Untamed

C H A P T E R 7

Aurora

I silently followed Ryder into his house, only to be shocked once more by the coldness of it. It astonished me that someone could call a place as impersonal as this their home. But who was I to judge when I had no home.

I followed him as he started making his way up the stairs and I could tell by the tense set to his shoulders that he was angry. I had no doubt in my mind that it was because of me and the fact that I had taken the place of his precious Luna.

Well, I was the rightful Luna.

He walked past the room that I had been taken to last time and I shook my head as I made the connection that he didn't want to be near me. My heart shattered slightly, but I felt more angry than anything. He stopped at the last room in the hallway and carelessly pushed open the door.

“This is your room. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours.”

He walked away without further comment and I clenched jaw as I took a deep breath to try and calm my boiling anger. There was a part of me that wanted to follow him and give him a piece of my mind, but the other part of me was reminding me of the pole.

As I entered the room, the first things my eyes landed on was the four poster bed made of a dark varnished wood. There was a wardrobe and a vanity that matched it. The mattress was bare, along with everything else and I forced myself not to frown.

One consolation was that my boxes and suitcases were littering the room. The only problem was that they had all been opened and there was a part of me that wouldn't be surprised if there were things missing.

I grabbed the box that had my bed sheets in and started making the bed. I had never been one to keep my things neat, but something told me that I would have to change that if I wanted to stay in this Pack. The whiteness of my sheets clashed terribly with the white walls, but I told myself to ignore it and finish what I was busy with.

After I had made the bed, I started unpacking my suitcases. The room was actually a decent size, with a closet big enough to step into, but not quite walk in. There was an en suite bathroom to my right with a shower, toilet and a basin with drawers underneath.

Realistically thinking, there was no fault.

Except that it wasn't my room.

It took me a while to find the box that I had labelled as bathroom necessities and I sighed as I put it down on the basin. I started packing everything from shampoo and conditioner to razors and body wash in various places in the bathroom. There was a part of me that was grateful for the fact that I had brought enough things to last me quite a while. It meant that I wouldn't be bothering Ryder any time soon.

I hung my towels on the rail before I let out a sigh and sat down on the closed toilet seat. There was an ache in my neck and I reached up and gently massaged it with my hands. I felt my body tense and I instinctively knew that Ryder was somewhere nearby. My instincts were proven correct as I looked up to find him standing in the doorway with a rather nasty looking scowl on his face. I plastered a polite smile onto my face and bowed my head in acknowledgement.

“Alpha.”

“Aurora.”

It hurt me slightly that he wasn't going to address me by my title, but a part of me hadn't expected it. According to him, I was walking around with a stolen title. His eyes glazed over at around about the same time that I heard a panicked voice echo through the Pack link.

“Rogue coming through Western Wood. Requesting immediate backup.”

I heard Ryder let out a startled groan as I roughly pushed him against the door frame he had been leaning against as I rushed past him in my mission to leave the house.

My own mate thought I was weak. Well, I was determined to prove him wrong. I rushed out the front door and shifted as I skipped down the few porch steps. My senses-which were heightened by my anger and determination-picked up on the wolf’s scent almost immediately.

I was going to find that Rogue.

I skid to a halt as I shook my head and let out a whimper. The scent was wrapping itself around me in a frightening manner, clouding my senses. There was a familiarity in the scent-one I couldn't quite place.

I started running again, knowing that standing around wasn't going to answer any questions. My calves were burning in protest and I let out an excited yelp as I recognized the black wolf trudging towards me with its tongue outside it’s mouth.

Cole.

I ran towards him, shifting in the process and engulfed him in a hug, my arms wrapping around his large neck and I felt the lump form in my throat. He started picking at my face and I laughed as I pulled away, blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears that were threatening to slip down my cheeks.

I heard various growls and I turned around to see the wolves who had responded to the emergency call circling us. I let out a growl and they all sat down, not threatening us, yet ensuring that he wouldn't be able to get away.

“This is Alpha Cole. You will treat him with as much respect as you would treat any other Alpha.”

I included all of them in my order and I watched Ryder as he came walking towards us. I suddenly became aware of my nakedness and I crossed my arms over my chest. The emotion shining in his eyes could only be described as pure hatred and I was slightly thankful when he threw a rather large grey shirt towards me, which I put on immediately.

Cole was watching Ryder with am amused look on his eyes and I watched as he started shifting. I watched as a nearby wolf disappeared and came back with a pair of basketball shorts clutched in his mouth. Cole muttered a thank you before pulling on the shorts and turning towards Ryder.

“Alpha Ryder! You're just the man I was looking for.”

His greeting was too merry for my liking and I noticed that Ryder’s shoulders puffed out in obvious pride as Cole used his Alpha title. I felt the corners of my mouth tug upwards as I realized that he was buttering him up. Cole turned to me and winked, which proved that my assumption was correct.

“You'll thank me later.”

Ryder

An Alpha? There was a part of me that didn't even want to believe that the man was a werewolf, let alone an Alpha.

He was currently sitting in one of the armchairs that were placed in front if my desk and it was taking a lot out of me not to throw him across the border. He had had no right to trespass on my grounds and what seemed to infuriate me even further was the familiarity between him and my sorry excuse of a mate. I didn't want to be associated with anyone who had known her.

“I can practically hear the insults you're throwing towards her.”

My eyes snapped to his and I was rather relieved to see that the mock friendliness that he had adapted outside had disappeared. His tone was deadly and would have had me running a mile a minute if I were a wolf without a title, and I was once again reminded of the fact that this was an Alpha.

“What's it to you?”

I leaned backwards in my chair as I spoke and I watched as his eyes followed the movement of my crossing arms. His jaw was tensed and his leg was bouncing up and down in obvious agitation.

“I found her. In the woods.”

I sat starting at him for a few seconds before he continued talking, uncaring of the fact that I wasn't interested in whatever story he had prepared to tell me.

“She's turning 18 this year. In a few weeks actually. And she’s one of the strongest wolves I have ever encountered. Where her strength fails her, her insight makes up. Her techniques are… Unique. And to put the cherry on the cake, she hasn't trained a day in her life.”

He had a look of confusion on his face as he spoke, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself.

“She never shifts when there’s an actual attack, or uses her powers. She knows that there's too many risks in that.”

He ran a hand through his hair and I continued to stare at him with a bored expression on my face. I made a mental note that her non-training record was about to come to an end. She had another thing coming if she thought that being on standby for an attack was enough to earn her meal ticket and a roof over her head.

“I found her on the border between the Blue Blood Pack and my pack maybe three or four years ago. She was walking on the border, cautious of not overstepping on either side. I was cautious of her, since it was unheard of for Rogues to be anywhere near our territory.”

I felt an odd itch in the back of my mind as he smiled slightly. I frowned as I asked myself what his previous connection with her could have been.

“I'd been following her for hours, before she so much as even sent a glance in my direction. And when she did, her eyes were nowhere near the color they are now.”

He paused as if waiting for me to say something, but I remained silent as he continued to watch me. A frown covered his features as mouth pulled downward in disapproval.

“You aren't even interested, are you? Your own mate has a history that she hasn't even tried sharing with anyone other than myself and her previous Alpha and you can’t even be bothered to listen to it. And by what I've heard, she won't be telling you anything for quite some time.”

In seconds, I had him pinned to the wall. I lifted his feet off the ground since I was taller than him and he started laughing, despite the obvious threat hanging over his head.

“If there's one of you who isn't worthy of being mated, then it's you. She's been to hell and back and survived. She's never mentioned finding her mate, but even I can recognize the distant look she gets every now and again. Everyone thinks about the what if's from time to time.”

The disgust in his eyes was obvious and I roughly dropped him to the ground as I stepped back. There was an odd feeling in my chest that strangely reminded me of guilt, but I refused to acknowledge it. I watched as Alpha Cole straightened out and dusted off imaginary dust from his shoulders.

“All I'm saying is that if anyone should be thinking about their actions, then it's you.”