Atonement (#2 of the Spike pack)

the fight

And now, I was pressed against the corner of a room, a big dark brown wolf standing in front of me, giving me the impression as if he was trying to protect me from whatever was happening inside the room.

*MATE* My wolf, Sheila, came into my head, and that’s when I knew that it was true. My wolf had been silent for quite some time, feeling the rejection had taken a hard toll on her. And I couldn’t blame her, so I had let her hide herself deep inside of me. I had given her the time that she needed to grieve, to heal. And as if by magic, here she was again. And I could almost start to cry, hearing her sweet voice once again, it had been too long, and finally, a missing piece of me was back. And I found myself feeling better than I had felt in the last couple of months.

As if this whole situation wasn’t weird enough in itself, the wolf in front of me started to shift into his human form, and I couldn’t help myself but to look at him, even though I only saw half of him, which was his back, since he was turned facing away from me.

He had short, dark brown hair, it was playfully spiking up. His shoulders were wide, so I could already tell that he was very fit, making him either a warrior or highly ranked inside the pack where he lived. Omega males usually didn’t train that much, so they didn’t need the muscles either. And unable to resist, I looked down, as my eyes found his bare ass, I believed I had received my first hot flash, ever. I swallowed, hoping to the Moon Goddess herself, that he wasn’t another Alpha, because s**t… his body certainly fit the part. I had had my share of Alpha’s with Robert, and I was more than done with that!

As I heard a groan to my right, I saw how the man who was fighting Robert had kicked him in the chest, and Robert’s blood spat around the room because of the action. The man who was fighting him was Lana’s mate. She had told me about him when we had been trapped inside this hellhole. He was the Beta of the Spike pack, so it was only normal for him to come and find her and claim her, fight for her. And so, I looked back in front of me, away from the fight and back at the broad shoulders and the brown hair from mister damn good-looking, standing in front of me, seeing how his muscles flexed as if he was ready to join in on the fight any second now. But I didn’t want him to fight, I wanted to hold him, protect him, s**t… even just having a conversation would be nice right about now. I saw how the man in front of me leaned down, as he took Lana’s hand and pulled her up, only to place her behind him as well, right in the corner with me, shielding both of us from the fight, and away from any potential danger.

OK… so no Beta,

because the Beta is fighting Robert…

Alpha…

unlikely,

He wouldn’t be so close to the danger,

an Alpha needs to make sure that the pack is protected at all times…

So

either a warrior or a Gamma?

Maybe…

As I heard the fighting become more and more intense, I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting to distance myself from the event, hell… I wanted to block it all out, and without me even knowing what the hell I was even doing, I had grabbed ahold of the man standing in front of me, holding on to his upper arm and hoping that all of this s**t would be over with soon. His skin underneath my hand felt warm, inviting, comforting even. A part of me wanted to lay myself against it. But I couldn’t. I was too afraid to do anything at that point.

I heard a loud thumb, and as I opened my eyes to look and see what had just happened to cause that noise, I saw that Robert had fallen down on the ground, and the man who I believed to be Lana’s mate, sat down on top of him, punching Robert in the face, without any intention of ever stopping. I heard my own sobs in the air, and I didn’t even know that I was even crying. This whole thing felt like an outer body experience. I was crying for what had happened, and crying for what was about to happen.

I have never seen anyone die.

I had never seen my true mate getting killed, right in front of me.

Even with the mate bond severed and after the rejection, this was a man who I had loved at some point in my life. Dearly… Even if it were just for a few seconds… If he would have accepted me, we would have been together.

And all at the same time, I was crying, because I was happy at that moment.

This was finally over.

I could finally be free

I could finally go wherever I wanted to go.

and do what I wanted to do.

And as the man sitting on Robert stopped hitting him, I knew it was done. Robert was gone. I was finally free. Robert was dead. And I thanked the Moon Goddess that he had rejected me. If we still had been true mates, this would have been the worst torture in the history of werewolves.

“Jamie, stop, it’s done.” I heard a voice coming from the man standing in front of me. I gasped, hearing his voice for the first time, and feeling how my heart warmed up by the sound of it. He wasn’t even talking to me, and still, it made me feel hot all over. He spoke softly, but yet directly. The way he spoke to his Beta made me realize that they were probably either best friends, or related. And all I wanted him to do, was to keep on speaking. I needed more, my body was craving more.

I was surprised, as Lana walked out of the corner and ran towards the man who I now knew was named Jamie, her true mate. But my attention was pulled to the side, seeing how the man in front of me had turned himself around, and was staring at me with such a force, I doubted if my knees would keep functioning properly. All I could do, was look at him. He had dark blue eyes, gentle eyes, but I wondered if they would look stern, if he would frown his dark brown and full eyebrows. He had a straight nose and lips that were still sealed, as he was breathing hard through his nose. He had a stubble beard, which made me want to reach up and run my hand over it. And his chest was heaving badly, as if he was using all of his strength for something that I seemed to be missing here. I was, however, surprised, as he reached up and cupped my face in his large hand. And I found myself not pulling back, the way I had done with Robert, a while back in the bedroom. This time, I wanted to be touched, I wanted this man to hold me, and I couldn’t help myself, as I leaned into his touch, and saw how his lips curled up into a small smile, while his eyes were still glued on me.

“Are you OK?” He asked me, to which I could only nod softly.

But before I could even say or do anything else, I screamed, as I saw how Ruby, Robert’s pack witch, who I knew to be living inside the Grey pack where used her powers to protect us, had thrown a dagger and it had ended up right into Jamie’s back. The man who I believed was my mate, was back in front of me within a second, shielding me from the potential danger once again. As if he would gladly catch any daggers, that would get thrown my way. And after that, everything happened too fast for my brain to even begin to understand. Three new men came running inside the room, as it filled up with flashes of white light all around us. One of them disappeared with Ruby the witch, another one grabbed ahold of a wounded Jamie and Lana, and after another flash of white light, they were just gone. Making the room look empty and big in contrast to a few seconds ago.

And me, without even knowing what was happening, felt how this man next to me, my new mate, who I knew zero about, grabbed my hand and pulled me outside of the house. Another man stepped in front of us, while I could have sworn that he had just now pulled white flashes of light out of his bare hands.

What the hell is happening here?

What is that man?

Coming outside, I froze, seeing that there were even more men waiting, more wolves.

Wait

Was this an ambush?

Was this all part of their plan?

Were they waiting to kill Robert, if he would have won the fight?

wow…

They really wanted Lana back…

“What happened?” One of them asked, and I looked down at the floor immediately, this guy had written ‘Alpha’ all over him, and the last thing I wanted, was an angry Alpha on my back.

“The witch, she stabbed Jamie, Mason brought him home, we need to go back fast. I need to help my brothers. I need to help Jamie. Since I know where your pack is and what it looks like, I can flash us there. It will be faster” The man in front of me spoke fast, his brown curls swaying on his head as he spoke. To which I felt eyes on me, and knew for a fact, that the Alpha was looking directly at me.

Oh s**t!

“Who are you?” And I looked up, seeing how the Alpha had his eyes on me, burning into me, and I felt how my mouth dropped open. I had never spoken to an Alpha directly before. Should I just speak? Did I need to say sir or your highness or something like that?

“Bree.” My mate answered, and I looked at him, silently thanking him for helping me out here.

“She was inside with Lana.” He added, looking at me, and somehow, his eyes felt comforting.

“Were you held captive as well? Or were you helping him?” The Alpha asked me, and his voice turned very dark, very fast. My mouth felt like sandpaper, I couldn’t form any words.

Was I helping him?

Seriously?

They thought I was his 'partner in crime' or something?

“Alpha, look at her, she’s scared. She was a prisoner here.” My mate spoke again, protecting me again. The Alpha nodded, looking at me as if he was trying to search for my darkest secrets just by looking at me.

“Take her with us. I want to talk to her when this madness is over. Luke, make sure she doesn’t run for it.” He spoke, to which Luke nodded.

Luke?

His name is Luke

My mate's name is Luke...

“Yes, Alpha.” And I looked up at him, wondering why he didn't just tell his Alpha that I was his mate… Why didn't he tell him who I really was?

Didn’t he want me as his mate?

Was he going to reject me as well?

Was I, once again, not good enough?

But there was no time to think, since I was surrounded by a flash of white light, and the very next second, I found myself standing in front of a massive house, a pack house without a doubt. And as I was flooded with a thousand different emotions all at once, all I could do was lean over, and puke all over their grass.