Chapter 5

Alora's POV con'd

"Was that so hard to tell me?" I tease, giving him a friendly jab of my elbow into his side.

He shoves me on my shoulder making me stumble, and laugh when he says "Brat."

I looked at the half-smirk on his face at my antics, but I could still see some strain on his face. "What’s got you worried my friend?"

"I'm worried she'll reject me," he says quietly.

I look at him a moment before asking "Why would you think she'd reject you?"

"What if she thinks I'm not good enough for her, I mean, what if she doesn't like me." I can hear the genuine worry in his tone.

"Relax Darien, you're an amazing werewolf, you're strong, smart, and loving, and she'll accept you." I pause a moment, letting that sink in a bit before continuing. "You would make a loving mate able to provide for your she-wolf and pups, you'll make a great dad to any pups you have, and you're loyal."

"Thanks, I hope your mate is amazing. You deserve a good wolf to stand by your side and love you." He says.

"I hope he is too," I say, but for some reason, I feel a kind of foreboding in meeting my mate, a bad feeling I was not going to like who the Goddess chose for me, I feel like I'm going to be in for some excruciating pain. I push my dark thoughts to the back of my mind as I see Serenity's decked-out purple Jeep with a lift kit and flood lights pull into the parking lot. She parks fifteen spaces down from us, and she and her brothers are talking.

Galen has black hair and Kian has red hair that is a few shades lighter than his sisters. They were both huge, broad, and muscular wolves. Both were handsome in a rugged, rough way. You could visibly see the good in them. It was obvious they loved and adored their sister.

Serenity was talking to her brothers, when a large gust of wind sweeps past us, carrying our scent to her. She stops talking abruptly and sniffs the air, then she turns around and looks at us. No, not us, Darien, she had eyes only for Darien.

The look on her face is first of shock, then of wonder, before transitioning into excitement. I look at him and he's standing there frozen, gazing at Serenity like she was the most gorgeous person he has ever seen. He was no longer paying attention to me.

What was he waiting for? I could see he wanted nothing more than to run to her, then I remembered what he had just feared. I look again at Serenity. No, she's not going to reject him, she's going to embrace him and love him like he deserves, and if he doesn't go to her now he'll hurt her.

So I decide to intervene, so my best friend didn't fuck up his first time meeting his mate. I push him telling him "Run to her you fool, it's what she wants, go get your mate." In a laughing shout.

With just that one push, Darien is running towards her, and she to him. They meet in the middle as she jumps into his arms. They're smiling at each other while he spins her around once before setting her down. Then they say in unison "Mate".

I'm so happy for them I feel like I'm glowing, I can feel Xena inside me happy for the two werewolves as well. But then that glowing feeling fades as my reality comes back. Somehow I don't think my first meeting with my mate is going to be as beautiful as this.

I'm still smiling though, because if anyone deserved happiness, it was those two. Serenity was so sweet that light practically showed out of her, one reason my sister hated her, she glowed effortlessly. It was her soul, she was pure, just like him.

I have a feeling he'll be able to bring her out of her shell, with as outgoing and friendly as he was. I was hoping that maybe I might now be able to have a female friend who was protected fully from my sister.

Speaking of...as I'm standing there, her two brothers walk up to either side of me. They stare at me for a bit before I look at the first one, then the other.

"Something I can help you with boys?" I ask softly. I stepped away from them and turned my back to the couple so I could look at them. They look at each other, briefly, with looks of confusion on their faces. "Ask whatever it is that's on your mind," I tell them gently.

They seemed more confused by my calm. But I know what the rumors say, and I know the damage my sister has done to my reputation with those rumors, and it's not their fault. I've long stopped trying to dissuade people of the falsities she's spewed. They never did believe me. But this time...this time I think, might be different...so I'll give it a chance.

Galen’s POV

Kian and I had been teasing our sister on the way to school, in her Jeep, saying we would have to vet her mate before he could claim her. Of course, while we were teasing there was a small truth to it, there was no way we would let some sleazeball take advantage and hurt our sister.

Our sweet sister was trying to put her foot down, but we were aware unless we crossed her bottom line, she would never do anything to us. I shivered a little thinking of the last time her bottom line was crossed. Sarah crossed it, once...only once...and it had been enough.

That stupid she-wolf had bumped into me while walking with her nose in her phone. She turned and started to yell at me, all kinds of nasty remarks about me and my family started to spew from her mouth.

My sister very quietly with eyes full of rage walked up to her, and as that she-bitch turned to spew more of her vileness at my sister, she had calmly drawn back her arm, then decked Sarah in the face. I heard a snap, Sarah's cheek caved in, her eye popped out of its socket her brow was broken, and her nose was broken sideways.

We were not named Mountainmover for nothing. We were a peaceful and loving lot, our Clan. But we were some of the strongest wolves, usually we took on jobs as enforcers for the Alpha. We also did the mining and rebuilding of the Mountains.

We get to the school and there is only one car there, I recognize Darien's blue charger, he's leaning on the trunk of the car next to Sarah's sister. A she-wolf named Alora. Rumor had it, that they were a couple.

I didn't know if it was true or not, along with all the other rumors claiming she was a slut, that she was loose, and would bang the first thing that asked. But I was doubting the rumors.

First I'm sure they were started by Sarah and her she-bitch posse as I'd seen them all spewing one or another of those rumors to different people. Second I had caught the she-wolf turning down more than one male, and a few times she'd had to get violent. That didn't speak of an easy, loose slut to me.

Serenity parks, she and Kian still going at it. We get out of the Jeep and she says " You guys can't interfere with my finding my mate." I get back to the conversation, telling her

"We just want to make sure the wolf is good to you." and say.

Kian adds " Yeah we don't want you hurt."

Serenity turns to us and opens her mouth to say something just as a gust of wind blows towards us, carrying Darien's and Alora's sent. My sister freezes, blinks, tips her head up, and then as she's turning around, she sniffs the air, she freezes again as her eyes lock on to the wolf across the parking lot.

The look on her face changes swiftly all while she stares at Darien. I look at him too, he's standing there frozen too. The look on his face was a combination of fear longing and wonder. I looked at Arora, she was looking at my sister, and there was a smile on her face. I wonder why.

She looks then at Darien for a moment her expression shifting to contemplative, then a devilish smile, that for some reason I was finding adorable, lights up her face, and she's suddenly moving, shoving Darien towards my sister saying "Run to her you fool, it's what she wants, go get your mate." and he's suddenly running to my sister.

I look at my sister just in time to see the joy light up on her face, the she-wolf had been right, that’s exactly what my sister had wanted and then she's off running to him, jumping into his arms at the last moment, he spins her around once before setting her down I look at Alora as both Darien and Serenity say "Mate".

The wolf is smiling, practically glowing with happiness for them, but gradually, I see it dim, but there is still a smile on her face. In her eyes, I see happiness for the couple, but also sadness and wariness.

Like she knows something bad is about to happen to her, and she accepts it, while still being genuinely happy for the couple. The smile on her face, while slightly sad now, was still happy for the couple, despite her internal pain.

I now had questions, and I knew Kian would too. I look at him real quick, he looks at me. I motion over at Alora with a tip of my head, and he nods. So we walk over to her silently. We go around and come up behind her while she watches the couple. She didn’t exactly freeze, but I could tell she sensed us.

She looked up first at Kian, then at me, before looking forward and in a calm tone, which I found confusing, said "Anything I can do for you boy" I didn't answer at first. My brother, like me, looked confused at her calm and wary demeanor. I turn back to her. She steps forward then turns around to face us.

Her next question is in that same calm tone. "Ask what's on your mind."