Monsters Beyond the Gate

Chapter Eight: Blood and Water

*LEVI'S POINT OF VIEW*

I watched her storm out the front door like an angry hurricane. Her auburn colored hair swirled behind her like a mixture of fire and autumn leaves. 

Follow her! my inner wolf demanded ferociously. The woods are not safe. If your Luna is hurt you'll never forgive yourself!

I stopped at the words that screamed themselves through my cranium. 

My Luna?

Was she really?

The question was rhetorical. I knew from the very moment I saw her in a crumpled heap, bleeding, covered in wolfsbane, that she was my one true mate. I was instantly attracted to her. Her eyes, the color of spring, pulled me in and made my stomach try to perform a variety of gymnastic moves. Yes, she was my Luna...but she wouldn't know that until she made the change herself. 

My heart raced at the idea. I'd always hoped I would find my mate. The last few weeks had been absolute torture. My mother and father had approached me with solemn faces. 

"Our pack is dying," they'd said, "We must converge with the southern pack if our bloodline is to survive." 

The arrangement was made without my consent. The southern Alpha, Orion, and his Luna, Aphena Merida, had agreed that their daughter, Tessa, would make a suitable mate for me and that they would all step down as the Alphas so that her and I could take their places. 

I carried a false hope in the days before meeting Tessa that she would turn out to be my true mate, my Luna, but I could tell the very moment I met her that my hopes were wrong. 

She was beautiful and strong-willed, although slightly arrogant, and definitely not my Luna.

It didn't matter though. I wasn't mating for love, I was mating for the survival of our bloodline. That's what my father reminded me when I expressed my doubts. 

I made a move towards the front door to follow Adeline, but Tessa blocked my way. 

"There you are," she purred and slinked towards me in her almost cat-like manner.

I tried to keep my face a mask of polite interest, but it was difficult when all I could think of was slipping past her and going after Adeline. 

"Your eyes are yellow, my love," Tessa said in a sickly sweet voice and she raised her palm to stroke my stubbly cheek. I caught her hand in mine and gently squeezed it. Tessa seemed determined to make us work and I could tell she had incredibly strong feelings for me. 

"Are they? My wolf must be agitated. Perhaps a nice walk will soothe it," I mumbled and dropped her hand. I made another attempt at the front door, but she blocked my way once more. 

"Lets go hunting," she said, running her hands along the muscles in my chest and stomach. 

I shivered under her icy touch. She was abnormally cold for a wolf. 

"That sounds nice, but Adeline has run off and Merida wants me to go retrieve her," I struggled hard to keep the growl out of my voice, but my wolf was ready to toss Tessa to the side and barrel out the door. 

Tessa looked irritated, "We'll find her together then. In wolf form. It'll be faster."

I didn't have time to debate with her, so I nodded and walked out the door, stripping off my shirt as I went. 

****

The wind whipped against the fur on my snout. I breathed in deep gulps, smelling and tasting the air around me. My paws sank into the cool dirt of the forest floor with each massive stride I took. My muscles burned from running so fast, but the pain was a welcome sensation. The forest came alive around me. I could hear everything. The birds singing to one another, the squirrels fighting over acorns, bee's buzzing from a nearby hive. I picked up the scent of a deer, from the sounds of it, it was alone. It was close too, maybe fifty or so yards north. Another sent engulfed my senses. A flowery smell that made my stomach clench.