SWNOVELS Chapter Frenzy
The pack Beta delivered the news tersely, before turning on her heel and leaving as quickly as she had appeared; Isabella had no idea why Camille had taken such a disliking to her. They didn't even know each other, but once again the older woman had slipped away before she had a chance to confront her about it.
Not that it would resolve anything, in Isabella's past experiences, confronting a would-be bully would usually wind up in a drag down eye-gouging free for all before the two parties went right back to hating each other. Something she couldn't be bothered with considering that after the debrief, Isabella and her team would be heading back to Shadow Moon, and away from sad memories.
Rinsing out her hair and finishing her personal grooming, Isabella shut off the shower, grateful for the large towel as she wrapped herself up, and light-footed it back to her room.
Finding a clean pair of underwear in her backpack, Isabella quickly put them on, a crop top holding her assets, and a grey t-shirt with the words 'Pack trainer-HIDE!' came next. A comfortable pair of black shorts completed her outfit. Isabella quickly worked to detangle the curly mess of her hair before rebraiding it in her signature single braid trailing down her back. The only accessories that Isabella owned were a pair of dark sunglasses that she often wore to hide her unusual lilac eyes from new wolves, a kickback cap that she shoved on her head, and her favorite boots, which were quickly put onto her tiny feet.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Isabella knew she didn't fit the profile of a typical trainer, she was petite, with a curvy body and small hands, but beneath the exterior was hard muscle, above what werewolves were naturally gifted with, evidence of long hours training and complete dedication to her work.
In thirty minutes she was supposed to meet Alpha Stalker in his wife's garden, the garden was in close proximity to the Alpha family home, which meant that if her mate was home for any reason, Isabella's scent may reach him which would lead to a rejection that she would rather avoid if she could.
And how was she supposed to talk to the Alpha after all these years? Isabella was a young child when they left, in the middle of a battle that his son had died in. Nothing would be good enough to sidestep Shadow with his father, who would know that Isabella was likely the last wolf to see him alive.
Feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders she knew it was time to get it over with, and Isabella opened the door and stepped outside.
TARAKONA
'The rogue was here!' Early in the morning, the Alpha had set off out to the Badlands. He did the same thing every morning, long before his pup surfaced, Tarakona would be roaming out past the borders searching for that elusive scent, the mate killers. Every evening he would make his way back to the human kennel, defeated at having failed his beloved, and their youngest pup..but this morning something had happened.
The rogue's scent was back, slightly different to what he remembered but it called to the Alpha and he tracked the filthy mongrel from the badlands straight to the Eastern borders, where the wolf running patrol informed him new guests had arrived last night. How dare they come back here! Before the day ended Tarakona vowed that the blood of his enemy would paint this town red, and then the old wolf would finally know peace.
SHADOW
His wolf was going crazy! Shadow was on his morning run as usual when he ran past the packhouse, only to have Malik, his wolf, try to force him into the communal showers, the FEMALE communal showers. The horndog was jabbering nonsense and it had taken all of his willpower to carry on running past his packhouse, albeit with the added embarrassment of having his soldier at half-mast while he ran.
If that wasn't bad enough, the smell of wild grass and rain kept distracting him and his wolf, it seemed to be everywhere. The perfect combination of smells in Shadow's opinion, but damned if he knew where it was coming from and Malik was no help at all. In the end, he had had to threaten the Alpha wolf with no running for a week just to shut him up.
Now he was waiting in his mother's gardens for the she-wolf that had everyone whispering about her, wondering why he felt so intrigued by a woman he had never met.
Subtle questioning of the newly mated males revealed that she was good at her job but unapproachable, the same thing that Camille had told him really, so Shadow knew he would have to judge with his own senses when she got here shortly.
This place of his mothers was always bittersweet for the young Alpha. When she first passed away he would find his father here, sitting on this same bench-seat, begging the Moon Goddess to return Abigail to him. He would howl in human form, completely feral as he promised ridiculous things to Selene if she would just grant him this one thing. It was heartbreaking to see, and yet after Shadow had finished Isabella's headstone he had also begun to spend time here, surrounded by the beautiful blooms, remembering his friend.
Pulled out of his reverie by that captivating smell again, Shadow focused in time to see a small figure entering the gardens from the street; his heart started beating a crazy rhythm as he spotted her fiery hair looking like a serpents tail as it was braided in a long braid, snaking down her back. His mouth went dry and his palms began to sweat as Malik screamed...'MATE!'