I need her. Jake takes point and the others all fall inline. They take turns shifting, Caleb shift first, turning into a brown wolf, just like a bear brown colour, with his brown eyes follow me and smells like cinnamon. The next to shift is Nick, he shifts into a ginger brown wolf, that smells like vanilla. Next is Thomas, he shifts into a grey wolf and smells like pinecones. Wolves are vulnerable when they are shifting, and these untrained wolves leave him open to attack. I use the time to dive through and shift just as he’s about to shift and knock him over, and gently bite his throat. I shift back and carry on hand to hand combat with the others. They don’t make the same mistake again; Logan shifts next into a brown and grey mixed wolf with the scent of freshly cut grass. Then both the new-comers shift together, Marcus shifts into a brown-black mix and smells like linen and Joshua shifts into ginger, brown, and black mix and still smells like cotton. Jake is the last to shift but continues to fight me, hand to hand combat first, probably looking for an opening to retreat in. Everyone watches intently, and Steph makes notes about my fighting style, it must look weird, Jake is almost an entire foot taller than me, so I use his height to my advantage, it means I can move closer to the floor easier, I can’t out jump him but I can go under him easier. I also use my ability to shift seemingly as well, my eyes are glowing icy blue to show my wolf is here too, she is also pissed at him for not choosing us, so neither of us hold back although I know he is. Our mating link that has started to establish its-self, is showing how guilty he is, I’m not sure if he knows he’s sending it or doing it on purpose but neither I nor my wolf is ready to forgive him. He finds an opening and the other wolves descend on me while he shifts, into a beautiful black wolf. I knew that was what he would be but still, it’s like the midnight you get on a cloud-free night. My eyes go wide, and I instantly freeze when I see him, Mate my wolf purrs at me. Nick lunges at me and sends me flying across the green, Jake growls furiously at Nick and concern transfers through the link. I get up and instantly carry on fighting. I manage to take out Joshua by shifting and the Marcus who came to his aid. Both not in the pack link so easier targets. Both change back grabs their clothes and sit with Steph, who has also been joined by Elizbeth who smiled and waved when I looked over. There are still five of them left. I use my ability to shift accordingly, just like I and Jamie had practised, using my wolf to take risks I couldn’t do as a human.  Eventually, I gain the upper hand on Caleb and Thomas. So that leaves, Jake, Nick, and Logan. The three work well together, but I can still feel Jake’s apprehension on using their full force.

“Honestly, Jake, I am not some fragile little girl that need’s protecting, I’ve been alone fighting for months, even been fighting Vampires, I will not break. Show me what you got” I could feel Jake’s disapproval but the other two stepped it up. Then Nick slips up and I got on top of him and bit his neck. Then Logan makes a mistake, and I manage to barge into him while Jake was down and roll him onto his back and pretend to bite his neck. Then it was just me and Jake left. I start to draw power from the earth changing my eyes to a green colour which makes Jake’s wolf c**k his head. They aren’t used to wolves eyes changing colour. Mine do with the elements, I prefer drawing from the earth, as that is the element, I am closer to but I can use the others depending on my situation.

Jake manages to gain the upper hand, just as he’s about to bite, I shift back but leave my clothes off, he freezes. Seeing a naked unmated girl would drive any guy crazy but to see your naked, unmated mate sends them wild. His wolf instantly backs off, and I seize the opportunity to shift and bite him, meaning I won.

I shift back with my clothes on as Jake shifts and pulls on his shorts.

“Payton, that was unfair.” His voice angry

“Oh sorry, but a girl’s got to use what a girl got to use. Being unmated has a massive benefit on the male wolf population and has certainly helped before, just like if I’m fighting Vampires and there’s more than one, one of us pricks our finger and draws their attention. It happens” I shrug walking away from him, “Hey Elizabeth, did you guys get good notes?” I say as I peer over her shoulder.

“Yeah, we did, we can talk about them inside with hot drinks though?” Steph smiles and heads inside. It is a chilly evening; I didn’t notice while I was fighting but now that I’ve stopped I can feel the cold breeze on my bare arms.

We all head inside; Jake catches my arm before I head in too.

“Payton…”

“Oh, save it, I am here to help train your pack so you have less trouble of intruders and I will teach them tricks like that so that they can win. I will do what I need to win.”

“Payton, we are meant to be mates, please let’s talk about this, we can work something out”

“Something out where you get your cake and eat it?” seeing his expression, he has no idea what I mean, so I continue “So you can have the girl, the one you dropped me for, the one who distracted you so much that you allowed your mate to be hurt, you can have her, and not hurt her and you can have me, and allow me to what? Constantly save the pack?” I stare at him, “yeah I don’t think so”. I could feel the walls going up, the link between us weakening, I knew he could feel it too.

“God no! Payton, I and she was dating, her mate rejected her and I believed I would never find mine, so we dated, we split up the day before you came. It’s not like I saw you and changed my mind, we had split up before I even knew you existed. I didn’t want to be with her before I knew about you. Don’t you see that? she distracted me not because I want her but because she was upset, and I am so used to help her. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You think sorry covers that Jake, yes I get that you two split up for whatever reason before me, I get that, but I don’t get how you nearly drop your mate for her or be so distracted that your mate gets hurt.”

“Payton, you were made for me, the goddess chose you for a reason, I want you, only you!”  

I soften just a little bit, and I feel our connection strengthen. He smiles and takes my hand. We walk into the house.

By the time we get inside Steph and Elizabeth had made coffee and tea for everyone and a hot chocolate for me, even put cream on top. Nick was discussing the notes with the other guys. They quieten when we walk in, take note of our demeanour, and go back to normal.

“Serious Payton, they were some serious moves, how’d you learn all that?” Elizabeth questions. She’s standing with Nick but steals glances at Jake and then Caleb.

just be honest with them, they don’t want you to go, they know you’re an amazing fighter, they would have put two and two together, no other can fight like us and only one pack can train wolves like how we fight.

“Well, my upbringing wasn’t normal. So, you know you learn things” I try to keep it vague, I haven’t told them what happened, and it’s like day 2, I can’t trust them yet, although my wolf wants me too. We can feel our mating bond growing, eventually, he will know I’m hiding the truth. “I had a best friend, Jamie, and well we trained quite a bit,” I say shrugging, it’s a little bit of information, and certainly not the whole truth. Giving them more of the truth will help them trust me. Most packs around my old pack knew us, The Alpha was ruthless and pack leaders would turn to him in times of need, then he was always proud of me, so would show me off at any chance he got, as I got older and needed a guard he appointed Jamie, he knew we would fight well together and we became infamous in our neighbouring packs. I was treated like a princess, I am sure that tales of us and our adventures would be talked about throughout packs.

They were all staring at me, clearly sensing there was more of my story. So, I decided to look anywhere else but at them, I didn’t want to tell them everything just yet, then I noticed something moving in between the hedges in the garden. It was dusk now but with our advanced eyesight and hearing, I could tell there was a wolf outside, by the colour between the hedges it looked black. I paled, they found me, they were here to take me back, Calm down, it’s a lone wolf. Listen. My wolf reasons, I stand there listening she was right it was a lone wolf. Then it came into full view. OMG! It was a black wolf, red eyes and silva dripping from its mouth. It was also focused on something. Back in the room, I heard a sharp inhale of breath from everyone as their eyes followed mine and saw him there. I knew it was him, don’t ask how I just knew, the same thing that made me know, made me dart out the door running towards him. My eyes followed where he was starting to find that it was Jake’s Ex that the wolf was staring at. He licked his lips as she pleaded with him to leave her alone. Honestly, this girl, how could he think she would make a good Luna is beyond me. She is weak and needs constant saving, maybe that’s what Jake likes then. Who knows?

I slide between him and her, growling at him. I hear footsteps and put my hand out to stop them. I grab the girls arm and push her towards them, Jake catches her, and she instantly buries herself into him sobbing. He pats her back, but his eyes don’t leave me. The others were going to move into position,

“Jake no, I know him. You have to leave now. It’s dangerous. Go!” I must have used my Luna voice because they all started moving, “Nick, no matter what happens here, keep Jake indoors, please” He nods, and the entire group push Jake indoors. My heart sinks, it almost breaks.

“Jamie” I plead, “please hear me and come back to me please, I need you” I put my hand out and touch him. I walk over to the clearing, sit down cross-legged. He follows me, probably intrigued. Our wolves know our human names, they even respond to them if trained enough. My voice would have stirred Jamie’s human form.

You see when you torture a werewolf, and you break his human half, the wolf takes over to protect their life, but they are feral, untrained, unguided, and dangerous. My old Alpha used to turn people this way on purpose and release them to see the damage they would do. Once I became a white wolf, he trained me to be able to bring them back. I couldn’t always do it, there was a sweet spot, a window, in which I could, I don’t know when Jamie was turned like this. I took a breath

“Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Spirit I call to me. Heal his wounds, repair his mind, mend his relationship with his wolf. Please help me bring them back together” I closed my eyes as I repeated the words over and over again, I put one hand on the grass and the other I reached out towards the wolf. As my hand touched his fur, he jumped up and instantly growled at me, he was back to the menacing, fearful wolf he was a few minutes ago. Jamie the wolf, knew me, knew not to harm me, but he was scared for his life. He would harm his mother right not if she were stood in front of him. He starts to growl, his teeth bared, he lunges at me, knocking me backwards, digging his claws into my shoulders. I whimper as I bring my legs up and push him off, he goes flying across the clearing, I have my strength and the power of the elements following through me, he lands on all fours, sliding to a stop, I shift immediately. My wolf knows Jamie, so will not harm him but she will protect us more than I can. I have the upper hand, Jamie was never allowed to shift around me, but when I was locked in my tower I could watch him train with the others, he was a formidable opponent to anyone who dares, the Alpha used to joke how I was the only one strong enough to take out Jamie, it is probably why he turned him because then Jamie could never challenge Alpha for his title. We have no choice but to fight. I must save this pack from the devastation Jamie could wreak. Fighting wise we are equally matched, however with the elements they give me an extra boost, thank god. I am lucky I can move more nimble than he can, I can shift back and forth quickly which will help. Eventually, Jamie’s wolf had learnt and countered all my moves. This is why Jamie always had his destiny, he was an amazing fighter, naturally born to win, to learn this opponent’s weaknesses and win and that was when he and his wolf were friends. Now they are full of fear, and anger. I managed to jump up and over Jamie, landing but my leg slipped, and Jamie wasted no time in barging into me, I went flying across the clearing, landing heavily on my side. I heard a few bones break and blacked out for a few seconds. When I woke Jamie was stood over me, I could hear the pack unlock the door they will be here in a few minutes. I could feel the elements settle around me.

“Jamie, I love you” I reach my hand out and touch his paw, and allow my mind to open up and show him all of our memories, ones of when he was a pup talking about how awesome it is to have a wolf, when he first shifted and came to see me, to check if we were mates, and when I used to watch him train with the others, and all the time that he would talk about his wolf, how much his wolf meant to him, how much he respected his wolf, “I need you, Jamie”. I saw him shift back into his human form crying over my body. Just before I passed out, I managed to utter “Elements depart from me, and thank you for your service”. I felt the elements leave me, my bodies pain from the last few days piling up and overloading my brain. Everything goes black.