Alpha's Runaway Mate

Book 2, Chapter 1

Alpha’s Runaway mate

War is coming

Chapter 1

Zeke

It’s been two years since my world was thrown upside down. At first, it was a hard transition. I grew up in the pack house where everything was provided. I never had to worry about lifting a finger. When I got to the run-down shack at the edge of pack lands, I felt lost. I had no idea how to do anything. I didn’t know how to patch a roof, fix plumbing, redo the electrical that was shoddy at best. I felt useless

I had 400 dollars in my pocket and that was it. Did I try to fix up the shack and feed myself? Nope. I drank it at the local bar in the human town of Hiawasee. I made friends with the local barkeeper, Curtis. The old cotter was worth his weight in gold with the knowledge he had. I guess the old timer felt pity for me because he had one of his war buddies give me a job at his auto shop. The only thing I grew up doing was working on cars. It was a hobby, so when I was offered the job I jumped at the chance.

The shop owner’s name was Ricky, and he was the biggest hard ass I had ever met in my life. But he helped me in ways I could never repay. He became like a second father to me. When I told him about my roof leaking, he came over and taught me how to patch it up. Once he took a look around the dump I called home, he and Curtis came over with a twelve pack. They taught me how to do home repairs and helped me turn my shack into a cozy little cottage. Ricky’s wife, Cecelia, brought over old sheets she had and taught me how to sew curtains, cook, and do laundry. I was a regular male Martha Stewart.

It was Cecelia, Ricky and Curtis that showed me what family really was. They would invite me over for dinner or just to watch a ball game. They didn’t know my past, which gave me the chance to start over. Ricky even tried to set me up with his daughter, but the date was awkward. It wasn’t until I went out with Rebecca that I realized I had never been on an actual date before. Usually, I just f****d the girl and sent them on their way. But I was trying to turn over a new leaf since Addy had given me a second chance. So I paid for our meal and made small talk. She was a nice enough girl, but she wasn’t my girl. She had long blonde hair and warm brown eyes. She was pretty enough, but she wasn’t Addy.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I had treated my mate. How I had treated every girl I had ever interacted with. It was no wonder why she rejected me and, if I were being truly honest with myself, I’m not surprised I was stripped of my title either. Don’t get me wrong, at first I was bitter and threw myself a pity party every night. I tried to drown my sorrows in a bottle of Gentlemen’s Jack, but it never quite worked. I would still close my eyes and see a pair of emerald, green ones that were just outside my reach.

So here I was. Working in a shop and going home to an empty house. My cottage wasn’t so bad. It had running water, electricity and plumbing, but it was lonely. Wolves aren’t meant to be alone, but then again, I didn’t feel much like a wolf anymore. Zeus quit talking to me that night after I received my lashes. He didn’t help my wounds heal either. He wouldn’t even shift. I was really no different from the humans I spent all my time with. I felt truly alone.

On this day, however, all that changed. I woke up like always at five o’clock. I made my coffee, PJ’s Southern Pecan. It was the one luxury I afforded myself. I went outside to my chicken coop and pulled half a dozen eggs from the nest.

“Hey Birdie Mac. How are you doin’ this mornin’?” I asked the little brown hen. She chirped away, and I gave her a scratch on the neck. “That’s awesome, Birdie.” I threw some feed out for them and went back inside to make my breakfast. I fried some bacon and eggs, then sat down to enjoy my breakfast. I was halfway finished when I heard a voice I didn’t think I’d ever hear again.

“Human, there are rogues trying to sneak over the border. We have to protect the pack lands!” Zeke said in a panic. I sniffed the air, and sure enough the fowl stench of rotting flesh burned my nose. I quietly stripped down to my birthday suit and crept out the back door.

“Hey, Roscoe? You smell that?” A male’s voice said.

“Smells like bacon and eggs.” Roscoe said.

“I thought she said nobody lived this far out.” The first man said in annoyance.

“It doesn’t smell like a wolf. It smells human. Just go around them.” Roscoe said.

“But I’m hungry. I could pick one off. Nobody would know.” The first male begged. I heard a loud thwack.

“Clint, you i***t! Don’t you think humans would yell? Then what? The patrol will hear, and we’ll be f****d!” Roscoe spit out. I peeked around the corner and saw a scrawny, balding man cowering as a large bulky man glowered at him.

“Whatever you say, Roscoe. I’m sorry…” The small one, who I assume was Clint, mumbled. Roscoe rolled his eyes.

“Stupid fucker…” Roscoe muttered as he started heading through the trees towards the pack house.

“You gonna shift this time, Zeus?” I asked my wolf. He grunted.

“We need to protect pack lands.” That answer was as good as any. I let the shift wash over me. Since it had been so long since I had last shifted, it wasn’t as fluid as it should have been, and it caused me a significant amount of pain. But I shook it off and followed silently behind the two men. I weaved in between trees, staying out of sight, as I tried to get in front of them, so I could cut them off. It wasn’t too difficult. The rogues were morons. They were completely oblivious to my presence. I waited until the opportune time before I pounced on the smaller man and ripped his throat out. He didn’t even have time to register what had happened. Roscoe froze, and his eyes grew wide as Zeus’s large frame stared at him, snarling and gnashing his teeth. The man’s fear perfumed the air egging Zeus on. The smell of rogues got stronger, and the momentary distraction was all Roscoe needed to catch me off guard. He shifted midair, his paws slamming into Zeus’ side, leave claw marks in their wake. Zeus roared in fury at the rogue who was baring his teeth at us.

“Zeus go for the ear and throw him down!” I instructed. Zeus didn’t answer, he just reacted. He charged the wolf and tried to latch on to his ear, but missed and instead buried his teeth in his scruff.

“Good, enough.” I said as Zeus twisted his head and threw the wolf to the ground. Without a second to spare, Zeus clamped his teeth around the rogue’s throat and ripped it out, just as another one landed on our back. We landed on the ground with a huff as the wind was knocked out of us.

“You gotta get up, Buddy.” I encouraged. Zeus stood and began to shake his body, trying to dislodge the wild creature, but it was useless. The wolf had it’s teeth latched onto the back of our neck.

“Zeus! Remember what we use to do to get Alec off our back durin’ trainin’?” I asked.

“Right!” Zeus said and threw himself back against the ground. The weight of our body took the wolf’s breath, and he let go with a loud yip, causing him to immediately release his hold on us.

“Fuckin’ sweet! You’re doin’ great, Zeus!” I said, excitedly. Zeus got up and swiveled, clamping his mouth down on the rogue's neck and giving it a swift jerk, breaking his neck. We surveyed the area for more rogues but couldn’t see or smell them anymore. But I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that it wasn’t over. Something told me, regardless of how unwelcome I was in the pack, I needed to get there as quickly as I possibly could.

“Zeus, we need to go! I think somethin’ is goin’ on in the pack. In two years we ain’t never seen a rogue. Now, there’s three?” I said.

“All warriors to the Eastern borders! NOW!” Alec blared out in my head. The sound was so foreign to me that I jumped in the air, but it didn’t stop the fear that was creeping in.

“Alec! Permission to come help on the Eastern border.” I said firmly. I was met with radio silence.

“Alec! I just killed three rogues on the Western border and there’s no more over here. Permission to come help on the Eastern border!” I said pleadingly through the mind-link. I didn’t think I would get a response when Adam’s voice snapped over the link.

“Permission granted! Get your ass over here! We’re gettin’ fuckin’ swamped!” I took off in a sprint towards the Eastern border. When I finally reached them, the sight that met my eyes made my stomach turn. The landscape was littered with bodies of both pack and rogue wolves alike. I watched in horror as three rogues attacked Adam’s large blonde wolf. Without a second more of hesitation, I jumped into the fray. I raced toward Adam, barreling into two of the wolves that were attacking him. The wolves bounced back quickly, and I snarled as I backed my rear up to Adam’s.

“It’s about fuckin’ time!” Adam snapped.

“Sorry, Alpha. I came as quick as I could.” I said apologetically. I could feel Adam’s surprise, but it was fleeting. The rogues were pressing down on us, and we didn’t have time for sentiments. I pounced on one of the rogues and dragged my claws down his chest. He howled in pain. His friend leaped at me and bit down hard on Zeus’ ear, jerking it this way and that.

“The bastard is trying to rip it off!” Zeus snarled.

“Shift!” I commanded. I felt my bones begin to crack and shift, and soon I was staring down at the muzzle of an angry she-wolf bare-ass naked. I bared my teeth menacingly and extended my claws before shoving them roughly into the wolf’s chest. I pulled back swiftly with the thing's heart in my hand. I heard a mournful howl that I recognized all too well. I just killed someone’s mate. I turned to my right to see a large red wolf barreling towards me. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Lee’s massive beast took the wolf out with one swipe of his paw. The wolf was sent flying into a nearby tree. I heard his skull shatter when it connected with the large oak. I nodded at the wolf and shifted back to Zeus before taking off in search of my next target when, suddenly, a howl sounded out in the distance. Why was it so familiar? I looked around to see rogues scattering, running back into the trees from which they came. I watched as warriors dispatched a few stragglers. I was so lost in the scene before me, that I was caught off guard by Alec’s booming voice.

“Shift, Zeke!” he commanded. Zeus tucked his tail between his legs as a small whine left his muzzle before I felt the familiar snapping of my bones going back into place. I stood bare in front of the alpha as he stared down at me with an unreadable expression. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I did something wrong or not.

“Bare your neck to him.” Zeus said quietly. Slowly, I turned my head to the side, as I submitted to my alpha.

“What the f**k?” I heard Adam say.

“What are you tryin’ to prove here, Zeke?” Alec said harshly. Zeus whimpered in my head.

“I don’t understand, Alpha.” I said, as I kept my eyes on the ground.

“Leave the boy be, Alec. He come out here to help us. Hell, I watched ‘im take out two of them rogues that was goin’ after your brother. Let ‘im be.” Lee said firmly. He would have made a great alpha. Much better than my father ever could have been.

“I just wanna know what he’s playin’ at.” Alec said sternly.

“I don’t reckon he’s playin’ nothin’. I been talkin’ at Ricky down at the shop. He says the boy has been workin’ there. Says he’s done a good job. He even tried to fix ‘im up with Becky.” I felt the anger start to radiate off of Alec. Before I knew it, I was hanging in the air by my throat, Alec’s large hand grasped tightly around me. His eyes were an inferno, and he was about to set me ablaze.

“Put him down!” Lee bellowed.

“What’d you do to Becky? Did you rape her too?” I felt a little pang in my heart as he squeezed my neck harder. I worked so hard to change and have a fresh start. Sometimes, I guess the past just doesn’t stay there.

“He didn’t do a God damn thang to ‘er. Now put ‘im down! NOW!” I could feel Lee’s command roll over us. Alec dropped me to the ground before stalking away, leaving me to cough and sputter like an old car.

“Thanks for the help, son. But you orta head on out.” Lee said with a small smile. I gave him a nod before shifting and running back to my little cottage.