Chapter 4

I was waiting for Toby in the quad after finishing my last final exam when the scent of cedar and rain reached me. Our mate is near! My wolf yipped in my mind. Panic and desire began to war within me as my eyes scanned the empty quad. I knew Barb had spoken to Alpha Tristan yesterday, but that didn’t change the fact that I was still a rogue with Alpha blood. I screamed when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

            “Shit Hannah, I think you burst my eardrums!” Toby exclaimed.

            “You scared me, Toby!” I scolded, my heart still hammering in my chest.

            Toby moved to put his arm around me and was suddenly slammed against the building.

            “MINE!” snarled the man holding Toby with his elbow pressed against his throat.

            Even with a murderous look on his face, he was gorgeous. I couldn’t help but rake my eyes over him, taking in his muscular form and shaggy, jet black hair. His scent was intoxicating. I wanted to mark him right there in the open. Get a grip Hannah! I scolded myself, shaking my head to try and clear my thoughts. Toby’s face was turning purple from the lack of oxygen.

            “Let him go asshole!” I heard myself say.

            I watched the muscles in his back tense momentarily before he released Toby. He looked at me, his eyes a mixture of confusion, anger, and hurt, before leaving as quickly as he had come.

            “What the fuck was that about?” Toby choked out, rubbing his throat.

            “I don’t know Tob.” I lied. “We should get back to the orphanage. We have a graduation party to plan and we should probably see if Barb has a line on any furniture for your new apartment.”

            Toby and I walked home in silence. Neither of us wanted to talk about anything other than the incident at school, but I couldn’t give Toby any answers. We weren’t supposed to tell humans about us, unless we mated to them, and Toby wasn’t my mate. When we walked in, the receptionist called for Toby to sign in, he had technically moved out the day before and didn’t live in the orphanage anymore. I was waiting for him to retrieve his visitor pass when Barb grabbed my arm and led me to her office.

            “I’ve received a call from Alpha Bruce today.” She said, closing the door behind her. “Alpha Tristan wants a meeting with my pack, about you.”

            “But I’m not a member of Silver Moon pack yet. I still have almost a month until I’m not a ward of the state and can join!” I exclaimed.

            “I know.” She shushed me. “When Alpha Tristan called yesterday, I told him as much. Since you intend to join our pack when you age out of the system, he has decided to approach our Alpha as if you were already a member.”

            I sat in stunned silence. I would have expected Alpha Tristan to want to reject me since I was a rogue. The incident at school combined with him reaching out to the Alpha of my intended pack was beginning to suggest otherwise. My heart sped up as I let myself hope that I wasn’t jumping to the wrong conclusion.

           “Alpha Bruce didn’t divulge Alpha Tristan’s intentions.” Barb cautioned, answering my unspoken question. “All he would say is that I am to take you to the pack house this evening.”

            I nodded as Barb led me to the door, advising me to dress nicely before I left. I headed to my room, hoping that Toby would be there to distract me until visiting hours were over. I was relieved to find him lounging on my bed, skimming through a magazine.

            “What did Barb want?” He asked when I entered the room.

            “Oh! I forgot to tell you yesterday, she offered me a position here as caregiver once I turn eighteen. She wanted to go over a few details with me.” It wasn’t totally a lie, she had offered me the job, but I couldn’t tell Toby what today’s conversation had really been about.

            Toby jumped off the bed and grabbed me in a congratulatory hug. He knew I had been stressing about what would happen to me after my birthday. I gently pulled away and picked up the magazine he had been reading when I came in. I chuckled when I realized he had been looking through a furniture catalogue.

            We spent the next few hours figuring out how to create a budget online and picking out his dream pieces of furniture. He couldn’t afford most of them, but it still felt good to fantasize about owning them. I felt a twinge of jealousy. I didn’t have to worry about a job or place to live anymore, but I also wasn’t going to be decorating my own place any time soon.

            When the announcement ending visiting hours came across the pa system, Toby gathered up his newly printed budget and a few print offs of furniture he could actually afford before heading out. As soon as he shut the door behind him, I flew to my closet. I had a meeting with two Alphas, and I had to find something to wear. I tore threw my clothing, tossing things on the floor as I searched for the perfect outfit. Nothing I had seemed appropriate and I was about to have a break down when Barb entered the room.

            “I thought you might have this problem.” She chuckled, looking at the clothes tossed everywhere. “I brought you something to wear.”

            She handed me a light floral print dress. It wasn’t fancy by any means, it looked more like something someone would wear to work at an office. I gave her a quick hug and ran to my bathroom to change. The dress accentuated all of my curves without making me look overly sexy. I looked like an attractive young intern as I threw my hair into a high pony and applied light makeup. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to look for a meeting with alphas, but if this was what Barb felt was appropriate, it would do.

            “Flats!” Barb said, handing me my shoes as I exited the bathroom. “You look lovely.”

            I clasped my hands tightly in my lap as Barb pulled up to the pack house. The place was huge. It looked like an upscale, rustic hotel from the outside, which wasn’t helping my nerves. Some of the pack knew me from my previous meetings with Alpha Bruce while trying to find a way for me to join before I was eighteen. This evening was different though, I knew Alphas didn’t travel alone, so there would be wolves who didn’t know me aside from my scent as a rogue.

            “It’s going to be fine.” Barb soothed, squeezing my hand gently as she pulled into a parking space.

            I was grateful for her comfort, but it did little to calm my nerves. My stomach was in knots and my hands trembled as I exited the car. The few yards to the pack house entrance felt like a death march. I took a deep breath to steady myself as Barb led me through the crowded house to Bruce’s office. While the wolves who knew me smiled as I passed, the few I saw that were clearly Iron Hide pack eyed me suspiciously.

            “Ah, there you are! Come in, come in. You too Barb, after all you’re Hannah’s guardian at the orphanage. You will be acting in the stead of her parents.” Bruce called as we neared his office.

            My senses were overwhelmed as we took our seats. I had smelled him when we entered the pack house, but in the close confines of the office, cedar and rain were all I could scent. Not even Barb’s usual perfume could break through the smell of him. I risk a glance at him and saw his jaw tighten when I took the seat furthest away from him. I was struggling to keep my wits about me already, I needed Barb as a buffer.

            Bruce cleared his throat, pulling Alpha Tristan’s eyes from me. I felt myself blush, knowing I was the cause of the awkwardness, even if nobody else seemed to notice. The other wolves in the room were acting like an alpha staring down some girl like he could eat her was business as usual. It made me realize just how little I really knew about being a wolf and it made me miss my parents. Caught up in a sudden wave of grief, I didn’t notice I was being spoken too until I Barb gave me a gentle nudge.

            “Sorry, can you repeat that?” I asked shyly.

            “Have you been experiencing any symptoms of heat?” Bruce asked matter-of-factly.

            My face turned red. I knew that female wolves went into heat a short time after finding their mates, but I had no idea what the symptoms were. Even if I did, it seemed personal and not something to discuss as a point of business in front of anyone else.

            “She hasn’t.” Barb spoke up.

            “Good. That means we won’t have that to contend with should you choose to reject her Tristan.”

            My heart dropped. Maybe I had gotten my hopes up for nothing and this meeting really was about officially rejecting me. Though, I still didn’t understand why a rejection would require a meeting. As far as I knew, it only had to be spoken aloud between mates.

            “I came for answers about her rogue status.” Tristan snarled. “I know from my previous phone call with your Delta Female that she is an orphan. What I want to know is why and why she hasn’t been accepted into your pack if she is intended to join.”

            I sat in silence as Bruce and Barb retold the story of how I had come to be in an orphanage. My story was an unusual one and Tristan listened without interruption. My parents had both been alphas of smaller packs, which they merged when they found each other as mates. Even with both packs as one, our pack was small compared to Iron Hide or Silver Moon. They told him that if I hadn’t been in the care of humans when my pack was wiped out that I wouldn’t have been in the human system at all. They had pulled enough strings in the government to ensure that I was placed in the orphanage under Barb’s care, so that I would grow up with another wolf.

            I snapped my head up hearing that. I hadn’t known that it was intentional me ending up with Barb. Apparently, that was where Silver Moon pack’s power and influence ran out. They hadn’t been able to get the state to let anyone from the pack to take me in or adopt me, which would have allowed me to be initiated in as a child.

            “We’ve done everything we can to keep her under our care and protection until she ages out of the system.” Barb concluded.

            “How old are you?” Tristan asked me gently.

            “Seventeen. I’ll be eighteen next month, Alpha.”

            “You can call me Tristan, Hannah. You are my mate. You will be my Luna.”

            “You’re not rejecting me? I mean, you’re ok with me being a rogue?” I stammered.

            “The Moon Goddess made you for me, and me for you. You are mine to protect.” He responded, speaking as if no one else was in the room.

            My wolf yipped with joy in my mind and my heart felt like it would burst from happiness. My mate accepted me. He wanted me.

            “I will have Iron Hide pack lawyers draw up the paperwork for emancipation on Hannah’s behalf.” Tristan informed Bruce. “I expect your Delta Female will cover for her at the orphanage until the legalities are done.”

            “Of course, as long as that it was Hannah desires. I expect your pack lawyers will be able to get the emancipation through where we could not.” Bruce looked at me to confirm whether I wanted to go with Tristan or not.

            Before I could even consider what going with him meant, I found myself nodding my head. I had no idea what being a mate, let alone a mate to an Alpha, would entail, but I knew I didn’t want to be away from him. The longer I sat in the office surrounded by his scent, the harder it was becoming for me to keep from throwing myself on him in front of everyone.

            “It’s settled then.” Tristan stated, grabbing my hand. “I will be taking leave with my mate now. Thank you for humoring me with this meeting.”

            Tristan led me by the hand, out of the room. I barely had a chance to wave goodbye to Barb before we were out of the room. Feeling me tense as we walked into the main room of the pack house, Tristan pulled me closer to him. The handful of wolves that had eyed me suspiciously when I first entered the house fell in step behind us. Tristan’s eyes had glazed over as he continued to lead me to the car. I wondered if that meant he was linking his pack. I had never seen Barb do it to know what it looked like. He smiled down at me as he helped me into the passenger seat of an expensive looking sports car and in moments, we were off to start my new life with the Iron Hide pack.