Page 13 of Possessive Mate

Standing in the upstairs hallways window of the manor was Eddie. And he was glaring right at him. Even from such a distance, Hanson could see the anger fuming in the man’s eyes.

What the hell is his problem? he wondered, turning away to start back into the rose garden and the entrance to the woods beyond.

He might not have really been on patrol, and he was in no mood to go babysitting, but he most definitely did need to shift now more than ever. His skin was crawling so violently that he might claw it right off himself if he didn’t shift soon.

Chapter 6 - Elena

Three days passed in Nightstar, and Elena’s wolf was beside herself. Having stayed in the guest room, only leaving for necessities like food and the bathroom, she was champing at the bit for a good run.

Why she was hiding away in the guest room anyway, she wasn't sure. It wasn't the first time she had been around the senior members of her brother's pack. All the wolves who lived in the manor, save for the mates of the senior wolves, she had known for over a decade. Then there was Hanson. And she had run into him one too many times already.

Hell, she didn't even know why he affected her so badly, but she was damn well not going to try and find out. She was determined to stay as far away from him as possible.

And that was exactly why, when she eventually couldn't take it any longer, Elena crept carefully from the guest room, sniffing as she went.

If she so much as caught a whiff of him, she was going to turn and run like the wind right back to her room. She couldn't face feeling that way again. The memory of the way her heart fluttered, how her belly reacted, how every muscle ached to draw closer to him was simply too much to bear.

If she allowed herself to give into that feeling, to give into the aggression and passion that welled up inside her when she so much as smelled his scent, she was sure she would be lost forever. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Oblivion didn't sound so awful, not after all she had been through.

She had so little left to live for. But Jason would never forgive her if she gave in like that, and she would never forgive herself if she betrayed him.

I have Eddie, she reminded herself as she slipped out of the manor. Her big brother was all she had ever needed before she found her mate, and now he was all she needed again. She just had to keep her head on straight for long enough to get through the worst of this grief, and then maybe she would feel better.

That was why she had come to Nightstar in the first place. Eddie's closeness always made things easier on her. At least, it used to, though she was having a hard time feeling it at the moment.

Lucky for her, it seemed most of the pack was true to the werewolf way of living, and it seemed everyone else was still asleep. She couldn't exactly blame them. The sky was barely blushing pink with the rising of the sun as she made it into the woods unhindered. Wolves weren't exactly early birds, and silence in the morning was natural around a pack, but Elena was surprised that not a single one of the army brats, as she liked to jokingly call them, appeared to be up.

It wasn't something she thought to dwell on too long. Her wolf was clawing too violently at her insides.

The sounds and smells of the forest were calling to her. Finding a tree with a hollowed-out trunk, she practically ripped off her clothes and shoved them inside.

Then, with one last glance over her shoulder, she let her wolf loose with one last thought for Jack's rule of not wandering too far.

She would run the perimeter of the woods if she had to in order to exercise her wolf, just so long as she felt a brief respite from the damn bitch's urges.

The release was instant. The sheer, overwhelming joy of her first shift in days was truly intoxicating. It was thrilling and mind numbing all in an instant. And, thoughtlessly, she gave her wolf the reins in order to run and be free, losing herself in the shift until suddenly, she realized she had made a terrible mistake.

Skidding to an abrupt halt, Elena lifted her nose and pricked her ears. The peaceful quiet of the morning had changed. It was eerie, dead silence now. Not even the leaves rustled in the breeze. In fact, even the breeze that had ruffled her fur seemed to be holding its breath.

Elena held her own, realizing far too late that she had crossed the scent markers of the Nightstar pack's borders.

She took a hesitant step backwards. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, she just couldn't put her paw on it.

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks—or, more accurately, a ton of wolf.

Her attacker seemed to come out of nowhere, barreling into her from the shadows with snapping jaws.

Elena barely had time to dodge away and avoid a nasty bite to the neck. Still, her attacker landed on top of her, and they rolled and rolled, wrestling with tooth and claw.

The scent of him was all around her, one she most definitely didn’t recognize. It was foul in her throat as she bit down, aiming for his neck to pin him down. All she got was a mouthful of thick fur, and he shook her off all too easily.

Purposefully, she used the momentum of his shaking to roll herself away, pouncing back to her paws immediately to turn on him again.

The giant, snarling brown wolf was more than twice her size, but as he came lumbering toward her for another attack, she realized she had something that he didn't: agility.

Waiting until the very last moment, right when he was almost upon her, she darted low between his front legs and slipped right out behind him.

Taking advantage of his confusion, she twisted as she went and snapped her jaws closed around his ankle. Twisting her head as she gnawed on his leg, hoping to do as much damage as possible, she pulled his leg out from under him.

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