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Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Nine
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Why the hell are you making me chase you around this early in the morning?" Nate growls. He wasn't even going to wait until we were alone to bitch at me. What a mean mate.
"It's almost nine thirty. I would hardly call that early." I roll my eyes, turning around to look over Ike's shoulder at how close to their places we were. I feel eyes on me and turn to see a group of women looking at us, laughing.
But it wasn't a mean laugh. They were smiling and whispering to each other. I wave a little, rolling my eyes and pointing between my two mates as if to say, "these guys." They giggle and wave back. I meet eyes with one girl I recognize, Abby. She's smiling, for real this time, and I think I see tears in her eyes. Why was she crying? I tilt my head to the side as we move past them.
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Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty
The rest of our last day before the guests arrived was spent organizing a dinner for the entire pack.I had originally asked Ike how long our visitors were staying for, and he replied with, just a night most likely to rest before they headed back to their homeland.I asked him what they would be doing after they talked to him, and he replied that they would probably just sit in their house and stare at the wall. That's actually what he said, totally straight face. I still have no idea if he was kidding.Either way, I shook my head at his words and made the choice that we were having another cook out, like we had for Ike's birthday.I had gone off with Abby, Juliet, and Tamara, three wolves who used to work in the ma
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-One
Zach, Noah, and Thomas were all helping each other stand the logs up in a triangle shape. I didn't feel like I could call them the trio of idiots anymore, to be honest. They'd all grown up a lot in just a few months. Thomas had been leading the hell out of the new guards, and Noah and Zach had been the ones in charge of building all the new houses, so they'd been getting plenty of physical activity in, not to mention their leadership roles were helping them to grow mentally, too. They were becoming men, that was for sure. They had defiantly helped fill the hole Matt had left. A little.I sigh and drink out of my bottle of lemonade flavored beer. I didn't really like actual beer, but this was okay.I had three more at my feet, one more for me, and one for each of my mates if they happened to wander by.Nate was filling in
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Two-Nate
"Hey." I falter a little in my stride towards my front porch. Ike is hanging out his front door in only boxer briefs. His hair was all messy, and he smelled like sex. Nice to know him and Cleo were having a good time while I was off working.Don't be dramatic. "We're in here." He turns to walk back inside, leaving the door open.Was he inviting me in,again?I shrug, looking back to my place once before pivoting to Ike's instead. I wonder how he knew I was coming. It was pretty late, almost one in the morning. I had gotten distracted with helping a few of the guards skin a few extra deer we'd caught for the party tomorrow. We'd started talking a little about the very thing we were hunting. With so many wolves here now, it might get hard to feed all of them with meat from the forest. We didn't want
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Three
"They're here!" I perk a little at the sound of Thomas's voice finally coming from the tree line."Here we go." I hear Cleo muttering from beside me. I glance down at her, meeting her orange eyes. I grin, and she rolls her eyes. She grabs my hand, and we stand up from where'd we'd been sitting on my front porch.Ike comes crashing out of his house then. He'd been on the phone with the old Alpha of this pack, Parker. Cleo had told me a little about him, all she knew anyways. Which was pretty much just that he seemed nice and was Ike's father figure."You guys ready?" He asks when we all converge finally.It doesn't matter if we are or aren't, because they're here.Through the trees comes a group of our guards, surrounding four people, all a little older and rougher looking than the young wolves around them, "Protecting" them. Something about the way our guests carried themselves told me they didn't need our petty protection."Welcome." Ike steps forward first, while Cleo and I hang bac
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Four-Cleo
It was safe to say first impressions did not go well. Ike and I were currently leading the four guests back to our place, and Nate had stormed off into the woods after meeting his dad.After Nate had left, he rolled his eyes and had only said, "you'd think I wouldn't have so many spawns running around with how hard it's supposed to be for me to procreate." Another man with them, shorter and with dark skin, laughed with him like it was hilarious. They were both on my shit list. Agreed.But the two people who I knew to be my parents, didn't mock him at least. That was something of a relief."Come in, make yourselves comfortable. Anyone want coffee?" Ike asks once we're all in his living room.They all say yes. My parents sit on the couch, Nate's dad and the other guy sit in the stools in front of Ike's counter. I hover around Ike in the kitchen, helping him by getting glasses out and avoiding the eyes I could feel burning into me. "I'll just say it right out," Ike says after he's got
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Five
"Ah, I don't hate you. I don't know you." I shrug, finally speaking again. "You're just two people to me, unfortunately. But I definitely don't hate you." My dad's shoulders sink a little at my words, but my mom smiles. "You found your mates? All of them?" She raises a brow. My mind flashes to Charlie again. Did they know anything about why I had killed him? I had assumed they did since they were supposed to be the head honchos, but they weren't acting like it."She's found both of us." Ike says as he comes up behind me. I watch my mother's eyes move to Ike as his hands rest on my shoulders. Her eyes narrow at him a little, and I see them scanning over my mate. "Who is your other mate? Nassim's offspring? The orange haired boy?" I hear Nassim scoffing behind me. "I would rather you not link him to me." Without really thinking about who this man was, and how much power he probably held, I turned over my shoulder and glared at him, lifting my lip in a snarl. I hear my father laughi
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Six
"Are you two mates?" I point between them. My father grabs my mother's side, pulling her into him. "Yeah, we got lucky.""Really lucky." She mutters, staring into his eyes. She breaks away after a moment. They were making it harder and harder to even be mad at them. I hope this wasn't all an act. "We met as children, otherwise we both would've been assigned a mate once we reached fifteen. There are only two other pairings in our home besides us that are actual mates." I swallow thickly. Bad odds. "You see now why we did what we did?" I nod a little. "I wasn't really mad about it, I guess. I just... there were a lot of times when I needed parents." My eyes dart around nervously. I never thought I would be having this conversation, to be honest, not before a few days ago. I didn't want to scare them off, but it didn't change what I had been through because of their choice."I'm sorry you were treated unfairly." I meet my father's eyes. I shrug, looking at the ground now."At the end o
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Seven
For the first time in forever, I feel my panther crawling to the surface as we broke through the trees. I hurriedly pull my leggings off and run through the trees in nothing but my bra and underwear. It had been a while since I shifted, so my panther was taking a second to dust herself off, and Thomas was still closing in on me. Finally, she takes control, bounding through the trees like a shadow, loosing Thomas in seconds. She digs her claws into the closest tree, climbing up it quickly and taking to jumping from limb to limb rather than running on the ground. Are you okay? No, I'm pissed off. Why? I don't know. A lot of reasons. My panther doesn't reply as she continues through the trees. We're coming up on the border. Stop then, I don't want to actually run away. I just need a minute to myself.She settles on a branch, scanning the area around us. I wonder when the guards would be by, and if they'd see me. I guess this was a good pop quiz for them, at least."Cleo!" My panther si
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Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six (Ten Years Later)
"You little shit, get your ass back here." I laugh from my spot on the kitchen counter, watching Nate chase our naked child, Liam around the living room with a yellow bath towel clutched in his hand. Liam stops then, turning around to grin at his dad. He was only three, but was already extremely mobile, and had a smile just like his dad's. "Are you going to help me?" Nate sighs, glaring up at me as Liam yells and resumes running around like a mad man with his arms up in the air. I shake my head a little, pointing to where Liam is now standing on the couch. He grins at his dad, who finally swoops in and grabs him in his arms, wrapping the towel around him tightly as he does so. "Ha! Got you!" Nate declares as he wrestles Liam so he's upside down in his arms. He squeals with delight as Nate carries him like that back towards his room to put clothes on, calling him a weakling the entire time. But Liam loves it. He loves his dad, and he loves playing and "fighting" with him.I smile a
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Five-Cleo
Why is it so often when I'm waking up in the morning, I'm in pain? I groan, stretching my arms above my head and blinking away sleep. I wince as harsh daylight assaults my eyes. My head pounds, and I bring a hand up to rub at my temple."Fuck." I groan, sitting up and leaning against the bed's headboard. I look down at where Ike is facing away from me, towards the wall, hugging himself and with no blanket. Nate is on the other side, also facing away, burrioted up in the entire blanket. I fall forward and start to crawl between them to get out of the bed. I stop when I feel a hand grabbing my ankle. Nate's green eyes are already staring at me. He's rolled over and untucked himself from his blanket tomb. "You're not going to make me chase you again, are you?" I furrow my brow, sitting in a crawling position, trying to think why I would run away. "Oh." I say when I finally realize what Ike had done to Nate last night. I didn't actually see anything, but I remember one of Ike's hands
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Four
I leave Ike at the bottom of the stairs, taking Cleo into my bedroom first and laying her down gently. She starts wiggling around, smiling and rubbing all over the sheets. Weirdo. I go back for Ike, who is pulling himself up the stairs, or trying to. He's got one hand on the second step, his other on the first. "Can I help you?" I ask, bending down to wrap one of his arms around my shoulder and putting my arm around his middle. "Here we go." He mumbles as I half drag him to my bed.I let him fall onto it, barely avoiding Cleo, who has taken her leggings off finally and is laying like a starfish on the bed. I sigh. I turn and flip the light off, kicking my shoes off as I do. Off come my pants and shirt. "Move." I huff, closing Cleo's legs and scooting her to one side of the bed. "You too." Ike listens for once, but only because he wants to be Cleo's big spoon. I roll my eyes and fall into the empty space beside them.I lay on one arm, staring at the ceiling for a moment before clo
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three
"You know what her parents told me earlier?" Ike tilts his head to stare at me. I shake my head. "They told me, that this is the last time they'll be seeing Cleo." I freeze at his words. My eyes dart around to try and find the two in question. "Don't bother looking for them. They went back to their place and are leaving first thing in the morning. They aren't even planning on saying goodbye." He shakes his head at me. "I mean, why come in the first place?" He scoffs, finishing off his drink. "Just to rub it in her face that you exist?" He's staring at Cleo, muttering to himself now really more than talking to me. "Did they say why?" I nudge him to try and get his drunk ass to focus. He kind of blinks and shakes his head before looking back to me again. "They said they couldn't stay or come visit her because of the rules of being part of The Circle," He scoffs at their title. "And that she couldn't visit them because if anyone knew they had a daughter out there they'd try and make he
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Two
My peace with Cleo is ripped away by that fuck head Thomas, who snatches Cleo away over his shoulder and yells something about loving tequila. Had he just been waiting for the perfect chance to steal her away again? "Oh my god." I rub the bridge of my nose and make eye contact with Cleo as she sits up on Thomas to grin at me like a child. I lean back and cross my arms as I watch him take her to a group of guards. "I got her!" He yells in victory. The guards cheer and whoop in excitement. "Your mates have had enough of your time!" Zach proclaims as Thomas sets Cleo down. "And besides, it's your turn to chug something!" I groan, and I'm about to rush over and stop her, but I halt when Ike and Parker walk up to me from their spot in the crowd. "I wanted to introduce you two." Ike says, stopping in front of me. I'm half sitting, half standing, midway to snatching Cleo away from the frat boys. I glance at her for a second and see her snapping the neck off a bottle of tequila. I sigh,
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-One
"Why do you people insist on doing this to me?" She complains as I carry her away from her group of fans. "It's just easier than arguing with you." I reply. She makes an offended noise, struggles to sit up for a moment, and then flicks me on the back of the head. I roll my eyes, hiking my shoulder up a little into her gut and smiling at the noise she makes. I approach a table that's empty on one end and set Cleo down in a chair. "Wait here." I look her in the eye to make sure she's paying attention, and then turn to track down some water.I spot coolers near one of the tables closest to the fire and make my way through chatting and drinking people. I didn't realize how many people were a part of Ike's pack now a days until they were all converged together like this.I finally make it to the line of eight coolers and start opening them to find one not filled to the brim with liquor. Finally, I get my hands on a cold bottle of water. There was only a single cooler with them in it; ty
Panther Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Nate
Fuck that guy. Fuck him. I fucking hated him. He was fucking dick. I wanted to shove his face into the ground and rub it in. I ran through the trees, pine needles whipping at my panther's face as we escaped, past the pack's borders, further and further into the forest. My rage drives me to run for almost three hours before my panther finally stops, gasping for air and muscles aching. He finds a stream nearby and hunches over to take a long drink before we head back. What did I think was going to happen? I mean, I knew who this guy was, or at least what other's told me about him. And no one had anything good to say, not so far. They all said he was mean, and petty, and demanding as hell. He abandoned me in the woods to fend for myself when I so small, I couldn't even remember it happening. But the way he looked at me, pissed me off. Like I was scum. Like I was the one who should be begging for forgiveness. He was the asshole.But as we start running back to our pack, I can't st
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Nine
I look away from the lively party scene after a moment, back to the table behind me. "Ooo." I snatch an unopened bottle of tiny blue vodka someone had left behind. Hoped they hadn't planned on coming back for it. "Excuse you." I make a whining noise when Nate is snatching the bottle from my lips before I can chug it. "Drink this instead." I sigh at the cold bottle of water he's put in my hand. "If I must." I crack the top. "You must." He plops in a chair beside me, sighing heavily and watching me drink. "Where have you been?" I ask once I've twisted the top back on the now half empty bottle. "You've been gone a really long time." I raise by brows at him, and the corner of his lip lifts up a little."And that drove you to drink?" I laugh loudly. "No, I just felt like it was time to get drunk." "Right." He nods, eyeing me. I blink innocently at him. "Can I say something?" I blurt out as he watches me. He ticks his eyebrow. "I think your dad is a fucking chode." He shakes his hea
Panther Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Eight
"You better chug that shit!" "Come on bitch!" I jump in the air, yelling with Noah and Thomas at Zach, who was halfway through chugging an entire bottle of peach flavored vodka. "Don't be a pussy!" I punch him in the arm, a grin spread across my face. He pushes me off a little, flipping me off and continuing to guzzle the artificially flavored rubbing alcohol. "Let's go!" Thomas yells, throwing his half full beer on the ground in overly excited celebration at his friend finally reaching the neck of the bottle. Zach holds his hand up, and we all stare at him silently in eager anticipation for a moment, until he finally pulls the empty bottle away and makes a loud "ah" noise like it was a refreshing drink on a hot day. "Suck it, sluts." He slurs, grinning at us and throwing the bottle on the ground. I laugh, clapping my hands and stumbling back a little. "You thought I couldn't do it." He points his finger towards me, wiggling it a little in my face. I grin and clap him on the shou
