Page 12 of Rogue If You Want To
“It was my twin. I was ambushed. But not by my pack… I mean my bevy… it was hired bears. And my brother… he wanted me out of the way.” It was so ingrained to call it a pack, and at this rate, I was going to get them all confused.
Creven nodded in understanding. “Is he Alpha now?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. My father is, or was when I got hurt.” Understatement of the year. “But he doesn’t plan to stay there in that position.”
“Well, before we deal with any of this—” The older man stood up. “You need to heal. And in order to heal, you need to shift.”
I was wearing a robe, one that belonged to someone here, and it made it easy for my mate to help me up and take it off.
I tried to shift. Nothing. My otter stayed just out of reach. The only time he was at all close had been when he declared Torin my mate and that was for only a millisecond.
Over and over again I attempted to shift. Each and every time I failed.
Creven got up, took off his clothes, and shifted. I could feel him trying to force my shift. But he wasn’t my Alpha, and even if he had been, my otter was going back further and further with each try.
Auden looked to my mate. “See if you can get his otter to come out.”
And he did the same thing as Creven, his wolf going so far as to butt his head against me. Still… nothing.
I crumbled to the ground and began to sob.
I was broken. My otter was missing. And I had put the lives of my mate and this pack, who had been so kind to help me, in danger. My brother was right to keep me from being in power.
I couldn’t even handle taking care of myself, much less an entire pack.
7
TORIN
I shifted back because this wasn’t working.
“What are you doing?” Auden had both hands on his hips.
“I can’t help him.”
“Are you just going to give up when you have a problem?” Auden spat out, and I cringed. Creven put a hand on the older man’s chest and something passed between them. “You’re his mate.”
I wanted to cry and wished Mom was here to tell him to be nice to me. Or Mr. Garrison who would have given me a reassuring smile and probably said the same thing as Auden, but couched it in less abrasive language.
“As mates, you and Otto share a bond. His beast will respond to you eventually.”
This was where my inexperience put me at a disadvantage. If I was part of a pack, I might have been used to the tongue-lashing Auden gave me or I would have the skills to lure out his beast.
“I only discovered who I was when I was in high school, and my adoptive mom was human.”
Auden folded his arms. He didn’t appear to be sympathetic to my reasoning. He wasn’t going to award me Brownie points for being a late starter. He shrugged and asked if I wanted my mate to recover.
“More than anything.”
“Then get to work.”
Creven stepped forward. “Your wolf has to connect with his otter.” He glanced at his mate, Larkin. They were a fox and wolf pairing, but how did a wolf contact an otter? We had nothing in common.
“We’re not marked.” Could we do that now with Otto in and out of consciousness? Even if it was allowed, I refused to participate with my mate unable to give consent.
“Marking strengthens the bond but it doesn’t create it.” Creven reached out to Larkin and held his hand. “You are mates whether you mark one another or not.”
“Give your wolf permission to contact Otto’s beast. He’ll know what to do.”
