The Wolf Within

Chapter 3

Johnathan

    I perched on the branch closest to her window, my heightened senses listening to her slow breaths. I had followed her scent here from the bakery, her delicious raspberry, and lavender scent. 

    She smelt divine and my wolf, Axel, was howling in my head. Whining and telling me we needed to claim her now. 

    I pushed him to the back of my mind, trying to silence him before he gave me a headache. 

    Of course, I wanted to claim what was mine. You can usually start feeling the mate bond by sixteen when your wolf first appears, and by eighteen, most are claimed. 

    I was twenty-two with no mate before I spotted her. 

    She was perfect. I felt the pull the moment I stepped into that bakery. 

    I had only gone in to get a gift for this lousy pack's Luna. My parents always told me you never show up empty-handed to a person's house. Especially to another Alphas house. 

    My men did research and found this adorable little spot, the reviews saying they were the best in town. 

    I was only going to stop in for some cupcakes to take with me to the Alphas packhouse. But when I opened the door, her scent engulfed me. At first, I was stunned. 

    I didn't think I would find my mate in such a small pack. Especially one so stunningly beautiful. Her hair cascaded down her back and looked so soft. Her body was curvy and full. Her lips were so full, I wanted to bite her lower one. 

    I was starting to get a hard-on just looking at her, a cookie in her mouth and all.

    When she stepped back, my wolf came through in fear she was trying to run away and rushed to her. I tried to reign him in as he held her, but it was so hard to focus as her touch sent fiery tingles where she touched. 

    The more he sniffed her the more lost I felt. It wasn't until she kneed us where the sun doesn't shine that I was finally able to take back control. I was so surprised she could actually resist me. 

    Did she not feel the mate pull? Was my wolf mistaken?

    When I looked up, she was in a protective stance in front of some older woman, protecting her from... me? 

    My heart sank. 

    The other woman came up to me and said something of an apology, and said "She's... Different." That piqued my interest. 

    When I stood up, I saw her watching me. My wolf was clawing at my mind trying to breakthrough. I held him back as the older woman told her she could go home. It took everything in me to not follow her and force her into submission.

    Once she was gone, the older woman cleared her throat. 

    I waited until I saw my mate's car drive away, then I turned to face her. 

    "What's her name?" I asked sternly. 

    Now my wolf was in a foul mood that we were not near our mate. 

    The older woman started to shift around nervously. "Her name Is Alandra Shatera. She's seventeen and goes to the local high school, Arthur High. And...." She said but trailed off. 

    I watched as she became uncomfortable, and fidget around. I sighed heavily, "Spit it out." I commanded through gritted teeth, my Alpha aura being released. I can feel I was starting to lose control.

She whimpered softly but continued, "She's human Sir." 

    Her sentence was like a knife. 

    A human? I'm mated to a human? But that just couldn't be. I sensed it. I sensed a wolf in her. 

    "Are you certain?" I asked the woman more gently. 

    She nodded and looked at me with pity. 

    "Yes sir. Her mother is a wolf, but she is human. As far as we know, she's adopted, but she has no idea" The woman explained. 

     How could she live in this town that was mostly run by wolves and not know? Not notice? Something was fishy here. It didn't seem right. "But I sensed her wolf. I smelled it." I said mostly to myself. 

    The older woman shrugged. 

    "From time to time we all do. But her mother has insisted, and no one has ever seen her shift. It must be her mother you are sensing." She said and went back to work on piping an elegant cake. 

    I ran my fingers through my dreads trying to think rationally about the whole situation. It wasn't even so much that she may be human. It was the fact that I was an Alpha. 

    Alphas rarely mate with humans due to the transition from our bites almost always kills humans. It's to much for them to handle. 

    I found my mate, but we may not be able to be truly connected? 

    My heart and my wolf's heart were breaking. I could hear him whine in my mind, starting to spiral into despair. 

    I sighed and thanked the older woman. I asked her if she could send three dozen of her best cupcakes and cookies to the Alphas house on my behalf. She gladly obliged and I paid her double for a speedy process. 

    After I left the bakery, I followed my beautiful mate's scent on foot. The car would've been faster, but I needed to smell her properly. I also needed time to think. 

    After a while, I found my way to a two-story house. Her car and another car were parked out front. 

    Not wanting to be seen, I made my way to the side of the home where trees crowded the yard. I climbed one and sat at the branch that was closest to where her scent was the strongest. Which is why I'm sitting here, watching her sleep. 

Let's just grab her and go! We found her, so what's the hold-up?! Axel growled at me. I sighed.

'It's not that easy. Something doesn't feel right here. And if we just take her, we may set back this whole thing.' I say trying to reason with him. 

She is our mate! Human or not, she will come around. There's no way she doesn't feel the pull. 

'There's something seriously off about the whole situation surrounding her. Don't you sense it?' I ask him. 

    He let out a huff but didn't say anything more. Meaning he agreed with me. He knew something wasn't adding up. 

    Before I took her, I wanted to be sure that she wanted to come with me. I could command her, but I yearned for her to want me the same way I wanted her. 

    I was snapped out of my daze when I heard her whimper. 

    I looked more closely and saw her tossing and turning in her sleep. She was whimpering and tears were trickling down her cheeks. 

    My gut sank and I felt my heart breaking watching my mate cry in her sleep. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and soothe her in her sleep. 

    Footsteps made their way to me, and by the sound, I could tell it was one of my men. 

    "Alpha, The Saratony family is expecting you at their packhouse." My beta Charlie said. 

    Charlie was my best friend, and the most loyal member I have. His father was beta to my dad, and it was natural for us to take over when our fathers stepped down. It's what we were practically raised for. 

    I nodded and stole one last glance at my mate. Sighing, I jumped down. 

    He nodded to me and I followed him to the black SUV parked on the curb. I slid into the back while Charlie drove to the packhouse. I did come here for a purpose after all. 

    The Saratony family reached out to us asking for help with a rogue problem. Apparently, rogues have been circling their territory, trying to breach. We didn't understand why rogues would be interested in such a small pack, but since it was close to home, we decided to give them the help. 

    The ride to the packhouse was fairly short given this town was so small. It was nestled deep within the woods surrounding Lance Port. 

    When we arrived, I stepped out and took in my surroundings. 

    The packhouse was a simple three-story mansion. And I use that word as loosely as possible. In the surrounding area were little cottages scattered around. Must be the pack members' houses. There didn't seem to be much. 

    What didn't make sense was, if my mates 'mom' was in factly wolf, why did she live in the town and not here closer to the pack? 

    I straightened my back and kept my head high as I walked up the steps. Before I made it to the top, a tall porcelain-like man greeted me. His smile wasn't genuine, and you can tell he thought highly of himself even though he was the Alpha to one of the smallest packs in the area. How arrogant could he be? 

    He gave me a tight lip smile and held out his hand. "Alpha Johnathan Warrent of River Moon Pack, It's a pleasure to meet you." he said with a very uptight tone. If his nose was in the air anymore, he would've drowned. 

    I clasped my hand around his hand, shaking firmly. I let my Alpha aura roll off me in waves showing him I was not to be intimidated. I was the stronger Alpha after all. 

    "Alpha Thomas Saratony of the Grey Moon Pack. The pleasure is yours." I say and walk past him through the open door. 

    A young man, the spitting image of Thomas was waiting inside, along with a tall blonde, who looked like she could be a doll was beside him. It had to be the packs' Luna. 

    I walked over to the young man and introduced myself, then to the woman. Their names were Markus and Olivia. They were Thomas' son and Mate. 

    The Luna fawned over me putting on airs, telling me how thankful she was for the sweets I had sent. I nodded once to her and followed them to the sitting room. 

    I wanted to be done with this as soon as possible. 

    The sitting room was uncomfortable in a sense. A pack-house is supposed to be welcoming and inviting for all members to come and enjoy gatherings, stay if need be. A place to unite. This place seemed very... Posh. 

    The walls and furniture were painted white, and everything had a gold trim to it. The fireplace had what smelled like freshly chopped pinewood and an assortment of flowers burning in it. The sofas and love seats were clearly one hundred percent Egyptian cotton upholstery, all curved in odd angles. 

    It didn't feel welcoming. It felt suffocating. 

    Alpha Thomas gestured for me to sit in the love seat next to his grand chair. I forced a smile. The chair was clearly small, and given that I towered over him, I couldn't tell if he was trying to be polite, or disrespectful. I lowered all of my six-foot-eight self into the seat, having to stretch my legs out slightly. 

    I reminded myself that this should be a quick mission, then I can get my mate, and head back home. 

    "It's a pleasure having you hear Alpha Warrant. What with the rogues and all we started to worry." The Luna said to me as she sat down across from me with their son. 

    "Seeing as it's so close to home, we don't want to take any chances. Please, tell me about the problem." I said and faced Alpha Thomas. 

    He took on a grave expression. "Yes... Well as you can see we are a small, honorable pack. The rogues have never bothered us before. The one or two that try, we have always dealt with swiftly. But these days, it seems their numbers increase every day." He said crossing his legs. 

    "Circling our borders, but never penetrating. They also circle the town where some humans live. We wouldn't have had asked for help, but with the growing numbers, we worry we soon will be overrun." He stated and clasped his hands in his lap. The Luna nodded her face masking his concern. 

    "I understand your concern. It's not like them to circle a territory and not attack. What could be attracting them here?" I asked, something not adding up. 

    "We... aren't sure..." This time it was the son that spoke. 

    He looked to his father as if asking for permission to continue. His father nodded. 

    "This has never happened before. The few rogues we did capture, didn't reveal anything when we interrogated them. All they said was, 'she will be ours' and that was all." He said with a stern face. 

    Now that was interesting. "What did they mean by 'she will be ours'? who is she?" I asked the obvious question. 

    Alpha Thomas sighed rubbing his chin. "Unfortunately, we have no idea. No amount of torture would make them reveal the identity." He said and poured himself a whisky from the glass jar sitting on the end table next to his chair. He offered me a glass but I politely declined. I wasn't a fan of drinking. 

    "Thank you, Alpha Thomas, Markus, and Luna Olivia. You have given me a lot of information today. I will do my best to find out what they are after, and eradicate the rogues." I tell them confidently. 

    It was just one little rogue problem. Shouldn't be too hard to find out what they wanted. 

    "Thank you, Alpha Johnathan. If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know." Alpha Thomas says. 

    I decided now was a good a time as any. 

    "Actually," I say, "There is something. A girl, Alandra Shatera. What information do you have on her?" 

    Markus makes a face of disdain. "Alandra? The lowly human girl? What about her?" He says. 

    I grit my teeth and suppress a growl, trying to keep my wolf at bay. "Watch how you speak about her. She is my mate." I say clenching my fist. How dare he say such a vile thing about my mate. 

    Markus covers his mouth, clearly trying to hide his laughter. When I stand his father stands too and tries to stand between us. 

    "Excuse my son. He forgets himself." He says and sends a warning glance at Markus. I nod but make no move to sit back down. 

Alpha Thomas continues, "Alandra is the adoptive daughter of Mary Shatera. They came to this pack almost sixteen years ago. I believe she's seventeen but will come of age in a month?" he says and looks to his son. 

    Markus rolls his eyes and stands, moving to be beside his father, and crosses his arms over his chest. "Yes, but she's human. That Mary lady isn't even her real mom." He says his voice laced with disgust. Alpha Thomas nods.

    Nothing they were saying was making sense. Why would a wolf adopt a human? "I hear she does not know our kind exists?" I ask trying to figure out how I should approach her. 

    A small twitch formed at the corners of Alpha Thomas' frown. His eyes darted to his mate and then back to me quickly. "No. She does not know." 

    I pondered this for a minute.

    My wolf was quiet in my head. I could feel that, like me, he felt Alpha Thomas was keeping something hidden about Alandra. And I intended to find out. For now, I couldn't bring it up again. If he suspected that I knew he was hiding something, he would just try that much more to keep it hidden.

    "Thank you for all the information you have given me today. It seems there's quite a bit I have to mull over." I say crossing my arms behind my back to hide my clenched fist.

    Alpha Thomas just nods and mutters his thanks for helping with the rogue problem. Markus has a sly smirk on his mouth and I wanted to slug him right then and there. 

    Luna Olivia stood and folded her hands in front of her. "Come Alpha Warrant. I'll show you to your room." She says and starts walking without looking back to see if I followed.

    I give a slight nod to both the men and follow her as she leads me up to the second floor. 

    The more I saw of this place, the more suffocated I felt. There's nothing wrong with having enormous wealth. It's spending it on things like a packhouse that no one feels welcomed in that's the problem. It all looked so polished and untouched. 

    Luna Olivia stopped at the end of the hall and slipped a key out of her pocket, opening the door. She gave me a tight lip smile and dropped the key in my hand, leaving without another word. 

    I c****d my head at her strange behavior. She seemed Welcoming before, now she was cold. 

    I let out a heavy sigh and kicked my shoes off while tying my hair up. The bed looked delicate and probably made of some rare bird feathers or something. At the moment though, I didn't care. I flopped onto the bed burying my face into the sheets. The smell of lavender reminding me of my Alandra. 

    Whatever was going on in this place, I was going to find out. 

    A smile creed onto my face at the thought of being with my mate. I'm coming Alandra.