160, Projectile

160, Projectile
Nash
I was happy we were going home. There was a long list of things we needed to do, and I was eager to start the work. When I first met Tite, she nagged me about how impactful some of her suggested changes could be. I hadn’t listened, and even when I began to pay attention, I didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t until the weeks we spent in the pack that I grasped what she meant by loyalty being more than just grand gestures. The way the pack worked together and supported each other, even in small matters, was eye-opening and inspirational. I couldn’t wait to create our own version of it. We stood in front of the pack house and said goodbye to Tite’s family.
“We will be there when it’s time,” Amber told Tite as they hugged.
“You are welcome, I will even let you bring this giant,” Tite said, giving her brother a playful shove.
“Hey! I’m still your Alpha, pygmy wolf,” he objected, catching her in a bear hug. Both siblings laughed. When Tite moved on to her father, Amber caught me in a hug. I smiled and hugged her back.
“I’m looking forward to visiting your pack,” she told me.
“We will be more than happy to have you anytime,” I said. I shook hands with both Ulf and Jacob. I knew Tite felt a little sad about leaving her old pack, but I also sensed that she shared my excitement about creating a pack of our own. We had decided that Tite would drive the first part. She was walking towards the bike while I exchanged a few last words with her father. The rest of our group was ready to go and were getting on their bikes. From the corner of my eye, I saw something moving towards Tite. It was moving too fast for me to see what it was, I only knew it was human-sized and heading towards my mate. I threw myself at Tite as I drew my gun and shot twice at the object. Tite was not defenceless and had used her magic to push back against it, causing it to bounce off an invisible wall and move backwards. It slowed down enough for me to get a good look at it. The object was Mara. She looked wild, with her hair standing in all directions and a snarl on her face. She stumbled backwards, and when she stopped moving, she stood hunched over, her hands in front of her with claws out. Satisfaction filled me as I saw two spots on her right shoulder staining her pink blouse red. My shots had been true.
“You fucking shot me!” she growled loudly. I had taken a stance between her and Tite, with my gun pointing at Mara. Everyone around us seemed shocked.
“What the everlasting fuck are you doing, woman?!” Tite’s dad bellowed. If he had looked intimidating before, he looked downright terrifying at that moment.
“He shot me!” Mara growled again.
“And I will do it again if you move towards Tite,” I told her. She sneered at me.
“It’s like paper cuts,” she said. I shrugged. Fuck if I cared. It had at least annoyed her.
“Why the fuck did you attack my daughter?” Jacob asked as he stormed up to where she stood. He closed his hand around her throat and pushed her against the wall of the pack house. She might have been strong and powerful to me, a mere human, but she had nothing against Jacob, an Alpha. He lifted her by his grip on her throat until her feet dangled in the air. “Answer me!” he growled. Tite stepped out from behind me. I tried to stop her, but she batted my hand away and walked up to her father. She placed her hand over his that was holding Mara.
“She won’t be able to answer you if she can’t breathe,” she calmly said. Her father grumbled and growled but released his grip on Mara’s throat. She landed with a thud on her feet, wheezing and trying to catch her breath.
“I’m your mate!” she told Jacob.
“I don’t fucking care who you are, if you try to hurt my pup, I will kill you,” he told her.
“It’s her fault Kendra had to leave the pack!” Mara did her best to shout, but it came out hoarse and low.
“No,” Ulf said as he joined his father and sister in front of Mara. “The situation Kendra is in is all thanks to Kendra, no one else. If you’re looking for someone to blame who isn’t your daughter, it should be you,” he continued.
“What?” she shrieked. This time it was a successful scream.
“You have belittled humans and all other species for as long as I can remember. You even criticised our mom, your Luna, when she was still alive. Is it really that strange that Kendra leaned into her human side? The more you tried to get her to ignore it, the more she wanted to embrace it,” Ulf told her.
“But she is a wolf!”
“Trust me, she is just as much human. I am both a wolf and a witch. I don’t always show my witch,” Ulf said, and Tite snorted. “Okay, I barely show him, but he is there, and I recognise him. You can’t ignore half of who you are and think you will be fine.”
“No! It’s her fault!” Mara shouted and tried to dash for Tite again. I anticipated it and pulled Tite back behind me, raising my gun again. Simultaneously, as I fired the first shot, Jacob pushed his hand against Mara’s chest. She flew into the wall behind her, sporting a new bullet wound in her other shoulder.
‘You can stop shooting her, it won’t kill her,’ Tite mindlinked me.
‘I know, but it does slow her down, and it hurts her,’ I answered. Tite smiled and kissed my cheek.
“I have had enough of you,” Jacob told Mara. “Mating with you was the worst decision I ever made. It truly shows how screwed up you get after losing your true mate. Not only have I suffered all these years, but my pups have as well. I am rejecting you,” he growled. Mara’s eyes widened, and all the werewolves around us gasped.
“N-no, you can’t,” Mara stuttered and tried to reach for him. Jacob shrugged off her hands.
“I, Jacob Ulvhamn, reject you, Mara Ulvshamn, as my mate. Our souls are no longer bound as one. We do not walk the same path,” he told her. Mara screamed and clutched her chest, Jacob took a step back and looked pale.
“Dad!” Tite exclaimed and ran around me to get to him. He tried to smile at her and put his hand on her cheek.
“It’s okay, moonpie. I’m okay,” he said.
“You are not okay,” she objected.
“It isn’t as bad as when I lost your mother. The bond to Mara was never strong, and it has become frail in the last year. I’ll be fine when I get some rest.”
“Should we stay another week?” Tite asked.
“No, no. You two have things to do. Your brother and Amber will keep an eye on me,” Jacob said. Tite looked at him for a while. I would stay another week or another month if it made her less worried. She nodded and gave her father a long hug.
“I will call you and check up on you. If you don’t answer, I will come and find you,” she told him. He nodded, and I thought he looked pleased. Mara had slumped into a pile on the ground and was whimpering. No one took notice of her. Ulf and Amber walked up to Jacob. Amber gave him a hug, and Ulf placed a hand on his father’s shoulder.
“Don’t just be lazy standing around here. Get going, and we will talk over the phone,” Jacob told us. Tite kissed his cheek.
“Take care and let us know if you need anything,” I said.
“I will. Thank you for protecting Tite,” he told me.
“I don’t need protection,” she objected.
“But it’s good that you have it. I will make sure to send you some silver bullets for that thing,” he said.
“Thank you.” I walked with Tite to her bike and got on behind her. I kissed her shoulder and wrapped my arms around her. It was high time we got back home. This pack was nice, but they had too many insane people with a grudge against Tite.