Sixteen: Mates
1496 Words
Alice didn't let go of Justa even when they got back into her house. She guided him toward the bed, but Justa tensed and she couldn't move him.
"To the bed," she growled as she tightened her hold.
"No."
His reply was cold, stand-offish and his eyes were like ice.
"Justa?" Alice let go and stepped away. What had she done?
"You didn't have to attack that other wolf. What you did could have killed her. Are you really so okay with another's blood dripping from your hands?"
Alice glanced at the subject in question. The blood of her challenger still stained her hands. "It wasn't as if I attacked first. If she'd left me alone I would not have had to hurt her. And I did deliberately not kill her."
Alice c****d her head to the side. "For being such a pacifist, you don't f**k like one."
"You're stronger than them, you have the responsibility to take care of them. You could have handled it with your words instead of making her more upset with you."
"But she is a cultist!" Alice resisted the urge to stomp her foot. She didn't want to stand here arguing.
She wanted to f**k!
"You don't understand. I wasn't just saying that to insult her, she didn't attack me just because she thought it was an insult. She was defending her cult leader."
Justa's stand had softened. At least her words were getting through to him "Tell me more. In case you forget, I have no idea what's been going on besides your words. I don't understand you wolves."
Oh, that was right. No wonder he was mad at her. "When we came out of the woods they confronted me about being with you. They told me that I was a traitor to the pack and needed to leave. They used to be part of Jared's pack. He treated this place like a cult."
Justa guided her to the bed now and forced Alice to sit in front of him. His warm strong hands rubbed her shoulders as she spoke. The big hard strokes made her whimper or moan at the contact.
"Jared was the leader of the pack before?"
"Yes, and Mark is his son. Mark was never part of the cult. He sided with me when I decided to rise up against that tyrant. Jared had a ritual of f*****g every female in the pack. He'd cage them up when they were about to go into heat, and he'd have first shot at them."
Justa's touch dug into her and Alice winced. "Is that what happened to you?"
"Virginity and s*x aren't a big deal to wolves." Alice shrugged. "But I promised that I wouldn't let him do that to anyone else. He tore apart a couple that were mates. He killed the guy in front of her. The one that attacked me to be precise."
She looked away with a sigh. "The Goddess didn't punish her because it wasn't a rejection, but her wolf still aches for her mate. It would be better to kill her and put her out of her misery."
"I see." Justa's voice was still far too impersonal for Alice's taste.
"Justa, none of that is important, I want you, now." Alice grabbed at his hands again but he shook her off.
"Justa!"
"I'm not in the mood, Alice." He stalked away from her and into the kitchen.
Alice followed with a scowl. "What's with you? You're the one that asked what happened. I was just defending myself."
"You defended yourself in one of the more violent ways you could. A false slip of your wrist and you would have killed your pack member. Even if they are brainwashed, they are still your responsibility to handle."
"But," Alice interrupted.
"No," Justa replied as he glanced over his shoulder. "I need time alone. I'm going to cook for us. Could you give me some time alone? I need to think."
Wait.
He was kicking her out of her own house? Especially after she'd made the announcement to the rest of her pack?
Alice bit back the growl deep in her throat. Her wolf wanted to grab this man and throw him on the bed and just take what she wanted. There was no reason for him to act like this!
"Fine, but if you try to run away from me I'll hunt you down, chain you up, and never let you go, Justa. You're mine and if you're just trying to get away from me, I'll make you regret it."
She didn't wait for his answer as she strode out back into the tunnels. If he left her, she'd never forgive him.
Never.
As she walked out of the dirt tunnels she let the shift wash over her like a cleansing flame. As she hit the ground in her wolf form she took off. The moon hung high in the sky, mocking her with its brightness.
What was with that man? Why was he so bent out of shape with what she did to her pack? It didn't matter if she'd almost killed the girl. It mattered that she hadn't.
She ran deep into the forest. The woods got more crowded around her and bit by bit the moon's gaze was taken away from her.
She was alone in the dark.
Why did he have to act like that? What was she supposed to do? All she wanted to do was force him to submit. She wanted him to take care of her every need. It wouldn't have been as frustrating if it hadn't been for the day's activities.
The forest was quiet around her. Alice looked around as she slowed down and came to a stop. There was no one else around her. One sniff revealed the fact that she'd already known.
She'd wandered over the border of her own territory at some point.
She was outside her domain.
What was she going to do? For the first time in her life, Alice was unsure. No matter how strong she was, she couldn't bend Justa to her will. He was unlike any other she'd come across.
She couldn't let him go after the agreed-upon date. That would be stupid. But if she didn't let him go, he would hate her. Would it be worth the risk of his hatred to keep him around in the hopes that he eventually forgave her?
Why did this have to be so hard figuring out? If he were just another wolf, she'd fight him and force him to submit.
The way he was even if she won, there was nothing that would make him listen to her since he wasn't a pack member.
She was stuck.
He wasn't her mate so why did she care so much about any of this? Why couldn't she just handle his rejection and move on?
With a grunt and a shake of her head, Alice threw her head back and howled. She howled from the pressure of keeping her pack safe. She howled for wanting a human to be hers, and she howled over the possibility of having to choose between the two.
Because the answer had come to her as she cried out to the Moon Goddess. If she rejected her position, if she followed after Justa back to his world, he wouldn't push her away. That much was obvious.
But could she do that to the pack she'd sacrificed so much for?
What would happen to them if Jared decided he wanted to rule again? Mark was strong, but her second's eternal weakness was his father. True, he was standing up to him lately. But would that be the case if she left?
Alice howled again pouring her heart and soul into the cry. She was far from her pack, they wouldn't be able to recognize her call at this point. Just a solitary cry into the void as indecision riddled her.
From the other side of the woods, opposite of where her pack was, a voice answered hers.
Alice froze mid-howl and growled. She wasn't on her territory, but she was close enough that another wolf should be nowhere near her wolves.
She took off like a dark arrow running through the branches and brush that tugged at her fur.
She burst into a clearing that she didn't remember beside a small lake. There in the darkness was another wolf. He was howling to the moon as she was and as she stepped closer his head lowered and his eyes opened.
Alice stared at the giant of a beast. His golden eyes were soft and questioning but there was something deeper there. Something that took Alice's breath away and made her heart stop. Th scent of apples and cinnamon swirled around her, stinging her nose.
There really was only one word to describe this strangeness. A word that she'd never thought she'd ever had to utter. A word that would make her life infinitely more difficult and not even something she wanted.
But that was just it. It didn't matter what she wanted. It didn't matter if she denied it. It was just a fact. The wolf before her that smiled as he loped over was about to change her life forever.
Alice had found her mate.
- Writer
