Panther

Chapter Thirty

Surely this couldn't be what Ike was keeping from me for the past few weeks.

Surely, he wouldn't hide something so... big from me.

Right?

That's what I kept telling myself as I stood in the forest in front of my new mate, who was currently staring at me waiting for a reaction.

I looked up at the sky. It was already starting to get dark. Anyone could see winter was almost upon us.

What are we going to do about this? Whether or not Ike lied, we now have two mates. One of which is a very protective Alpha.

I looked back into the eyes of my new mate.

"What's your name?" I ask.

He seems to think for a second before responding. "Nate." I nod, pursing my lips.

"Well, Nate. I guess we might as well get this over with. The sooner we tell Ike about this the sooner he can get the fuck over it." I say sharply. I turn away from him, back towards the direction of the pack.

"I sense some hostility towards Ike coming from you." He says as he follows closely behind me. So closely in fact that he's smacking away tree branches for me and guiding me by my lower back. Did he think I was helpless? I could make my way through a forest just fine. I shoot him a glare and smack his hand off my back, picking up my pace a little.

 In my efforts to saunter off coolly, I misstep and roll my ankle on a rock. I end up stumbling forward, shocked by the sharp, sudden pain.

I've pretty much accepted the fact that I'm going to faceplant on the ground seconds after acting like a douche when Nate tried to help me. I squeeze my eyes and brace myself for impact, but it never comes. When I finally open them, I'm staring at Nate, who's caught me and is currently staring at me with a blank face.

"That's what you get for being an asshole." He says as he sets me back on my feet. "Are you okay?" I nod, avoiding eye contact. My ankle had already healed; like it never even happened.

"Are you from this pack?" He asks as we keep walking, him in front this time.

"No." I say simply. I'm not really in the mood for talking about my deep dark past right now.

He doesn't get the hint though, because his next question is, "Where are you from then?"

"Um... well. I used to have family in a pack a couple states away from where we are now, but I left a long time ago." Please just drop it, I think to myself. It took a lot out of me to even think about my past, and right now I needed to focus on how I was going to break this to Ike. And how I would deal with him lying to me.

I glance up at Nate and notice he's giving me side eye over his shoulder. He doesn't say anything to my obviously half assed response, just nods slightly and keeps walking. "What about you? What pack are you from originally?" I ask to break the tension.

He holds a large branch up for me, waiting for me to duck under before dropping it and walking behind me. "I can't really remember, to be honest with you." I'm the one looking over my shoulder at him now. "I've always lived in the woods. I only joined the pack I'm in now because I wanted somewhere to come back to and rest every once in a while. I'm hardly ever even there. Before that, I just kind of wandered around, looking for you a lot to be honest. I met a lot of people and saw a lot of things. And before that, I don't remember a whole lot. I remember a lot of people took turns caring for me. I would travel for a while with a small group of rouge wolves or panthers, then be handed off to another rogue when one came up." What a... vague background.

"So, you don't actually know who your real parents are?" I stop for a second to turn around and stare at him. He shakes his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring at me. "Any siblings?" He shrugs. He wasn't being very cooperative. Talking about your past hurts you, Cleo. Hm. She had a point. "Sorry. I'll stop. My bad." I hold up my hands and turn around to keep walking.

But he stops me by grabbing my shoulder. I turn back to him, waiting.

"I wasn't trying to..." He stops and seems to realize he's still touching my shoulder. He takes his hand off and rubs the back of his neck.

I smile at him. He's acting bashful now. It was cute.

"Don't worry. I understand." I turn back around and keep walking. I hear him let out a puff of air and follow behind.

I can see the edge of the pack now and hear voices. They seem... distressed? Panicked? What was wrong? What had happened since I left? Well, you left. Oh. Without telling anyone. I'm a grown ass woman. I don't have to tell anyone when I 'm going somewhere. You're a grown ass Luna to a pack, is what you are. I sigh, stopping and looking up at the sky before we proceed.

"What's wrong?" Nate asks, standing very close behind me.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass." He grabs my hand suddenly and steps in front, pulling me with him. He looks over his shoulder at me and flashes me a grin.

"Let's do this."  He says, breaking through the tree line and into the pack. Directly into the belly of the beast.

Directly into whatever bullshit fate had in store for us.

Thank you for reading!
I started this book in high-school, literally years ago now, so the entire premise comes from a teenage mind. I did my best to rewrite and change, but just try and keep that in mind. I appreciate anyone who reads, votes, offers constructive criticism.
Thank you again.