Page 5 of Golden Desires

I’m not sure what this feeling in my chest means, or why I feel so different, but I know something has changed. Something unusual is happening. I want to follow the golden-haired girl, and make sure she’s safe. Something I’ve only ever wanted to do for my brothers.

I don’t know who that girl is, but I want to know her… She’s pretty. I want to ask why she cries. What makes her heart hurt? How can I make her feel better?

That moment was when everything changed, but I was too young to understand. I didn’t know who that girl was, or why I felt so curious about her. Something that only became harder to ignore as I got older.

The things I did were questionable at best, and dangerous at worst. The only thing I’ve ever hidden from my brothers is the lengths I went to, to be closer to our mate. Of course, that all stopped five years ago when my actions put Ma’s life in danger.

Thinking back to the day we met Ma, the day our parents died, they had been in a form I didn’t recognize. Only their scents were familiar. If Ma’s theory is correct, then maybe my brothers and I will be able to get closer to our mate without the sight of us sending her screaming into the forest like it did when I was seven.

If only we had other monsters who could explain it to us. All we can do for now is hope…

“All finished, Ma,” I shout after I complete the finishing touches on the coop a little while later, and take several steps away so I can lean against a tree. The peanut-brained fowls won’t cooperate if I’m too close.

“Wonderful!” Ma calls as she comes back out of the cottage, and I watch as she brings her little feathered minions to the pen one by one. Apparently I’m still too close. When they see me, they squawk in distress, and Ma shoots me a pointed look. I’ll leave her be and wait for her to finish loading her new coop full of the nearly thoughtless prey. I enjoy their eggs, though. Ma treats them as pets. Cares for them the same way she cares for all her animals.

I do feel a little guilty about eating Snowball, her favorite chicken, when I was fifteen. Puberty was a trying time for all of us. That was the last time I truly lost control of my monstrous instincts in such a violent way.

I roll my eyes, and walk around to the front of the house, sitting in the rocking chair I built her at just ten years old.

Sitting here brings me a different kind of peace. It’s bittersweet in a way. I’m thankful to Ma for the life she gave us, but I miss the place I came from, and the monsters that first raised me.

The clearing where her cottage lies has changed over the years. It’s surrounded by raised beds that protect the plants she used to both feed us and aid her natural healing abilities.

We used to live here with her, prior to my youngest brother hitting puberty. Three large beasts under one roof would be daunting for any home to accommodate, but the threat of violence that accompanied the hormones made it clear we needed our own space.

We had to distance ourselves from Ma, even though she vehemently protested at first. That was until the night Ma got her scar, and my brother lost control for the first time. The same night, I confessed we’d found our mate… Something I had kept hidden from Ma for years. Mostly because I didn’t understand it until I was older, what the pull to her was that kept bringing me back to the edge of the village to catch a glimpse of the golden haired girl. When it seemed like neither of my brothers remembered the original encounter, I had kept it to myself.

I didn’t know what my drive to be near her meant at seven years old, but as I got older, I started to understand. My instincts during puberty told me she was important to us. The knowledge that she was our mate was confirmed when I found her bloodied undergarments.

I fucked up. Nearly got Ma killed. Put my brothers in danger.

We’d found a mate. One that had unlocked our mating instincts when we hit maturity. A fact that sent my youngest brother into a frenzy that ultimately led to us building our own home. All for her. The human Omega with golden hair.

I’m still sitting in the rocking chair when Kylan’s large form stumbles into the clearing. His shaggy black fur with white strands is covered in debris, looking like he’s been rolling around on the forest floor.

“You need to come quick. The villagers have gathered at the edge of the forest and are after someone. I heard an aggressive Alpha screaming about a woman running away,” he heaves out in a rush. Ready to bolt back the way he came, he barely waits for me to stand before his clawed feet carry him quickly back into the depths of the forest. An echo of hounds reaches my sensitive ears as I step forward. Cillian is no doubt already pursuing the humans. Of the three of us, he’s the most daring. The most willing to dive headfirst into dangerous situations, because he knows I’m never far behind.

My body ripples with aggression. There is only one reason Ky would risk exposure and potentially lead the humans straight to Ma’s if he were followed. Only one person who he would tear through the forest to help. Only one person, Cillian, would ignore my demand not to engage the Villagers for.

Our reason.

Our mate.

Chapter Three

Goldie

Several hours prior

I say nothing as I wash myself off standing in front of the small hanging mirror of our washroom, my face throbbing, my body aching.

The bucket of water my stepmother gave me is tepid, but smells like roses as I scrub at my skin. Part of me is thankful, in this moment, that I own nothing of value. There’s nothing to miss once I’m firmly in Donald’s grasp.

Maybe my mother’s rocking chair, but I haven’t sat in it in years. Stepmother forbade it.

Until half an hour ago, I believed there was still hope. Hope that I might escape this life. Hope that I might become stronger. Braver.

That illusion is gone now, and I’ve got nothing else to live for.

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