Feral | ✓

FERAL: chapter one

**edited**

The first time Dad took me on a run was a memory that'd forever be ingrained in my mind.

I was fifteen at the time-two years over the age the average werewolf shifts for the first time. Not long before, Mom had died and to say everything was falling apart would be the understatement of the century. Dad didn't know what to do with me; it had always been Mom who truly raised me. Sure, Dad was in my life but Mom was the one who I ran to when I was hurt, the one I cried to after something happened, the one I came running to-about to burst at the seams-when I was excited. That was all Mom and without her, I felt lost.

I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Dad had no clue how to pick up where Mom had left off. Before her death, he was there but never truly involved. I was his child after all, but it was Mom who held us together-she was the glue to our family of three. Without her, I had nobody to talk to and Dad didn't know the first clue to raising a child.

So, he raised me the one way he knew how to; as a beta, not a father.

It was an early summer morning and all we had done since waking up was argue over pointless things. I was rebelling without Mom and Dad was trying to do everything he could to keep himself from breaking down and falling apart. Looking back at it, I wish I'd recognized the pain he had to be feeling too. He'd just lost his mate; that one special person the Moon Goddess had created for him and that had to be exceptionally hard to come back from.

After what felt like the twentieth yelling match of the day, Dad told me to grab an old pair of clothes and follow him. Confused, I did so and we began the walk toward the woods. When we arrived, he had me shift before following suit. Through our pack link, he explained the ins and outs of pack patrols and signs to look out for. That day it felt like we'd talked more than we ever had, even when Mom was alive. It felt like the first step toward building a true bond.

Even years later, those same techniques Dad had taught me still remained in my mind. It was one of the ways that I felt close to him.

Today was a quiet day. There were no rogue scents, unusual signs, or noises in the distance. The only sound came from the birds chirping in the trees. I always loved days like this and the peace that filled me. Part of me wanted to stay but I knew that wasn't an option.

"East side clear," I linked the other wolves on patrol duty before taking off toward the northern border.

Seven years had passed since I took over as Beta of the Dark Woods and I still had yet to find my mate. Perhaps that was part of the reason why I took on so many extra patrol shifts. With these shifts, I was one of the first people to see anyone who entered or exited the pack territory. There was a small part of me that clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, one of these days my mate would come in.

The idea was stupid, according to Foster, who told me every time I took an extra shift when a warrior called out but I couldn't help it. Foster and Gray had already met their mates-hell, Gray already had a child and Foster had one on the way. When I saw them with their mates and growing families and then stared back at myself, an emptiness filled me when I remembered that I still had...nothing.