Oracle of Wolves

II

I saw Luke's eyes widen at my words from the corner of my eye. Tyler and Alpha Jack were both unfazed.

"Mate," I repeated, liking the way it felt.

"Mate," Tyler whispered before nuzzling his face in my hair and taking deep breaths.

"We still need to take him in for questioning," Alpha Jack repeated with his alpha voice.

I let out a small growl and Tyler pulled back form my hair and nodded at me before walking with Alpha Jack in the direction of the pack house.

Holly and Luke came towards me and I knew that I'd have some explaining to do.

____

My wolf impatiently paced while my brother mimicked her actions in front of me and my sister began her rapid fire questions. All I could think right now was why Alpha Jack could possibly have wanted to question my mate. What did he do? He just got here.

"This must be some kind of a mistake," my brother said, blatantly ignoring our younger sister.

"I know it's not what we expected to happen," I replied," But it's no mistake."

"What about Mike?"

I looked down to my lap and clasped my hands together. Mike and I had been dating for the last year or so, but neither of us had claimed the other. Mike's nice and I don't want to hurt him, but he's not my mate.

"Mike will find his own mate."

"You were supposed to be his mate."

"Plans change."

He growled in annoyance with my response and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Holly smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. She loves all this, everything about mates has always intrigued her.

My sister is the smallest of us all, not just because of her age but also because she takes after our mother in that respect, not even 5'2". Her hair is beach blond, like mine and Luke's, but hers is more wavy compared to my straight and hers is longer, waist length, and mine is only mid back. She has bright blue eyes and freckles all over her sweet face. Her lips are full and pink and her chin has a slight cleft, features she shares with me.

Luke on the other hand is the picture of manliness. Tall and built, tanned from hours of patrol. His arm and stomach muscles show through the green vest short he wears and his hair is cut so that it was just a bit too long, he doesn't bother to brush it in the morning so it gives him a restless look. His face is strong, he has a square jaw and a cleft chin, his nose is straight. His eyes are like mine, chocolate brown and big an we all have full and dark eyelashes.

My siblings represent the opposite sides of the ladder, feminine and masculine. Serious and spontaneous. Clear and abstract. Holly and Luke.

Luke turns his gaze back to me and groans one more time before facing the wall. Holly leaned over to me.

"Maybe you should go talk to Mike. I'm sure he's confused."

I nodded before leaving the room, both siblings watching me as I left.

_____

The study was deathly quiet, part of the reason I knew that Mike was in there. He always get quiet when he's angry. I knock tentatively on the door and wait, the only reply is a low growl. Taking a deep breath I open the door anyway.

There he sits, my boyfriend. He has his chin in his hand, his almost looks like a mafia boss in the black leather seat with his white button up shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows. His black eyes follow my every movement as I enter the room. I look over his features, strong jawline, his roman nose, his long and thick eyelashes, his black hair that's cut short in a modern way and stubble covering the bottom half of his face.

"I understand, Nova. You don't have to make any excuses."

"So, you're not mad?"

"I'm not mad," I let out a sigh of relief," I'm not exactly happy, but I'm not mad."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem, you're just gonna reject him anyway."

"Wait, what? I'm not rejecting him."

He turns to look at me and smiles like I just said the silliest thing in the world. I raise and eyebrow and it seems to sink in.

"You're serious? What about us?!"

"There can't be an us," I replied quietly," One day you'll find you're mate and-"

"Get out."

"Bu-"

"I said get out. Don't make me lose my temper, Nova."

I stood up, only to find that my legs were shaking. I've never been scared of Mike like this, it's not a pleasant feeling. Walking slowly to the door I can feel his gaze boring into my back. Opening the door as softly as I can, I slip out of the office and back to my room.

Once in my room I try to calm down, things are happening a little fast and it's making my head spin. I lay on my bed and try to read a little. I make it about half way through a page before realizing that it's not happening. The snow is falling outside my window and I faintly hear someone calling for me.

Only, it's not someone calling for me. It's someone calling for my wolf. She urges me to go find Alpha Jack because that's where we'll find Tyler. This worries me. If my wolf's bond with him is this strong now, how strong will it be when we mark each other? Or when we mate? I wonder if it's like this for all wolf oracles.

Or if it is for Kayla and Ulijana.

There are only 3 wolf oracles in the world, Kayla, Ulijana and I. We serve all of the wolves so there has to be more than one. Once one of us dies, they are immediately replaced by another wolf's birth. No oracle has ever lived past their 30th birthday. I am currently 22, so I don't need to worry for a while.

An oracle finding her mate is actually very uncommon, mostly because of our short lifespans and our always being surrounded by the same people. The solitary is mostly optional, it's like a last effort to keep us alive longer. I chose to live in the life as the Jade Forest Pack's Beta's daughter rather than the protected life as the oracle.

I have the tendency to forget that I am who I am, this is part of the reason that I go on the late night runs. I guess if I'm going to die before I turn 30, then I should live as much as I can until then.

When I finally located the source of the sound, I realized that it was coming from Tyler's wolf.

He's calling out to us, something must be wrong.

Stop jumping to conclusions. He's probably fine.

Go check on him.

I sighed before complying with my wolf's urges. Going down to the interrogation room, I noticed a loud crack followed by a grunt.

Then another.

And another.

I ran to the room and pulled the door open, only to find my mate with his hands tied to a pole and his shirt ripped open down the back. Gashes run down his back with blood seeping from them. He's taking deep breaths as he turns his head to look at me, his once turquoise eyes are now a deep purple. His hands were clenched and his eyebrows drawn together.

And I couldn't believe who was holding the whip.