Page 15 of One True Mate

"What do we have here, Ted?" the larger man asked the shorter, stockier one. They both sniffed the air. I didn't think I imagined it this time. My wolf growled in my head, escaping from my mouth, but that only seemed to make them smile.

"Looks like we got a little lone wolf out here. Now, little she-wolf, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? No car. No protector." He snarled back and barred his teeth.

I gasped! It couldn't be. I briefly wondered if these were the two werewolves that had killed my parents, even though the odds of it were insane.How many things like me actually exist?I had never stopped to think about it.

"Mike, don't. You know what the Alpha said. She's off limits."

"I heard 'em, but no one ever need know. This little bitch needs to learn a lesson or two on respecting the pack."

The man called Ted just shook his head.

"Pack Council's got their reasons for letting this bitch stay here in our territory. I ain't going against them, Mike. You know I'm already on suspension. What the hell am I gonna do if they find out and exile me from the pack? I can't chance it. Please don't do this."

Mike snarled back at him calling him a few choice words before he changed right in the middle of the road. His clothes flying off in all directions. I was facing down a real live werewolf. A small part of me rejoiced in the idea I was not alone. Mostly I feared for my life. I turned and took off running back towards the office.

The wolf was fast, but even in human form, I was faster. I felt certain I could outrun them and get back to safety, until I saw him up ahead, still yelling my name.Oh no, I had to get him away from here.

"Kelsey!" I heard Kyle yell.

"Go back, Kyle," I screamed as loud as I could. "Run!"

He did run. He ran straight for me. I could barely keep back the hysterics as my wolf threatened to change me at any second as we ran for our lives.

"No, Kyle, run. Kyle run!" I yelled over and over as he continued toward me.

When I was almost within arm’s reach of him, I tried to grab for his hand, but it was too late. His eyes were already fixed on the wolf chasing me. A loud growl ripped through him, and I watched in stunned silence as he leaped and shifted in mid-air. His clothes lay in tattered shreds across the road in front of me.

I stopped and turned back to look. I expected a fight, but the wolf named Mike cowered quickly and whimpered in his presence. A shiver went through him and he was suddenly standing naked in the middle of the street. I was so shocked I couldn't stop staring.

"Aw, calm down man, we were just giving her a little fright. All in good fun." His smile as he looked my way made my whole body shudder, but it was nowhere as shocking as seeing my large brown wolf staring him down and knowing he was Kyle Westin.

Kyle was still growling at Mike and snapping his jaws as the man called Ted approached.

"I ain't had nothing to do with this, Kyle, I swear it!"

While they seemed distracted, I turned and ran.

Kyle's a werewolf. Kyle's a werewolf. Kyle's a werewolf.The verbiage was on instant replay in my head as I tried to make it sound real. Even seeing him change with my own eyes didn't stop the disbelief.

I had left my keys in the office, that's why I hadn't gotten into my car to begin with, and I ran straight there, grabbing my purse. On my exit, I literally plowed over Lily, knocking her to the ground.

"Kelsey, what's wrong?"

I needed to warn her. "Werewolves! Lily hide, quick, they're coming."

She was yelling at me to come back, but I couldn't listen. I was in full survival mode as I jumped in the car and nearly ran over Kyle and the two men as I tore out of the parking lot. I heard Kyle howl. It didn't sound as reassuring as usual, though it didn't really sound scary either, more sad, very very sad, and that sadness called to my wolf like never before.

I briefly noticed them all walking into the Westin Foundation like it was nothing, as I was speeding past. Kyle as a wolf, Mike completely naked, and Ted tagging along after them. I couldn't let myself think about what could happen to the people I worked with.

A part of me wondered if they were all in on it. Was I the only one that didn't know? Oh my gosh, Lily and Elise were Kyle's sisters. Were they werewolves too? Everything I knew about werewolves was evil, but I didn't think I was evil. I didn't think Lily or Elise had an evil bone in their bodies. And Kyle. Kyle had been good to me, both in human and wolf form.

In my mind, I understood these to be truths, but my history told me to run, to leave this area behind and survive. And I couldn't trust my heart. It was broken in a million pieces. Even though I knew I could never have Kyle, I cared a lot for him and had wished for so long things could be different. I never imagined he had been hiding something so big from me all this time. It was like all the lies of my life came crashing in on me.

I shut off my brain, and I shut off my heart, and I did the only thing I had ever known how to do. I turned the car towards my cottage and I ran into the house to grab my go-bag and I prepared to run. I prepared to survive. It was all I knew.

I was in my den trying to get the safe open with shaking hands when I heard tires screeching in my driveway.

Oh no!I thought I'd have enough time to grab and go. I was so scared. I cowered into the corner and when my wolf surged forward, I didn't fight it, and gave in to the shiver that went through my body. I then crouched low and backed into a hole and waited.

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