Alistair, hunter of the Murrow Clan above

Chandler POV

Honestly, I was under the impression that this afternoon would be a complete disaster. And yet, to my utmost surprise, most of my men are enjoying themselves.

The tables in the garden were prepared, food made by werewolves was delicious, and guests from the Black Moon pack came; some even brought children.  

When Tonya suddenly suggested the possibility of attending the barbeque they have here every month, most of my men were happy with the idea. I guess they are unhappy with sitting in the house; during hunts, we often go to bars, and here we are stuck to one place.

I stand with my back to the garden wall and watch the Trio and other warriors who are part of joint training with hunters, talking with their training partners. Sonya and Hank are playing with Terry; Kathy and Carson are discussing something with Anne; Alistair is actually flirting with one of the females, and she seems pretty happy.

My eyes go subconsciously to Pearl, sitting on the other side of the garden, watching me constantly. She looks so beautiful in her white dress, with her hair loose. It's been a week since she recognized me as her mate, six days since I found her sleeping in my room, and four days since she was waiting for me to finish my training to give me cookies she had baked. Three days since she found me in the woods when I was taking my time to think about everything happening recently.

I gulp, feeling myself getting hard on the mere memory; that was really close call.

She was in wolf form, and I saw no problem with letting her close; she wanted to play, so I played with her the same way I played with my dog. This was the first time I actually had a friendly interaction with the werewolf. I thought it would be neutral, but it turned out to be highly relaxing. Kiana is making me calm, probably because of the bond's pull, which according to Tonya, I can feel weaker than Pearl because I'm a human.

Suddenly she shifted to her human form, and I must say I liked everything I saw. Pearl is beautiful, her body has no flaws, and her innocent blue eyes pull me to her. I gave her my T-shirt, and she accepted and sat beside me. We were talking, about my childhood on the farm, about her life in the pack. I was enjoying her gibberish all the time, watching her lips; I couldn't stop myself and reached for it. I let my thumb caress it, which surprised her; for a short moment, I was sure she would run away, but she didn't.

I threw the cautions in the air and kissed her. At first, she was stiff but very quickly joined me. For sure, she had no idea what she was doing, although I knew. At that very moment, I didn't care if I should have or shouldn't have been doing it.

I am a healthy male with healthy sexual needs; I enjoy sex and the company of women. But I have had never wanted anything as much as I wanted her in that moment. I got my consciousness back when she was straddling me, her hands were roaming around my chest, and I was pulling her T-shirt up, our mouths still devouring each other.

Suddenly I realized that I was dealing with a grown-up woman, and because of her mind of a child, I had to be responsible there. With an almost inhuman effort, I managed to stop, although every nerve in my body wanted her on her back with her legs wrapped around me.

She put up a fight; she was horny, her wolf was horny and set on completing the bond, and none of them wanted to stop; my body definitely didn't want to stop.

I ran away from her; I told her we couldn't and ran and haven't seen her since then.

And now she is looking at me, and I know nothing changed. I want to fuck her; she wants to fuck me.

"You are looking too much at her," one of my men comes closer. "That's Terry's daughter. Do you think it's wise? And do you know what her deal is? She spends lots of time around you."

I don't bother to answer him; only Alistair and Anne know about this mate thing.

"She speaks a lot about her father," I say. "That way, I could confirm what he claimed about himself."

"And she doesn't lie because she a retard. I haven't known that wolves can have that."

What he said irks me; Peral isn't a retard; she is just different. She understands the world in her own way, definitely purer than I or him.

I avert my eyes from her and start talking about something else. From the corner of my eyes, I see Rosie moving around a lot and Kathy not letting her leave her sight even for one moment. But I don't get to dwell on it anymore because Pearl is suddenly next to me.

"Are you sad? Chandler you sad? Why?" she asks.

"He is not sad, just always has this gloomy face," my companion answers in my stead.

"Chandler not gloomy, this day fun," she says, making my companion smirk.

"Why do you like our leader so much, girl?"

But she can't answer him because Terry summons her to him, and she listens. I'm sure she hadn't told him about our heated session in the woods because Terry would have done something to me.

"Do you think he fucks her? I mean, why would he take her in if she is this much work to do? For sure, he must have some reasons."

I instantly yank him by his shirt.

"If you don't wish to get hurt, better keep this fucking mouth shut," I whisper in a cold voice, and he looks at me, a bit frightened.

My mood is down; he seriously made me angry by suggesting something like that when suddenly Pearl comes back to me.

"Aunty Celia asked Pearl to bring more desserts. Dessert in kitchen, can Chandler help?"

I nod and follow her; Terry looks at us but says nothing. I guess he trusts me. At least, I hope so. As we enter and walk in the kitchen's direction, Pearl doesn't say anything, but as soon as we step inside the kitchen and I walk to the big batches of cakes that are placed on the counter, she actually asks:

"Can you kiss Pearl?"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," I say as she starts fidgeting with her fingers.

"Why? You mate, mates kiss, mates have children, we kissed before."

"You don't know me, Pearl, and..."

"I do. Chandler lived on a farm, had two sisters, and then bad things happened. Now Chandler has a second mommy like Pearl has a second daddy."

I sigh and rest myself on the kitchen counter. I could scare her away, scream at her, and chase her away that way, but I don't want to. I don't want her to be afraid of me.

"Pearl, what happened with your first daddy?" I ask, and she takes a step back.

"First daddy bad, first daddy hurt many people, sister, and Pearl escaped and then second daddy made sure that first daddy gone forever."

I want to say something but don't get to do that because we hear a whimper. I tell her not to move and cautiously look into the corridor; no one seems to be there, so I slowly leave the kitchen.

As I thought, they were in the living room. By they, I mean two guys who the Alpha of Shadow Pack chases, I have already known that their names are Noah and Charlie, and they were captured as rogues, but because Charlie is an omega, Black Moon has offered them shelter. The third guy in the room I don't recognize.

"Was it you who gave him bruises on his neck?" Noah asks angrily as Charlie is curling behind his back.

"Because of you fuckers I was whipped and removed from guards of the dungeon," the third one hisses. "I barely wanted some payback, but Celia almost caught me in the act. I'm a warrior. I should've been humiliated because of two dirty rogues like you."

"You put us in a corporative cell! Have you had any idea what would have happened to him!" Noah shouts, baring his canines as the third guy smirks.

"Omegas are breeding stock anyway. That's what my old Alpha said before he died, and our pack became the fourth territory. Just because Black Moon loves omegas so much doesn't mean I should. I was planning to watch this, but..."

He doesn't finish as Noah jumps on him with a growl and punches him. To my surprise, he doesn't protect himself.

Charlie is trembling,  glued to the wall, as I hear steps, lots of steps. Tonya is running in my direction; Sam, the Head Warrior and Kathy, and some other people are with her.

"What the hell?" she yells, passing me and entering the living room.

Whatever happened here is an internal affair of Black Moon, so I don't intend to interfere. I nod for Pearl to approach me since she glances from behind the kitchen door.

In the living room, everything is happening extremely fast as Tonya pulls Noah away from the guy who is lying on the ground screaming:

"He attacked me! I heard them talking about stealing from the packhouse and running away! They are rogues. They should be chased away from here!"

"You fucking bastard! He gave Charlie bruises!" Noah trashes in Tonya's grip.

"You can't believe it, Alpha, they are rogues!" the third guy screams.

Tonya closes her eyes and grips Noah stronger; he stops moving and leans into her. I could say something now, but I'm curious about what she will do. Will she believe him because he is her pack member or...

"You touched what is mine."

The voice that she whispers that one sentence makes me shiver. I feel threatened. Sam takes a step back, and Kathy says:

"Tonya, please stay calm!"

In vain, Tonya roars and opens her eyes which are dark; the guy is trying to move when she jumps on him, clawing his chest; he tries to run but has no chance as he is grabbed by his throat and thrown away into the window. The glass breaks, and he falls into the garden, among other pack members. They all move away because Tonya roars once more and is next to him instantly. I hear him begging for forgiveness. I listen to her growling that he touched what is hers.

"Fuck" Kathy says. "Noah, Charlie, we need to calm her down, or she will kill him!"

That much, I'm sure, too. Pearl is literally glued to me. She seems to be terrified because of Alpha in rage. When we manage to get to her, the third guy is already unconscious. Kathy doesn't react; Noah comes closer and touches Tonya's shoulder. She turns to look at him, her eyes still dark, but she doesn't launch at him. Instead, she grabs him by his neck, presses him into herself, and hides her nose in his neck. Charlie, trembling as a leaf, comes closer too. She lets go of Noah and starts sniffing him.

Kathy manages to drag the unconscious guy away and tells Sam to take him into the Infirmary. It's extremely quiet; my people observe, clearly confused, and pack members watch, clearly scared but also surprised.

Tonya lets go of both rogues, her eyes are again blue, and she takes a big breath.

"I'm sorry for ruining the evening, but remember well that no one will be forgiven for touching them. They are Mine," she says sternly, dripping with dominance; her pack member bows their heads.

"Noah and Charlie are my mates, and they will be treated as such." she stands up.

"I guess we may forget the desserts," I say, not stopping squeezing Pearl's hand. There is dead silence as everybody watches, not daring to utter a word. Her dominance is overbearing. 

As Tonya and her mates are going to walk past me, I stop them and tell her what I witnessed before this commotion.

I look around and notice that pack members don't look happy because of what has happened. I wonder why. I manage to locate Rosie, and she nods to me. So I'm sure she managed to fulfill her task.

Everybody is slowly starting to clean or go home. So do I, alongside Alistair and Anne. Pearl peaks my cheek before she goes to help with cleaning.

"That was intense, I was honestly doubting her strength, but not anymore!" one of my people says as we enter our house. "She broke the bone with a single punch."

"The pack members didn't look pleased with the news of their new Lunas," Anne says, preparing the coffee.

"I may know why since I managed to gossip a bit," Alister says, and we look at him.

"Apparently, four years ago, the first Beta Kathy rejected her mate because he betrayed her and almost got Tonya killed. So now, when their Alpha has got two rogue mates nobody knows anything about, they fear something bad may happen again."

I look at him, but none of us says what we think. Tonya is our ally, she has two mates who another Alpha chases, and she is unaware of it.

"I think I got to the training ground and talk to Sam," I say.

We started joint training of hunters and werewolves two days ago, and it turned out well. None of the sides is hostile, everybody is focused on the job, and since I now had nothing to do, I'm in charge of it alongside Sam, a mighty and skilled warrior, blindly devoted to his Alpha.

I go to his office in the quarters of the unmated warriors, and of course, he is there. He nods to me as we discuss the next day. As I prepare to leave, I also ask about the injured guy.

"He will spend lots of time in the Infirmary. Alphas are extremely possessive; he is lucky to be alive."

"What will Tonya do with him?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Her today's behavior was very instinctive. When she cools down, we will see. Mates affect us very much, sometimes too much. Tonya is usually very logical, but like almost every Alpha, she is a carrier of very strong carnal force, and controlling it isn't easy. Russel is originally from the fourth territory, and their history with us is rough; the taking power over there was very brutal."

"I understand, and yours? As I understood, you are from the third territory."

He gives me a look, not a very nice one, and I wonder why. What could have happened there?

"Our dead Alpha was selling his pack members, posing it as if they died in the accident. Finally, someone noticed the pattern and went rogue to save his own family, was caught on the Black Moon territory, asked Alpha Mikkeli for help, and he helped."

"Someone?" I ask, frowning, and he smiles bitterly.

"He sold my sister, not knowing she had found her mate. That's how we knew that he was lying about her death. Because her mate has felt that she has been still alive. We managed to save her; they now live in the second territory. My Alpha was a bastard, the same type of son of the bitch the Alpha of the fourth territory was."