Talons

Chapter 101: The Hope

Rhea’s POV

I cling onto my rogue, crying into his fur with all the ferocity that I’ve wanted to cry since I woke up. He is tense, but he doesn’t seem irritated with me; just a little concerned.

“Can you help me?” I ask, and the wolf shakes his head, making me whimper.

I wipe at my face before hugging the male again. I understand that he can’t help, he is a rogue just like me, but right now, he is all I have.

I ask him to stay with me for a little while, leaning heavily against his soft fur. My wolf is equally as content as I am, and I know that she too feels the same level of bond with our rogue.

I know from both human and wolf experiences that traumatic events can lead to connections being drawn where there was otherwise none, but I’ve been fascinated by the male since I first laid eyes on him.

His fur is golden, and while you would think that he would stick out in a forest setting, I remember turning back to see how far he had gotten on the day we met, and I would never have known he was there.

Then there is the fact that he could have easily claimed me back then. I was injured, and while I would have fought back, judging based on the size of his wolf alone, he likely could have overpowered me, but he didn’t.

I feel myself relax in a way that I didn’t think would be possible on Iron pack territory, but my wolf tells me that we are going too far. If Colton smells another male on me, he may track him down and kill him.

Thinking of Colton, it suddenly occurs to me that, like me, the wolf I’m holding may have found his mate in the time between our first meeting and now.

“Have you found your mate?” I ask. He nods and I find my lip quivering.

I let go of the male and put a respectable distance between us. He is staring at me with those eyes that I have dreamed about and for the first time ever, I’m jealous.

“If you help me, I have a place where we can be safe. I will take care of you and your mate. I can babysit for you and…” My voice cracks and the wolf comes closer.

He uses his snout to gently push me until I stand and then he walks me back to the tree I had been leaning on.

The male slowly walks backward, dipping behind a tree and sensing he is going to shift, I turn my back to him, wanting to be respectful.

Colton’s POV

I asked Mandy to show Rhea around the territory, but she told me that her cousin wouldn’t want that. She explained to me that I wasn't the only person who treated her poorly, and it occurs to me that members of my pack may have bullied my mate as well.

I begin to get angry, but who am I mad at? I was the one who made everyone believe that she was worthless.

Settling behind my desk, I start pouring through my bank statements. I have five thousand in usable cash, while the rest is tied up in investments or in the stock market.

I’m too old to continue getting a pack allowance, so my money has been stagnant. Truthfully, it would be completely gone had it not been for Mandy.

My living expenses total around eight hundred per month, so in theory, I should be okay for six months, but my mate has nothing, and I’m not sure if two hundred dollars is enough for her to buy all she needs.

I wish her family and I were on better terms, because then I would be able to send her to the Claw territory to pack her things, but if I do that now, they may be able to use it against me if Rhea really tries to reject me again.

As I’m considering if I want to sell off some of my valuable stock, my office door slams open. If it weren’t Trey, I would have killed the person who interrupted me so rudely, but I have been waiting for this argument.

“What the hell is going on with everyone?” I smirk at Trey, who while irresponsible with many other things, is going to be a great gamma.

He was on a wellness visit for a pack that my father used to sponsor. They were attacked by a larger pack and took heavy losses. While we have no obligation to help them at all, I sent Trey and his family to help with the relief efforts.

It’s all part of my plan to set the Iron Pack of the past apart from the Iron Pack that I plan to lead.

“Talk to me man,” Coop and I have been going crazy. My mother finally had to ask me to leave since my sisters and I were becoming a ‘distraction.’ I make a face and Trey puffs up his cheeks, blowing out air as he sits. “Claire found her mate.”

My gamma sounds depressed about it, and while I know he is happy for his sister, I also know that like me, he is becoming impatient. He may not even have a fated partner, but he wants one because, also like me, he believes in the bond.

“Okay, now tell me, why have I been feeling like my high school crush just turned me down for the last few days?” I sigh because that was a weirdly accurate description. Rhea isn’t my high school crush, but I do feel rejected by her.

“I found her,” I whisper, and Trey facepalms. I know he doesn’t mean anything by it, but him and his wolf have finally grown tired of casual encounters, but it's a struggle for them both.

“Sorry man, I don’t mean to be so… Wait... Then why are you so down? I thought you wanted a mate?” Trey sniffs the room, raising an eyebrow when he doesn’t catch a female scent. “Is it a man?” he whispers, and for the second time since Rhea came, I burst into laughter.

I have nothing against men and women who prefer the same s*x, but my gamma's expression made his words comical to me.

“It's not,” I say.

“Then why isn’t she sitting in your lap feeding you grapes?”

“Because she would probably die.”

“Sh*t,” Trey says. “Is she on life support?” Once again, I burst into laughter and my gamma is confused. “Come on man. Stop drawing this out. Your mood is dragging me down and I can’t focus.”

“Fine,” I reply. ‘My mate is B.” Trey stares at me with a blank expression for a long time before his eyes go wide and he sucks in a deep breath.

“Whoa,” he says. “Did she reject you?” He whispers, and I flinch.

“She tried, but her request was denied.”

“What are you going to do?” He asks, because like Carter, he knows I was never nice to the girl.

“I don’t even know; she hates me.” Trey nods in agreement, which actually pisses me off, but I say nothing.

“And you are okay with her?” I glare at my gamma who throws up his hands in surrender. He hasn’t seen Rhea in years, but still. “Okay then, I know we aren’t supposed to talk about it, but didn’t you tell us that you saved her before?” I sit up, wanting to kiss Trey who is absolutely right.

Rhea wasn’t afraid of Orlin because she didn’t know he was me, and I see a slither of hope.

I’m so glad that I confided in Carter and Trey about that situation; even though at the time it was only to avoid being blamed if Lark had picked up on my scent.

I shoot out of my office, Mind-linking my gamma not to follow me, and I hear him grumbling in frustration. He will see my mate soon enough, but right now; I want to approach her alone.

I link Mandy, who tells me where she left my mate and I sprint to the area, only she isn’t there.

I sniff the air, picking up a faint hint of my mate’s scent and I follow it. By the time I find her, she is hard at work in my mother’s abandoned garden, and I find myself smiling.

That used to be one of my favorite places when I was little, but when my mother left, it was neglected and became overgrown.

After watching Rhea pull up weeds with her bare hands, I shift into my wolf, and slowly approach. She is covered in dirt but instead of it annoying me, it's making me smile.

Rhea is an adult now, but she clearly hasn’t changed. I only wished I had noticed how special she was sooner.

"We did," Orlin growls, and I sigh. He is referring to the story Dolton told us, but that was innocent child’s play: I think.

When Rhea finally sees me, she jumps into a defensive position, and I stop in my tracks. She is so beautiful to me, even covered in dirt.

Her skin is golden and healthy, her hair is black and glossy, and her eyes are hypnotizing. I won't even talk about her body, because it can’t be described in words.

Within seconds my mate's posture changes and she dashes forward, wrapping her arms around Orlins neck, and while he doesn’t feel the tingles, goosebumps rise under his fur, making him shiver in delight.

For a second, he and I are in bliss, but then we focus on our mate's words. Hearing Rhea beg me to save her from me was the weirdest form of torture I have ever experienced.

I wanted to be angry, but the way she was holding me kept me from reacting.

“Have you found your mate?” She asks, and I swear I heard her whimper when my wolf nodded.

Rhea steps away, and a sudden feeling of coldness washes over the areas of my wolf that were kept warm just seconds before.

She offers to take care of me, and to babysit for me, but I hear her reluctance. Then her voice cracks and I can’t take it; I need to show her who I am.

I guide my mate to where she had been sitting and slowly retreat. As I dip behind a tree, I see her turn around and I find myself wondering how I got so lucky.

Many she-wolves think us males don’t mind being gawked at when we shift, but we do, and I’m glad my mate isn’t like that.