by Jade Royal
When he turned to walk away with Jayce and Tristan at his side, again, he was ambushed with the feeling of wolf trying to get out to be with his mate. Kellan bit back his groan and kept his wolf grounded.
“You good?” Jayce asked.
“Yeah. This mating shit is just rough, and my wolf wants to go feral so I will listen to him.”
“I do not wanna go through this shit.” Jayce shook his head. At just that thought, the wolf inside him mewled, and Rita’s wolf came to the forefront of his mind. Without realizing it, he turned back to look at the cabin that was slowly fading away the further they walked.
“At least Rita is a shifter. She’ll understand the mating bond. She won’t resist you if you treat her right.” Kellan thought it was that easy, just Jayce knew it wasn’t. Even if the universe put them together, they were still two different individuals who wanted very different things from life.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Jayce mumbled. Tristan shook his head at his two friends who were suffering from their mating bonds. He was not ready to encounter that fate.
It took the three of them a few hours to hike towards their old pack. The pack was located deep in the woods without a path for any vehicles, so the only way to get there was by hiking. It turned plenty of people off from invading the space if they knew they had to hike there, but for three wolf shifters, the journey was swift and easy. At first, they traveled as humans, then when they got closer, they shifted into their wolf forms and ran the rest of the way, but just before they stepped onto Maverick’s territory, they shifted back to human form and redressed in the spare clothes they had carried in a bag with their teeth when they were in wolf form. The moment they scaled down the hill leading to the territory, their presence was known. Members of the pack stopped what they were doing and gawked in awe.
“He’s not here,” Jayce said. “Maverick. I don’t scent him.” Kellan nodded, but his focus was on his old pack. Their stares made him feel like turning back around and walking away, but it was high time he faced his past.
“Kellan’s back,” were the hushed whispers that traveled through the pack. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he proceeded forward with Jayce and Tristan at his back.
“I’ll go get the files,” Tristan said heading towards his place. Kellan nodded. He proceeded towards the heart of the territory. Slowly, pack members began to gather around them. He saw the men that Maverick controlled and stopped.
“You don’t belong here.” One of them spoke up. Kellan remembered the man vividly. Remembered the wolfsbane that the man injected into Kellan’s blood. It was the reason Kellan couldn’t save his own mother. Wolfsbane was poisonous to all wolves, and it took intensive days of healing to rid the wolfsbane from their body if it didn’t kill them. Humans used to use it on wolves of all kinds. It was never a weapon that wolves used against their own kind.
“What you gonna do about it?” Kellan asked. “Inject me with more wolfsbane?” The pack gasped at Kellan’s words. After the attack, Kellan was so ashamed, he hadn’t spoken to anyone about it, but Kellan figured he was the only one injected with the poison because he was the only one strong enough to stop Maverick from what he planned to do.
“Don’t listen to him!” Levi snapped. The large man peered at the pack. Kellan saw fear in their eyes. They were all afraid of him, and if they were that afraid of the wolf, then they must have felt ten times worse when Maverick was around.
“I failed my family that night.” Kellan spoke up. “I let someone get the best of me, and I was poisoned by wolfsbane by someone of our kind. That someone is him.” Kellan pointed to Levi.
“But I was only poisoned because Maverick ordered it so, and that’s who I left you at the mercy of. I can’t forgive myself for leaving you to suffer with Maverick as your alpha, and I’m here to change that.” The pack members looked amongst themselves, chatting about what he just said. Tristan ran back up towards them from his home carrying a large duffel and other items.
“I’ve got it,” Tristan said. Kellan nodded. Tristan looked around at his old pack members.
“Where have you all been?” someone asked of Jayce and Tristan.
“Jayce, Jaxson and I have moved on. We’re now a part of Kellan’s pack. He’s our alpha,” Jayce answered.
“You’re leaving us?” someone asked. It was a woman who looked scared to death. They were the only ones she trusted to keep her safe from Maverick.
“Maverick does not deserve to be your alpha.” Jayce spoke up. “We all grew up around Kellan. We know he’s the true alpha, and Kameron would have wanted it that way.”
“But he left!” someone shouted out.
“And now he’s back!” Jayce answered for Kellan. “Your alpha attacked Kyra after forcing her to try and have his pups, and it was Kellan who stepped up and took her in to keep her safe. She’s part of our pack now.” That created more chatter and surprise.
“What happened to my parents should not have to happen to anyone else,” Kellan said. “My pack is open to those who want to live freely and feel protected. My pack is here to save you from someone who will ultimately destroy you. Come with me and be free.” Everyone looked around as if they were unsure.
“What happened with Gemma?” one of the older teens asked. She was probably a friend of Gemma.
“She and her family are in my pack now,” Kellan answered. “She was the only pup left who’s heating cycle could be tracked because of her maturity level. Maverick planned to exploit that to try and have pups with her. She wasn’t safe here and neither are any of you. I’m not saying you have to be part of my pack. What I can do is protect you from Maverick until I find a pack that you will be able to join, but I can’t run away from this now. It wasn’t fair of me.” The pack looked at each other again.
“If our beta and enforcers trust Kellan…” An elder spoke up. “Then we need to trust him too. Without them, we’ll stand no chance against Maverick or these cronies that moved into our pack. The elders, the women and the children need to feel safe. We should go find refuge with Kellan until we can find another pack. It’s the only way to get out.”
The relief that floored through Kellan was indescribable, and then, as everyone else volunteered, Kellan was humbled. He felt honored that they were willing to trust him again, but there were those who refused to leave. Kellan didn’t force anyone to do what they didn’t want to do, because when he looked at the people who didn’t want to leave, he saw the same maniacal look in their eyes that Maverick had. They wanted too much control to submit to an alpha that was not going to allow the shit that Maverick would. Kellan didn’t need that in his pack. A few elders, families with their teenage wolves, and women were all following Kellan outside of Maverick’s territory. Along the way, he talked to them about his land issues, but no one seemed to have a problem. Without Maverick there, retrieving the vulnerable of the pack was easy. So, like he promised his mate, he’d be back to her by nightfall.
********
Jaxson was eating an apple as he watched his new alpha female pace back and forth in front of the cabin. While Kellan and the others were gone, Jaxson had taken the rest of the pack into town to get the sleeping bags and tents. With Gabe’s help, they’d set the tents up, so when Kellan returned, everyone should have a place to sleep. Everyone was relaxed except for Bliss. When they returned from town, it was like she had an itch she couldn’t scratch. She was impatient and snappy.
“You want an apple?” Jaxson asked her.
“Does it look like I want a fucking apple?” she gritted.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Call Kellan. I want to talk to him.” She came to stand in front of him, posing. Jaxson stood towering over her. She may be an alpha wolf, but until she mated with his alpha, then he really didn’t have to take orders from her.
“No.” He shrugged.
“What’s your problem?” Bliss snapped. “I just wanna make sure he’s alright!”
“You don�
��t need a damn phone call to do that. If he was hurt, you’d sense it.” Truthfully enough, her wolf didn’t sense anything was wrong with Kellan, but her blood was humming in the most uncomfortable way. She almost wanted to claw her own skin off.
“Maybe you should keep yourself busy until he gets back. It’ll help ease your discomfort.” Bliss looked at him, an idea popping in her head.
“So, you’re an enforcer?” she asked. Jaxson nodded. “So, you can fight?”
“What you getting’ at?” Jaxson asked her.
“Well, I’m still learning how to use this new body, and learning my strength and all that. What if you taught me some fighting techniques? Nothing big. Just keep it simple but hard enough so I can concentrate on something.” Jaxson eyed her. He knew well she wanted to try and kill Maverick, so he didn’t know if he should be showing her anything, but then, if she was going to be mated to the alpha, she needed to be able to defend herself.
“Kellan wouldn’t agree to this,” Jaxson said.
“He doesn’t have to know,” Bliss said.
“Lying to your mate already? Damn, woman.” Bliss crossed her arms.
“Either you help me, or I’ll tell Kellan you were mean to me all day today. See how well that goes for you.” Jaxson lowered his lids and peered at her. She was smart. Jaxson gave her that.
“Alright, fine. I’ll teach you a few things, but Kellan is my alpha. If he asks me about anything regarding this, I can’t lie to him.”
“Deal.” Bliss shrugged. Jaxson hopped down from the porch and headed towards the back of the cabin. Bliss followed him, excited to learn something new.
“There’s not much I can teach you without you being able to shift,” Jaxson said. “But keeping calm, and not letting others smell your fear or any of your emotions is important. You also need to connect to your wolf a little bit more.”
“I’ve been trying to connect with her. We’re still a little different though.”
“That’s always going to be the case, but sometimes, you have to start thinking alike. For instance, how does she feel about me?”
“How should I figure it out?” Bliss asked.
“Use your senses.” She started towards him, but he stopped her. “You’re not a human anymore, Bliss. You don’t have to be close to someone to get a sense of them. I can smell you, so you should be able to smell me.” Bliss closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She immediately smelled his vibrant scent. Her wolf wasn’t taken to it like she was to Kellan’s scent, but she didn’t completely disdain it. His heart was beating steadily. Her wolf liked his calmness. She felt safe around him. That, plus her wolf sensed the bond between Jaxson and her mate. It was true.
“She likes you,” Bliss said. “You’re a little rough around the edges, but she’s not afraid to snap at you if she has to. She appreciates your calmness and the true bond you have with Kellan.” Jaxson nodded, proud that she was able to listen to her animal.
“Key point. Listen to your wolf. She will tell you what you need to know. If she’s not afraid of me, then you shouldn’t be either, but if she’s giving you a warning, then you need to listen to it. My wolf actually thinks it’s a bad idea that I’m doing this with you because if Kellan finds out, then I’m gonna get my ass kicked by my alpha, but I’m choosing to ignore him just to help you out. He’s letting it go though.”
“Well, shift, and I’ll give the big dog a hug and scratch his belly.” Jaxson’s gray wolf eyes flashed at her.
“He likes that.” He smiled. “Now that you can handle your senses, let’s get physical.”
Bliss didn’t know what Jaxson was going to teach her, but he was not shy about invading her space, or actually putting his hands on her when necessary. The first thing he did was sweep her feet from out under her. She fell flat on her ass with a ‘umph’, and he just stood over her laughing before helping her stand. He then went to teach her how to balance herself and control her weight.
Being physical with Jaxson took her mind off Kellan completely. Even though she was a shifter now, at the end of their workout, she was sweating and breathing heavily. He tried to knock her down repeatedly, but she learned fast how to keep her balance and how to counteract his movements. He was way stronger than her, but she learned to use her own strength. They stayed outside for most of the day fighting, and he taught her plenty. Bliss actually felt accomplished instead of worrying herself about if Kellan was okay.
“Let’s go for a run.” Jaxson breathed, plopping down on the ground. She’d kicked him in the stomach too many times than he could actually manage anymore.
“But I can’t shift.” She pouted.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t run, and I think you’ll be surprised at how fast you are. Trust me.” Bliss shrugged.
“Okay, let’s go.” While still sitting on the ground, Jaxson let his wolf take over. Bliss gasped at the grey wolf that stood before her, and like she said she would, she hugged the wolf tightly and scratched him behind the ears and on his belly. He shimmied with excitement before popping up and running towards the woods. Bliss was unsure about her speed, but she took off after the grey wolf. To her surprise, the wind whipped through her hair hard as she caught up to the wolf. The trees around her were passing by quickly with her speed, and in the moment of running, she felt a solid bond snap into place with her wolf. It was like the animal wasn’t caged anymore, even though Bliss couldn’t shift. So, this was how it felt to run as a shifter? It was amazing.
They ran for what seemed like an hour before they returned to the cabin. Jaxson shifted in front of the cabin. Bliss immediately looked away even though she caught sight of his privates anyways. So, big dicks were probably a trend with all shifters. Maybe except for Maverick.
“You should probably get used to nudity,” Jaxson said walking by her. “Male shifters love slanging their dicks around, females love showing off their boobs.” Bliss chuckled.
“Nudity don’t scare me,” she said. Rita walked out of the cabin then. She looked between them curiously. Jaxson waved at Bliss and walked off to where his tent was set up. Rita came up to her. She immediately sniffed the air and gave Bliss a hard look.
“You’d better be careful.” She warned.
“What are you talking about?” Bliss asked.
“Whether you accept it or not, Kellan is your mate. Remember that.” She looked Bliss up and down before walking back inside the cabin.
The high of the workout and their run was sucked out of her body. Bliss plopped down on the porch and sulked. That uncomfortable humming started up again, and all she could do was think about Kellan. She knew the man was her mate. She could feel that, but did that mean she had to commit to him right this minute? Could she even be a good mate? After what she went through with Maverick, she didn’t want to share her heart with anyone.
“Kellan should be here soon,” a voice said behind her. She looked up to see Jaxson behind her. She hadn’t even seen him walk up to her from his tent to even get behind her in the first place.
“After all I taught you today, you’d actually let your guard down enough so that I could walk up on you and you not even realize?”
“Sorry. You know I’m just thinking about shit.”
“Kellan told me he found you in the woods and turned you. I know it must be hard adjusting to this new way of life.”
“Hard isn’t even the word.” She shook her head. “And the only reason I want to go after Maverick was because he abused me just like he’s abusing everyone else in his pack. He stabbed me and left me for dead. I should be able to get my revenge.”
“That’s understandable, but sometimes, there’s more important things than revenge. What Kellan is doing is what’s important. Giving these people, even me a new pack is worth more than killing Maverick. Trust me, men like Maverick meet their demise, but just because we’re wolfs, doesn’t mean that we just kill for superiority. That’s what monsters do.” Bliss rested her arms against her knees and placed her head on top of her ar
ms.
“He’ll be here by nightfall,” Jaxson said. He patted her on the back and walked off. Bliss stayed on the porch brewing over what he told her. It sounded so easy to say she would just kill Maverick, but that wasn’t the reality they were facing. Her reality was dealing with a mate she was unsure she could handle being mated to. Her reality was the fact that by next week, she would be shifting into a goddamn wolf. Honestly, she was frightened, and she didn’t know how she was going to handle it all.
As the moon began rising over the horizon and the sun faded away, Bliss caught the smell of sweet ginger and woods. She inhaled deeply and stood. Her mate was close. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. She kept calling him her mate but was still resisting him. She was pathetic.
But sure enough, Kellan came into view with Tristan and Jayce next to him. Behind him were a family of three, two women, and two elderly female wolves. They were in their human forms walking towards the cabin. Bliss had her doubts about being mated, but when she spotted Kellan, her whole body was filled with excitement and relief. Not to mention he was shirtless, and his jeans were slung low. If he wasn’t the sexiest man on this earth, then Bliss was a damn fool. She was literally drooling, and her canines wanted to pop out again, making her gums ache.
“Kellan’s back!” Rita shouted. Bliss jumped, not even aware Rita had come out of the cabin. The rest of the pack followed her to meet up with Kellan and the others. For a moment, all Bliss did was stand where she was. After Kellan snapped at her before he left, she was unsure how he’d react to the fact that she wanted to wrap herself all around him.
As he got closer to the cabin, her heart began to pump faster and faster. She was trying hard to resist the urge to run to him, but he was not resisting at all. He walked straight up to her, his stare unwavering. Now that they were within arm’s distance of each other, the humming in her veins stopped, and he visually relaxed. Using what Jaxson taught her earlier, she closed her eyes and just sensed Kellan. His heart was beating irregularly, and because she could see his wolf in her mind, she saw the animal laying down, whining.
