Wolves of the West

HAVEN

As soon as the recognition settled in, I unfroze and squirmed out of his hold. I heard him howl behind me, but I didn’t look back; I just ran.

Mate! Go back to our mate! my wolf screamed at me.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around for Logan, but thankfully he seemed to have disappeared.

“What are you talking about? What is a mate?” I asked my wolf, still on the lookout.

“Go back to him! Mate!”

I huffed and looked around, adjusting my stance. I needed to know what being a mate entailed.

From what little I knew, the word meant something I was sure I didn’t want with Logan.

All of a sudden, I was knocked off my feet and pinned to the ground once more. I whined and tried to manoeuvre my way out, but was unsuccessful.

Logan growled again, but this time it was almost playfully.

Did he think this was some kind of game? I hadn’t run from him to be chased, I’d run because I was freaking out.

Logan jumped off of me and raised his tail high in the air, then perked up his ears—he wanted to play. He whined a little and jumped about, trying to get me to join in.

I just stared, not fully believing what I was seeing.

He jumped forward and licked my face before running around me, barking and whining. I snapped back, annoyed with his antics but he just let out a throaty laugh.

He seemed to be happy, having fun. This simple fact made me happy as well.

Before I knew it, I found myself playing with him; we ran and chased one another, howling happily together.

I started to have fun. I could feel my wolf rejoicing because we were close to our ‘mate’.

That thought brought me up short, and I stopped wrestling to look at him, feeling the need to know.

Logan stopped too, and cocked his head to one side, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth. At that moment, he looked more like a puppy than a predatory wolf.

He whined and licked my face, asking me what was wrong. When it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to communicate effectively, he shifted.

For a moment, I was distracted by the sight of his naked body.

It looked as though he had been sculpted by some greater power. His defined chest and stomach were beautifully carved, and his muscular arms were tanned and strong.

I didn’t let my eyes wander any further than his spectacular midriff.

Logan smirked. “Like what you see, Haven?”

I huffed and backed up a few steps, a little freaked out that he knew my biggest secrets. His arrogance killed whatever playful mood I had been in.

Now I was just annoyed and afraid.

His smirk faded. “I’ve known what you are from the moment I saw you.”

I barked, feeling a little stupid; of course he would know what I was. Why wasn’t I able to recognize other werewolves?

As if reading my mind, Logan said, “Judging from your poor wolf skills, I’m guessing you don’t shift very often. If you’re not familiar with your own wolf, how would you expect to be able to sense other wolves?”

I rolled my eyes and sat down on my haunches.

Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “This conversation seems extremely one sided. You should probably shift.”

I was about to shift back, but then I realized at the last moment what shifting would mean—he would see me utterly naked.

I growled threateningly and took a step toward him, but he wasn't fazed. “Haven, your wolf is so poorly trained that I’d be able to take you down in this form.”

I growled again, but he just laughed it off.

I heard the distinct sound of a car pulling into the driveway and stood up, getting ready to bolt. Somehow, Logan must have heard it too.

“Wait a second before you go, Haven. You understand that we are going to have to talk about this. I would have preferred we talked now, when we were less clothed.”

I growled and his smirk widened. “But since you prefer to shield yourself from my eyes, we’ll have to talk at school. This is important.”

That last part made the hairs rise on the back of my neck; something about the way he said it made me shiver.

I stared at him for a few more seconds before sprinting away from him and back toward my aunt’s house.

When I got there, I shifted and tugged on my clothes before sneaking in through the back door and up to my room.

“Haven! I’m home! How was school?” Aunt Sarah asked.

I took a deep breath before answering, “It was fine!” I fixed my hair and walked down the stairs casually while smiling. “I was just coming down to start dinner.”

She smiled and gave me a hug before walking to the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water.

“What are you cooking up tonight?”

I scratched the back of my head. “How does chicken and roasted potatoes sound?”

She laughed. “Sounds like the best meal I’ve had in months!”

I laughed with her, then started to cook, trying to remember my mother’s recipes. An hour later, my aunt and I were chowing down.

But the whole time I was shoving food into my mouth, my mind was on Logan.

Seeing him in wolf form, and then naked, the images were burned into my mind.

What was a mate? And was Logan mine?

What did that mean for me? Were Logan and I the only werewolves here?

Or were there more?

I sighed and ate some more chicken, feeling hopeless. I had so many questions, yet no answers. This was something I hoped to change tomorrow.

The next morning, I was silent on the way to school. I quietly listened as Rachel and Cecily blabbered on and on. Jude didn’t seem too inclined to speak either.

We reached English and took our normal seats. When Logan walked in, I refused to look at him. I kept my face buried in my books and hoped that the class would end soon.

It did, and before I knew it, I was off to history, the one class I did not want to be in. I considered ditching, but then thought the better of it.

The only thing worse than facing Logan in history would be for him to track me down and have to face him alone.

I shuffled in and sat down at the back of the class. When Logan walked in, it felt like a leaden ball dropped into my stomach.

The whole time Mr. Gades spoke, I felt him staring at me, and it wasn’t until he finished and let the students work on their projects that I acknowledged Logan.

“Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” he asked, sitting beside me.

I pretended not to have heard him. “So, Sweden, any ideas?”

Logan’s jaw tensed. “I don’t care about this project. Haven, this is the only time I get alone with you, so I’d like to make use of it. Unless you’d like to frolic in the woods with me after school again?”

I looked up at him and glared, regretting our shared moment yesterday.

“What do you want to talk about?” I asked tensely, not meeting his eyes.

“Werewolves of course. When did you first shift?”

I bit my lip. “Seventeen.”

He smirked and let out a low whistle. “Someone’s a late bloomer.”

I blushed madly and looked down at my hands. I tried to control my emotions, reminding myself that he didn’t know how touchy this subject was for me.

“Shut up. It was a pretty bad experience for me.”

Logan’s brow creased. “What do you mean?”

I looked him in the eye. “I have human parents, Logan. They had no idea what was happening. Now they’re in a mental hospital, all because of me.”

Logan looked taken aback. “That’s why you’re here? Living with your aunt?”

I nodded and frowned as a sudden burst of homesickness overcame me.

“I’ve never heard of the gene skipping a whole generation. Think of lycanthropy as a hereditary virus. It infects everyone in a family, no one is left untouched.”

“But I swear my parents were normal, why else would they react so badly?”

Logan just shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ll have to look into it. So, are you part of a pack?” Logan suddenly sounded serious and when I met his gaze, I shivered from the intensity of it.

“W-what’s a pack?” A pack, from my internet search, was what wolves were a part of. I played dumb though, just in case I was wrong.

Logan looked as though he was going to have a heart attack. “You literally know nothing?”

“I told you! My parents were normal!” I snapped, feeling offended.

Logan shook his head. “Werewolves are social animals; they need to feel included, to be part of something bigger than themselves. A pack is like a family; you hunt together, live together, help out one another.”

My lips twitched into a reluctant smile. “So it’s like a family of werewolves?”

Logan nodded. “In every pack there are different rankings and jobs. I’m the alpha,” Logan puffed out his chest proudly.

“Isn’t that like the leader?” I asked, remembering that I’d heard the term before.

Logan grinned. “So she’s not totally brain dead!”

I glared at him and he laughed, nodding his head. “Yes, that’s like being the leader.”

“Was your dad the alpha before you?”

Logan laughed again. “Back to the dumb blonde.”

He earned himself another glare.

“No, he wasn’t. The alpha position is not passed down through blood; you are either born an alpha or you aren’t. Alphas take charge, become leaders right from the beginning; the next alpha will be totally random.”

He shook his head. “In fact, my father was the omega; talk about irony.”

“What’s an omega?”

Logan smiled. “An omega is the lowest rank in a pack. You are basically the punching bag for the other wolves, and have to eat last. No one wants to be an omega.”

“What else is there?” I asked excitedly. It was nice learning about my culture.

Logan grinned. “There’s the beta, that’s Deacon. Which is kind of like a second in command. If something were to happen to me before another alpha was born, he would take over.”

The thought of something happening to Logan made me growl out loud, bringing both him and I up short.

I blushed and tried to cover it up. “Are those all of the jobs in a pack?”

He shook his head, looking smug. “No, there’s the lookout, which is pretty much self-explanatory, the enforcer, who keeps the wolves in line.”

He started ticking on his fingers. “The peacemaker, who stops the fights that break out amongst pack members; they get roughed up quite a bit.”

He grinned. “That’s Jude’s job, and he’s quite good at it actually; that’s partially the reason why he is such a mellow guy.”

I froze and stared at Logan, not breathing. After a few moments, a look of worry flashed across Logan’s face.

He took hold of my shoulders and shook me lightly, trying to get me to speak.

“What’s wrong, Haven?”

I blinked. “Jude’s a werewolf?”

Logan nodded. “Yeah—Oh, you didn’t know?”

I shook my head. “Who else?”

Logan frowned. “Well, there’s a lot. Rachel, Dakota, Cecily, Bri—that’s all the people you would know, anyway.”

I gawked at him. They all seemed so normal. “Do they all know that...that I’m a werewolf too?” I whispered the last part, not comfortable enough to say it normally.

Logan nodded. “Everyone in the pack knows who you are. Jude and Rachel sniffed you out when you first moved here.”

A light bulb went off in my head. I knew Jude had been sniffing the air!

“That mansion, is that where you all live?”

Logan nodded again. “It’s where you’ll be living, too.”

“What do you mean I’ll be living there? I can’t leave my aunt,” I said.

Logan frowned. “But if you join the pack, you have to live with us. That’s the whole point of being in a pack.”

My jaw tensed. “Who said I wanted to join your pack anyway?”

Logan’s eyes darkened. “You will join my pack, understand? You have no other choice, Haven. It’s either join my pack, or get out of my territory. I will not have a rogue mate.”

I frowned. There was that word again. “My aunt is human; she wouldn’t understand why I would go live with a bunch of people I don’t know. Besides, I’m only a few doors down—”

“I want you living under my roof, with me,” Logan growled.

His eyes were no longer their cool gray color, but as dark as midnight.

“L-Logan, what’s a m-mate?” I stuttered.