My Mate Next-Door

4: Pack meeting

Damien had called a town meeting the next day, knowing that the pack members had heard his pained cries. The cafeteria was full of all ages of members as he called for a Code Pink meeting. Which usually meant a female pack member was kidnapped. Everyone was talking in hushed whispers about who it could be as everyone was present. As Damien walked on stage, the crowd went dead silent.

"Before I say anything, just keep in mind, we are still a species in hiding and as such should take every interaction with humans with strict forethought. On the bright side, my mate, future Luna of our pack, as well as future Queen of the werewolf kingdom. She has been located. On the bad side of this, she is... taken. Whether by force or by choice is not yet determined. On the worst side, it's Quinton, our HUMAN neighbor, who has ties to the notorious FBI." Many voices started yelling at once. Some people stood up, enraged, and wanted blood. Damien quieted them down and sighed.

"I have been doing the groundwork for a counter kidnapping, but as you all know, this is a HUMAN GOVERMENT opponent. Things could go terribly wrong and put our whole species into an eternal war. My Intel from our insiders is that the FBI is doing an undercover experiment to breed a wolf army for an upperedge in battle. Which is currently trying to be shut down by our insiders, but they can only do so much without risking their cover. As for our Luna, this could go two ways. One way, she's in love with him and stays regardless of it posing a threat to our kind and we'll have... we'll have to... kill her. To protect our kind as a whole. The other way, she accepts me as her mate, and we strengthen our defenses against the humans by moving our whole pack to the royal pack compound. A replacement pack has agreed to move in and replace us so no demolition would give away our departure. The hard part so far is finding out which way we have to go. As of right now, she has been left alone for maybe two minutes. There is definitely not enough time to have a conversation. I'll be keeping tabs as much as I can and will break my own judgment calls if I see her pregnant as they have been.... together... as you heard last night, and I apologize for distressing you all." He scanned the room and found most looked scared or upset with the news. The rest looked angry but were not ready to go on a rampage, understanding the severity of the situation.

"You are all dismissed!" He called out, and slowly, everyone left. The others who stayed behind were changing the furniture for breakfast time. Damien went to his office to plan his strategy and to make some calls. He had to see if he could create a diversion to get her away from Quinton's grasp.

Quinton found himself face to face with a destroyed living room table and a hurt Cocoa. The glass was shattered all over the hardwood floor, and one shard was stuck in Cocoa's leg. He sighed and cleaned up the mess with a broom and dustpan to ensure she didn't get hurt any further.

Once that mess was gone, he took a look at her leg, hoping to hell and back she wouldn't bite him. Pulling it out, he cleaned the wound and was going to sew it up when, right before his eyes, the wound healed itself, slowly taking no more than 10 minutes to look good as new. He overlooked the pdf he had gotten before, and sure enough, minor wounds healing quickly was on there. In fact, according to the reports, that was the reason it was so hard to implant the tracking device as the healing would go deepest layer up and essentially push it out. They speculated it would take a very large round to actually take her down.

Quinton just shook his head and closed his laptop shut. "Well, Cocoa, now I'm gonna need a new table! Wonder if I can claim this as a work expense?" He chuckled and ruffled Cocoa's fur on her head. He took her out to the backyard and grabbed a ball. "Wanna play fetch? They said you know how to play fetch." Cocoa rolled her eyes and followed him out to the backyard. Quinton threw the ball and called her a good girl every time she brought it back.

It felt demeaning when the researchers had done it, but out here in the fresh air and woods, it made it a completely different experience for her. She brought it back a bit bored with how short a distance he was throwing it. The wind blew through, and she caught a whiff of deer. A fresh catch would be nice to spice things up. She suddenly took off past the ball and ran towards the deer. She could hear Quinton cursing as he ran after her, unable to keep up. She chased the large deer past the river and under a concrete bridge. A few feet later, she pounced and ripped into it. Blood sprayed everywhere, and her face became soaked. She started eating it right away, happy as ever, to eat a kill of her own. Mid bite, she heard a twig snap and looked up to see another wolf staring at her.

You're on pack lands, little miss. Best to hand over the rest and leave before I call my alpha to come deal with you, the wolf mind linked to her. She growled, unwilling to give up her kill. She worked hard for it and wasn't probably going to get another chance soon to catch another. Especially since Quinton was going to catch up soon and leash her back up. The wolf mind linked Damien to come over to handle a rogue over by the river. Damien left his office in human form as it wasn't too far from his house. The wolf left, and Cocoa started eating from the deer again, with Quinton showing up pretty out of breath.

"Cocoa. You. Cannot. Run. Off. Like. That." He panted between breaths. Once he was getting his composure again, he hooked the leash up to her collar again while she ate as he did NOT want to chase after her again. Damien showed up a minute later and was pissed as hell that he missed his shot to talk to her alone. "Oh. Hey Damien! Sorry about Cocoa here! She just really loves a good hunt! Lots of deer around here, ya know." Quinton chuckled nervously, a bit scared to be on his property with Cocoa. He was unsure if Cocoa was able to handle new strangers. Cocoa was engrossed in her kill and mainly ignored the conversation. A great deal of sloshing and ripping and crunching filled the silence.

"You know, I could take... Cocoa... off your hands and give her a proper life her on my property. There is plenty of space and deer for her here." Damien said crassly, still angry at the situation on hand. Quinton looked at Damien, perplexed at Damien's offer, and thought to himself that surely this cult leader just wanted to sacrifice this massive creature to his "Goddess."

"Uh, unfortunately, I'm just training her for my job. Classified work, not much. I can say I'm afraid. If it's about the deer, I'm sure I can give you something for it. I've recently gotten quite the pay increase. So it really shouldn't be much of a hassle..." Quinton trailed off as visible disgust ran plainly across Damiens face. Damien contemplated killing Quinton here. It wouldn't be hard, and if he played it right, it would look like "Cocoa" was just too hungry and took off. Unfortunately, that would get FBI crawling all over this property for ages.

"It's not about the deer. She shouldn't be with you." He said, teetering the line between PETA activist and revealing the truth to Quinton. " We'll go as soon as she's done eating, I'd hate for the deer to go to waste... since... I can't... unkill it. You know? Also, there are several laws I hear about animal testing you could vote for. If... that's what this is about. Damien walked off before he launched Quinton into his grave. Unable to get a grip on his anger, he punches a tree once far enough away, leaving a sizeable indent on the tree.

Once finished, Cocoa sniffed the air as they walked back. MATE her soul screamed to her. She stopped in her tracks and looked around. That man? Was he my mate? Was I closer to my mate than I'd ever been in my entire life? Was it finally my turn for love? Or was it Quinton becoming my Bond Mate? She sniffed Quinton and knew immediately that wasn't the case. Besides, it hadn't been long enough for that to happen yet. It wouldn't be so bad, though. He does treat me well and gives me a decent fucking.

After they got back to the house, she started to think she had hallucinated it from the sheer high of her hunt. Surely, it wasn't as easy as being her mates' next-door neighbor. She had heard stories of it being as simple as changing grocery stores for the city wolves or a rare detour on a hike. Most people she knew met their mates at the Mate ball, but the king didn't have a mate yet, so she had never attended one. It caused a bit of turmoil through the kingdom but it was for the best as the last ball that a Luna-less king threw ended up in bloodshed as someone had brought his mate as a date to the ball. She dreamt of the ball as she slept and wondered if her mate had found someone already or if he was waiting for her to show up. She hoped he would move on as her current situation looked as permanent as permanent could be.