You Rejected Me. Remember?

Calli, Cade’s sister, the pack’s luna was eager to meet Monica. However, she gave her brother a few minutes to speak with her before entering the room where she was kept. Excited, she knocked softly on the door and entered when she heard him answer her.

“Oh, she has woken up,” Calli exclaimed with much enthusiasm.

Ava and the rest of the pack leaders followed her in and stood a little distance away from the bed.

“How are you feeling dear?” Calli asked.

Smiling, “better,” Monica replied.

“I’m the pack’s luna. My name is Calli and this is the beta female, Ava,” Calli pointed at Ava who was standing on her right.

“And this is our gamma female, Amara,” she introduced the female leaders.

“I believe you have met our men already,” she chirped, smiling pleasantly.

Monica offered a bashful smile.

“Yeah, but none of us introduced ourselves,” Nolan mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Rolling her eyes she pointed at Miles.

“That is alpha Miles, my mate. And that’s the beta, Nolan and gamma Castor. I hope my brother remembered to at least tell his name to his mate,” she said, eyeing Cade, who smiled sheepishly at her.

“You didn’t?!” Calli exclaimed, widening her eyes in shock.

“Well, introduce yourself then,” Calli stated, trying not to laugh.

“Right,” Cade mumbled as he faced his mate.

“My name is Cade. I’m a warrior. What is your name?” He asked.

He could feel Aspen eagerly listening, wanting to learn her name.

Still bashfully smiling, she tried to speak.

“Monica,” she said. “Monica Perry.”

“Oh…. My heart,” Aspen whispered.

Cade understood. He felt his heart skip a beat when she said her name. The corners of his lips lifted a bit as he stared at her longingly.

“She is perfect,” Aspen once again muttered and Cade couldn’t agree more.

She indeed was ideal.

“I’m glad we met Monica,” Ava spoke.

“Yes, it is a delight to have you in our pack,” Amara chimed in, making Monica smile. It was nice to hear words of acceptance for a change.

“There is a little formality we must complete since you are originally from another pack so that I can accept you in this pack,” Miles told her. Monica listened attentively.

“Do you agree to submit to me and accept me as your alpha and abide by all the rules of this pack and the whole kingdom?” Miles asked authoritatively.

“Yes! Oh, God!” Monica heard Asena cheer.

“Yes, I accept,” Monica agreed without delay. Smiling in satisfaction, Miles walked over to her and placed his right hand on her head.

“I alpha Miles of the Dark Howl pack, accept you, Monica Perry, as a member of the Dark Howl pack,” he announced in the same robust voice.

Monica felt a surge of energy jolt through her body. A smile curved her thin lips as she felt the sense of belonging where she was now. She was accepted into the pack. What could be better than that? Even in her old pack, she didn’t feel this comfortable, despite being born there.

Apparently, they didn’t truly accept her in their pack.

“I… think we should let her rest. Cade will stay behind, right?” Miles stated after a little while.

“Wait…”

Monica was able to croak before they walked out of earshot.

“Yes, honey,” Calli spoke.

“I…. I want to thank you. And there is someone who helped me escape. I hope he too will be able to make it here. He too had to flee from the pack because….. Because of our alpha….” She gulped.

“The alpha is…he is a dictator!” She finally managed to whisper.

“He let me run and chose to wait because his men were catching up,” she spoke weakly, yet her voice was clearly audible.

“I….I fear they might kill him…Please….help him,” she pleaded, looking hopefully at her new leaders.

“Of course, Nolan, Castor, let’s go! We have some wolves to fight against!” Miles exclaimed and the latter smirked maliciously.

“Oh, hell yes!” Nolan hissed.

“Let’s kick some asses,” Castor agreed, his expression matching that of Nolan as they high fived.

“What is his name?” Miles asked.

“Philip. He was the pack beta. But was later imprisoned for going against the alpha,” she explained.

“He went against the alpha?” Castor frowned.

“Umm. Yes. I don’t know what happened, but he told me that he should have escaped two years ago but wanting to follow the rules got him locked up,” she shrugged.

“Ok. We can find out later. But first, let’s find Philip,” Miles said and gestured at his beta and gamma to follow.

Cade glanced at them. He usually joined them on such expeditions but this time, Miles shook his head at him.

“We got this Cade. You stay with her,” Miles instructed as they walked out of the room.

“We are also leaving. Mind link me if you need anything.” Calli said as she walked away with Ava and Amara.

“Yes! Alone time with my mate!” Aspen cheered internally.

Chuckling, Cade sat beside her and held her hand. The sparks of the mate bond made him sigh, while Monica gasped.

“What is that?” She asked, widening her eyes in amazement.

“What? This?” Cade smirked as he intertwined his fingers with her.

Monica lay stupefied on the bed, with an erratic heart. The sparks felt magically soothing. As if it instantly healed her shattered heart and wounded soul. Asena kept whimpering in her mind and all Monica could do was take deep breaths, hoping that it would calm her frantic heart.

She gulped.

“Those are the sparks of the mate bond, babe,” he told her softly.

“Mate bond?” She whispered and Cade nodded.

“Yes, love. We are mates, aren’t we?” He spoke lovingly, making her frown. Her breathing hitched and her eyes glossed.

Frowning, Cade bit his lips.

“Is anything wrong?” He asked.

She looked straight into his eyes. Her lips quivered as she tried to form words.

“I…. I’m scared…” she whispered and then gulped.

Cade felt his heart break a little, however, he understood that it might be because of what she had gone through in her other pack.

After brushing away the strands of hair off her face, he smiled at her.

“I’ll be here for you, mate. I’ll help you heal,” he assured her.

“You… mean…. you won’t r…reject me?” She stammered.

A low growl escaped Cade’s throat at the mention of rejection.

“Why in the world would I reject such a precious gem like you? You are my soul mate and I will not let anything happen to you,” he tried to convince her.

Monica felt her heart swell with happiness, yet, she was still worried.

“Even if I cannot shift?” She asked and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Cannot shift?” He was curious.

Once again, Monica felt her heart thud.

“Asena, is it safe to tell him everything?” She asked her wolf.

“Of course, he is our mate. We can trust him,” Asena was hysterical as she replied.

Gulping, “I… I was fed wolfsbane for about two weeks when I was sixteen and because of that I can’t shift.”

Her voice was merely above a hushed whisper, yet it was loud enough for Cade to hear her.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

Cade’s eyes dilated in anger.

“They killed your wolf?” He hissed.

He started to shake and his eyes suddenly changed colour from piercing blue to pitch black. His fists clenched into a ball, and he tried his best to fight against Aspen from taking over. Aspen was agitated. Learning about the death of his mate was too much. He wanted to shift so that he could run over to her pack and tear the whole place down. The nerves in Cade’s neck bulged. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Oh no!” Asena gasped. “He is losing control! Grab his arm! Let him feel our presence! Tell him I’m still alive!” She shrieked. “That’s the only way.”

Monica quickly grabbed his hand which was now clenched tightly. Once again the sparks exploded and his eyes flung open. His pitch-black eyes made her gulp, however, she swallowed and faced him.

“Cade, she isn’t dead. My wolf is still alive.”

Slowly, the bulging nerves disappeared and his tensed muscles relaxed.

“She is weak and needs time to heal. But she is still alive,” Monica told him when she saw that his eyes had returned to their real colour.

Cade inhaled and exhaled deeply. He was glad to hear that her wolf was still alive. Although he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her, he decided to remain silent for the time being. Leaning forward so that he could caress her hair with one hand, he placed a soft k**s on the back of her hand.

“What is her name?” He asked.

“Asena.”

Aspen started to jump in joy. Cade sighed.

“Honestly I don’t care if you can’t shift. I will help you heal. And eventually, your wolf will grow strong enough…. hopefully. But whatever happens, you are mine and I love you as you are,” he guaranteed.

Monica forced a smile. Maybe finding my mate wasn’t a bad thing. I just hope he doesn’t hurt me.

She thought.

“He won’t. I’m sure. He is our mate!” Monica heard Asena’s excited voice.

She felt like rolling her eyes. Some mates were just a huge pain in the neck. She had seen what Alpha Baron had done to luna Norah, leading to her death and that was a fear she had hidden in her heart.

“I just hope he doesn’t put me through any kind of pain,” Monica told Asena.

“We got to trust him.”

Came the reply.

Sighing out loud, “I would like to sleep,” she said.

Nodding to show that he understood, Cade sat on the seat in the room.

“Rest well and don’t fear anything. No one will hurt you here.” He promised.

Monica felt her heart flutter.

Maybe I can trust him.

She thought as she fell asleep.

***

The three pack leaders rushed through the forest in their wolf forms, sniffing the air to detect the scent of any unfamiliar wolves. The metallic scent of b***d hit their noses as they ran deeper into the unclaimed part of the forest.

They skidded to a stop when they noticed the body of a massive brown wolf, bleeding profusely.

“Could that be him?”

Castor mind linked his friends. Miles slowly approached the wounded wolf and sniffed him. The wolf sure smelt like a beta. He realised that the wolf was still breathing, however, he was apparently beaten up pretty badly.

“Do you think he could make it?” Miles asked his alpha wolf, Adolphus.

“If we hurry,” Adolphus replied.

“Quick! Put him on my back! We must hurry!” Miles mind linked his friends who hastened to do the needful.