Tara's Fate

Chapter 3

“Alpha Martin.” The man called after him with a sense of urgency.

“Alpha Martin, humans are not allowed in the pack lands. Most definitely not in the settlement,” Gregory, one of the oldest wolves that still lived with the pack, expressed his disapproval with a serious tone and a severe frown on his forehead.

Of course, it didn’t matter that Martin didn’t need to be reminded of pack laws and was well aware of what he had done.

Martin paused and looked at the old man. Gregory looked good for his age, as all werewolves usually do. They had a gift to age with grace. Had the old man been fully human, he would have been full of wrinkles and walking with a walking stick. He would also probably be missing a few teeth as well and a full head of gray instead of the pitch-black that still covered his scalp as glossy as raven wings. But Gregory looked not a day over fifty. He still looked strong and fit, but that did not worry Martin.

Gregory and five other equally old werewolves made up the wolf council of the pack. Martin had appointed them the duty as soon as he had taken over as Alpha. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea.

They were old and had a lot of experience. Not to mention, they also knew the history of the packs. Decades’ worth of information that proved useful at critical times. Especially when pack politics came into play. He had appreciated their advice from time to time on other matters as well. But at times like these, he felt they overstepped and forgot their place. He was still the Alpha and did not need to be reminded of rules, as though he was an unruly adolescent just learning what being a werewolf was all about.

He deliberately pulled his lip back and snarled at the old man. “I am well aware of the rules, Gregory. I happen to have studied all of them and enforced them… if you remember.”

The older man wisely took a step back and lowered his head submissively. He fixed his disapproving gaze on the ground and exposed his neck. “I meant no disrespect, Alpha.”

Of course he didn’t, thought Martin. Only a fool with a death wish would disrespect the Alpha of the pack. It wasn’t as though one became ruling alpha by popular vote.

“I only meant to bring it to your attention… A reminder that the presence of the human may not be in the best interest of our pack,” the older man continued in a more respectful tone.

“As you may be aware, and have rightly already mentioned… I am the alpha of the Forest Shadow pack. The best interest of my pack is my priority. I assure you... I know what I am doing.” He turned and walked away from the old man. He was done with the conversation and he hoped the old wolf knew not to push his luck any further. Especially not today. Martin felt on edge and he couldn’t even properly pinpoint the cause of it.

Thankfully, it seemed Gregory got the message loud and clear. Martin walked away and headed for his house without further interruptions.

He had walked into the pack settlement, which was basically a small town that contained all the houses the pack members occupied. It was right in the middle of the forest and difficult to find unless you were looking for it and had some help. The tall trees around offered a lot of cover and helped them keep their existence a secret.

The Forest Shadow pack had over three hundred pack members. Half of that number lived on the pack lands and the other half lived in surrounding human towns and helped to run the pack businesses that saw that they always had an income.

Those that lived on the pack lands had their own duties and contributions to make to the pack. They grew and maintained crops for food. Kept livestock, made crafts and art pieces that were later sold in the human towns.

It was a busy community. A well-oiled machine when everyone cooperated and did their part with as little objection as possible.

And Martin made sure it all went well and remained peaceful, which was no simple task considering they were werewolves and explosive tempers were as much their nature as the fur of their wolves. Once he had taken over as alpha after defeating the last alpha, Martin had made it a point to give his pack a better life. At least one out of the stone ages, and with a promise they wouldn’t all die of starvation or be hunted down by other packs.

He had introduced schools for the younger members and the businesses that took half the pack members out of the lands. It was a move not everyone had appreciated. But unless they could challenge him and defeat him to be alpha, they had little choice on the matter.

He acknowledged that taking pack members out of pack lands had exposed them to new threats. Now, instead of only worrying about other packs attacking them for their land and wealth, they had to worry about humans too.

Humans who knew nothing about werewolves but were as curious as ever about anything suspicious and would gladly storm in and pack them all in laboratories like lab rats for their research if they ever got the chance.

In the last ten years that he had been alpha, more and more humans had just happened to wander too close to the pack lands in search of the unknown. Everyone was suspicious and uncomfortable, but Martin wouldn’t take the pack back to the stone age pattern of life just because of a threat like that.

He stepped into his house and headed for the kitchen; he needed a drink of water desperately. After his run of the borders and then carrying a struggling woman back on his shoulder, he was dehydrated. Though he wondered if he needed something stronger than a bottle of water, considering how much his wolf was fighting him.

The thought was tempting. He couldn’t get intoxicated enough to lose awareness of his surroundings, but he could calm his nerves a little. He stepped into the kitchen, musing over this, and came face to face with his beta.

Kent stood by the sink with his body relaxed and resting against it like he owned the house. He was dressed in loose-fitting sweat pants. His chest was bare and so were his feet. He had obviously just returned from a run on the other side of the pack, judging by the sweat that still covered his body. Although clearly, he had returned much earlier than Martin because he’d had the opportunity to throw some clothes on, unlike Martin, who was still one with nature in his bare skin.

Kent didn’t even blink or look uncomfortable. It was their way of life, after all. Werewolves spent more time naked than they did in clothes. They didn’t even bother with designer, expensive clothes unless one was sure they would always undress before shifting to wolf. Otherwise, it would be a waste of money, which was almost always the case.

Wolf tempers had a reputation among all other supernatural beings. They were far worse than dragons and vampires. They snapped and shifted before they asked questions. Hence, most of their clothes ended up in a shredded mess almost all the time.

His beta stepped forward suddenly and handed him a bottle of water and a pair of his sweatpants, as though reading his mind. Martin gratefully accepted both. He covered up his most important parts and drained the bottle in one long drink.

When he was done and had placed the empty bottle back on the table, Kent spoke, “So… about this human.”

Martin narrowed his eyes and exhaled. “Word travels fast.”

“Well, when the Alpha walks into the pack lands carrying over his shoulder a female human screaming and cursing for all the world to hear… it’s kind of hard to keep such news off the front pages of the gossip paper.”

Martin grunted and went to the fridge in search of another bottle of water. He hadn’t expected to keep it a secret; he had, however, expected it to take the pack a few hours to become aware. Enough time for him to calm his wolf down and get some answers from the woman. It wasn’t as though he had paraded her in the center of their homes, so his grain of hope hadn’t been so far-fetched.

But Martin had bigger problems than the efficient gossip mill in the pack. He could still smell her scent on his body. She had struggled so much and sweated all over him. Her scent was driving his wolf crazy. The feeling almost mirrored the urge his wolf got when it caught the scent of prey, and he was hungry. But this was way different. His hunger felt as though it was pumping through his blood. And the scent was not prey, it had a hint of pine trees and lavender. His wolf’s senses were choking on it, but he still wanted more.

He needed a bath real quick before he could sit down and discuss anything related to that woman.

The fact that his c**k was not erect and aching was evidence of his self-control. But he wasn’t sure how long that would last. He needed to rid his body of her scent. The only thing he couldn’t rid his body of with a simple wash was the scratch marks she had left on his back during her struggles. The woman didn’t have long nails, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying to skin his back with her bare hands. It would heal though, pretty fast, in fact. By tomorrow, it would all be gone. He almost felt bad about that.

Not liking the direction of his thoughts, he downed another bottle of water as though his life depended on it. Maybe he hoped the cold water would cool his blood and settle the wolf enough to have a conversation with his beta before he excused himself.

Kent raised a brow and gave the empty bottle a pointed look, but said nothing about it. Unfortunately, he kept his questions on the very subject Martin wanted to avoid currently.

“Where is she?” he asked casually.

It was Martin’s turn to raise a brow. “What? The news broadcasters didn’t give out that piece of information?”

“They were obviously too busy being shocked and keeping out of your way to pay attention.” Kent retorted without missing a beat.

Martin chuckled despite himself. Kent was the only person he tolerated, talking to him so openly. It probably had everything to do with the fact that they had been friends for years, long before Martin became alpha and made his friend his beta. He would never have trusted anyone else with the position. He needed someone he could trust fully to watch his back, and Kent was that person.

“I locked her up in the back room at the library.”

Kent nodded and smirked. “Pretty wise, people hardly ever go there and the walls are so thick, she could scream her lungs out and no one would ever hear her.”

“Exactly. See? My head is perfectly fine and in good working order.”

Kent smiled. “I never doubted it, Alpha. I just came to reassure myself nothing serious was taking place.”

“Nothing to worry about. I will let you know if something comes up. Now, if you will excuse me… I need to freshen up before I can attend to any further pack business.”

The smile that crossed Kent’s face only worked to irk Martin. Something in the man’s eyes said he knew a little too much for Martin’s comfort, and his next words confirmed it.

“I suggest you use a lot of soap and a hard brush.”

He chuckled and left the room before Martin could come up with an appropriate response to that statement. Not that the alpha could actually dispute the suggestion. If anything, he would probably need bleach to get rid of her scent on his skin.