Her Mates by Tamara White
Ten
“Get away from her!”
If it wasn’t for the sudden feeling of being ripped in two, I probably would have stayed asleep, but my wolf is going crazy in my mind.
I try to make sense of my surroundings, but all I see is someone holding Mitchell by the throat, making a haze of red descend over my eyes.
I don’t even think. Acting on pure instinct, I grab his captor by the arm and kick out his knee, hearing the pop when it dislocates. His grip loosens, just not enough to free Mitchell from his grasp. My wolf bubbles up inside me, releasing a growl that sends shivers through my body. For once, we’re on the same page. If this guy doesn’t let go of Mitchell, we’ll kill him.
“I’ll give you until the count of three to release him, or you’ll regret ever setting foot in my room,” I threaten through gritted teeth.
All the old man does is smirk, baring his teeth. My wolf’s hackles rise, sensing the challenge.
“One,” I count, tugging on Mitchell, trying to pull him away. I stop when he lets out a whimper of pain. I didn’t mean to hurt him.
“Two,” I growl, getting increasingly frustrated with his refusal to back down and release my mate.
“Let’s see what you’ve got, little she-wolf,” he taunts, throwing Mitchell back, causing me to stumble as I let him slip through my fingers. Next thing I feel is blinding pain on my cheek where the strange wolf has hit me.
I lower the barrier inside me, and my wolf takes over. We match him punch for punch, kick for kick, until the door bursts open and the rest of my mates pour in. Cam takes a step toward me to help, and my wolf swings up and punches the strange wolf with enough force to send him into the wall.
In a burst of speed, I pound into the wolf without letting up, not even when I see blood fly. He falls back, trying to protect himself, but my wolf won’t have that. He came here, into our territory, and tried to hurt my mate! He will die!
“Dani, stop! Please, you’ll kill him,” someone calls through the room. My wolf has no idea who’s talking, not that we care.
Arms wrap around me and pull me back. I try to fight them off until the scent of fresh pine breaks through. Cam keeps his arms wrapped around me, dragging me away until the rest of my mates surround me.
After what seems like ages, my wolf recedes as I convince her I’m safe with them. She knows we’ll protect each other.
“Who is that?” I ask once I stop panting. Even though my wolf was in control, it takes a lot of adrenaline to keep up with a fight like that.
“That is your grandfather,” a woman states, walking through my door followed by my father, Tim, and Laura. The new woman looks remarkably like me—round face with an off kilter nose, but her hair is a deep burgundy, and her eyes are a vibrant green, whereas my own are a soft forest green.
She appraises me warily while the others are smirking and my father looks very smug.
“Well done, child. You have completed the first trial. We didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” she announces, clearly confused.
The man on the floor, my grandfather apparently, groans, grabbing our attention.
“What happened?” he asks the woman, who I’m assuming is my grandmother.
“You got your ass kicked,” my dad says before she can open her mouth.
Me, however, I’m stuck on the first trial.
“What do you mean about the first trial? What was it?” I inquire, extremely confused and frustrated. I thought the first trial was some form of combat with my mates.
My grandmother turns to me and stares me straight in the eye. “We’ll explain soon, we have much to discuss,” she answers, then walks to her mate, my grandfather, and helps him off the floor. Tim, Laura, and my father all follow them out, leaving us standing behind, gobsmacked.
They just walked out, ignoring us as if we were not important and didn’t deserve an explanation about their behavior.
“Do you any of you understand what just happened? Because I’m stumped,” I comment, clearly confused.
“I’m not sure, but I have a theory,” Jason replies from behind me.
I face him, waiting for an explanation, theory or not.
“Well, none of us know what the first or fifth trial is. It’s been kept secret, but it was known the first one had to do with some sort of dominance or loyalty challenge. Seeing what just happened, I think I know what it is. I think you have to break the rules. Push the boundaries. Show them you’re strong,” he explains fiercely.
I process what he said and it hits me all at once.
I had three rules to follow. Three. Respect your alphas, respect your elders, and submit. I just broke them all.
Oh, God. My mind goes into overdrive. What does this mean? Does this mean the trials start now? What have I done?
“Dani, hey, stop freaking out! You’re making our wolves anxious,” Nate implores, grabbing me by the shoulders and giving me a good shake.
I look into his eyes, seeing the flare of amber from his wolf. I know if I don’t calm down, they’ll shift to try and protect me from what they think is a threat.
I close my eyes, blocking out their presence while I take a few deep breaths. I learned this technique after my first run-in with rogue wolves. They tried to hunt me and I almost panicked, but breathing deeply helped me remain calm while I fought them off.
“Okay, I’m calm. What happens now? You told me not to break the rules and I broke all of them. How much trouble am I in?”
“Jason didn’t mean it like that. Yes, you broke the rules. What he’s saying is that the first trial was you breaking them. As the alpha, you have to be ready to defend your pack. Sometimes, to do that, you’ll have to break a few rules.
“You showed your grandfather you were willing to break the rules for your mate, and so now the trials have officially started,” Jonnie explains, pulling me from Nate’s arms and into his own.
“Okay then,” I murmur, unsure how to respond. I knew subconsciously the trials would happen, but I didn’t think they would begin so soon.
“Do you want to go listen to see what they’re saying? I know a secret passageway where we can listen to what’s being said in Dad’s office,” Nate offers with a cheeky grin.
I laugh, agreeing, “Okay, but if we get caught, I’m blaming you.”
He just shakes his head and walks out the door with the rest of us following after.
“We have to be quiet, so no noise or they’ll hear us,” Nate warns, suddenly drawing to a stop and looking accusingly at Pete.
He gives Nate such an innocent look that I realize they must have spied on Nate’s parents before and had it blown by Pete’s playful nature.
He zips his lips and starts sneaking down the hallway, almost causing me to burst out laughing. He’s creeping along like a cartoon character, his knees reaching his chest with each step, and only the tips of his toes touching the floor with each movement.
Jonnie places a hand over my mouth when a giggle slips through, and I have to do the same for him when he starts laughing. Next thing we know, “Ow!” echoes down the hall, causing us all to lose it.
Jonnie and I are laughing so hard tears run down our faces, while Mitchell, Jason, and Cam are off to the side chuckling and shaking their heads. Nate is down beside Pete, glaring at him in annoyance, while Pete rubs his head where Nate smacked him.
“Why do you always have to be a dick?” Nate glares at him.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ever remove that stick from you’re a—”
Cam’s there, slapping a hand over Pete’s mouth before he can finish that lovely sentence.
“No, Cam, let him say it,” Nate says calmly.
Cam groans, taking a step back, while I watch on, enraptured. It’s so funny watching how well they interact. Even though Nate’s demeanor shows he’s relaxed, maybe slightly irritated, I can see the humor in his eyes.
“Well, if you had let me finish, I was saying how much I love your friendship,” Pete states with a straight face before Cam busts up laughing.
“You were never going to say that,” he says between laughs.
“Maybe not, but I realized we have a lady in our presence. It would be rude of me to finish that sentence in her company,” he replies with a British accent, bowing from the waist.
“Sure.” Mitchell grins.
“Okay, now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, can we go? If we don’t hurry, we’ll probably miss everything,” Nate urges, getting us back on track.
We all sober up and follow Nate when he takes off down the hall. I don’t know about the others, but I really want to know what’s being said.
We walk, barely making a sound, and take a sudden left, making me almost walk into a wall. Jason grabs my hand at the last moment and I blush from my stupidity. I’m a wolf, for God’s sake, I shouldn’t be clumsy.
“Thanks,” I whisper, as we catch up to the guys. They’re waiting by the door to a room I haven’t seen yet and push their way in when they see us.
I glance around, taking in the space. I’m a little shocked to see how bare it is. Maybe it’s one that Laura hasn’t decorated yet?
I hear voices and watch as Nate pushes open a secret door in the wall.
We all clamber inside. It’s a tight squeeze, but we make it work. I have no idea who’s pressed against me, but I’m being touched on all sides.
“You can’t start the trials yet, she’s not ready!” I hear Laura argue through the wall. I press my ear against it so I can hear better.
“We didn’t, she did. Besides, she has at least two mates, from what we can tell, and more will step forward later after she meets the wolves who have been sent with us. Luke somehow knew of all this before we did, mind you, so he is also on his way. He’ll be here within the week. She needs to be ready for the second trial to begin when he gets here. If we delay it, he’ll find a way to get the elders on his side. If the second trial begins before that happens, we can finally get rid of his arrogant ass. I still can’t believe he killed our baby girl,” my grandmother finishes with a sniffle.
I feel the sting of tears in my eyes and try to stop them, but they fall anyway. Arms close around me from behind, and I lean into the scent of mint. Pete’s hugging me, holding me together, while I’m consumed by my emotions. I only knew my mother for five days, but her parents lost their only child.
“Are you sure it was him?” Walter asks heatedly. I’m not sure who his question is aimed at, but Laura answers it.
“Do you honestly think Greg would lie? Why would he bring his daughter here otherwise? You know she’s Blair’s daughter. They’re pretty much the spitting image of each other. Even though Dani hasn’t shifted, she’s her mother’s daughter.”
There’s silence following Laura’s impassioned reply, and I wonder how the rules apply to them. Is it because they’re all alphas that they don’t have to treat my grandparents with more respect, or is it just because of what happened? I don’t even know if my dad’s an alpha.
“Okay, I accept you’re telling the truth, Greg, but you know there’s nothing I can do now. She broke our three sacred rules on an Alpha Pair, that’s all it takes to start the trials. Luke will feel his power weakening as she gets stronger, so we need to be prepared for his arrival. He won’t let her get strong enough to be a threat.
“My suggestion would be to have Dani meet as many wolves as she can tonight. Maybe we can have a pack party so she can interact with the wolves. We’re going to have to tell them who she is. They need to start showing her respect. Those who don’t will need to be put in their place. We won’t be able to interfere, though, since it will be up to Dani and her mates to step up and prove they’re worthy.
“I would also like for Monique and me to spend some time getting to know her. We missed her growing up, and I think it’s fair for us to have that time now,” Walter says in his gravelly voice. To be honest, it kind of grates on my ears when he talks for more than a minute at a time.
“Look, spending time with her is going to be totally up to her. You can’t just ask me and expect me to give my daughter no choice. Besides, even if I told her to, she’d probably refuse and make me submit to her. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s stronger than any wolf I’ve ever come across,” Dad counters, a tinge of pride seeping into his voice.
I smile, knowing how highly he thinks of me. If he believes that now, I hope I make him proud through the trials.
“I’ve had some thoughts about that. Monique, Walter, did you notice anything about the boys in the room with Dani when Walter grabbed one of her mates?” Tim queries, trying to play coy, but it sounds more like he’s teasing them.
“No!” Monique gasps.
All I want to do is burst through the wall and demand, “What?” but it doesn’t take long before Laura adds, “Yep, they’re all pack alphas or will be. You know what this means, don’t you?” The excitement in her voice is extremely clear.
I look at each of the guys, waiting for some kind of explanation, but no one says anything. They all just start leaving with Cam pulling me away. I don’t want to leave, I want to know what this means. What’s so important about all of them being alphas? Why are we leaving?
We reach our rooms when I snap.
“What just happened? And why did you take me away? I wanted to hear what they said,” I growl, frustrated, and stomp my foot for extra emphasis.
“We left because we suspected what they were going to say, and we don’t think you’re ready for it. If we’re right, it would be too much for you to handle right now. You need to adapt to wolf life before you hear that.
“I’ve had my gut telling me what’s happening is right, and now that our parents have pretty much confirmed it, you need to take some time to settle in. After the pack party, we’ll tell you, I promise. For now, relax. If you know what they’re talking about now, you won’t be able to enjoy it and have fun, which is what you need,” Nate explains seriously.
I glance between each of them, hoping for someone to speak up, but they each hold a similar expression of melancholy on their faces. None of them will meet my eyes, and I know this is a lot more serious than just basic information.
“Okay, I’ll leave it, but I want answers. Tonight, my room. Anyone not there will be hunted like a rabid animal,” I warn, before sauntering into my room and slamming the door shut behind me.
Just because I understand their reasoning doesn’t mean I’m entirely okay with it.
