I whirl to face her. "That is not behaving," I growl in a deadly voice. "You are going to meet my pack—your pack. If you give them a chance, they'll welcome you with warmth and hospitality. Can you stop with the suspicion and give them the benefit of the doubt?"
She glares at me, extends her hand, and stiffens. I take her hand and lead her across the sandy clearing. Everyone is waiting, watching my new mate, a wolf they've never met. No one even knew she existed, since we don't hunt in panther territory, where her mother retreated after leaving the pack eighteen years ago.
The rest of the pack—Adolfa, Lobo, Borris, Bleddyn, Chann, Trixie, and the others—form a half-circle.
"Jacksonville Pack," I announce in a loud, clear voice. "Meet my True Mate, Luna."
I draw her hand toward my lips, intending to kiss her knuckles. When I feel her resistance, I flash her a warning glare. She relents, but I doubt the effect looks exceptionally loving. When I glance at my packmates, some give me sympathetic smiles, some appear confused, a few shake their heads.
As I release my grip on her hand, my anger starts to boil. It's not like I'm asking to mate with her in front of them. The girl could chill the fuck out a little.
Adolfa, sweetheart that she is, comes to my rescue. Hurrying over to Luna, she smiles warmly and extends a hand. "Welcome, little one. You're downright lovely. We're all mighty pleased to make your acquaintance.
Luna smiles uncertainly and shies toward me. My chest swells with warmth.
"I'm Adolfa and those squealing monsters over there—" With her free hand, my packmate points to a group of children splashing in the saltmarsh through the trees. "Are my kids. Well, at least a few of them."
Luna shakes Adolfa's hand with solemn precision. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."
I turn and smile broadly at my pack. "My Luna is tired from her journey. She's had a long day. Let's all make her feel welcome."
"Of course," Lobo says, stepping forward. He, too, extends his hand to Luna and introduces himself and adds, "I'm Adolfa's mate."
Luna repeats her overly formal greeting, introducing herself to him. Then, in turn, each pack member does the same. I stand by proudly, watching my mate meet her new packmates. When they've finished, Luna looks a bit overwhelmed, so I wrap an arm around her waist to comfort her. Instead of relaxing into me, she tenses.
"Let her have some breathing room," Adolpha says, prying Luna from my grip. "I'm sure our new member would like some girl talk after a day with you."
I growl low in my throat at the thought of being separated from my mate, but Luna's grateful smile at the older female lets me know she welcomes the idea. With a grumble, I relent and go attend to some business with Hati. After all, if Luna is to be my True Mate, she'll have to learn to be left on her own at times.
When I reach Hati, I glance back at Luna, who eyes me from a couple of yards away. I smile at her, and she pivots away, quickly following
Adolpha. But she was looking, watching me. Does she already feel the attachment the way I do?
"Do you have all the needed weapons for our siege?" I say in a low voice to Hati.
Standing much shorter than my six-foot-six height, Hati draws himself tall and leans in. "Sure do, boss. Lobo and I forged wooden bullets. Enough to put the motherfuckers into the afterlife ten times over."
"Good," I say, frowning and squeezing the back of my neck to ease some of the tension from my muscles. "Then we're set for the night of the full moon."
"A month from now, we'll be rid of the bastards." He pauses and nods over to where Luna and some of the women are talking. "She's the one, huh?"
"According to Starlina," I confirm.
"You went to see that old witch?" Hati says with a shudder. "She scares the shit out of me."
"She's formidable," I admit. "But I needed information, and she's the one who could give it. That little sprout over there is apparently not just my mate, but my True Mate." Smiling, I turn my head to gaze at Luna only to find her in a half-crouch, pivoting in a circle of females. Same as on the porch, she looks like she's about to wolf out and launch into an attack.
"Stay back," she hisses, holding out a hand in front of her as if to ward them off.
"Jesus Christ," I mutter, rushing to retrieve her.
"Ladies," I say, nodding as I take Luna's arm and drag her away from the others.
"Let me go," she shrieks, wrenching her arm free and drawing the attention of some of the other wolves in the pack.
"What the fuck?" I growl.
"Th-they were getting too close," she says, looking a bit chastised. "I was scared."
Her big blue eyes blink up at me, her expression so lost that I want to comfort her.
"Guess I shouldn't have left you to fend for yourself," I say, my irritation melting. "Just stick with me through the rest of the evening."
She nods mutely, allowing me to put a protective arm around her as I lead her back to the others. Second thoughts creep in. Could Starlina have been fucking with me? She could be wrong, or it could be a different woman named Luna. The pull I feel for this pup could be just pity and my own dumb hope that somewhere I'd find a True Mate. More likely, I don't have one at all, like most wolves, and I should take a mate in whoever is most able to help me lead the pack.
It was a mistake to bring Luna before the pack so soon. I should have mated her first to make sure. My Second appears, sauntering from the woods, and my thoughts turn to her. Is she the one fucking with me? Is this her sick way of making a point, that just because someone is labeled a True Mate, that doesn't make them a good match or able to lead. Ama has what it takes. If shewolves were Alphas, she'd be one. She'd certainly be an excellent choice to stand beside me against encroaching supernaturals— she's cunning and strong and fierce.
Everything the waifish girl beside me most certainly is not.
I glare at Ama but gesture for her to join us. She better hope she's not playing a prank on me because there's not one thing funny about this shit.
"Yeah, boss?" she says, once she's standing in front of me. Her face is neutral, void of expression.
"I want you by my side through this event," I order.
Her eyes flit to Luna, and a flicker of scorn crosses her pretty face. "More babysitting, sir?"
A growl rumbles in my throat, but I don't push my dominance at her. I want her compliance out of respect, not because I force it. "Do as your Alpha asks."
"Understood," she grits out. She follows me to the picnic tables, and she, Luna, and I sit. Adolpha hurries to place the first plate before me while her mate serves Luna and Ama. Then they go to fetch their own plates.
Luna looks excited for the first time today, a feral smile on her face as she eyes the deer and roasted vegetables. She lowers her head, grabs the meat between her teeth, starts gnawing like a dog with a bone. She hunches over her food, snarling and growling I reach over, ready to teach her some fucking manners. What the fuck? She grew up with a lone wolf, but this… This is beyond that. She's like an animal even in human form.
Everyone stares with pitying looks on their faces or avoids eye contact when I glare at them. Beside me, Luna continues eating like a savage, meat juices dripping off her chin. Is she doing this to piss me off? Or does she just have so little shame she doesn't mind completely humiliating herself in front of my entire pack? Fury builds inside me as I watch her scoop up a handful of vegetables with her bare hand and shovel them into her mouth.
This feral child can't possibly be my mate. I wanted someone who knows what she's doing, someone clever and powerful, an equal to me. I need someone to help me run the pack and hold back the encroaching vamps, not an infant without basic table manners.
Only Ama meets my eyes, a challenge in her gaze as if she's silently saying I told you so. "You could always dissolve the bond and take someone of your choosing," she reminds me.
My stomach hardens into a stone. "I didn't know this is what Luna would be like," I admit. "But I'm not doing that."
"Suit yourself," Ama says with a shrug, spearing a carrot on her fork and popping it into her mouth with an arched brow, her eyes cutting to Luna, who's picking her teeth with a fingernail.
I'm so pissed I don't even know who to direct my anger at—Ama for being a smug bitch, Luna for being a complete imbecile, or fate herself for cursing me with this mate, if that's what she is. I find myself hoping this is a joke, that someone is fucking with me. Right now, it seems preferable to having a True Mate who doesn't understand basic human decency.
We finish the meal in tense silence. Plenty of wolves are rough around the edges, and our manners probably leave something to be desired if we were dining in high society, but Luna is something else. She snatches more meat several times and eats like a wild dog, getting food on her face and hands and wiping it on her clothes. When it's time to go, I'm beyond fucking ready, but Luna has other ideas and tries to take off into the woods. The whole shitty ordeal ends with me throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her kicking and screaming back to my truck.
And if I thought things couldn't get worse, I'm
going to have to mate with this creature to secure our bond and get proof that we're True Mates.