I stumbled back, feeling sick and panicked and confused and completely freaking out. This was my worst nightmare, worse than being captured by packlings and tortured to death, because this wasn't how my life was supposed to pan out. My mate was supposed to be a random rogue, or, if I was a little unlucky, a low ranking pack member that I could turn to my side. Not an alpha of a pack, much less the son of the man who murdered my mother and sister.
I had to get out of here. I didn't know where I wanted to go, but I knew I had to get away from him before anyone figured it out! I stumbled back, turning to run and almost barrelling straight into my da.
"Woah there, Natty. Happy birthday! You found your mate yet?" He asked, grabbing my shoulders to stop me sprinting off. I forced a smile.
"Nope, not yet!" I lied, praying that the alpha pup wouldn't split on me. He was gagged, but they took it out to feed him and give him water, and he could tell then. If he did, I was in trouble. My da being the leader of the rogues could only protect me so much, and if my mate was an alpha they might not want me to be their leader when he died.
"You alright? Where's Nathan and Gwenna?" He asked, looking a little concerned. I smiled.
"Nathan's looking for his mate, and Gwenna's with hers. It's Ada." I told him, hoping to distract him. His face lit up and he whooped, punching the air.
"I bloody knew that girl was gay! Sadie owes me a tenner." He crowed, which I thought was an odd take, but fair enough. To be honest, I was surprised it took him so long to get conclusive evidence.
"Anyway, I gotta go. See if any of the rogue boys are mine!" I said jokingly, trying to duck round him. I thought he was going to let me get away, but at the last moment he twisted and took hold of my arm.
"Hang on." Instantly, my mind jumped to the worst possibility. He might have reached through the link and realised who my mate was, or he might already know that the alpha was my mate-
"I told you I wanted to see you. I have a present. Well, one for each of you, but yours comes with a little extra. Step into my office." No, no, that was where the alpha was! But I couldn't protest, not when he had my arm in his hand and was practically marching me inside. As soon as I entered, I felt my wolf stir, trying to make me look at him, but I resisted. Yet again, he started to wriggle, trying to get free and mumbling something through his gag as I tried to ignore him.
"Oi, shut up or I'll knock you out, boy. This doesn't concern you." My da threatened him gruffly, and to my relief he obeyed, not even bothering to try and mind link me because he knew I would be guarded. I did my best to ignore him and focus on da, though that must have seemed weird to him anyway. I hadn't given him my full attention since I was seven, after all. On his desk were three little boxes that looked as though they would contain jewellery, which was weird. None of us wore any, and whenever we got any in a raid we just sold it or ransomed it back if it was important enough to the packling.
"Oh, I hope its a necklace." I said sarcastically, raising my eyebrow and ducking his lazy swipe at me.
"Shut up, and just open yours." He told me, chucking it at me. I caught it, hearing a distinct clunk from within as I undid the string he had used to seal the box. When I opened it, there was a beautiful switchblade within, that must have cost at least a hundred quid. I pulled it out, inspecting the hilt which was made of blue porcelain and a black wolf head with a tiny patch of white as the pommel. I flicked the blade out, inspecting the sharp, gleaming steel with a grin. I plucked a hair off my head and split it to test the sharpness, and then flipped it onto one finger to test the balance. It was by far the best knife I had ever held, and it was mine.
"Oh, this is much better than a necklace." I crowed, looking up and grinning at da. He gave me and nod, and unlocked a draw, pulling out an envelope and handing it to me.
"I'm glad you like it, it cost a pretty penny. Here, take this. Don't open it, just keep it safe!" He told me sternly. I flipped it to look at who it was addressed to, and managed to sound of 'the council of elders'.
"Which council, rogue or packlings?" I asked.
"You're getting quicker at reading. And its for the rogues, you idiot. Give it to them after I'm dead, it's my written endorsement of you as my heir. Obviously it won't mean shit if you can't convince the rogues to follow you, but it should help. I'll leave the rest to you." He told me, rounding the desk and resting his hand on my shoulder in a brief, but potent moment of affection.
"Thanks, da. I won't let you down. No matter what." I said the last bit for the alpha's benefit. I needed him to know that we weren't ever going to be anything, mate bond or not. I didn't care what everyone else said, I wouldn't let stupid genetic compatibility dictate my life and ruin my plans.
"Right, piss off then. Have a good night, and I hope you find your mate." He said, shoving me gently towards the door as I laughed uneasily. He should be more careful what he wished for.
I fled as quickly as I could, not even registering my new knife and endorsement, because if I couldn't figure out some way to escape this, neither of them would be worth anything to me anyway. My first instinct was to link Nate and Gwenna and call an emergency meeting so we could figure this out, but I couldn't do that! Nobody could know about this, because if this came out it could ruin me. I would have to do this by myself, and deal with it quickly.
I stumbled into the woods that surrounded the camp, finding a quiet clearing where I could lie down and try and think clearly. I couldn't kill him, that would ruin me, and though I had joked about it earlier, I knew I couldn't have someone else kill him, both morally and physically. Thing is, I didn't know what effect his mind being broken would have on me, and there was a chance that would kill him anyway. I needed him alive, but also far, far away from me, and preferably too frightened to tell my secret.
Then again, he might keep it of his own accord. I was the daughter of the rogue's leader, and the next in line, and he was an alpha, and I had killed his father. Chances are, he was as disgusted at having me as his mate as I was with him, which meant we could work together to some extent. He would want to survive, escape, and then disown me, and I wanted the same thing.
Maybe I could do this, but it would mean betraying my father and my family and my friends and my people to do it. But was it really betrayal if it was so I could lead them? Yes, yes it was, I decided. I would have to keep it quiet, not even my siblings could know. I would have to do this alone. That felt strange to me, because I had never had a scheme that the two of them didn't help me with. It was my eighteenth birthday, I had just found my mate, but I had never felt so lonely in my life.
The alcohol was making me sleepy, and I didn't want to return to the ruins and my empty den where I would get constant whiff's of the alpha's scent, so I curled up right there on the forest floor and fell asleep.
.
.
.
I woke up with one hell of a hangover, cold and wet because it had started to rain in the night, and my mouth dry as sandpaper. I groaned and dragged myself to my feet, promptly throwing up before I moved off to a nearby stream, drinking from it. That was a good thing about being a werewolf; not boiled water and raw meat couldn't make us sick. When I had drunk enough to fill my belly, I started towards a hollow tree a little way away where there was a cache of clothes for someone who had just shifted back into skin that I could pilfer from.
Once I was changed and had hung my clothes from branches to dry out, I started back towards the camp, hoping to scrounge up some breakfast and start on my plan to get the alpha out. I didn't even know his name. It was best not to find out. Could make me get all attached. After retrieving a greasy plate of eggs and bacon, I sat at an empty table and started thinking through my break out plan.
I needed to make sure he didn't figure out where the camp was. I couldn't let myself be seen. I couldn't let myself be caught. I couldn't leave behind any clues. I couldn't let a scent trail form, or for any whiff of me to be left anywhere it couldn't be easily explained enough. I would have to knock out his guard without them being able to identify me. I would need an alibi, or at least make sure there was no reason to suspect me. I would have to make sure the alpha would never tell, so I would need some kind of leverage over him as well.
I groaned and dropped my head onto the table. This would be impossible. I wasn't even the best schemer in my trio, that was Nate. I had the confidence and the best fighting abilities, and now I would have to do this alone.
"Where'd you end up last night? You find him? Or... her?" Nathan asked, sliding into the seat next to me and snatching a rasher of bacon. One sniff of him told me that he hadn't found his mate, unless he had and then spent no time with them out of shame, but that couldn't have happened to the both of us.
"Nah, just got too drunk and passed out in the woods. No luck?" He shook his head.
"No, but there are dozens of rogue camps I could visit, and some raiding teams aren't here yet. There's time, for both of us." He knocked his shoulder into mine, trying to comfort me, not that it worked.
"Gwenna hasn't surfaced yet. Probably still with Ada." Nathan nodded, and we lapsed into a headache filled silence.
I knew what I had to do, now I just had to put the pieces of the plan together.