Unmarked Mates

Chapter 13: "Honesty is the best policy"

Preston, Brandon's father above

Terry POV

Ivory keeps avoiding Doggy who jumps at her. Today I'm working on her instincts so  Doggy attacks her when she stays in her human form. Defending is a difficult thing to do, but my father used to train me the same way. Of course, he never wanted me to become a hunter but he believed that I should have known how to protect myself, especially from werewolves.

Pearl is sitting sulking in the corner of the basement where we train because nobody can play with her. Usually, when I train Ivory and it takes hours she can play with Doggy, but today the poor animal is essential for our practice so Pearl is left alone, and because of that she isn't happy. In the beginning, I tried to explain that to her, but I didn't manage to do it. Ivory finally took matters into her own hands and told Pearl to sit in one place and stop complaining. A little bit harsh in my opinion but...

"She plays you the way she wants and you let her do whatever she wishes every time she calls you daddy," Ivory said with superiority and we could finally start our hard work.

Maybe she is right and Pearl really does with me whatever she wants. I just can't help it, she usually asks for very easy things to give, mostly my attention, so why should I refuse her anything? Ivory is different, she rarely asks for anything but she stopped being so alert. She also seems to like me, maybe she isn't so eager to show it in contrast to her sister, but I know I have her respect and her trust now.

Aunty Mae comes down to the basement saying we have a guest we need to talk to. I sigh and leave the girls with Doggy. It's morning so the bar is closed but I'm not surprised to see Danny sitting by the counter. Actually, I wonder why it took him three days to come.

I offer him a drink and he nods, Aunty sits next to us so I also pour her.

"Actually I want to talk with Mrs. Peterson," Danny says "I want to know why you let Terry stay here?"

She smiles but it's a bitter smile. Even I don't know her full story, only a few details from my father's notebook.

"And do you want to hear the long or the short story?"

"I wish to hear the true story," he says and she takes a sip of her brandy.

"Once upon a time... almost thirty years ago the Howl Pack was ruled by Anthony Howl who wasn't a bad Alpha, but he believed like so many Alphas across this world that he was entitled to everything and I had a luck bad enough to be his mate. After he found me at first he tried to win me over. I won't lie when I say I felt some attraction to him, the bond also affects humans but it simply wasn't enough. When we met I was already married and didn't know what Anthony was. Like I said at the beginning he was trying to charm me, to make me love him and I was smitten with him, but ultimately I chose Philip, my husband, and Anthony didn't accept that."

Her face deflates and her hands start shaking a little and yet her eyes are icy-cold, she won't break down no matter how hard it is for her.

"Anthony killed Philip and dragged me to his pack as if I was a piece of meat. He raped me and marked me. For Howl Pack I was their Luna, for him I was his beloved property, for myself I was a slave, and trust me that's the worst thing that can ever happen to anybody. During the 245 days I was mated to him he tried to convince me and later to force me to forgive him, to give him a chance. But I couldn't, with every day I hated him more and more and it slowly started affecting his wolf and our bond."

"In what way?" Danny asks.

"He started slowly getting insane. Thomas, Anthony's younger brother explained to me that bond makes a wolf stronger, probably that's why Anthony hadn't rejected me, but bond demands love to give strength. The fact that I hated my mate and was marked against my will kept torturing his wolf who slowly started getting feral and Anthony started losing control. In a rage one day Anthony almost killed his own mother because she helped me to make sure that I would have no babies. We both really thought that if there were no heir I would be useless and my mate would give up on me but he didn't. I had a couple of suicide attempts but since Anthony could always feel them he always managed to save me. Finally, Thomas found a way for me to be free and for the pack to be safe. Anthony's mental state made him dangerous not only to his family and me but also to the whole pack."