Seven.

Nate

She smelled good. A little turned on but she was fighting it. If only she wasn’t injured. I could have shown her that she didn't need to hide herself.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been watching you.” She whispers in the dark. Her eyes had finished transitioning if she could see me in the dark.

“You can look as much as you want.” My voice is low as I fight against my own urges. I couldn’t have what I wanted until she was healed. 

“I’ve never…I’m not like that.” She mutters. As she clamps her legs shut. It takes me a moment to realise that she was telling me she was a virgin. Nineteen and still a virgin. It was rare.

She rolls over to face me. Her face screwed up from the pain. “I haven’t even slept in the same bed as a man.”

“Are you uncomfortable?” I would take the floor for the night if she were.

She gives me a tiny shake of the head. “It’s just strange.”

“I will keep my hands to myself, for now. Close your eyes and get some sleep.”

I watched her for a while. Keeping my erection firmly away from her. The time would come where I would have her screaming my name.

It took her a while to fall back asleep. Her pink lips part a little as she drifts deeper into a slumber. But I couldn’t sleep. All I could see was my mate, who was finally here with me.

She was still out cold when I headed out to the training grounds with Mason. Today the youngsters were starting their training.

“Ready for this? Mason asks as he hands me a coffee.”

“If they actually listen.”

“You’re the Alpha, what can go wrong?”

The girls were already squealing and blushing as the guys made their way onto the pitch in nothing but shorts. Every year it was the same and every year, I hoped there would be a group of girls that could hold their shit together. 

“They are sixteen, give them a break.” Mason mutters when he sees my face. "Oh I forgot." He grins at me. "All girls do that to the matelss Alpha."

"I'm not mateless anymore."

"I'm sure all the ladies are going to be happy to hear that."

I didn't care, I was busy thinking of Elsa and how she had blushed in the night.

When training is finished, Mason tells me that he needs to talk to me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Humans are getting closer and closer to the pack.”

“You worry too much. There are trespassing signs up.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that is going to stop them.” He sounded concerned, but humans were the least of my problems.

“Find a way to deal with it. Without killing them.” Dead humans in our forest was the last thing I needed.

I find Elsa sitting on the back porch. Her elbows propped up on her knees, her chin in her hands.

“You are supposed to be in bed.”

“Do you know how hard it is to stay in bed when you have never had a day off?”

“How’s the pain?”

She glares at me as if to ask ‘are you stupid?’

“It’s going to take time.” I mutter, “And when you shift, the healing process will kick into gear.”

She nods her head and frowns. “Can I ask you something?” 

Finally, she was going to ask me about her shift. I had been waiting since the day after I marked her. Yet she still hadn't asked.

“My Dad. Kyra said he was a werewolf. Why didn’t he live here?”

It wasn't the question I was expecting. “He didn’t belong to Black Forest.”

“Huh?”

“We are not the only wolf and lycan pack. There are others.”

Those pink lips part a little and she stares at me. “Others?”

“All across the world.”

Her baby blue eyes are wide. “And humans don’t know?”

“Majority, no. There are some that hope there is something else out there. There are also a few humans that live in packs. But not here in England.”

Her forehead wrinkles as she stares at me. “You’re serious?”

I nod my head. “I’m more interested in why your father settled for a human. Normally, those that have been changed are mated to their marker. Like you and I.”

“Mated?”

“As in, you are mine, I am yours.” I run my thumb over the mark on her neck. I was starting to see a crescent form in place of my bite. It wouldn't be long until everyone could see that she was mine.

She stares at me for a moment and shakes her head. “They were good once, when they got together. I loved having a sister and a stepmother. But the night he died, it was like I lost more than my father. I lost my life too.”

“You have a new life now and it’s only just beginning.”

‘Alpha Nate. You need to see this.’ Mason’s urgent voice comes through mindlink.

I don't answer him immediately.

“Come on, let's get you back to bed.” Without even waiting, I scoop her up from the porch and carry her through to the bedroom.

Mason was giving me a rundown on the problem. Two wolves, found dead in the forest. But they were not alone. There was a dead human with them. That was all I needed.

“Stay here.” I press my lips to her cheek 

“Where are you going? You look angry?”

“Just stay here, you’re supposed to be resting. Doctor’s orders. I will send Lola up to stay with you.”

She nods her head at me, but I could see how worried she was. I didn’t want her to be afraid, not after finally agreeing to stay.

Mason was on the outskirts of the pack. He is standing with a guard staring at the bodies at his feet. Both wolves had a bullet in them. One in the heart and one in the head.

“Fuck.” I mutter, looking at them.

“The human has wolf bites. I would say that he shot one and the other wolf attacked. The human managed to kill him, but the bite was fatal.”

I go to pick up the gun and Mason kicks it away. “Silver.” He mutters “And silver bullets.”

“Silver bullets? This man knew what he was looking for.”

He nods his head at me. “I think we are past the point of letting trespassers live.”

“It’s just one single man.” I didn’t recognise him.

“One means there are probably more.” 

I knew Mason was worried. One of his jobs was to make sure the pack grounds were protected. Any breach rested heavy on his shoulders. 

“Have them brought back to the main grounds. Let’s see if anyone recognizes the human. Maybe someone blabbed.”

He calls another guard in to help with the third man. Pulling off my shirt, I wrap it around the gun. I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Weapons had never appealed to me. Especially not when I had claws, teeth and strength.

I look back up at Mason. Maybe there was more to this human and his silver bullets. “I need a guard for Elsa.”

“Male or female?” 

“Female. I don’t need another man near her when she is alone.”

He nods his head. "I will send someone over later on."

I make my way back to the house. Elsa and Lola were sitting on the porch steps.

“You are supposed to be in bed!”

“She hates being cooped up.” Lola mumbles at me, sticking her tongue out. “And I didn’t take her far. We only came to wait on the porch."

Elsa was staring at my bare chest. A tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks, much like the girls in training.

Her eyes suddenly drift past me. She slowly rises to her feet. Her body was visibly shaking. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

“Elsa?”

Following her gaze, I see Mason carrying the dead human out of the forest. Heading directly towards us.

“That’s the man who killed my Dad.” 

“Are you sure?”

She nods her head.

I turn the wrapped up gun over in my hands.

“Elsa, where was your fathers bullet wound?”

“His stomach.”

“He would have healed, wouldn’t he?” Lola asks me, confused. 

“Unless he was shot with a silver bullet.” I murmur. 

Had Kyra sent someone after us?