Chapter Three

*Ingrid*

The enormous black wolf lunges straight over my head, crouching down in front of me. Letting out a growl so deep from within his chest it shakes the ground beneath my feet. I fall back onto my butt, scared out of my freaking mind, I crouch down behind this menacing wolf thats trying to protect me. All I can do is thank the Goddess it was aimed at the men who were chasing me and not towards me.

I could feel the anger pouring off of Alpha Quinn, seeping into the air. 

"Alpha Quinn, my name is Ezra. I'm a warrior for the Black Ridge Pack. The girl belongs with us, she is the daughter of our Beta Donovan. She is meant to be Alpha Stone's next mate by the full moon in two weeks."

Abso-fucking-lutely not. No, I wasn't. 

At Ezra's words a sudden anger takes over my body, clouding around me and trying to pull me under. I can't shift and try to attack them. I can feel the fast beating of my heart and the high-pitched hum of blood in my ears. Anger racking over every inch of my body. What the hell was I thinking coming here like this? I should of just kept running.

I've put every person of this pack in danger, and for what? Just because I didn't want to mate with Alpha Stone? 

My kind is spinning out of control, the anger still trying to pull me down and take over my body.

Jules voice screams in my head, 'Let me out. Now Ingrid.'

'Jules?? I thought you were sick.. I- I can't let you out, we'll die and this will have been all for nothing.' I whimper. My chest aching at being able to hear her voice again.

'They lied to you, they- they poisoned me to keep you from shifting. I'm here, I've always been here Ingrid trying like hell to break free and protect you.'

What the fuck?

Why? Why would they do that to me? Poison? No way would poison me..

It felt as if my head was floating underwater. Did Father and Alpha Stone really poison me to keep Jules away? And if they did then why?

My heart is absolutley beating out of control, feeling like it's going to rip out of my chest if I let this go on any longer. 

They lied to me.

Lied to me for years.

They hurt me, tried to take my wolf from me. 

Why?

Crouched down on the ground behind Alpha Quinn's wolf, I take a deep breath trying to steady myself, as a slight breeze rolls through us and across my face. Taking a greedy breath of the air into my lungs a trace of something grabs my interest.

'Mate.' Jules voice rings out so loud in my ears that it's hard to believe I'm the only one who can hear her.

Goddess, I can't believe I can hear her again. 

I'm so stunned by finding him, here of all places that I can't even revel in the fact that Jules came back to me properly. 

Alpha Quinn of all people is my mate, My body is in so much overload that I just sit here crouched behind his beautiful black wolf aching to reach out and caress him. Taking in the overpowering feeling to protect this man with my life as his scent wraps it's way around my body like a blanket. He smells like the forest after it's rained mixed with a hint of firewood. God, I want to bathe in it, have it embedded in my skin so it can never leave me.

"You cannot have her Quinn," Ezra's stupid voice rings out with an edge that I know isn't real. He's really started to grate on my nerves. But I can tell that He's scared shitless right now, even if his voice isn't portraying it. "Stone will attack your pack for this Quinn, shift so we can talk and work this out."

A loud growl pierces the air, it takes me a moment to realize that the growl is coming from me. Anger like I've never felt before pours it's way through my body at the idea of someone potentially hurting my mate and his pack. I might be fucking terrified in this moment but the idea of someone hurting him makes my wolf come to the surface, fighting to break out.

I try extremely hard to stop the shift and keep my skin, but the anger is to much as it takes over. I was never taught this, and those men deserve everything thats coming to them. So I give up the fight on control, and I let my wolf consume me.

Limbs stretching, muscles tensing, bones breaking and healing in rapid succcesion. Fur replacing the skin, covering my entire body. I breathe in and my voice is a growl, my finger charcoal black claws. Through the eyes of my wolf, Jules, everything is more agrresive, more violent. Especially now when the men who hurt us are staring me straight in the face. Looking down at my paws I can see the white fur covering my body.

White?

I stand up from crouching behind Quinn, walking around and taking my place next to my mate. Staring the men from my old pack in the face.

The shock on their faces would of been almost comical if not for the situation.

Alpha Stone and my father were the only people who knew I had a wolf, they kept it a secret from everyone. Stating that they didn't want people to know that I was 'weak.' They didn't want people to know that Jules was sick. 

But that was all a lie and I can't grasp why they would do this to me.

Alpha Quinn whips his head in my direction when I walk up next to him, taking in my wolf. Staring with wonder dancing in his eyes. Our wolves were almost the exact same size..

That shouldn't be possible? He's an alpha and I'm not. I'm the daughter of a Beta, why would our wolves even be close in size?

Then men chasing me take a step back, the stench of their fear seeping out into the air between us.

Howls resound from within the woods, the pack warriors were closing in on us. 

They were coming to protect their Alpha from the incoming threat.

Is that suppose to be me?

'Calm Ingrid, you are his mate. They won't hurt us, and I'll never leave you again. That's a promise.'