“It’s cool.” She swallowed. “It didn’t seem like you were doing that for sh-show.”
I needed to get her back inside, but I couldn’t make my feet move. Not yet.
I sat on the ground, resting my back against the tree. Angie didn’t protest when I tugged her down into my lap, laying my shirt over her feet like a blanket.
“My parents were fated mates,” I admitted softly. “My birth parents.”
She angled her head to watch me, her cheek brushing my chest.
The rest came out in a rushed breath. "My dad was human. My mom was an alpha female. In the pack I came from, that kind of mating was forbidden. My mom would make strong alpha offspring if she mated with another wolf shifter. She cared more about the mate bond than birthing heirs for a stronger pack, so she ran away.
“That was before shifters came out to the world. It was before packs like this existed. She could run from her alpha, but she would never truly escape him. He could find her through the pack bonds, and he never stopped searching for her.”
Female shifters weren’t safe in most Wildling packs. They were only valuable for growing the ranks.
I clenched my jaw, fighting back the emotions threatening to consume me. “When her alpha found us, he challenged my dad.”
“Challenged him?”
“For my mom. It’s like a duel. Two males fighting to the death to become alpha, or to take a mate. It’s barbaric, and most packs don’t allow challenges anymore.”
“But your dad was human.”
“Yes,” was all I could say. “He was human.”
"Our alpha brought us back to his pack. When my mom refused to become his mate, he threatened to kill me. I was only three. A shifter can mark a mate without their consent, but a bond doesn’t always form in that kind of mating. My mom was so sick from the absence of the mate bond, she couldn’t get pregnant again.
“She didn’t eat, didn’t sleep. Eventually, she stopped shifting. When the previous alpha from this pack came to meet with ours,offering to help them integrate into the human world, my mom approached them. She begged them to take me with them.”
My voice shook. Angie twisted in my lap, wrapping me in a fierce hug.
“I never saw her again.”
“Is she still in your old pack?”
“I felt her die a week after I arrived in Alaska. Family has bonds—not like mates, but similar—and when my mom knew I was safe…she gave up.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve never told anyone besides Cindy. Even my brothers don’t know.”
Angie pulled back, her eyes rounded in horror. “So, when Dustin pretended to mark me…”
“Exactly,” I growled. “I saw red.”
“But you know he wouldn’t actually do that.”
“Of course not.” I cupped her face, running my thumbs over her rosy cheeks. They were cold to the touch. “My wolf doesn’t know it, though. To him, any male is a threat to—" I snapped the words off with my teeth.
Was now the time to tell her?
What if it was too soon? What if she saw me get triggered into a frantic shift and thought I was dangerous?
“To any female under his protection.”
“That must be s-so hard,” she said through chattering teeth. “Is he always on edge around your brothers?”
“No, not always.”
