I turn around to face away from Azaire, and look at my surroundings. We’re in a clearing inside the never-ending forest. It looks almost like someone has made it this way, with the tree stumps scattered around, a log there, and a fire-pit in the middle. A few meters away from me is a treehouse, leaning against one of the bigger trees surrounding the clearing. It looks like it’s filled with comic books and toys, and I take a step closer to it, just to see if I’m right.
“I used to come out here with dad when I was a kid, when he had patrol,” Azaire says, but he doesn’t move. “Dad and his beta, Paul, built it for me and Paul’s son Tyler, who is my best friend. You should meet him, and his mate. I have a feeling you’d hit it off.”
I turn around and frown at him.
“Just because I’m supposedly your mate, it means I’d become friends with your friend’s mate, just like that?” I ask him, suddenly full of fire for his assumption that since I’m a girl, I’d be friends with another girl, no questions asked.
I don’t have friends, I don’t do friends. Not even before I was kicked out. I had a few friends, but no one was my best friend. That spot was reserved for my grandmother, who always supported me. I could talk to her about anything.
“Now who’s assuming?” he says, arching an eyebrow at me. “Tyler’s gay. His mate is a dude. He’s pretty much you, only louder and, well, with a dick.”
“How would you know I don’t have a dick?” I ask, ignoring the fact that I was stupid to assume anything, obviously, even though I’m a little embarrassed by it.
He doesn’t say anything yet, he just looks down at my crotch with his eyebrows raised, and his lips quirked up in an amused smile.
“I wouldn’t necessarily mind, but there’s no bulge in your pants, so either it’s really small, or my little mate has a pussy.”
His smile seems a little too smug, and I really wish I had a very big one between my legs right now, so I could whip it out and show him. That would probably push him a little further away from me, right?
“I’m not your mate,” I tell him. “The whole thing is bullshit. Why would every werewolf have one out there, but humans don’t? Or cats, or dogs? It’s too good to be true.”
I watch at his face turns from his annoying grin, to a more disappointed look, and then back to halfway amused again when I utter my last sentence.
“Too good to be true, huh?” he questions, and steps closer to me. “First of all, it’s not bullshit. I know you feel it. When I’m here your ears only focus on me, right? And when we touch, there’s sparks and euphoria, and the first time you heard my voice…”
He steps even closer now, staring deeply into my eyes as he does, and then he leans towards me. I’m sure he’s gonna kiss me, but he doesn’t. In stead I feel his bearded cheek against mine, and his arms are once again around my waist, holding me in place.
“You got shivers down your spine, didn’t you?” he continues, making his voice even deeper on purpose, which in return makes goosebumps erupt on my skin. Even places I didn’t know I could get goosebumps.
I fight the trembling that my spine is threatening to do, and clear my throat.
“Why would I feel all that?” I ask him, maintaining my façade.
I try to take a step back, but I stumble, and his arms tighten around me to keep me from falling. He looks at me, his smile is gone, and his eyes are narrowed as they move all over my face in search for an answer to the question I just asked him.
“You don’t?” he asks, swallowing.
My ears are so focused on him I can hear him swallowing, and I can see his Adam’s apple bob when he does. The second I start to think about telling him no, that I don’t feel those things, my heart starts to hurt. Really hurt, like it’s burning up from the inside. I stare at him, and somehow I think he knows why this is happening, but I don’t dare ask. Instead, I just shake my head at him, and bite my tongue so I won’t hiss in pain.
It’s awful. Am I dying?
He lets go of my waist, and steps back.
“Does your chest hurt right now, Yohanna?” he asks, his voice is suddenly dark, and filled with anger. “It better, because I don’t fucking believe you.”
I whimper. It hurts so badly, I fall to my knees in front of him, and I put my hands up towards my chest. I’m having such a hard time figuring out how he knew, and at the same time maintaining my lie in the midst of it all.
“It’s not rocket science, lone wolf,” he says, and he kneels in front of me. His hands cups my face, and I don’t know what he’s feeling. It’s a swarm of different emotions swimming through his emerald irises, making me confused and fuzzy at the same time. “You can’t lie to your mate about your feelings, it’ll make your heart burn. The elder wolves tell us tales about a man who once spontaneously combusted in the middle of his village after telling his mate he hated her. They say it’s to protect the sacred bond between two souls, but I say it’s to prevent liars from hurting their only chance at a safe home.”
My heart seems to relax a little as I listen to his words and stare into his eyes. His last words feels a little like a stab to the burnt outside of it, though, making me flinch. I try to move my head, but he won’t let me. He holds my head in place, and he keeps staring into my eyes. He’s way too intense for me to handle right now, even though I’m glad I’m already on my knees. His smoldering eyes would bring me down if not. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and everything I never knew I liked, in a man, but he won’t get me this easily. I still need to leave.“Why don’t you try to focus on the feelings you have when you’re a wolf?” he suggests, still staring at me.“Uhm,” I utter, trying my best to word my feelings as a wolf. “I’m free? I don’t know, honestly. I never remember much.”I clear my throat and look down at his
“Sweetie, how did training go?”I look up from my packed backpack to see Soraya standing right next to me. I didn’t even notice it, because my hearing is focused on Azaire in the other room. Just behind that wall. He’s pacing back and forth, growling now and then. It’s distracting as hell.“Not good,” I admit, and send her a small smile. “Thank you for everything, Mrs. Kaios, but I should go.”I sniffle, and look back down at my backpack. I’m about to close it, when Soraya snorts next to me.This time I hear Azaire snort on the other side of the wall. He apparently didn’t think it was that much fun doing that fucking puppy-training on me. I roll my eyes and look up at Soraya again, with a kind smile.“I appreciate it, but I just heard him laugh at that. He doesn’t want to train me,” I say, and rea
I stop to put on the shoes Soraya let me borrow earlier today, but Azaire seems to have other plans, as he spins around with his back towards me.“Hop on,” he ushers.“What? No!” I protest, and bend down to put the shoes on.“We don’t have time for this, I’ll carry you,” he says, pulling me up again. “And I think you prefer a piggyback ride instead of me carrying you bridal style.”He smirks at me, and I scrunch my nose up. He is right, but we’re wasting time. I could have put on my shoes by now if he didn’t complain so much.“No,” I tell him firmly, and rip my hand from his hold.He sighs excessively, but waits for me as I slip them on, and I send him an over-exaggerated smile as I’m done, and brush past him to exit the house. Once I’m a few meters away from the h
I stare at my two hole cards for a moment, hiding them with my hand so Azaire won’t see. He’s tried a few times already, but I always shoot him a glare. One time I even slapped his arm to get him to look away, and that seemed to work for a few rounds. Alexander is awesome, though. He’s loud and dramatic, but he’s amazing. He’s got the most chips right now, while Aiden is almost out, and Azaire and I are about the same.My cards are actually kind of good. I have the ten and Queen of spades. I can only hope the community cards are just as good, and that I’ll end up with something awesome, so I can beat Azaire and take all his chips. I’m quite competitive, which I had forgotten during these past five years, being on my own. We all place our bets, and Aiden eventually flips over the first three community cards, the flop, revealing a Jack and Ace of spades and a three of diamonds.Hope builds inside me as
I don’t know what else to say. Maybe I feel like I can trust him because he knows what it’s like for me.“Azaire told me you couldn’t mindlink because you weren’t a part of their pack,” I say, not really sure where I wanted to go with that. I bite my lip and stop, as I look at a painting on one of the walls. It’s got a lot of yellow, and a few other colors faded in the corners, but the star of the show is a black heart, dead in the center of the canvas. I love it.“I’m not,” Alexander sighs, and scrunches his nose up again. “I don’t know where my pack is. Aiden has been trying to help me find it since we met, but there’s no luck. It’s like they’ve disappeared from the face of the earth.”“I’m sorry,” I mutter, and look into his black-as-night eyes. I smile a little, and press my head into his shoulder, for a
I’m pacing back and forth inside of the guest room, in Azaire’s family home. I don’t know what to do. Should I ask Alexander what his birthmark looks like? Should I keep my mouth shut about that until I know more? Uno probably knows something, right?“Holy shit, Yohanna, can you sit down? I’m trying to sleep,” Azaire’s voice cuts through my thoughts as he speaks from his own room. I sigh, and sit down on the edge of my bed.“Sorry,” I whisper, knowing he can hear me.My ears still perk up whenever my wolf-instincts know he’s near, but it’s not anywhere near as intense as the first day. We’re just now sitting on opposite ends of our shared wall, while I’m trying to figure out what to do. I’ve kept my distance from him ever since I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to kiss me yesterday. His gaze haunted me in my dreams, and I already dreamt
“How do I mindlink my pack?” I ask him, and look down towards the flowers to distract myself from him.“Why don’t we do the basics first, huh?” he says, putting his arms around my waist now. “You used your vision, right? And your hearing is getting better, so why don’t we focus on smelling today, and if you can do that, maybe we’ll see if you can use them all together.”I take a step away from him, pushing his arms away from my body, and sigh.“I just want to know where my real family is, and my pack,” I say, “I never knew this was how any of this worked, but now that I know, I just want to know if they’re out there, and if I can mindlink them, I can find them.”“Yohanna,” Azaire sighs, and closes his eyes for a second, as if he’s trying to figure out the exact words to use. “Mindlinking is pre
I have been with the Kaios pack for a little over a week, now. I’ve become a little closer with everyone, but I’m still not sure who I can trust. Alexander had quickly become my best friend. It wasn’t exactly hard for him to earn that title, but still, it feels good to have someone close to me that I can talk to. I’ve actually talked to him about how well my training with Azaire seems to be going, and I’ve tried to get him to tell me what it means to be “fully mated”, but he wants Azaire to be the one to tell me. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with sex, though, so I’ve tried to keep my distance from him outside of our training. I’ve gotten better at everything, actually. I can even tune Azaire out, if I want to, now, and I can listen for the other people in his house pretty easily. Not that I’m eavesdropping or anything.Azaire said a few days ago that we can start to work on my shifting s
“How’s Alba?” I ask, attempting to change the subject, at least for a couple of minutes.“Oh! She’s great, they’re all great!” she gushes. I can tell by the way her eyes light up that she is really happy for them. “Marco was wonderful, as expected, and their little girl is doing so well! I think they agreed to call her Anna.”She continues to tell me about the baby’s weight, height, who she resembles most and everything in between as we both empty our cups, and she looks so happy, I don’t have it in me to ask if she thinks Azaire and I will end up with burning hearts over this. I can handle my own, but the thought of him suffering because of me, is killing me. Which is why I believe we’ll end up like that in the first place.Despite my wish to get to know my brother and my own pack, I do want to try to work things out with my soulmate. As crazy as it
I stare at Azaire. Did he really just say that he wants me to stay with him? As in… he won’t even consider going with me? If mate-relationships are going to be like this, with the man deciding everything, I don’t think I want to be his mate. Or anyone’s mate, for that matter.“I didn’t even say I was going,” I explain calmly, “I said I wanted to, but I want to talk about it first.”“Then talk,” Azaire demands, as he lifts his ice cold stare to look me in the eye.I cross my arms and scoff at him. He has managed to go from worried, to vulnerable and now to angry, or maybe even distant. It’s like he’s pushing himself away from me, to make it easier for him if I want to leave him. He’s a stupid jackass who should really try to control his feelings a little more.“We’ll go home to talk for a bit,” Aiden
“I don’t think Azaire will let Yohanna go that easily,” Juan says with a slight smile, “he’s become quite attached to her in this short period of time.”“But they’re not mated, or marked?” Tristan asks, and Juan shakes his head in confirmation. “Then it’s not a big deal to take her with me. She belongs with us, we’re her family.”“What if I don’t want to leave this place?” I ask before I can let my brain process that I’ve even opened my mouth at all.As soon as my Alpha turns around to look at me with his terrifying glare, my stomach drops and I feel like I should just drop down to my knees to let him know I acknowledge his power and authority. It’s ridiculous.“You don’t?” he asks, tilting his head and taking a threatening step towards me. “You don’t want to know
“No,” I say, “I have been a lot of places.”Tristan looks at me, and his expression turns back into the serious one he had before.“Like where?” he asks, crossing his arms.“I grew up in Dalen,” I tell him, and grip Azaire’s arms as he holds me. I’m not sure how my angry Alpha slash brother will react when I share with him where I’ve been, and why, so for now I’ll choose to trust Azaire a little bit more than my pack. “I was adopted by a human couple, and lived with them ‘till I was fifteen, and then I shifted for the first time, and made the mistake of confiding in them, so they kicked me out. I’ve been on my own since then.”“You’ve been alone for five years?” Tristan asks, the growl in his voice is back already, and I fight the urge to let my spine chill.“Ye
My feet carry me to the nearest window, where I can see the cars come up one by one, parking in front of the big house we’re in. The first one is a midnight blue sports car, different from the other two, who are also fast-looking cars, but they’re painted a bright yellow, and bright green. Once the cars stop, the music stops, too, and I see Paul exiting the house. He stands looking at the cars, with his arms crossed, without a doubt ordered to do so by Juan while he tends to his daughter.Azaire puts an arm protectively around me, and leans closer to the window to listen, as I feel the warmth radiating off of Alexander and Aiden, when they approach us to see, too. The blue door opens up, and a tall, broad guy with hair as black as night exits the car. His face looks narrow, but chiseled, with a five o’clock shadow barely visible under his dark locks. The door of the bright yellow car opens up, too, and a guy with matching yellow hair steps out,
“This just adds to what I’ve been saying all along,” he says, and turns to his father. “Yohanna should never have left that basement on her first day, she can’t be trusted. She is clearly not mate material, for anyone, especially not my little bro-““Alessandro,” Juan growls loudly, staring angrily at his son. “That’s enough. You are entitled to have your own opinion, but you’re not the Alpha yet, I am. And I decide that Yohanna and Alexander are both under our protection, until we know their pack has good intentions.”“Dad, she forced him to go into Rogue territory, they were found, and let go. Rogues never let anyone go, one of them must have a foot on the other side,” Alessandro protests, shaking his hands in front of him as if he’s showing us all some kind of evidence.He has a point. After what I heard, and how we prepared for
“We fight. Usually with our fists, but sometimes we go outside and shift,” he explains with a heavy sigh. “It’s a lot less frequent now that I found you, though. It used to be once a day, at least.”“And he lets you do this? How come I never see a scratch on either of you?” I ask, turning over to my side, too.“We heal up quickly,” he says, with a small smile. He then reaches over to stroke my cheek, and runs his fingers through my hair. “Small injuries like that can heal in a few minutes, maybe even seconds. But, enough of that. Who is your Alpha?”“I don’t know,” I mutter, grateful for the brief subject change, and the small amount I learned about Azaire from it. I knew he had a temper, but that they’re beating each other up on a regular basis was new to me.. And still Aiden treats him like a brother. I’ll never get how he c
I run my hands through my uneven, red hair, and take a few deep breaths. As much as I wanted to reconnect with my family, and get to know my pack, this doesn’t feel completely right. It’s like I’ve betrayed someone, but I don’t know who. Juan isn’t my Alpha, so it can’t be him I’ve betrayed. Maybe Azaire? But he’s asleep, and has no way of knowing about this at all.“It’s too late now, anyway,” Alexander sighs, and puts his arms around me in a hug. “Either way, we’re in this together, and we have Ty and Azaire’s pack, too. I’m sure they’ll all have our backs.”“Not everyone,” I whisper, and put my arms around him to return the comforting hug. “Alessandro wouldn’t hesitate to throw me under the bus.”Alexander lets out some air between his lips, and waves an arm into the air, before hugging m
“Me too,” he says, and scrunches his nose up, again. “I’ve heard them for a few days, but I thought I was going crazy, but then I heard your voice, and I tried to talk to the voices, and you responded to me! And I… I was told mindlinking takes much more skill than that, so I just assumed I was going crazy.”“I thought I was too, until I managed to put two and two together,” I say, smiling a little at the fact that we’re on the same page, finally.“You mentioned your birthmark that day we met,” he says, clearing his throat a little, “uh, can I see it?”I nod at him, and get up from my seat. I pull Azaire’s jacket and t-shirt up, and pull the hem of my pajama pants down a little, before turning around to show him the incomplete circle on the side of my hip. I see his hands ball into fists, and he reaches up to pull the collar of his black