The thought of Alban and the unfortunate situation I had found myself in clouded my mind, the way his eyes looked into mine caused me to want to shrink but at the same time, run into his arms. That man was awful to me the last few years I was staying at this pack, each time he would see me, the look on his face was as though I had betrayed him in such an outrageous way, and I was his worst enemy. But the awful mixed with confusing thing, I had never done a single thing which would grant being treated the way he treated me.
It wasn’t only me that he’d do it to, but almost to every friend that I had. It was as though he thought I was such a repulsive person that I didn’t deserve to have friends, so he did everything in his power to force them to leave me. I even recall around a month before I left, my best friend Malcolm and I were walking home from a little get together deep in the woods when Alban appeared out of nowhere. I knew what he was like, so I grabbed Malcolm by the hand and began to pull him away, but my action seemed to only enrage Alban more. The next thing I knew, Alban had taken Malcom by the scruff of his neck and began beating him to a pulp, for seemingly no reason. I tried all I could to get him to stop but he was much too strong for sixteen-year-old me and being an Alpha, I didn’t stand a chance and neither did poor Malcolm. After what felt like an eternity at the time, Alban gets up, looks at me with that same sick smirk he always did and walked back through the woods as though nothing was amiss. Malcom was rushed into hospital and was forced to stay in intensive care for weeks with none of us knowing if he was going to make it, thankfully, he was able to pull through. But after seeing for myself what had happened, I told Malcom for his safety it would be best if we didn’t see each other anymore and I left, before he and I could talk more, I was sent away to The Full Moon Pack and that was the end of it. But now to realise that I’m mated to that heartless monstrosity of a man, the confusion and anger which pulsed through my body took all I had within me to keep at bay. Why did I have to be mated to him, why couldn’t I have found my mate when I was away and never had to deal with that scum ever again?! Wanting to keep this new realisation to myself until I fully understood what I was going to do, I follow my parents around the house as they showed me what renovations they had done while I was away. The inside of the house looked nothing like it did the last time I was here; they had even moved the bathroom! The only place they hadn’t touched was my bedroom, which I silently hoped they did once I walked in. My room hadn’t changed at all since I left, I did begin to wonder if my parents had left it as a sort of shrine to me, not a single thing seemed to have been moved since I left! Opening up my boxes and starting to put my things away, I attempted to distract myself, but the more my mind was left with no other interactions, the more it enjoyed playing the scene back over and over again in my head. I still couldn’t quite understand what I was going to do, I knew I didn’t have a plan for what I was going to do when I arrived home but I know it definitely, wasn’t mating with the fucking Alpha, one I have despised for a multitude of reasons for a very long time. As though he could sense what I was dealing with, a knock at my bedroom door sounds making me jump and stare at the thick slab of wood as though it was some sort of attacker. I of course, knew such a thing wasn’t about to happen but, in my brain, I worried it was Alban on the other side, his face holding pure rage for me turning around and leaving him. “Open the door, I want to see him!” My wolf shouts in my head with such a seductive look in her eyes, she didn’t seem to care that I was going through torment over this new revelation, all she wanted was her mate. “Come in.” I call out once taking a deep breath in and telling myself how suspicious it would look if I simply allowed the person to stand outside of the door whilst I plotted my escape. Watching in horror as the doorknob turned with my heart pounding in my chest, I back up towards my bed in the corner bracing for impact of some sort. But when an older version of my brother poked his head through the door, all that fear and anticipation for war soon flashed from my mind. “Lincoln!” I exclaimed dropping the clothes which hung from my hands and rushing over to him, where he soon scoops me up in his arms and held me so tightly, this was one hug I had missed over these past five years. “Look at you.” He smiled pulling away and getting to look at my face, but I was more shocked at his transformation, he looked great. “Look at me? Look at you! You look like a different person!” I exclaimed still flabbergasted at how much he had changed since I was away, he was about to turn eighteen before I left but now as he stood there as a twenty-three-year-old, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what I saw. “I mean that’s what being a Beta does to you, I’m under a strict regime to ensure I have the power and control to fulfil my duties, and Alban sends me on many different missions around different packs, I hardly have time to rest.” He explained still holding onto my arms as he spoke, but now he had said that one name I had been avoiding, he only sent my feelings into turmoil once again. Letting out an audibly loud ugh type of noise to keep up an act but once I turned around, I was forced to attempt to keep the heat from rising to my cheeks when that man flashed into my brain, what is wrong with my feelings?! “I know how you feel about him Iris, but he isn’t that bad, many pack members agree that once he took his title as Alpha, he changed.” Lincoln attempted to say as though he was defending his honour, but I could only shake my head walking around my room with my arms folded. “I volunteer as tribute to witness him change!” My wolf shouts in my mind as though she had any say in the matter, her eagerness only causing me to roll my eyes so much I thought they’d get stuck. “A man like that is incapable of change, the evil shit he used to force me to endure and anyone close to me when I was here, it was as though he wanted me to be alone! He is the one thing about this place I didn’t miss for even a second!” I exclaim feeling the anger of all the past memories of everything that he’d done to me and others begin to boil inside of me, this is why I refuse to be mated to that man! “A little too late for that don’t ya think?” My wolf smugly tells me in my head, but I still knew I had an option, I could reject him. “If you dare attempt to do that to mate, I swear-” She began to growl in my head but before she could continue, I block her out so she could rant to herself. “I understand that Iris but trust me, I wouldn’t walk you into a situation where you could get hurt. How about you come to dinner with our family and him and his, you’ll see for yourself what a positive difference his title has done for him?” Lincoln asked with such a genuine smile on his face, but even the thought of sitting in a room in close proximity to Alban caused such a rush of adrenaline to rush through my body and a thirst for his touch to grab hold of my emotions. “I would rather stab drawing pins into my eyes.” I mutter attempting to make myself believe that I despised that man so much that I didn’t want to sit in the same room as him, even though my body was begging me to do the very opposite and allow our bodies to collapse into one another. “I can see your personality hasn’t changed.” Lincoln laughed crossing his arms over his chest and looking over at me with such a smile, where I opened my arms out wide. “See! I’m living proof that people can’t change!” I exclaim using his comment as my leverage for getting out of this dinner, I didn’t only not trust myself around him but I certainly, didn’t trust a single thing that man may do if I’m forced into a room with him. “I’ve been picturing each intermit detail.” My wolf purrs in my had after breaking through my block just to tell me that, where that block was soon back up and stronger than before. “Even though that offer sounds beyond tempting, I’ve had such a long day of packing and driving that I just want go to bed and see what tomorrow brings, well if I can sleep in that bed, what was I thinking?” I said hoping he would understand before turning to look at the bed in question, the style of those covers was truly a statement and one I hoped to change at the next chance I found. “I understand and will let everyone know, it’s great to have you back.” Lincoln laughed at first but soon looked over at me with such another genuine smile on his lips, which warmed my heart. “Thanks Lincoln.” I replied before he sent me one last wave and soon walked back through my door leaving me to settle in for the night. As I looked down at the bed, I couldn’t help my eyes drifting to the window and spotting the reflection of myself looking back at me. What was I going to do?Waking up the next morning back at home in my own bed, I truly felt more lost than I ever did back at The Full Moon pack. Leading up to this point when I knew I would need to head home, I did worry that I’d get like this. I felt so at home there and knew everyone and knew I had a place in the world, but now being in this pack again, it was as though everyone had moved on with their lives and here I was, seeming to go back to where I was when I left, I didn’t have a place anymore. As I sat up in bed looking out of the window with such sadness in the pit of my stomach, I realised I hadn’t messaged Max after returning home and worried he’d either get worried himself or feel as though I had simply forgotten about him because I was back home. Throwing my blankets off and grabbing my phone which sat on charge beside me, I write: “Sorry I didn’t text last night, once I returned home, I hadn’t stopped. I’m back safe but I miss you so much.” Once I hit send, all I could do was sigh and l
My eyes began to flutter closed the longer I sat on the sofa, I had only been awake for some hours but due to the amount of crying I had done in that short amount of time, my eyes stung and begged me to rest them. Feeling as though I didn’t have much else to do, I was ready to oblige and take my first nap in my parent's house, but the front door beginning to knock three booming times jolted me forward. My heart pounded in my chest from the shock of this sudden visitor, my hands seeming to grip the armrests of the sofa as though that was going to aid me in anyway. The repeated knocks on the door once I hadn’t even rose from the sofa yet to get the door snaps me from my delirious state, I believe that is what led me to get up from the chair and quickly walk towards the door without taking much thought as to who could be waiting on the other side. But that seemed to all change when I reached for the handle and pulled open the door, only to reveal the very same Alpha I had locked ey
The longer Alban’s body lay pressed against mine, the more those burning desire feelings took over my senses but also, the less air I was able to take in due to my whole body getting pressed against the hardwood flooring. “Do not get me wrong little mate, I do enjoy a little fight, it simply excites me for the punishments I can bestow upon you with my own special weapon.” He whispered right by my ear which only allowed my wolf to howl in excitement and me to attempt to move myself but due to the position, I couldn’t get very far. “You’re…. such a… dick.” I manage to reply not able to get a full breath of air in my lungs due to his body weight and the floor sandwiching me in place, but even with this I wasn’t going to allow him to win. “That is exactly right little mate, one you will greatly enjoy when the time comes, I wonder if it will be now.” He whispered even closer to my ear but this time, a little piece of his saliva falls from his lips and lands on my cheek, this sending
I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread which washed over my body when Alban had my phone in his possession and I didn’t, I knew there wasn’t anything incriminating on those messages between Max and I, but I worried how this Alpha would take some of them. “Iris, I was beginning to grow worried the longer that I hadn’t heard from you, I miss you more than you could ever imagine and wish for you to be close to me again. Let me know how you’re settling in and just know, the offer still stands.” Alban said reading the message that Max had written, due to what I had led Alban to believe, some of the things in that message didn’t seem to sit well with him as he let out a growl. “What offer is this grotesque man referencing?” He asked looking away from my phone and down at me with that same look of anger, where I simply rolled my eyes in response. “That is no business of yours.” I say not faulting in my response at all, where a sick little laugh escapes Alban’s lips as though he was mock
Lincoln had just concluded the last of his meetings for the day, all he had to do now was set up Albans office and see if he had any other orders for him that day. After seeing how little the Alpha had scheduled for that day himself, he knew it was likely they would both clock off early which would give Lincoln time to head over and speak with Iris. He believed they all knew what a harsh adjustment it would have been for Iris once she returned, but he didn’t think he truly considered the emotional adjustment aspect. He could see she had made some great friends while she was away which would make it hard to leave but added onto the fact that so much has changed in this pack since she left, he could see why she was feeling lost. So, as her older brother, he wasn’t going to stop until he saw she found her purpose once again. But his hope for an early clock off was soon thrown from the window when Alban walked in, a deep scowl on his face as he throws the office door open and slams it
I waited in my room for the remainder of the day and even dead into the night, my mother had asked if I wanted dinner, but I simply said I wasn’t hungry and turned around to the window. I still couldn’t believe I had found myself in this position, not even a week ago I was happily sitting in my bed back at The Full Moon Pack, knowing I had my freedom and people around me who actually cared and wanted the best for me. But now I’m stuck in a place which doesn’t feel like home, the sense of purpose taken from my mind as some stupid order to keep me in the pack hung over my head. There was nothing I could do about my life now, it was fully in the hands of Alban, my unfortunate mate. As I looked out the window at the beautiful full moon in the sky, all I could do was sigh, I truly didn’t know what else I could do. “Accept mate.” My wolf suggests in my head letting me know what she wanted, which only caused me to sigh even more placing my head against the wall behind me. “It’s not t
Alban was peacefully sleeping in bed when he suddenly, jolted awake in a panic looking around the room. He didn’t quite understand what had awoken him and forced him into this kind of state, but his wolf also seemed to be on edge. “Something has happened, I do not know what, but it is bad.” His wolf tells him in a panicked but protective stance, this alerting Alban as he reached up and wiped the sweat from his face. “I am not receiving any distress alerts from our border guards.” Alban began to try and rationalise why he may have awoken suddenly, but his comment only allowed his wolf to growl that much more loudly. “I am not talking about the pack, you fucking moron! I’m speaking about mate; I can feel something has happened to her, so you need to check her immediately!” His wolf growls ferociously due to Alban not understanding what he meant right away, but now he was aware, Alban wasted no time. He throws the covers from his legs and bounds out of bed, with the freezing temp
After rushing into the hospital and shouting orders at the many doctors and nurses to help Iris, Alban stood in the corner of her private room with his arms folded watching as the doctors and nurses rushed around to help her. Albans eyes trained on the places the male doctor in particular would touch, if this man slipped up and touched his mate in the wrong areas, this man would be needing a doctor himself. To Alban, none of what had happened made sense, his mind racing with the unknowns of why his mate had been walking in that section of the woods alone and at night. While searching the area for her, he didn’t see, smell or sense another person around, could they have intentionally, hurt Iris and fled before they could be captured? All of his questions would need to wait until Iris awoke, but that didn’t mean his anger didn’t start to boil from the situations he was building in his own mind. The doors flying open and Lincoln, running into the room, fully out of breath with huge b
Once the initial sense of exhaustion from being marked finally, faded, Alban allows me out of bed where I begin my normal routine of getting ready and going to let the hounds out of their house and hand them their first meal of the day. Due to them only getting here yesterday, I didn’t have a clear schedule of when the hunters needed to give me their food, but according to Alban, he had already sorted everything out and the food should be waiting for me when I get there. I hadn’t quite given myself much time to think about what I’d just allowed to happen; it was all so quick that my mind was still playing catch up. But one thing I did know, the mark was still sore from it only getting placed on my neck not even an hour ago which meant I was forced to wear my hair in a ponytail which fully, showcased to anyone around what Alban and I had gotten up to this morning. Taking a look in the mirror to ensure I hadn’t any stray hairs wanting to protest, I catch a glimpse of the new symbol
As I slowly began to drift out of dream land, a source of warmth brushed against my cheek, the warm sparks of electricity only called me in a way a siren call used to towards ships in the raging sea. As like those ships, I had no other choice but to snuggle in even closer in hopes of absorbing all the warmth and remain in that state forever. Feeling arms which were already wrapped around my body only tighten and pull me even closer to the warmth woke me up even more, where was I? Slowly opening up my eyes, I discovered I was not laying on the soft bed I had fallen to sleep on, but the extremely warm and toned chest of the Alpha. Lifting my head up as much as his arms which tightly wrapped around my torso under the blanket would allow me, I find he was still deep in dreamland sleeping peacefully under me. I went to try and move away before his facial features began to catch my attention, due to everything that’s happened between us since my return, I hadn’t had the chance to really
Once the gash on my arm had stopped bleeding and was wrapped tightly with a bandage, Alban retrieved the clothes someone had brought for me and helped me dress, even when he saw my body while he helped with my clothes, he didn’t go to make a comment at all, with all that happened, he knew it wasn’t the time. We were now sat at the foot of the bed in silence, with all that had happened and the new information we were able to uncover in this moment alone, I don’t believe either of us knew what to say. Through the silence, I feel a hand move closer to mine and interlock with my fingers, this little gesture bringing me so much comfort. “Now that you are safe and are no longer out in the freezing rain or bleeding in the bathroom, please tell me what happened?” He asked in a soft tone slowly looking over to me, even though his tone was soft, I could see the deep anger building in his eyes at the thought of Max doing the one thing he and I should share. With his question came the wave
Once I disclosed to Alban the horrifying truth that had been revealed to me, I was carried inside of his warm home and out of the storming weather that pelted the area. My entire body shook with the cold as freezing water drenched my thin clothes, in my daze like state, I didn’t think to grab my coat and walked out as though I was tempting the water to hurt me. My hair only leaked even more water to run down my back. As I was placed on the bed I had slept in the night I had stayed with Alban, I sunk back into that foggy state and watched with a blank expression as the world turned around me. It was as though my mind had witnessed such a graphic and frightening memory, it sent my body into a still and dark state in hopes of having the energy to absorb the information. I trusted Max, I thought he was the only person I could depend on when I was away from home to look after me. He was always there when I needed him and truly for me, stepped into the role as my brother as my own was b
After returning home, Alban showed me the pen the hounds had been made as a temporary shelter until the proper one can be created before he left for the meeting, he had explained he was required to attend. I was so beyond happy that he’d agreed to allow me to take the hounds back, I don’t know if I’d be able to walk out of that pack, or ride on his back home if they weren’t. Just from seeing the state they were in, all had deep cuts to their necks as though some chain was wrapped around it, Conrad had a deep cut to his leg which looked as though it was a sword mark which I had to assume was made when someone was trying to defend themselves and even though they managed to have a grand meal in the most horrible way, they were all malnourished, all in all it broke my heart and I was glad they were back with me so I could help them get stronger. Once I ensured they were all happy in their new home, I lock them in for the night to shelter from the growing storm taking a hold of the lan
The only sound around was the growling of the hounds with their eyes placed on one person, Max, who also didn’t look the happiest in this moment. These hounds didn’t like Max in the slightest, I didn’t know why, but even when he would come with me to feed them every now and then, they wouldn’t allow him in the pen and would go for him any chance they got. So now I had ordered them to stand in the position as though they were about to fight, it was an easy task for them to fulfil. “I’m not doing this to get one up on you Max, even though I don’t live here anymore doesn’t mean I suddenly hate you, you’re still as much of my best friend as you were when I left. But you know what keeping these here without me is going to do, I mean the countless dead bodies which are laying on the asphalt not meters away from us is evidence alone. Please Max, I want to make sure they’re kept safe but all the people I’ve come to love in your pack safe also. I’m not your enemy Max.” I say looking Max righ
Alban bounded through the pack with me still sitting on his back, the closer we got to the main section, the louder the screams became and the more my heart sunk. The guard hadn’t given me much information, but to hear the hounds only escaped because they were looking for me, I couldn’t help the guilt that I felt for leaving them. “Stop here, if you shift and hide within the tree-line behind me, I’ll call them over.” I instructed Alban as I recognised the thinning of the trees meant we were close to entering through the town, the screams and shouts but now, the unmissable sounds of biting and growling told me I was in the correct place. Alban does as I ask him and stops, allowing me to lift my leg over and slid down his wolf’s side until my feet landed on the floor. Standing alone for a moment, I couldn’t stop my entire body shaking from worry and anticipation, what if these hounds are angry that I’d left and won’t listen to me or worse, because I’ve been away and at a different p
“What kind of urgent plea?” I asked with a hint of worry in my voice, yes, I was concerned as to what my wolf may know that I may not, but I lived at The Full Moon Pack for five years and built such a strong connection with many people there, I didn’t want any of them getting hurt. “The Alpha Maxwell sent a distress call in; such a call is only utilised in dire situations. In most cases, they request immediate back up from an army, but he has only identified needing you.” The former Alpha informs me from the side, where my mind still littered with the unknowns, what’s happening that only I can help with? “Did he give you any other information?” I asked now turning back to look at Alban, who sat back in his chair watching my face intently, as though he was attempting to catch if my emotions changed as the conversation progressed. “He mentioned their group of hounds, we believe they may have escaped their pens and are now attacking pack members but that is simply speculation.” The
Lincoln managed to show me around most of the pack grounds before he was called away to the border, some kind of rouge had appeared and due to Alban getting held back in some other meeting, it was up to the Beta to handle it all. This left me to stroll into Lincoln’s house alone, the emptiness of his home mixed with the darkness, I couldn’t help but sigh. Back at The Full Moon Pack, I never felt lonely or bored because I’d always have something to do, there were many times I’d be on my feet getting work done late into the early hours and would be up two hours later to begin my work for the day. I didn’t have much time to allow my thoughts to wonder, which is why I believe after the first few weeks of being away I lost the feeling of home sickness, I didn’t have time to think or feel anything which weren’t the tasks I was given. But now I’ve returned home, it’s as though all I have is time for my mind to wonder, time to question everything that’s happened to me and what will happen