Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Jeremy
Why?! Why did it have to be Darius? My Darius?
Granted he was never mine, but still. My own brother and my best friend. Why hadn’t I seen it before today? Had there been signs that they were together? And why hadn’t either of them told me? Did they know how I felt about Darius? And if so, why had my own little brother taken him away from me?
Damn. Seeing them kiss, the look of pure adoration on Darius’s face broke me. It left me feeling hollow inside, like whatever used to make my heart beat was no longer there.
I’d needed to get as far away from pack lands as possible, and fast. Everyone would feel my emotions and try to follow me, to soothe their Alpha.
But I couldn’t deal with them knowing. Had they known?
Did they pity me? “Poor Alpha is in love with his brother’s mate.
” Was that what they were saying behind my back?
Granted I hadn’t been Alpha long, just a day. I was already failing at it.
But maybe Darius didn’t know about my feelings. Maybe if I told him… No, I couldn’t do that to Milo. I had to believe no one knew about my feelings. I had to trust Milo wouldn’t betray me like that. That they wouldn’t betray me.
I was almost out of the forest, so close to reaching the edge of our lands. My wolf ran faster, the need to keep me safe, even emotionally safe, was all my wolf cared about.
A car driving at full speed hadn’t been something my wolf had predicted, nor that it would hit me.
Hard.
Everything hurt. The shaking ground underneath me wasn’t helping either. Wait… why was the earth shaking?
I slowly opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. Why was I in a car? A moving car? I looked down at my front paws. I was shifted. And in a car? It made no sense whatsoever. There was a lingering scent that was soothing somehow, but my senses still needed time to figure out what it was.
“Just two minutes left,” a male voice mumbled from the front seat. I didn’t react, knowing too damn well it was best I kept still. Had I been kidnapped? And if I had been, then why did I feel so calm about it? Like my soul was soothed in a way it’d never been before?
Then I remembered the car. Fuck. Did the man have a death wish? Had I been a regular wolf, he’d have been dead by now. But I still didn’t know why he’d taken me, or where we were heading.
The car finally stopped and it was as I’d feared. I was at the vet clinic.
The man hurried out of the car and inside.
Now was the time to escape before he came back.
No way was my father seeing me like this.
My back leg hurt like a bitch and I whimpered from the pain.
I guess there was no chance in hell I could escape this nightmare, so I lay back down and pretended to sleep.
When the back door opened, the scent from before hit me. Fuck. Honey and a touch of lavender. I’d never smelled anything better.
My father and Vina laughed their asses off when they saw me lying there. Perfect parent, my father. This was what he felt was a better use of his time than being Alpha, laughing at wounded animals.
It got harder and harder to remain still as they fought over who got to take me.
The stranger seemed to want me for himself, and God, if it wasn’t amusing hearing him deny my father, the former Alpha, anything.
It got less amusing when he decided to somehow adopt me, but I let that slide, for now at least.
The wind blessed me with his scent again and I involuntarily whimpered. It made the man turn around and his eyes…blue and so full of emotions I got lost in them. The scent hit harder and that’s when realization kicked in.
He was my fated mate.
It all made sense now! His scent, how calm I’d felt even though I’d basically been run down and kidnapped.
This man was mine.
Holy fuck.
I was made Alpha the day before I met my fated mate. It was rare to find your fated… I blinked, realizing we were now driving away. I’d completely missed the rest of the conversation.
“I promise to take good care of you, Red,” he whispered, his tone full of promise and determination. And damn, if he didn’t already have my heart just for that. Said heart began thumping hard in my chest, reminding me even with the heartbreak earlier, that it still worked.
Was I still hurting over Darius and Milo being together?
Of course I was. My feelings wouldn’t magically disappear just because I’d found my fated mate.
But now I at least knew why Darius hadn’t been meant for me.
This stranger was mine, I just had many speed bumps to deal with, literally and figuratively.
“Sorry, Red!” he called out from the front. “I’ve never driven on these roads before.”
I bet.
Another bump, another curse and apology from the man. My man. Damn, this would take some time to get used to.
I couldn’t wait to learn his name, since he’d already given me one.
Red. But I’d yet to be introduced to him.
I guess I should just be grateful he was speaking to me in the first place.
Not many people cared enough to soothe animals that way, especially since I couldn’t talk back.
Hell, he didn’t even know I was a shifter.
Another hurdle I’d face soon. How would this beautiful man take the news?
I allowed myself to take him in, appreciating his appearance.
He had brown hair, styled in a messy way that suited him perfectly.
He wore a red and navy flannel and some light denim jeans.
I couldn’t see further details from the back, but so far, I liked what I saw.
The fact he was so calm around me proved he truly was my fated. There was something soothing about being in his presence, and I knew he would be feeling it, too. Likely the only reason why he’d decided to take me home.
I wondered if my father was following the car, but then I brushed the thought aside.
I had more pressing concerns, like how I would tell this man I was a shifter?
He was pure human, no trace of anything supernatural at all.
Would he like being mated to a wolf shifter?
And an Alpha at that? It wasn’t as glamorous as it sounded.
I had the full responsibility of the pack’s safety and survival.
As my mate, he would bear some of the responsibility, too, once I’d claimed him with a mating bite.
My fangs ached at the thought of making him mine.