Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Naomi
One month after leaving and Daisy still hasn’t spoken to me. I’m not sure if she’s awake or not but I know she’s in there somewhere. The longer she’s gone, the more feral I become especially without a pack. Pushing her does nothing though so I can only do what I have to do to survive.
Crossing into another pack’s territory isn’t something I meant to do. Sniffing the ground and losing track of where I was is all my fault too. “Look, Grace, look! A trespassing rouge!” I snap my head up and see a patrol of wolves, three fully grown mentors with three trainees.
I let out a defensive growl and back away while they approach me. They start to circle me and return my growl. “What are you doing on our territory, rouge?” The wolf named Grace asks.
I lower my ears and glare at the wolves. I haven’t seen any pack wolves in the whole month I’ve been alone so I feel insecure. Because I don’t answer the question, a bigger male wolf snarls and gets into my face. “Shift, rogue !Our Beta and Alpha are coming so you better have answers.”
I snap at him making him step back. I continue to growl but knowing the Beta and Alpha are coming makes me feel uneasy. I could easily fight my way out of this, but I don’t want to hurt the little ones.
I put my clothes down. “Back off!” I finally growl before I start to shift. They give me space as I go into Daisy’s form. Once I’m human, I pull the clothes over to hide my naked frame and glare at them.
“Can’t we just fight? I wanna fight!” One of the little ones yips in protest. From their size, I can only assume they’re twelve years old.
“No, Raven!” Grace growls to her. “That would be putting you and your two littermates in danger. No fighting until you learn how to defend yourselves!” That makes me feel much better about not fighting back now.
I hear the sound of leaves crunching and my anxiety starts to spike. I just need to tell them the truth, it was an honest mistake on my end. They slide to a halt and I feel them staring at me. I let out another growl and turn my glare on them.
One of them has black hair and amber eyes, but my gaze locks with the other. His scent reaches my nose and I immediately know what this means. “Mate.” We both say together startling the other wolves.
Tristian pales in comparison to this man. He has a dark complexion that makes his dark red hair and ice-blue eyes stand out more. I sense his wolf too and immediately know his name: Ash. I sense a deep longing in him so I have a feeling I’m his second chance mate.
The man walks over to me taking off his jacket. He pauses when I let out a weary growl but then continues. He puts the jacket around me and looks into my eyes. “Are you alright?” His voice is as smooth as his scent.
I stare at him before nodding. “Yes… I am.” I say and he helps me up making sure the jacket is snapped in place to hide my body. “I apologize for crossing the border. I didn’t mean to… though I can’t say I don’t care about it now.”
My mate blinks before chuckling. “I’m sure you don’t. I’m Aiden. I assume you’re my mate’s wolf, correct?” Of course, he can tell the difference. He’s a strong Alpha for sure.
“I am. I’m Naomi. My human goes by Daisy, but she’s rather… broken because of what happened to her.” I explain and Aiden’s eyes darken flashing a dark brown. Ash doesn’t like the sound of that. “I will tell you, but not out here.” I glare at the other wolves and step closer to my mate.
“Ah!” Aiden rubs the back of his neck and grins sheepishly. Even his smile is so much better than Tristian’s. “Then come with me. Peter, help this patrol while I go back. I’d like some time alone with Naomi.”
Peter, his Beta, hesitates before nodding. “Of course. Just stay safe.” He eyes me for a moment before going to the patrol. I can tell that he doesn’t trust me as I’m a rouge, but he listens and trusts his Alpha. I can tell they have a great friendship.
1/2
Chapter 25
With that, Aiden and I start to walk. I look around quietly and feel a nice calm in this territory. Is that why I crossed the border without meaning to?
+20
Aiden clears his throat and looks at me. “You seem like a former pack wolf. Do you mind if I ask what happened?” He’s extra careful and nervous. I enjoy this personality much more than stupid arrogance.
“It’s alright. We were former pack members, yes. Our mate rejected her and she accepted. Then I saw no honor in his wolf so I rejected him while rejecting the pack.” Aiden’s eyes widen in surprise. “Let’s just say they treated Daisy poorly. Believed her to be an Omega and blamed her for her birth too.” I shake my head and let out a small growl deep in my throat. “There was nothing else for me in that pack so I left. That’s all.”
Aiden glares ahead of us and lets out his deep growl. “I see. He was blind then, that former mate of yours. I can tell you’re amazing already and I hardly know you.” He looks at me and his eyes soften. “I’m sorry you both went through that. I understand if you don’t accept me right away.”
I’m pleased with his compassion. Aiden is better suited for Daisy indeed. “Thank you. I hope she wakes up soon. Her failed attempt led to this…” I see him clench his fists and I know he gets what I mean.
“What… drove her to that?” His voice is gruff and angry. Ash must be struggling to take over. “What did they do to her?”
I sigh and look forward. I’m sorry, Daisy, but he needs to know how hard this could be for him. “She was heavily abused all her life, by her family especially. Beaten down, dreaming of her mate only to be rejected… and then she was raped. And the pack doctor didn’t believe it when she told him like she was a common…”
A sudden and loud crack makes me jump and I walk as a tree falls to the ground. Aiden’s hand is bloody and I quickly take it looking it over. When I look up at him, his eyes are dark brown. “Ash…” I whisper and his eyes flash when he focuses on me.
“Who did it?” Ash growls low. I shiver at his tone and look away shaking my head. I honestly don’t know. I recently got my strength back too. “Damn it…” he growls and his hand trembles with rage.
“Ash please…” I soothe and he takes a deep breath. “I accept you, Ash.” He tenses and looks down at me. “You’re already an amazing wolf. I can’t wait to learn more. It will be hard for Daisy… but I believe it will work out.” I kiss his bloody fist. “Let’s go and get you fixed up. Ok?”
Ash stares deep into my eyes. I want to know their story and share their pain too. In time I know I will. He leads me to his pack and I take a deep breath. No… our pack. This is my pack now too.
