Anne, a hunter of the Murrow Clan above

Chandler POV

Pearl is moving around in the kitchen, and none of my men dare to say anything, but I'm sure they would want some explanation later. For now, they only know that Norton is a traitor and is responsible for the attack on me and that he was once a werewolf.

But I'm also sure they want to know why the werewolf girl and the adopted daughter of Terry Nightingale is now in our kitchen fussing about me so much. None of them is stupid enough to believe it's because of her mental state.

I clearly saw that Terry Nightingale wasn't happy when she decided to look after me now when I was wounded, but he couldn't convince her to stay in the packhouse and had no heart to make her listen to him by force. But at the same time, he was also against me forcing her to stay away; let's be honest, Pearl is playing both of us simply because neither of us is able to use any strength on her.

"Alistair, I want you to interrogate Norton, use whatever means you want," I say, breaking the silence, and he nods" But as always, I want you to wait for a couple of days. It will make him more wary, more easy to break."

Anne went to sleep, and I and the rest of my squad waits for the food Pearl is actually cooking. That may be another reason why none of the hunters said anything about her presence. All I've taken for this mission can cook if necessary, but honestly, we all suck at it. So till now, every meal has been another reason to feel down. And suddenly, Pearl said she would feed us, and in mere moments of minutes, the kitchen was suddenly full of delicious aromas.

I try not to look at her too intensively, but truth be told, I fail; Pearl is a beautiful woman, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Two of my men are ogling her openly; the rest probably is trying to make it less noticeable. And my mate is oblivious to all of this. She hums, being busy cooking, sending smiles in my direction occasionally.

I like her; I don't afraid to admit it; maybe that's why I want her to stay close to me because sooner or later, all this will end. Sooner or later, I will return to my life, and she will return home with her father.

And yet I somehow can restrain my feelings of attachment towards her. I guess I'm not used to being liked so unconditionally.

Pearl finishes the big bowl of mac and cheese with Beacon and puts it on the table. As we all stand up to bring ourselves plates and forks, one of my men offers Pearl a chair, and we sit and start eating. And each of us has enough decency to give lots of compliments. Her food, for sure, is worth it. She giggles and turns red; she is so sweet.

After about a half hour of causal chitchat, Alistair voices the question we all want to ask.

"If Norton is, in fact, a werewolf, why would he kill his own wolf?"

Serious question, I admit it, and I have a feeling that it is essential to understand his motivation and the reason he was spying on my clan.

"Probably unhappy and sad," Pearl says, and we all look at her.

She starts fidgeting again, probably uncomfortable with all of us looking at her, and yet she doesn't back away from her statement and continues:

"Wolf and human are two souls and one body, they are werewolf. But they two different beings, sometime want different things. Wolf love human, but human not always love wolf, sometimes.. sometimes that makes them unhappy. Human can be angry because wolf may force them to do things he doesn't want, and wolf can be the same. Wolfs obeys human but if it makes him unhappy and sad and if much stress wolf goes feral and both of them soon dead. But sometimes  both wolf and human very unhappy because they want something different and none wants to give in. But Norton's wolf maybe unhappy and sad and Norton gave him up because he was tired of his wolf suffering, or maybe wolf kept Norton from doing something so he got rid of him. Werewolf unity of human an wolf, only if unity broken a human would manage to live without a wolf."

What she said actually makes sense. I wasn't aware of this fact. As a hunter, I used to believe that werewolf was just a werewolf and had never seen a wolf as a separate individual with a mind of its own.

"The creature you found was created by someone sad, someone angry," Pearl continues, and we all start listening more eagerly.

"Pearl's first daddy wanted more than he could get, and that's why got bitter and angry and kept hurting mommy until it was too late. And after he lost her, he was so sad, so angry, so much in agony that he started doing bad things, very bad things. He was scared and hurt others because he felt safer that way. Maybe that person saw monsters so long that believed that only monsters surround them, and they created monsters to feel safe or to give others the same pain they were given."

I gulp hard and subconsciously reach to touch her hand; she looks at me sadly but accepts my gesture. Most of my men don't pay attention, just one looks at me judgmentally, but I don't fucking care. My feelings are only mine.

"That was delicious food, Pearl," I say, and Alistair nods. I ignore all the looks as I take her upstairs to my room. She makes a lot of gibberish as we are alone, and I find it alluring. I call the packhouse that she will stay for a night, and Terry Nightingale has to stomach it, although he isn't happy.

This time I ask her questions, and she tells me a lot about her sister, what she likes to do, and her daily life. I really struggle to control myself not to touch her, although I'm sure she wants it as much as I and yet she doesn't push. She doesn't ask me for another kiss or hug, and deep down inside me, I feel slightly disappointed, but maybe it's better that way.

I am a hunter, a killer, and a stranger to her; we can never be together. And she doesn't love me; she responds to the bond's pull and nothing else. She cares for me because I'm her mate, not because I'm Chandler Crow, and truthfully it makes me a bit sad.

But when I finally go to bed, she is next to me, putting her head on my chest very carefully, mindful of my wounds, and I start playing with soft strands of her hair, thinking that even if just temporarily, I still want her next to me every single day.

Noah POV

Hayden Blackwood may be past his prime, but his look is still sharp, and as an elder of the pack, he carries himself with great dignity. Indeed, he doesn't look like someone who should be treated lightly. Something in him reminds me previous Alpha of the Shadow Pack, Shane's father-in-law who ruled before and whom I barely remember.

"So Noah, during your last lone running in the forest, a patrol spotted you very close to the border. Have you considered escaping?"

I gulp hard; truth be told, I did. I was angry and agitated, and for some time, I was considering just running away. Far away both from Tonya and Charlie, far away from future disappointment.

"Tonya said I was not a prisoner. I'm also not a part of this pack, so I can leave," I say.

"I doubt that. Tonya won't force you into anything, but she must reject you first if you want to go. As long as you are bonded to each other, she will never let you leave, and truth be told, neither will your wolf. My niece will never take you against your will, but letting you go will be a tough struggle for her. Of course, you may make it always easy for her."

I avert my eyes. Somehow, I have a problem withstanding his glare.

"What are you insinuating?" I ask, but I don't raise my eyes.

"I think, Noah, that you are very proud and stubborn. Too proud to accept your mistakes, too proud to admit them, and too proud to learn from them. I wonder what shaped into you this stubbornness and conviction that strength is all that matters."

"You know nothing about me." I snarl, finally looking at him, he has a stone-cold face, but his eyes seem sad.

"I think you were lonely all your life, which wasn't easy. I think you convinced yourself that you deserved better than what you had, and because of that, you believe you can use any means necessary to get it. I know you think those who can't look after themselves or get hurt shouldn't be pitted. I think you find them weak and pathetic. And I think something happened between you and Charlie, something you two hide from Tonya."

I jump on my chair; how the hell he figured it out? He smirks and continues:

"I can't meddle into you and Tonya and also into you and Charlie; mating is your business, but I noticed how you have behaved around him and around Tonya. I think you are afraid of Tonya because she is an Alpha, and you don't like that your mate is so much stronger than you, but at the same time, you despise Charlie because, according to you, he is weak. You can't go on like that, Tonya won't do because she is too strong, and Charlie won't do because he is too weak. It's a road to nowhere. You can't have a cookie and eat the cookie. But I also think you are smart, and you analyzed that accepting Tonya means profits for you. You would be a Luna, protected and respected, but at the same time, you see Charlie as an unneeded burden. But this is not how mating works; it's not a business deal."

"It is, in a way," I say  bitterly."Tonya may say she wants to try but hasn't rejected us because her wolf has opposed it. Completing the bond will make her stronger; like every Alpha, she will always want more strength. But she is in a better position in this because she actually has the privilege of rejecting me or not, but I... I don't have that simple because I have nowhere to go."

"And what about Charlie? Has he got a place to go?"

"She will never throw him away because he is pregnant and the omega, and she feels for him... more than she feels for me."

"Or maybe he is just more honest with her than you. Or maybe, unlike you, he allows her to see his vulnerability when you are afraid of being seen as weak. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about because I was once like you. Lonely and scared, believing that my only purpose was to fulfill the expectations of others. The expectations I knew I would never fulfill."

"Why are you telling me that? We don't know each other and..."

"You are my niece's mate. Whether I like it or not, I worry about her, and I want to make sure she won't be hurt, not only by you. But I've also noticed how you have behaved around Charlie, and I know the pattern. I, once too, hurt my mate, hurt her beyond repair, and even though I regret every day for 36 years, nothing will ever change what I did."

"I don't regret anything," I spit.

"But you will, Noah, one day you will. I hope it won't be too late to fix anything. Take the advice from the older man who has gone through a lot. A mating bond is the Goddess's blessing and those who refuse to see it are punished severely. And remember that the consequences of any decision you will make will be carried by the three of you since all three are one whole. Only together you can be a whole. So whatever is happening between you and Charlie, stop doing it when you still have a chance to make it right. If you succeed in making him hate you, there will be no turning back."

And don't dare to say a word, somehow I feel like crying, and sure, I don't want to show him my struggle and weakness. I can't break into his presence. He stands up, walks close to me, and touches my shoulder. I tense; I'm not used to any signs of compassion or comfort, especially from strangers. And yet what I detect from him is warmth and worry, as if he cared not only about Tonya's wellbeing but also about mine and Charlie's.

I leave his study a bit confused, or more like confused a lot. I probably took it for granted that Tonya's family, despite their warm welcome, wasn't happy that I showed up because I'm not good enough for her, no matter what.

I sit on the porch in front of the packhouse, wondering what I should do and want to do.

Hayden was right; I contemplated the escape from Charlie's always scared eyes and from Tonya's future disappointment. But Linus will never let me abandon them, and I will never agree to be separate from them, and I wouldn't say I like that. I hate that I'm no longer in control, I hate that I care about someone, I hate that I want to stay here in the Black Moon pack. I hate that I only desire to have them naked under me, both of them.

"You seem sad, Noah. Is everything alright?"

I turn around to see Rosie standing behind me; as always around her, Linus instantly becomes calmer, and it makes me wonder. Omega's presence can make a higher-ranked wolf more relaxed, but not to that extent. For sure, she is special. I have never experienced anything like that.

"You too, actually," I say, smiling bitterly.

She sits next to me, and for some time, we enjoy the silence, some wolves passing by, giving their regards.

"I was thinking that you and Tonya have never been on a date," she says." Would you like it?"

"I'm not good at dating. I actually have never dated before," I say, and she looks surprised.

"Really, you are good-looking and over twenty. It's rather strange."

"Twenty-three, actually, and I didn't like to be involved or attached. In my pack, taking care only of yourself was easier."

"It sounds like a gloomy place. Was it always like that?"

I actually take some time to think about it. Before Shane was entirely in charge, it was okay; according to what I heard from my parents everything started going downhill when Shane mated for the second time after the disappearance of his first wife and two children.

"My Alpha had once a wife and children, but they died. After that, he mated again, this time with his true mate, and they had a son, but he also started to care less about the pack. The only thing that mattered to him was to make them happy at all costs. He started wasting money and started being unfair. If you had wanted to have a good life in my pack, you would've had to be strong."

"I guess Charlie had it difficult because of his fragility." She says, and for whatever reason, it makes me angry. Why is everybody making excuses for his weakness and inability to protect himself?

She gently reaches his hand to touch my face; once again, I think she is spacing out, but her touch is exceptionally calming. The low growl from behind us makes both of us turn around. Rosie instantly takes her hand away from my cheek. She averts her eyes for sure, and I don't know, embarrassed as very angry Kathy is standing in front of us.

"Have you whoring around again, trying to seduce somebody else's mate again" she spits angrily, slightly baring her canines.

I stand up slowly; Linus stirs in my mind; he wants to protect Rosie. Kathy is the Beta; I know I don't stand a chance against her, but if she attacks, I won't go down quickly.

"Nothing happened here, Beta," I say slowly, trying not to agitate her already close to the surface wolf.

But she doesn't look at me; I feel she doesn't pay attention to my presence.

"He is Tonya's mate; you will stay away from him! I won't let you fucked it up too for her, you slutty bitch" she snarls, looking at Rosie, who huddles and doesn't dare to say a word. I clearly see tears in her eyes. Linus isn't happy seeing her like that; he needs to protect her as Kathy approaches her.

"I will not allow you to fuck around, do you understand," she says, reaching for Rosie and grabbing her by her neck. She whimpers in pain, and that's when I act, and very quickly, there is blood.