Her Mates by Tamara White

Twenty

Why is the world gray? I can’t remember, everything’s all hazy. I see Jake’s naked form in front of me and go to touch him to check for a pulse when I see a paw move to his chest. I growl, whipping around, looking for the wolf, only to see James cowering off to the side while my mates clamber around Jake and me.

I step back, tripping over my legs. Wait, why do I have four legs?

Confused, I right myself and try to ask Cam what’s going on, but all that comes from my mouth is a whine. Why am I whining like a wolf? I shake my head, trying to clear my ears to hear whatever it is they’re trying to say. Their lips are moving, but no sound is getting through.

Another man walks into the clearing. He seems familiar, but I’m not sure why. I watch him approach me, growling when he gets within touching distance.

Jake’s finally conscious behind me, and I back into him, showing everyone if they touch him, I’ll rip their hands off. Why would I rip their hands off?

Four men barge into the crowd, and one of them breaks from the others, going straight for James. He whimpers and submits. I pounce into action, defending him before anyone can harm him. I growl threateningly, and the man must be stupid, because he goes to push me to the side, but I bite him. He jerks back, shouting and pointing at me, none of which I understand. My wolf, however, knows he’s threatening us. I drag James back next to Jake while growling menacingly. The man’s still shouting and tries stepping forward again while my mates all stand there, grinning.

Screw this! I’ve had it with him trying to touch us. I push my dominance forward, hunching low and growling loud to make him submit. He pales and slowly lowers to the ground, but I can see he’s fighting it. I keep pushing my will, making him submit, when I realize I’m not human. My brain has cleared enough for me to make sense of all the conflicting thoughts and images. My human brain tells me to stop making this man submit, but my wolf’s in control now. She doesn’t like anyone trying to hurt what we’re protecting.

Now that my human mind has comprehended everything, I know just who’s submitting. It’s Cam’s father. Well, there goes not doing anything to piss him off. The others are all submitting, even my mates. I walk forward on shaky legs and nudge Rick and Cam, getting them to follow me to Jake. I don’t trust any two people more. Besides, with my other mates staying with Luke, I know they’ll watch our backs. I’m not sure how long they’ll stay like that when submitting to a will as powerful as mine.

Sounds slowly begin filtering in, and I understand what’s being said. It’s louder than it should be, but I think that’s more because of my wolf’s hearing.

“What the hell were you thinking letting her come out here unprotected?” Cam accuses, while Rick helps Jake sit up.

“Don’t blame me for pissing off your mate! If you guys had contained your jealousy, then she wouldn’t have felt the need to run off into the middle of the woods and get attacked by four fucking wolves! Just be glad your mate is better at defending herself than any other wolf we’ve ever seen. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for her,” Jake argues, looking over at me with gratitude in his eyes. My wolf lopes forward, rubbing her head against his face. He scratches behind my ear, and I purr into his hand. That feels so good!

“What do you mean four wolves?” Cam questions, slightly pale, finally absorbing the enormity of the situation.

Four wolves attacked us on what is supposed to be pack lands, and one of them was definitely one of Luke’s enforcers. Wishing I could shift back to human form so I can talk, I’m surprised when it happens with just the thought.

Everyone around me stops abruptly, leaving me confused. Do I have mud all over me or something?

“Shit!” Cam gasps, standing in front of me. He pulls his shirt off and places it over my head to cover my newly naked body.

“Oh, God. This is embarrassing,” I whisper into his chest, hiding my face. Thankfully, his shirt is long enough to reach my knees, so it covers everything, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, got a peek at my goodies.

“Um, sorry, I forgot that we’re naked when we shift back. It just kind of happened,” I mumble, blushing profusely.

“I’m not complaining,” Pete comments, which is followed by a smack, making me laugh. Nate really loves smacking him around.

“Are you okay, Dani?” Jason asks, while I sneak a peek at them from under Cam’s arm. I move him to the side and gesture for the others to come forward.

I’m almost knocked over when they each try to hug me or touch me to make sure I’m safe. “Guys, I’m fine. I promise.”

“You gave me a heart attack. We heard a howl, but we weren’t sure if someone was playing or not. When we heard your howl, we just knew you needed us, so we bolted out here to find you hovering over Jake, a dead wolf that looks to be gutted nearby, and you protecting the Alpha King’s enforcer,” Nate deadpans, shaking his head in frustration.

“What’s going on here?” my dad demands, storming into the area with Tim, Laura, Monique, and Walter on his heels. I run to him, hugging him tight, as the relief that the enforcers didn’t kill me finally takes over.

“Oh, you know, killing wolves who attack me, making the Alpha King submit to my authority. The usual,” I quip lightly, waiting for my words to register.

“What?”

I don’t know whether he’s shocked or angry. Either way, it’s probably not good.

“Jake and I were walking back to the house after I’d calmed down when he kissed me before telling me we were being followed.”

“You kissed Jake?” Mitchell questions me incredulously.

“Yeah, it was so he could tell me without them hearing us,” I reply, as if that should be obvious. “Anyway, one attacked him while I ran for the house, but two got to me before I could. I grappled with one and made him stab himself, but the other I killed voluntarily.

“I circled back to help Jake and saw him on the ground, bleeding out from a silver wound, so I attacked. My wolf was in control of my actions, and then we gutted this guy here when James pounced on me. We fought and my wolf pushed her power out. He submitted, telling me who he really is. His name is James. He’s here to help me. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to save Jake,” I finish, looking at Monique and seeing her eyes light up as she understands who James is.

“You’re obviously insane. His name’s Chase, and he’s a wolf who disobeyed my orders. We will bring him to the elders for punishment,” Luke argues, finally getting the balls to talk.

“No, you won’t. He’s under my protection as future Alpha Queen,” I declare, standing up tall. “James may have hurt me unintentionally to begin with, but he was doing what he was told.”

“Why on earth do you keep calling him James? His name is Chase! Chase!” he screams.

“His name isn’t Chase, it’s James. I know because he’s the first male from my line. You would know, too, if you were a real heir to our heritage. If you don’t believe me, just ask him,” I order, moving aside so he can see James behind me.

“She speaks the truth. My real name is James Jackson of the Jackson family line. My wife was Malina Jackson, and our daughters were Petra, Lucinda, and Nora. I’ve never revealed my true self, as I was waiting until my heir was ready. She is now,” he states, looking over at me fondly.

Man, this dude is weird. His moods keep changing like a light switch. First, he’s disgusted with Jake, then terrified of Luke, and now all warm and fuzzy toward me? I don’t know for sure, but he must have a bigger agenda than I’m aware of to be this all over the place.

“What? Why didn’t you ever say something?” Luke accuses, clearly pissed off but trying to rein it in. It’s kind of funny to watch.

“Because you were never the true Alpha King. You stole the position by using threats and bribery. Maybe now the rightful heir to our society can fix all that you’ve managed to screw up,” he retorts spitefully.

All? How much did Luke ruin? This is so not looking good for me and my plan to back down.

“Alright, you two, before this turns into another fight, we should go to the house and contact the elders. They’ll want to know of this development,” Monique says, interrupting them before Luke can fire back whatever response he had.

I’m expecting more of an argument, but they just start trekking back to the house. What about the bodies out here in the forest? Won’t they turn gross? What do you do with a wolf corpse? Dad never mentioned this part of wolf society.

“Um, guys? Aren’t you forgetting something?” I inquire, waiting for one of my mates to acknowledge the dead body situation.

“It’s fine, Dani. We’ll send someone back to get them. We just want to get you inside where you’ll be safe,” Jason answers, begging for me to leave it alone.

I want to argue and bring the wolves with me. I feel horrible that they’re dead, but survival of the fittest is a big lesson my father taught me. They weren’t going to back down, so I had no choice.

Sighing, I follow after them until we all reach the movie room. Jake and Rick say their goodbyes, separating from the rest of us when we pass their room. I don’t blame them, it’s been one hell of a day, but I still need to iron shit out with my mates before it eats me up inside.

Once everyone’s all sitting, I take my cue, standing in front of the TV with my hands on my hips, glaring at them and showing how upset I am.

“You guys may think because I got distracted with James and Jake that I forgot why I stormed off, but I didn’t. Jake explained a bit more about why you guys reacted the way you did. That doesn’t excuse you from your behavior though. I’m still hurt and upset. I’m not a piece of property that you can just wish clean,” I tell them, my anger leaving me. I don’t think I was ever truly angry. I was hurt over the way everyone reacted.

“It’s just all we’ve ever known. A female stays pure for her mate,” Nate murmurs, his head hanging down, but that just sparks my anger.

“Fine, you want to be like that? How many people have you slept with? Human and wolf. Go,” I demand, watching their surprise. I gesture to Jason first. “I’m serious. Each of you wants to judge me on my one sexual partner before I knew I had mates, so then I want your numbers. Now!”

Jason finally relents, but I can tell he hates doing so. “Six.”

“Nate?”

“Three, but they didn’t mean anything,” he answers guiltily.

“I’m sure they didn’t, but I’ll get to my point,” I tell him, moving on to Mitchell.

“Two,” he says, before I ask.

“Jonnie?”

“I’d rather not say,” he mutters, refusing to meet my eyes.

“And I don’t care. You all felt like you needed to have a say in my personal business, so I want to know,” I order, trying not to get irritated, but he sighs and gives in.

“Fine, five, maybe six.”

“Cam?”

“One. She was freaked out by my scars, so I never let anyone get that close again,” he responds with sadness in his eyes. For a moment, I forget the point I’m trying to make and give him a hug.

“I’m sorry. She wasn’t worth it,” I soothe, holding on tightly.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs, letting me return to my previous position, facing them. Only Pete is left, and his answer is the one I’m most afraid of. He must have slept with at least twenty women by now. No one could turn down someone as cute and funny as him.

“Ah, I’d rather not answer,” he mumbles, blushing after a few moments.

“Just get it over with,” Nate growls, frustrated.

“Okay, but it’s not because I didn’t want to. I’ve had lots of offers, but I turned them down,” he blurts, turning bright red. Is he saying what I think he is? He’s a virgin? “So, my number is zero.”

“Wow! Seriously, man?” Nate asked, shocked. Those two are extremely close, so it surprises me that Nate didn’t know.

“Well then, apart from Pete and Cam, the rest of you have had more than double the number of sexual partners I have, so why do you think it’s fair that you can have sex with whomever you please but your mate must be ‘pure?’ Don’t you think that concept is a little outdated? What if I said I won’t be your mate because you aren’t virgins?”

I watch in satisfaction as all of their jaws drop until Pete rushes me, swinging me in his arms, laughing. He puts me down, still smiling. “I won!” He smirks, and I shake my head at his tendency to lighten a situation.

“You won’t really say no to us if we aren’t virgins though, right?” Mitchell inquires, not quite sure if I mean it or not.

“No, I won’t, and that’s my point. Your past is your business. Who am I to blame you for what you did before you met me? It may seem more human of me to think that way, but if you guys don’t drop the subject then I may not want you as mates.”

I take a deep breath before continuing, “I have feelings for all of you, it should be obvious by now, but I won’t stay in a relationship with anyone who is going to judge me for something I can’t change.”

I watch each of them absorb my statement and almost jump out of my skin when the door to the movie room bursts open. Walter rushes in like his pants are on fire.

“Oh, Dani, thank God. You need to get dressed and ready. The elders demand your testimony in the case of Chase. Or James. You know what I mean. Quickly, go put on some nice clothes, we don’t have much time, but you must be pristine when we face them,” Walter insists, crossing the room and dragging me out. I didn’t even realize I was still just in Cam’s shirt.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming, jeez. They can wait five minutes while I get dressed,” I tell him, shaking his hand off.

“Dani, when the elders request your presence, you get there as fast as you can so you don’t piss them off. Now hurry,” he urges, pushing me into my room and slamming the door in my face.

I rush to get changed, hoping a simple outfit of jeans and t-shirt will do, because I’m not putting much more effort in than that.