Chapter 3

Aubrey screeched to a stop a few feet behind her mate, giving herself some seconds to catch her breath. She couldn’t tell which werewolf she was looking at, but she knew that in a matter of seconds, she would know for sure.

“Hey,” she said in a friendly voice so as not to startle the werewolf.

He turned around immediately at the sound of her voice and Aubrey almost shed her fur in shock when she saw who it was. “You?”

Eric didn’t seem surprised at all to see her. If anything, he looked annoyed. “Yeah, me,” he said dryly.

“I don’t understand. I thought—I mean, I smelled…I thought I smelled…” Aubrey sputtered.

“A mate?” Eric replied sarcastically. “Yeah, me too. Imagine my horror when I followed my nose to the river and found you lying there.”

“Oh gosh! No way. This can’t be happening. It shouldn’t be you,” Aubrey said, refusing to believe this cruel joke that fate was playing on her.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I am your mate,” Eric said bitterly.

“That’s impossible!” Aubrey exclaimed. “You’re not even an Alpha.”

“Tell that to the fate that chose us to be mates. I didn’t make the rules.”

“Never! I won’t accept this,” Aubrey said, enraged. “Of all the promising, well-mannered Alphas with good pedigree out there, I am supposed to settle for you? A no-class, basic Beta werewolf like you? Never!”

Eric felt his temper rise with every word that came out of her ferocious mouth. “Now you listen to me, Miss-I’m-Too-Good-For-Everyone-Aubrey. I didn’t choose to be your mate and I can’t explain how this ridiculousness happened, but I will not tolerate another disrespectful tirade from you. One more insult from you and I’ll knock you out cold and damn the consequences.”

“Of course, you’re the type to hit females,” she countered coldly.

“No, I am not, but if you push me beyond my limit, I’ll make an exception tonight. So, zip it and leave me alone. Go away!”

“Don’t you dare yell at me,” she growled.

“Then leave. I want to be alone,” he said and turned his back on her again.

Something in his gesture of defeat quenched her fury. No matter how angry she was at him, she had to admit to herself that this new development wasn’t his fault. He was just as surprised as she was to discover that they were mates. Not all werewolves were lucky to find a mate; some had to rely on the Chief or the elders in their family to choose a partner for them. But here she was, with a mate, albeit one she didn’t want, feeling miserable when many other she-wolves hoped to experience this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. Ok, so this is a rarity, but why did she have to be paired with this one? Why?

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that. I was…stunned.”

“Doesn’t excuse your rudeness,” Eric replied without turning around. “Just leave me alone, please.”

Aubrey didn’t leave. Instead, she sat where she was, thinking. Was there any way to fix this glitch? Was it something her father could change? Which of their werewolf ancestors was responsible for this madness?

“Look, we need to find a way to figure this thing out,” Aubrey said reasonably.

“I don’t know which realm you’re operating from, but in this one, being each other’s mates means that we’re fated to be partners for life. You get it? It’s a for-all-eternity kinda deal.”

Aubrey groaned.

“I know, right,” Eric said, understanding her response.

“I didn’t know Alphas and Betas could be mated,” she said, confused.

“Neither did I. There must be a glitch in the werewolf ancestry system,” he said.

“Exactly what I was thinking!”

“Aw, please! Don’t tell me you can read my mind too,” Eric moaned theatrically.

“Probably comes with the package,” she mused.

They burst out laughing at the same time. “This is weird,” Eric said, turning to face her again. “Anything else we have in common?”

She thought for a moment, then smiled. “We’re both sexy as hell,” she said flirtatiously.

“I won’t argue with that,” he said and stood up. “So, what now? What are we going to do about this…this mate situation?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, tell my dad. He’d be very surprised for sure.”

“Something just occurred to me now.”

“What?”

“What if you and Ryan had officially been mated tonight and then this happened? What would you have done?”

Aubrey thought about it, and she was horrified at how awful the situation would have been if she had married Ryan tonight, only for her to discover that his cousin was her true mate. “It would have been a disaster for sure,” she said, shaken by the bizarre thought.

They remained silent for several minutes, deep in their individual thoughts. The sounds of night creatures around them created a sort of soundtrack to their thinking. While Aubrey marveled at the strange possibility that Eric was her lifelong mate, Eric couldn’t get over the fact that the haughty, anti-social Aubrey was the werewolf he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with.

He sighed.

She looked at him. “What?”

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this,” he said.

“We can’t keep mulling over this forever. The sooner we tell my dad about it, the sooner we can move forward with our lives.”

“Jeez, you’re so eager to get married, aren’t you?” Eric said bitingly.

“Excuse me? Did I say anything about getting married?”

“Then why are you in a hurry to run off to Gary to break the news to him when you know what his reaction might be, and tonight of all nights.”

Aubrey saw red. “I don’t know what you’re trying to insinuate, but I’m the one who should be worried here, not you!”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I am the Alpha Luna who now has the misfortune of possibly being married to a mere Beta when I can have my pick of any Alpha with premium pedigree out there. I am the catch here, not you. You should be grateful for your sudden good fortune.”

Eric bared his fangs and growled. “You fucking narcissistic, foul-mouthed bitch! You think you’re all that and more when you’re just a miserable, lonely, broken werewolf who enjoys hurting others just so you can feel good about yourself.”

His words hit a nerve and before Aubrey could stop herself, she dove at him and knocked him to the ground. Her unexpected attack caught him off guard and for a few seconds, he was confused, but when he saw her sharp teeth coming for his hide, he sprang into action. Eric rolled away from her, and her fangs missed his neck by a hair’s breadth. She came after him again, all teeth and claws in an attempt to rip him to pieces. He met her halfway in the air, pushing her to the ground and pinning her in place with his strong paws. They were panting into each other’s faces, eyes blazing with fury, teeth bared, and tempers crackling.

“Get off me,” she growled menacingly.

“Only if you agree not to come at me again. What the hell was that?”

“What do you think it was? Did you expect me to just stand there and listen to you talk crap about me?”

“I was only giving you a taste of your own medicine.”

“Then get off and let me finish what I started,” Aubrey growled. She was in the mood to fight him to death.

“That’s enough, Aubrey. I don’t want to fight you. I know you think being an Alpha female means you’re stronger than me, but trust me, it doesn’t work that way. I could kill you right now without much effort, so stop testing me.”

“Get off!”

“I’m warning you, Aubrey. Don’t try to attack me again. Betas are just as strong as Alphas, so stop trying to prove a stupid point.”

“I said, get off!”

Eric hesitated for a second, then he let her go. Immediately she broke free, she lunged at him again but this time around, he was prepared. He pushed her off with so much force that she flew away and crashed into a tree about ten feet away from where he stood. She landed on the ground with a hard thud and remained motionless. Eric’s anger disappeared once he saw what he had done. He ran the short distance to where she lay breathing heavily.

“Aubrey, are you ok?” he asked, worried. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Leave me alone,” she said without looking at him.

“Are you hurt? Let me see—"

“Don’t touch me!” she snarled at him, swatting his paw away as he tried to probe her side to see if she was injured.

She rolled over, turning her back to him, and then she shapeshifted back to her naked human form. “You have proved your point, now go away.”

Eric sighed dejectedly. “I am very sorry for what just happened, Aubrey. I’m not violent by nature. I was just trying not to get hurt by you, but I guess I overdid it. I’m sorry.”

“Please, leave me alone, Eric,” she said quietly. “I need to be alone.”

Aside from her bruised ego, she was ashamed of how she had behaved this evening. This was the same Eric she already owed an apology to for the way she treated him the last time they were together, and here she was, insulting him again and attacking him like a wild dog. When did she become like this?

Aubrey began to sob softly. She needed to find a better outlet for all the anger trapped inside of her. Lashing out at people or being rude was not the solution.

A warm human hand rested on her shoulder before she heard Eric’s voice again.

“I am so, so sorry, Aubrey,” he said remorsefully. “I shouldn’t have hit you, no matter what. Please, forgive me.”

“I’m not crying about that,” she said dismissively. “Why are you still here? I thought I told you to leave me alone?”

“I can’t leave you alone. At least not now that you’re hurt.”

“I’m not hurt,” she snapped.

“Well, let me see for myself and be sure,” he insisted.

She felt his warm hands on her back, fingers splayed and pressing her skin gently in search of bruises or fractured bones. As he continued his delicate probe on her back and ribs, she felt herself gradually being turned on. She knew she should tell him to stop now, but she didn’t because honestly, she was enjoying his soft touch.