Her Promise

Her Promise | Chapter Eight

MADDOX

Missy was still sleeping peacefully in bed, but I couldn’t sit still. Before the sun was even up, I was out of bed and heading out of the packhouse. I needed to move and get the excess energy out. That afternoon, I would be making the vow to protect this pack and be its Alpha until it was time for me to hand the title down to my son.

There were so many things going through my head. First, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be hours away from my own Alpha ceremony, of all things. Everything that had happened since my childhood home was destroyed almost seemed like a dream. But it was all happening. The girl of my dreams was my mate, and now I was about to be an Alpha.

As the ceremony was completed, Langston told me I would feel immediate changes. The life of the pack would be breathed into me as we all took to the water together. He also explained that over the next week or so, I would see physical changes as well. I was going to get stronger and faster thanks to the power that comes with being an Alpha. I was anxious to see all those changes.

I knew it was still probably a long time away, but the idea of Missy and I having children together, one that would then be able to follow in my footsteps, was exciting. We hadn’t talked about it much. I knew she still wanted to get married, but we had so much going on with this new adventure that I hadn’t pushed her. Having pups will change a lot for us, so I didn’t want her to feel pressured about it until she was ready to accept those changes. Knowing that we would need to have at least one pup, and it would likely be a boy, thrilled me nonetheless.

I didn’t bother hiding as I pulled my clothes off and shifted quickly. I bolted away from the packhouse in the direction of the lake. The cold air licked my fur, but it barely affected me. Tom savored the freedom as our paws dug into the crunchy dirt. Winter was just on the horizon, but for now, we still had cold fall weather.

I was at the lake by the time the sun was rising. I didn’t stop, continuing around it for a while. Eventually, I reached the outcropping of rocks that jutted out over the water. I stopped to watch the sun finish its rise, the colors in the sky slowly melding from dark purples and pinks into soft oranges and blues.

That water below was choppy as the cold air pushed and pulled it around. Hopefully, Missy and I didn’t struggle too much today. It would be embarrassing not to finish the pack swim. It had been a complete surprise finding out the Alpha ceremony ended in a dash to Serenity Lake, where the entire pack swam across the shortest width of the water before returning to the packhouse. Missy and I didn’t know if we could swim as wolves, so we spent plenty of time practicing.

“You feel way too calm to have run away on me,” Missy’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“No, just out for a run,” I told her.

“You should have woken me up. I would have come with you,” she said.

“Sorry, darling,” I apologized. “I can come back now.”

“Breakfast starts soon. Then we’ll be apart all day until it’s time for the ceremony,” she reminded me. There was plenty to do to get ready still. Langston still had to go over some things with me about the pack finances that required some paperwork. They would leave in only a few days, so we needed to get things done. Ronin and I had been working on my plans for Serenity Waters moving forward, which were also going to take some time to implement.

“I’m hurrying back,” I told Missy. I turned away from the water, Tom angling back around the lake. Something on the wind caught my attention. It was a dirty smell, definitely not something that should be there.

Missy could wait. I followed the scent, moving closer to the shore of the lake. The scent was familiar but didn’t strike me as a threat. It was just off somehow. The scent got heavier in the air, and I slowed so I could listen for any signs of movement.

“Rogue,” Tom growled in my head.

“It doesn’t smell like something decaying, just really dirty,” I argued with him. Rogues smelled like they were rotting from the inside out, and often they looked it.

“It’s a rogue,” he insisted. Tom lowered himself to the grass, crawling now as the scent was its strongest. We hit a set of bushes, blocking our view of the shoreline.

“Over there, there is a gap. We can see under them,” I pushed. Tom crept, positioning our wolf body so we could get between the bushes with little commotion. Our eyes scanned the beach until we found the source of the smell. It was a teenage girl. She had something on a stick that she was slowly turning over a small fire.

“See rogue!” Tom said, springing out of the trees.

“Wait!” I tried to stop him. He pushed back at me, not relenting control for the moment as he barreled toward the girl. She jumped up, screaming frantically, throwing the food into the fire. She scrambled backward as we got closer until she hit a large bag. She flipped around, swung it onto her shoulders, and took off into the trees, still screaming wildly.

Tom didn’t hesitate to go after her. “Wait, you dumb mutt!” I yelled at him. “She’s running away scared now! We need to try to talk to her!”

“We are to be Alpha in a few hours. There is a rogue on our land!” he barked.

“And she doesn’t smell like one! Give her a chance!” I argued.

The girl was crashing through the trees in front of us, headed toward our border. I couldn’t remember if there was anything between the lake and our border in this direction. The last thing I needed was the next Alpha seen chasing a random kid through the pack on the day of his Alpha Ceremony.

Tom closed the gap between us and soon tackled her to the ground. She tucked herself as she fell, ending on her back as we stood over her. He growled viciously as she covered her face. “Please, I’ll go. I don’t want to be trouble. Please don’t hurt me! There was no one around; I didn’t know I couldn’t be there!” the girl begged.

“Tom, stop!” I commanded. Finally, he backed down. He couldn’t speak to her unless we shifted, and I would have the advantage when we did. Tom stepped back from the girl slowly, giving me the room to shift. When I did, she uncovered her face to look at me. She started on my face but then looked down, her face growing red quickly before she covered it again.

“Oh, sorry,” I said, covering myself. I looked around, but there didn’t seem to be any clothes stashed around.

“Here,” she said, reaching into her pocket. She tossed a small, dirty red piece of fabric at me. It landed at my feet, so I picked it up and used it to cover my front.

“I won’t come closer. What’s your name?” I asked her, holding up my other hand to show her I wouldn’t hurt her. She still smelled bad, with fear mixed into it now, but she didn’t smell like something rotting.

“Sloan,” she said cautiously. “I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll go.”

“No, that’s not why… Well, I didn’t exactly mean to attack you,” I said. “Just, you smell…. wait, that sounds mean… um, I knew you weren’t a pack member….” This was not going as planned. Sloan stared back at me in terror still. I loosed a deep breath. “Let me start over. My name is Maddox.”

“Um, hi,” she said nervously.

“I was out for a run when I caught your scent. I wasn’t trying to attack you; I was just trying to investigate,” I told her.

“Because I smell like garbage, right?” she asked, turning her head. She looked upset by her own words.

“Not exactly. But definitely not like this pack. Can I assume you aren’t from here?” I questioned. She shook her head.

“Like I told you. I’ll go. I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “Unless you’re going to kill me since you caught me.”

“No!” I exclaimed. “I wouldn’t do that! You didn’t do anything wrong! Wait, you didn’t, right?” If she were a rogue, this interaction would be confusing. I knew from personal experience that not all rogues were intentionally bad, but usually, the longer they were out of a pack, the worse they got. Wolves just needed a connection.

“No. I was just cooking some breakfast. There were lots of little critters coming this way. Probably because of that lake. It was easy to get a couple of squirrels. It’s the most food I’ve had in weeks. I was just going to wash my clothes and eat. I’m not looking for anything else. I smelled other wolves, but I didn’t see any around,” she explained herself.

“Definitely going to have to address the efficacy of the patrols,” I sighed to myself. “So you don’t belong here. Do you have a pack?” I asked her. She shook her head. “And you are all by yourself?”

“I don’t need your pity,” she snapped at me. “I made it this far on my own.”

“That wasn’t what I was getting at….” I scratched my head.

“Maddox, what is going on? You should be back by now,” Missy linked me.

Shoot. My mate was waiting for me, and I was chatting in the woods with a rogue. “Look, I am in a unique position. I don’t think you did anything wrong, so let me help you. It’s the least I can do for ruining your meal,” I offered. I knew I would probably get some questions when I got back to the packhouse, but this girl didn’t strike me as a threat.

“Why?” she asked. “Every other wolf I have met has run me off.” Sloan looked at me skeptically. Her cheeks were smudged with dirt, and her clothes weren’t much better. She probably hadn’t had a real place to live for a long time. At the very least, we could get her a shower, clean clothes, and a hot meal until after the Alpha Ceremony. I could figure out someone to watch her until I could figure out something more.

“I know a thing or two about finding your place,” I shrugged. “Like I said, I’m in a unique position. But I am in a bit of a hurry, so we gotta go.”

She was silent for a minute, trying to figure out something in her head. Her eyes went to my shoulder where Missy’s mark was. “Your mate won’t mind?” she questioned.

“No,” I smiled. “Actually, she would probably be mad if I just left you here without helping you.”

“Fine,” she finally concluded. “But I’m not staying long enough to get chased out of here by this pack’s warriors. I’ve made it over a year on my own, and I’m only accepting because my squirrel is probably ash now, thanks to your wolf.”

“I’m going to shift, so I don’t have to cover myself anymore. But please don’t be freaked out about where we are going. I promise it’s fine,” I told her.

“Where are we going?” she asked warily.

“My house,” I told her.

“Missy, I am going to need a favor,” I linked her.