Her Mates by Tamara White
Eighteen
It’s been five days. Five days since the wolves all bowed to me, accepting me as their future queen.
I’ve been training hard with the boys every day, enjoying the fact that Trey and Stephen are too terrified to come near me now. They’re still competing in the trials, according to my grandmother, though now we know for certain they aren’t my mates.
When I asked my grandmother how she could be sure, she responded, “Your mates wouldn’t be afraid of you. Oh, sure, they’d be nervous if they pissed you off, but Stephen and Trey were acting like little girls about to wet their pants.” She could barely keep the laughter from her voice.
Monique and Walter’s presence has been a constant the past few days as they’ve taught me how present myself as an alpha. Apparently, there is a specific way to sit and appear alpha without threatening everyone. It took a lot of time and a day of having a sore back to finally get there. Then, we moved on to how to eat, how to sleep, and how to answer the door, all things that seemed pretty stupid when it comes down to it. I mean, who really answers the door, “You may enter,” each time? Seems ridiculous.
After what happened between Rick, Jake, and me on the training field, I was worried they would be as terrified of me as the others, but it’s quite the opposite.
We’ve become best friends to the point where I feel like I’ve known them my whole life. After a little mishap with Cam watching me kiss Jake on the cheek, though, they had to fess up. That was a hilarious moment.
I tried to explain that Jake and Rick weren’t interested without giving away their secret, but it was impossible.
“We’re not interested in Dani. We’re in a relationship. Together,” Jake informed them, enjoying their shock way too much. Now that they know they’re gay, everyone is a bit more understanding of them crashing in my room some nights. Even if Cam’s still wary when I offer them comfort.
The past two nights, however, we’ve all been crashing in the movie room. We talk a bit about the packs and what it will be like with me leading. I try not to get anxious when I think about ruling a pack of werewolves. It’s just one of those things where you try not to be nervous, but it ends up making you nervous. Although, I think anyone would get scared of such a daunting task.
I’ve learned so much about each of them individually as well, which has been great.
Cam, Nate, and Jason all grew up together. They were pretty close growing up, so when Jason realized something was going on with Cam, he started to take on a protector role. He thought maybe one of the others in his pack was picking on him while they were at school, but once he graduated, he couldn’t do anything to protect him and tasked Nate with the job. He then went so far as asking Tim for a position in the school to keep an eye on all of them. Safe to say, both him and Nate were furious when they realized it was his father all along. After that, they got tighter than ever.
Jason’s father was barely around from what he says, though he’s very reluctant to talk about his past. When I mentioned it, he got all fidgety, so I dropped it, hoping he would open up when he was ready.
Pete joined their little group not long after.
He was raised like me until it became too much for his human mother. She guessed what he was, but never knew for sure. His mother was raped, and while she thought she saw his father’s eyes flash amber, she always assumed it was the trauma of his attack. When Pete turned thirteen, she knew she needed to find help. Tim was the one to reach out to her when one of his enforcers heard she was looking for someone supernatural who could help her son.
Tim explained to Pete’s mother what would happen as he grew up. The wolf would control him more, and he would need to be with his pack to keep it under a reasonable level of control. His mother refused to leave Pete alone once she understood the gravity of what Tim was saying about Pete’s wolf. As an alpha’s son, Pete wouldn’t be able to stay in Tim’s pack, he would have to go to the one his father was leading.
She loved Pete more than anything and refused to let fear of his father scare her away. On his sixteenth birthday, things were going well. He’d just had his first shift and was enjoying his first run with the pack when he heard his mother scream. The rest of the pack heard and followed his lead, trailing him to a scene so horrific, he couldn’t believe it.
His father had attacked his mother. She was so beaten that it was hard for him to make sense of the situation.
His wolf was still riding him after shifting, so all he saw was his mother ripped apart while another wolf hovered over her. Pete attacked his father, killing him. He says he still doesn’t understand what happened. All he knows was his mother was dying and his father was crouched over her as if guarding a fresh piece of meat. Pete reacted the only way his wolf knew how, and when trying to save his mother, he still lost her.
Alpha Tim came to him and asked if he would like to join his pack until he was old enough to be pack alpha, as was his right. Pete told me he left his aunt and uncle in charge of the pack until he goes back—if he ever goes back.
Jonnie and Mitchell are both going to lead their pack, but they just want to be sure they’re ready before taking on such a huge responsibility. Their father was a bit of a whore, according to the others.
They have at least four half-brothers that they know of in the pack. There could be others out there from when their dad was sleeping around, but so far no one else has come forward.
Jonnie’s mom is in charge of the pack at the moment, and no one will tell me much about Mitchell’s mother or her role in the pack. When Mitchell’s mother is mentioned, it’s like a forbidden topic, because everyone just clams up. I’m assuming it must be extremely horrible if none of them want to tell me. I don’t want to push it though, hoping he’ll share when he’s ready.
Their father was Brendan, one of my mother’s mates. Apparently, after being sent home following the trials, he was never quite the same, but a year after Mitchell came into his life, he went off the grid. He packed up and left nothing of him behind except a note saying they were ready to lead the pack, he couldn’t do it anymore, and don’t look for him. Pretty weird, but hey, he could have been dealing with any number of things, so who am I to judge?
Mitchell and Jonnie got closer because of their father’s departure, which is why they get along so well now. According to Jason, there were a lot of fights between the two of them in the beginning.
“Dani, may I come in? It’s important,” my grandmother calls from the other side of my door.
I shake myself from my musings, going to answer the door before remembering my lessons.
“You may enter,” I reply, trying so hard not to be sarcastic but failing miserably.
“You know, you’re getting better, and if I hadn’t raised your mother then I wouldn’t have recognized the sarcasm,” my grandmother notes, walking through the door and locking it behind her.
Why is she locking it?
“What’s wrong?” I inquire, standing, preparing to hit the panic button to send Jake and Rick running to my room.
“Calm down, it’s not bad. I just wanted a minute to explain before everyone barges in. Your mates should be finding out right about now, and I want privacy for this,” she says, sitting daintily in a chair on the side of the room near the windows.
Laura moved these chairs and the table in two days ago when she realized Jake, Rick, and I were spending a lot of time in here talking. She’s been like the mom I never had, showing me girl things I can do and talking about boys. She even gave me the sex talk, which is way too embarrassing to recount.
“Alright, just spit it out, don’t torture me,” I grumble, anxious to hear whatever it is. It can’t be good, because my wolf is extremely alert. Even if she said it’s not bad.
“Well, you have to get ready.”
“Ready for what?” I inquire, completely bewildered. As far as I know, there isn’t anything on the agenda. I don’t even have any lessons for the next few days. Tim told my grandparents that I should get to relax today and tomorrow before watching the trials the following day.
The trial the boys have to do consists of each of them facing off against four enforcers. They have to show that if they were my last line of defense, they would be able to fight off multiple attackers.
“Luke’s coming. He’ll be here tonight with the elders. He demands to see you, and since he’s still the alpha, we must concede to his request. I need to train you on how to behave. I also have a feeling the trial will happen tonight.
“Luke is a conniving snake, and I’m sure once he sees just how strong you are, he’ll demand the trial happens immediately, which means your mates will have to fight his enforcers, not the enforcers we have.”
“Why will that make a difference? My mates are strong enough to handle anything,” I defend, confident they could manage whatever Luke throws at them.
“That may be true, but his enforcers are nothing like the rest of us. They are so cruel and vicious they make Luke look like a softy. He needed the best to protect him, since he wasn’t the rightful heir. He’s had many attacks against him since he started, and instead of keeping the attackers, his enforcers beheaded them, putting them on show around their pack house,” Monique explains grimly.
“What? Can he really do that?” I question, feeling sick. If they’re that vicious, I don’t want my mates going into an arena and fighting them. From what they’ve told me, the fight isn’t to the death, but it can be extreme enough that someone loses their life. You’re not allowed to shift for four hours after the trials finish, so if you have a life-threatening injury and can’t shift, well, let’s just say it’s bad. One of Monique’s mates died from not being able to shift after he cracked his skull. His brain bled out, and by the time he was allowed to shift, it was too late. He died.
“Yeah, as much as I hate it, he can. I’ve already taught you as much as I can, but the thing I wanted to tell you is you can’t antagonize him. If he asks for the trials to happen, you have to be prepared for it. There is a rule that the reigning Alpha Queen can make the contending one fight first as a show of power.
“I’m hoping he has forgotten about it, but chances are the elders have mentioned it in the hopes of sizing you up. This means Carrie can request for you to show your ability against a wolf of her choosing. If they’re smart, they’ll pick someone who is lethal but unassuming. That means Chase.
“Chase grew up as a rogue and was essentially an assassin all of his life. He has no heart and will not hesitate to kill you.”
Monique is so goddamn grim right now that I’m freaking out. I’m hoping my wolf and I are strong enough to handle anything, but from what she’s saying, it doesn’t seem like I have much of a chance. How can I fend off someone who beheads wolves?
“Okay, if that happens, I’ll end it quickly like I did with Rick and Jake,” I tell her, trying to sound tough even though I don’t feel it.
“Promise me, Dani. I can’t lose you too,” she implores, her eyes tearing up.
I hesitate before embracing her. I haven’t showed her affection like this since the first spontaneous hug, mainly because I was still unsure, but seeing her this broken up over me makes me realize she’s family. Her and Walter may be slightly adrift, but they have helped me in the past few days. Just the way family should.
“I’ll be okay. It takes a lot more than a nasty ass wolf to take me down,” I tease, smirking at her when she laughs.
“I know. You’re so much stronger than the others of our line. I hope you realize how lucky we will be to have you lead us.” She straightens, letting a wall close off her emotions before speaking again. “Now, have you finished the journal yet?”
She gave me the task the day after our little arena battle, telling me it would help me make my choice a little easier.
“Yes, and I think I’ve reached a decision. From what all the others before me have said, we all enjoy being with our wolves, so I started thinking. We’ve been without magic for so many years that it would be a whole new learning experience for us if we got it back, which would completely suck.
“If there’s one thing I learned from all of this, it’s that to learn a culture is time consuming and important. We’ve lost our way and would never be able to regain that knowledge, so what’s the point? It would be like a whole new curse being placed on our people if we were to unleash those powers again. Then, we have the fact that if we had abilities again, the fighting would begin. You’d have those who were corrupt still killing the good of our kind.
“I think we should stay as wolves, but there should no longer be a hereditary heir. The first thing I will do as Alpha Queen is hold a meeting with the elders and all the alphas. I want it to be a democracy. We shouldn’t just have some nobody leading our society, it should be voted for by using the best candidates.
“We’ll still have trials, but the trials will be for each person to compete for the right to rule, not to choose a mate. The alpha will then pick someone as a mate and live happily ever after. No more being forced to watch your mates compete. No more queen being more important. Just a vote by the people.
“If there ever reaches a time when one or more people are tied, then the elders will hold the power to step in and vote on the logical choice. I will also have a law written that if any of the elders are caught conspiring against one particular contestant, then they’re automatically stripped of their standing and another will take their place.
“The things I’ve learned over the past few days from the wolves here is while they respect power, they want to know who leads them. They want me to rule because they are so used to having someone from our bloodline lead them. I could be pure human, and they would probably still want me in charge because it’s ingrained in them.
“That’s why I will enact all this right after I pass the trials.”
No more fighting, no more loss of life. I will do whatever it takes to make the pack united again. Even if that means giving up any chance I have to lead our people.
