AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I make my way back to Mora, sitting on the other end of the bench after she starts to tense when I originally started to sit next to her. The bench isn’t overly large and with my size, there’s only about a foot of space between us, but even it’s too much for me. For my Mora though, it seems it’s not enough and I hope to hell, this ends soon.
“Mora…”
“What?” she snips, turning her face my way finally, her eyes full of mistrust and I hate it.
“I want to say I’m sorry, for what happened to you yesterday,” I add when her brows lift a bit. “I’m sorry you were attacked at your graduation as well, sorry I didn’t go after Thomas before then so his offspring couldn’t harm you.”
“What would you know about that?” Mora asks, her eyes losing a bit of their intense suspicion but not nearly enough.
“Your father told me you were hurt before your graduation when I questioned what happened to have you in that brace. When I was at the packhouse to instruct those remaining on how things were to be done from there on, I spoke with the healers, they told me the extent of the injuries you sustained. I also learnt who was behind the attack and the others that helped, then handed down punishments for the two still alive in that moment. Thomas it appears, warped his children’s minds and somehow had them believing you had a part in what happened to his mate, or else that was merely an excuse that his daughter came up with to try and turn others against you,” I add, watching her eyes widen in shock. “You will never have to worry about either of them again. The girl who was a lookout for Dana is breathing but owes her life to me, and her mate should she find him will know that quite clearly. She will never be able to produce a child like herself and her mate will not be pleased by it. There were three boys beyond Dana and her brothers that participated in the attack. Two were killed in the fight yesterday, the third forfeited his life when he attempted to claim he did nothing wrong, just held you.”
“I…suspected Dana was behind it, but I didn’t have proof to call her out on it.”
My wolf hums listening to her say more than one or two words to us, even if we hate the meaning and pain behind them. “She’s dead and can never harm you again. None of them can, I promise you that, Mora. Not in real life or in your nightmares. You’re safe. Your sleep is safe. You don’t need to fight it any longer. As long as I have breath in my body, you will be protected at all times, at all costs.”
“I doubt that,” she says, mostly under her breath but I don’t argue it, not right this moment. Fighting with her is the last thing I want.
“Your safety matters most to me. No one in my pack will begin to harm you. I know you may not fully believe that seeing what John did to you and your mother. I assure you that my pack knows not to attack humans, whether they’re mates or not. It’s one rule they must abide by most, followed by accepting all shifters into our pack regardless of type. John was a newer member of the pack, and it is on me that he was able to get near you to harm you, try to harm your mother. No one else will begin to attempt it, I swear. As my mate, you will be protected, no matter what. The rest of my pack abides by those rules unless they want to face my wrath, or face being rejected from the pack.”
“You have more than just wolf shifters in your pack?” Mora questions, and I nod, unable to stop the hint of a smile that hits at her genuine question.
“A couple felen that were living deep in the Alaskan territory on their own before we made the mountains our home, and then several families of bearen. Including a cousin on my father’s side,” I add bringing her attention back up to my face in surprise.
“How do you have bearen cousins? If your father’s a wolf wouldn’t his siblings also be?”
“My father was a bearen. Itan of his clan,” I tell her, watching the surprise in her expression grow deeper. “His true mate died without having any children. My mother’s true mate rejected her because she wasn’t a full blood. My father and mother found one another and while they were different types of shiften, they worked well together. When I was four, my mother died of an illness she should have survived. If she wasn’t rejected by her original mate, she would have. She lived long enough to see that I was a wolf like her rather than a bear like my father, but not long enough to see me start to become who I am today because of his clan. They looked down upon me, even though I was larger than most of them even as a teenager. They rejected me and when my father died when I was seventeen, they forced me out of the clan.
“I started my own pack for two reasons. One, so no other shiften ever felt the rejection I did simply for not being who or what others expected. Two, to avenge my mother, and by extension my father. My mother’s death weakened my father more, leading to his death, which in turn led to my full rejection from the clan. So I know what it feels like to not be fully accepted somewhere, Mora, and you will never find that in our pack,” I assure her, but her eyes remain wary, and I know that only time will show her my words are true.
“Why do you attack so many packs? If you just wanted to avenge your mother and father’s deaths, why go after so many others?” Mora asks and I fight to not smile knowing she won’t like me being amused by the question.
“My pack doesn’t initiate attacks without good reason. Being a newer pack, we were targeted many times, but we came out the victors and yes, I might have relished in those victories. It got me closer to my goal to bring new blood into the pack, especially those that had no desire to follow men like the ones I killed rather than be killed by. When a threat was lobbed against us, we retaliated, but never without a direct threat to us coming first. Sans the one we did against Thomas,” I concede making her brows knit together.
“Thomas was your mother’s true mate, wasn’t he?” Mora asks surprising me that she figured it out when most of my pack still don’t know the real reason we traveled across the country to attack them.
“He was. Because of him, I lost the only two people that’d accepted me, loved me. So once I had the strength, the numbers, I went after the bastard that sent his mate away from him, solely because she wasn’t a full blood. I know the heartbreak losing one’s parent can cause, which is what stayed me yesterday when you cried out for your father. As much as I wanted to destroy everyone that supported and backed that bastard, your heartache stopped me short, and now, I’m more thankful that it did,” I admit, stopping my hand before I reach out to touch her, send her back to that place where she won’t even look at me. “Your father told me and the rest of the pack what Thomas did to his mate when she wanted to leave him. Said he was waiting for you to heal more before leaving them and I believe it. They keep you safe and love you, so I’ll accept them coming to stay with my pack. You’re my mate, which means everything I do is for you, even if that involves killing to keep you safe.”
“We’ll see,” she says as Sammy moves across the bridge back towards us, and I let out a silent sigh. Wishing I’d had more time, but for now, perhaps it’s best to wait until we’re home where we can be alone when I convince her to let me mark her as mine.
Chapter 7
Mora
A shiver runs through my body as the car turns onto a rutted path. It might be August, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it in these mountains.
I hold my breath as we bump over another spot, clenching my jaw as it jars my ribs. It’s been two extremely long days and now it’s nearly two a.m. and we’re nearly to the place I’m supposed to call my new home. I already hate everything about it and can’t wait to escape.
Sammy’s far more accepting of Cole as my supposed mate than I expected he’d be. It’s scary because I honestly think part of him likes Cole, even if they have butted heads more than once the last two days.
A few more ruts have me almost in tears before we make a turn, and the path becomes an actual road. I breathe out, a little moan of pain falling from my throat bringing Cole and Sammy’s attention to me.
“What’s wrong, Mora?” Cole asks first, similar words dying on Sammy’s lips.
“You could have warned us that there wasn’t an actual road back there,” I grouse, holding my middle.
“I’m sorry, my mate. It slipped my mind. We’re used to it, use it as a deterrent for humans coming out this far, and I didn’t think what it might do to you with your injuries. The remainder of the drive though gravel is smoother, I promise.”
“Too little, too late,” I mutter under my breath putting a hint of a smile on Sammy’s face as he hears it while helping to ease another pillow behind me.
