Chapter Four

 Alex

Vanilla is one of my favorite scents, and the moment the mystery woman entered my gym, i had known about it. She stood just a little behind Liz. She was rather small for a wolf, but she was there. My own wolf inside me gave a little growl of approval.

“Hello, sir,” Liz said, coming forward, her hips swaying seductively. Several of my pack females had wanted to mate with me, only i wasn’t interested in them. I liked my women to be sweet. I didn’t have time for women who fought their way into my bed. I wasn’t looking for a weak woman, per say, just one that didn’t look like they wanted to tear each other apart for my affection.

It was part of the wolf trait though, at least among those that had been removed or rejected from their pack. They became more primal, more in need of mating.

My gaze fell on the pretty little redhead as she followed Liz toward me. Her hands were clenched together, and i saw her knuckles were white. She was nervous.

“This is Olive Sanders. She ran away from her pack.”

She looked terrified, and i imagined a weakling didn’t hold any place in a pack.

“Did you cause trouble?” i finally asked. “Why did you ran away?”

Finally, Olive’s gaze was on me, and her green eyes had to be the most beautiful eyes i had ever seen. They were so expressive, giving me a glimpse of the pain inside her. She looked like she had been hurt. 

“No.”

“When did you ran away?” i asked. The longer they had been outside of a pack, the higher risk of their being feral, and i liked to guard my pack from any potential threats.

“A week.”

“That’s not long at all.”

“I didn’t want to risk going feral and being killed. I have no wish to die.”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen, just turned, sir.”

Being forty years old, i stared at the young woman, noticing her abundant curves. All of my pack had something wrong with them, or

something their previous pack had deemed wrong.

Liz’s eyes were different colors, and Carl had the ability to heal fast. There was even someone who didn’t like group sex and seeing as their pack was all over that stuff, they had expelled him. So many different reasons, but within my own pack, i had brought them together as a family.

“Why did you ran away?” i asked.

“I was being abused and mistreated,” she said.

I tilted my head to the side to stare at her. She said the words as if they didn’t have any meaning to her, and yet the moment she said “abused,” i felt my wolf rise up as if to protect her. Her sadness affected me deeply, and i didn’t like that.

She was a new woman, and each woman had to go through the same rigorous testing as the others. I didn’t play favorites.

“I need to know if you can take care of yourself,” i said. “It’s part of my rules. You must stay here for over a month, even two, as you have already missed the last full moon. I don’t like getting into conflict with other packs because one of my men or women has gone feral.” i hated having to deal with other pack alphas and the way they looked at me as if i was the reason everything had gone fucked-up in the world.

“What do I do?” Olive asked. 

“It’s simple. Attack me.”

She rubbed her arms, and i waited as she shook her head.

“No.”

“I demand my pack be fit for war in case it ever arises between packs. We are expelled because they deem us weak. We may be weak, but I want to know my men and my women can fight for themselves and for the pack. You will attack me.” i stood there waiting. Normally, my demands were always met, so when she still shook her head, i was pissed. I didn’t want to deal with this right now.

My pack was watching, so i stormed up toward her, and she didn’t take a step back.

“You will fight me.”

She gritted her teeth and shook her head. “I can’t”

“Do you think you are too special to fight? That you have got a fucking gift? Wise up, woman. You ran away from your pack, and you will follow my rules, or your ass is on the feral line. Now, fight.” i didn’t like to hit women, but in order to be prepared and ready, i needed them to be able to fight. I would never have a person too weak to defend themselves, and even if they were unable to fight, i found ways for them to defend themselves long enough to get away. I had no wish to hurt a woman, but i would make them stronger.

I watched as Liz urged her forward, and when i had finally had enough, with her back toward me,i moved towards her.

This was the first time i had done this, but my wolf was pacing at the surface, and i had to prove to her the value of her actions. As i was about to shove her, and not very hard either, Olive suddenly spun and caught my arm.

The moment she touched me, pleasure rushed through every single part of my body. Everyone in my gym fell away, and the only two that

mattered were me and her. I didn’t even know if Liz was there.

Mate, mate, mate. My wolf danced. In my Fourty years of existence I had never found one of those. I always heard stories about how strong the bond was, but I never imagined it to be this intense.

“Don’t … touch … me,” Olive said making me realize she was still in front of me. 

I felt the power within her touch, and even my own wolf was shocked by the sheer force of it. I was an alpha. I didn’t submit. It was one of the many reasons i had left my pack. Whenever my alpha asked me to submit, i couldn’t do it. 

I had tried for so long, often fought with myself, but i couldn’t do it. Kneeling before an alpha was something i couldn’t do for anyone.

She gave me a little shove, and i moved back just a foot, but it was enough. Staring at Olive, i saw the fear in her eyes, but it wasn’t fear

of me, or attacking me.

“Why did you leave your pack?”

“They were abusing me.”

It wasn’t a lie. I would scent that lie coming. But something else had happened to her too.

“Leave!” i spoke the word, letting everyone know that they were not to argue with me. The spell that had been wrapped around us was broken as she stared left and right, the sounds of footsteps echoing around the gym.

“Liz, put Olive’s things in a room.”

“Sir?”

“We are going to have a little chat.”

Liz nodded and turned to leave like the rest of them. Olive tucked some of her hair behind her ear, looking like she wanted to leave with them.

Once the door closed with an echo, i paced in front of her, not taking my eyes off her. She didn’t move an inch. Her hands were once again locked together in front of her. She was strong, there was no doubt about that.

“They might have abused you and mistreated you, but that's not why you ran is it? What happened Olive?”

She stared at me, and her lips were pressed together. “He raped me.” she finally said, her green eyes on me, she looked now like she was about to smack something. She was burning with fury. . “I knew i couldn't stay anymore, i had to leave, he was my mate and he knew it but I didn't and he raped me and took my virginity right before he rejected me.” she said seething with anger. 

Immediately my instincts wanted to protect her, make her feel safe. Some part of me wanted to avenge her. I wanted to kill the son of a bitch that touched her. But I couldn't let my emotions guide me so instead I walked towards her until we were inches apart. 

“Hit me! Let it all out.”