8

Chapter 8 – Feelings

Later that evening, we sat at the dinner table with the other ranked wolves and warriors. Having Cia so close to her mate was making it harder and harder for me to keep her suppressed. I sat quietly cutting up my pork chop, wondering how or why I ended up here.

The Moon Goddess had actually paired me with the Rogue King! My family despises rogues, and the feeling seems to be mutual towards my family.

“Where’s Chase? He’s not still buried balls deep in his new mate, is he?” Stryker asked.

“Have some respect. That’s our new Gamma female.” Chris said as she smacked Stryker’s arm.

“Wait until you find your mate Stryker, and then we’ll be laughing when you don’t come up for air.” Another warrior laughed.

“Maybe I’ll get as lucky as Chase and find her at the next raid. Goddess knows she’s not in our pack.” Stryker said.

“You know because you’ve already slept with most of the unmated she-wolves in this pack.” Chris snarked back.

“Speaking of the next raid, any luck with the next location Eric?” Alpha Michael asked.

“No Alpha. That new LaRue software is really something else. It might take a few more weeks.” The warrior named Eric told him.

“We don’t have a few more weeks, they could have several auctions over the course of a few weeks.” He growled.

“Damn those LaRue’s.” I heard another warrior utter and saw Chris shoot a nervous glance at my mate.

“How do they sit on the shifters council when half the members are dirty scumbags?” Another shaggy haired warrior asked.

“Because they only care about their power, status and money.” Stryker replied to him.

“That’s enough!” Michael growled and everyone fell silent. Stryker knew I was part of the family and still made that comment.

We finished dinner and desert was being served. I excused myself from the table and went upstairs to my room. I needed to be alone and just think, but I couldn’t think about anything except my mate. I sat quietly in the window seat for a few moments looking out at the beautiful, nearly full, moon. The October moon was big, orange, and low. Nights like this, I would go outside and play my cello under the stars. Playing music always calmed my wolf down and right now, she was on edge. She wanted to sink her teeth into Stryker and I was ready to set his red hair ablaze.

My eyes landed on the cello in the corner of the room, and I decided to slip my jacket on and carry my cello outside. The garden wasn’t too far behind the pack house and had a stone bench out there. I wheeled the cello out of my room and carried it down the stairs.

“You’re not running away already, are you?” Chris asked me as she walked up the stairs.

“No. I’m going to the garden to practice, so I don’t disrupt anyone.”

“Is it okay if I come with you. My nana played the harp and I used to sit for hours just listening.” She smiled.

“Of course.” I was really starting to like Chris.

We slipped out the back door and walked to the garden near the apple orchard. I sat on the stone bench and prepared my cello. The night sky was stunning, the moon low, and Cassiopeia was high in the sky. Chris walked over to one of the apple trees and plucked an apple. She stood in the shadow, leaning up against the tree and crunched into her fresh fruit.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let my bow glide across the strings, feeling the harmony. An ease flowed through me as the sweet melody of Hallelujah filled the air. I could feel Cia relax. There’s something wonderful about playing under the night sky, feeling the music pulse and sooth through my veins. Hallelujah is one of my mother’s favorites, she often requests I play it outside under the stars. While we play a great deal of classical music in the symphony, I enjoy contemporary pieces, just as my father did. Playing outside, always made me feel a little closer to him and right now, I’d give anything for a little comfort.

I finished the last cord and heard someone clapping from behind me. I opened my eyes to find Chris joining in on the clapping as well. I didn’t need to turn around to know exactly who was behind me.

“That was beautiful.” He said with sincerity and awe in his voice.

“Excuse me Alpha, there’s something I need to check on inside.” Chris winked at me and quickly rushed off.

“How long have you played?” He asked as he sat next to me on the bench.

“I started taking lessons when I was six. My father used to play the cello, it calmed his wolf. Now it helps calm Cia.”

“Maverick is a huge fan already.” He smiled and then looked thoughtful for a moment. I was unable to take my eyes off of him and the glow of moonlight caressing his handsome face.

“You said used to play? Your father doesn’t play anymore?”

“My father passed away before I was born. You see that bright star, up in the Cassiopeia constellation, the Alpha star, that’s my father’s star.”

“So, playing outside makes you feel closer to him?” He’s very intuitive. I nodded my head, and he took my hand in his. The feelings he gave me, when he touched me, sent warm flutters through me in an incredibly good way.

“Wait a minute, every pup has heard the legends.” He looked at me in surprise. “Cassi, was your father the Alpha of Alpha’s? The one who watches us from the stars?”

“Why does it matter? Are you trying to hunt the next Alpha of Alpha’s down?” I asked.

“If I’m going to protect you, I need to know. There are a lot of people, not just wolves, hoping to hunt the Alpha of Alpha’s down so they could maintain power and answer to no one.” He told me.

“Are you one of those people?” I asked, feeling a tightness around my heart.

“No, I’m not. If the Moon Goddess gives us another Alpha of Alpha’s or even an Alpha King, then so it shall be. I was raised to honor the blessings of the Moon Goddess.”

“My father, Alpha Lukas LaRue Theodorus, was thirty-one when he finally found his mate, my mother. They only had a few months together, but a love that will last an eternity. My grandparents hid me, for my protection. No one outside of our family really knows who I am.”

“Your grandparents were right. This isn’t information we should share with anyone. Many have been waiting for the next Alpha of Alpha’s to emerge from a LaRue pack, possibly Crescent Moon or Dark Moon.” He told me as a howl rang out in the distance.

“Alpha Mac, we have an intrusion on the northern border.” The warrior named Eric, who had just run out of the pack house said. Then he shifted into a big gray wolf and continued running.

“Cassi, get inside. I need to go handle this.” Michael told me and I stood frozen for a moment, wishing I could go with him. Cia was itching to come out and have some fun. She may have been the daughter of Storm, but she was an entirely different kind of force, a force to be reckoned with. Suppressing her was getting harder and harder now that she had found her mate.

I watched as my mate’s clothes ripped to shreds in less than two seconds. His wolf was black and massive. I stared into the dark eyes that belonged to Maverick and felt an urge to reach out and touch him. Instead, he looked at me and motioned his head back to the pack house, then he let out a bark.

“Okay, I’m going. Be careful.” I said as I started walking back to the pack house and he bolted into the trees letting out a loud howl of his own. Did I just tell him to be careful? Ugh, I made a mental note to stop acting like a fool around him.

I waited inside the pack house in the main living room with a few other she-wolves. I felt like a nervous mate waiting. I wondered who would be foolish enough to try to attack the Rogue Kings’ pack. The Moon Realm is one of the largest and strongest packs in the states.

I looked around the room and a young female with curly brown hair and a fresh mark on her neck was looking around anxiously.

“Hello, I’m Jennette. I’m new here.” She smiled.

“Hi, I’m Cassi, I’m new as well.” I told her.

“Did Alpha Mac save you from being sold?” She asked.

“No. But I hear he does that. Like a modern day superhero.” I giggled.

“I can’t scent your wolf. Are you human?” She asked and it seemed everyone in the room froze in perfect silence.

“No. My wolf is sort of … sleeping. The Beta thought it would be fun to inject me with wolfbane.” It was kind of true.

“Oh, that’s terrible.” Her eyes were wide. “I’m mated to Chase, he’s the Gamma.”

Just then, we heard the commotion coming from the front of the house. We rushed towards the door and stepped outside like moths drawn to a flame. A few wolves emerge from the tree line shifting and putting on shorts. Alpha Michael stepped out in human form, still naked, carrying a female who was also naked. I watched as he quickly and gently made his way towards the pack house.

“Doctor Kendra, get Doctor Kendra.” Chase called out.

The female in his arms was crying and had her face pressed into his shoulder. I felt a wave of jealously seeing him carrying and comforting another female, naked. Why was he the one carrying her when there were plenty of other males around.

“It’s okay, Ally. You’re safe now, I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay.” He reassured her as he walked by me and up the stairs with her.

Moments later, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, with long honey colored hair and a medical bag walked in and rushed up the stairs. I presumed this was Doctor Kendra. I waited to see if the Alpha would come back downstairs now that the Doctor had arrived, but he didn’t. Jennette and the other she-wolves in the pack house, were standing around hugging their mates.

From what I could piece together, the young she-wolf was attacked by a few trackers from her own pack because she left pack territory without permission. She was attempting to run away from her pack on the other side of the Canadian border.

He had called her Ally. He knew her name and the way she clung to him... Was that even normal for strangers? Perhaps she was someone he was close and personal with. A handsome and unclaimed Alpha like him would surely have many women and lovers chasing after him. Even wanting to leave their own packs to be with him. Cia let out a growl in my head at the thought of him with other females.

I have no right to feel jealous. Wait, was I jealous? I mean, he is my mate after all. He’s supposed to be the other half of my soul. I stood for a moment feeling the burn. I’m not even sure what I’m doing here or if I belong here. The Moon Goddess was really testing me now.

I went up the stairs, to the third floor. I reached for my room door and heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind me. I turned around and came face to face with a bare chested Alpha who had managed to put some shorts on. As hard as I tried not to look, my treacherous eyes gazed down his neck, to his muscled chest taking in the tattoo that covered the right side of his chest and shoulder. My eyes trailed down his perfectly sculpted, smooth ads, and I could see a soft trail of hair below his navel that trailed down to his manhood.

“Good Goddess Cassi, control yourself.” I told myself inside, but his scent was doing things to me I couldn’t explain. I looked up and met his amused gaze.

“I just wanted to check in on you.” His deep voice sent a tingle down my spine.

“I’m okay. How’s that female doing?” I asked, not really sure that I wanted to know. Seeing how he held her close and comforted her made me feel something I didn’t recognize in myself. Something that also had my wolf on edge.

“She’s going to be much better now that she’s here with me. This is where she truly belongs.”

“Oh. I see. Well, I’m happy for her and for you.” I lied. If she belonged here with him, then why would the Moon Goddess allow me to be here too. What the hell was I even doing here anyway? I couldn’t seem to think being so close to him, so close to his bare chest. Wanting another kiss, longing to taste his lips again.

The tension in the air was thick. The heat and desire between us seemed to grow quickly. The more I tried to resist it, the worse it seemed to get. The more I got to know him, the more my feelings changed about him. I just needed to be alone with myself to think.

“What you need is to have him smother us with kisses!” Cia chimed.

“If you’ll excuse me, Alpha, I’m exhausted and would like to get some sleep. Goodnight.”

“Cassi, I wan—”

I opened up the door to my room and quickly closed it behind me. I locked the door and kicked off my shoes. I didn’t bother to turn on the lights, the moonlight was flooding my room with a beautiful soft glow. I quickly stripped out of my clothes and put on a long shirt to sleep in. I had just slipped into bed when I heard the lock tumble and the door creak open. His fresh rain and earthy scent mixed with a hint of arousal filled the air in my room.

“Cassi, we need to talk.”