ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

Watching her drive away, from the pack house, from him, and not doing anything about it was the hardest thing Alpha Marcellus Storm ever had to do. He had been leading the pack by himself for the past ten years but compared to this one moment, all of that was nothing but a speck of dust.

Another growl rumbled from deep within his chest and his wolf pawed at the ground, internally battling to gain control himself as he forced himself to watch his mate leave him.

Not that she knew she was his mate.

Why are we not going after her? His wolf demanded in another growl, not at all bothered that the ground shook underneath his paws and the sleeping birds awoke with caws and flapping of their wings despite it being just short of midnight. Our mate is driving away from us and we're just going to let her?

She's not our mate. Marcellus denied as finally, he shifted into his human form, his head bowed and his eyes squeezed tightly. We're not letting our mate go because that woman is not our mate.

How the fuck can you say that? His wolf growled the demand as he forcefully took over and shifted back into his wolf form, only able to take two steps forward before Marcellus forced himself to halt. What is wrong with you? Why are you denying her? Why are you denying us?

Did you not see her? Marcellus growled and grappled to come to terms with the reality that he had seen in Raphael and Justas' bedroom earlier.

I saw her. I saw our mate.

And?

And what? His wolf snorted and rolled his beady eyes. You're angry that she was sleeping in another man's room? You know they're both gay and are too in love with each other to look at anyone else, let alone a female. That's the whole point of having a mate.

Marcellus glowered at his wolf as he was forced to take a backseat as his wolf began running through the woods even though the car was long gone.

She's pregnant.

I know. I saw that, too.

Then why are you behaving like this?

His wolf growled loudly at the disrespect, but Marcellus merely growled back at him, both of them still battling for power and dominance, torn over what should have been a relatively simple situation. One which he shouldn't even need to think about.

Our mate is pregnant with a child that isn't ours. How does that not bother you?

His wolf snorted as he continued running, trying to pick up the faint scent of his mate, having pushed himself to catch up with her and the moving vehicle, but making sure to stay out of sight so as to not raise any suspicions among his pack members.

You don't think it bothers me? His wolf snapped at him. You don't think the fact that she's carrying someone else's baby doesn't bother me? It does fucking bother me! Of course, it bothers me!

Then why are you behaving like this? Marcellus asked in a small voice, barely able to wrap his mind around the situation. How can you still want her?

His wolf stopped abruptly in the middle of the forest, allowing the sight of the car to disappear from view as it continued driving. Marcellus held his breath as his wolf sat down on the ground and stared ahead through vacant eyes, watching the lights of the car slowly fade out of view until he could no longer make it out; even with his enhanced werewolf sight.

Tell me right here, right now that you don't want her and we'll turn around. His wolf whispered to him a small, quiet voice, daring his human counterpart to disagree. We'll turn around and head back to the pack. We'll pretend like this never happened and we'll continue running the pack by ourselves just like we've been doing for the past ten years.

When Marcellus couldn't bring himself to say anything, at a complete loss of words with how serious the situation had turned, his wolf continued.

Tell me you're not in love with her already and I'll never mention her again.

Marcellus swallowed the lump in his throat and bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

She's pregnant with someone else's baby.

She's still our mate.

When he sighed and reluctantly shook his head, his wolf nodded and picked himself up, continuing running after the vehicle even though it was completely out of sight by this point.

I know you're hurting, but I'm hurting too. I never thought something like this would ever happen to us but it has, so we just need to take our time, okay? There's no rush in any of this but denying her would be denying us, and that would do neither of us any good.

Marcellus merely hummed in response and the rest of the run over to her house – where her sweet honeysuckle scent was the strongest – remained in silence other than the soft sounds of his wolf panting and his paws hitting the ground.

It was only when he reached an unfamiliar house a few towns over with a vehicle in the driveway that his wolf stopped running and gave him back control, but still remained in his wolf form.

It was bad enough that he was sitting by the side of his mate's house in wolf form in the middle of the night, but he was sure that it would be much worse if he was sitting outside her house butt naked. Especially if someone were to see him.

What do we do now? Marcellus asked as he seated himself on his bottom and stared into what he assumed to be the kitchen window as he blinked back at the orange numbers on the oven, blinking back at him through the darkness that consumed the house.

I have no idea.

Why are we here?

I have no idea. His wolf repeated. You can go back to the pack, if you want. I won't try to stop you.

When Marcellus didn't move, his wolf lay down on his stomach and rested his head on his paws, content with being physically close to his mate even though she didn't even know he existed.

How could she do that to us? Marcellus asked his wolf in a small voice, still staring into the dark house, his mate nowhere to be seen. Why couldn't she just wait for us? Just a couple more months was all that was needed and we would have found her. Why couldn't she wait another few months? I've already been waiting ten years.

It's not as simple as that and you know it. His wolf hummed back to him, already drowsy from oncoming sleep, clearly relaxed knowing that his mate was nearby. For starters, she's human.

So? That doesn't matter. That doesn't change anything.

That changes everything. His wolf disagreed. Just because humans now know about our existence and we no longer hide from them doesn't change the fact that they don't know all that much about us.

Where are you going with this? Marcellus grumbled as he allowed the wave of anger and self-pity to wash over him.

She's human. She was born human and she's lived the life of a human. Werewolves have mates but humans do not. How was she supposed to know that she was going to be mated to a werewolf and should probably wait around for him to find her? How can she possibly know that?

Even to his own ears, that sounded strange and absurd, but Marcellus wasn't yet ready to give in.

So, this doesn't bother you at all?

Believe me when I say, this whole situation is harder on me than it is on you, but it is what it is and there's no way I'm going to reject her.

What are you saying?

I'm saying, I understand that this bothers you but you better get onboard with it and soon. I refuse to lose any more time with my mate just because you can't get over the fact that she's carrying a child that isn't ours.

But-

That's enough for tonight. We're not talking about this anymore. And with that, his wolf grumbled good night and closed his eyes, refusing to acknowledge and respond to the many things that Marcellus still had yet to say.

Marcellus growled loudly but the beast didn't even bat an eyelash in response and instead, feigned being asleep to escape being dragged into the conversation again.

Stupid animal. Always thinking you know best. If you had it your way, we would have run the pack into the ground years ago.

If his wolf was awake to hear him, he gave no clear indication that he did. To pass the time, Marcellus lifted his head higher and glanced curiously into her house, able to make out what appeared to be a living room branching out from the arch of the kitchen.

The house itself appeared small yet homely, a place he wouldn't mind living in. Unlike his bedroom which followed a strict colour scheme of white, black and a hint of blue to spice things up, his mate's house was far livelier and more lived in.

He spied her laptop on the small dining table in the kitchen as well as a notebook and pen, which made him imagine her spending hours upon hours there, working and eating. He had no idea what she worked as or did for a living, but he liked to think of her as a creative soul, the exact opposite of what he would describe himself as. What a beautiful contrast that would be.

Unlike the pack fridge which was large, her fridge was small and covered in papers and drawings, clearly created by small children or someone who was just really bad at drawing.

He chuckled at the thought of the latter and continued his silent assessment of his mate's house until a few more moments passed and he felt like a creep.

Unlike his wolf who was now quietly snoring, Marcellus couldn't sleep. He shifted around to get into a better position but nothing helped. It was only when he gave into his desires and rounded the side of the house so he was now stood behind it where her bedroom room was located that he felt like he could finally give in and drift off.

Her curtains were drawn but he could make out the faint light from a lamp that she had clearly forgotten to turn off. He couldn't see her but know that she was there, safe and asleep, was all he needed to join his wolf in dreamland.

Marcellus awoke in the morning to a pesky fly sat on the tip of his nose. He grunted and wasted no time in swatting it away before pushing himself up onto his legs – still in wolf form – and stretched out his sore muscles and body parts from an uncomfortable night of sleep on the cold, hard ground.

Annoying fly. His wolf grumbled as he dropped his jaw to let out an elongated yawn.

It was only then that he realised that her curtains were now pulled back. When he took a few steps back to get a better look, he saw that her bed had been made and her room looked empty.

A momentary wave of panic settled over him as he struggled to locate his mate, but when he heard what sounded like the clatter of a spoon drop in the sink, he rounded the house so he was back to where he was last night; outside the kitchen window.

Neither Marcellus or his wolf were prepared for the marvellous sight that they were about to be blessed with that morning.

Their beautiful mate dressed in a robe and nothing else, with her beautiful auburn locks in disarray down her back as she worked on cooking some eggs for herself.

He could hear the old classical music that she was listening to from her phone, the silk material of the thin robe slipping off her shoulder as she reached into one of the overhead cabinets to grab a plate for her while simultaneously trying to make sure that her eggs didn't burn.

Marcellus and his wolf couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. While she could cook, she was an absolute mess in the kitchen with absolutely no sense of order of doing things.

It was evident that with most things in life, she just went with the flow. The complete opposite to him.

Marcellus wasn't sure how long he had been staring at her but before he knew it, she had finished with her cooking – having toasted some toast and poured herself some orange juice to go with the eggs – and took a seat at the dining table directly in his line of vision.

She didn't manage one bit of her breakfast before her body stilled and her eyes locked with his, her hand floating in mid-air as her lips parted in a quiet gasp.

Much to his surprise, her face contorted into an expression of curiosity and surprise rather than fear. The longer she stared back at him and they maintained eye contact, the faster his heart beat but it was only when she stood up from the dining table and moved closer to the window to get a better look at him that he finally snapped out of his daze.

Throwing his head back, the wolf howled loudly, the sound of it sending a shiver down her spine before he turned on his heels and began back to the pack house. It took everything in him to not turn around to go back to her; to his mate.

With her beautiful deep ocean blue eyes flashing through his mind, even when he closed his eyes, Marcellus and his wolf returned back to the pack with a wolfish grin on his face even though they had no idea where they stood on this matter.

Either way, there was no denying that she was his mate. Just as there was no denying that his mate was pregnant with another man's baby.

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Layla Knight

10.10.2020