Chapter 3

            Tree branches tore through my hair as I ran, my wolf refusing to come forward. I was in danger. The sound of paws thundered behind me and I pushed myself to run faster. I found myself suddenly in the clearing with nothing to provide cover. Not that it would have helped anyway, the wolf would sniff me out. My only chance was to reach the water. I tripped over a protruding root as I moved towards the stream. Before I could stand, the wolf was flying through the sky at me, shifting into human form as he sliced through the air.

“HANNAH! COME ON, WE’RE GOING TO MISS BREAKFAST.” An irritated voice yelled through the door, waking me from my nightmare.

            “I’m coming!” I called back, untangling myself from my sweat filled sheets.

            The previous nights encounter had rattled me. My wolf was on edge, angry that I had ran from our mate. I was more concerned that he had wanted to rip our throat out. We were pack-less after all, and that made us a rogue threat. I would have to find Barb after school today and let her know about the incident. I dressed quickly and after brushing my teeth and tossing my hair in a messy bun, I headed to the orphanage's cafeteria with my backpack slung across my shoulder.

            “Hey, Hannah! Saved you a seat.” Called Toby. He had been here longer than me and aged out in a week. We had become close friends during our time here.

            I grabbed my breakfast and sat beside him, eating quietly. The nightmare was still replaying in my mind. Part of me wondered if I would have seen my mate's human form if I hadn’t been woken up. I listened to Toby rattle on about a job he had found at the local movie theater and his small studio apartment. He couldn’t sign the lease on his own until he was eighteen, but Barb had made arrangements so that he would be able to move in the same day, preventing him from being homeless for a few days.

            I was excited for him. It was difficult for orphans to find a place of their own in our area once they aged out. Most of them left the area in search of other relatives to help them out. A handful ended up in the local homeless shelter. None of them had the added complication of being a werewolf with Alpha blood, though.

            The school day flew by in a blur. We were in finals week, so there wasn’t much happening other than testing and graduation prep. I was exhausted from the run and my nightmare and spent most of the time napping in my classes. I knew the material like the back of my hand, so there wasn’t much point in prepping. The counselor had called me to her office to discuss my college applications. She had given me a lecture on wasting my potential by not applying anywhere. I couldn’t exactly tell her that it was dangerous for me to go anywhere since I wasn’t a member of any pack.

            I was relieved to get back to the orphanage. Tossing my bag in my room, I went to find Barb. I found her in her office on the phone, a concerned look on her face. She waved me in and signaled for me to sit and be quiet while she wrapped up the conversation. Finally, she sighed and hung up the phone. ‘Alpha Tristan’ displayed on the screen before her phone went to sleep.

            “So, you had quite the adventure last night.” She said, folding her fingers together under her chin.

            I raised my eyebrow in confusion. There was no way that she already knew I ran into another wolf last night.

            “That was Alpha Tristan. He apparently scented a wolf in the woods last night and followed it here.”

            “Alpha Tristan?” I stammered.

            “Yes, dear. Now, would you like to tell me what happened? You’re the only wolf in this orphanage aside from myself, and I didn’t come back here. I returned to my pack after my run.” She chuckled.

            I didn’t know where to start. I knew Alpha Tristan wasn’t her pack's alpha. Her pack’s alpha was named Bruce. I had met him once before when I expressed interest in joining their pack. I wasn’t sure which of the other packs in the area belonged to the alpha she had been speaking to on the phone. I sighed and decided I would just start with leaving for my run.

            “I knew it!” She squealed after I finished telling her the whole story. “I knew he was hiding something. He wouldn’t have called me over just any wolf.”

            “But I’m still technically a rogue.” I stammered my face flushing at her reaction.

            “Oh, sweet girl, you’re his mate.” She chided. “If it were just because of a rogue wolf, he would have contacted Alpha Bruce from my pack. Besides, you’re only rogue for another month when the state finally gets out of your business, and you can join the pack.”

            Her excitement was making me giddy. I had been terrified to face him last night, afraid that my rogue status marked me as a threat no matter how loud my wolf screamed mate. I tried to calm myself as she prattled on about wolves usually finding their mate much earlier than seventeen. I probably would have found him when my wolf first emerged if my pack hadn’t been wiped out, leaving me in a human orphanage.

            “Wait, isn’t he kind of old to be my mate?” I blurted out as the thought crossed my mind. “I mean, aren’t all alpha’s old like Bruce?”

            Barb chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, Tristan is only nineteen. Not all alphas are as old as Bruce, who is only fifty-two, by the way. Each pack has its own guidelines on when and how to pass the mantle to the next alpha. Bruce’s son, maybe even his grandson, will take over when he’s ready to retire. If I’m not mistaken, the Iron Hide pack passes their mantle as soon as their new Alpha turns eighteen.”

            I felt the heat rising in my face as she corrected my assumptions. I was starting to realize just how little I knew about being in a pack. Barb mistook my embarrassment over not knowing about the laws governing different packs as excitement that my newly discovered mate wasn’t inappropriately older than me. Her assertion that it was perfectly natural to have naughty thoughts about one’s mate only deepening my blush. I excused myself and left her giggling at my predicament.

            “Woah! Watch it, Han.” Toby grunted as I ran into him in the hall.

            Great, now I would have a second person to explain my blushing face too, except Toby was human, and I couldn’t tell him about mates. Before I could say anything, I caught sight of a bag slung over his shoulder.

            “Where are you going?” I inquired.

            “Barb got everything greenlit for me to go ahead and move into my apartment. I’m taking my stuff over there now. Wanna help? There’s more bags in my room.”

            I nodded and quickly grabbed a trash bag full of more of his belongings. I couldn’t tell him what was up, but getting away from Barb for a while would bring some relief. The last thing I wanted was more of her teasing me, no matter how well-intended. I couldn’t flex my wolf muscles again, but I could at least wear out my human body enough helping Toby move that I wouldn’t have to think about anything that had happened since last night.