“Who is she? Why does it seem like I know her somewhere? Like I’ve met her someplace before…” Ronald McKenzie asked himself as he paced about the main quarters of the packhouse. He had his hands folded behind his back as the cold weather breezed through the windows right into the quarters.
The main quarters had a combination of mundane and ancient interiors, from the furniture to the other pieces of equipment. It made it have an otherworldly vibe to it, and this was primarily due to how long the occupants have been in there.
It was right in the early hours of the day since he got up from bed just to think through something. The bags under his eyes made it a realization that he didn’t even have a nice sleep.
He had been continuously pacing about since he arrived in the living room, proving that he indeed had something on his mind. And whatever issue it was, it seemed to be more than what he could handle.
Something was going wrong around him, and he could feel it. His Alpha instinct was making him aware of that, but he didn’t know the exact spot he could pinpoint it to. But he was sure he had the idea of where the issue resonated from.
It all started when his son brought in his mate — that strange girl that his system couldn’t help but feel something against.
She was indeed strange. Yes, she was. But he couldn’t tell why he felt that way about her. She was meant to be an ordinary she-wolf to him, but instead of that, he was almost feeling threatened by her presence in just a few hours of meeting her.
The way she had carried herself the day before had been more like she was hiding something from him, and he didn’t like the feeling of that one bit. Not when she was in his territory. And he wasn’t going to start getting all suspicious about his son’s mate. It would produce different questioning of his authority from members of the pack. And that was what he always made sure to avoid like a plague.
He could clearly remember how the girl had stared at him. The stare had carried so much weight like she knew something about him that he didn’t know. That had been the most impolite way of addressing an Alpha like him, but he had let the issue slide cause he seemed fascinated with the girl’s boldness.
What had fascinated him more and gotten him worried at the same time was when he had released a bit of his pressure toward her. The pressure had been slightly intense, but funny enough, she hadn’t even budged.
And what about when he had decided to listen deeply to the rate of her heartbeat to detect how pressurized she had been. He hadn’t gotten anything from it at all. It was at a slightly higher rate, which meant she was either nervous or shy. But he would have to go with her being nervous because she had been firm in her demeanor.
He eventually went to take a seat but not without making a mind-link to the one who was likely the actual cause of his current predicament.
‘Garrett… come over here now!’
It didn’t take too long before the younger version of himself appeared via the hallway. He could still see most of the qualities he had in his son, ranging from his features up to his facial appearance. The most notable difference between them was their hair color — which was mainly as a result of him aging already — and eye color, with his being brown while his son had a pair of green ones.
His son looked like he had just woken up from sleep, and this was a bit strange to him. He had to look up at the overhead clock to hope he wasn’t overthinking things, and he could see that it was almost seven. His son had never woken up that late in the past six years.
That matter was for another day as he had something else to find out from him.
“Father, you summoned me. Is anything the matter?” Garrett asked him.
He squinted his brows at his son, who, obviously, forgot to do the necessary. He didn’t need to say anything before Garrett realized his mistake.
“Sorry, father. Good morning. So, is anything wrong?”
“Where did you say you met her?” was the first thing he asked his son as he intertwined his fingers together while giving out the neutral stare of his.
“Met who?” Garrett asked, trying to comprehend who he was talking about. “Adaliah?”
He gave a nod and said, “Yes, Adaliah. Where did you meet her?”
“At an event in the human territory. I think she was there for the same thing that I was,”
“Just to have time away from her duties?” He saw the change in expression on his son’s face after he said that. His question was more of a trigger, and he could see that it had worked well against the young man. “Are you sure she isn’t a rogue?”
“A rogue?” Garrett, while looking away, almost scoffed at the mention of that. But he was sure to remind the young man of his presence. “Well, she doesn’t smell like one, so I doubt if she is.” Garrett then looked at him again with a change from the mocking gaze to a serious one. “Why do you ask that, though, father? Did she do something to displease you?”
He adjusted himself on the seat before speaking even though he mostly wanted to get up from the chair. “No, she hasn’t done anything,” he told the young man, clearing his throat a bit. “But I feel she’s going to do something. It makes me think she is trying to cover up something,”
“I doubt that, father.”
He looked over at his son who had this frown mounted on his face. He couldn’t blame him though, if not, he would have lashed out at him for being somewhat rude to him.
The mate bond was making his son all defensive, and it was expected of him in the first place, except if she wasn’t his mate. The bond makes both individuals involved act without knowing what they are doing, especially if it involves someone talking ill about their mate.
Seeing he couldn’t cope with sitting anymore, he stood up and went over to the window where he could watch the far end of the territory. He found it soothing most times to watch as the day broke, and this time was one of those times he felt he should watch what nature had to offer.
He was still backing his son when he asked, “What would she be doing in the human territory if it isn’t that she’s a rogue? Maybe a most recent one. And you said she’s from the Red Crescent pack. Are you certain of that, or you are only being defensive of her claim again?”
He didn’t need to look back to know his son was now more furious than anything. He wanted that reaction from him, though. It was like a way of making his son know that he should be more cautious of the things he does. And never to be too trusting. But the message wasn’t being passed now as his son was outrageous blindly.
“Father, trust me, Adaliah isn’t a rogue. And she truly is from the Red Crescent pack. I’m sure of that,”
“But you just met her!” he snapped at the love-stricken young man, a growl escaping his lips as he turned around to look at him with a furious expression now plastered on his own face, completely overshadowing that of his son’s. “I know she is your mate and all that but haven’t I taught you not to be too trusting of people? Haven’t I?”
This immediately got the young man a bit sober as he looked away. “You did,” Garrett said in a forced tone.
He shook his son as he was clearly disappointed with the young man. “You know what is going to justify all of this? It’s you looking properly into her background. I don’t want any complications at all because you finally found yourself a mate. You know how the pack policy works,”
“I’m on it already,”
He heard Garrett say, and he couldn’t be more than happy that his son was already being responsible by taking the necessary step in ensuring the pack's safety. But, of course, he didn’t show how he felt to the young man. “You did?” he asked soon after.
“Yes,” Garrett nodded. “I told Luke to do that for me, but he hasn’t delivered anything yet. But I promise to get back to you once he has any news on it,”
“Of course, you will.” He headed back to the seat he had gotten up from. While seated, he looked at his son as something came into his head. “And what do you intend to do with Adaliah today?”
“I’ll be taking her back to her pack so she can get her stuff from there. According to what she told me, she’s got an uncle who is still very much alive.”
“Good. You may go now.”
He watched as his son began walking out of the room. An idea came up in his head while he was doing that. And at the last point of the young man getting out of the quarters, he called, “Garrett!”
Garrett turned around almost instantly to look at him. “Yes, father,”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
The look on Garrett’s face showed he had no idea what he was talking about. “I don’t think so,”
“What about Brix?”
The sigh that escaped from Garrett’s lips showed he was having a bit of difficulty regarding that question. And he had deliberately asked him that because he knew he had to bring that up eventually.
After some time, Garrett looked up at him. “I’ll find a way to put it through to her,” he said and walked out of the room.
He stared at the pathway leading out of the main quarters while thinking of what he would do. He couldn’t just sit and wait for his son to get the task done. He had to do something as well. And that was what he was going to do eventually.
Hey guys Well, after this chapter, I'll be having the other chapters locked. Thanks for your cooperation. :)
I was bored. Extremely bored. And the only thing that came to my mind for me to do was to walk around inside the passageways of the main quarters of Green Woods packhouse. And yes, I was doing that alone, coupling the boredom I was experiencing. It’s been three days now since I first stepped foot into the Green Woods pack. And yesterday, I finally moved into the packhouse since I was mated to someone among them. It was the obligation of any she-wolf to move to the pack of her mate if he was from another pack. Even though I kind of wished I hadn’t moved yet, it still felt right that I had decided to undergo that sooner. My uncle had been entirely neutral when I left his place yesterday. He hadn’t shown any sort of reaction all through the time I had been reshuffling my stuff to move out. And I couldn’t even tell how he truly felt that I was finally leaving him after being with him for two years because I, for one, had been so down.
I looked the lady over in the most intense way to know if I had seen her somewhere around here before. She was probably a pack member, or maybe she was among Garrett’s family members. Even with all the guessing I made about her, there was no familiarity to her. A scent, though, caught my nostrils. And at the same time, I felt Anya growl at the back of my head. My countenance instantly changed, and I could feel myself becoming more furious as the moments passed. The scent all over the lady was that of Garrett. It was like she was him in particular, and that was what I had thought when she had first arrived. Or maybe she had been with him not too long ago, I couldn’t tell. Probably she was even his sister. All the same, I didn’t care. The fact that she had his scent on her was more than enough to get me furious. I wasn’t supposed to be jealous that my mate had his scent on another lady, not minding who the lady was.
It didn’t take me too long to find Garrett after I set out looking for him. Even though that self-acclaimed girlfriend of his had his scent on her, it didn’t mean she could possess it from afar because it wasn’t strong enough. The way the scent of we wolves works was strange but ordinary at the same time. It was in a way that only the original owner would be perceived from far away by tracing their scent. If someone else has the actual wolf’s scent on, there was no guarantee that that particular scent could be perceived from afar except being next to others. His scent, which had a mix of honey and cinnamon, or whatever it was, led me straight to the front of a room. I stood still when I arrived there. This was most likely the door leading into his room, and it felt awkward if I were going to get into his room, which would mean we would be left all alone in there. The thought of that sent an uncomfortable chill down
“Shit,” Garrett muttered under his breath as he turned around to watch the retreating back of Adaliah. He wanted to call her back, but he couldn’t, knowing fully well that she would ignore him. He could only watch on as she went out of sight before taking his gaze away from the entrance.It wasn’t her fault that she had been threatened. Hell no, it was his. If only he had done the right thing, then maybe such wouldn’t have occurred. He had two days to take the right action, but the sympathetic side of him didn’t think it through that it would most likely affect his mate. And the result, at the end of the day, wasn’t in his favor.He should have put Brix to order already, more like cutting whatever thing he had with her in the past even though she was the one he had been in a relationship with before he finally got mated. The circumstances surrounding the thing he had with her were what had been givin
A few minutes after I wake up from a ‘not too nice sleep, but at least it was okay’, I hear a knock resound from the door. Even before the knock came through, the scent of Garrett had already run a course through to the room, so I knew it was him standing outside the door. I wonder what he was here for this morning. “Adaliah, are you up?” his baritone voice comes into the room from outside. And I had to stay put for a moment to take in the tone of his voice. I wished there was a way I could do something to keep that tone in my head. Dammit! Now I was fantasizing about something as odd as that. I did not intend to keep him waiting for too long, so I sigh silently before I say, “Come in,” I was already seated by the edge of the bed when he came into the room. I still had my PJ on, and my hair was still rough with my hand on top of it. I mean, I just literally woke up and was definitely looking shabby, but, Nah, I did
The training had begun a bit smooth for me. All of the techniques taught to us since the beginning of the training were all familiar to me. It was only one I had a bit of difficulty with, but I had been quick to master it. I had thrown myself in a sports bra, yoga pants, and trainers before coming over for the training. It was expected of me to have the materials for the training because I had a few while I had been with my uncle. So it had accustomed to me even though I had forgotten it would be helpful for me in the Green Woods pack. I couldn’t tell if it was out of instinct, but as I decided to look up at the main building of the packhouse, my sight caught someone unexpected staring right back at me. It was Alpha Ronald, Garrett’s father, looking out through one of the windows. How long has he been there for, I wondered. I wanted to take my eyes off, but I couldn’t help but look at him for a while, even th
Monica and I approached the two ladies standing by the bank of the lake. I trailed behind Monica during the process, using the few steps to observe the two ladies' faces. As I had said before, one of the two ladies was familiar to me. And it was none other than Garrett’s self-acclaimed girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend, if I must say. What was her name again? Oh yes, Brix. She was looking directly at me, almost like I was under scrutiny. It was almost too deep into my soul, and when I peeled my eyes off her to look at the lady with her, I realized it was the same situation. I guess I was in a messy case I had no idea of in the first place. “Kylie, Brix,” I hear Monica say, referring to the ladies, “what are you guys doing here?” I didn’t need anyone to tell me that Kylie was the name of the lady I wasn’t familiar with. And with the familiarity to which Monica had called the name, I think she has a re
Now, when I said I thought he was going to be alarmed, I meant it. I really did. But what came as a bit of surprise to me was when his reaction came as the opposite of what I expected it to be.‘Oh, that,’ came his reply, as if he just came to a realization. It was the neutrality to his tone that got me to the reality of the situation.‘Aren’t you surprised?’‘Surprised about what?’‘That I trained with the other pack members,’‘I’m not. Why should I be?’I held on a bit upon sensing that something was amiss. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he really does know that the Green Woods pack trained their female members. We never really talked about it together. Coming across that fact sometime in the past was what made me remember it.But if he did know about it