It doesn’t take long before I hear the first roars, and when I hear them about an hour later, I know Dad just informed the Wolves that had been on patrol. Minerva is becoming restless again, and I know that tonight will be a repeat of last night.
She needs it as an outlet for the anger she feels toward our former Mate, just as I need to let the tears fall. I just hope that someday we will be able to put this behind us and accept our second chance Mate if we are lucky enough to find him.
It is something Minerva and I do not want to think about right now, but maybe someday we will be able to think about it without feeling heartbroken and sad. For the past three years, Minerva and I had wondered what our Mate would look like, what kind of person he would be, and if we had ever met him before.
It is uncommon for us to find our Mate on the day we turn eighteen. Usually, it takes a few years, as we don’t interact with other Packs on a daily basis, and we had always believed in a happy-ever-after.
Most Werewolves are taught that the Mate-bond is a sacred bond-a bond to be cherished-and most Werewolves wait for their fated Mate. However, there are Werewolves who believe a fated Mate is a weakness, so they choose a Mate instead.
My eyes slowly close as my body finally gives in to the exhaustion from crying my eyes out all day. His face haunts me in my sleep, his words haunt me in my sleep, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Amarah
Again, I wake up in the middle of the night and quickly make my way out of the Pack house to hand over control to Minerva, giving her the chance to deal with the pain she’s feeling. She doesn’t waste any time, crossing our border without being spotted by one of our Warriors.
It doesn’t take long for her to find a Rogue and shred him to pieces. She keeps running along our borders, and some of the Rogues flee the moment they see Minerva approaching. Those Rogues are left alone as they pose no threat to our Pack.
About an hour before sunrise, we run along our eastern border from south to north. Suddenly, Minerva stops dead in her tracks, sniffing the air as she scans her surroundings. “Blood, not a Rogue,” she tells me, and slowly makes her way toward a cluster of trees and boulders.
The scent of blood grows stronger the closer we get, and Minerva slows down even further, scanning her surroundings. Suddenly, her ears perk up as we hear soft whimpers coming from within the cluster of trees and boulders.
Minerva steps cautiously into the trees to reveal a female covered in blood, with her arms wrapped around a Pup. I ask Minerva to give me back control, and the female’s eyes widen as I stand before her. She clearly wasn’t expecting a female to show up.
“Please, don’t send us back. Please, don’t tell anyone we are here,” she whispers, her voice laced with despair. I crouch down in front of her, taking in the cuts and bruises on her body. Minerva roars in my head at the sight of her injuries.
“I won’t send you back, but I need to warn our Pack doctor. I need to know that your Wolf will be able to heal this on her own, and I need to inform my Pack so our Warriors can keep an eye on you,” I tell her gently. It takes a few minutes before she responds.
“My Wolf says she can heal this on her own as long as we don’t have to start running again. I don’t know if I want anyone else to know that I’m here. Can you give me a few days to think about it?” she asks, and I decide to give her some time to calm down and rest.
I tell her I’ll be back in a few minutes. I shift into Minerva before bolting from the cluster toward our eastern border. I quietly make my way into the Pack house to gather some supplies and food for the female and her Pup.
Once I’ve handed her everything I brought with me, I tell her my name and find out her name is Asteria, and her Pup’s name is Inti. “I’ll be back tomorrow night. Get some sleep and eat something,” I say before leaving the cluster once again.
It has been four days since the rejection and three days since Asteria showed up. Inti has come out of his shell, hugging Minerva the moment we enter the cluster, and we both enjoy those moments. Asteria finally told me what had happened to them, and I had to let Minerva out to deal with her anger.
After we talked for a while longer, she finally agreed with me on telling our Pack. It will give us the chance to keep an eye on them and maybe we will be able to find out if it’s safe for her to return home. Not that Asteria is as optimistic about that as I am.
I crash on my bed to get a few hours of sleep before informing Dad about what Minerva and I have been doing at night and about our guests hiding in the cluster. It doesn’t take me long to drift off to sleep, and for the first time since my rejection, I sleep without dreaming.
As I slowly open my eyes, I realize I slept straight through. Even though it still hurts thinking about Damien, I know that Minerva and I will survive. I walk into the bathroom to take a shower, and after that, I get dressed, ready to face the world again.
Everyone acts as if I haven’t been avoiding them for days as I walk into the dining room. After I sit down, I tell Dad that I need to talk to him with all of our leadership Wolves. Alastor sits beside me, placing his hand on my knee, giving me the calm I need as I see some females staring and whispering about me.
I stand in front of the window, looking at some Pups playing on the lawn to the left of our Pack house, and I wish I could see Inti running with them. “Dad, I know everyone is aware of what happened. I don’t want to talk about it, but I have to tell you how Minerva has been dealing with it,” I say.
Turning around, I see that everyone is waiting for me to start talking. “The Rogues that were found near our borders were Minerva’s doing. It was the only way for her to deal with everything without hurting the ones we love.” Mom wraps me in her arms, while Dad tells me he already suspected as much.
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