“Unfortunately, no. But what kind of smoker did you use at your father’s? I can get you one if you like.” He offers. But I don’t know the first thing about a fancy smoker. I built one myself back home. “I can build it. That’s what I did at my father’s. I just need the materials.” I reply, making a mental note to check out what kind of materials this pack has laying around I could use. “You don’t have to build it Rebel. I can get one or a hundred for you. Just tell me which you would like and I will get it.” He says with his head cocked to one side.
“I will keep that in mind, thank you.” He is already going to spend money on me for clothes and necessities, and now he wants to buy me a smoker? I mind link him, so no one overhears, ‘Austin, you are already spending money on clothes and necessities. I can build a smoker. I feel bad with what you are already planning on buying me.’
‘Darling, you are my mate. You are mine to protect, love, cherish and provide for and as your mate, I want to do these things for you. Don’t feel bad because you deserve everything good this world has to offer.’ He says and I feeling my chest expand at his words. I feel my cheeks warm and I smile at him. ‘Okay, however, I would like to build one. You could help me, and then I will make smoked brisket for everyone here. I will talk to the omegas about making sides and desserts, deal?’ I say, trying to show gratitude to this man who is slowly making me feel things I’ve never felt before.
He chuckles as he grabs my hand and kisses my the outside and says “deal.” I smile and go back to my plate and once we are finished I go to the kitchen with Austin and thank the omegas for their hard work in preparing breakfast. They all looked at me stunned but seemed happy that someone said thank you to them. I wonder if anyone ever has thanked them before.
As we are walking out of the dining hall, Austin looks at me and says we are going to his office. I guess it’s time to talk.
Austin POV
This morning waking up with Rebel was the most surreal feeling I have ever felt. It was even better when I could smell her arousal. It’s taking everything in me to not only control myself, but my wolf and cock too. Cronos is itching to mark Rebel and he wants to hunt and mate Roxie. ‘I want our mates wearing our mark human. You are taking too long!’ Cronos complains. ‘We can’t rush this Cronos. Rebel didn’t know what accepting me as her Alpha meant or how to mind link. She has been neglected to the point of ignorance. We need to see how far down we need to help her. Believe me, once she understands what mating and marking means, I’m not wasting any time. But we can’t scare her off with our caveman mentality.’ I tell him. All I hear from my wolf is grumbling. He knows I’m right, but he is just anxious to protect our mate with our mark.
After showing her how to use the shower, I leave. But I remember she will need towels, so I grab them quickly and without thinking I barely knock and enter the bathroom to find my mate naked. My heart, lungs, blood, stomach, kidneys, everything went straight to my dick. Fuck me, she looks like a fucking goddess. Her breasts, my goddess I could grab them with both hands and feast on them for days. I’m imagining my head between her thighs reaching her promised land and right now, I want nothing more than to shove her against the wall and thrust my aching cock into her. I wanted to rip that shirt away and devour her body, but her eyes looked terrified. I don’t know where I found the will to restrain myself, but it came at a great cost to my sanity. This woman will, without a doubt, be the death of me. I leave the towels and close the door. “Fuck me.” I said out loud. I didn’t mean to but the struggle is real right now. I’m fighting with my wolf and cock not to go back in there. I needed to get out of the room. Her scent is driving me wild and she is naked on the other side of that door, looking like a fucking appetizer, entr?e, dessert and glass of whiskey all at once and I don’t think I have much restraint left. I rush out and mind link Renz to meet me in my office.
“Whoa Austin! Mind toning down your aura. I felt that shit from outside the door!” Renz walks in with a grin. ” So how did it go last night with Luna?” He smirked.
“Shut the fuck up Renz. I might kill someone today just to vent my frustration right now.” I snap back at him and he laughs. The bastard laughs. “Take it you didn’t get laid?”
I glared at him. I’m ready to kill. I keep getting flashbacks of my mate’s gorgeous meal of a body and it making my pants strain painfully. “I don’t think she understands what mating and marking means, Renz. In fact, I don’t think her father ever put her in school. I’m not sure what is going on, but she doesn’t seem very knowledgeable about packs, hierarchy or anything in between.”
“What are you talking about Austin? She’s 23 years old and she doesn’t know any of it?” He has just as perplexed an expression as I do. “There’s more Renz. She didn’t know what it meant to accept me as her Alpha. When I explained she would feel her pack bond break and mine would snap into place when she accepts me, she thought she had done it wrong, because she didn’t feel her tether break from Ironclaw.” I tell him.
“What the fuck? She didn’t feel her pack bond with Ironclaw break at all?” He asks me.
“No. Not a thing. I don’t think she ever became a part of the pack. Then I had to spend the better part of an hour explaining and showing her how to mind link, close up links, nudge someone to open a link, she has never had a mind link before and she didn’t know mind linking was a thing with our kind.”
“Shit Austin. This is bad. She’s our Luna but she doesn’t understand how anything works with our kind? This puts her in danger. She could believe anything that anyone tells her. Someone could try to poison her with wolfsbane and tell her it’s medicine to cure her.” Renz says, catching on to the danger this represents for Rebel.
“We need to talk to her. I need to understand what she does and doesn’t know about our kind. We need to understand if she ever went to school, if she can read, write, everything. Then we need to get her caught up discreetly. The good news is, she is a quick learner even when she is tired, so I think we can get her up to speed quickly. In the meantime, we need to set up a Luna guard. Three guards to make sure they can rotate out. Give me your short list this afternoon.” I tell him. “You’ll have it by then Austin. Don’t worry, we will get this figured out.”
Renz looked like he had something on his mind so I tell him, “What are you thinking?” He looks at me like he is still trying to work out what’s going on in his mind. “I was thinking, did you notice her behavior? She is nervous being around people. It’s strange because she is also not afraid to defend you or put herself in harm’s way like she did last night when I first approached you both in the woods. After she realized I wasn’t a threat, she became nervous about talking to me.”
I realize he is right. I was so caught up in how sexy it was, I didn’t see the stark contrast. She’s nervous around people unless she feels a threat. “You’re right Renz. Which means she has been through more than we both have realized. I’m going to level that fucking pack.”
“Austin, I don’t think this is the pack. If she was a part of the pack, then she would have known about mind linking. But, it’s all new to her, so I think this is more family than anything else. We just don’t know how far it goes.” Renz says thoughtfully.
Just as we are finishing up the conversation, I feel Rebel reach out through the mind link to tell me she’s ready. At least she will be wearing my clothes. I like my scent will be on her since I can’t mark her yet. When I open the door to our room, I see her tying up my shirt and showing off her hips. Damn it, she is pure temptation. I refocus and lead her to the dining hall. After introducing her to the pack I lead her to a seat next to me. I see that she doesn’t eat. When I ask her what’s wrong, she tells me that her family basically didn’t share meals with her. In reality, she was treated worse than her omegas. She was treated more like a slave. No education and turned away from eating with her family. I have her focus on me instead and I plan to share every meal I can with my little mate. No one should be made to feel like an outcast by their own family. I’m working double time to keep my aura and anger in check at seeing my mate uncomfortable because she’s been treated like dirt, that the simple act of sharing a meal with me feels foreign for her.
When she asks me about smokers, she reminds me that she likes to smoke her own meats. I told her I would buy her one, but she insists on building one herself. She is certainly smart and has sass. She is anything but stupid for her to be so poorly treated. When I told her she is mine to love, cherish, protect and provide for and as her mate I want to do these things for her, she seemed skeptical but then agreed, making the compromise that should would appreciate if I got the materials for her to build her own smoker and even asked for my help. I take this as a win, plus I get the added bonus of spending time with my mate and observing her further.
After breakfast, I mind link Renz to meet us in my office and tell Rebel it’s time to talk. We enter my office and I have her sit on my lap on the sofa. Renz is sitting in the arm chair opposite of us. Having her sit on my lap while I inhale her scent is calming.
“Rebel,” I begin. “I want to talk to you about your life in Ironclaw. Renz and I have some concerns and I think it would be best to understand how you lived there and if that is how everyone lives at Ironclaw. How do you feel about talking to us?” I asked her because I don’t want to push to hard. I need to know how to help her and know if there are more people suffering in that pack.
Rebel shifts in my lap and I try not to moan. The grinding is not helping my cock and I am trying to focus. I see her close her eyes and she sighs. When she opens her eyes I see resolve and sadness. It fucking guts me that she is sad. I am going to make it my mission that she never worry about being sad again a day in her life.
“I’m not comfortable talking about these things, but I will try to answer questions you have.” She says it like she is bracing for something. What, I don’t know, but I am going to start with a basic but important question.
“Okay, let’s start with something simple. Did you go to school?” I ask.
“No. My father taught me to read, write and basic math. He also trained me privately to fight.” She says to me looking down and trying to answer without emotion.
So she knows how to read and write, that’s a start. “Your father is the former beta of Ironclaw, correct? So why wouldn’t he put you in school?”
She closes her eyes trying to fight back tears. With her eyes closed she says, “How about I just explain my life to you? Perhaps this will answer the questions before you ask. My wolf says it would be easier and is saying I should rip the bandaid.”
“If that would make it easier for you then sure. Share what you want and I will ask questions, okay?” I’m trying to follow her lead to make her feel like she can trust me. I know she is hesitant in her trust though.
She begins, “I am my father’s illegitimate daughter. My mother died while giving birth to me. I didn’t have other family, so he brought me home but he really didn’t want me and basically referred to me as his ward instead of his daughter. When I turned two, he met his fated mate and my stepmother, Jules. She didn’t like me at all, but didn’t say anything about it until three years later when my half-sister, Rachel was born. By that time I was five and should have been getting ready to start school. But my father values his reputation more than anything. He didn’t want the pack to know that I was his daughter, so he kept me at home. Jules wanted to get rid of me but he felt like I could be an extra hand in the house. My stepmother liked the idea of me being a servant to my sister and for the household in general.”
Anger is radiating off of me. ‘Fuck Austin, they basically made her a slave at five years old!’ I can feel Renz anger too. He is pissed anyone could treat a child like a slave. ‘I’m killing her father. Fuck, I’m killing the whole fucking family.’ I mind link back.
“Are you okay darling? Do you need a minute?” I ask my mate. She is still looking at the ground like she is ashamed. She shouldn’t feel ashamed though. Those fuckers should feel ashamed. They should feel the same level of pain they have caused my mate. I will deliver that justice, as the moon goddess is my witness, I will make them all suffer.
“No. Let’s just finish. Roxie thinks the sooner we finish this conversation, the sooner we can move on. I agree with her. She’s a smart wolf.” Rebel says smiling. Then she continues, “Anyway, that’s why I’m self-taught to cook. No one cooked for me. I had to prepare my meals if I wanted to eat, wash my clothes if I wanted clean clothes, build my smoker if I wanted to smoke meats, etc. I was very self-reliant and still am.
When it came time to learn to fight, my father insisted that I learn. I would wake up every morning around four- thirty and train with my father from five in the morning until eight in the morning. Then I would go to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone while the omegas cleaned. After everyone ate, I would help Rachel get ready for her day, whether it was school or a day with her friends. My step mother would always yell at me and hurl insults my way, and after a while Rachel started doing the same.”
I interrupted her, “So Rachel was allowed to go to school but not you?” I feel Cronos wanting to claw his way out to hunt down her family. How dare they treat her like a slave? ‘Let me out human. I will kill everyone that hurt mate.’ Cronos says his voice dripping with vengeance. ‘Cronos, we will definitely get to that point, but first, we need to hear her story and figure out what she needs and how we help her. Then we go after her family.’ He huffs but tries to settle down.
“Yeah, she went to school, had friends, went to places to buy stuff, you know, normal stuff. My normal was to stay home and work. By the time I was ten, my bedroom was giving to Rachel to make it into a walk-in closet for her. My new room became the attic.”
“Son of a bitch!” Renz gets up and starts pacing the room. “I’m sorry Rebel, Luna, um….I’m sorry, I’m angry that anyone could treat a child that way. This isn’t just criminal. It’s heartless and evil. There is a special place in hell for fuckers like your family.”
“It’s okay Renz. It all leads up to now, right? It hurts to talk about, but now I’m here and I don’t have to go back there, right?” My mate looks to me for validation.
I growl, “You are never going back to that fucking place again darling. Not now, not ever.’
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