Chapter 3 - Miles
The second rogue is stronger than the first and puts up one hell of a fight. I have no idea how the female wolf managed to fight off both of them long enough to stay alive. Although I doubt she would have been alive for another five minutes if I hadn’t heard the commotion on my morning run.
The rogue wolf snarls and tries to kick me off him, but I shift my weight and let Mudder grab him by the throat. On one swift movement, I tear the skin from his bones and leave him gagging and drowning in his own blood.
With heavy breaths filling and leaving my lungs, I step back and stand for a moment, staring at the lifeless body in front of me. In death, he has shifted back into a man. It isn’t anyone I recognize.
There's a soft whimper behind me, and I turn to see the female sitting nearby, licking her front paw as fresh blood seeps from a deep wound.
Are you ok? I ask.
She huffs and looks up at me. Her bright green eyes are practically glowing in the soft morning light.
So is his fur. Icy blue grey. She looks like she belongs in this beautiful, snow-filled forest, and the way she is staring at me, a look pierced with adrenaline, pain, and determination, she looks like she belongs in this place, soaked with blood.
A warrior, Mudder muses.
I growl at him, warning him to rein himself in. I don’t know what the fuck happened when he saw her being attacked, but it’s like something inside him snapped.
I was out for my morning run and heard the fight. Of course, I came to see what the hell was going on after hearing rogue reports in the area. When I saw her beautiful wolf being attacked by those two men, I practically lost my mind.
I’ve been in dangerous situations before. I’ve helped rescue wolves. I’ve done it a hundred times during my time in Black Ops, but this time was different.
Something pulled inside me, something ignited. A dangerous spark that I don’t fucking want to admit I instinctively recognize.
Usually, I would leave one of the rogues alive so I could question them, but between Mudder and me, we both wanted to tear them to pieces. There was no reason behind the brutal violence of my attack. I could easily have disabled both wolves without killing them… but I couldn’t.
They hurt her, Mudder snarls.
She looks ok, I reassure him as I pad closer to her to check.
Kelsey stands, and her wolf shakes, spraying snow and blood off her coat.
She huffs a second time, agitated by something… me?
No, don’t be ridiculous. She was just attacked. She must be terrified. Except she’s not. She looks completely in control of herself, just out of breath.
Why were you out here alone? I demand.
I was on patrol and…
Why the hell was she patrolling alone? What kind of idiot comes out here alone after there were reports of Rogues in the area.
You heard about the rogues? Right? I snap.
She glares at me and nods. A brief tilt of her beautiful wolf’s head.
I shake my fur to try and rid myself of the strange current she sends rippling through me when she glares at me like that.
Let’s get going. I think you need medical.
I’m fine. It’ll be healed by tomorrow, she huffs, as though I’m the reason she got attacked after choosing to come out here alone.
Kelsey stands and walks away from me as I stare after her.
Fuck. This really isn’t good; I groan to myself.
Walk with her. Make sure she’s safe! Mudder demands.
I trot behind her, wondering how the fuck this happened now after I have spent my entire life avoiding the idea of mate bonds and fated love and all that bullshit.
Maybe it has something to do with that. Maybe I just got protective because it was two against one, and she was about to die. Although I have to say, as soon as she had backup, she stood her ground to fight again and did damn well when she wasn’t outnumbered.
I’ve seen Kelsey in training quite often. She is impressive. Determined and brave.
Stupidly brave, apparently, coming out here alone.
Kelsey stops at one of the security sheds along the tree line and shifts into human form just outside the door.
She has her back toward me, and as she stands up, with blood still staining her skin, my eyes trace over every inch of her perfection.
The curve of her spine and how her waist dips and her hips swell.
At the sight of her, my mind loses itself, and I physically have to take several steps away from her to keep Mudder under control. Holy fuck. She is the most perfect creature I’ve ever seen.
Kelsey steps into the security shed, and after a moment, she comes out wearing black sweatpants, a black hoodie, and warm boots.
We built these sheds for emergencies like this.
They are fully stocked with first-aid supplies, a change of clothes, radios, and everything we might need in the event of something going wrong.
She smiles tightly and gestures over Mudder, “Do you want to change too, or are you going back like that?”
I tilt my head toward the shack, still unable to look away from her. Even in sweatpants, she is beautiful. I watch her graceful movements as she gathers her long blonde hair up into a messy bun on top of her head.
She nods in acknowledgement and turns away to give me privacy.
But as I finish shifting back into myself, I glance up to find her watching me. She hurriedly turns away as her cheeks turn bright red. I smirk, enjoying the fact that she was stealing a look at me.
I step into the security hut and grab the same standard-issue black sweatpants, hoodie, and a pair of black boots.
Kelsey still has a pink glow on her cheeks when I come outside again.
“Do you want me to look at your arm?” I ask, “Or anywhere else?” I can’t help the suggestive tone that has crept into my words.
She scoffs. “No, thank you, this will all be practically fully healed by tomorrow already.”
“Ok, ok, I was just offering,” I say defensively, still smiling.
Stop smiling, you look like an idiot.
“I’ll walk you home,” I sigh at myself and wonder why the hell I’m acting so weird.
“It’s ok, uh, you already saved my life, I can walk myself home,” she says nervously.
Agitation sears through me as the image of those two men attacking her flickers into my memory. Mudder snarls inside me, and a deep, urgent need to protect her again floods me.
“Why the hell were you out there?” I snap, angry that she was alone and put herself in danger like that.
“I was doing my job!” She snaps back, defensive and angry that I dared to question her.
“There were reports of rogues in the area, and you still decided to go out there. Don’t you understand the danger you were in?”
“It’s literally my job, Miles. It’s literally what you train me to do.
I don’t understand why I constantly have to defend the fact that I belong here.
That I have a right to do the same thing that every security person in this pack does.
Just because I’m a female doesn’t mean I don’t have everything it takes to do my job properly,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest to ward off the cold or to express her disapproval of my questions.
Her stance is closed off and self-protective.
I swallow hard, unsure why the conversation is going so badly.
“You know the rules, Kelsey,” I sigh.
“Rules?”
“Yes, the rules you learn on a daily basis in training,” I demand, getting agitated again. But I’m not agitated at her, I’m agitated because of her. Because of her scent and her eyes and how close she is to me.
“Are you joking? I know every rule, every move, every single thing there is to know about our pack's defense routine. I don’t know why you’re making me out to be some incompetent moron!”
I’m taken aback by her outburst, and for a moment I’m speechless.
She bites at her lower lip, causing a dangerous stir of need to shoot through me. Dammit. This isn’t good.
Kelsey kicks at the ground with her boot, then looks up at me, her lips pouting slightly. “Anyway, um, I’m going home to shower. Please tell the captain I’ll be back in the security building as soon as I’ve cleaned up. And um. Thanks. For saving my life.”
“You won’t be back at the security office today, Kelsey.
You will go home and properly rest until you’re healed, which will apparently be tomorrow already, according to you,” I inform her, not without a touch of sarcasm in my voice.
She rolls her eyes and pouts again. Sucking in her cheeks in annoyance.
“Whatever,” she huffs, turning away from me.
No wolf heals overnight, so I think she’s exaggerating on that front. I saw her injuries. They were deep. But we do heal fast, and the team can survive without one person until that happens.
I’m actually impressed with how well she is handling the pain. I’ve seen grown men cry like little bitches when attacked, and here she is, a petite little wolf with an inner strength that’s hard to work out.
She’s guarded and very defensive, though.
I watch Kelsey walk away, but I’m not trusting enough to just let her go.
I follow some distance behind her until I’m one hundred percent certain she is actually going home and not back out into the forest alone again.
Who knows with her. She was so offended when I told her she wasn’t actually allowed to be out there alone that she might do it again just to prove me wrong.
And then she might end up getting herself killed.
I watch Kelsey go into her cottage after she fishes her spare key out from beneath a rock hidden in the small garden area out front.
Only when the door closes and she is safely inside, do I head toward home to clean up.
Then I have to get to the pack house, where I know Jace is almost done with a morning meeting.
I need to speak to him right away.
***
After I take a quick shower and change my clothes, I arrive at the pack house to wait in the living room for Jace to come out of his meeting with the elders. I messaged him to ask him to meet me here.
His face is pulled tight with annoyance when he walks into the room. He heads straight for the small bar and pours himself a shot of whisky, which he downs before letting out a low growl.
“Meeting didn’t go well?” I ask, standing up and shoving my hands into my pockets.
“No, they’re still set on this marriage thing. It’s really pissing me off,” he snaps.
“Actually, that’s what I came here to talk to you about.”
He turns to face me and lets out a heavy sigh. “You got some ideas for changing their minds?” He asks, hopeful.
“No, uh, the opposite. I’ll agree to the arranged marriage, but I have a non-negotiable condition.”
“What? You’ll agree to marry one of the omegas?” He asks in shock as he walks closer to me.
“Yes, but not just any one of them. It has to be Kelsey Holland.”
My heart flips and my stomach knots with nervous excitement as I say her name.
It has to be her. No one else will do.
“Did you talk to Kelsey about it? Did she agree?” He asks, confused.
“No.”
“I don’t get it. This goes against everything we’ve been fighting to change.
The omegas aren’t just breeders. They have a right to choose.
To change their lives for the better. Forcing an omega into an arranged marriage is an old-fashioned and cruel tactic.
Why would you suddenly be on board with this?
” Jace folds his thick arms across his chest and stares at me, waiting for me to explain myself.
“I know how stubborn the elders are and how unlikely it is that you will get them to change their minds on this, so I figured that maybe if we approached this from a different angle… right? We go ahead with the arrangement, but we do it in a way that shows how we respect and take care of our omegas. That we keep them protected and safe and uplifted all at the same time.”
“Miles…” he says, skeptical.
“We can show them the right way to treat the omegas,” I push.
“Why Kelsey then? What makes you say her name in all of this?”
“She’s strong and one of the top members of our security force. She will do this for her pack. She lives to protect them, so this would be taken in her stride as part of her duty. She is strong enough to handle this, unlike some of the other omegas…”
“We have plenty of strong omegas,” he argues.
“I know. I’m fully aware. But she is unique regardless.”
Jace sighs and pushes his hand through his hair as he contemplates what I’ve said.
“The elders can have this small win, and in doing so, we’ll ease them more to our side and into our way of thinking. We can’t fight them on everything. Maybe this can be some kind of compromise between the old ways and the new?” I suggest.
He paces for a moment before turning to look at me. “Are you sure about this?” He asks.
“Yes,” I say confidently.
Jace nods and closes his eyes, “Alright, then let’s do it.”
My body spikes with adrenaline. He agreed. This is actually happening.
I’m going to marry Kelsey Holland.