Whispers of the Wolf

His House

Alaric

Was that him?

At the window?

Dropping Tala's hand, I walked along the road a few steps, then stopped to watch his house, making no attempt to hide what I was doing, standing strong in the middle of the road, my whole body facing his house, eyes scanning all of the windows.

"You know, if you keep staring at his house, you'll scare him," Tala chuckled as she stood beside me.

I didn't care. I would stand out here all day, in the cold wind, or icy snow, if it meant that I could just get a glimpse of him.

Tala's arm brushed against mine as she shifted. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her shove her hands deeper in the pockets of her coat to fight off the chilly breeze.

My wolf was restless, constantly pacing in the back of my mind, howling and whimpering, wanting to see his mate. I couldn't blame him. I wanted to see my mate, too.

Radley's face flitted through my mind ... messy blonde hair, cute button nose, rosy cheeks and full pink lips. He was ... completely adorable. He was smaller than me, in both build and height, but I didn't care about that. Whereas he was lean and quite delicate, looking almost defenceless, I was tall, with a wide chest and strong arms ... I could protect him. Would protect him. Any time. Against anyone.

He was small for a wolf. But that didn't mean he had to be treated differently to the rest of the pack.

My stomach churned, chest squeezing, at the thought of anyone singling him out, making him feel anything less than he was.

I was born to be Alpha and he was my mate. Lune of this pack. He would be one of the higher ranking wolves in this pack.

My wolf stirred, ears back, hackles raised, and a growl escaped my lips.

I would fucking kill anyone who treated him as anything other than royalty.

Whimpering brought my attention back to where I was and I turned to see Tala shivering, head bowed, neck bared.

My sudden outburst had forced her wolf in submission.

Fuck.

"Sorry," I muttered, then ran a hand down my face, feeling a little guilty. Why couldn't I control myself whenever I thought of him? I had dragged Enzo around the town square in search of him yesterday ... all because I had caught a whiff of his scent. And today, after we let our wolves out for a run through the woods, I told Tala that I wanted to talk to her about him because, well ... I just wanted to.

Pathetic.

I was being pathetic.

And my wolf wasn't helping. He was as restless as me. I thought letting him out for a run would help wear him out a little, help to calm him, but instead he'd taken us straight here, to Radley's house. Now, he didn't want to leave. Not without seeing his mate.

"So, you're sure?" Tala asked, her voice quiet as she peered at me from underneath her eyelashes. "You're sure he's the one?"

"Yes." There was no question, no doubts.

Radley was my mate.

"So ... what are you going to say to him?" Tala cast a sidelong glance over to Radley's house at the end of the road. The only house that stood away from all the others on our pack's land. It was almost buried in the woods, the trees brushing against the building, and it was constantly shrouded in shadows, hidden away.

Sighing, I shrugged. "I have no idea." Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans, I hunched my shoulders against the cold wind and walked a little further along the road so I could get a better look at his house.