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Sarge lifted his head to the moon that was still present in the sky and howled before taking off into the woods for the morning run. Other howls sounded around us. This was precisely how I imagined it would be when I ran with Sarge. He stretched out close to the ground, his big paws pounding the earth as he raced through the woods.
Wolves tried to keep up with him as he ran full speed. I sensed the excitement through our bond as we left the other wolves in the dust. We came around the bend, slowing just a little as another wolf came up beside us and nipped our flanks. Sarge turned on the grey and white wolf, pinning him to the ground until we realized this wolf could only be Sawyer.
Shifting back to my human form, the grey wolf did as well. “Damn! Sarge doesn’t take any crap. Torak and I weren’t expecting that!”
Chuckling, I took in my surroundings. I was sure there were other wolves in the area. Yet, I still wasn’t too sure about standing here naked as a jaybird. Yes, I was self-conscious. “Yeah, well, if you would have let us know it was you, we wouldn’t have attacked you.”
Sawyer laughed, slapping his knee with his hand; he looked back up to me, still smiling. “Nolen, that’s the whole point. You both were so in sync that you didn’t even realize I was coming. That can be bad and good. You have to be careful out there, bud.”
“I understand, but Sarge has been waiting to go run for years.” Glancing around the woods, I tried to ensure that no other wolf was around us. But I couldn’t find a scent or sight of anything.
“So, you want to race back and see who is faster?” Sawyer nudged me with a grin. I turned my attention to him and nodded. We both shifted and took off, running back to the packhouse.
Training only kept my mind off Amora while I was engaged with it. If I was studying or doing anything else, my mind drifted off to her. What was she doing? Did she miss me as much as I missed her? That would be a no because she didn’t even realize I was her mate. Yet. It had been a month since my birthday, and I had told my parents Amora was my fated mate.
My mother had shouted with joy, knowing I would not be alone in running the pack one day. My father and his beta had let me drink with them. Telling me the stories of how they’d found their mates. I asked them to keep it quiet since she was still too young to feel the mate bond. Sarge whined in my head, and I swore he was a pup when it came to her.
After that month, I couldn’t stand the whining anymore. So, I decided to go see her on one of my off days. I shifted, and we ran all the way to the Quartzite pack. Making it to the border I snuck in. Keeping aware of my surroundings, I made my way through the grounds. That’s when I inhaled her scent. I turned to my left, and other scents mingled with hers as I made my way to her.
I couldn’t believe my luck making it this far without being found by the patrols. Coming to the tree line, I spotted her sitting beside the lake her friends were swimming in. Sitting down at the edge, I gazed at her. She wore a blue bikini that covered the essentials, but damn, did it show off her curves. The sun-bronzed her skin, making it glow. Something glittered near her navel; she must have gotten it pierced. The anxiety from not seeing her in a month disappeared, my tail wagging in the dirt.
See, this does us good. We should come more often. Sarge told me as we stared at her through his eyes.
If we come too often, people are going to start to notice.
Sarge snorted, causing a few of the she-wolves to turn in our direction, Amora being one of them. She started to stand up, and that is when I knew we had to get out of there. Taking over because I knew Sarge would have just sat there, I turned us around and fled. Running back to my pack, wondering when I would see her again.
Amora
I thought I heard something in the woods. Getting up, I crept to the tree line. I must have been imagining the aroma. Ever since I left after Nolen’s birthday, I had this nagging feeling I was leaving something behind. I checked my bag multiple times and even ensured I had my phone. When I got to the tree line, his scent floated to me in the wind; I swear my mind was playing tricks on me.
Laughing to myself, I recalled when he’d jumped off the stairs outside of the packhouse and shifted in midair. I thought he was going to face plant on the concrete below, but when I got to the railing, his massive wolf stood there as the clothing rained down upon him. He had to be a show-off, and when he’d howled, I had felt it in my bones. Nolen had taken off as his beta shifted and ran after him; Sawyer even went after them. Boys always have to show off in front of a girl.
Turning back to my friends, I realized they were starting to play around in the water. Sighing, I went back to my spot and sat down. My gaze kept returning to the tree line; something inside of me wanted to follow his scent. Thinking this would have been easier away from him was only a lie. He stayed with me wherever I went.
My mother had started my Luna training two days after returning to the packhouse. I mean, it wasn’t that hard, but it was a little redundant. It also cut into my training to fight, which upset me more because it made me have to work harder to catch back up the following day. If I was mated to an alpha, I hoped I would be in on the exciting stuff.
I hated not sitting in on the meetings that Sawyer got to, but luckily I still got to train with the other wolves, which was a nice break away from my mother, since she had Danika to teach as well. I couldn’t be one of those Lunas like my mother who wanted nothing to do with war talk.
So now here I was, imaging Nolen’s scent was near me. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I got up, grabbing my bag and towel. “Hey, Sarah, I’m gonna head back to the packhouse, Okay?”
Sarah waved to me, showing me she heard me, and I left. I couldn’t stay there and smell that scent. It was overwhelming and made me sort of sad. I had gotten used to his scent and often would sneak into the bedroom that he’d stayed in to help me calm down.
“Hey, Amora!”
Turning, I saw Sam, one of the pack warriors that had been tailing me ever since Nolen turned eighteen. I sighed and quickened my pace to try to keep away from him. He would always stop me and try to persuade me to go out with him.
I had tried to tell my dad, but he had more important things to deal with. I had almost made it to the steps of the packhouse when he caught up with me. “Hey! Did you not hear me?”
I turned around to face him and glared at him. “Yes, I did, but I do not want to speak with you at this time, Sam. I don’t want to go on a date with you, nor do I want to spend time with you. So please leave me alone.”
“Are you still stuck on Nolen? He isn’t even part of our pack, and when he shifted, he didn’t claim you or anyone as his mate. You know the rumors going around, and if they’re true, it means his bloodline will die out.” His eyes held contempt for me, and I didn’t care at the moment.
“Yeah, well, I don’t care! Leave me alone.” Turning, I stomped off up the stairs to the packhouse doors. I passed my brother, who stood staring at Sam at the front doors as I refused to talk to him. When I made it into the house, Sawyer hadn’t followed me, but at this point, I had no care in the world. Making my way to my bedroom, I slowed as I went by Nolen’s old room. His scent was slowly being replaced by the omegas that cleaned the packhouse, which was expected since I had no reason to keep them out of the room.
I finally made it to my room when Sawyer got to the top of the stairs. The way he was staring at me told me it would be in my best interest not to go into my room. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood a little taller. Rolling my eyes, I copied him. “What, Sawyer?”
“When were you going to tell me about him not leaving you alone after you told him to?” Sawyer scowled at me, and it made me furious that he thought I couldn’t take care of my own problems. I mean, damn, I wasn’t a little pup anymore; I was one of the fiercest she-wolves in training right now.
