My Love but Not My Mate

Chapter 2

‘...’ – speech in wolf form

“...” – speech in human form

Chapter 2

   The night rolled over the sky, pushing day under the horizon and as was our little ritual, we howled to the moon for its beauty. Settling down in our caves that had been created by some ancestors centuries ago to keep us out of the rain, wind and snow in winters.

   There weren’t a lot of us today in this current camp, Alpha (or Tyson as was his true name) had sent half of us off to do border patrol of our territory. However, mates and families always shared caves so I had to put up with sleeping with Tyson on his bed of deer and oxen hide. Curling up to the smallest ball that I could, with my legs and tail tucked under my body, I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

   My shoulder was being nudged by his paw and I opened one eye.

   ‘What do you want, Tyson?’ I asked with a yawn. He pushed my side and I rolled onto my back. He licked my muzzle as he had before, while pulling on the chain he had around my heart, it would have been better if it was around my neck. ‘Not tonight, I’m tired from all that hunting you made us do,’ I complained but that was the wrong thing to say. He growled and we both changed forms in an instant.

   “Yes, tonight.” He kissed my cheek, down my neck and onto my bare shoulder; the top I wore only started at the top of my breasts and stopped just below my belly button.

   It was so instinctive that I didn’t have to think. My arms shot around his shoulders and pulled his head down so I could kiss him too. Although he portrayed a very dominating roll in the eyes of the others, he in fact was very careful when it came to us making love. He really never meant any harm to me, but if he was going to stay Alpha and not be challenged then he had to treat everyone in the same harsh manner, even his own mate.

   Bathed in sweat and breathing hard, we lay sprawled out on the skins. I stared at the cave wall to my right with some tears clinging to my eyelashes but remained silent. He sat up and wiped his face, and looked down at me, so I saw from the corner of my eye. When he placed his palm on my cheek, my breathing fastened and shallowed.

   “Layla, what’s wrong?” he whispered.

   I pushed his hand off me and rolled onto my side with my back to him. “Nothing,” I said, sniffling a little.

   “Fine, don’t tell me,” he said, clearly annoyed. He shuffled down onto his side and slid on arm under my head and his other over my top arm and held me in a possessive embrace.

*****

   Running with the wind rushing through my mane and over my back, I braced myself through the chill of the morning as we set off to the next camp in order to keep in track with the roaming deer that was our prey.

   Looking to my right, I saw my brother running next to me with a limp rabbit dangling lifeless from his mouth, he had just caught it for a snack en route. I rolled my ears and weaved my body to nudge him slightly.

   Even though I had a mate and acted as mature as I could, I was really only young myself. In wolf terms, ten years was still just a pup according to the older members of the pack; Alpha himself was fifteen and my own parents were at least twenty five from what I had heard. Wolves were very private about things such as age, and mum and dad never really touched on it except when another year had passed for one of them.

   My personal ranking among the pack may be low but my dad was the Beta wolf. He did have some claim to the top rank but he turned it down due to his aging self and he didn’t want to waste the rest of his years bossing his family and friends around the land.

   Tyson had started barking and my lungs seemed like they had just been dunked in a frozen lake, he was calling me. I hardened my strides and sped up to the front of the pack to be by his side.

   ‘You called, Tys?’ I asked.

   ‘Yes, go over to that ridge over there to the east, I thought I saw something. If it’s nothing just run back. If it is something then call.’

   ‘Yes, Alpha,’ I sighed and turned to run eastwards to the ridge of the river where he had described. Why me? I thought as my legs started to ache with the morning rigidness still in some of my joints.

   The ridge neared and I slowed down and sniffed at the air to smell for anything unusual. Not really sure what I was searching for, I turned my nose to the ground and walked through the lush grass.

   The water gushed over the smoothed rocks and stones as I rummaged through the undergrowth. The only thing that I came across was a flock of crows that had shocked me when they flew out of the reeds. Giving up as there was nothing I could find out of the ordinary; I went over to the water and downed mouthfuls of it to quench my dry throat before heading back to the route that the others still followed.

   Clearly they would have continued on and had left me behind, annoying as it was I soldiered on and tried taking as much time as I could to observe this part of the range that we occupied. However, there was one thing that prevented me from taking in too much of the scenery. Tyson was calling through our link and I gritted my teeth and settled down to a run to my own rhythm.

   ‘What took you so long?’ Tyson growled as I ducked down by his feet in my apologetic poise.

   ‘I got a little lost. But I found nothing if that pleases you,’ I yapped at him.

   ‘Oh, I’m sure I saw something.’ He wondered round in circles, grumbling and scratching at the ground; he clearly wanted something to be around the ridge. Something had been stirring inside him lately but I couldn’t tell what, I could only feel it through the anchor inside me.

   I jumped as he snarled suddenly at us all. He wanted everyone to leave him alone for a bit, so we all started to continue on towards the north (we had only stopped for a rest). My tail was then pinned down on the ground and I turned round to see that Tyson was looking at me a little upset.

   Obliged as I was to keep him happy, I laid down with my forepaws crossed as he continued to pace between two small, mossy rocks. Then I thought to ask him as he was going to annoy the both of us eventually. ‘What’s got your tail in a twist?’ I asked cunningly trying to make him laugh for once.

   He kicked a loose stone before sitting down on his haunches. ‘I’m in a mood because for the past year or two I haven’t managed to expand our turf nor have I found a reason to get us in a fight with another pack.’

   My ears twitched as I was surprised at what he was saying. ‘And why would any of us want to get into a fight? You should be more caring for your pack than that, Tyson. You know my father wouldn’t agree with what you’ve just said and I’m going to speak on his behalf.’ I stood up on all fours and growled as I shouted. ‘You’re an idiot!’

   I slid along the ground as he had run into my side. CRACK. It sounded as though one of my ribs had broken from hitting one of the rocks around us; the searing agony ripped through my body and I convulsed. Trying to get up, the pain was incomparable to any other pain I had experienced in my life. Whining and yelping with every step, I looked at him with tearing eyes.

   ‘That was for your own good. You can make your own way to camp,’ he sneered as he held his head above mine. ‘Do not talk to me when you get there.’ And with those last words, he leapt into the trees and I heard the pounding of his paws on the hard ground dim as he ran on leaving me in agony and limping along in a self-pitying state.