The Lost Mate

Theodora (Nash's sister-by-bond)

Arnold King, Alpha of Bluegorge, sat in his place at the assembly, looking furiously unrepentant over the revelation of all his plotting before all his peers. He deserved it, though.

He had been my alpha for almost as long as I could remember, taking control of my birth pack when I was just a little kid. He hadn’t been terrible to me in general growing up, but maybe that was because as a child I had been beneath his notice. He was never the sort of alpha who I felt would care about the petty struggles of regular pack wolves, but my life with my family had been pretty good growing up. I didn’t have anything to really complain about back then, not until he had proven me so horribly right about his nature.

Everything changed one average day when I had been running the perimeter and caught the hint of the most wonderful scent. Sure, it came from a rogue, but it was basically love at first sight when I saw West. He had been in his human form and so incredibly handsome, looking rebellious, yet with eyes filled with longing as he stood dangerously close to the line of Bluegorge territory. I hadn’t been able to resist those eyes for a moment, and I’d crossed out of pack lands into the unclaimed area completely by my own will. I didn’t care about pack boundaries when West was involved.

I didn’t realize the significance of that decision at the time.

I brought West and his brother into the territory. I had assumed West would join Bluegorge, and he was willing to do so, but then Alpha King had refused to accept him point blank, which was highly unusual when it came to mates.

At the time I had been shocked that my alpha would be so unreasonable. He had lost his paternal grandparents to rogues when he was a child, but to blame all rogues, even the mate of a pack member, was too extreme.

He put me on the spot with an ultimatum, but I refused to reject West, so I was unceremoniously kicked out of the pack, and all three of us were thrown off territory.

I didn’t like being a rogue. It was frightening, and the lack of the presence of connections to my pack in my mind made me feel like I was losing my sanity. I probably would have been destined to go feral like so many other rogues, but when West and I marked each other, that connection anchored my wolf as soundly as if she had been anchored to a new pack. We tried joining a few packs during our travels, but even if they would have given me a break, no one wanted to let West in, and doubly so for Nash.

I was never comfortable around my brother-by-bond, but he was my mate’s family, and a part of the package deal unfortunately.

So I resigned myself to life as a rogue. It wasn’t entirely bad. I actually preferred the times when Nash wandered off and left West and I to ourselves, even though two of us were more vulnerable than three. But he would always inevitably find his way back to my mate. And I couldn’t get upset about that, because I wanted West to be happy and Nash, for better or worse, was his brother.

West and I were on our own when we heard about a small new pack being formed by a rogue leader, and we decided to try to find it. We’d searched the human city for any trace of pack wolves for days, and then we found a member working at a local shop, and set up a meeting with the alpha through her. At the time I didn’t realize it was the luna of the pack, so it was lucky we’d been separated from Nash again.

But then my brother-by-bond turned up and found us before our meeting with the alpha. I braced myself for instant dismissal, but somehow Alpha Jason decided to give us a chance in spite of everything.

I was elated, and West was happy that I was happy. Nash was, well, typical Nash. Shifty and unpleasant in every way. And now I knew it had been even worse than that.

In spite of everything I knew about Nash, I still couldn’t believe he had been spying on our new pack. For some reason Alpha Jason had given him another chance, because I didn’t know why, but I was watching him from now on. I wasn’t going to jeopardize West, our little Tatiana, or the rest of the pack with blind acceptance. I wasn’t letting my guard down, even though he seemed calmer nowadays thanks to his newly found human mate, Marissa.

While that had been a good thing, the feeling of betrayal would not fade. I liked Marissa though. She was a weak, but vengeful little thing and fit into the pack surprisingly well.

Currently, Nash was on the stage, being cross examined about his interactions with Bluegorge and particularly with my former alpha over the years. To my surprise, his partnership with that alpha had started long before I had even met West, and made me wonder if his familiarity with my brother-by-bond had been part of the reason for my cruel dismissal from the pack.

My mate was watching his brother testify with rapt attention, and that was the real reason we were here with our alpha and luna. It definitely wasn’t because I wanted to see the awful alpha who had thrown me out of my home, or listen to endless hours of alphas arguing among themselves. Despite everything, West wanted to support his brother.

And I wanted to support my mate, so here I was.

After Nash was finished testifying, they showed more evidence, chiefly a recording of Alan Mann, the younger brother of one of the wolves I had grown up with, confessing that Alpha King had been paying Nash to spy. Alpha King was such a hypocrite, using a rogue when he was such a rogue hater that he would kick me out over being mated to one. Or maybe he just kicked me out to help hide his involvement with rogues.

Nash’s turn at testifying ended, and there was a lot more procedural stuff and debating amongst the alphas, who mostly seemed offended that Alpha King had tried to manipulate them, rather than because he had been wrongfully taking illegitimate actions against an innocent pack. I’d never been to the Alpha Assembly before and I hoped this was the last time, but it was exactly like what everyone had described.

When they finally finished bickering, we all left to get something to eat in the hotel restaurant. Our pack sat with Lightwood, since they had sponsored the filing of Glenshadow’s complaint, forcing the assembly to take it more seriously.

My mate and I somehow ended up at a table with both alpha couples, which would never have happened in a million years in Bluegorge. It normally would have been unnerving, but Luna Carrie was always so kind to me that it set me at ease, and Luna Serena just had a comforting feel to her. West was as quiet as ever, and I was pretty sure he was mind linking his brother over at another table from the way he was looking into space.

I sighed. I really was never getting rid of Nash, was I? I looked over towards him with his little human sitting as close to him as was socially acceptable under the circumstances, and sure enough, he had a matching vacant look to my mate.

Well, West loved his brother, and I guess, in spite of everything, I’d developed a grudging affection for him over the years. As long as he didn’t screw things up again, maybe I should forgive him.