Oliver's life turns upside down when he learns that werewolves exist and one of them is his mate, but things get dangerous when he starts to learn more about himself.
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"It's a gift...
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-Jaden-
So, my father knew. I had no idea what to do with that information. Of course he knew... He knew everything. He had his eyes and ears everywhere, and I was surprised that he didn't already know exactly what the Thorn Morons were doing.
I kept running through our territory, trying to avoid everyone in my path. It was getting late already... It would take me almost an hour to get to the orphanage if I didn't hurry. If there wasn't so much snow everywhere, I could get there faster, but now I had to plow my way through thick piles of it. It would get easier once I got to the old, untouched part of the forest, but I had to get there first.
I was still thinking about my dad once I got to the edge of our territory. I wondered if he knew Oliver was supposed to be my mate. Tilly and Arch were the only ones who knew about it, and they wouldn't tell anyone. Maybe it was just a lucky guess. In which case, I outed myself. At least he didn't seem to mind, although I was fairly sure he was disappointed. It didn't matter anyway. I was not going to accept Oliver as my mate, so he was free to find me a female to make ties with. After all, an Alpha needed to have a partner. Mate or not.
I almost gagged at the thought. It was one of those things I hated about being an Alpha.
Maybe I wasn't forced to have a bond with Oliver by our goddess like Tilly said, but it still felt a lot like my opinion didn't matter. What if I had been crushing on someone else? What if I had been dating someone else, when Oliver walked into the picture? That had happened plenty of times to other werewolves.
Why was it important to know right away if a person was suitable for us or no? Humans didn't have anyone telling them who was their partner, and they still seemed to be doing pretty well.
Everything was just a great big mess in my head right now. Why couldn't things be simple? Why wasn't I allowed to have a simple life?
I just wanted to make my own decisions for once...
I didn't pay much attention to where I was going. I didn't need to. I could've kept my eyes closed the entire time and still end up at the orphanage. At some point, when I was close to the town, I smelled a group of humans somewhere on my left. They were making so much noise that I didn't need to be careful with my steps. I could smell a couple of dogs, though, so I didn't linger there too long. It wasn't that long ago when we liked to go harass dog walkers, but now it seemed childish.
Scaring people had stopped being funny for some reason.
It had to be close to nine o'clock when I finally arrived at the orphanage. Most of the lights were off already, and Oliver was nowhere to be seen. I made sure no one saw me when I stepped out of the forest and made my way across the street. There, I hid behind the small shed, and turned my eyes at the building. If Oliver wasn't asleep already, he should know I was here, so I stayed there, and waited patiently.
