Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4
I stepped out of the pack house and breathed out a sigh of relief. I cursed under my breath, annoyed that I had to spend the last thirty minutes with my ex-boyfriend, who married my sister, and my mate, who has a pregnant wife.
"Ayla," I turned to the voice that called my name and Callen was walking towards me with a sympathetic smile on his face. I cursed under my breath, already anticipating his words. "Hey, we didn't get the chance to speak." Yeah, you have been avoiding me. I nodded, acting like his actions don’t affect me.
"Thank you for helping Sierra with her things." I bit my lower lip to stop myself from saying anything, I will regret.
That's why he called after me? To thank me for helping his stupid wife? "Can you say something, please?" He looked at me with this pleading, handsome, stupid face.
"Are you done?" I have better things to be doing than just standing here and listening to him spew nonsense. He slowly nodded and walked back inside the pack house.
“The moon goddess hates me,” I mumbled under my breath as I sniffled, wiped the corner of my eyes, and slowly walked away from the pack house.
Branden has taken his wife to town and back, I didn’t even know how to behave around him. He’s presence made shaky and sweaty. Branden kept looking at me with an unreadable expression. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy his stare; he’s quite good-looking. And has the right body, abs, and everything.
But how could I fully enjoy the lingering hungry stare of a married man? Seeing him with his wife made my chest tighten. I couldn’t breathe with her around.
The cool afternoon air was blowing in my face, and it calmed me down a bit, but it didn’t help with anything else. I took a deep breath, letting it fill the hollow space in my chest.
I fished my phone out of my pocket and called Tasha.
“Finally! Where are you?” she asked, grinning through the phone. This girl is alway hyper, it annoys me sometimes.
“I am in front of your house,” I said simply. “Meet me outside, and maybe we can go for a swim at the creek.”
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll bring the good stuff.” What good stuff? I chuckled and dropped the call as I thought of the first day and Tasha started being friends. It was in elementary school, and it happened that we were in the same class and we were neighbors, so we just got along.
She was so innocent when I met her; she didn’t want anything that would make her do bad things, but now she is constantly the one who is breaking the rules.
I was always the bad girl, but maybe things changed when I met Callen because he constantly wanted me to be with him and tell him what I am going or doing. That made things way less fun for me.
Tasha walked out of her house and smiled at me, waving. “You look like you need a drink,” she said, holding up a bottle.
“Or ten drinks,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
“What happened? Are you okay?” She asked with concern all over her face. I looked at her, confused about why she’s so worried.
“Nothing, why do you look so fucking concerned?” I asked, laughing at her. She smiled a bit and shoved me aside.
“I’m worried about you. Your boyfriend married your sister. I have been waiting for you to crack and cry or something, but you’ve been handling it like a pro.” I nodded, understanding where her concern is coming from.
“What they did really messed me up, but you won’t believe what happened today!” We stopped walking, and she turned to look at me with the most eager face I have ever seen. “What, what happened?”
“While helping Sierra with her things, I bumped into Callen’s hot brother,” I said, winking at her. She smiled. “The hot Alpha? What happened?” I laughed stupidly, feeling excited about the whole thing, even though I hated him a few minutes ago.
“We shared a moment, Tasha. But I’m confused, I think he's my mate, my wolf is sure that he is our mate, and I can’t stop thinking about him.”I said the last part in a much lower and unconfident tone. I don’t know what to think at this point.
“What do you mean you don’t know? We were always told that 'when you know, you know.” Tasha said, taking a sip from the bottle she had in her hand, passing it to me. I took it and sipped, trying to drown my sorrow and confusion.
“He didn’t say anything to me, and he has a wife,” I said with a disappointed look, carrying on walking. “Branden was forced by his dad to get married to that woman; she is not his mate,” Tasha said, holding my wrist so I can turn and look at her. I shrugged, confused.
“But they are married, Tasha.” She laughed and looked at me with an irritated look, as if I was being too slow. “Being married means nothing when a man has found the one that is meant for him. You are his soulmate; he will not be able to let you go.” I rolled my eyes and laughed. I started walking, still laughing at Tasha’s delusionalism.
“Tasha, he is now the Alpha. I don’t think he will want to jeopardize his position by leaving his wife, just to be with a 20-year-old.” The age gap between Branden and me is not a lot; he is 27 years old, but still, why would a mature man divorce his wife, who’s pregnant, to be with me?
“You know what, I won’t argue with you about this, but I am telling you, he will come looking for you. Are you going to the Annual hosting tomorrow?” I inwardly facepalmed myself as I thought about it.
Once every year, our pack hosts a party that everyone is welcome to attend. The purpose of this event is to celebrate the youth and give them a chance to mingle.
“I am going, just that I had forgotten about it already,” I said as we continued walking. "Maybe that's where you will get the chance to talk with Branden, pregnant women don't usually attend these kinds of events." Tasha is so evil, there is no way in hell am I sabotaging a marriage.
We were walking in silence when I got the sudden urge to shift into my werewolf form. I picked up my pace, but my body was already preparing itself. I just wanted to feel the air night cold breeze against my fur and the urge was undeniably.
I looked at Tasha, and with a shared grin, we both took off our clothes so they wouldn’t get torn up, and we had to walk home naked. Bones elongated, muscles shifted, fur sprouted in a cascade of icy white, and within heartbeats, I was on four legs, my blue eyes reflecting the silver moonlight.
The trees welcomed me, the earthy scent grounding me, each step loosening the tension in my shoulders.
The cool water of the creek called, and I leaped in, letting the current crash over me. It was freeing, exhilarating, my lungs filled with air, my chest heaving, but in a good way. The wolf inside me howled softly, a song of release, of freedom, of joy.
Tasha splashed beside me, laughing,wolf-laughter, pure and untamed, and I joined her, bounding through the water, diving under, shaking the droplets from my fur. The tension from the house, from Callen, from Branden, from everything it melted away.
We ran along the creek, paws sinking into soft mud, fur glistening in moonlight. My wolf howled again, high and proud, and Tasha followed, her howl echoing through the trees.
For the first time in hours, I felt truly myself. Sharp, playful, and free. I chased her through the water, yipped, spun, and rolled in the mud, and in that moment, nothing else existed.
Except for a faint pull at the edges of my senses, a nagging feeling I couldn’t ignore. My wolf growled softly, and I shivered. Mate.