When Lena is brought before the council on charges of treason, finding a mate, was the last thing on her mind. But fate had other things planned for the newly banished, lone wolf, considering her own mate was the swing vote.
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I'd been running for what seemed like forever in uninhabited lands with no sign of civilization. I wondered how far north Thayer's pack home was located, but kept running, hoping to reach anything that would give me shelter from the Alpha I knew was coming for me.
Rubber and asphalt, those were the first scents marking the beginnings of humanity. There was a road nearby and I aimed for it. If I could find a vehicle, I could possibly get away. My scent would be lost amidst the exhaust fumes and pollution of the roads. But I had to find a suitable vehicle.
I trotted along the road for a few miles until finally coming across a little, slightly dilapidated inn. It was large enough to have a few dozen rooms, but didn't have the best upkeep. I rounded the inn, searching for a place where I could find some clothes. I wasn't going to be able to find a vehicle that would take me as a wolf, and I'd never risk being naked in front of any stranger again.
At the back was their laundry facilities. No one was inside, so I snuck in and sniffed out clothes. Clothes had hard scents. A hard scent is one that has lived in or around something so long, that it essentially becomes one with it. Just washing it doesn't make the scent go away. But things like the sheets that were used by anyone and anything, smelled like a mosaic of scents. Some people, some animals. Cigarette smoke, food, and many other things not worth mentioning.
I found a single industrial laundry machine filled with uniforms that had only just finished drying. Who ever worked here would be back to take care of them soon, so I needed to hurry.
I ran back out to the edge of the woods surrounding the little inn, and started my shift away from any potentially prying eyes. But as I stood, I could feel that I wasn't alone.
"I'm not going back with you. I'm going home." Only a rumbling, threatening growl answered me back.
He stepped out of the cover of the trees and my hand went to my throat in shock. He was massive. Half again as tall as any Werewolf I had ever seen.
He was proportionally different as well. He was thicker in neck and leg. I had never seen a Dire Werewolf before. Only ever heard stories of them.
The last of the Dire Weres were secretive, and few. They held to old beliefs and only joined the outside world when, forgive the pun, dire. They were a people unto themselves, and no one I knew had ever met one in person. Or they didn't know they had met one.
He stepped closer, and I backed away.
"No, I don't care what you are, I am not going back with you. I am going home, and you can't stop me."
I turned away from the burning intensity in Thayer's Wolf's eyes. But as I was knocked over, then under the Wolf, I realized how naieve I had been.
