Wolf Bound

Chapter 19

-Clare-

It was ten, till eight.

I stood by the lake, watching the water reflect the stars that shone from above. I could not help but smile, I remembered a time when I would have thought this would have been the spot where I would want to never show anyone except Jason this spot.

Now, I would not be able to, not when his brother was coming to meet me here.

"You know, if my brother wasn't so... possessive, I might have tried to steal you away from him." Matthew said from behind me, I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Why? You will steal me away from him, only to then find your mate and then leave me behind? How's that romantic or at all good for me?" I asked.

"That's the thing, Clare, you won't ever have to worry about some other girl or having to have a bond to chain us together, we wouldn't have that burden, if we fought, we wouldn't feel the need to make up just to fix the bond." He said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused.

"I won't ever have a mate bond, nor a true mate... I could choose the person I end up with, and not have to worry about 'the one' crap." He shrugged.

"That's impossible." I said.

"No, just rare, kind of like one in ten. And I am free because of it, you break your bond with my brother, and you could be free from him, from everything, if you wanted." He said, smiling as if he thought I wanted to brake the bond.

"Matthew, I didn't come here to talk about your brother, I can talk about beating Drake." I said crossing my arms across my chest.

"Fine, but just so it's clear, my other offer still stands." He said, sounding hopeful.

"Matthew." I said sternly.

"Alright... my brother's plan could work, but there's one problem to his plan."

"Which is?" I pressed.

"They'll notice that many missing wolves, so, in order to secure your win, you could challenge Natalie to fight, just you and her. If you win, she submits and backs down her pack, but if she wins, she gets to kill you and Jason, which would mean also taking the title as chief alphas'." He explained.

"One on one fight? I cannot even beat Nick! Meagan has to be taken by surprise for me to even get the upper hand, and that's nearly impossible for me to do!" I said.

"Clare, you're training against your friends, not the bitch that nearly killed you, you'll hold back against Nick and Meagan, but with her, you won't, your life would be on the line," he told me, grabbing my arms suddenly.

"Matthew, did you tell Jason to challenge Drake, too?" I asked quietly.

"He told you?" he said stiffening.

"Are you working with us or them?" I pressed.

"For you, not him, only you, Clare... my brother, he doesn't trust me enough to even sit down and talk our... our differences out," he smirked.

"What does that mean?" I asked confused.

"Fourteen years ago, I was... well, forced to leave by my brother, I was never a part of your parents pack, though, but he still made me leave the county. He thought you belonged to him, a two-year-old little girl, one who could barely speak a proper sentence, it was sick, he knew I could choose who I could be with, he worried that when you grew up, you'd pick me over him... I never wanted to anger him, I thought he understood that I knew it would be wrong to fight over a toddler, just so that one day when she was grown up, she could decide on her own, but he was so threatened that he wanted you to himself,-" he explained, I stood there, wide eyed and in disbelief.