Mateless And Rogue Bound (Self Published)

Chapter 16: Brushing

He didn't quite know why he was forced to stay to the cabin now. He must have messed up in some way. Alistair thought that he had done everything that they had wanted. But he also knew that this pack was very cautious. Even the twin warriors, Ray and Desmond, were still slightly warry of him.

They talked to him at least, those warriors. They seemed to enjoy the stories that he had told Nick and Ed. It was interesting to find out just how fast his stories traveled throughout the pack. He didn't mind everyone knowing. It brought him joy being able to tell them the stories of his travels. He just hadn't known that it would.

He told the twins more about his stay at the zoo. Even though it was just for a year, he had gotten plenty of stories. It was nice seeing all the children staring at him in wonder. He had also told them about when a child had fallen into the place where he was held.

Of course, his conversation with Nick the first day that he came had also made Madeline, Herb, and Jackie curious about him. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to tell people his stories, he just wasn't used to talking. He had spent most of his life living as a wolf. And hardly any of that time was spent talking with anyone.

It was extremely lonely.

He talked to Madeline and Herb about Nick. When he told them that he was the source of his pull, they seemed a little confused at first. Herb was the first one who seemed to understand what it meant.

"It's a mate bond!" he told him. "You've been following a mate bond this whole time!"

"A mate bond?" he hadn't known that he was going to be blessed with a mate. His old pack had always told him that he wasn't worthy of one. That his only use was his skills in battle. He thought that this pull was leading him towards a good future for himself, a place where he could finally be at rest.

"You know what a mate bond is, right?" Herb asked. None of them were sure what Alistair knew at this time.

"Yes," he answered. "I just didn't think that this pull was it."

"You two are obviously made for each other, then," Madeline laughed. "Because you both acted like you didn't feel a thing for each other."

"They were staring at each other quite a lot," Jackie pointed out. "I think Nick feels something."

"If that's the case," Herb shook his head. "Then you two are the strangest couple I've met. Usually when you first find your mate you can't keep your hands off each other."

"He doesn't seem like that type of person," Jackie argued with her mate.

"It doesn't matter what type of person they are," Herb said. "That's how mates always react to each other. It takes a lot of control not to."

It did take him a lot of control. He remembered when he first saw him, and how many times he had wanted to close the distance between them. He remembered the feeling that he had gotten when the man first touched his arm. It was a sensation that he had never felt before. It was something that he had never thought he'd be able to experience.

"Well, since we know it's a mate bond now," Madeline stopped the bickering that the couple was doing. "I can't believe it was so strong that you could feel it from as far away as you did."

"How far were you when you felt it?" Herb asked him.

"I don't know the exact location that I started feeling it," he answered. "At first, I had just ran in that direction, without knowing why. After a while, I felt it and realized that it was the reason why. I have been following it for a whole season."

"A whole season is roughly three months," Madeline said. "And, judging by how quickly you seem to travel, I'd say you were pretty far to have felt it."