Listen to the Call

Listen to the Call

I respected my father, he had been the Alpha to our pack for over a hundred years. But the tension between us had been building for a couple decades. I was his only daughter, we lost William to idiotic poachers who killed him while he was leading one of our hunts. No one in the community cared if the Alpha was a woman or not, but they cared if the Alpha was mated. Which I wasn't. He had been pushing me to use various shamans, spells, and other magical entities to try and locate my mate. But none of them have worked so far. I sighed as I waited outside his office. He had summoned me formally for a meeting, it couldn't be good news. He wasn't the only one that was distressed at my lack of mates.

Only thirty five in human years, I was starting to think there wasn't going to be a mate for me, which meant turmoil for our entire pack. And our pack was huge, we commanded most of the eastern side of the United States in various other sects that answered to us or looked to us for solutions to their problems. The impact of my lack of mate on the fate of the pack kept me up at night. I knew it was important, but if I couldn't find my mate, maybe there wasn't one for me. I anticipated he was going to propose that Cillian, his right hand Beta, would take the pack over. Cillian found his mate, Siobhan, several years ago and they had already produced several pups from the mating. Yeah the irony of their irish names was a running joke in the pack.

I didn't want to concede my position as a future alpha, but I knew if it came down to the pack's future, I would submit to anything. I couldn't put my pride in front of the health and safety of half the continent's subjects. That was part of what being an alpha meant. I was just as remiss at the lack of finding my mate as the whole pack was. My father was getting older by the day. While we lived a lot longer than normal humans, we weren't immortal.

Our oracle stode out of the office doors with a sad smile and bowed to me, "You may enter," said my father's head of security, Jamie. I nodded at him and took a deep breath. My father was sitting in his archaic style throne, it was meant more for tradition than anything else. We were pretty big about keeping traditions if we could. I entered the room as the door closed behind me and I knelt before my father.

"Dana, I know we have discussed this topic before," I stood now and waited for the decision that would change the fate of the pack. "I've decided," a small tear fell from his face and my heart throbbed. I had only ever seen my father cry when his parents died. "To exile you until you find your mate." My mouth gaped open and I waited for clarification. "It has been brought to my attention that you cannot find your mate in our grounds and therefore you must seek elsewhere." He was crying silently now as my lips trembled. "But-" he cut me off.

"The decision has been made, you will be provided with some means to transport yourself, you will go alone outside the pack lines, and I encourage you to execute discretion in your travels. A future Alpha arriving unannounced will provoke tensions." I had never left the pack area in my entire life, while that was still a large area, it was uncharted territory outside those lines.

"I have the authority to provide you with a few months to find your mate. That is all I can provide, if you cannot find your mate," he couldn't look at me now, "then I will have to concede our familial line to Cillian." I fell to my knees, I knew this was coming, but it didn't make the blow any lesser as it hit my soul. He stood and walked to the window behind his throne, "As royalty of the pack, they have to see us be us, even when we aren't. Therefore I know you will come out of this situation better equipped to lead the pack. I know you will come back with a mate. You have to." He didn't turn to face me as my face was littered with tears.

"I have taught you everything I know, Dana, I do this out of love, please forgive me." He still didn't look back to me as I knew it was my cue to leave. "Yes, Alpha, it shall be done," I stood and had to fight the urge to run towards the exit. "I love you Dana, please, remember that." I hesitated before I clasped the door handle, but I didn't want to hear anymore.

Outside the door, Jamie was waiting with a bag in hand. "My lord, I have things inside this bag you may need, including keys to the SUV for you to leave in." I nodded at him without meeting his eyes and took the bag. As I strode away I heard him speak again, "I know you will find your mate, you have to." I was glad there wasn't an audience for me as I approached the SUV parked outside my father's house. I got in, shut the door, and peeled out of the complex through blurry, teary, eyes.

It took almost a whole day of driving before I crossed the line of our pack's territory. I had no idea where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do. In the bag Jamie had given me, there was several thousands of dollars. It was nothing compared to the amount the pack had developed over the years in various realtor schemes and stock market acquisitions. I didn't even have a phone. I supposed my father was right as I battled the situation I was presented with the whole drive to this point.

I knew I needed to just follow my wolf to my mate, or the luna hadn't blessed

me with a mate to begin with. I sighed and followed on the highway until I was at risk of crashing from lack of sleep. I pulled off at the next exit which seemed to not even have vacancies anywhere until about five miles away from the main road. I got a room with cash, and settled in. I took a shower, cried in the water, then stepped outside onto the balcony of the motel. There wasn't much activity and I was kind of grateful for it. If my father was trying to push the fates to produce a mate for me, he was heavily outplayed.

I slept between fits of crying in the motel room. The sounds of nefarious activity permeated my peaceful sleep. I wasn't sure what I should be doing or trying to listen to, so I continued on in the morning.

As my money was starting to run thin, almost two weeks now, I knew I had to get a job. I didn't want to but there was that, or pronounce myself to the pack's territory I had slipped into without announcement. So I traveled for a few more miles and found a sleazy wanna be diner modeled after the fifties. It was generic enough and I had worked in the compound kitchen and served before at some of our pack restaurants before so it wasn't intimidating. The owner was enthusiastic enough about my work history that I knew I was hired from three seconds into the interview.

I had enough to stay at the motel down the street and I could walk between the diner and my sleeping area. It was perfect. As perfect as something could be for someone who had just been exiled from their entire known existence.

My first day was pretty normal of the expectations I had of a sleazy diner with mostly passing through clientele. There wasn't even a standard uniform outside of the used totally stolen Home Depot aprons. There wasn't much training but I didn't need much to make good tips. I knew how to charm strangers, being trained to handle diplomatic relations from my childhood came in handy. I worked the lunch shift as my first shift and everything went off without a hitch. I cried myself to sleep in my single room motel room that night. Where was the luna goddess trying to point me for my mate. Did I even have a mate? Was this how I was going to spend the rest of my days, alone from my pack and family?

I awoke to some commotion outside. I peeked through the blinds and saw a couple arguing but I couldn't quite make out the words. The woman was throwing various personal items over the railing to the parking lot below while the man was trying to console and pick up his items simultaneously. I couldn't see either party clearly and didn't care much as I had to awake for my shift soon anyway. I gathered my apron and walked to work. When I got there, there were a few staff members surrounding a worker I hadn't met yet. She was ushered out the back by some of the staff before I could see her clearly.

"We're gonna be short, today, think you can handle it?" My makeshift boss Charlie asked. She had a southern style twang that showed her personality and curly red hair to match her outgoing spirit.

"Was the other woman supposed to work?" I wondered.

"Yeah, that's Lara, she has some personal issues to work out right now, she's my best server, no offense, so I told her to go spend some time working it out. We try to be a family around here," her words echoed in my head, was this supposed to be my family now?

The shift continued on as I was getting quicker at the menu and where everything in the store was. We were busy enough that Charlie asked me to the dinner shift too, I was happy to oblige. It wasn't like I had anywhere to be.

Exhausted from the double shift, I fell asleep almost as instantly as I hit the bed. Shifting into my wolf would rejuvenate me, but I had to do more surveillance before I could decide which areas were safe without alerting another pack to the presence of a rogue wolf. I awoke a few hours later to the same screaming from earlier. Angry at the interruption I stormed out of my room to the balcony to make them shut their faces.

I was prepared to break up the commotion from the middle of the night. I was angry at more than just their screaming by now and I was starting to lose my control. I threw open my door and saw some man, it could have been the one from earlier but I couldn't tell, leaning the woman over the balcony, screaming in her face, and clutching her throat much too aggressively. She wasn't really fighting or screaming back now and I thought he was actually choking her. One look at her face, and my wolf almost broke out in a rage I had never felt the likes of.

I grabbed his hand off her throat and thrust it behind his back threatening to break it, "You need to leave now," I was almost growling as my wolf was scratching at the surface. I felt my canines descend but I couldn't hold them back, my wolf needed to show dominance now. He knelt down under my thrusting and screamed for me to let go. I shoved him to the ground and stood in front of the woman who was coughing now. He stood about to engage me and bared my teeth and growled.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" he screamed.

"You need to leave now," I whispered through my slipping control. He tried to lean around me and look at the woman but I sidestepped and shook my head at him. I knew my eyes were showing my wolf side now too and once he recognized my supernatural features he backed up a little bit. He strode down the stairs and got on a motorcycle, not before shouting back to the woman, "We aren't done Lara!" He started the bike and took off. I took in a few deep breaths and faced the woman.

"Lara right?" I asked, still sneering a little with leftover energy.

She stopped coughing but still clutched her throat as her mouth opened and closed a few times without an answer. She leaned a bit away from me and I knew I had scared her. I retrieved my features and breathed heavily. I could smell her now, and my wolf begged to be let out. It was trying to tell me something, but after going so long without shifting the connection was primal and distorted. But I knew I needed to calm down and help her. I stepped towards her slowly, keeping a few feet between us.

"I'm sorry, are you ok?" I asked gently. She shook her head and coughed again, I couldn't tell if her voice was gone or she was in shock.

"You, you, shouldn't have done that, he is going to come back," she coughed again. Her voice was rough and I had to stop myself from chasing his scent wherever he went to make sure he never stank anything ever again with his presence. What the hell was getting into me?

"He won't touch you again," I took a step closer and she pushed back into the railing. I didn't like that she was scared of me. But I was serious about my statement. The tears that had fallen on her face messed up her makeup a little, her golden brown eyes were still shimmering with fire and unshed tears. She was almost as tall as me, her strawberry blonde hair had been tousled a little from the bun it started in but the curls were still unmistakable.

I eased back in my stance but didn't change the distance I was standing from her. "Why don't we go inside and get you sorted out a bit?" I reached a hand out towards her slowly. She swallowed but shakily took my hand. I pulled her towards her room as our touch sent shivers down my spine, shivers in the heat of lava. I shut the door and leaned on it, trying to give her some physical space from my intimidating nature.

I took in the room, there were several clothes strewn about, some of the furniture had been pushed around and the television was broken, the lamp thrown on the floor but not shattered. She seemed to come undone once the door shut and she sat on the bed slowly. Tears were falling now unrestrained.

"Do you, want to talk about it?" I asked. I needed something to do with my hands so I didn't lose control again. I started to sort out the furniture and put all the clothes in a pile on the bed. She still hadn't moved and was staring off into space. I slowly crouched in front of her trying not to startle her. I wanted to touch her, but I knew she needed to get this out on her own terms. She shook her head and laughed eerily trying to release some emotions. I slowly placed a hand on her knee as she stared at my fingers. She traced a section between them with one of her own fingers. I felt her calm down almost instantly. My wolf was near and wanted to crush her to me and tell her she would always be safe with me.

"Aaron, we used to," she shook her head again but didn't stop playing near my fingers. I was grateful I could give her some kind of solace in the moment. "We were dating, and he seemed nice, he kept pushing me to have sex with him," I couldn't hold back the growl at the thought and she studied my face as if she had imagined the sound. Her lip started to smile on one side then it faded just as quickly.

"I didn't want to, we met through work, he was a regular and he thought he could buy my love. He wanted to take me away from all this," she gestured around the room with the hand that wasn't still playing near mine. I squeezed her leg, urging her to continue on. "We were arguing about it and he lost it, he thought that he could own me or something and I didn't want to leave. He was threatening my job," I growled again and this time I knew she knew it was from me. She looked at me quizzically but didn't seem alarmed or ask about it. She pulled back from me now, "He is going to come back," she started crying again, "You shouldn't have intervened, now he's going to want revenge." She was getting hysterical now and so was my wolf. I rushed her in a hug and held her tightly to me whispering in her ear, "No one is going to touch you."

I thought she nodded back as she held me just as tightly back. I sat myself beside her on the bed but didn't take my arms off her just yet. I inhaled her scent and my wolf howled to Luna, this time it was unmistakable. Could this woman really be my mate? My wolf seemed to think so as I smiled. I pushed back from her and clutched her cheeks, stroking her ears with my fingers. She smiled hesitantly then and sniffled. I wiped at the makeup that had been ruined from her tears with my thumbs. She sighed and closed her eyes leaning into my touch a little. I could feel and hear her breathing slow and then pick up pace a little.

She pulled my hands off her face at the wrists and sat back a little bit, the moment gone. "I'm sorry, I'm just really emotional right now," she stood, putting space between us. My heart almost split in two, could she not feel the age old connection between us?

"I'll handle Aaron, thanks for trying to help," she wasn't looking at me now. Why was she fighting the connection? I knew it was there, my wolf was screaming that it was there. I needed to touch her again.

"I'm Dana, by the way," I stretched my hand out to her and she stared at it before taking it. "Lara," her smile darkened, and I didn't like it. I knew now, nothing was going to keep me from her, or I would go insane from the break. There was nothing more dangerous than a wolf that wasn't able to stay with their mate. As a future alpha, I was a force to be reckoned with on a good day. I reluctantly let go of her hand.

"Why don't you take my room tonight, I'll stay here and that way you can sleep without worrying about him coming back for you?" I needed to make sure she was safe. If she wasn't going to accept me as her mate, I had to at least keep her alive and safe.

"And you stay here?" her last work squeaked out.

"Why not? All the rooms are the same here anyway," I didn't know why she was hesitating at the offer of relative safety.

"No, you have done enough already, this isn't your problem," she stepped back from me and I fought the urge to rush her back into my arms. I wasn't able to let her go.

"Then let me stay here with you, I'll sleep on the floor," she wanted to argue but I cut her off, "I won't be able to sleep knowing you are unprotected. Or we can both stay in my room, I'll still sleep on the floor," she seemed to think about it. I lowered a little to meet her eyes, "Please." She bit her bottom lip then nodded. I gave her a few minutes to recollect her items then I took her hand and pulled us out of that terrible memory.

When the door to my room closed, she collapsed on the bed. I smiled now that she was safe and starting to relax. "I'll stay right here," I motioned to the floor in front of the door. She sleepily nodded and I knew she was exhausted from the events. I checked the window and shut off all the lights, she was already asleep. I worked the blankets out from under her and covered her with them. I stroked some hair from her face and kissed her on the forehead, "Goodnight, mate."

It was easier to sleep on the floor than I thought. All the events leading up to me finding my mate finally settling down. I had her, she was mine, and she was safe. It couldn't have been but a couple hours when the banging started. I flipped up into a standing position and laid eyes on Lara, she was still in the bed, seemingly asleep.

"LARA!" I heard the idiot named Aaron banging on her room door. I wanted to chuckle at his stupidity. She wasn't going to take his presence any longer. He banged a few more times and Lara awoke with a fright, gasping and trying to orient herself. I rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug as she sat up.

"Shh, he's banging on your door, you're safe," I could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she was covered in sweat and trying to stay calm.

"LARA! I'm coming for you one way or another, you better open this damn door," she recoiled at his banging again but I just pulled her tighter. She finally clutched me back just as fiercely. Then the banging started on our door. "I know you're in there bitch, this time I've got backup, open the door and no one will get hurt!" She started to stand but I pushed her down, restraining her with my weight.

"No, I don't care what he says, you can't open the door," she was becoming hysterical.

"Please, I'll just go with him, I couldn't," my wolf was taking in her full body pressed against mine and making it hard to concentrate, "I, I couldn't stand to see you get hurt." Her confession reinforced that I knew she was my mate.

"Baby, listen to me, he can't hurt me ok? I know that seems strange but I need you to trust me ok?" I tried to sound as soothing as I could. She bit her bottom lip as I stared at the flesh between her teeth trying not to devour her in that moment. He banged harder now and she tried to get up again.