“Here,” Amy said pulling down her shirt to reveal the mark that was bright red and to Grace’s eyes it looked as if someone had burnt her.
She immediately grabbed a piece of ice from the water pitcher and placed it against the red mark.
“Why is her mark burning like that?” she asked in general.
“It happens when one is marked, but not by their true mate. If they do not meet their mate than it is okay, but if they do then…” Ted started.
“Their wolf wants release from the bond so they could accept their true mate,” Grace quickly deduced.
“Exactly,” Ted confirmed, and he watched as she shook her head as she grabbed another piece of ice to place against the burning mark.
After about twenty minutes, she sat back, and asked, “How is it feeling now?”
Amy whimpered softly, “It still burns but not as bad. Thank you.” She looked up for the first time into Grace’s violet eyes, and she gasped.
“Grace,” she whispered.
“Amy,” Grace mimicked back.
They had been friends until the pack war and her father being accused a traitor, then Amy stopped coming around and even talking to her. Grace missed her friend, but she understood that Amy did not have a chose and for that, Grace could not condemn her for it.
Grace stood up, and extended her hand to Amy. Amy hesitated for a moment then accepted the hand up.
“What do I do?” she muttered so softly that Grace was the only one to hear her.
“It is your choice,” Grace said just as softly to her.
Grace backed away as Alpha Tomas looked at her with a frown.
“Sir,” she said bowing her head, but Ted knew that she was doing it out of respect to the Alpha and not the power he was throwing at her.
She looked back up, and caught the blue-gold eyes of the Beta of the Moon Star Pack. Her face reflected nothing as her wolf howled in confusion my mate.
“Miss Hawkins,” the Alpha said sternly, “What are you doing here?”
Before she could respond, Ted said, “Tomas, I asked her to bring me. You know I do not like driving at night.” Ted sensed Grace’s silent laughter as he used the same words he used on her.
“Ted,” Tomas frowned as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Just stay out of the way,” he growled reluctantly, and Grace bowed her head to his order, again out of respect.
Grace quietly backed away, then disappeared altogether as the focus turned back to Bryan and Amy.
“What is going on Bryan?” his father asked him.
Leaning against the tree, Grace tuned into the discussion although she was farther away than the rest of the pack was.
Bryan eyes were black with anger as he forced out, “Nothing.” Steve’s eyes narrowed into slits as Amy’s mind wondered. When Bryan marked her, she thought he was her mate for he assured her that his wolf had recognized her. Nevertheless, she never felt what she felt when she looked into the chocolate-brown eyes of the new pack’s Alpha; it just did not make any sense.
“You claimed her as your mate,” Artur said with tinge of disbelief more for what his wolf had discovered than what was going on.
Bryan growled at him to back off, but Artur just looked at him as his wolf snarled at the challenge
Artur mentally shook his head as his blue-gold gaze narrowed on Bryan.
“She…is…my…mate,” Bryan growled, but his eyes flickered with panic.
Steve, his own eyes narrowed, said slowly, “That is interesting for my wolf just recognized her as mine, and apparently hers recognized mine as hers. Care to explain it?”
Bryan could not explain it without first telling everyone the truth of whom his wolf recognized as his own mate years ago.
“Not anymore,” Ted said loudly reading his thoughts accurately.
“What?” Bryan snapped as his father glared at him.
“You rejected her, and marked another so technically she is no longer your mate,” Ted explained patiently.
Bryan looked at him in disbelief.
Alpha Tomas had a suspicion who his mate had been, clarified, “He is right. Once you reject a mate, then mark another as your mate, you sever the bond between you two. It probably hurts the rejected one, but over time, they can recover. The chances of him or she of having another mate is very slim, but I have heard that it is possible.”
Bryan frowned as he thought about Grace, and then he smirked for the chances of him finding another mate was much better than hers was as he was the son of one of the strongest wolf of the pack.
In his arrogance, Bryan did not see the error in what he was about to do.
He laughed with humor before he said to Steve, “Fine, you can have her. I was getting tired of her anyway; I only marked her because she was available. Besides, I thought she would be good in bed but she was a disappointment there too.”
Steve growled as Amy paled and stumbled back.
Ted heard Grace’s unintentional thought at Bryan’s words, and he smiled as he repeated it aloud, “The woman is only as good as the man she is with.”
Bryan growled and went for him as he said, “Watch it, Old Man.” Ted did not fear him, and with a twist of his leg had him lying on his back.
“Old, I may be, but I still have more experience than you, young man,” Ted said coldly.
“Bryan Samuel,” his father said coldly, “where is your manners? I understand why you marked another as your mate as I would not have approved of who your mate was if I am correct in my assumption, but you do not disrespect your elders.” His father glared at him, and Bryan lowered his head as he seethed with anger. This was all her fault. If only she had not been our mate, we would not have picked another so hastily, his wolf argued with him.
“I apologize, father,” he said getting to his feet, his black eyes reflecting his inner resolve, “Mr. Jacobs, I apologize for the disrespect I showed you.” Ted nodded his head but he kept his eyes narrowed on him.
Grace, he called.
He blames me, came back her reply.
Those words said more to Ted than anything else, and he looked at Bryan with narrowed eyes as he talked with his father. He was so focus on Bryan that he never noticed the blue-gold eyes that had focused on him.
Artur frowned as he asked his wolf, I thought…
His wolf did not have a response to him and Artur could sense his confusion as well, at what they had just learned.
“Artur,” Steve said in hard tone.
Artur looked up at him in confusion before he shook his head and asked in a calm voice, “Yes?”
Steve gave him a hooded look but did not ask any questions as he indicated the other Alpha, and Artur realized that he had missed part of the discussion.
He nodded his head noting the smirk on Bryan’s face as he refocused on what they were discussing. He looked around noticing that the young woman, Amy, had disappeared.
Steve, he started to say through the pack link.
Later, Steve interrupted and Artur could hear the anger in his voice.
Artur hid his sigh wondering what else was going to happen in this new pack and his face became a mask of indifference as he focused on the discussion pushing everything else to the back of his mind to think about later.
Chapter 2
Artur ran all out leaving everyone else behind as they patrolled the forest to the north of the pack as there had been sightings of rogues in the area. For the past three weeks, Artur could not understand the feelings running through him as his wolf paced in his mind agitated that they recognized their mate, which they both thought was impossible and it did not help that they had not seen her again since that night. Artur had believed that he and his wolf find their mate in Lana and knew how to recognize one’s mate, but the feeling he got that night had been much stronger than with Lana, and that was one thing he, or his wolf, could not understand. As Alpha Tomas said, the chances of finding a second mate were slim to none so how was it that he seemed to have another
one out there.
Slow down, Steve commanded suddenly in a low growl. Artur was unable to disobey the command more out of respect for his Alpha than the order itself. He came to a stop beside a small stream as the other patrollers from the pack caught up with him. He stared down into the running water to see his dark brown wolf with its blue-gold eyes staring back at him as the rest of the pack arrived at the stream.
What is your problem? Ever since we arrived here three weeks ago, you have been a little distracted, Steve asked coming to his side where Artur could see the reflection of a full gray wolf with brown eyes.
Nothing, he said with a low growl.
Steve did not hesitate but said to the others; continue the patrol and we will see you back at the pack house.
Yes Alpha, they chorused together and the other three wolves took off.
What is going on Artur, Steve asked.
Artur growled and laid down putting his head on his front paws.
Do you believe in the idea of second mates, Artur asked his friend.
What, Steve asked confused.
Artur sighed, at the pack meeting, my wolf recognized another’s scent and he claimed it as our mate.
Steve was quiet for a moment then he said Artur, I think that Lana would have liked the idea of you finding another mate. He gave a snort before continuing, of course as long as it did not happen while you were with her.
Artur understood what Steve was telling him, but what he did not tell him was that Lana never held true to the mate bond. Artur knew that she slept with other men before and after they mated, but he loved her enough to overlook it. Lana had loved him in her own way, but she loved men in general. She let him mark her on the condition that he allowed her to sleep with other wolves.
You knew, Steve said lying down next to him showing.
Artur lifted his head and howled as what Steve said made him realize that his Alpha, and probably the rest of the pack, knew how his mate had cheated on him.
She made that one condition before I marked her. I was so obsessed with her that I would do anything for her even live with the pain of her sleeping around. I am surprised that the pack still respected me after that.
They still respected you for the simple fact that you stood strong, and they believed that you did not know. Besides that, you could kick any of their asses, and they know it, Steve concluded.
Artur snorted as he laid his head back down on his paws. Steve laid with him for a bit then said, let us get going.
They got up and ran back to the pack house keeping their senses alert.
Once they got back to the house, they shifted and changed back into their clothes before going into the den.
“Yo, man,” said Jake, a member of the Rain Cloud Pack.
“Hi,” Steve said, and Artur just nodded his head.
“Hi, gorgeous,” a soft, seductive voice said and Artur looked around to see a sexy brunette with blue eyes standing next to him, “My name is Star, what’s yours?”
“Artur,” he said looking at Star, and thinking she could be a distraction for him tonight.
“Artur, are you as hungry as your namesake,” she purred, and Artur took her up on her invite as she pulled him into a dark corner. Steve saw them out of the corner of his eye, and he frowned. Star as she called herself, although he learned her real name was Estella, hit on him the first day they got there. Even then, though his mind was on someone else at the time …Amy, his mate, although she had not been around the pack house since the night he and his pack arrived. He headed up to his room as his wolf growled lightly in frustration, as his mate was being elusive.
Do you really blame her; Steve asked his wolf as he drew his shirt over his head.
His wolf for silent for a moment before responding lowly, No, I do not.
Grace took a cautious sniff before she eased herself out from behind the tree after Steve and his Beta took off. We want him so much…why, her wolf asked confusion in her tone.
Grace did not understand either; she figured that her chance of having another mate was slim than most because of who she was. In addition, she knew from his expression that the idea of another mate did not thrill him either.
He must have really loved his mate, she said to her wolf.
I do not know, as his wolf is not talking to me anymore than I am talking to him. I do know that he and his wolf are confused as we are and it is making them very frustrated, her wolf replied.
Grace thought for a moment then she said, so what can we do to ease his confusion.
Her wolf did not know the answer to her question although she sense Grace’s wariness because in her dormant state those last two years before her change, she felt Grace’s heartache before and after the rejection by her mate, and neither one wanted to go through that again
I do not know, her wolf finally responded softly and Grace heard the sadness in her tone.
Grace headed home, and when she was about ten miles away from her house, she stilled for she heard the thump of shoes on her porch. She frowned when she got closer and realized she knew that scent. She headed to her backyard where she had a change of clothes than walked around front to see Amy sitting on her porch swing.
“Hi Amy,” she softly, and Amy’s head came up.
“Hi Grace,” Amy said hesitatingly.
Grace saw the embarrassment on her face. “Would you like to come in,” she asked her. Amy nodded her head, and Grace led her inside where she gave her a glass of tea.
“So tell me, why did you come here?” Grace asked sitting in her favorite chair; it was where her father always sat and her mom would use the same chair to read to her.
Amy took a sip of the drink and then she put it down, “I don’t know what to do.”
Grace took a sip of her tea, and waited for Amy to explain herself.
“You know that I shifted the same time as Bryan, so when he approached me about a month later I was stunned. I had not felt anything when we touched, but he assured me that it would come as it did for him. I kept hesitating though so he decided we should take it slow so for a month, we did. When the month was over, I still was unsure but Bryan was adamant about his wolf recognizing me. When he marked me, it hurt like hell, but I assumed that was the normal.” Amy frowned at her own words, “But my mom told me recently that it should not hurt when marked by your mate, so that meant I wasn’t his true mate, but why would he lie about something like that…” her voice dying off when she glanced at Grace.
Grace read the question in her eyes and she nodded her head, “He rejected me on the same day his wolf discovered I was their mate so do not worry about it.”
Amy paled, “I am sorry, Grace.”
Grace tilted her head and asked, “For what? You did not know that I was his mate so how could you help what happened?”
Amy bit her lip as she told her honestly, “If I had known, I probably would have been quicker to give in to him.” Amy was waiting for Grace to get mad at her words, and to throw her out, so she was stunned with Grace’s reaction.
Grace began to laugh as Amy stared at her dumbfounded. Grace was laughing so hard that she was crying as Amy just stared at her. After Grace got herself under control, she said, “Amy, I did not expect you to be so honest about it. I know how everyone felt about me after my parents died. I have been dealing with isolation for almost six years now. Besides Uncle Ted, no one comes to see me; you are the first since the pack war.”
At her words, Amy started to cry and Grace sighed. She got up and walked over to where Amy sat, and comforted her.
“I didn’t know. I am so sorry,” said Amy sobbing. Grace just patted her shoulder, and did not say a word.
Then Amy gasped and Grace thought something was wrong, “What is it?”
Amy looked at her in wonder as she said, “Steve, the Alpha of Moon Star Pack, just asked me if I was all right.”
Grace looked at her in confusion, “Okay, so why would that startle you?”
Amy admitted in a sm
all voice, “Because Bryan never noticed when I cried or small things like that.”
Grace looked at her for a moment then she smiled, “I think you just answered your own question.”
Amy looked at her for moment then she realized what Grace was talking about as she realized what she said. She looked at Grace uncertainly for a moment, and then asked with hesitant voice, “Does that mean you will take Bryan back if he asks you?”
Grace shook her head with disgust, but Amy said, “You are mates.”
“We were,” Grace clarified, “but as Alpha Tomas said when he rejected me and marked you, he broke the bond that could have developed.” Grace frowned slightly as she turned to the table in front of her couch, “Although it hurt when he rejected me and marked you, with everything else going on I did not have time to think about it. Over time, the pain went away and now I feel nothing when I see him or hear his voice.”
“But it is amazing when you meet your mate,” Amy confided with a glowing smile as Grace looked at her, “I mean, when you meet your other half’s eyes and it feels as if you are frozen in time. When he touches you, you feel this charge go through you that should shock you but feels so pleasant that you want more.” Amy sighed soundlessly as Grace looked at her in confusion for she never felt anything like that, because Bryan never even gave them a chance. When they had bumped into each other that one time, she remembered the electrical charge and it had been like a shock but not a pleasant one.
All she said to Amy was, “It was a long time ago so I don’t really remember.”
Amy took what she said as the truth for she understood that Grace wanted to forget everything that happened during that time.
Grace asked, “Feeling better?”
Amy nodded her head as she watched Grace gather up their glasses, and take them into the kitchen. Amy looked around while Grace was in the kitchen, and she noticed the house was clean and airy. It looked just like it did when she use to come here when they were younger although Grace had made a few changes here and there, but it had the same overall feeling.
The Traitor's Daughter Page 2
