MATES?

VALERIE 'He is asking for the Beta' Edith tells me through the link. She's giving me live commentary on what is going on over there. I know well that my Pack Members are either staring or growling at them. 'Tell him the beta has arrived' I tell Oscar when I enter the front yard of the Pack House. I stop the engine and take a deep breath. "Are you ready?" Evie asks me while smirking and I know she's all geared up for the revenge. I nod at her and open the door of the car and climb down. Even though I am a tad bit nervous, I don't want to show it and hence start walking confidently. Suddenly, my wolf inside me becomes anxious. She wants to be free, she wants to come out. That's a rule I made to myself, to never shift in front of the other Pack and her behavior isn't helping me to follow that rule. I let out a deep breath. I don't even know I'm holding one when a scent hits me and I almost groan. It's the finest scent I have ever smelt. My wolf is going crazy now. I want to look at the basis of that scent. I remove my aviators and look around. "Valerie!" I hear a husky male voice calling me. The voice is like music to my ears, I couldn't listen to it all day and... wait what? I turn around to see who has called my name, when I see him. 'Mate' my wolf says out loudly inside me when our gazes lock. I freeze in my place and look at him. Shawn Franklin is my mate, the one who is going to love me unconditionally, according to the moon goddess! Ah! I stare at him and gasp. This is unbelievable. Words cannot describe how amazingly good looking he is. The last time I saw him six years ago, he was this teenage guy I made sure to never look in the eye because I was afraid he would snap at me. But now, I'm finding it difficult to take my eyes off him. He has grown really well. His height is definitely above six. The dark black shirt he's wearing fits his muscled body. I'm damn sure there's quite sexy abs underneath that shirt. I involuntarily part my lips at that thought. He has the same dark brown hair and the same blue eyes. Eyes I can't look away from. His eyes are focused on my parted lips. He's handsome, hot and sexy and he's my mate. That stops me from drooling at him. My mate? Shawn Franklin, the rhinoceros is my mate? My biggest bully is my mate? Oh dear goddess! How did this happen? How can I spend my life with him? How can he spend his life with me? I get it now. This is nature's way of bitch slapping me because I've killed too many of them. Was this the good thing that the moon goddess was referring to? Then I must admit this is good... no, no, no...snap out of it Valerie. This is not good at all! I was so busy in my life killing rogues that I never gave much thought about mates. But whenever I saw mates together, I wanted that rare and pure kind of love. Will I ever get that kind of love from Shawn? He used to hate me the same way I hate him nowadays. That thought hurts and I cave away from our locked gazes. I had a dream once and believe me, that was the best dream I've ever had. It was me challenging Shawn to come and fight me in a huge stadium with thousands of people cheering me, of course. In that dream I fought and defeated Shawn's Alpha ass and then lifted my hands high in the air and did a victory dance. But now that dream is just a dream for it can never come true! I bend my head and walk towards where my Pack is. So much for that confidence walk. I look at the members of my Pack who are all staring at me with their mouths wide open. I look away and again my gaze meets his and I notice that there's hurt in those blue eyes. Shawn takes a step towards me and Oscar stops him by placing his hands on Shawn's chest. "Move." Shawn tells Oscar in his Alpha tone and those blue eyes are completely black now. "As an Alpha, I'd want you to welcome my Pack with respect." Oscar says to Shawn. My wolf doesn't like the way Oscar behaved. I stop her myself because it's me who told Oscar to keep me away from Shawn and Jasper. Shawn looks at me and I avoid his gaze. 'You both will definitely look good together.' Edith tells me through the link and my jaw drops. How the hell did she find out? 'I have a mate remember' she answers to my unasked question. I sigh at that. 'The peacock also found a mate who I am sure is going to get his feathers pulled' she says in a sing-song voice. I immediately turn to look at Jasper who's looking at Evie with awe. Another blow to me. Evie is Jasper's mate. Just like me, Evie is avoiding her mate's gaze. This is a mistake; I should have never come here! My wolf doesn't like that thought. Stupid animal, I can literally feel her jumping and dancing inside me. She's all set to jump into Shawn's arms! This is too much hysteric to take for a day. Evie comes and stands beside me and I see Jasper who gives a smile to me which I return with a blank look. He winces at that. 'Who thought this would happen?' Evie says through the link while laughing humorlessly. 'He is your brother right?' she asks me remorsefully. 'And he is your mate now.' I tell her and her cheeks turn pink. I smile at that and hear a low groan. I look at Shawn who is now being restrained by Nathan and Oscar. The wolves behind him are all staring at me with their jaws dropped open. All my bullies! I smirk at them and they immediately drop their gazes. I'm damn sure Shawn ordered them to do that considering the way he was growling at his own Pack. "Back off." Oscar tells Shawn who growls at him in return. My wolf wants to punch Oscar with the way he's behaving with Shawn. Like I said, she's a stupid animal! 'Oscar, back off. I tell Oscar through the link using my Alpha tone. I'm shocked at my tone too and I realise it's my wolf's doing. She has gained a lot of control over me! Iscar looks at me in shock. 'They are mates.' Edith says out loudly through the link and every single member in my Pack turns to look at me. I close my eyes shut at that. I feel like chasing Edith now. There are so many 'whats' in my head all of a sudden and my head feels heavy. In moments like this, I wish that a huge bird would come and take me or everyone else around me would just go, shoo, disappear. 'Wait, so this Alpha is your mate?' Evie asks me and I nod at her. 'Huh!' that's her reaction? I would prefer something like let's run away because we both have jerks for mates! "What?" Oscar yells loudly and I stare at him. 'Mind link' I say to Oscar and growl at his stupidity. 'How can that be?' He yells out loudly even in my mind. 'It is not something we choose. It is destined for us.' Edith retorts. I am sure she is having wedding plans going on in her head already. Aaa.... What am I thinking? Clearly my brain isn't functioning. 'Oscar, tell him that the Pack members are tired and need to rest.' I tell my Beta and he replies with a small okay. He needs time to recover from the shock, but I don't know what will help me recover. 'Please don't leave my side.' Evie tells me and I smile because I'm about to tell her the same thing. I hear Oscar and Shawn talking to each other. Shawn's voice is driving both my wolf and I insane, so I make sure to look anywhere except at him. My wolf and a tiny winy part of me, okay scratch that, a large part of me too want to look at him but I try with every ounce of muscle in my body to avoid doing that. "She is the Beta?" I hear someone asking and I glare at that person. Alvin! That Bastard. I remember how he lifted me with one hand and threw me in the dustbin once. If he thinks he can take me down now, then I will be happy to prove him wrong. Everyone in my Pack growls at him. He lowers his gaze and mutters a sorry to me. Really? Sorry? Did I just hear right? I ignore his sham apology and start making my way inside the Pack house that is now used for us guests. I smile inwardly when I notice the way we enter the house. Evie and I are at the middle, with most of my Pack members surrounding us. It's done so that Shawn or Jasper won't get close to us. "You can select any room you want to." Shawn says and I'm still not looking at him even though his voice is driving my wolf a little crazy. "Valerie, you can come to the house. Mother will be happy to see you." Jasper says to me and I growl at him which is nothing compared to the growls from all my Pack members. Yeah! I will come. So, then you can give me my favorite room 'the garage'. "She is not going anywhere. She is staying with us in this house." Oscar yells at my brother which is followed by a loud growl from Shawn. "I dare you to say that again." Shawn says to Oscar threateningly. His eyes are complete black now. "She is in my Pack and she is going to stay here with us!" Oscar growls at him with finality. "Like hell she is! But she belongs to me now!" Shawn growls at Oscar and I notice his wolf surfacing. Those words just make me happy. My wolf is in ecstasy. "I said she is in my Pack." My Beta snarls and now shawn growls harder and harder. His whole body starts shaking. Although Oscar has an Alpha blood, he's not an alpha. So, no matter how much he fights back, he cannot win over Shawn. "I am not going anywhere, I'm staying here!" I say sternly and glare at my so called mate. That seems like a shock to him because he looks at me and those blue eyes were back. "What? Why?" he asks me and his eyes show that he's hurt by what I've just said. My wolf doesn't like my behavior towards our mate! "I do not belong to your Pack, Shawn." I trll him flatly and try by best to show a blank face. "Yes, you do. You were in our Pack before you joined his." Shawn argues. I give a humorless laugh at that. "That is where you are wrong. What was that you told me once?" I ask him and he seems muddled. "Yes! I remember. 'Packs are for werewolves and I am just a human'. Right?" I sah quoting his exact words and he flinches. "The last time I checked, I was a human in your Pack and so I never belonged to your Pack." I say through gritted teeth and turn around and head towards the stairs without giving anyone a second glance. Ten minutes after arriving here and I am already an anger blazing porcupine! I head to the first floor and choose the first room I get. As soon as I'm inside the room, I close the door but do not lock it and flop on the bed. A minute later, the door gets opened and Evie comes in and sits on the bed followed by Oscar. "I refused too." She tells me and I know what she's talking about. Obviously, Jasper would ask her. I don't know what to reply so I keep my mouth shut. "I brought your luggage." Oscar says and keeps my luggage on the floor. I look at him and he smiles, "that was awesome" he says and chuckles. "Help me select one good room?" Evie asks and I nod. We go from room to room but finally choose the one next to my room because Evie isn't feeling comfortable anywhere. I help her keep her stuff and then go to do the same in my room. Just as I open the door to my room, I feel an arm snake around my waist from behind and drag me inside the room, closing the door behind. I would have kicked the person's ass for doing so but I don't because there's unending electricity coursing through my body from that touch. Suddenly, I'm flipped and I come face to face with Shawn. His pacific blue eyes are scanning my face, and I blush. Tingles spread through my body and I feel the blood gushing in my veins. I feel myself leaning into his touch and my wolf yelps happily. He has me backed up against a wall with his hands still holding my waist. My entire body is on fire! 'Mate, mate, mate.' That is all my wolf is telling me. I feel immense pleasure taking over me. "Mine." Shawn says and presses me closer against his body. He nuzzles his nose in my neck and I feel him inhaling my scent. I arch my back as he kisses my neck and I bite my lower lip to stop myself from moaning. I close my eyes and take a deep breathe that is filled with his scent. His intoxicating scent that's driving me insane! "My mate." He says and kisses me once again. I groan at that. Even though I am an Alpha myself, he looks far more intimidating than I am. I look like a fragile flower in front of him and that really hurts my Alpha pride! His lips drift to the area where he would mark me and I shudder. This can't happen. I should stop him. I can't act based on impulse. I somehow manage to shove him by the chest and lower my gaze immediately. He gives a low growl at that and tries approaching me again. As soon as I feel his hand coming to grab me, I push it away but he tries again and I push him again. He growls loudly, making me shudder. In one swift movement, he catches both of my arms and has me pressed against the wall. "Look at me." He says and I feel his breath fanning my face but I still don't look at him. I keep my gaze down. "Look at me." He growls and I feel his claws slightly digging into my arm. This is how he was even before I left this pack. He is hurting me now and not even realising it. I look at him and notice my vision is blurry, my eyes are watery and I don't know why I am crying. I close my eyes and a tear falls on my cheek, his hold on my arms loosen and I look at him straight in the eye and notice the pained look he has. He takes a step back and then another. He turns around and makes a dash towards the window. I looked at Shawn going, but I don't say a thing because I don't understand why he has left all of a sudden. I'm still standing with my back against the wall and tears are still flowing in my eyes. I walk towards the window to look whether he's anywhere down there when I hear a long howl coming from the woods. My wolf starts stirring up, she's growling restlessly. She wants to be let out! It flashes to me that the howl is from Shawn's wolf. There's another howl and I gulp loudly. Even though I badly want to go and join him I can't because my wolf will want to come out and I don't know if I can trust him enough to tell him about me being a white wolf. I want something to distract me and instantly the light in my head flashes. 'Pack, let's go to the attack scene' I order through the link and start making my way towards the door. Let's see what surprise Mark Ambrose has kept for me this time!