Mates?

8

I woke up to warmth all around me. I wiggled, hoping to get up. I was restrained by a pair of muscular arms, which held me tighter. I winced because my ribs were still severely sore. After a lot of struggling, I got out of his hold without waking him up. I don't even know his name.

When I realized that I was naked, I searched for one of his shirts. I pulled open the first drawer of his dresser, but quickly shut it, seeing the contents. I do not need to borrow a pair of his boxers. After much consideration, I opened the second drawer. 

The drawer held T-Shirts of various colors and styles. I grabbed a random one. It was a grey v-neck and came down to my knees. I stealthily searched for an exit to the cabin. I found a door and wrapped my hand around the doorknob without a second thought.

I heard a raspy groan and my eyes widened. I threw open the door silently and made a run for it. I ran into the treeline and shifted. There were a few houses about 100 yards away, but I didn't really pay attention to them as I ran in my wolf form. My side was still sore, but it will be healed completely soon. I heard Ash's voice in my head again.

"Why'd you do this?" He cried.

His tone made me stop in my tracks with guilt. My wolf side urged me want to go back to him and love him.

"Because of what you did, Ash," I responded, masking how his voice affected me.

"I'm sorry. Please. Just come back to me. I need you. Being away from you is hurting me. It'll hurt you soon too. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Yeah, sure, that's completely why you want me back." I growled, unconvinced.

"Winter, I'll die without you. I refuse to move on as you did to me. I need my mate back. I promise I'll be more considerate." He pleaded.

It was hard for me to believe he was lying but I knew he was.

"I can't." I simply spoke through the link before I cut it off.

It was easy to tell he was hurting. I knew what he said was true, but I don't care, I'll just deal with the pain. It wouldn't be the first time.

I heard howling behind me, signaling that he was awake... and looking for me. I darted deeper into the forest, wanting to get away from him.

I had been running too fast to notice the whining and yelping coming from nearby. When I had noticed it, I flew toward it as fast as I could. It brought back too many memories of being alone and hurt.

I searched for the sound, looking in bushes and trees. I didn't care if I got caught. Finding the source of these sounds was tremendously more important.

I had started to give up hope of finding them when I had heard the noise get significantly louder, signaling that they were close by. The whimpering almost sounded like a pup.

I looked everywhere in the area until I found him. He was laying behind a bush. It was a young boy going through his first shift. He looked about thirteen or fourteen. He couldn't manage to shift all the way because he didn't know how to. I shifted back and got on my knees at his side.

"Hey, I am going to help you, okay?" I asked in a soothing voice.

"Who are you?" He asked before letting out a painful growl.

"It doesn't matter. Now, that voice in your head is not you going crazy. It's your wolf. Listen to what it's saying. It will help you through it."

His heavy breathing slowed and he relaxed a little. Then, he shifted into a wolf with light brown and dark brown markings. He walked over to me and put his head on my shoulder. He was of little authority, probably an omega or a low ranked gamma. Most likely an omega.

He was very small, as I mentioned before, even as a pup. He whined and crawled on my lap. I stroked his fur, which made him snuggle more into me. His ears pricked up at something in the distance. He let out a low growl and got off my lap and into a fighting stance, growing at something moving in the trees.

He silently backed down when the guy who took away my heat, whose name is still unknown, came out of the nearby trees. The young boy, who was still in wolf form, looked at me and back to his paws, motioning for me to help him shift back.

"Okay, focus on your human body and what it feels like to walk normally," I explained.

He nodded his head and then shifted back to his normal human form. He looked at the werewolf with the unknown name and bowed his head.

"Alpha." He simply spoke.

Oh yeah, I remember him saying he was the Alpha. His Alpha and my "rescuer" shifted and looked at the young boy.

"Congratulations Declan! You shifted for the first time! You also managed to find who I was looking for without even trying." His Alpha said with an impressed look on his face and his tone resembled his look.

"Alpha, if you don't mind me asking, who is she?" Declan gestured to me.

"I'm Winter Jones. I'm just passing through. I had a run-in with your Alpha and he surprising helped me a lot more than I expected him to." I butted into the conversation.

"You should really consider the offer, you know?" Declan's Alpha told me with a smirk.

"What offer?" I asked.

"To become part of my pack.. You'd be protected by one of the strongest wolf packs in the world. You'd have a family again." He said walking towards me.

"Again? What exactly do you know about me Mr. Alpha-Man and how do you know these things?" I asked with anger rising in my voice.

"I know your mom died from giving birth to you and your dad died protecting you from a vampire attack. I also know about what the vampire did to you in the woods." He responded calmly while looking me in the eye. I have no clue who this guy is, yet he knows things only a select few people know. "And I can't tell you how I know. Not just yet."

"Then I'm leaving." I declared sternly.

I started walking away and I heard Declan's voice that made me turn around.

"Wait!" He said, running up to me. "I never got to tell you to thank you. Who knows how long I would've been out here if you hadn't told me what to do." He said with a smile.

"Declan, back up." The still unknown Alpha growled.

Declan bowed his head and did as he was ordered, but didn't turn around.

"Yes, Alpha X." Declan responded almost mechanically.

Now I have somewhat of a name.

"Okay, so, big bad Mr. Alpha-Man, what's your name?" I asked with sass apparent in my voice.

"Come with me and I'll tell you." He smirked. "I have a special place to show you."

"Yeah... Sure. I'm not going anywhere with you. Who knows what you'll do." I reasoned.

"If I was really going to hurt you, don't you think I would've done it by now? And I wouldn't have helped you with the heat if I wanted to hurt you." He countered with a smile that showed off his white teeth.

I rolled my eyes.

"I thought you rejected your mate, Alpha?" Declan questioned.

"I did Declan. She was evil." Alpha X answered.

"But I thought only mates are supposed to take the heat away." Declan mumbled, confusion prominent in his voice.

"It's... complicated." Alpha X sighed. "Her mate isn't a good person and neither was mine. She was going to die because of some severe wounds she had that weren't healing because of the heat." He explained.

"You left out the part where you're the one who gave me the wounds." I snapped.

He looked at me with a stern expression, telling me to shut up, but I don't care.

"Please don't be angry at my Alpha." Declan begged while grabbing my arm to get my attention. "He's actually a really great Alpha and he doesn't let harm come to Omegas and he lets us eat whenever we'd like, unlike most other packs."

I felt myself soften a little. That's what my old pack was like. They were known as the kindest pack before they were obliterated.

"That's really delightful Declan." I smiled. "But your Alpha and I don't exactly get along." I advised.

"That's a lie. You just dislike me for some unknown reason, even though I showed you the time of your life. I mean, I helped you and you ran away from me. I am even giving you the chance to be my Luna." He scoffed.

"Luna? Seriously?" I laughed.

"Yes. What rank did you think? The rouge we chase as practice?" He laughed.

"I'd rather take the position as rouge. Are you recruiting?" I growled jokingly.

"Too bad we kill rogues here." Alpha X smiled, looking me up and down again. "But there is another position that's open."

I scoffed. "Whatever. I'm done with love. Loving someone for me always ends badly." I shrugged off before walking away from them, well, trying to walk away from them.

"Winter, this is your last chance to come with me before I make you. I promise you are going to like what I want to show you." Alpha X threatened.

"What are you going to do? Put a leash on me and call me Fido?" I joked in a tone with no emotion.

"Close, but not exactly." He smirked, possibly taking my joke seriously. I turned my head to the side with a questionable look on my face. His expression suddenly turned apologetic before nodding to someone behind me.

Before I could look at my attacker, hard, thick, inflexible silver cuffs were placed on my wrists. They were practically circular blocks of feverish lava. I let out a scream before I collapsed on the ground in a fit of whimpers and whines.

Tears stung my eyes as the memories came back. The rogue pack that I had never talked about, when they abducted me. The pain was so familiar, and I hated it. The burning wasn't as bad as I had remembered, but the memories of torture were really what bothered me.

I had curled into the fetal position on the ground, trying to make everything and everyone disappear. I knew the cuffs weren't actually even emitting as much pain as I had once thought, it was the horrid negative nostalgia that followed them that had caused my pleading.

"Please make it stop," I whispered over and over.  "I'll do anything to make it stop." I finished before saying the whole phrase over again multiple times.

I hadn't realized that the cuffs had been off until Alpha X hugged me. He nuzzled his face in my neck, whispering soothing phrases and kissing my collarbone every now and then.

"It's over, it's okay, those are never going back on you. I didn't know." He cooed.

No one knew. Not even Tyran, Grant, Adam, and definitely not Ash. This random Alpha would never discover those ghastly secrets from so long ago. I cried into his chest for a bit, hoping it would annoy him enough to go away, but deep down, I knew he wouldn't, because, he cared for me. For some odd and unknown reason, he cared.

*Joey's POV*

"Good morning." Cole muttered while kissing my cheek.

"What time is it?" I whispered in a raspy morning voice that sounded like I had never had anything to drink in my twenty years of living.

"11:30." He purred while wrapping his arms around my waist.

My head whipped up and suddenly, I was fully awake.

"I'm late." I whispered.

He whined like a dog when I got up and started putting on my leather combat uniform.

"Late for what?" Cole groaned.

I rolled my eyes. He knows that I have to do a check-in on all the pets today, which requires my combat gear in case any of the owners want to test me.

"I have to check on all the pets today." I sighed, zipping up the long-sleeve top.

"They're fine. Just come lay back down. We have time for fun before lunch. Please?" He begged.

"I'm the only friend they have. This is the only break they get the whole week. Any other time they are like treated like dogs." I explained in a sad tone.

"Some are though." He joked.

"That's not funny. We both know Werewolves are meant to be treated just as good as we are." I hissed. He knew I didn't like jokes pertaining to wolves, considering my mate had been one, and Ash's is, (or was, I'm not to sure at this point, I mean, I see why she left, but for Ash's sake, I hope she comes back.) as well.

"I'm sorry Joey. We both know I didn't mean it. You and I are the only ones who voted against it." He sighed, finally sitting up. I tied my long dark brown hair up in a high ponytail, my small braids surprisingly still neat after last nights events. "I wish there was something we could do about it." He spoke thoughtfully.

I gasped, a thought springing into my brain.

"I have an idea. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." I excitedly exulted before running out the door and ignoring whatever Cole said next.

I can fix this mess Ash, Dustin, and Alee started. Ash said it was only to keep us alive, but I know he regrets it after seeing Winter's reaction. I have no clue why Alee or Dustin agreed to it. Ash even tried to get me one at one time in my life. I disagreed, knowing fully that it was wrong and where they had came from. 

None of us leaders ever owned a pet, not that Cole probably hasn't thought about owning one, which I wouldn't be surprised by. If any of us would have voted for it, it would have been Cole, which is why it took everyone by surprise when he voted against it. When I got into the village, barely any one was out of their homes. 

I decided to visit my favorite pet last, since I would have to rush through everyone else. My favorite one was Dylan, a thirteen year old girl who looked younger than she actually was. I needed to have a long talk with Liam, her owner, of his actions the day we brought Winter home. He was only sixteen, he lived alone (besides Dylan) and never had a decent parent figure.

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After I had visited all the pets except for Dylan, I smiled, it had been a calm week and nothing too bad had happened. I was excited to see her, she was actually pretty fun to hang out with. When I knocked on the door, I heard a crash and whimpering... and it wasn't from Liam. I fought the urge to kick the door in. When I thought I was about to lose it and take the hinges off, Liam opened the door.

"Hey Queen Joey, Dylan dropped hot coffee on herself and she's changing." He greeted.

"Okay." I said, pushing past him into the house. 

"How long do you think you'll be here? I was hoping I could run to the store and grab a few things." 

"I'll stay here with her until you get back." I nodded, liking the idea of spending more time with Dylan.

"She's been acting a little weird lately, just a warning." He frowned while pulling on a pair of shoes.

"What do you mean she's been acting weird?" I whispered, making sure she couldn't hear me.

"It's like she's sick, but Ace (the pack doctor, if you don't remember) said she had no reason to be running a fever like she has been. That's why I'm going to go get her some meds from town. She's also sensitive to bright lights and loud or sudden noises. She's also been very attached to me lately, which is very unlike her." He sighed.

Dylan strolled in and randomly hugged Liam, nuzzling her face into his stomach. He looked from her to me, mouthing "You see what I mean?" He rubbed her back for a few seconds, because she was lightly crying.

"Hey Dylan, I'm gonna go to the store real quick to get your meds. I'll be right back. I promise. Queen Joey's gonna make sure you're okay until I get back." He cooed.

"My mouth hurts." She mumbled.

Liam picked her up like a groom carrying a bride and took her into their shared room. I reluctantly followed. 

"How about you take a nap until I get back?" He offered, tucking her into the bed.

"Okay." She frowned and curled into a ball. "Please hurry back." 

Liam chuckled at this and turned to me. 

"I'll be back in about fifteen minutes, if that." He whispered and walked out of the bedroom, then out the front door.

Dylan was already asleep, her light snores indicating that she was tired. I sighed, not knowing what to do with my plan for pets to escape if Dylan wouldn't leave Liam. I'm hoping it's just because she's sick. It has to be just because she's sick. You know who I need right now? Winter Jones. She's a master at running away. And she's exactly who I'm going to get.