His Human Mate

Marlie’s POV “Don’t forget, your brother is coming home today,” my mother reminded me for the billionth time. “He should be here by the time you get home from school, so he can pick you up if you would like.” I was in the middle of eating and getting ready for school. I swallowed my mouthful before replying. “No thank you, I will just see him when I get home.” I knew he would rather not pick me up from school and risk someone seeing us together, he was always cautious about that. When we were younger and I started going to the same school as him, Carter told me not to tell anyone that we were siblings. At first, I thought he was ashamed of me since he was a wolf and I was nothing but a mere human like our mother. However, I found out his true reasoning later on. Since I was just a human, he worried that the other wolves would pick on me if they found out that I was part of a werewolf family. We technically are a part of the pack and live in the packgrounds but on the very outskirts of it. My father wanted my mother and me to be able to live as much like “normal” humans as we could, trying to keep from involving us in any pack matters. My mother is somewhat known around the pack, being a warrior's mate and all, but I preferred to stay hidden away at home. Since I am not a wolf and never will be, I would prefer to stay away from that side of me if possible. It’s not that I don’t love my brother and father, I really don’t mind that they are werewolves at all, but I don’t want the other wolves to think of me differently since I have half-werewolf blood, yet am still a weak little human. Carter worried that the other wolves would mess with me because of my unfortunate lack of the wolf gene, and being the protective big brother that he is, he dedicated himself to becoming my shield. He was always there to protect me when I needed it and even managed to stay discreet so people didn’t seem to notice him doing anything for me. I always admired how he didn’t even think twice before stepping in to help me, no matter the size of the issue. Having my brother be away from home for the last few months has been tough. He was sent to another pack for some combat training to help make him an even better warrior than he already was. While I was so proud of Carter, I was devastated to find out that he would be gone for six months. I knew I would miss him a lot, but I never expected it to be this hard without him. I am 18 and in my last year of high school. Being the shy and quiet girl I am, I don’t have friends and, in the past few months, I have caught the attention of some school bullies. They aren’t the worst bullies out there, but I’ve just been struggling to deal with them without my brother here for support. Of course, I could have always called him and asked for advice, but I didn’t want to worry him at all and stress him out. Now that he is finally coming back home, everything will go back to normal and I am very happy about it. *** My classes were over in a breeze and I was already on my way out the door of the school building. It was almost as if just knowing my brother was going to be home today made it go by with ease; not a single person even looked my way negatively once today. I was so happy to be going home I didn’t even notice where I was headed until I walked face-first into someone’s back. “I-I am so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going!” I looked up to see a cocky smirk on the school quarterback’s face, and instant regret filled my body. “Yeah right, you are just looking for attention.” A girl I recognized as one of the cheerleaders sneered and rolled her eyes. I took a few steps back, noticing a few other football players standing in a little group around us. “Don’t be jealous, babe,” One of the guys draped his arm over the girl’s shoulder and she instantly relaxed into his touch. “It’s not like she ran into me.” “I am so sorry, I’ll get out of your way!” I turned to hurry away but someone grabbed my arm, quickly pulling me back towards them. “C’mon sweetheart, don’t be shy.” Arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me close to his chest, all I could smell was the earthy musk of a wolf. “It’s obvious you want me.” I shivered at the contact, fear enveloping me. I wondered if he could scent the terror coming from me. “Leave the poor girl alone dude, she’s clearly scared out of her mind.” A voice caught my attention before I was pulled away from the werewolf jock, only to smell another werewolf's scent surrounding me from behind. “I’m sorry about my buddies, they can be jerks sometimes.” I look up into his green eyes and felt something click a moment too late, I quickly looked down holding my breath. Alpha. Thank goodness I don’t smell like a werewolf, otherwise, I would be in huge trouble right now. Even though he wasn’t truly alpha yet, his time would soon come to take over for his father, and I really don’t want to get on the bad side of the future Alpha. “No no, I am sorry; I should have watched where I was going,” I mumbled my apologies before stepping away. “Sorry.” I hurried off with my head down, not wanting to make any eye contact. I could hear the laughter from the group as they watched my pathetic act, and I hurried toward the parking lot. “Who was that?” A voice scared the hell out of me and I tripped over my own feet, quickly being caught in a pair of strong arms. “Carter!” I gasped. “You scared me.” I pulled away from him and looked around to make sure nobody saw us. Carter sniffed the air around me and growled. “You better not be sleeping around the pack. I swear if I find out any werewolves have laid a finger on my little-” “I’m not!” I interrupted, my face turning crimson at just the thought of my brother thinking those things of me. “I just bumped into them, I swear I don’t even know them.” I lowered my voice, stepping further out of the view of the school. “What are you even doing here?” “Really, Sis?” Carter tossed his arm over my shoulder, leading me to his black Shelby Mustang. “You honestly think I’d let you walk home from school on my first day back?” He opened my door for me and I jumped into the car, rolling my eyes at him. I watched as Carter walked around the car and opened his door before opening my mouth, “I would have been just fine, you didn’t have to waste the gas.” “It’s not a waste if it means I get to spend more time with my lil’ sis.” With that, he started the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back towards the packgrounds. Carter drove us back home in comfortable silence. We didn’t have to speak to one another to feel happy with the other’s presence, just being near each other was more than enough for both of us. As he parked the car, Carter looked at me with a sympathetic look that sent chills down my spine. Carter never gets guilty, yet he looks so guilty at this moment. What happened? “We should go out tonight, just the two of us,” he suggested as I opened the door and slowly exited the car. “What do you say?” “I would love to spend time with you Carter, but mom and dad might have other plans for your first evening back.” I walked towards the front door without sparing him a second glance. Something made him uneasy and it was worrying me, whatever it was. I headed into the house, dropped my bag by the door, and walked into the kitchen. “Actually, they went out for a date, so it is just the two of us tonight.” Carter leaned against the counter, observing me as I pulled out stuff to make grilled cheeses for us both. “C’mon sis, we can go out to the club and hang out for the night. I can even slip you some alcohol if you want.” Carter, being 21, can drink legally and quite enjoys spending evenings out trying to get his wolf drunk. “I don’t drink Carter.” I rolled my eyes as I pushed a plate with several piping hot grilled cheeses on it towards him. “But fine, we can go out tonight. I just need half an hour to get ready.” I sat down next to him at the bar with my plate and began eating. We ate in silence for a while, both just enjoying the company until I picked up the plates to put them in the dishwasher. “You aren’t seeing anyone, right?” Carter spoke up, looking at me hesitantly. “No Carter.” I shook my head, closing the dishwasher. “I know if I was, then you would bite their head off anyways, it’s safer for me to stay single.” I laughed, nudging his arm before heading upstairs to my room. I never had any interest in dating; it wasn’t that I didn’t find anyone attractive, I just knew the whole process would be hard. Eventually, they would have to meet my family and how do I explain that they are werewolves? It's not common knowledge among humans. They shouldn’t know werewolves exist. The only humans who do are those who have a mate or family members that are wolves, like me and my mother. All of it is way too much work for something that probably wouldn’t last anyway. I quickly hopped in the shower and was back out in 15 minutes. I never understood how people can take so long in the shower, I'd much rather be doing something else with my time. I went into my closet to pick out an outfit and after several minutes of debating with myself, I picked a short bodycon dress with a deep v neckline. Simple outfit but I think it’s fitting for the club. I add some jewelry and heels before heading downstairs with my purse in hand. “Carter, I am ready!” I called out, waiting by the door. “Nope, not happening.” He grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the door. “Go upstairs and change, you are not wearing that out of the house.” “Carter, I am an adult. I think I can pick out my own outfits.” I rolled my eyes. “Besides, you are gonna be there with me. If anybody does anything you don’t like, you will be able to stop them.” That was something I was sure of; Carter would never let someone put their hands on me as long as he was paying attention. “I still don’t like you wearing that.” “Well, too bad, I’m not changing.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked him in the eyes. He stared back at me for a minute before growling and opening the door. “Let's go.” *** We arrived at the club and Carter led me inside, staying super close as if to scare any guys away from me. Eventually, I convinced him to let me dance and he went to get himself a drink, or maybe a dozen. I went to the dancefloor as my favorite song came on and made my way through the crowd, mouthing the lyrics and dancing like I didn’t have a care in the world about what people thought about me. Even though Carter was a very protective older brother, I knew he wouldn't do anything too ridiculous in public around other humans, so when a guy asked to dance with me, I gladly accepted. I might be shy around the werewolf guys, but I am super comfortable and relaxed around other humans like myself. Werewolves are just intimidating because of their high s*x drive and strength. They could easily overpower me and take what they want if they chose to do so, which I found very terrifying. We dance through a few songs before he grabs me by the hips, pulling me close to grind on me. I tried to pull away, worried Carter would see and react badly, but noticed Carter was sitting at the bar with his back towards me, downing several shots at a time. I sighed and gave in, closing my eyes and leaning my head against the guy's shoulder as he pulled my hair back to kiss my neck. A loud growl erupted and I felt the guy get yanked away from me. I opened my eyes expecting to see Carter in front of me, but instead, was shocked when I found some guy I had never seen before standing in front of me. He held the guy I was dancing with up by the throat, looking like he was getting ready to murder him. I let out a soft whimper out of fear, and he instantly let go of the dude and rushed to pull me to his chest, taking a deep breath with his face buried in my hair. The next word I heard made my heart jump into my throat. "Mine."