Forest Pack: Tristan Ch. 01

Tristan Forest fisted his hand menacingly and snarled at the image before him. A beautiful young girl was being held tight against the body of one of the rogues while the other ran his hands down her neck and over her collarbone. The rogue's lethal claw grazed her delicate skin and the scent of her blood filled the night air, followed closely by the acrid scent of her fear. The girl struggled wildly and kicked out at the beast in front of her, landing a solid blow to his genitals. Her captor howled in fury and lashed out instantly, backhanding her face with such force that she was stunned by the blow and hung her head forward limply.

Tristan had been contemplating how best to subdue the rogue wolves without having any harm come to the human woman when the scent of her blood assailed his nostrils and all logical thought fled his mind. His wolf howled in rage and ecstasy as one thought dominated his mind. MINE!! The Alpha couldn't believe that he had finally found his mate. In the blink of an eye Tristan transformed into a huge coal black wolf, his shredded clothes being the only indication that a man had stood there at all. He raced forward as he watched the rogue hit his mate and snarled in fury.

The rogues looked up startled at the black blur racing towards them and dropped the girl quickly, taking off towards the woods. Tristan howled again as he was torn between chasing after them and checking on his mate. His protective instincts won out and he ran to her, transforming into his human form mid-stride.

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Rhea Blake swore under her breath as she shook her head to dispel the dizziness that had engulfed her for a moment after the man/animal thing had hit her. She watched in fascination as the huge black wolf morphed into a man just a few feet away from her and sucked in a breath at the gorgeous image that met her eyes. He was the most stunning thing she had ever laid her eyes on. Tall and firmly muscled with short dark hair and piercing emerald eyes, the mystery man looked at her in concern before crouching down beside her. Rhea blushed as she realized he was stark naked and focussed on his face to stop her eyes from drifting downwards to what she was sure would be an impressive sight.

"Are you alright Little One?" he asked worriedly, fighting his instinct to gather her up in his arms and carry her off to claim her primitively.

"Er, yes, I'm fine, thank you," she responded cautiously.

"You were hit pretty hard. Can you stand up?"

"Yeah I'm sure I can," she said while trying to get to her feet. Rhea swayed as the world spun and then gasped as she felt strong arms encircling her body, making her dizzy for a different reason entirely.

"It's alright, I've got you," the stranger said comfortingly. "I'm Tristan Forest. What's your name?" he enquired, while guiding her to her car. Tristan gazed into the beautiful hazel brown eyes of his mate and tenderly brushed aside a lock of her wavy chestnut coloured hair.

"Rhea. Rhea Blake," she answered.

"You have a beautiful name Rhea."

"T-thank you," she stuttered.

"Let me get you to a hospital Little One so that we can have you checked out, ok?"

"What? No, that won't be necessary," she said. "Look I'm really grateful that you scared them off but I'm fine and I don't think it would be smart to go anywhere with a naked werewolf right now," she said bluntly.

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Tristan stared at his mate in shock. She knew what he was? Why wasn't she freaking out? Rhea looked into his eyes and almost laughed at the comical confused expression that was apparent in his strong features.

"Don't look so surprised Mr. Forest. It would hardly take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The idiots who attacked me sprouted claws and fur out of nowhere and you transformed from a wolf to a man in front of my very eyes. That's pretty solid evidence of what you are."

Tristan continued to stare at her, dumbfounded by her easy acceptance of all she had seen. Then common sense took over and his usual confident self-assurance shone through.

"Ok, so you figured out what we are. That doesn't change the fact that you were hit pretty hard and you're still bleeding. I'm going to fetch some clothes and take you to the hospital. And please call me Tristan," he ordered.

"No. Thank you for your concern Tristan but no. I can take care of myself. I just need to replace this tyre and I'll be good to go," she said decisively.

Tristan frowned at his mate's stubbornness and realised that trying to convince her would get him nowhere. He had to be clever about this.

"At least let me sort that out for you then Rhea. I'll put on some clothes first if it will make you more comfortable," he teased with a cocky grin.

Rhea sighed and decided to just let him sort out the tyre. He obviously wasn't going to just let her leave and she did feel a bit woozy still.

"Alright Tristan. But where are you going to find clothes now? In your hidden den?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.

Tristan grinned in response. "No my sweet, it's just beyond the trees. Give me a second."

Rhea watched as he ran off towards the greenery and disappeared into the dense foliage. She had a feeling that Tristan Forest was going to be trouble, in the most delicious of ways. She had to be wary with him or she knew she would be falling hard for him before she could even catch her breath...