Omega's True Mate

chapter three

The soft nudge of a wet nose woke me. It’s already late in the evening and I carefully look down at my leg. A small nose and a pink tongue tickled my shin. The gray fur of the tiny creature felt warm and soft. I eased from my ball and slowly crawled from my hiding place. Two small pups sat in front of me, heads tilted in curiosity.

I looked around for the adults who should be close by. Two wolf pups this young shouldn’t be away from the pack den. The entire pack would rip you apart before you got close enough to see them. I moved slowly trying to create some distance so as not to alarm the pack of my presence this close to their pups. Each time I moved away the pups would follow. I gave in and lay on my back letting the pups sniff me and play with my hair. I want a bath and a blanket. If things had went as planned I would have ended up at my travel bag and I would have had food and clothes. Now I’m at the mercy of two pups until dark. The sky is darker now but sunset is still a couple hours away.

I hear a howl in the distance and I freeze. They smell me and they smell the pups. I quickly go back to my log and crawl in. I curl into my ball and watch helplessly as the pups try to squeeze in with me. I block them from entering and I stiffened when they suddenly ran away. This time a large nose poked my leg. I soften my breathing and calm my heart rate. Maybe this wolf will not see me as a threat. I relax when the nose disappears and I hear the wolves trot away. I stay hidden a long time after they leave just to make sure I am safe.
The sun is setting now and I feel my stomach clench in hunger. I can hear it rumble. I look down at my dirt covered body. I need to find water. I walk in the opposite direction of the wolves path. Not wanting to test my luck again. Not far down the path I see a large lake to my left. The only problem is that to get to it I have to climb down a cliff with a ten or maybe twenty foot drop.

I can feel my luck running out. The mountains are not kind and everything wants to kill you. I take a deep breath and move along the cliff looking for a path down. Finally I see one and my heart skipped a beet. There is a black bear making it’s way down that same path. It’s not big, but in my human body I will die if it attacks. I crouch down in the brush and wait. Once it makes it to the beach I can make my way down. I’ll have to walk farther down the beach but I’ll finally have water. It’s getting darker and I’ll be able to shift soon. I can already feel my eyes start to glow.

I make my way down and to the waters edge quickly. The cold water bit at my skin and I felt my body start to slowly freeze. I washed myself as quickly as I could and rushed back to the dark beach sand. I could feel the heat my wolf sent into my blood. And I looked up to see the last of the purple fade to black. My body melted and thick silver fur replaced the soft pale skin. I felt warmth and in my need for food I let her take over. I felt her stalk and hunt down small prey as I made my way back to the rogue village. Staying far enough away that the shifters there couldn’t smell me. She likes being in charge, but still took my directions. Keeping to the shadows. The earth around us is green and less dangerous. The low lands of the mountain more forgiving than the higher levels.

With a full stomach I took over once more and made my way to the edge of the tree line to watch the rogues once more. I lay with my head on my paws under a pile of fallen trees. The children played in the open tonight. Singing and dancing was taking place inside the mouth of the largest cave entrance and memories of my wedding rushed back to me.
My mate swinging me around and laughing. His eyes glowing with happiness. I felt my heart twitch slightly. The one thing that truly bothered me was he never did mark me. We married and we lived together but he never once claimed me with his mark. I felt my heart skip a beat. Can what the witch said be true. I have another chance. I watch the people dance and my eyes land on a familiar body shape. I don’t know who is responsible for my mates death because I was hiding under the floor boards but I do remember watching the men’s shadows walk away. This man had a similar body shape. Not that you can pick any one man from a crowd by a shadow. All these men are small and slender while this man is thick with muscle and very tall. I watch him closely and wait. If I hear his voice I’ll know. I want to move closer but I don’t want to give myself away. My eyes flicker over the crowd and I see the one man from before. The one who asked me to find a new spot to hunt. His eyes landed in my direction. He leaned over to the man beside him and said something. I held my breath and forced my tail to lay still when the man turned around to face my direction.

He is beautiful. My brain scrambled. His perfectly chiseled face screamed alpha. His body held just the right amount of muscle and the way he moves is graceful. I felt shocked. He is almost right in front of me. I didn’t even notice him walking my way. I curled into the back of my hiding spot and waited.

He knelt down with the first guy right behind him. “Come out wolf. I know you are in there. Come out and say hello.”

I tried to make myself small. The panic I felt rising inside me causing my wolf to fight for control. I let her. I watched her sniff the wood in front of us and growl. The hair rising on her neck in warning. The men backed up but the beautiful one didn’t shy away.

“Come out we won’t hurt you. As alpha of this pack you have my word you are safe.” He said once more. His voice was honey, and like the bee I am, I took over once more and slowly inched forward only letting my nose and eyes poke through the hole.

He waited and watched me. “See I’m not so bad. Come out and get a closer look around. No one will hurt you here.”

I looked around and pulled my head back in. Should I trust him? If I want to hear voices and find my mates killers I have to get closer.
I slowly move from my hiding spot. My full body now standing out in the open. All the music stopped and all eyes are on me. I take a step towards the beautiful man and growl low in my throat. He sat on the ground and his friend moved back.

“I don’t think it likes you Alpha.” The man said in a low whisper.

The one called alpha smirked. “She is harmless right now. Her hair is not on end and she is only wanting space to move about.”