Chapter 4

Raphael had just finished going over a couple things about some border disputes between two of the Alphas on this part of the island. The Alpha that he was under had many other Alphas under him.

He was driving out to west side of the island and was almost on the highway when he caught a sweet scent. His mate. He leapt out of the car and shifted into his wolf form.

His gamma Thomas who was driving yelled at him, "What the hell man!"

-Don't follow me- Raphael mind linked Thomas before he was too far away. Thomas didn't reply, but Raphael knew that he'd gotten the message.

He ran for just over an hour and had had to cross a river. He was getting closer, her scent, she smelled like cinnamon and ginger, and it warmed his heart. It was getting stronger and stronger, and his wolf was getting more and more out of control.

His sharp hearing picked up something he couldn't quite make out at first. He slowed and moved his head to try and get a better sense of what the sound was.

He walked closer to the edge of the forest and then he saw her. She was beautiful. He now realized that the sound was of an arrow hitting a target.

Raphael forgot everything in that moment as he ran towards her, he was five metres from her when he saw the fear in her eyes and the bow in her hands. 'Wait she could see him?' He questioned quickly.

He was just three metres from her when she loosed her arrow.

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The first thing that Raphael felt was the arrow hitting him, it piercing his flesh then lodging in his chest. The second thing he felt was hurt. He was hurt that his mate would hurt him. The third thing he felt was confusion. How could his mate see him? She was not a Lycan, he could tell by her scent, and she wasn't anything else magical. The few human/Lycan pairings that he'd heard of, the human couldn't see the Lycan in wolf form until the mating bond was secure. 'What a mystery you're turning out be my little mate.' He thought to himself.

He slowly shifted from wolf to human, it hurt to shift around the arrow but he did it anyway, he was glad that he'd decided to wear his chain today, as he felt the vibration of its magic on his chest. He didn't want his mate to be uncomfortable the first time they met.

He had heard her gasp, and heard the bow she had been holding drop to the ground before he had shifted. He wasn't facing her, and he wanted to see her.

He turned so he was facing her, then opened his eyes, he saw that she was eyeing him curiously, her beautiful, dark brown eyes looked directly in his, she then continued to look at his body, he didn't mind.

His mate, oh, she was gorgeous! He was so happy. She was small and cute: she stood, from what he could tell about five foot four, she had her beautiful dark, brown hair kept in a slightly unkept braid that made her look adorable. She had a round face and a greek nose, with rosy cheeks and kissable pink lips, he stared at those for a while.

She was wearing a blue and white patterned flannel button-up shirt that flared out at the bottom and complimented her curves. Her sleeves were rolled up, and she was wearing skinny jeans that formed around her sculpted legs perfectly.

He looked back at her eyes and smiled, happy to see that hers were still roaming his body and it seemed she liked what she saw.

Her eyes locked with his again and he asked, "Enjoying the view?" He laughed then winced, 'oh yeah, I still have an arrow in my chest.' He thought to himself. She looked away and rolled her eyes, she seemed frustrated and it was cute. She circled him then stopped when she faced him again. She seemed deep in thought.

"What are you?" She asked, "I mean…You're clearly a shifter of some kind, right? What are you called?"

Raphael was surprised by her question but didn't show it. He liked how smart his mate was.

"You're right I am a shifter, I'm what you would call a werewolf, but we prefer to be called Lycans." He replied.

"Lycans, huh?" She said. Raphael could see the gears in her head turning.

"Yes. Lycans." He replied

"Do you by any chance have fast healing?" She asked.

"Yes." He said, he was confused at first then he looked down at the arrow in his chest and laughed to which he winced. He looked back at her to see a look of determination set in her face.

He grew slightly worried.

"So." She started her next question, "What rank are you?" He was loving his mate's intelligence.

"I'm a Beta." He replied.

"Hmmm." She hummed, she looked even more confused, she probably knew that Betas were high ranking and was confused with why I was here.

"Where's your pack based?" She asked as she moved closer to him and her scent got ten times stronger. He closed his eyes and savoured it.

Suddenly he felt something touch his chest, he opened his eyes to see, disappointedly, that one of her shoes was on his chest and that she was placing another one on the other side of. The arrow.

'Was she gonna pull it out!' He thought hastily.

He pulled himself together and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." She said with her soothing voice. "So, where is your pack based?" She asked again.

"We're based in Prince George." He replied.

"Really?" She paused then continued, "Why so far from home?" Raphael was about to reply but then she tugged on the arrow.

He tried to hold on his scream and slightly succeeded, but he still made a fair amount of sound.

"Okay." She breathed, "Would you like me to break it off at the bottom of the shaft, then you walk to the house, and I find something to pull it out? Or would you like me to just pull it out here? You have faster healing so I don't think it'll be a problem. Right?" She asked him. Raph was really impressed by what was going on in her head, he loved the way she thought things though. Just like he did. Okay, so maybe he didn't think this through.

"Yeah, just pull it out." He answered.

She tightened her grip on the shaft of the arrow and gave another tug.

Raphael screamed in agony, he almost blacked out from the pain. Luckily it wasn't an enchanted silver arrow, or else he would be unconscious or dead by now.

"I'm sorry." She said, her eyes held conflicted emotions. It made him want to hold her, but he wasn't so sure she would like that. And if he could do that right now.

"It's okay." He said through clenched teeth. He'd closed his eyes now and was trying to bear the pain.

He felt her place her hands on the shaft and pull again.