She was strong. She’d be stronger than me with proper training. She’d be a perfect warrior, but it was my job to protect her, not the other way around. I was the alpha, and she was… she was mine.
An unfamiliar howl echoed deep into the night, and my mindlink suddenly went wild.“Rogues. Two of them. South border.”
I closed my notebook, hurrying out of the room. South border, near Isabella’s house. Two fucking rogues.
After sprinting for less than a minute, I had made it to the borders to see two of my men finishing them off. I pressed my lips together. There were two rogues, too many. Two rogues too close to Isabella’s home.
Rogues hadn’t sniffed around these parts for seven years, when they had tore Mom’s heart right out of her chest, when they had taken Dad from me, when they had ruined my life. And now, suddenly, they were back.
Light from Isabella’s room glowed through her curtains. I growled lowly. Nothing would take her away from me. I’d do anything to keep her safe. Anything.
No more regretting this decision. This was the right one. This would always be the right one. I just had to get her to see that she meant more to me than she thought she did.
Chapter 14
Isabella
Early Monday morning, Mom peeked into my room with a soft smile on her face. “Morning Sweetie, I’m heading to the hospital. Would you like to come with me today?”
I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to see him passing by. I didn’t want to hear his voice. I didn’t even want to think about him, but I couldn’t stop. Every single night this weekend, I sat by the window, staring at the Moonflowers glowing off of the curtains. I just wanted to peel them open to see the moon, to find some comfort in the forest, but I couldn’t get myself to do it.
Without the light from the moon, the Moonflowers didn’t glow as brightly. They were dull and their leaves felt brittle and I couldn’t stop thinking about that sinister look on his face when he told me I’d be a nurse for the rest of my life.
I gnawed on the inside of my lip and sunk deeper into my grey sheets, fiddling with the keychain. “No.”
She sat next to me on the bed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and drawing me closer to her. “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, Izzy,” she said. I shook my head, a stupid tear falling from my eye.
This wasn’t a blessing. The Moon Goddess wouldn’t even call it a blessing. She’d call it a mistake. To have one of the wolves born under the Wolf Moon become a nurse and not a warrior. It was wrong.
Pups who were born under the Wolf Moon in January were thought to be the best warriors in a pack. It was prophesied that these wolves had the strength that the original werewolf had been granted and even possessed powers close to that of the Moon Goddess.
“Your father and I work at the hospital… maybe Alpha Roman thought this was the best for us.”
“No,” I said through clenched teeth. “He just wanted to watch me suffer.”
She furrowed her brows together. “Now, why would he do that? He’s dedicated to this pack and has been since he was fifteen. He wants to keep everyone happy.”
No, he wanted to keep the Roman in his pants happy.
She sighed and rested her head on mine. “Come on, Izzy. Assignments start today.”
“I’m not going to the hospital, Mom. I don’t belong there. I should be training with the pack right now, not sitting in the hospital bored out of my mind.”
After pulling me into another hug, she stood. “Please think about it, Sweetie.” She smiled and tossed a pillow at me, her blue eyes as bright and lively as the moon. “Cheer up… can’t have you sad on your birthday! It’s just a few days away! Maybe you’ll find your mate.”
If she said that one more time, I would probably scream. All weekend she’d reminded me of my special day. But—truth was—I didn’t care about the fact that my birthday was days away and that I might find my mate.
When the front door shut softly behind Mom, I rolled onto my side. Though today was the first day of assignments, I literally couldn’t pull myself out of bed to go. It wasn’t just my inner-brat making me feel bad. I felt terrible, my insides were turning over and over, shriveling up, squeezing me tightly, making it hard to breathe. I dedicated my whole life for one moment, but he didn’t think I was good enough for it.
My wolf wouldn’t even let me think of his name. She had cried for most of the weekend, made me curl up in my bed and think about everything that I could’ve done to please him. Made him like me more. Stop being such a brat. Acted like I didn’t hate him with all my guts.
Fuck him. I did hate him with all my guts.
My wolf whimpered, the rejection from our alpha hitting hard.
No, we would not sulk any longer. We would run, run through the woods, feel the wind in our fur, inhale the sweet aroma of the forest. Then go to the hospital.
After changing out of my clothes, I ran out of the house and shifted into my wolf. With the dirt against my paws and the breeze blowing through my fur, I sprinted into the woods, going off any path that our pack had made within the forest.
