Monte
Chapter 5
I didn’t want a mate. Not now, maybe not ever. Yet here she was.
After watching her nearly die when she choked on that piece of steak, something inside of me had changed. A sense of duty had risen within me. I had to protect her and watching her struggle at that table put both my human side and my wolf on full alert.
I thought running with her would have calmed me down, but it didn’t. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, just that every snap of a twig, every falling leaf, the sound of a fish jumping in the water, just all of it was suddenly a danger to my mate, and my wolf demanded we protect her at all costs.
When Jax had gotten near us while she was indisposed, it had taken every ounce of willpower not to attack him.
He was one of my fraternity brothers. This was not good. I said a quick prayer that it was my wolf side that was going psychotic over her and that my human form could remain somewhat sane. I’d been around enough mating males to know that might be wishful thinking.
Dammit. What the hell was I going to do now?
The urge to run away was strong. I was overdue for a camping trip anyway. Maybe I should just head up into the mountains and clear my head.
She stopped by the lake, and I watched her greedily lap up water.
Was she okay?
Did I hurt her when I’d attempted the Heimlich? What the hell had I been thinking? I didn’t know much about first aid. I’d taken some basic CPR in high school, but it had been years ago, and I’d never had cause to use it. I was just grateful I hadn’t killed her in the process. There was just the desperate need to save her.
Denny was going to be pissed that I’d run out on the mandatory party, but hey, so did our host’s leader. That had to account for something right? I was pretty certain he would have figured it out by now anyway. I mean, I’d growled at everyone in my haste to get to her while she was choking. That wasn’t exactly normal behavior for me.
Her wolf was beautiful in the moonlight framed by the lake and trees. I momentarily lost all thoughts just watching her.
Oh man. I’m screwed.
It sucked having us both stuck in our fur, though, because I desperately wanted to talk to her. Or maybe I didn’t. Was I ready for that?
I huffed and it came out more like a snort via my wolf.
She startled and turned to stare at me. It was almost as if she had forgotten I was even there.
When she started to turn back to the water, my wolf was offended. Before I could stop him, he sat back and howled at the sky. He was calling to her.
I imagined her eyes were swirling pits of fire when she glared back at us.
That didn’t stop him though. He howled once more. And when she still didn’t acknowledge or return his howl, he growled at her.
Dammit wolf, knock it off. You’re going to scare her.
He wasn’t listening, though, and I was starting to struggle to maintain control. The last thing I wanted was to go fully feral on her.
The struggle was real as I battled my wolf for control.
Technically, we were one, but also not. My wolf side had natural instincts that guided him, while my human side was far more logical, at least most of the time. I could make rational decisions while my wolf rarely did. Yet we were two sides of the same coin. It often made it easier for me to think of him as a separate being. Most people I’d talked to about this seemed to agree with that as well.
A nearby rabbit seemed to temporarily catch his attention just long enough for me to gain the upper hand. Without thinking, I shifted back to my human form.
In the commotion, my mate looked back at us and her jaw dropped. Even though she was still in wolf form, I knew she was checking me out.
There was no reason for me to hide from her. She was my mate. I knew I was in excellent shape. All the time I spent off campus hiking and rock climbing ensured I stayed that way. It wasn’t something I flaunted around campus. I typically wore baggier clothes and kept my head down, trying not to attract woman. I didn’t need or want that distraction, yet I was standing in front of the biggest distraction anyway.
I sighed.How the hell had this happened?
It wasn’t like she was new to the ARC. Zoey had been at Archibald Reynolds for as long as I had. How had we never crossed paths? And if Denny hadn’t insisted that I attend that stupid dinner and dance, would we ever have met?
