Under A Latent Moon (A Werewolf Tale)

Chapter 26

Mathias whined and shook his head. Not your fault. 

"Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you make me see?"

The wolf only looked at Harley and then back to him. He understood. If Mathias had come to Will, there was no guarantee he wouldn't've assumed him to be some random rogue and then tried to kill him. A rogue hunter had to be quick to draw most of the time--more often than not it was kill or be killed. 

Harley--he'd gone to Harley first. Harley, who'd gotten curious and needed to know more about the wolf. Harley, who always wanted to give other people chances. The kind, generous, keeps-to-herself, latent wolf. 

"Your sister saved your life," Will said, and argued with the Alpha to get you to stay, "she's tougher than she looks."

"Pff, yeah right. Says Mr. Macho." Harley grinned.

That grin pierced right through him. She was beautiful. And with the way the sun lit her dark hair...it was a picture he knew he wouldn't forget for a long time. 

Inside him, his beast curled in contentedness. When they'd faced Mathias, his wolf had been twitchy and anxious. However, his wolf settled quickly. It was that instant reaction that helped Will put the pieces together about Mathias. He couldn't remember anyone else who'd been able to calm the beast inside him--other than Harley, of course. 

Harley would always calm his wolf, because his beast had decided to take Harley as his mate. Will didn't have the guts to tell her--he didn't want to scare her off. A while ago, right around the time Harley'd kissed him and he'd slept in her room overnight, his wolf had just woken up and...decided. 

He'd heard stories of people whose wolf accepted a mate before the human half. It was rare, but it happened. Will's wolf seemed to be one of them. And his human half wouldn't be too far behind. 

Actually, it was his human half that pulled the leash now. His wolf wanted to pull her close, mate with her, protect her, and never let her go. Will on the other hand, didn't want to push her. She'd been dealing with a lot over the last couple of weeks. Integrating into the pack, making friends, Ben being kidnapped, and now discovering Mathias was alive was a lot to handle. He wouldn't add to her plate. 

He would never push her. If one day Harley decided to move on, Will would let her. His wolf would be crushed, but he'd do so much more to keep her happy. The girl deserved the world and more after all that she'd been through. He refused to hold her back, even if it did rot his insides slowly.

A rumble started up the wolf's throat and suddenly, his wolf's link to the pack pulled a bit. Will's head shot up. "Mathias...is that you?"

The wolf growled low and the link pulled again. But then, something else...attached? "No way," Will breathed. 

"What is it? What's going on?"

His wolf howled low in happiness. "Mathias--he just linked up to me. Somehow."

Light entered Harley's expression. "Does that mean the pack will be able to feel him?"

Slowly, Will felt around that link and shook his head. "I don't think so. It feels like he's somehow made himself a separate line. I've never seen anyone do that before."