Chapter 4: The Good, the Bad and the Betrayed

As the blare of the horn echoes through the forest, men begin to come out of the house, towards the woods.

The females though seemed to stay inside.

"Thane, what's a Rogue?"

His voice holds a hint of sorrow, "They are werewolves who have been banned, they don't play by the rules of the pack, or they get kicked out for harming someone in the pack."

These dynamics were starting to make my head hurt. It also made me wonder if my parents knew I was a werewolf and never told me. I had so many questions.

"Come on," Thane leads me into the Mansion, where I see many more people, especially kids. They ran around like they had nothing to fear when it felt like the apocalypse was happening.

"The pups are used to it. They know as long as they don't go outside, they'll be fine."

I squint my eyes at him, "I keep forgetting you can read my damn mind. Stop that."

Thane chuckles, "I can't help it; your mind is wide open to me," he glances at me with a smirk.

We finally arrive at a room on the third floor," Here, this is usually where the females hang out until the threat is gone."

"Why don't they fight?" I say without thinking.

"Because I don't want them too-"

"Thane, women, can pack one hell of a punch, not to mention if they have children to protect, you could always ask them."

Thane looks at me for a moment, "That is why I don't want them to fight. I don't want the pups to lose their mothers when they could have stayed behind. But I understand where your coming from."

I walked into the room, and suddenly all eyes were on me.

"Ladies, this is my mate, Evette; she's very new at being a werewolf so, go on and talk to her about it," he turns to me, "I won't take long." His gaze lingers on me for a bit, as if he was thinking of something but then dismissed it. 

I close the door as he walks away. 

"Well, I'll be damned; I knew he was going to be mated to a redhead!" I turn around to see a woman with a sleeve of tattoos on her right arm. Mostly roses and butterflies.

"I'm Rosie," she holds out her hand; I reach out to shake it, but she pulls me in for a hug, "-Oh, okay, you are friendly," I chuckle.

"Of course! Your mates to the Alpha that means you'll be our Luna someday-"

"Yeah, but she hasn't been a werewolf long," I look over at the woman who interrupted, a blonde with volumes curls.

Rosie sighs, "And this is the party pooper, Olivia."

Olivia shoots Rosie a Stern look, "It's Miss, Party Pooper, to you."

This felt awkward; it was like looking in from the outside. I felt as if I didn't belong...

"Come on! Sit with us!" Rosie brings me over to where Olivia is sitting. I notice a mark on her neck.

"Ouch, where'd you get that from? A fight?" I ask.

The women look at each other than start to giggle, "What?" I ask.

"That's her Mate's Mark, silly!" 

"A what?" My eyebrows raise

Rosie is taken back, "Oh boy, you don't know much, huh?"

"Well," I look down, "I just found this out about myself, so, no, I don't know anything."

"After you find your mate, you have an urge to mark them as yours; the males are usually stronger. I'm surprised Thane hasn't penetrated his fangs into you yet, " Olivia says; Rosie lets out a giggle.

"Penetrate?" Rosie asks; Olivia shrugs her shoulders, "What can I say? I'm feeling frisky."

"Wait, so he has to bite me literally?" My heart was hammering in my chest now.

"Yes, but it only hurts for a second, then you want nothing more than a good pounding," Rosie says with a smile; she nudges Olivia, "Get it? Pounding?"

Olivia rolls her eyes with a smile still on her face, "Stop it."

"You started it!" She shouts, hands on her hips.

"But that doesn't happen right away, does it?" I ask, a bundle of nerves.

"That's why I said I was surprised,” Olivia reiterates,” It usually happens in a day.” 

As I look at Olivia’s busy hands, I notice her Crocheting.

In a day?! Oh hell.

"Thane must be so pent up, " Olivia chuckles," No wonder he wanted to go fight. He probably couldn't take it anymore."

"Take what anymore?" I ask, feeling annoyed. It seemed like they were trying to put this mate mark on me, but I never knew what it was in the first place or that Thane would feel a certain way. 

Lord, I hated this. I was used to being good at my job, and I would catch criminals who thought they had gotten the best of me. But now, it felt like I was lost a sea, adrift on a small boat, trying to find the ever slightest bit of land.

"Excuse me." I quickly dismiss myself, leaving the two women and facing the window. I get lost in my thoughts.

Mate Marks, Alphas, Rogues, and what the hell was a Luna? I even heard they call these children pups instead of babies.

What kind of world was this?

As I look out the window, I’m surprised to get a view of the fight below, and what I saw made my stomach turn, “Oh my god….” I say under my breath. They fought so viciously, with the intent to kill. I swallowed hard. Was this why the females stayed on the third floor?

I suddenly catch sight of Thane, who practically bulldozed through the enemy pack. These Rogues looked mangy and nasty matted fur. 

A sudden jolt surges through me. 

My gaze drifts to a corner of the forest. I see Atticus’ vivid green eyes glow in my direction.

“Atticus…” I say softly. What was he still here?

He turns and begins to creep into the fight, but his eyes are on a different target. 

Thane.

I gasp, “Oh no….” I knew the intent in his eyes; I had seen it too many times before with the criminals I had put away. He was out for blood.

I had to stop him. I race towards the door and fly down the stairs.

“Hey!” I hear Rosie call out to me, “Where are you going?!”

But I don’t stop, I run out into the forest among the fight, and as I come to the clearing, I see Atticus right behind Thane, and I bolt towards him, “Stop!” I cry out as I jump over Thane; I shift in mid-air and land between them.

I reach out to Atticus through my thoughts, “What are you doing?! He is your family! Your brother!”

“They are no family of mine!” Atticus growls, but I can feel an overwhelming ache coming from him.

“Don’t, please, whatever you have against him, leave it alone,” I beg. I can hear Thane growl behind me.

“Do you ever listen?!” His voice was angry, like the sudden burst of thunder.

I shift back to human form and slightly turn to him, “Bite me, I just saved your ass.” Thane shifts, and his brows furrow at me.

A wet nose nuzzles my back, and I turn to see Atticus very close to me. Maybe this is what he wants, to be close to me. If what he said was true about being prophesied to share a mate, his feelings must be intense. I tentatively hold out my hand, “Evette-” Thane tries to pull me back, but I stay. I was probably crazy for doing this during a fight but, I wanted to touch him. As I hold my breath, Atticus nuzzles my hand. 

I reach out to his thoughts again, “I know you want to stay, but you have to leave. Please, I’m so tired of the bloodshed….” My voice cracks.

Atticus holds my gaze then he starts to back away, he backs down because they also retreated with him.

“Thank you,” I say as he retreats into the forest. Suddenly, Thane grabs my arm, spinning me around to face him,” Are you insane, Evette! Atticus could have killed you.”

“I’m not your damn property; knock it off!”

“I wouldn’t have to if you would listen to me,” he stares daggers at me, “ I am just trying to protect you, Evette.”

“Nothing happened; he didn’t lay a paw on me,” Thane closes the distance between us, “He could have! You don’t know him; you don’t know what he did!” 

I slightly leaned back, as he shouted at me, I pressed my lips, “Back, the fuck up,” I said through tight lips, my chest started to tighten. If there was one thing I hated, it was yelling. And God bless my father’s heart, but he still had his demons.

Thane’s eyes widen, as he realizes what he did, he backs up, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that-” I don’t wait for his apology. All I wanted to do was get out of here, to get away from him. 

“Evette!” I hear him following me, “Evette, wait, please!”

I groan, “Leave me alone, Thane-AH!” The ground suddenly opens underneath me, and I fall into it, but when I hit the ground, a searing pain surges up my foot, and I scream.

“Evette! Hold on!” I hear Thane’s voice before I pass out from the pain…