CHAPTER TWO:
~Drake:
Blood splattered from my mouth as a fist made contact with my jaw, and I hit the edge of the bar. Had I been human, it would’ve knocked the wind out of me or maybe meant a concussion. I laughed and spit the blood on the ground. The small crowd that had gathered around us in the bar started jeering, ecstatic at this fight that had broken out. I came here to this place at the edge of town to let off some steam, and I can’t say it wasn’t easy to find some jerks here to start a fight with. Yes, I could’ve taken them out several minutes ago, but where was the fun in that? End it so early I have to go find more trash people? Eh.
“I fu**ing KNEW it!” the frat boy yelled in victory. “Can’t handle sh**!”
He thought this was over. He was turning his back. His buddies congratulated him and patted him on the back. God this idiot talked too much.
“You all need to get the fu** out of this bar!” the older guy behind the bar yelled.
I held back my wolf, who thirsted for blood and wanted to end this.
Just take this guy out already, Dane barked harshly in my head. I shook him off.
The crowd started to dissipate, thinking this was done.
I charged at the prick with a bit of force, not anywhere near my full strength, but more than enough to f*** up a human, tackling him to the ground. I started to wail on his chest and face. His arms came up trying to defend himself, and he was failing. His friends were pulling on my arms trying to slow my attack. After another punch to his jaw, I let them. They dragged, or tried, to drag me off of him and I leaned back on my heels to give them the illusion that they could move me at all. I was one heavy, dense son of a bi***. The crowd recollected.
“The cops are on their way!” The bartender yelled toward us, “LEAVE! ALL OF YOU!”
Sitting on the ground I looked up, it appeared they now all wanted to take me on. Their friend was rolling on the ground, groaning in pain and holding his jaw. Hopefully they’ll run at me all at once. This just got more entertaining. The heavyset friend came charging at me as I went to stand, I held out my hand to grab his shirt, and slammed him to the ground as I continued my charge. Three other guys ran at me. The furthest one on the right had his arm wide open for grabbing, and I reached out and twisted it in an instant, using a little wolf speed. He screamed out in pain as I punched a wide left swing across the face of the guy all the way to the left, and finished with a clean uppercut with my right arm on the one in the middle.
I soaked in the endorphins being released from this fight, and cracked my wrists. Waiting to see if any of them would get up.
Oh yeah, impressive. Beating up a bunch of dumb weak humans, Dane said sarcastically. What would our mate think?
Yeah well, we don’t have one, I barked back at him. He was convinced we had a mate, I was convinced she wasn’t out there.
My hearing picked up sirens. Cops were on their way. Leaving a wad of cash at the counter, I hurried out the back door.
“For damages,” I gruffly said to the bartender as I left. He just squinted his eyes at me.
I wasn’t completely thoughtless.
Could’ve fooled me, Dane commented.
I had come out here to let go of everything after my last meeting with my Alpha. He was displeased with my performance lately and the tone of that hypocrate’s voice as he went down the line on everything I did - I just about busted the back of the chair I was sitting on as I gripped it and tried to rein myself in. I had always been hot headed, and as a werewolf that wasn’t necessarily out of character, but my anger was bigger than my body - and I was not a small man. On top of my quick anger, my aura was something dark and dangerous that I had to constantly keep reined in. Something my family was forced to deal with once I got my wolf at the age of 16.
Firstly, wolves usually didn’t appear until the full moon after a person’s 18th birthday. Secondly, when I shifted, my wolf radiated the strongest Alpha energy my dad had ever heard of. Thirdly, it was a strongly dark aura, like an extreme evil Vampire vibe - which was straight up unheard of in wolves.
My mother had always been a bit intuitive, and knew my real self would bring on some kind of doom and gloom. She had saved the pack in the past a few times before, feeling an attack by Rogues before it happened, and a storm before it struck. I loved my mother and trusted her, so we did as she said. We hid my odd early shift, and the strong dark energy that lived in my blood. Thankfully we were away on a camping trip when I shifted, and after extending our trip with a little white lie to our Alpha, we spent two solid weeks working with a local witch, trying to suppress my aura. I was instructed to conceal my wolf until I turned 18.
I made it outside and walked to the woods, stripped and threw my clothes into a bag before shifting. The sound of a branch crunching far off stilled me, and I focused my eyes far ahead to see a wolf. Large, light gray, and with dark eyes. Archer. He ran up to me, shifting.
“And where the fu** have you been? At another therapy session? How is Dr. Fist lately?” Archer asked with an impressive attitude for his rank.
“Does it matter?” I asked, an eyebrow raised. “I was just about to head back.”
Archer swept the hair out of his face and sighed, exasperated. I grinned.
“Yeah, yeah. You enjoy giving your only friend an aneurysm now and again. I’m aware,” he added. “Look, I only came out here because you’re out of link range and Alpha Rafael is in a tizzy looking for you. Dude is so old school, I don’t know why he won’t let us use cell phones. Seriously.”
“Ugh, great,” I grunted. “Well, let’s not keep His Majesty waiting.”
We shifted and started our run through the forest. My pack lived by the El Dorado National Forest near Lake Tahoe. Currently leaving Tahoe City, it would take about 50 minutes before we were in range to link the pack. Dane and I pushed the limits of speed charging back, enjoying the movement. It wasn’t as addictive as beating the sh** out of someone, but it was good to move.
Feeling Archer falling behind, we linked his wolf Magnus, I’ll meet you there, probably best we arrive separately anyway.
We let ourselves really loose then. The feel of the cold, compact dirt beneath our paws, and the pain of pushing our heart and muscles to the brink felt great as we continued whipping around pine trees. Losing ourselves in the run.
I was within range in half an hour.
Godd***it! Drake! Answer me! Alpha Rafael demanded via link
Yes Alpha I replied, like a good little soldier.
We will discuss this affront later! I need you here to deal with this issue! Where are you? He barked at us.
I rolled my eyes as I continued my run, now slowing my pace a bit. Enjoying the burn of my muscles.
Just by Echo Lake, Alpha, I replied to him.
Head into Kyburz. There’s a delegation arriving there from Silver Moon, he commanded. No explanation. I was used to this though.
Yes, Alpha, was all I replied.
What could this be about? We rarely spoke to Silver Moon, let alone saw them in person.
If we’re lucky, Alpha is marrying off that goddess-awful daughter of his, Dane suggested, making me snort.
She was fine really, but her constant unwelcome advances had grown tiresome the last few years.
CHAPTER THREE: ~Avery: The piece of sh** in a human body marched forward, straight into the river. He sank in further and further, as he trudged to the deepest part of the current, dunking his whole body below. My power felt like pure ecstasy, flowing through my veins. I wanted more. More obedience. More death. MORE. I stood at the shore, eyes wide, an evil grin on my face as I took it all in. The bubbles coming from the water stopped after some moments and I saw his body rise to the surface to get carried away by the current. I soaked it in, his life force. The darkness of his soul had me shivering in delight. My god, nothing could feel this good. I felt energized, and in desperate need for another. I pulled my hood back, freeing my hair and inhaled the pine scent, feeling incredibly alive. Turning on my heel to march back towards civilization, I was ready to hunt. My boots crunched through the leaves. I could smell a bonfire up ahead and slowed my pace to quiet my movements. My m
CHAPTER FOUR: ~ Drake: I showed up to the pack entrance by Kyburz to find a small group of werewolves I was mostly unfamiliar with. Shifting behind a tree a few paces away, I quickly changed back into my shirt, jeans and boots. I walked out to see the Alpha of Silver Moon walking toward me, hand raised in greeting. He was dressed well, black slacks and a dark button down shirt. “Beta Drake, great to see you. I see Alpha Rafael has sent his best representative to show us around?” Alpha Logan of Silver Moon was a friendly guy, and he shook my hand with vigor. Silver Moon had a great reputation and their Alpha was a huge reason. While they were a fairly small pack their warriors were fierce, and they often came to the aid of their neighbors in need. They never stood down from a fight with a purpose. I wondered again what they were after here. In other packs the Alpha would likely convey that to his Beta, but not mine. I was going to have to find out while pretending to already be
CHAPTER FIVE: ~Avery: “Hey! I’m up here, one second!” A female, melodic voice called from above. There was rustling up on top of the garage roof. I heard leaves crunching and a bucket or something hit the ground. “Uh, are you okay?!” I called. “Yeah, no worries!” The voice assured. Blond hair popped up into view and a cheery, pink face grinned and waved. “Just give me two minutes!” I looked down at my new phone, at the posting in the town’s Facebook page and compared the posted pictures with the small home I was looking at. The few photos didn’t do it justice. Thisplace looked like a Swiss Chalet. It was adorable. This was still looking up. I sent a silent prayer to no one that she would pick me. Elizabeth Meyers, the owner, came around the corner introducing herself. She had dazzling bright eyes and long blond hair that was tied up in a messy low bun. She had gloves on and looked like she had been working outside. “Sorry about the delay, I really thought I would be well done
CHAPTER SIX:~Drake: This is outrageous. I would not do this. No matter how many times I let my Alpha hand me my a** out here in front of the packhouse. I wasn’t going to disgrace the mating bond by just getting with someone else. No way. A kick to the head. I wince. “YOU WILL OBEY BOY!” Alpha Rafael yells at me. I know I’m covered in bruises and blood that will start healing soon. I don’t fight back. Just pray to the Goddess that my parents don’t hear about this and come running. “Please, Alpha!” Too late. My mom is on her knees in the mud and leaves calling for mercy. He looks at her and I flinch, thinking he will hurt her next. But my dad stands between them, and I tell myself that if he goes for them I’m blowing my cover. He will not lay a finger on my parents, or I will kill him. Alpha Rafael howls and marches back to me, spitting at my body laying all twisted on the earth. I’m okay mom, I link her. “Pathetic. You both raised a pathetic wolf,” Alpha Rafael says to hims
CHAPTER SEVEN:~Avery: My first night here and while I felt safe, I was restless. I had fallen asleep earlier but had woken up a few times. Now at 4am, I wasn’t going to fight it any longer. I crept out of the sleeping bag on the floor, and picked up a pillow. Setting it on the floor next to one of the big windows I made myself a temporary chair. I looked out at the woods, pulled my legs under my arms and sighed. The sun would start rising soon. It was very cold out there, although you couldn’t tell just by looking. A breeze came through the trees, rusting the pine needles on the trees close by. I spotted the slight movement of an owl in a tree. We stared at each other for some time. I rolled my neck and looked into the moon, searching it for strength. The moon had helped me regain control of myself when I had nearly lost it. It would maybe be too much to ask for it to help me again?There was knocking on the door.“Amy? Sorry! Are you up?” Beth called from behind the door.I must h
CHAPTER EIGHT~Drake: I was getting hammered. I couldn’t seem to stop drinking. And it took a lot to get a werewolf drunk. But I was feeling it. A lot. I don’t know how Archer found this place or why it was so packed tonight, but the energy in the place was contagious. I came in here expecting to find a sad, dilapidated building and older regulars from the area. Instead it was full of singles and couples dancing, dark booths, and a large variety of drinks. It was more of a club than a bar. Archer and I were honestly having a really good time. There were plenty of attractive girls on the dancefloor and we ended up hanging around a group of girls in town for a bachelorette party. Archer wasn’t as into them as I might be. But it could be lonely as an older werewolf with no mate on the horizon. One of them in particular seemed into me and we went back and forth between dancing and picking up new drinks at the bar. I bought a round of shots for the group and we gathered at their booth.
CHAPTER NINE:~Avery: It wasn’t so bad here. And as bars go, this one seemed pretty different. I was still on guard, trying to avoid the dark corners where seedy behavior could be going on, but I was maybe starting to have fun? The place was more of a dance club that happened to be set inside an old school bar, something you would picture in this woodsy town. But the dance floor, the music, the sound system, the lighting, it was all very modern. And I couldn’t fight it for long. Music sang to me, to my blood. A small dose of what it felt like to control someone, to make them do things. It hasn't always been easy for me to distinguish the two. But thankfully I had grown from those days. The base thrummed and Beth and I twirled around with some girls who had immediately taken to us when we got here. Beth had a handsome tall, lanky guy dancing around her for some time who set my alarms off but after a few looks from me he seemed to back off. Some. After a few songs we went with the ot
CHAPTER TEN:~Drake: “Drake?” Archer said again at my side. My heart beat frantically, faster than the beat of the music thrumming through the bar. Everything felt too hot, too loud. Go to Mate, Dane ordered me. And my foot moved forward before I stepped back for a second. This couldn’t happen to me. I was too restless, too different and dark - and in too much sh*t with my Alpha. GO, Dane ordered again. He whined when I stood still. “I can’t-” I began to say, turning to Archer. “I can’t have a mate.” Archer moved to stand in front of me and grabbed hold of both of my shoulders. “Holy Goddess Above,” he said breathlessly. “She’s here? Where?” He looked around the bar. I pushed him away. “I can’t have a mate Arch. You don’t understand.” I looked at my shoes. Fighting Dane’s barking and howling in my head to go after her. “Drake, I can’t pretend to know what you’re feeling in this second. But you know that we are both - different. Put into other roles, and we’ve had to preten