Third Chance Mate

Chapter Four

"Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you." Jonathon said and Ember looked him over. He was tall, like really tall. He was large, built like a tank. He had large hands, his jaw line looked like it was chizled by the hands of gods. His eyes drew her in, and she had trouble looking away. Everything in her was telling her to run, while Kiara pleaded in her head to let him take her. It was like she was fighting a war against her self. Emberlynne didn't want to trust him, she had just been rejected the night before. It had to be too soon for this. In the distance she could hear Jackson's voice, looking for her. There was a sharp look that glassed over Jonathon's face as he growled. He seemed angry. "Who's that?" He said with a growl. His deep voice seemed to vibrate when he spoke. Emberlynne rolled her eyes and stood to her feet. "My brother." Jonathon seemed to get less tense. "I guess you have to go back?" He asked and Ember nodded. "Yep."

Jonathon sighed. "Well will I see you on the run tomorrow night?" Emberlynne shook her head sadly. "My parents don't want me to go. I'm a runt." Jonathon looked back at her sadly and sighed. "If you do decide to go, I'll seek you out. You know what happens on the runs, and I won't let anyone else claim my mate before I get the chance to." He declared. Emberlynne watched as the man turned into a large brown and grey wolf and ran off into the distance. The whole situation felt somehow surreal to her. She sat her feet down in the stream as Jackson came up behind her. He wrapped a small blanket around her and took his seat next to her. He didn't look any worse for wear than before. Ember wondered if he had the upper hand in the fight against their father. "I was worried when you just took off." She sighed, and didn't look in his direction. "You stir up all sorts of trouble just trying to protect me." Jackson grinned and ruffed up her hair. "I want you to know, that as long as you need me. I'll be here, but that house is getting worse. I think running away should be in our immediate plans."

She considered it, as she looked up to the sky and took a deep breath. "We'd be rogues." Jackson pulled her in for a hug and inhaled her scent. "I thought I smelled another wolf. Are you okay?" Ember nodded. "I think I met my mate. He sniffed me out when I was out here." Jackson looked shocked. "Like a fated mate? So soon after the last one?" Emberlynne nodded her head. "Well find out where he's from and we'll pack our s**t and head out. I just don't think its safe for you to be at home anymore." Ember sighed. "Our Alpha is on the fence about throwing me out anyway, but I'm not sure. I might just reject him to be free of this place." Jackson gaped as he looked at her. "No, you absolutely can't do that. It might be the best thing that ever happened to you. I don't like to bring up the size thing, but you're not going to find a excess amount of potential mates that the fate blesses you with around here. It's like a needle in a haystack. Like its that rare."

Emberlynne stood to her feet and wrapped the blanket around herself as she walked home with Jackson. They got home in the early hours of the morning. She was able to get a few brief hours of sleep before her alarm went off and she had to get up and get dressed for school. Her mother didn't even look in her direction as Jackson got them a snack before they headed out for their last day of school. She glared at them coldly from behind her coffee mug. Ember felt that she should apologize for the way things went down the night before, but a look from Jackson told her that Karla just wasn't worth her time. Her mother certainly had no intention of ever being there for her in the way that she needed her to be. Ember had long grown accustomed to not having her mother in her life. Jackson pulled her arm. Ember stuffed the other half of her banana muffin in her mouth as she walked outside. Luckily, their father was already gone. She certainly didn't need a new bruise or another black eye to mark her last day of school. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail on the drive to school. Jackson's car wasn't anything impressive, but the little red Honda got them where they needed to go.

They went their separate ways when they entered the school building. They had separate first period classes. Ember walked into Mrs. Hawthorn's class and took her normal seat in the back. "Oh, looks like the runt made it after all." Rachel said as Ember stepped past her and her little group of cronies. Rachel scoffed and tried to stick her leg out to trip Ember. Ember stepped high to avoid her. It was the oldest trick in the book. She took her seat, and was quite surprised when she saw a familiar face entering the classroom. She heard the whispers, but she tried not to look up at him. The teacher looked at her class. "I get that its the last day, but this is Jonathon. The young Alpha from the Harvest Moon Pack. He's here temporarily while he attends the ascension of our young Ryker as he takes the role of Alpha of our pack." Emberlynne sat there in shock. Ryker was going to be the new alpha so soon? Yeah. She was definitely going to be thrown out of the pack sooner than she thought. Ryker hated her and he would never stand to have someone so weak existing anywhere near him. She was completely f****d.