A Nurse Among Wolves

Chapter 2: Toren

I was going to kill Rowan. I had just found our mate and the ass had to get his truck stuck in a ditch while trying to one up his twin, Roman. Our mate. My mind got stuck on that for a moment. She had smelled like flowers and fresh rain. Toren tried to get himself under control before his imagination had him running back to the cafe to throw her over his shoulder. No, he had to do this the right way. He had to woo her and hopefully get his brothers to do the same. Toren, 

Roman, Rowan and Ashton a.k.a. Ash were not related by blood but they were brothers, pack, and for wolf shifters that was better then blood. But being a shifter pack also brought its problems such as mates. Toren blew out a breath trying to work out how in the world he was going to convince one beautiful, goddess of a woman to love 4 rough and tumble wolves who have had little to no social skills. "Dear goddess" he put his head against his steering wheel "how the hell am I going to do this" and he had to do this. She was perfect. She sang to his very soul, he could feel his pack marks burning for her touch and if she rejected them it would be as good as tearing out his heart.

Toren had just passed what he now knew was Miren's driveway when he saw Rowan's truck. He pulled over and jumped out of his truck with a growl. It was never a good idea to piss off an alpha, especially when it involved his mate. "What the hell did you think you were doing!" I grabbed Rowan by the cooler.

"Hey! It was just an accident" Rowan took a deep breath "wait, why do you smell like that"

"Smell like what?" Roman asked, coming around to get a sniff "What is that?" he asked quietly, his eyes closing as if he was savoring the scent. Their reactions to Miren's scent on me only confirmed what I already knew. She was OUR mate. I growled and gave Rowan a shove, letting him go "that is the smell of your mate that you made me leave because of some stupid stunt!" I was practically shouting by the end, my breath coming fast. I had to get control of myself before I really lost it.

"Are you for real?" Roman, the quieter of the twins, asked his green eyes just a tad darker than his brothers. Both of them shared the same dark brown curls and light golden skin. Each one had unique pack marks. Gold swirls on their arms and chests that seem to have no pattern until they stood next to each other and you could see how they fit each other like puzzle pieces. They were shorter than me but at only 23 they were still very young even by human standards and wolves lived much, much longer. "Yes I'm for real" I emphasized the last part, rolling my eyes at them. Sure I might only be 29 but those 6 years felt like a lifetime. "I was having coffee with her and just about to ask her on a date when your dumb asses called me" I started hooking my tow up the the front of their truck so we could get the damn thing out of the ditch.

"We're sorry Toren but how were we supposed to know that you have found her" Rowan was practically bouncing around me "I mean we have lived in this town for years and there has been no sign of our mate"

"What's her name?" Roman asked, helping me with the hitch.

"Her name's Miren and she's new in town, moved here only 3 months ago, onto the property next to ours" I told them.

"The one with the blue house RIGHT next to us!" Rowan was vibrating with excitement. If I couldn't get him under control he wouldn't put it past him to run to her house and sit whining on her front door until she either let him in or called the cops.

"Rowan" I growled at him, pushing a little of my alpha power into it "you need to calm down, she doesn't know anything about us and if you go full force at her she'll run screaming" Rowan took a deep breath before nodding.

"I get it, we don't want to scare her off before we even get a chance to meet her," he nodded to Roman who had a thoughtful look.

"Does she live alone?" Roman asked.

I stopped for a moment to consider his question "I think so" I said "I didn't smell anyone else on her and she didn't mention anyone but then again I didn't get much of a chance to talk to her" I glared at Rowan who actually seemed to feel bad about the situation.

"Maybe she should keep an eye on her" Roman suggested "one lone woman is easy prey and the bears have been more active than usual". Wolves Run had always been pack territory until several years back when a bear clan set up their den just outside our pack's border. The bears were usually peaceful folk but a few of the males have recently started pushing to see how far we'd let them get. Thinking about it, it was about 3 months ago that it all started. My mind tried to go to the worst case before I stopped myself, taking a deep breath.

"You're right" I agreed "we should also make sure to mark around her property to keep any unwanted visitors away". Both of them nodded in agreement.

"Do you think we could meet her first" Rowan asked "I mean she's living there all alone I'm sure she could use some help, Right?"

I considered it for a moment "why don't we go after we get your truck back and talk to Ash" I suggest "we should at least tell him about her before we make any more plans"

It took a good 20 minutes to get Rowan's truck out and then another 20 to give it a check over to make sure nothing would burst into flames when we started her up. By the time we got home Ash was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Ashton was the tallest of us, standing at 6"9" he was a beast of a man even by shifter standers. Ash was also the oldest of us at 35. With his thick golden blonde hair braided down his back and silver pack marks covering all of his body. I had heard a women once describe him as a viking god. 

"Ash we need to talk" was all I managed to get out before Rowan burst in behind me shouting.

"TOREN FOUND OUR MATE" he yelled, bouncing in place, Ash actually choked on his coffee.

"Are you serious?" He asked me, a look of uncertainty flashing across his face.

"Yes" I shoot a glare at Rowan "I'm sure, her name is Miren and she lives in the blue house just north of here"

"All alone?" Ash asked.

"Yes, and we think that we should state taking patrols around her property

Ash nodded in agreement "But first we should introduce ourselves so if something happens we won't be strangers" they all agreed.

I told Ash everything that happened from the moment I had walked into the coffee shop, catching the scent of our mate to when Rowan called me. He sat for several minutes thinking. That was the thing about Ash, he was quiet, always thinking things through until action was needed, that's when all Hell broke loose. Ash was the toughest, strongest, fastest guy I had ever met. I knew how good of a man he was but I was still worried that our mate might be intimidated by how big he was. We had always teased him when he had to duck or turn sideways to get his shoulders through door frames. But I knew how conscious he was about it. Whenever I had seen him around a female he seemed to try and make himself as small as possible, slowing his movements like he is afraid of scaring them.

"We should meet her and start patrolling around her house to make sure she stays safe until she accepts us" Ash said. I could feel both determination as well as joy and the fear that I could feel him trying to hide from us.

"It's alright" I told him, grabbing him gently by the back of his neck. I pulled him in so our foreheads touched while the twins came in closer, turning it more into a group hug. Wolves are physical creatures and although most humans would misunderstand this for us it was simply how packs comforted each other.

"She is our mate" I reassured him "she will love all of us for who we are, that is the blessing the goddess has given us".

"I know" he whispers "in my head I know but I still worry". Ash was an alpha like me but when I had come of age he chose to be my betta rather than fight me but I know that being so open with his vulnerabilities was hard for him.

After a moment Ash pulled away ruffling my hair like he used to do when I was a pup. "If we are going to go we better get going" he says standing up and stretching "how about we walk then we can go for a run on the way back" he suggested. Rowan whooped at this while Roman just shook his head at his twin. Tonight was going to be a long night, in more than one way.