Wolfblood: The Price of Loss

"Today, I promise...definitely today," she mumbled at the beast and felt it settle down after a growl. The relationship she had with her wolf was unconventional and had made Richard frown many times before he gave up and let her continue with it since it seemed to work for her. Richard had insisted that there wasn't a wolf living within her, but rather, she was the wolf and the wolf was her, there was no difference, but Valery had found it impossible to reconcile with that fact. She was not an animal and did not like to run through forests nor was she instinctual, fascinated by aggression or prone to obey someone because he was superior to her. No, that was the wolf and definitely not her!

She'd first thought of the wolf as a foreign entity that had been introduced into her system, a cancer that she could not get rid of and had been depressed for weeks, thinking that her old personality would die and the new aggressive one would take its place. Richard and his wife...er mate had helped her work through her fear and she'd come to an understanding with her wolf: she'd respect the beast as long as it did not force her to do anything untoward. She now saw the wolf as a friend and a guide when it came to danger and caution and was comfortable with the arrangement. Richard had said that she was letting her humanity suppress her wolf but what could she do, deep down she never truly saw herself as a Were and still thought of herself as human.

The only aspect of Were life that she wanted to participate in was the romantic one. Werewolves were deeply sexual creatures and it was common for Weres to immediately start a sexual relationship after they'd reached sexual maturity at the age of 25. A couple could only get pregnant, however, if they were mated but that did not stop them from having relationships with other Weres before they found their mates. The idea of wolf-mates was a romantic one but Valery found it rather ridiculous. The wolves would know instantly who their mates were and from just one scent be able to claim them. The mating usually took place almost instantly, with the couple overcome with intense desire for each other.

Valery smiled as she took the relevant turning off the main road. It was nice to think that one didn't have to go looking and wondering whether the person they were with was their soul mate. For the wolves, just one look and one scent was enough for them to be sure. It was a little harder with humans because they didn't respond to the mating pull as instinctually as the Weres did but she was yet to hear of a human-Were couple who'd failed to mate. This however did not apply to her; there were no records showing any turned wolf who'd ever found a mate and the thought that she'd spend hundreds of years alive but forever alone pierced her more deeply than she'd ever admitted.

The theory was that turned wolves were against the laws of Luna, the goddess the Wolves believed in, and she could not possibly create mates for the abominations that were Turned Wolves. Wolf-mates were destined and it would mean that Luna would have planned beforehand that the humans would be turned against their wills even as she created for them Wolf-mates and that was inconceivable.

"Inconceivable indeed," Valery muttered miserably. The Wyle pack had kept her as their dirty little secret and had hidden her from other wolves. Most of the pack members were civil enough to her but try as she might, she could not start up any sort of relations with them...that included the male Weres. She felt her body flush in embarrassment as attempt after attempt of her trying to get recognized by any Were males was thwarted and the look of bewilderment and veiled disgust on their faces every time she tried to ask one out came back to mind. She'd eventually given up and just kept mostly to herself and her mini pack which consisted of only Richard and Jonathan's families. The thought of her trying to pick up a human male was ridiculous as the nights were dangerous for her and she could no more take them back to her cabin in the forest than she could admit that she was a Were.

Finally entering the parking lot of the complex Nicholas worked in, she glanced at the clock and found she was only five minutes late. She put the car into the nearest spot and dashed out, grabbing her phone and purse; with any luck, she'd be in the office in another 5 minutes.

She'd decided to wear a navy blue pants suit with a cream top inside and had held her dreads up in a bun. It was a little too formal but she needed to make a good impression in this place. This was one of the few companies in the city that did not have any direct connection to the Weres, that meant no one would cut her any slack should she dress down. The pants were advantageous because while she'd been a wolf for some 30 plus years, she'd kept mostly to the pack and pack-owned businesses, so she was still yet to get used to the chaotic mixture of scents for humans, Weres, Vampires and then some; they always gave her gooseflesh that was embarrassingly conspicuous on her dark skin.

Valery headed straight to the reception, informing the girl behind the desk whom it was she'd come to see. A quick phone call and a few seconds later, she was in an elevator, waiting for it to stop on the 23^rd floor. It was a relief entering the enclosed space because it somehow managed to reduce the assault of hundreds of various scents on her nares. She could feel the gooseflesh prominently on her skin and was glad she'd chosen her outfit well. Silently hoping the elevator would not make any stops, she got her phone out and started to send Nicky a text that she was on her way.

She heard a disappointing ding and a robotic voice announcing that they were on the 8^th floor; it'd probably take a few seconds for the other people to enter but she was in a hurry and really didn't have that time.

Her attention was on the phone however, but she vaguely noted the elevator doors opening and 3 men in suits got on right before her wolf raised its head and started getting a little antsy, even letting out little howls of excitement. Frowning, she tried to concentrate on her text; she didn't have time to pay attention to what was probably another Alpha scent that her wolf was probably responding to; she'd explain that to her inner companion later. Valery took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, but that's when she smelled the most tantalizing scent she'd ever come across. The men were standing in front of her and could not see her eyes widen in surprise. Her mind could not get around to describing the overwhelming scent that seemed to make every other scent fade and filled her so completely, she felt her body start to flush and a dizzying euphoria building up.

Her body was responding to the scent quite physically as she felt the flushed heat go through her and the gooseflesh disappear. She could detect the crisp aspect of the scent that identified its owner as a vampire but somehow that increased her bodily reaction even more, the liquid heat flowing through her body and making her nipples harden even as she felt her feminine core start to get wet. Thoughts that she should be uncomfortable and embarrassed at her overtly sexual reaction in public rose at the back of her mind but her wolf started growling and she could feel the animal practically sit up on attention. One word flowed through her mind: 'mine!'

Time seemed to have slowed down as Valery felt like she'd been riding on the scent forever. She tried to find out whom it belonged to and he eyes landed upon the back of the man directly in front of her. As if on cue, he turned his head and green eyes landed on hers, fixing her in place. She felt like she could hardly breathe and watched in fascination as his nostrils flared slightly and his eyes took on an amused look. 'Mine!' her wolf growled again and she felt herself faintly agreeing with it. He kept his hair short and it looked rather disorganized, an oddity in a vampire. Her eyes slid across his unnaturally handsome face, a fact that stemmed from his vampiric nature and took in his masculine jaw and thin lips that had an upward turning to them at the end. She briefly wondered how he'd look like when he smiled.

The vampire was huge and towered over her short frame with wide shoulders that were complimented by his well-fitting suit and even though she couldn't see the hands he'd put in his pockets, her eyes quickly glanced over his butt and she appreciated how perfect it looked. She felt the heat between her legs burn even more and her wetness increased; God, she was so turned on. Any thoughts of propriety had long since been discarded as she wondered how his lips would feel gliding over hers and his hands on her breasts-

"Miss, are you alright?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

She was brought out of her daydream at the sound and glanced up again to look at the sexy male before her. His amusement seemed to have increased but he didn't look like he'd said a thing.

"Miss, isn't this your floor?"

She glanced to he left and found both of the other men looking at her, slightly bemused. She struggled to get her addled brain under control and scented them to find they were human. That's when the fact that the elevator doors were open and the post outside read 23 hit her and she remembered what she'd come to do exactly.

"Right, yes...yes, sorry," she mumbled, trying to get ahold of herself and walked through the space they'd provided for her, trying to hide her embarrassment. She got off the elevator and struggled to not look back and get one last glance of the man who'd awakened in her something she'd given up on long ago. Succeeding at that, she walked off, extremely mortified as her brain came back to full functionality.

'What was that?' she asked herself silently and for the first time ever, her wolf answered her.

'Our mate,' the animal responded, finally lying down.

"What?!" Valery practically shouted in return, only moving away and looking down when people glanced at her strangely. 'But that's impossible...it-it can't be...what, no way.'

'Our mate,' was all the wolf said in turn before settling down and letting out a little howl of sadness as the glorious scent faded away into nothing.