“I am not your mate!”
Even as I growl the words, the skin on my forearm itches and
I can practically feel the mating mark take hold.
Fuckin’ fates. Despite everything I’ve endured I should have
known they weren’t done screwing with me yet.
The wolf who sat across from me might have been beautiful
once, if not for the trio of scars that bisected his face from cheekbone to
chin, and the fact that the chair he was sitting in had large wheels mounted
beside the motor that sat under the seat. His fingers tapped the joystick
mounted beside his left hand and the chair inched forward, closing the gap
between us. He was missing the tip of one finger and the one beside it appeared
twisted and gnarled, like it had started heeling before being properly attended
to.
I didn’t know where to look so I scanned the room for the
nearest exit, trying to come up with a backup plan now that my original one had
blown up in my face, only this had been my last ditch, hail Mary attempt at
happiness and now…
Now I was just simply screwed.
I’d come here to find my mate and I’d found him, but this
wasn’t the mate I’d dreamed of. This wasn’t the wolf who’d run beside me
beneath the moonlight or stalk the woods with me on a long and grueling hunt. This
wolf would never be able to pin me down and control me when everything grew
chaotic, and the memories fought to take control and drive me insane. This wolf
was the furthest thing from what I’d envisioned and judging from the way his
eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“What is all the commotion in here!” A voice hissed from the
doorway, cutting off my escape.
The only other one lay past the man in the chair, and I
wasn’t sure that I could make that leap, even if I shifted to wolf.
“I found our mate,” the man in the chair replied, his voice
rough, cold, and devoid of emotion. “He is less than pleased with the
prospect.”
The man who approached had eyes like emeralds in a storm and
easily dwarfed my five-foot six-inch form. I’d been born the runt of my litter
and had never been able to catch up, a fact my siblings had constantly reminded
me of every time they’d smothered me with their attempts to ‘help’ and
‘protect’ me. It was one of many reasons I’d become a loner and staunchly
avoided returning to my home territory. There were only so many good intentions
one could handle before their sense of self began eroding. Couple that with a
particular wolf who’d made it his life mission to make my life hell, and I had
more than enough reason to remain in the lower forty-eight and away from my
native Alaska.
“He’s mistaken,” I snapped, feigning a haughtiness I didn’t
feel.
The itching had turned to burning and my forearm ached
though I refused to rub it. That alone would give away the ruse I was about to
attempt.
“There were others in here before I arrived, surely, it’s
one of them. I am already mated. He’ll be expecting me back at his side. If
you’ll excuse me, I’d better find him before he comes looking for me. He can be
rather protective. I’d hate for a misunderstanding to lead to someone getting
hurt.”
I expected that to be the end of it, but the big man in the
doorway didn’t move and the one in the chair inched closer, forcing me to try
and sidestep around him.
“What is the name of this so-called mate?” the one in the
chair growled, his tone hostile and challenging.
I licked my lips and opened my mouth to speak, only to have
my mind go blank when I realized that his eyes, in addition to the rest of his
features, aside from the scars, matched that of the one in the doorway.
Twins.
Damn fate was testing me.
It had been my secret fantasy to be mated to twins. It was
the only time, within our society, that a mating bond was shared between three
rather than the usual pairing. Now here was that fantasy come to life in the
form of a nightmare, and I couldn’t even stammer out a name to complete my lie.
The one in the doorway was rolling up his sleeve to reveal
swirls of blue and silver twisting in interlocking whirls. It was only about
four inches now, but time and proper bonding would see it expand from wrist to
elbow and wrap around the arm completely.
“There is a simple enough way to prove he’s wrong,” the one
in the doorway challenged. “Show us your arm.”
The one in the chair shoved at the loose material of his
Henley, soon revealing a scarred arm bearing the matching design, only his was
on the opposite arm as his brothers, more fuel for the wolfen myth that twins
were two halves of the same soul.
Shucking off my leather jacket, I was grateful for the long
sleeves beneath and the way their eyes were drawn to the material, soul focus
on seeing skin revealed.
Too bad.
Fur was all they were getting.
I shifted in a blur of fluff and tangled clothes, a reminder
that it had been far too long since anyone had brushed me. I’m sure it was
matted in places and in desperate need of being tended to, but there was little
opportunity for grooming when one lived in the woods. Bolting left, I leapt, back
legs somewhat hindered by the jeans that had ensnared them. It meant I didn’t
get the height I’d hoped for, and instead, barely cleared the windowsill before
my front paws struck glass. Would have broken them both if the glass had been
bulletproof, as it was, it hurt like hell breaking it out without all the force
I’d intended to generate.
Outside, I shook off the glass, put my front paws on the
inside of the long-sleeved t-shirt that still clung to me, and held it still
while I withdrew my head from the neck hole. Finally free from all
entanglements I took off at a frantic, breakneck pace, heart hammering, wolf
whining because he’d sensed mates and now we were fleeing from the very
ones we’d come here to find.
These weren’t my woods. My lack of familiarity with them
meant that I reached the edge of the ravine before I realized I was about to
fall. Skidding, paws flailing, I rolled tail over snout down the hill, striking
small branches and painful rocks on my path to the bottom. Landing with a
squelching splat in mud and standing water sucked, the swarm of mosquitos I
stirred up taking great pleasure in siphoning my blood. Dizzy and disoriented I
staggered to my feet only to trip over my own paws and land snout first in the
mud again. This time, I lay there until the world stopped spinning, then inched
deeper into the muck, crawling towards the churning river that lay several feet
away.
The plan was to swim across it and emerge much cleaner on
the other side, find a rabbit or waterfowl for dinner then search for a path
out of this valley and as far away from Ghost Hollow Pack territory as I could
possibly get, but the universe had other plans for me. The cold was a shock to
my system, drenching my fur and making it difficult to make any headway, while
the current was swifter than I imagined, and spun me like a saucer as it
carried me away.
Fate was truly kicking my ass today.
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