Forbidden Mate

Eight

"This way, Luna," Delaney led me through the open field to the center of The Hale pack. After retaining Delaney, Draven commanded her to show me around and left to attend to his duties. That is how I ended up with her.

"Do you see that building right there? That is the pack house of our pack. It is situated in the middle and that is where Alpha and Luna's offices are," she pointed to the big, castle-like building. The structure of the building resembled Victorian-style buildings from retro movies.

The building was bigger than the rest of the building of the pack. It was a given considering it's a packhouse.

"Oh," I said. "The pack does not look like what I expected it to look like."

"How did you imagine the pack to be?" Delaney asked, curiosity lacing her voice. She looked at me intently as if she was looking forward to my idea of a pack.

"I imagined it to be more on the nature side rather than a well-developed town. I was expecting huts with beautiful flowers surrounding them, not a place designed with technology," I expressed my thoughts.

"Wolves are creatures who desperately sought nature but that does not mean we abhor change. We need to keep up with technology because it always works in our favor. We have to balance our wolf and human side, you know. These changes are necessary for us to maintain our facade," she said.

"I see," I said, my eyes darting to take everything in. The pack town, as I mentioned, resembles a human town. The only difference was that there were no automobiles. Everyone commutes on their legs with werewolves' speed.

The size of the pack also came as a surprise to me. Even though I already saw how big our pack was during the first meeting, seeing the lines of the building and bustling streets still surprised me.

"Let's explore the northern part of the pack first. We can explore the rest afterward," she showed me around the pack, introducing me to various people as we went.

She first introduced me to Maria, also known as grandma Maria who is of mixed blood. She was half Vampire and half Werewolf and was more than a thousand years old. She owns a clothing shop and was famous around the pack for her designs. Years of experience have made her an expert in fashion clothing and she was handed over the task to make clothes for all the pack members.

We met with the pack's head chef, Aarav Choudhary, an Indian Gray Wolf who wandered into this pack when he was little. He was young, about 26 years old, and with handsome features. He invited me into his house for tea when he saw me. I politely declined to say "some other time" as I was short on time.

Next, we met with the Gamma of the pack, Chad McGrath. He was a big guy with a body like a bodybuilder. He was a dragon shifter and was in charge of making new arrangements for border safety.

Then we went to the Moon Goddess temple to meet the sorcerer of the pack, Aurora Sage. She was a witch sorcerer and served as a medium between the Moon Goddess and the pack. Her job was to heal injured pack members, show the right path to those who are losing their sanity and warn the pack of any upcoming danger. She was a petite little thing with fiery red hair and doll-like features. She spoke less but she was very polite. When she met me, the first thing she said was "Don't trust anyone and listen to your heart."

Thinking nothing more about it, I acknowledged her words with a simple nod. By the time we finished the round of the pack, I was exhausted. Delaney suggested we go to the pack's cafe we passed through when we were roaming around.

"Hello, Welcome to Sweet tooth," the shop lady greeted us with a smile. She was a young woman with black hair and bright golden eyes, a werewolf, for sure.

"Luna," she smiled at me and invited me and Delaney to her cafe.

"What would you like to order?" She asked us. Delaney was a fan of bittersweet things so she ordered an affogato. Meanwhile, I, who craves sweet things, ordered Frappè. The shop lady added a few desserts for us for free.

"Oh, yeah. She is Anita, the pack's infamous barista," Delaney introduced me to the lady.

"Nice to meet you, Anita," I beamed at her. Anita nodded at me and went back to the counter.

Delaney and I chatted with each other, sharing our thoughts on random things while we munched on the desserts. I have to admit, Anita has magical hands when it comes to coffee and desserts. The tiredness wore off as the sweetness hit my brain.

It worked like a drug, calming my nerves.

"Would you like to order anything else?" One of the waitresses asked us.

"No, this is enough," Delaney declined and after finishing everything, and paying for the coffee, we took our leave.

"Let's go for a run, shall we?" Delaney smirked at me. I readily accepted her suggestion and we made our way to the woods.

Once we stepped into the beeline of the forest, we stripped down to nothing and shifted into our beast form. Because it was my first time running with someone, I was nervous.

I waited until Delaney turned into her wolf form before I shifted into mine.

I closed my eyes and summoned my will to take over. The pores all over my body tingled, and hair sprouted from them - soft, black, long fur. My body bent in an awkward position, throwing me on the ground. My bones twisted and readjusted into the form of a wolf. My mouth and nose elongated and turned into a snout. My eyes shaped themselves into the eye of a wolf. My hands and legs turned into paws with deadly claws adorning them.

I growled, shaking my fur to get rid of the discomfort.

I looked at the brown wolf whose eyes were looking at me in awe. I huffed, feeling proud of my wolf. I have the blackest fur out there. Paired with my blue eyes, it is not a stretch to say my wolf is more beautiful than the average wolf.

Your wolf is large considering your tiny frame. Then again, you have Alpha blood running through your veins. Delaney said through the pack link. She was right about my large form. She was half my size and compared to other pack members, she is large. You can imagine the size of my wolf from that.

It's all thanks to my parents. I stated proudly. Now, let's run. I'm itching to run through the pack territory.

Let's go. We took off at full speed, our fur bristling against the air. Our paws thudded against the ground, scaring away the prey nearby.

This feels so good. I laughed, loving the feel of cold air against my fur and nose. It was refreshing to experience this with someone other than me.

Let's go for a run together whenever we have time. She replied.

How about an early morning run? I suggested, looking at her with side eyes. Together, we took a left turn to make a round around the territory.

I would love to feel the cold air early in the morning. She exclaimed. Let's head for the river. The water there is refreshing.

She led me to the river inside the pack territory. The river was knee-deep, which made it easier for us to take a dip. We played in the water for hours, only getting out when we realized we had to attend dinner with the pack today.

After bristling the water out of our furs, we went back to the beeline of the forest. We changed into our clothes and after dropping me into Alpha's office, Delaney went separate ways.

~•~

Author's note.

Sorry, I couldn't update you yesterday because I forgot about this book.

Prepare yourself for upcoming ***** (I'm not giving anything away as to what that is but prepare yourself). you know I have a knack for turning the events?.