Too Late To Turn Back Now

Liam

I sat in Cody’s office, the nearly comatose wolf sitting in the corner. I scoffed a bit, the idea of Alo curled up in a corner on blankets making my wolf growl. I had recounted just the details necessary to Cody, leaving out everything about the girl. To my knowledge, she didn’t matter in this equation. I had no idea who she was, I had no desire to know who she was, and no one else needed to know about her. Especially since I was just going to reject her. 

Maybe I’d tell Cody about her once she was out of the picture. He had just rejected his mate, he could use someone to commiserate with. 

Truth be told, I did feel bad for Cody. However, I was my father’s son - even if we had differing morals. My father rejected his fated mate - my mother - for the Wulver Pack, and I had no intention of taking a mate for the Wulver Pack. Too much hung in the balance, and mates made things difficult. 

Lya was smart to appoint a beta who had a chosen mate. I could only imagine Cody would have been in the running, too, if he wasn’t already the Gamma here at Snow Moon. 

With no Alpha line, the Wulver Pack was interesting. It left us open to joining other packs as well, and we used that to our advantage. The higher up the ranks we could get, the more we could know about the inner workings of packs, and keep a better eye on situations we needed to step in and involve ourselves in. Part of me did worry about how enmeshed we were with Snow Moon, though. The Beta and one of their Gammas were Wulvers, and now so was their Luna. For that matter, I wondered what Lya winning Alpha from her father would do to us having no alpha line. I had to think if Lya’s future child somehow received the title, we would be done for and an official pack in the most basic of practices once again. 

Early on, when I started taking over calling the shots after dear old dad disappeared, I had hoped for that. I had hoped the alpha link would just hit me, we could become a true pack again, and remove ourselves from hiding. But, the more I acted as alpha, the more I decided it was not for me. I felt grounded, sidelined, sitting around and making decisions and delegating instead of doing the work myself. 

Additionally, the more I acted in the role, the more I realized we could never be more than a myth. We were the silent protectors residing in the shadows. The guardians of peace and the unsung bringers of hope. The gladiators of goodwill. If we were public knowledge, we wouldn’t be able to achieve any of that. The peoples we deemed fit to know we were more than a children’s bedtime story or a history lesson were good about keeping us a secret, but still carefully watched. 

As it stood, the overwhelming Wulver presence in Snow Moon resulted in more than I would like knowing we existed. It made sense on the surface. Snow Moon was the largest pack with morals that most closely aligned with what us Wulvers stood for, and had unknowingly become the brawn we needed when our numbers lacked. Their Alpha was a very fair and just leader, lacking the temper and irrationality most alphas were known for. What he lacked in unnecessary combativeness and ego he made up for in unfettered respect. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. 

The wolf in the corner stirred, but didn’t quite make it out of her sleep. I studied her carefully, seeing exactly why the Little Alpha had decided she was one we needed to protect. The stench of rogue was strong, showing that she hadn’t always been one of the wild. She was young, though. She must have lost her pack long ago. I would assume she was found alone because she had just escaped from her imprisonment with the hunters, but ribs were showing and she was losing hair from her coat. She must have never made any alliances with other rogues to assist with the simple things like finding food and shelter. I wondered why she never tried to integrate with humans - that’s what most female rogues did. 

“So what’s her story you decided to leave out?” Cody asked, motioning toward the rogue. 

I sighed, scrubbing my hand across my face. “Lya’s cellmate. She’d want to make sure she’s okay.”

Cody nodded pensively. “Why not just tell her you saw her and she’s okay?”

I looked at the emaciated wolf pointedly. She wasn’t okay. 

“Gotcha.” 

I felt Alo perk up, and when I noticed what caught his attention, I stiffened in my seat. Spiced fucking raspberries. Alo had us up and out of Cody’s office, finding our way out of the building, before I could say otherwise. 

I noticed her before she saw me, talking with Oliver. I leaned against the wall, affording myself just a moment to look at her. Pretty as a picture. 

Finally, slowly, her eyes met mine. Alo preened under her gaze, and I realized she hadn’t actually seen me in our initial encounter. I fought to hold back the smile as I took her in. I wondered if she was as innocent as she looked. 

I pressed a finger to my lips, begging for her silence. Now was not the time or place to bring up the little four letter word I knew was begging to tumble out of her mouth. If neither of us formally acknowledged the bond, the rejection would be easier on her. I breathed a sigh of relief when she turned away, but my heart sank when sorrow tainted her heady scent. 

Damn mate bond. I didn’t want to care. 

Lya noticed, going up to my mate and linking arms, guiding her to the entrance of the complex. 

This must be the scout I was taking over for. Rose. Snow Moon’s newly graduated scout that showed the most potential. 

Maybe, just maybe, she would understand why I was rejecting her, then. Would it be too much to hope that she would agree? 

I nodded to Lya as she walked past, mumbling a brief acknowledgement of her rank. 

I waited a few seconds before falling in step behind, taking a deep breath of fresh air, hoping it would have been enough time for her scent to have cleared.

It wasn’t. 

I slowly made my way back to Cody’s office, dreading this meeting. I had known the Snow Moon scout would be there, but never would I have expected that it would be her. 

I scanned the room before finding a place to station myself. Lya was sat in the corner with the wolf, begging her to shift. Oliver was sitting across from Cody’s desk with eyes only for his mate. And the girl - Rose - was making herself as small as possible in a chair in the corner of the room, eyes locked on her hands folded in her lap. She didn’t want to be here. 

Cody glanced up once I had made my way in, taking up a spot beside Oliver. He locked eyes with me, nodding toward the door. I stood up and made my way out, curious as to why we couldn’t have this conversation over the mindlink if it was just to avoid bothering the two alphas.

“Rose,” he grunted. “C’mon.”

That’s why.