Chapter Text
Slowly with every cycle more and more of the people around us were bonding their mates. Finding their ones and waiting for their heats to tie themselves together. Unlike the stories wolfpack hierarchy is different. Alphas are chosen carefully by the packs higher ranking members, while some are trained into their role, others like me are born in it. Packless wolves are not automatically wrongdoers. Packs openly interact with each other. Omegas aren’t treated like scum of the earth, in fact, omega just refers to a usually playful wolf that can be just as dangerous as everyone else. People acknowledge higher ranks though. Like alphas and betas, the second-in-command wolves. I was beside Xaden, I’m equally powerful and I have the skills to be a serving alpha, but I wasn’t interested in a leadership role.
I was interested in a mate. I wanted mine forever and I found him in Xaden Riorson. Xaden who I had to chase, Xaden who’d nip and snarl when I got too close, Xaden who acted like he didn’t want me. I only let myself believe that was true when I showed up at his door with a message, to find Violet Sorrengail in the doorway in nothing but his shirt. I sent the message but that shit hurt. It seemed like the others; Garrick, Liam, Bodhi, Imogen, and Dain wouldn’t look too long until Xaden did. Dain only got in because he was attached at the hip to Violet. I had no way into what should have been my circle. So, I stopped following Xaden Riorson. I stopped lingering in the woods to catch glimpses of his dark fur and light undercoat. I stopped randomly popping in to check on the white wolf that was Liam Mairi. I started venturing out more on my own and trying to pull away from the pain and find my balance. If I was going to be a mateless wolf, then so be it.
Lingering at the boundary lines as a wolf instead of a human is the reason I met Aaric Graycastle and actually forgot that it was the start of heat season.
I needed space because I had unintentionally tried to maul Garrick. He had been a bit too engaging at the wrong time. Apparently, all the elders agreed that we needed dirt under our paws. I suppose my aggression was the first time I started showing the effects of trying to pull myself away from my destined ones. And maybe Garrick felt it. So, as it turns out Violet had taken to trying to find a middle ground with me when I just wanted to be left alone. Sometimes she tries to act like were close when I don’t like her at all.
I was messing around with my younger brother, and I caught a rabbit. He playfully nipped and I snorted in amusement. But then the small silver wolf came over and tried to grab it. She should have known better. My hair was on end instantly and I dropped it to snarl, making sure that my teeth were bared viscously. Her eyes, a mix of hazel and pale blue widened and she retreated a few steps. She was startled but I want her scared. She may be the daughter of another alpha, but I am one by nature, and she clearly isn’t. She’s earned no respect from me. It was clear that she was Xaden’s luna in the making and I didn’t think I could tolerate it.
Garrick came trotting over and my brother peeled off because he can see the way my entirely black fur puffed out in aggression. Tavis comes to stand between us a big muscular wall of black and brown fur and my growl deepened to show that I was willing to fight him too. I hold his gaze and stand tall like the alpha I am.
Serving beta or not, I flew at him a mass of black hate that had everyone backing off in unease. And I think what really rattled them all, was that I went for his throat. I went for my mate's throat like I didn’t care whether he lived or died. It was a mess. His father had to pull me off by the scruff of the neck because Xaden couldn’t get me to budge. But I wanted blood and had to be pinned down while a shaken-up Garrick was escorted away. Jonathan Tavis wouldn’t budge until I stopped snarling, and it took twenty minutes. When I stopped but still showed absolutely no hint of submission, he realized that he couldn’t keep me there forever and let me up, demanding that I walk it off.
I didn’t walk anything off, I fucking sprinted. I could hear paws behind me, but they were too light to be his. I only sped up and the results of those twenty minutes told me who was chasing. Bodhi Durran, one of mine, and the only one who could keep up with me. Were nearly the same size but my ever so slightly smaller build meant that I’m the slightest bit more agile. I hit the river separating our territory and the next packs, I sailed across the water with ease and landed on the other side like it wasn’t hard at all. When I turned, Bodhi was watching me from the other side, his dark brown fur rustling in the breeze. He wouldn’t cross and take the chance of disrupting our neighbors, but I can hear his whine over the running water. I ignored it, turning tail, and sauntering off.
I just lazed around the edges trying to cool off and hoped my brother, Eden took the rabbit. No one else deserved it. I was twenty-four at the time, I knew I really could break off if I wanted and maybe visit the human lands. I catch a scent. It’s the nicest scent, I can’t tell what it is but it’s intoxicating and before I know it, I was following my nose. It led me to a man sitting against a tree, messing around with something in his hands. I stopped across from him unnoticed when I realized that he was mine. My mate. Another one but it’s different. For a moment I thought in disappointment, that he belonged to the others too. But when he suddenly looked up at me with striking green eyes, I knew that he was just for me. It’s rare but I had gotten myself a private bond. Someone that belonged just to me. His skin is fair; his thick lashes are the same color as his sandy brown hair. He’s muscular but on the leaner side.
He’s…not happy to see me standing there. A ruffled black wolf that could be mistaken for a shadow. I don’t move an inch. I didn’t do anything. But his neutral expression falls into a scowl, and his eyes are cold. “Gods, a chain?”
That’s what I am. A chain. A mate no one wants. I’m too big and sometimes mistaken for a male when I’m shifted. I’m too…dominant when what most males want is flirty and submissive. My ears drooped in disappointment, but I still had to try. I took on a submissive posture and approached him like that. It didn’t help. He lifted his chin and bared his teeth, revealing elongated fangs. Vampire. But he still smells wolf.
“Shoo.”
I knew that if I left, I was done. So, I took another step. He pulled` his knee back towards him as if ready to kick me and someone’s voice cuts through the tension.
“Cam!”
Camlaen? As in Camlaen Tauri. The second son of Alpha Tauri but the first in line to the vampiric coven. And he’s rejecting me without even trying.
“Go away, dog.”
With a huff I turn tail, my eyes watering. I was so tired. I hated it all.
That night, I sunk into my mother’s arms sobbing. I told my parents about everything. How much being unwanted my circle was getting to me and about Camlaen Tauri, who’s since changed his name to the one his mother gave him and took her last name, Aaric Graycastle, when it was decided that he would become her covens next leader. He was rumored to be prophetic making him the most viable for the role. And he literally shooed me away like I meant nothing.