Chapter 4

The house has the most amazing, lingering smell to it. It’s woodsy, mixed with the tiniest bit of exhaust, and a hint of a men’s cologne, similar to one I stole a few years back to cover my stench. It’s the perfect mix. I love the woods, it makes me feel so peaceful and content with life, no matter what comes next, and I’ve always had an interest in cars and their engines, so the smell of exhaust enthuses me. It’s wonderful, and I can’t help but flare my nostrils to figure out where it’s coming from. I’m pretty sure it’s strongest in the room next to mine, but it really is everywhere. Even down the stairs, through the living room and the kitchen. I sniff the air a bit, and I think the smell is coming from outside…

“Yohanna!” Marco says, interrupting my thoughts.

I turn my head towards him and he’s smiling at me. He is indeed more laidback than his brother-in-law.

“Hello,” I say, smiling softly back at him. “Thank you for the clothes.”

“No worries, my mate doesn’t fit into them anymore,” he says, winking at me.

I’m not sure why he does that, but then a woman enters the kitchen, smiling widely at him, and she puts her arms around his neck. I look down to see her belly is big and ready to pop anytime. I smile a little. She must be his wife, then, and Alessandro’s sister. I can actually see the family-resemblance with the dark, almost black hair, and the dark eyes.

“Alba, this is Yohanna, Yohanna, this is my mate, Alba,” Marco says, smiling lovingly at the woman, Alba, and then he kisses her cheek.

“Oh! You’re the intruder?” she asks, smiling mischievously at me.

“Uhm?”

I look at them both, as a little bit of a question mark. Am I an intruder?

“She just means you set off the alarm,” Marco says, smiling at me.

“Oh. Well, yes, I guess. The loud beep?” I ask.

“Yes, the beep,” Alba answers, and smiles at me.

Another woman enters the kitchen in a hurry, she looks a bit older, and she walks straight to the stove, not even acknowledging that there are other people in here. She walks around the kitchen with her short, dark hair flowing after her as she moves in super speed to do everything. I feel a little bad for intruding, but I really don’t want to turn down a free meal. The woman turns to us, shooing Alba away with a strict look, before handing a stack of plates to me, and a cup filled with cutlery to Marco, who winks at me, and motions for me to follow him.

I follow him through the kitchen, into a large dining room. The amazing smell still lingers in the air, and I can’t help but sniff it in, as I start to place the plates down on the table. I’m assuming that’s what the woman wanted me to do.

“Thank you, dear,” she says, smiling my way, as she enters the room with a large casserole in her hands, and she places it in the middle of the table. “Dinner’s ready.”

She smiles at me, and I wait for her to shout it so the rest of her family can hear, but she doesn’t. She just stares into thin air for a second, before turning to me again when I place the last plate down. She holds her hand out to me.

“I’m Soraya, Juan’s mate, and Luna of the pack,” she says. “You must be Yohanna! I’m so excited to get to know you, sweetie, and get some meat on those bones!”

She shakes my hand vigorously, until the room is flooded with people.

I look around a little nervously, trying my hardest to see if anyone seems hostile, but they don’t. Except for Alessandro. He has warmed up a little, but he’s still glaring at me.

“Azaire will be late. He’s out with Tyler again, testing the car,” Juan says as he enters the room, and I look around at all the people, wondering how there will be room for more.

The food is delicious. The best thing I’ve eaten In years, and that’s not even an exaggeration. During the meal I’m introduced to Alessandro’s wife, or mate, Calithea, and their two kids Kai and Kaira. The kids are wonderful, Kai must be about five years old, I think, while Kaira seems to have just started talking. They’re all very welcoming, and I feel oddly comfortable with them.

“I couldn’t find any Thompson’s with the Iokua pack, Yohanna,” Juan says after a while of small talk.

“That’s my adoptive parents’ last name,” I tell him, looking down at my food.

“Ah,” he utters in acknowledgment. “That makes sense. Where are they now?”

“They, uh, kicked me out when I turned fifteen and… Turned into a wolf,” I say, looking over their faces for a reaction.

“That’s horrible!” Alba exclaims, looking at me for a second, before she turns to her father. “We have to help her find her real family!”

My ears zone out of the conversation, suddenly, like an instinct. They’re moving backwards, just a little, as I hear the front door open and shut. There’s a sigh, followed by a thump, and then silence. Until I’m pretty sure I hear someone sniffing the air. How can I hear that? It’s impossible. I know I can hear well when I’m a wolf, but never as a human. Chills run down my spine as I hear footsteps, and they’re coming closer and closer, becoming louder for every step this person takes. Hurried footsteps, like someone is rushing towards the dining room, then they stop.

That same smell enters my nose again, only much stronger. I register that everyone’s eyes are turned towards the door, but I can’t bring myself to look. Someone says something, but it’s muffled. My ears are focused solely on this one person who just joined us.

“It works fine,” the person says, clear as day, in a dark, hoarse voice, and I know it’s a man. His voice sends shivers and sparks through my body, and I feel like I have to turn around, but I fight it. I even clamp my eyes shut to avoid it.

What the fuck is going on?

Someone’s talking again, but I can’t hear a word. My whole attention span is on this one man that entered the dining room, and I don’t know how long I can take it. Not much longer, I believe. It’s so intense. My heart is speeding, and I’m pretty sure it would have been out of my body if it weren’t my for my ribs. My breathing has quickened, too. I want to leave. Now. This is not right. Did they poison my food or something? Was the hospitality just to gain my trust so they could kill me without a mess? My head is light, and spinning around, as I hear the man swallow, and then he takes a few more steps towards the table.

“I’m fine,” he says shortly, and then I feel something in my hair.

Fingers? I think it’s fingers. It’s his fingers. My body shudders at his touch, and I feel like I have to leave. They’ve done something to me. This isn’t right.

“Mate?” his voice is soft now, yet somehow it’s still deep and hoarse.

What?

I raise from my seat abruptly, almost knocking over my half-full plate of food, before I lose the battle inside my head and run out of there. I run out of the dining room and up the stairs, towards the guest room I was assigned. I lock the door once I’m inside, and then I slide down towards the floor. Mate? Why would he say that? I’m not his wife! I don’t even know him, or know what he looks like.

I feel regret as I realize I didn’t even look at him.

“Why did she run away from me?” I hear him yelling through the house, my hearing still focused on his gut-wrenchingly amazing voice. “She looked so fragile and tiny, and I can protect her! I will protect her! Why would she run from her mate? She didn’t even look at me!”

There’s a crashing sound, like something’s breaking, shattering into a thousand, tiny pieces, and then there’s the sound of someone shushing.

“Maybe she doesn’t know?” I hear Alba’s voice next, and I don’t think I’m supposed to hear, but my ears are fixated on listening to him despite my efforts to stop. “Dad said she didn’t know other werewolves existed until today, so it makes sense. The overwhelming feelings probably scared her, Jer, not you.”

Jer… Juan mentioned someone named Azaire earlier, it has to be him. That’s a pretty hot name. It’s strong, independent, and… why the hell am I thinking about this?

“She better know,” Azaire says, “I’ve waited for her for seven years. I’ve already been patient, and now I have a mate who doesn’t know about our bond? Bullshit!”

Then the front door slams shut, and my ears finally relax.

Bullshit, indeed. I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it’s definitely overwhelming. I bite my lip and close my eyes, before I crawl into the bed in the middle of the room, and sink into the soft mattress, wrapping the coconut-scented covers around me. Maybe I’ll just sleep here for one night, and then I’ll pack my stuff tomorrow. I’m exhausted.