The night had already descended upon them, when Marc announced it was time to return to the pack house. The trees that had been of a dark green when the group entered the forest for the third test, were now black, resembling dark spirits surrounding them. The day had been long and full of challenges and everyone was tired. The previous hours had caused their body to complain with every move they made, every breath they took, but the werewolves that remained in the clearing were proud of themselves. Proud for proving that they were strong and worthy to join the rank of warriors. Being a warrior was not an easy life. Between patrols and multiple meetings per week, they almost had no time to be with their family, at least when they were young. The oldest and more experience of them, like Matthew, were able to have a comfortable life, since they had already dedicated part of their life to the hard life of fighting the enemy. Those, were now part of the council, helping their Alpha with new strategies for the pack's safety. They could continue patrolling but not so often as when they were young.
The walk to the pack mansion would take, at least, fifteen minutes since they were deep into the forest. Marc and Luke lead the way through the dense green land.
The Alpha, Kyle would congratulate them for passing the tests and welcome them to the new position, a position that received respect from all members of the pack and held great responsibility. A celebration would take place that night, where all pack would be present. Emily was anxious to tell Laura and her mother about her day and the tests. Her father, that had been with her all day, had promise to keep his mouth shut so she could be the one to tell her mother the good news. Matthew could sense his mate was restless. She was trying to break the wall he had put in his mind earlier. That alone, made his heart constrict. He didn't like to hide something from her, he couldn't even if he wanted to. That woman had the amazing ability to control his tongue, to make him talk and spit all that was in his mind and heart.
Marc mind-linked Kyle to let him know that the tests were over and they had eight new members. He didn't mention Emily being one of them for two reasons. First he wanted her to know that Kyle was her mate and if he told Kyle, the guy would refuse to come outside while she was there. Second, he thought it was better to pretend that he didn't knew that Kyle wouldn't permit Emily to join the rank of warriors. She was good, had great potential and it wouldn't be fair if she wasn't aloud to join them just because she was their Luna. Kyle could be overprotective and Marc had no doubt he would do everything to keep Emily safe.
Marc and Luke were convinced that she deserved the place. She had all the qualities required. They were still in shock with the dominance she had shown.
When they approached the fields, Kyle was already there. He sensed Emily and looked at the group. He knew what that meant and he didn't like it one bit. He saw then Brandon, the boy she was so attached during her childhood. Million thoughts invaded his mind, making his wolf growl internally in irritation. Maybe she decided she wanted Brandon to be her mate and came to give him support. Maybe she came because she wanted to be a warrior. Each idea was worse than the other before. He became impatient to know why she was there, walking in his direction. In that moment, he forgot that she could sense him and find out that he was her mate, he forgot why he was there in the first place.
Emily was exiting the forest when the most intoxicating and wonderful scent reached her nostrils. Her wolf became agitated and she looked around to identify the person, her mate. She knew it was him. Her mother had told her that the moment she caught his scent, she would feel as loosing control of her wolf, her body even. She looked around, trying to figure out where the scent was coming from. The strange thing was that it seemed to come from the middle of the field and she could only make out a single man there, her Alpha. Her heart jumped at the crazy idea that crossed her mind. He couldn't be, could he?
When she was less than thirty feet away from him, the scent became stronger and her wolf went crazy. She was desperately trying to break her skin and shift but Emily restrained herself with all her mind. She looked at him and saw his eyes on her, angry eyes. Why was he angry at her? He had to know that she was his mate long before she discover. For how long had he known? Why he kept that a secret from her?
Her head began to pound painfully from the shock of finding the truth like that, from the questions that seemed to pop each five seconds in her mind. She realized that she had stop breathing for some moments. Her lungs were begging for air and she let it in, before she could collapse on the floor.
Mate!! Mate!! MATE!!
Oh no... it can't be...
All this time he knew, all this time he didn't say he was her mate. Why? He seemed angry to see her there. His eyes were almost black. She could almost imagine smoke rising from his ears from how pissed he looked like.
Her first impulse was to run away from Kyle. That was her human side begging her legs to go far away from the field, but her wolf was completely draw by his presence. Emily restrained herself from doing anything that she could regret later. She knew he was not pleased to see her and that made her heart break.
Matthew sensing her distress put his arm around her shoulders. Even with the support of her father, Emily remained tense, waiting for the storm to break free.
They stopped in front of Kyle and he forced his eyes to the other teens.
Marc motioned to the other experience warriors to go behind their Alpha.
He began to speak.
"Alpha we test this eight young werewolves and they proved worthy to join our ranks."
Kyle looked at each one of them, trying his hardest to not stop in Emily. He knew that by now, she had recognized him as her mate but he sincerely thought he was not worth of her love. He had treat her in a wrong way, accusing her for wanting to live a normal teenager life. She deserved better than him. He forced his voice to come out strong, when deep inside he was feeling far away from it.
"Welcome to our ranks. I am pleased to know that our pack has strong blood in the youngest generations. Not every werewolf could be a warrior. They have to be strong and fearless. You will train hard and prove your loyalty to our pack. From now on, you will live in the warrior's house. It's the one over there."
He pointed to a building beside the pack house.
"We have plenty of rooms for all of you. If you have found your mate you can go live with them but remember, punctuality is crucial. The boys will share a room and the girls another... far away from the boys." He said looking at them to make his point clear.
The warrior of the cabin took a step forward and looked at his Alpha.
"Alpha, Kris is my mate. I would like to be able to live with her." He said.
Kyle looked at Kris. He couldn't let Emily alone with six hormonal males. He sighed.
"Ok. If she is willing to go live with you, she can do it. Emily you will live in the pack mansion with me." He said.
Emily knew this decision was forced on him and he wasn't happy with it. All group nodded.
"Go pack and return to your new home." Kyle said and turned around to go to the mansion.
Marc followed behind him and Luke went to Emily.
"At least he didn't prohibited you from becoming a warrior." He said smiling at her.
Yes... Why? Does he worried about me? Or.. Was it that he didn't want for the others to find out about me being his mate?
She was so confused.
Emily went home to prepare her bag. She ended with two big bags with all her clothes and books that she liked. Some pictures of the family and her teddy wolf. The inanimate object seemed to be more present in her life than Kyle.
Kyle... The mate she dreamed about, the mate that didn't want her.
Carol was waiting in the living room for Emily to finish packing her things. She was happy that her daughter had passed the tests but she was worried because she knew she had discover that Kyle was her mate and he hadn't show any affection toward her.
Emily went downstairs and Carol got up from the sofa, to give her a hug.
"Don't worry, baby. He will fall at your feet when you two are alone." Carol whispered in her daughter ear.
"No, he won't." Emily replied sad.
"What do you mean?" Her mother asked confused.
Emily told her about the night of the party at Brandon's house and what Kyle had said to her. After she finished, Carol gave her another hug, but this time tighter.
"Believe me Emily, he will not take long to be at your feet. You just have to help the situation a bit." She winked making Emily laugh.
Her mother was right. If she wanted, he would have a hard time resisting her.
Let the fun begin...