I don't Mate with Jerks

Chapter 17 ~ Furry Love, Smooth Hate

Fighting my instincts, I moved on, not glancing back again at her as I pushed through the doors and across the parking lot, furiously climbing into my car.

***

I prowled through the brush, my belly low and close to the forest floor. Dan was a few feet to my right, vigorously sniffing the air, his muzzle raised towards the sky. I knew he could smell it too; the sour scents of nightshades, decay, and grass. The Rogues had been there recently, their tracks were still fresh.

            “They’re coming closer,” Dan stated, his eyes narrowing. We caught their scent a week before not far from the pack house, maybe two miles deeper into the woods. We barely patrolled a mile before we caught their scent the next time.

            “Don’t you think it’s time we’ve told the pack about them? What if they strike? We’re not exactly prepared,” Dan added a few minutes later, glancing towards me. I flicked my ears as I stared back at him, deciding what we should do.

            “We’ll tell Ben tonight, see what he wants to do,” I replied, hating to have to turn to the older beta for his thought, but I wasn’t positive on what else to do. I had only inherited the pack a barely two months before.

            “Yes sir,” Dan said lightly, continuing to move forward through the thickening brush. I hesitantly continued on behind him, hearing the gentle trickle of the stream ahead. I winced once I stepped through the brush, my paws touching the rough gravel of the shore. KC’s fading scent swept across my face, making the hairs bristle between my shoulders. The sweet scent of lavender, cherry, and ivy still lingered in the air from the other day. I needed her. But I was disgusted by her.

            “Well that’s a familiar scent,” Dan hissed coldly, glaring up at me as he pressed his nose to the ground where I remember KC had tackled me. I growled at him, flattening my ears against the top of my head assertively. He didn’t say more as he moved on, sniffing around the shore. I knew he was pissed about me rejecting KC, considering his dad was pressuring me in finding my Luna, telling me a bunch of crap that it would be easier to have someone by my side, supporting me and helping control the large pack.

Unconsciously, I pawed at the spot where I had tackled KC, her scent strongest there on the sand. Once I realized I was doing it, I growled at myself, shaking my head as I moved on. The Rogue scent had also gotten stronger around the stream, almost fresh, probably passed through there not hours before.

            “I don’t like this one bit,” Dan said, his ears flattened against his head as the hairs around his shoulders rose uneasily.

            “Me neither. I think it’s time we’ve told Ben,” I sighed resentfully, hating the idea of the whole situation. If these rogues were getting closer, we needed more patrol and protection. Only their scent is strong, but they haven’t been seen. I’m sure the first thing Ben was going to do was send out a team to patrol and track down where the scents are coming from.

I didn’t wait for a response from Dan as I turned and sprinted through the brush back towards the pack house. I think mostly because I wanted to get out of there and away from KC’s overwhelming scent, taking over my instincts. I knew her malicious game was going to test my strength as an Alpha; if I can’t fight my own wolf, then what could I fight?

***

As I exited my room after getting dressed, I saw a slim black wolf slink out of KC’s room. Her coat was silky looking, soft and groomed. Her eyes gave off a metallic glow, like freshly polished silver. She glanced in my direction, her ears playfully flickering as she trotted by. My wolf clawed at me, eager to follow her as she disappeared down the stairs, but I fought against him, forcing my feet towards Ben’s room upstairs, in the Beta Suite.

I didn’t bother knocking before walking in, Dan’s and Ben’s eyes darting up at me as I approached the table the two of them stood in front of.

            “Dan says there’s something you wanted to talk about?” Ben gestured, Dan leaning against the table nervously.

            “Yes, Mr. Smith,” I said. “Dan and I caught the scent of rogues not even two miles away from here. They’re getting closer every day,” I informed, crossing my arms. Ben’s eyes dropped before looking back up sternly at me, glancing once in Dan’s direction.

            “Are you boys absolutely positive?” he questioned, sternly looking from me to Dan. Dan sighed.

            “Dad, I know they’re scent. I’m a hundred percent positive,” he grimly replied. I knew what he was thinking about once he had said that; his mother. She was killed three years ago when she went to visit another pack not too far from here for a meeting. The rogues struck when she was in the meeting room, killing two other beta mates from another pack, an alpha, and three healers. If Ben hadn’t been sick that day, he could’ve been murdered too. Instead, he has to suffer the loss of his mate.

            “Alright, I’ll get some people out there tonight. In the meanwhile, don’t stray too far except for school and within a single mile radius from here. I’ll make the announcement tomorrow once the team returns with news.” Ben said, his voice soft and strained. I knew he was reliving the pain of his mate.

I nodded with finality and began to leave when he stopped me.

            “Just on a quick note, Alpha Damon, have you found your mate yet?” Ben interrogated. My jaw clenched tightly as KC’s face flashed through my mind at the mention of ‘mate’. That was just one other reason why I didn’t want to confront Ben about it yet; he asks whether or not I’ve found my mate yet.

            “No, not yet,” I responded plainly. I heard Dan sigh loudly and Ben cleared his throat, signaling that we were finished for the evening.