Avery's POV
He had been silent on his ride to the old pack of his birth. They had originally lived just outside of the Redwood Territory in adjacent shifter towns. He didn't really understand why he was coming back here, his parents had split when he was younger. His father had rejected his mother to follow some little she-wolf whore that had stolen his attention for the time being. He didn't understand those who would reject their fated mate, just to be with someone that would never truly make them whole. It was despicable, but it just showed to reason. Fated mates or not, there was no real loyalty in finding a mate. You could give someone the very best of your years, and they would still turn around and stab you in the back.
His father was the Alpha of the Red Moon pack, had a fated mate, and beloved wife. Two children that adored him, and turned his back on them for some fling. It made Avery hate his dad with every breath he had in him. He didn't understand why it was important for him to come back here. Why should he care that the pack chose the son of Harper Witherson to follow his lead as an Alpha, when the man never gave two shits about his son in the first place? The whole thing rubbed Avery the wrong way. He wanted nothing to do with this mess.
"Avery. Please be reasonable. Your father has passed on, and as his only son you've been given the reins of the Red Moon pack. You'll finish out your education in Redwood and then take the mantle of Alpha. Being an Alpha of your own pack is what you've always wanted. Look at this as an opportunity. You'e been given the mantle of your own pack, your claim for pack leader has been approved pending your graduation by the Alpha King himself. All you have to do now is do your duties. Some of your old friends from childhood are waiting for you. Perhaps you'll even find a mate of your own, perhaps a nice girl to steady that hot temper of yours." His mother stated. Avery couldn't help but scoff in response. "Mother, no offense. After seeing what the value of a True Mate was to father, I have absolutely no intention of picking any kind of fated mate. If I feel the Mate Bond, I will reject the girl immediately to spare myself some misery down the road. You can't trust people these days, and I'll have no she-wolf making a mockery out of me anytime soon."
He could see the deep frown setting on his mother's otherwise youthful face as she only sighed sadly. Ultimately it was his choice to accept a mate or not, what's the point? He was fine doing things on his own, He was a natural born Alpha, so there would always be girls to see to his carnal needs. He didn't need some girl hanging off of him in the hopes of becoming his Luna. He knew that it was basically standard procedure. If the Alpha of a pack finds his mate, that mate becomes Luna. Therefore if he doesn't pick anyone, he has no river of girls fighting to be his Luna and he skips all the headache of protecting a mate and can focus his attention on the wellbeing of his pack. All the mate and Luna nonsense is completely not needed.
"Anyway, we'll stop off in Redwood first, so that you can get your class schedule, you just need to complete your final testing to graduate and everything can move forward as planned. We'll be there in about half an hour." His mother said, skipping over the unpleasant bits of their conversation. He was surprised to see his sister, Avaline, still sleeping across the backseat. She was only a couple of years younger than him, but he was actually fortunate that she didn't remember their deadbeat dad. She didn't need his mess transferring to her too. The worst part of this whole thing would be having to listening to a bunch of idiots praise a man who was not only a worthless father, but a worthless husband as well. The old man probably was a shitty leader to boot.
They arrived at the school a few minutes past normal lunch time. He decided he'd grab both class schedules for him and his sister. Avery slipped out of the car and headed into the school. He found a peculiar scent when he stepped into the main hallway. It smelled like sweets, like warm honey and lavender, and he almost did a double take when he heard a feral voice growl from inside of his head.
Mate! Listen up loser, we have a mate. I don't give a shit about your little internal daddy issues, don't you dare reject her!
Aries definitely had a mouth on him, that stupid mutt. The two of them rarely saw eye to eye, but they did work well together. If Aries was stirred up, so it had to be the real thing. Wasn't that just lovely? On the first day he was back in the area his stupid wolf sniffs out a mate. He didn't care if the wolf didn't like what he was about to do, he had no choice in the matter. The girl, whoever she was would not be tied to him, not only did he not want to be mated to anyone, but he knew that being tied to him would be more torture for the poor girl than it was for him, and nobody deserved that. So, he would start his way through the school and find her, he'd reject her outright and have the mess dealt with once and for all.
The scent led him down a hallway full of lockers to a little altercation between two older girls and a small little wisp of a thing. He had to kick himself intenrally for this but, she looked like a junior high kid. She was short, a tiny little weakling and at first he thought he was seeing things, but the scent was coming from her. She had long raven black hair and a set of mesmerizing eyes. She was pleasing to look at, but shit she seemed like a weak little runt. How could she be so fucking small? That wasn't overly important to him at the time though. These other two she wolves had the girl on the ground while they took turns landing kicks into her ribs.
"You were Jame's mate? Don't get any ideas bitch! Of course he rejected you but don't think you can look at him longingly with those pathetic little eyes of yours! You're nothing! You were never going to be Luna, and if I have my way that title will be mine!" A tall blonde girl screamed as she landed kick after kick at the poor creature. The girl had already balled up into a fetal position and used her arms to protect her vital points while the attack continued. Avery was pissed at this point. He couldn't fully comprehend the source of his own anger, but he called out to them, using his Alpha Tone. "Stop it!" The two girls stopped immidiately, unable to physically move as his voice resinated through them. "Wh-" He heard one of them say.
That's right! Protect our mate!
Avery blocked his wolf out and moved up behind the two girls. He grabbed one by her arm and slung her across the hall to connect painfully with a locker and he kicked the other straight in the stomach and sent her flying backward. It wasn't something someone would do to human girls, but these two were wolves and needed a lesson in respect. He bent down and offered up his hand to help the girl up. Her eyes were the palest blue he had ever seen, and he was almost at risk of becoming lost in the blue pools. He had to force himself to remember what he came there to do.
As the girl resettled on her feet he turned to shoot a warning glare at the two girls that were picking themselves up. There was a fear settling in the female's eyes, and suddenly with tears welling in her eyes she spoke. "I reject you! Whoever you are. They'll never leave me alone and you've just made it worse!" Her voice was like a siren's call and he almost didn't register what she said until he felt the pain clenching his chest.
The female didn't so much as give him the opportunity to accept it, she just ran off down the hallway and dissapeared from his sight in a single movement. Damn the little runt was fast! He held his hand over his chest until the pain slowly begain to fade. He couldn't help but wonder two things in that moment. Who the hell was she? More importantly, what the fuck just happened? Did he just get rejected?
Roxie could barely register what just happened. There was another mate. That same smell, the smell that reminded her of earthy tones and spices wrapped up into one yummy package. Unfortunately for her, the smell came when her highschool bullies had decided to gang up on her. Maddie and Taylor specifically had heard the rumors that James had rejected her, and the sideways glances he shot her somehow set them off. They had decided to take turns kicking and beating her into submission. Her white knight came for her then. The smell of him was beyond intoxicating, and he commanded a powerful and dominating pressence. The way he threw those girls was beyond startling, but beyond that. She knew that she had to look out for herself, and what he did wasn't actually helping her case. You rejected our mate! How could you do that to us?Vera didn't seem pleased. The last thirty minutes replayed in her head like a picture show and the true realization hit her. Shit. It didn't matter, she probably
Avery's POV This was absolutely insane. He had full intention of rejecting that girl on the spot, but he couldn't understand this feeling in his chest. Something about that look on her face when she looked at him, and those large doe eyes of hers had drew him in for a moment and made him hesitate. She had been attacked, and he suddenly felt the urge, an anger inside him that he didn't recognize. He wanted to protect her.We have to make her take it back! She is ours! His beast was stirring inside of him, going mad with what had happened yesterday. Avery didn't know what to think, he was trying to make himself understand. He didn't want a mate, or at least he didn't... until he saw her. She's so tiny. He had no idea who she was, or even acutely aware of her age. She could have been a freshman, a young teen. Did she have her wolf? She has a wolf! Don't be stupid. I could sense her.. and she sensed me.. I want her we want her! Make her take it back! Aries was actively screaming at him
It took some time, but eventually Roxanna's eyes fluttered open. With her renewed consciousness, came back all the pain from her ribs. Her head hurt the worst, but there was also this searing pain to her left side. That bitch Maddie had stabbed her with something. It was taking her wolf, Vera some time to get her healed up. Her broken ribs would heal in a matter of hours but when something like silver touched her skin, it seared and left a scar and took time to heal from the internal damage. When her eyes focused, she could smell him again. The smell of spice and earth... Her mate. As her eyes focused on him, she was finally able to take all of him in. From his eyes to his broad chest, to his facial features that looked like they were chisled by the Goddess herself. He was handsome. Painfully so, and the fact that she still felt the pull this strongly, it meant that when she rejected him, it didn't take. "Hi." The male said. She didn't even know his name. Had he once again come to he
Roxie's body grew stiff as her mother walked across the room and hugged her. Something was definitely off. If everything her father said was correct, the only reason that her mother would be back was because the man she chose over them was long gone. She was about to say something, when she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. She had almost forgotten about Avery. The pull her wolf had towards him, hadn't faded since her rejection. Perhaps it didn't take. Part of her wanted to reject him and get it over with, but the rest of her wanted to latch onto him. That was still something she needed to deal with. There was a confused look on her father's face, as Roxie stepped out of her mother's grasp. "If there are to be introductions. You must be Roxie's parents. My name is Avery Jackson. I'm the new Alpha of Red Moon. Roxie is my mate." There was a look on my mother's face. Recognition, disgust, but it was there only briefly. Replaced by a smile. "Oh, isn't that great, Collin?
Avery made his way into school the following morning with his sister at his side. He had already made his way into the principal's office and made sure that most of his classes with the same subjects were switched to classes with Roxie. Mr. Shaw wasn't excited about the change at first, until Avery and his sister told him of the situation. It was decided that the classes they had the same subjects in were changed for him to attend class with her, and her extra classes that he wasn't enrolled in, Avaline was placed in instead. Such as art, and physical education. He went to his first class that morning expecting to see Roxie in their English class. He even went so far as to ask which seat was hers and took his in the middle row in the back,, so he could sit next to her. However, as the bell rang and class began.. There was no sign of her anywhere. When the homeroom teacher began taking attendance, he made his way up front to ask if Roxie had called in sick, but as the absense was just
Roxie's head felt like it was swimming. She felt woozy. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that it was hard for her to focus as the room was spinning. What was clear, however was the fact that she was no longer in her bed at home. She moved to sit up, it was a difficult task, but she managed. She moved to stand up. She was a little lightheaded, but was able to do it. She checked out her surroundings. The room was made up of a single twin sized bed. There were no windows, which made her think that it was a basement room of some kind. One large door sat in the room as the entry and exit point. There was a dresser, a nightstand. There was another doorway but it had no door, just hanging black beads that set it apart from the rest of the room. For the most part, the room was clean and organized, but for the life of her she couldn't really remember how she got there. Come on, Roxie think. How did we get here? What was the last thing we remember? She chided herself. She decided to try t
Avery sat in his office as Sienna made some calls. Then realization struck him. "Look into Celia Harlowe." He commanded, then Sienna stopped cold. "Why?" She asked. "That's her mother." Sienna paused and looked back at Avery like he had grown a second head. "Celia Harlowe was thrown out of the pack after your father died. She was the mate he chose over your mother and you guys. I'm guessing Roxanna Harlowe is your fated mate? Poor girl. She grew up with that thing as her mother. Well, a very absent mother but she was born the biological child of that vile woman. Avery, I support rescuing her a hundred percent. Who knows what Celia is planning, but the chances of your mother accepting her as your mate... are very slim." Avery growled at that. "I don't care what my mother's hang up is. She is my mate and I will bring her with me. There's not enough school left for her to be kept captive. Nevermind that. Who else was absent from school yesterday!" He roared. Avaline held up her hand. Sh
Grayson held her down with one arm, as she flailed against him with her hands. Attempting to free herself. "Don't fight it!" He roared as he reached down and yanked her shorts from her body, tearing them in the process. He grabbed her shirt and pulled it up, trapping one of her small nipples in his mouth. She growled in frustration and reared her head back and smacked him with her forehead when he moved to look down at her again. His hands went to his nose. "You little bitch!" He growled. She attempted to roll off of the bed but he caught her again this time he grabbed her by her thighs and slid her down on the bed. He forced her legs apart and pried her open and began lapping at her center with his tongue. Everything about that sensation felt wrong to her. She didn't want him to do it! She wanted... AveryShe sucked in a deep breath and reached down. She took her sharp fingernails and attempted to gouge his eyes. Blood began seeping from the corners of his emerald eyes and he ended