I trailed the sweet scent until I found myself face to face with the last person I wanted to see, ever, Ethan. His eyes glazed over as he stared at me.
"Mate," He said and my face became horrified. Hell No! Ethan couldn't be my mate. There must have been some kind of mix-up somewhere. After everything I'd been through in his hands and that of his father's and pack members, the moon Goddess could not pair me with him. Selene wasn't known to be wicked.
Ethan looked me up and down in surprise. "You have your Wolf?! How is that possible?! You're only just sixteen. Except.... " His eyes widened in disbelief and then turned into a vicious stare. "You lied to us about your age!"
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't lie. You assumed and I saw no point in correcting you." I shrugged. "It's your fault for kidnapping someone without knowing anything about them."
Ethan growled as he shot daggers at me. "I cannot and will not have some filthy Omega as my mate. I won't let your filth smear my name and that of the pack. I Ethan Reed, Alpha of the Grimfur Canines Pack, reject you, Elise Ortega as my mate."
"That's not my name." I smirked
"What are you talking about?"
"I Iris Antonio Conte Winchester, reject you Ethan Reed as my mate."
"Winchester?" He murmured just before he fell to the ground, gripping his chest in pain. The mate bond had been broken.
"I Ethan Reed, reject you, Iris Antonio Conte Winchester as my mate." He repeated when he saw I wasn't feeling any pain like he was. Even after saying it properly, I still didn't feel a thing but his pain seemed to have become more intense.
"You're a Winchester?!" Alpha Cray shrieked as he moved closer to take a better look at me.
"That's not possible! Your parents said you had died!"
"They lied!" I snapped. "How does it feel knowing you've been raising a Winchester?" I smirked. "Sucks, doesn't it?"
"It's not possible." He whispered as he shook his head. "You're supposed to be dead."
"But I'm not and I'm going make you regret not killing me when you had the chance. Both you and your pack will pay for everything you did to me and my family. Today marks the beginning of your downfall Cray Reed so watch your back."
"How dare you threaten me?!" Alpha Cray growled and tried to claw me but before he could, a hand gripped his wrists.
"Lay a fücking hand on her and I'll rip out your claws!" Liam growled, baring his sharp fangs at Cray with his fingers gripping his wrist tightly.
"This is none of your business!" Cray snapped and yanked his hand free. "This is between that bítch and me!"
"Watch your language Cray Reed, you don't want to cross a Lycaon, do you?" Liam asked in a threatening whisper.
Alpha Cray glared at Liam but took a step back. "This isn't over Elise, Iris or whatever the heck your name is."
Before I could respond, Liam spoke. "Iris is with me now. If you try anything funny, you'd be waging a war on the Lycaons and you know that never ends well for you Werewolves. So think twice before you do anything."
"No, she isn't. She's a member of the Grimfur Canines Pack and as long as she's still one of us, you can't take her anywhere." Ethan said as he got up from the ground. He looked a bit better but he was really pale.
"Try and stop me." Liam smirked in a daring manner before taking my hand in his and pulling me away.
"You didn't have to speak up for me, I was doing fine on my own!" I snapped before pulling my hand from his grasp.
"A thank you would have been fine." He murmured dryly and I rolled my eyes. "I also didn't want you to waste your breath, you've been through enough with those people."
"I guess so."
"So where will you go now that you've left?"
"I really didn't think that through. My plan was to just leave and along the way I'll figure something out."
"You can go with me. Lots of rooms where I stay."
"You?!" I arched my brow.
"Yes, me. Don't worry, I don't bite, except you want me to." He winked. "And you're a Lycaon, like me which makes you one of us and Lycaons are known for their hospitality." He shrugged. "At the end of the day, the choice boils down to you."
I looked around at the Grimfur Canines Pack house which happened to be a really huge mansion and sighed. Liam's right, I'm a Lycaon, well, part Lycaon and I need to be with my kind, joining them will make them my allies and they'll be perfect in helping me get my revenge and starting my parents pack from scratch. I have everything planned in my head, I just need a means in carrying it out.
"Fine." I nodded. "I'll come with you."
"Cool. Do you have anything you want to pack?"
"No. Not like I have anything to pack anyway, "I murmured.
Liam's gaze darkened a little but then it was gone before I could be certain. A second later, he was standing right in front of me, his nose inches from mine. I caught a whiff of his scent and didn't know when I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply to get more of it. He smelled so heavenly.
I felt a feathery touch on my cheek and opened my eyes to see his lips inches from mine. He moved closer and I could feel his breath on mine. He moved even closer and I held my breath as his fingers trailed up my cheek.
"There was something in your hair," He whispered in my ear before stepping back.
"What?"
"You had a leaf stuck in your hair." When he noticed the bewildered look on my face, he smirked. "We should get going," He added before turning around and walking away.
I couldn't believe this, he tricked me, he actually had the guts to trick me!
"Son of a bítch!" I hissed and I swear I heard him chuckle.
*****
"What are you all still doing here!! Get out! Party's over!!" Alpha Cray roared in anger as he shoved everyone away. "I SAID GET OUT!"
"Father...."
"You, in my office, NOW!" He snapped before walking away.
"Is Dad going to be okay?" Selina asked.
"Of course! He's an Alpha." Sarah replied. "Ethan, don't keep your father waiting."
"Wasn't planning to." Ethan murmured before rushing into the pack house. "You wanted to see me." He said as he stepped into his father's office.
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I had brought a Winchester into my pack!"
"Of course not, I was just as shocked as you."
"But she was your mate! You had to have known."
"You and I both know that that's not how the mate bond works. No one knew she was a Winchester and we couldn't have suspected a thing because we all thought she was dead and she played the whole daughter of Omegas thing really well. No one is to blame for this."
Alpha Cray sighed and shook his head. "I should have known! I practically grew up with the Winchesters and her father was my best friend. I should have known she was their daughter, I had to have noticed some similarities. Now that I think about it, she does look like her mother but has the feistiness of her father. How could I have been so BLIND!" He yelled and slammed his fists on the table.
"None of this is your fault and so what if she's a Winchester, she has no one, you made sure of that. Her parents and pack members are all dead! She's all alone and there are hundreds of us, she won't stand a chance." Ethan said dismissively.
"You don't understand Ethan, she's with a Lycaon King and the Lycaons have always been stronger than Werewolves. We won't stand a chance if she decides to use them against us!"
"That won't happen. She might be with Liam but that doesn't mean he or the other Lycaons will help her attack us. She's of no importance nor is she a Lycaon. The Lycaons will never risk their lives for someone like her. And if you're so worried about her being a problem, I'll just bring her back."
"How? You already rejected her as your mate and we never actually made her feel as one of us."
"Easy." Ethan shrugged. "I'll just apologize and make her see reason. Women are very easily swayed and manipulated. I'll just give her gifts, write her a short romantic poem, make her feel like she's the only woman on Earth and loved and then boom, she'll come running into my arms."
"And then we'll kill her, completely wiping the Winchester bloodline." Alpha Cray added with an evil grin.
"Yes." Ethan said hesitantly. "We'll end her once and for all."
"You should get going then. The earlier you bring her back, the better."
"I'll leave at dawn. Right now, I need to rest." He said and got up from the chair. "Goodnight father." He added before stepping out of the room.
"Hey, Ethan, I heard....."
"Not now Talia!"