Luke's P.O.V.

We survived the shit storm.

Of course, in true Isabel fashion, she broke down crying in the girls' locker room and once the story was out, it spread through the school faster than a wildfire. Thankfully Ana wasn't in school a lot this week because of pack duties but when she was, people whispered about her. They whispered about me too but I knew Ana hated the attention so she and her friends had taken to eating outside while I brushed it off.

I ran my hand through my hair as I blocked out Asher's instructions for today. I could not wait for the chatter to die down so I could start gaining Anastasia's trust. It was high time I showed my mate the world.

I watched over my pack as they shifted and split up, following the Ashworth brother they were assigned to for the day. Today we were training in wolf form, it wasn't the first time but with Alpha Ashworth, Axel, Damien and Nyal missing it made everyone uneasy. I looked around for Ana, my stomach sinking and heart racing with worry when I could not find her. I felt twinges of pain in my body coming from the mate bond and I was very close to leaving Bryan in charge to go search for her.

What do we do Luke? Bryan stood in front of me in the sandy brown form of his wolf. I was aware that he and the unoccupied wolves were waiting for my command.

You, Jason and Seth do a warm up session, including Jason and Seth into the conversation. I'm going to look for Anastasia. I have a feeling wherever she is; they are. 

My friends nodded their wolfy heads before commanding the attention of the rest of the pack. I made sure they were occupied before stalking off in the direction of Ana's scent.

I frowned as Ana's, her father's and her brothers' scents got stronger but two things made my wolf snarl; the metallic tang accompanying Ana's scent and the scent of my father.

I didn't need to go far to find them, they appeared right on the edge of the clearing. As I neared, I saw that Alpha Ashworth's face as hard as stone and he was doing everything in his power to suppress his wolf. Axel stood next to him, his eyes livid as he glared at my father.

"What's going on here?" I asked as Ana's scent got stronger.

Alpha Ashworth sighed, glaring in Dad's direction but he did not answer me. Dad cleared his throat as he glanced nervously between Alpha Ashworth and I. "Now son," he said, "I did this for everyone's safety."

The slightly nervous tone of his voice alerted me immediately and I switched to the defensive. "What are you talking about?" I said lowly. "What did you do?" Before anyone could answer me, there was a soft whimper. Alpha Ashworth stepped aside and I snarled loudly at the sight before me.

Even though I had seen her only once before, I knew the dark brown wolf in front of me was Ana. She was flanked by Damien's wolf and Nyal. My eyes widened and I growled loudly as my wolf came to the surface in full force when my eyes landed on it.

Nyal's gloved hand held a silver chain  attached to the silver collar around Anastasia's neck.

I grabbed my father by his collar and slammed him into a nearby tree. "For everyone's safety or to protect your own ass?!" I was livid. "You have no right to do this to her! How would you feel if it was your mate in her place? How could do this to an innocent person? An innocent girl?" My father was speechless, stunned by my rage.

I was faintly aware of Alpha Ashworth calling my name but I couldn't hear him over the howling of my wolf and the rush of blood in my ears. Anastasia whined and that caught my attention. I dropped my father to the ground and looked at her. I knelt before her wolf, cupping her muzzle in my hand. She whined again before leaning into my touch. Her eyes betrayed the amount of pain she was in.

"I'm taking this off," I growled, my voice dipping into a deeper timbre. 

Nyal unclipped the chain and I stretched my hand forward. Anastasia's dark brown eyes never left mine as I unfastened the collar, ignoring the burning sensation on my skin. The relief was visible on her body as her head settled into the crook of my neck. I dropped the collar to the ground and ran my hand gently along her neck, hoping to relieve some of the pain and comfort her. Her wolf purred lightly before pulling back and sitting next to Damien on her hind legs.

I snarled and snatched the collar up from the ground and thrust it into my father's face. He shrank back against the tree trunk, his eyes darting frantically between the collar, my face and keeping his wolf down. I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to place it around his neck.

"You are my father, I love and respect you and follow your decisions as my Alpha," I said evenly and opened my eyes, "but if you hurt my mate again, she won't be the one wearing this collar."

Dad growled at the threat but nodded. I dropped it and bit back a scream at the pain. I controlled my breathing as I calmed my wolf down. When I turned around I saw that everyone but Anastasia had left. Her eyes were fixed on me and I smiled and walked over.

"Hi there," I said as I knelt in front of her. "You're a beautiful girl you know that?" I ran my hand along her body, her back arching at my touch. I brought my wolf to the surface, letting him enjoy this moment with our mate. "I remember the first time I saw you," I murmured to her, "you don't look half as dangerous now."

Ana's wolf growled and bared her teeth making me chuckle. I rubbed her muzzle feeling the muscles relax underneath my fingertips. Her eyes glassed over and she groaned before she tilted her head; we needed to go to training. I stepped away before shifting and immediately took control over my wolf. I padded out and saw Ana visibly perk up. When her warm brown eyes met mine, I could sense that she was in control as well. Both of us were cautious as this was the first time our wolves were meeting.

Ana came up to us, growling lowly, a habit of her wolf's nature. I bared my teeth and remained still as she sniffed us. My wolf battered against the barrier I put between him and me wanting nothing more than to dominate. She pulled back, satisfied for now before rearing back on her hind legs and taking off. 

My wolf snapped his jaws and followed behind, easily overtaking her but he waited for her at the fringe of the clearing. When Ana caught up, her wolf approached slowly, wary and defensive. He growled lowly, welcoming her with his head held high, rumbling in content when Ana's wolf licked his face once. We smiled as Ana's wolf studied us carefully before joining Damien. With much force, I made myself go over to Axel's group.

~

I was going crazy.

It was difficult to resist the mate bond while in wolf form. My wolf wanted no part of training as all his attention was focused on our mate. He was frustrated that she wasn't giving us the time of day. I was amused, Ana's wolf sure loved violence.

We kept a careful eye on her as she and Damien wrestled as part his demonstrations. Her wolf was violent and aggressive; something that both surprised and impressed us, but Damien was able to keep her in line. I could tell that Anastasia was in control but I could feel her wolf yearning for us.

I growled and lunged as I jumped over and darted under the log hurdles, screeching to halt next to Jared.

He looked down at his stopwatch and grinned, "11.41 seconds Blackwell, a new personal best."

My wolf and I grinned and walked around, making sure everyone else in our pack was okay. We were getting faster and stronger thanks to training. Nyal said if there was a pack ranking, I would be up there with them.

I heard a familiar growl and a tug on the mate bond, making me look at Ana. She stood away from her brother, eyes fixed on the forest. I started to walk over when an unfamiliar scent came with the breeze. My eyes widened when I saw a flash of white in the woods.

Ana snarled and took off with me following behind. I caught up to her and focused on the wolf ahead. I easily ran past her, something she hated as I heard a loud snarl and thundering paws behind me. I could feel her blood lust strumming through the bond and I pushed myself, snapping my jaws at the tail of the rogue.

I screeched to a halt as the rogue jumped over our borders. I snarled and paced angrily, as much as I wanted to go after him, if I did, it could instigate a fight with other rogues which we could not handle right now. 

My wolf growled loudly and struck out as we barreled to the floor. Anastasia's wolf lunged for our neck and I pushed her off before her jaws could make contact. I stood up and growled, half angry that she attacked me, half shocked that she attacked me; her mate.

Her blood was hot with aggression and I saw no difference between her and a male influenced by heat. But I couldn't bring myself to fight her even though my wolf was seriously considering it. I reared back and sprinted past her. Predictably I heard a fierce howl before I felt her paws dig into the earth. I headed towards an unused clearing, hoping that the run cool her off.

I leaped over a fallen tree, leading her into a clearing. A few seconds later Anastasia burst through snarling at me but made no attempt to attack me. My wolf circled her slowly, keeping his teeth bared as he assessed our mate and Ana's wolf was doing the same to me. She circled us, her eyes unreadable.

I looked on in amazement as Ana's wolf lowered herself to the ground and her tail thumped on the forest floor. My wolf was stunned but accepted the invitation as he sat next to her, wary from her earlier attack.

I remained in the background as he sniffed her neck, guarded from to her earlier attack. She pressed her nose to his muzzle. His happiness was evident he sniffed and licked her cheeks and throat. I laughed as she whacked him in the face with her tail and growled in warning as he neared her rump. He growled reminding her who's boss, but did not go any further and settled down next to her.

Ana's wolf purred in content at the contact, rubbing her fur against ours; marking us with her scent and marking herself with ours. He curled his tail protectively around her, licking and nibbling anywhere she let him reach. As he held his head high, letting her do the same to him I realised how much our wolves were starved of each other's love and how much our relationship before went against every fibre of our being and nature.

A snap of a twig made me look up. I growled and bared my fangs as Xaden's wolf came into view. My wolf snarled and moved into a sitting position keeping contact with Ana. Xaden growled but showed no signs of aggression as he assessed mine and Ana's position. 

I growled louder and snapped as he tried to get closer. I placed one leg over Ana's midsection and snarled, daring him to come any closer. And Xaden, being Xaden, he did. I jumped over Ana and confronted him, pacing with my tail and head high, forming an obstacle between him and her.

Xaden's wolf's eyes glassed over as he reached out to Ana. I could feel her joy was mine and her annoyance of being interrupted was apparent. I heard her give a very Ana-like snort as she tucked and untucked her tail. I guessed what their conversation was about and I growled and tensed, ready to attack Xaden for assuming the worse of us. 

Ana stretched her neck and nipped at my tail lightly to distract me. Their silent conversation went on for a while again and when it was over, Ana was practically giddy as she rolled over with her tongue lolled out. Xaden shook his wolfy head before bowing his head to her slightly and running off.

Ana's playful whines captured my attention again and I looked back to her rolling around and bowing to me. She padded up and rubbed against me, craving our attention. She whined again as she lay down. He cuddled up next to her again with his tail curled around her. Ana nuzzled my muzzle before placing her head on my legs. 

My wolf rumbled in delight before placing his head on her neck and we both relaxed.