Chapter 18: Chapter 18

NOAH

Even with my heightened werewolf senses, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d heard Evie right. It seemed impossible that she’d said what I thought she’d said. I cradled her face in my hands, compelling her to meet my gaze.

One moment she was a whirlwind of questions; the next she was teetering on the brink of tears.

“I didn’t remember until recently. It happened just a few days before I was attacked. But I was rejected by an alpha before,” she repeated.

In shock, my hands fell away from her face.

“Tell me ~exactly~ what happened,” I demanded. My jaw clenched and unclenched as Remi howled in my mind.

“I had just graduated from Harvard. I was leaving the building, trying to locate my parents in the courtyard after the ceremony when someone approached me.”

She squinted, as if the memory was a struggle to recall.

“I remember he was massive. He towered over me, a brick wall obstructing my path. He gripped my arms, his hold so tight it was painful, but I could never forget the burning sensation his touch left on my skin.”

A pang of jealousy stabbed at my chest. I remembered the bonfire last weekend when she confessed she’d felt the sparks between us once before. I was already itching to tear this guy to shreds.

I balled my fists, waiting for Evie to continue.

“He glared at me. I remember wondering, ~’What did I do to piss this guy off?’~ because his anger was palpable. He just stood there, silent and seething, for what felt like an eternity before he asked my name. For some reason, I felt compelled to tell him. Then, he said, ~’I, Alpha Russell Winters, reject you, Evie Bellamy, as my mate.’~ His voice was icy, and his words felt like a punch to the gut.

“Then, he just disappeared. I was left in a daze, and I remember feeling sick and dizzy for a few days; I thought I had the flu. That’s why I was home from work the day the wolf emerged from the woods and attacked me.”

By the time Evie finished her story, I was boiling with rage. I pushed myself away from her and crawled out of the teepee. I began to stride across the clearing, struggling to keep Remi under control.

“Noah?”

Her soft voice washed over me, soothing waves of calmness spreading through my body as she reached out to me. Whether she realized it or not, Evie was using the mate bond to try and calm both me and my wolf.

I heard her follow me out of the teepee and felt her gaze on me as I paced. I turned to walk back toward the tent but collided with my mate.

“Evie…,” I cautioned her, attempting to back away, but she wouldn’t let me.

Instead, she placed her hands on my forearms, her fingers brushing against my bare skin.

“It never felt like this,” she blurted out.

Before I could question her, she elaborated, “The sparks were the same, but the feelings that followed were different. I was scared of him. I didn’t know why, but I was. I knew I had to get away from him.”

I had to admit, it was a relief to hear she was repulsed by him.

“When you touch me, I feel peaceful and safe, and I never want it to end.”

Her voice softened as she confessed her feelings to me for the first time. I was putty in her hands right then and there, and I knew, without a doubt, I was completely hers.

“Please, don’t be mad at me,” she pleaded.

I cradled her face once more. “I could never be mad at you,” I murmured. “But I’m livid with Russell.” I growled his name.

Evie looked taken aback. “You say his name like you know him.”

“I do know him,” I confessed, sliding my hands down her arms to intertwine our fingers. “Come on, let’s sit down.”

I guided Evie back to the teepee, and we settled down, leaving no space between us.

“How do you know him?” she demanded.

“Our pack is the largest and most respected on the East Coast. We’re often called upon to mediate other pack disputes nearby and across the country,” I began to explain, Evie hanging on my every word.

“Russell Winters is a stubborn, cowardly man. He’s hungry for power, but lacks the talent or the know-how to get it. He’s always stirring up trouble he can’t handle. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to step into his territory to prevent a full-blown war. He’s a terrible leader to his pack. The lowest-ranking members are given the hardest work and the worst living conditions. He’s even banned his pack from choosing mates who aren’t wolves or from choosing mates of a lower rank.”

I did my best to explain the situation to her without losing my cool.

“Why don’t you step in?” Evie asked.

“I can’t, unless a pack member files a formal complaint against their alpha. So far, no one has. They’re too afraid to speak up, and there’s nothing I can do about it,” I confessed, feeling frustrated.

“That’s messed up,” Evie stated simply.

“I agree. But werewolves usually keep to their own packs, unless there’s a threat of exposure to humans, a potential war, or if enough pack members speak up.”

Werewolves are proud creatures, not often asking for help. Most of the time, my pack only gets involved when someone is causing enough trouble to attract human attention or the attention of the Council that oversees us. We’re not often asked for help.

“So, he rejected me because I’m human? Is he…prejudiced against humans?” Evie was trying to understand.

“Pretty much. He believes alphas should only mate with she-wolves from a high-ranking bloodline, like the daughter of an alpha, beta, or gamma.”

I had my hand on Evie’s back, my thumb tracing comforting circles on her shirt.

“He attacked me,” she stated flatly.

“That would make sense.”

***

“Make sense? How does any of this make sense?” Evie shot back at me.

I winced at her sharp tone.

“Evie,” I sighed. “I just meant that it adds up. I know Russell’s wolf is black and, as an alpha, he’d be as tall as me. It also makes sense that he’d attack you after rejecting you.”

“Why? You keep saying you’d never hurt me, that your wolf wouldn’t let you. So why would he?” I could feel her confusion.

“Russell isn’t like me. His wolf is just as twisted as he is. Usually, when mates are rejected, it’s against the wolf’s wishes. That’s why they both end up suffering, sometimes even dying. If they don’t die, the wolf often abandons their soul and body.

“Russell and his wolf probably both agreed to reject you in favor of a high-ranking bloodline. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell. They probably felt the pain of the mate bond and lashed out against it.”

I tried to keep my voice soft. I had to keep my tone even, my voice gentle, so I wouldn’t scare her. I had to push aside my own anger to protect my mate’s feelings.

“So, they tried to kill me to stop their own pain?”

It sounded absurd when she put it so bluntly, but she was exactly right.

I nodded, at a loss for comforting words.

“Is this normal?” she asked.

“Is what normal?”

“For a human to be mated to two alphas?”

I pondered her question before answering. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it that way. I was just so grateful that she was mine.

“Wolves do get second-chance mates. Sometimes their first mate doesn’t work out or dies, and the Moon Goddess gives them another. I guess I’m like your second-chance mate.”

I tried to explain it the best I could.

“But I’m not a wolf,” she pointed out, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.

“That’s true, but clearly, the Moon Goddess wanted you to be mated to an alpha.”

“Why?”

I knew Evie was struggling with the concept of the Moon Goddess and my strong belief in her. I was struggling to explain it in a way that didn’t make me sound like a fanatic. We were both getting frustrated.

“She needed your kindness and compassion to tame an alpha wolf. She paired you with the most lost alpha she could find, hoping he would accept you and be better for it. But Russell is a fool. So, she went with the second-best option, and for that, I’ll always be grateful,” I replied.

Evie just looked at me, her head gently swaying from side to side.

“Share with me what’s happening in that mind of yours, sweetheart,” I softly requested.

“I’ve never put my faith in a higher power controlling my fate. I’ve never been a religious person. And now, you’re telling me you believe in a Moon Goddess who essentially pimped me out to not just one, but ~two~ alpha werewolves,” she blurted out.

“Evie!” I exclaimed, my eyes wide with shock.

Then, she began to laugh, and the tension that had been building between us started to dissipate.

“I’m sorry! It’s just how it appears to me,” she confessed.

I found myself laughing along with her, understanding her perspective.

“I wish you didn’t have to endure all that you did. I wish you were brought directly to me. I despise the fact that you had to experience such pain, but I’m overjoyed—beyond words—that you ended up here, with me,” I said, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.