"Come on Lara! Faster!"

Double punches.

"Harder!"

Side kick.

"You have got males watching you, show them what an Alpha Female can truly do!"

Rotating jump, side kick, head off.

Nora watched with wide and incredulous eyes as the head of the target fell on the ground, rolling three times before stopping a few centimeters from her feet.
I swiped the sweat off my forehead before stretching my right shoulder a bit. It stung. I should had prepared my muscles and cordons better before beginning my workout.
I turned to see whose male attention I had caught during my training and when my eyes settled upon the two figures at the border of the clearing I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

Of course it had to be Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the males with capital "m" of the pack.

Alpha and Beta were leaned against the same tree, arms crossed, supporting their back on the strong log of the oak, while surveying cautiously the females train.
Well, now their attention was on me.
Light brown eyes were mischievously watching me, the male provoking me with the corners of his lips upturned in a sly smirk, showing a bit of white teeth, and when my eyes met his he winked at me. I couldn't hold back the snarl that escaped my mouth.
Deep blue eyes were eyeing me curiously, watching, studying me, my moves, my actions; eyebrow slightly raised, Hercules was provoking me in a more subtle way than Cameron.

Well, they wanted a show?
I would give them a show.

Without breaking eye-contact with the pair, I swiftly lifted my leg, kneeling the puppet in its supposed groin and making it land a few meters away.
Cameron visibly flinched at my action, protecting his own area with both his hands, probably remembering what happened during our sparring, and I smirked in satisfaction. Hercules didn't falter his stance, but a huge grin broke out on his chiseled face.

"Well, when I told you to tore the fake target into pieces I didn't mean it literally, but hey I'm not complaining."

I turned myself to pay attention to the talking read-head on my right, before arching my eyebrows.

"You asked me to do it, I complied your request."

"Oh well, if I had know I had such a power on you, I would have asked a lot of other things.."

I knew where this was headed, so I muttered a "Don't." before bending down to stretch my sore muscles. I knew she wanted to ask me about Hercules, but I didn't have anything to say to her about him, so it was better to not touch the topic from the beginning.

Nora opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when she heard someone approaching and calling her name.
I continued stretching my right leg, touching my calf with my hands and resting my head on my knee, when I felt the hair on my neck raise in warning. My wolf began slightly snarling, pacing back and forth and she raised her upper lip to show her fangs, so I immediately stopped my actions to take note of who was approaching.
At first glance, everything seemed fine to me. I didn't see any danger that could had irked my wolf that way running in our surroundings, but then my eyes caught the figure of the she-wolf who was walking in my and Nora's direction.

With an impassive face, I watched the raven haired female walking with long and strong strides towards Nora. She was a powerful and strong wolf, you could feel it from the aura of her beast surrounding her, but not powerful enough to challenge me as she did nights prior on the fighting matches.
I studied her as she talked with Nora. With her head held high, stiff shoulders, long and muscled legs, slim but strong arms, she was definitely a beauty, but something in the way she carried herself seemed off to me.
It seemed like she wanted to show herself more powerful than she really was, like she wanted to prove herself to someone, but I wasn't entirely sure. Maybe I was reading too deep into the lines.

When the pair finished talking, she threw an hard glance towards me, but her face was blank, void of emotion, just like mine was.
As always, I stared back unaffected until she flinched under my stare.
Before leaving, she casted one last glance behind me and something flashed in her eyes, an emotion I could not fully recognize.
I knew who was behind me, as I could feel their power radiating off their skins, but I couldn't pinpoint to whom her gaze was directed at, since both males were still standing there.

I felt my curiosity win over my carefulness.

"Who is she?"

Nora turned her head towards me and I nodded in the retreating female's direction.

"Oh.. she is Bekka. She is not from our pack. Well now she is, but she originally came from Red Dusk Pack in Maine. She was the Beta daughter but she came here two years ago when.." Nora stopped talking and she looked at me almost embarrassed, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

I didn't understand why she was suddenly acting this way. I only asked a simple question; my wolf was not very pleased with her sudden mood change, in fact she was eyeing Nora cautiously with her sharp golden eyes.

"When?"

She exhaled a breath and then resumed talking.

"When Hercules chose her as his Chosen to become Luna of our pack. He hadn't found a companion worthy of the title then so he decided to search for a Chosen, but it didn't last long. A few months after her arrival here he broke things off, but she decided to stay here and become a member of our pack instead of going back home. She became a very strong and skilled warrior and integrated herself well with the rest of the pack, but I know she did that only to prove her worth to Hercules, hoping he would take her back."

I continued watching her unimpressed.

"And why were you acting strange when you were about to tell me this?"

Nora watched me in the eyes, her topaz like gems fixated on mine. She wasn't trying to challenge me, she only wanted to asses that I was listening carefully to what she was about to say.

"Because I know."

I instantly understood what she meant.
She knew.
She knew about me and Hercules.
How could she know?
I tried to maintain my face blank and expressionless, but my eyes widened slightly at her answer, not able to contain my incredulity.

"How?" I whispered.

I was too shocked to properly think: the only people who knew about that were myself, Hercules himself and Cameron. So how could she know? I didn't tell anybody, Cameron couldn't escape the promise made to his Alpha to maintain the secret, so the only person left was Hercules..but despite his probable involvement, I couldn't find myself getting angry because somehow deep down I knew that it wasn't him who confessed our secret to Nora.

Nora scanned our surroundings, before nodding towards the woods and starting going in that direction. I followed her, a stoic expression on my face that made me seem apparently calm, but inside I was everything but that. Nervousness, uncertainty, wariness, anger, curiosity.. my emotions were uncontrollably swirling together, making me and my beast quite uncomfortable.
We were used to have full control on the situation we were in and now, with this female knowing my secret and with the row of emotions taking over my body, we were feeling very uneasy.

When we reached a safe spot in the woods, she stopped walking and faced me, arms crossed on her chest and a serious expression casted on her feminine face.

"First of all, I want you to know that nobody told me."

Honestly, I didn't really know how to react to her affirmation. For the first time in a very long period of time I was not in control of my emotions. I couldn't decide if it was better feeling relieved because neither Hercules or Cameron told her, or feeling extremely preoccupied by the fact that, if nobody told Nora, than she had had to understood the situation by herself, making me think that me and Hercules had not been so careful as we thought.

Keep your emotions in control, Lara.
You are great at doing that.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"I'm only a very observant person."

"What are you talking about? I have never done anything to led you on on us being mates."

"Correct. You haven't, but that doesn't include the things you did unconsciously."

What?
Unconsciously?
I was getting extremely restless and irritated, trying to understand what the Gamma female was meaning.

"Lara, I was there when you two met. I saw both of you. I bet I heard Alpha whisper something like 'mate', but I wasn't certain. My suspicions grew wider observing your behavior towards the other. You do it unconsciously, but the way your bodies react to one another is unmistakable. The way your shoulders stiff when he is around, the way he looks at you when you don't notice.. the way you reacted to his touch the other night...Lara, Hercules hasn't showed any interest in females since Bekka, and it was two years ago. I knew he wanted to wait for his female, so I put two and two together."

I gulped.

"So I am not subtle enough as I thought?"

"What? No, none could understand you two are mates. You are doing an incredible job at hiding it.. I bet it's extremely difficult and hard but.."

I interrupted her before she could go on.

"It isn't difficult."

She looked at me with wide eyes, her eyebrows rose up as an incredulous expression crossed her face.

"What?"

I shrugged.

"Nor me nor my beast have recognized him as our mate. I don't feel anything for him, apart from the physical attraction. I am not jealous if other females desire him, they can have him.
I am not interested in the mate bond, so I am not interested in him. It's not hard hiding our connection, as I don't feel any connection at all. Simple as that."

Nora was speechless. Her light blue eyes were wide, she opened and closed her mouth various times, as she wasn't capable of properly form words. I knew that the fact I was rejecting my 'moon bound' was inconceivable for a werewolf, but I had my reasons and nothing would change my mind.

"But that is impossible.." she whispered.

"It's not when you went through the same things I did."

She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, before reopening them. Now they were quite serious and were totally focused on me.

"As I already told you, I won't pry into your life or your choices, because it's not my place to do that, but please listen to what I have to say. A mate is a gift, a gift from the Moon herself. Most of us are not lucky enough to meet their other half. Don't despise her gift to you, none could ever love you as a mate would do."

All those speeches about mates and their importance and love had deeply bored and quite irritated me. I was fed up. I had reached my limit. My anger grew alongside with my beast's one. I took a step towards her, not menacingly, but only to show her my dominance.

"Gamma Female, listen to me clearly. Don't ever try to convince me again that mates are gifts from the Moon herself. The Moon Goddess never gifted me anything. I don't want a mate. I don't need a mate. Hell, I didn't even want to become a werewolf, but here I am.
If Hercules wants my trust and affection, he has to earn them. I won't give them only because the presence of a 'bond' between us.
You, Cameron and Hercules himself have to stop trying to make me change my mind, because I won't. This is not an advice, it's a warning. Me and my beast don't like being told what to do, we don't like it at all. I was growing to like you, Nora. Don't break my trust, you won't have it back."

She nodded, before timidly showing me a portion of her neck in submission.

"Yes Alpha."

I snarled.

"I am not your Alpha. Reserve this treatment for Hercules, I don't want it."

I began walking towards the clearing once again, ready to get to my cabin in order to get ready for a long day of work.

"Remember my words Gamma Female."

And with that, I hoped we would never touch that topic again.

—-

If in the morning I had been nervous, now I was insufferable.
E.R on Saturday's late shift was indescribable and, in addiction, my students were slow and unreliable.
God, you are a doctor, behave as such! Don't waste your time taking selfies with your white coat on only to feed your ego on Instagram.

The coffee from the vending machine I was sipping was undrinkable, tasting like dirty water and mud. Slowly twirling the drink in the plastic cup, I sighed, resting my head on the white wall behind me.

A short moment of peace.

I still had three hours to go before finishing my shift and it was late afternoon, so I had previously decided to spend the night here in Seattle. I needed a little bit of space of my own, away from werewolves and mates and Betas and shit like that. I gulped down the remaining "coffee" making a disgusted face, before wiping my mouth and throwing the empty cup in the nearest dustbin. Why couldn't the hospital buy better machines? It was definitely a point I would bring up in the next administration meeting.

I was exiting the Doctors' Changing Room when my phone began ringing, so I returned inside and headed to my purse, that was stored in my locker. Looking at the screen to see the caller I.D I smile. It was Eliza, the colleague with whom I had switched shift as now I was currently doing the one destined to her.
The little bitch was calling to know if I was still alive, I was sure of that.

"Hello, this is the Psychiatric Ward on the line. Patient Lara Crawford is unavailable, since she is actually under sedatives due to the nervous breakdown she had a while ago. I will tell her you called Miss...?"

I could imagine Eliza roll her eyes on the other side of the line.

"Ah ah ah, I'm so dying of laughter here.."

I sat down on a chair, crossing my legs upwards and resting my head on my knees.

"Hey, you are not the one closed in Hell right now! The E.R is in caos, my students are a pain in the ass and in addiction Miss Camelia is back again and for the twelfth time she tried to convince me to go out with her nephew Igor.."

She began laughing and soon I followed her, before pinching the bridge of my nose and exhaled a breath in exhaustion.

"The bald 40 years old accountant with a strange obsession with penguins?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"Oh girl, he is a true catch."

I rolled my eyes, playing with the hem of my scrubs with my fingers.

"Did you call me only to make fun of me Eliza?"

"Maybe, maybe not...only kidding girl. I called to tell you that me and the guys are going out for drinks at ten o'clock. Are you in?"

I sighed, stopping playing with my clothes and passing a hand through my disheveled blond locks. I was tired, that was sure, and I wasn't in the very right mood for company tonight, so I hesitated a bit before answering.

"I don't know Eliza.. I'm quite tired and I still have three hours before finishing in here.."

"Oh come on! You need some fun, some time to relax and chill with us without thinking about work! And I owe you a drink to have covered my shift today! In case you decide to come we will be at Lotus at ten. I hope to see you there. Bye!"

"Yeah.. I'll see what I can do.. see you Eliza.."
I said before disconnecting the call.

Maybe some drinks with the guys wouldn't be so bad after all. I needed to distract myself from the situation that was waiting for me at my return to Silverblood territory. For one evening I didn't want to think about anything Hercules or Silverblood related.
I stood up, throwing my hair in a high ponytail and straightening the wrinkles on my blue scrubs. I glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was now 6.00 pm, three more hours to go before going home to refresh a bit and going out with my friend.

E.R. here I come.

—-

It was 10.30 pm when I reached the Lotus Club. I payed the taxi driver before exiting in the chilly Seattle evening.

The Lotus Club was famous in the night life of Seattle: people came from all over the state to spend a night here, where famous people like actors or athletes usually hang out.
I sometimes came here for a few drinks with Eliza and some others from the hospital, so it wasn't a new environment for me. I greeted the bouncer, before entering the place.
Immediately the smell of alcohol, smoke, sweat and arousal reached my nose and I wrinkled it in disgust. My beast copied me, retreating in the back of my mind with a scoff, but with an eye open in case of need.

Since I became a wolf dancing in a club was not really my scene anymore. Being able to sniff every scent coming from horny human bodies was not a thing I enjoyed much, so I had abandoned that scene.

I made my way towards the bar, my heels clicking silently on the slippery floor, and I took off my trench, showing the dark green velvet dress I wore underneath.
The neckline was deep, showcasing a bit of cleavage, but it was long sleeved and, despite it tightness, it reached my knee line.
I immediately spotted my brunette friend at a table near the bar and when our eyes met she threw her hands in the air in order to greet me.
When my gaze landed on the person who was sat next to her the enthusiasm I had for this evening evaporated, soon replaced by annoyance.

Will.

Of course he would be here, but I was really not in the mood to actually interact with him.
When he saw me, his eyes shamelessly ranked my body from head to toe, before raising his gaze to my face and throwing me a cheeky wink.

God, no.

If he played the boyfriend part tonight, I was surely going to lose my patience and probably punch him. I made my way to the table with a fake smile plastered on my face, the joy of being here evaporated like water under the scorching sun.

"Lara! So glad you came! Come sit next to me and Adrian."

I bent down to kiss Eliza on the cheek, but I sat at her opposite, between Roscoe and Molly, far from Will.

"Hey guys." I greeted the other people seated at the table and a choir of "Hello" and Hey" came in response.

"Hey Lar! Long time no see! And you look fabulous tonight."
Molly smiled at me, her green eyes enhanced by a beautiful black smoky eyeshadow and by her pink hair tied back in an high ponytail.

"Hey Molly! Yeah, but here I am. Thank you, you too.. where is Christine?" I asked, searching the crowd for the pretty blonde she had as girlfriend for the past year.

"Oh she couldn't come tonight! But she said to greet you."

I smiled at her in response, before turning to the others.

"Have you already ordered?"

Will didn't pass on the opportunity to address me.

"Yeah.. we didn't know if you were coming or not, so.."

I waved him off.

"That's fine, don't worry. I'm gonna order now."

I got up, taking my clutch with me. Will stood up from his seat, eager to accompany me to the bar. Too bad I was going to crush his expectations.

"Will, don't bother. It will take only a minute. I'll see you in a moment."

He nodded, but was clearly annoyed by my refusal. With a huff he sat down. I wanted to scoff. Such a cry baby.

I walked to the bar, packed and full of people. The fauna was miscellaneous: guys in suits drinking whiskey after a day in the office, girls cheering at what the night had to offer, men courting women.. a bachelorette party.
I would never have a bachelorette party. No man to marry, no friends, no party.

God Lara, this was a night out to have fun, not to cry over our unfaithful fate.

I approached the bar, finding a nearly empty spot on the left. Sitting on the last vacant stool, I put my clutch on my lap and rested my elbows on the counter with my head upon my hands. While I was waiting for a barman to notice me, I swirled left and right on the stool, but soon after I felt a presence in front of me.

"Hey beautiful."

At the sound of his voice I smiled.

Max.

"Hey handsome."

Hazel eyes bore into mines, warm and soft.
What a beautiful sight stood in front of me.
Standing at six foot, with broad shoulders, a lean physique, tattoos and chocolate brown hair, Max was a sight for thirsty eyes.

Yeah, I tapped that.
Guilty.
Sorry not sorry.

We had been lovers for a couple of times, but as me he wasn't interested in having anything serious so when we broke things off there was absolutely no rancor between us.
He understood my body and I understood his, no feelings involved, despite him being a total sweetheart.

"So the usual?"

"Not tonight Max. Tonight I am a Prosecco kind of girl. Extra dry please."

He winked at me.

"As you desire. Which table?"

"15."

I opened my purse and put a ten dollar banknote on the counter. Max raised an eyebrow at my action and stopped cleaning a glass, taking the money and storing it in my purse once again.

"Max, what are you doing?"

"You perfectly know that during my shift you don't have to pay."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Every time the story was always the same: me trying to pay and Max refusing to accept my money.
I sighed.

"Max, please. I already told you million times that.."

"And I already answered million times that I won't accept your money. In memory of good old times."

He smirked at me and I shook my head in defeat.

"Fine. Thank you."

"Your welcome. Your drink will be at your table shortly. Have a nice evening!"

He departed with a last wink in my direction in order to search for the next costumer.

—-

The evening turned out enjoyable. I had a good time with the guys, but now it was currently 1.00 am and I was seriously tired.
Eliza and Adrian vanished long ago and Molly left because she was rather tipsy, so now I was sipping my second glass of Prosecco while listening to Will, Roscoe and Matt talking about softball.

As a werewolf I couldn't get easily drunk, if not at all, so when I finished my drink I was perfectly fine. It was time to go home.

"Hey guys, I'm going home. I'll see you next time ok?"

I smiled at them while standing up and putting my trench on. Roscoe and Matt gave me a nod and wished me a good night, while Will followed me, standing up from his spot.

"Lara, it's late. I will give you a ride home, I meant to go home too after all."

Apart for the slip-up at the beginning of the night, he then behaved pretty well so I accepted his offer without hesitation.

In the car we made small conversation. He told me about his week at the hospital and asked me why I had to work only three shifts out of my usual six, so I lied to him telling that I was working part time for a private oncology clinic.
He didn't pry further, so he must have believed my lie.

When we reached my apartment building, an uncomfortable silence fell in the car.

"Here you are." He said with a nervous smile.

Oh fuck it.
I hadn't gotten laid in weeks and the sexual attraction between me and Hercules left me unsatisfied, in addiction to the stress I was currently under due to work.
I definitely needed some fun.

"You want to come in?"

I looked at him under my lashes, seductively biting my lip. He stared at me for a moment, before exhaling a breath and turning off the ignition of the car.

"Definitely. Fuck, it has been two weeks since we got interrupted in the storage room and I couldn't wait to meet you again."

"So come on, show me what you got." I said, before opening the door and stepping on the street.

When we reached my apartment, I had hardly time to open the door before his lips attached mine. I closed my eyes to lose myself in the moment, but something wasn't right. I usually enjoyed a lot my time with Will, but now I wasn't. His touch wasn't right. It burned my skin, but not in a pleasurable way, it was like my body was refusing his flesh on mine, making me shiver in disgust. His scent was too strong, suffocating me, making me nearly gag.

It wasn't like Hercules' electrifying touch.
It wasn't like Hercules' marvelous scent.

My mind couldn't stop comparing Will's touch with Hercules'. Despite the nearly nonexistent skin to skin interaction we had had, the few that had occurred were enough for my body to reject every other male's touch on my flesh.
Even my wolf, who was usually silent during our encounters, was now barking loudly, snarling and snapping her jaw at the man who was kissing me, clearly despising the feeling of his touch. I tried to push her back, to push back the negative feelings Will's skin was evoking. I didn't want for the mate bond to win over me. I didn't want to succumb to a bond I didn't want, but when his hands slowly and timidly traced the curves of my body, I couldn't take it anymore. I broke the kiss and pushed Will away a little. Confusion latched his face at my rejection , so I tried to sweeten the moment up by making up another lie.

"Will.. I'm sorry.. I thought I could do it, but I'm terribly tired. I want to enjoy my time with you and now I truly can't.."

He forced a smile on his face, clearly a regretful one, and nodded, before putting his hands in his back pockets.

"So.. I'll see you on Monday..?"

"Tuesday."

"Tuesday. Well.. have a good night Lara."

"Good night Will."

When he locked the door behind him, I wanted to break something for the rage I was feeling.
My life was good before meeting Hercules and now everything was going down the hills thanks to him.

Fuck!

I didn't want a mate. I didn't want a bond and now I couldn't even enjoy my time with Will anymore!

Fuck You Hercules!
Fuck You!

—-

The morning after, the drive towards the Silverblood's territory went smoothly, despite my lack of sleep the night prior.
When I had calmed down I was too tired to take a shower, so I directly went to bed, where I tossed and turned all night long.

Now I was currently on the path to my cabin, dreaming about a long run in wolf form through these woods and a long hot mind-cleaning shower afterwards.
When I opened the door I could feel something odd in the air, but I was too tired to pay attention to it. Tossing my bags on the floor, I went straight to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. When I entered the small living room I froze.

Yes, there was definitely something odd in the air. That was a certain Alpha male seated on my couch.

Hercules.

And to top that, he seemed mad.
Very, very mad.

Shit.

—-
Sooo here it is chapter 10!
What do you think?
Are you a little sad for poor Will?
If you liked, please vote and comment!
And please share! I would be eternally grateful for that!
XX
Kate ✨