Chapter 2: Welcome...Not

The quiet that followed my declaration was a bit unnerving. The growling of the wolves beside and behind me ceased abruptly. And maybe it was just my fanciful thoughts, but even the wind seemed to pause theatrically as if even nature had been caught off guard by this announcement.

Everyone and everything seemed to react with appropriate shock.

Except for my mate.

Valen captured the wrist of the hand I had laid on his chest, studying my face as if searching for answers to questions he hadn't asked. He pulled my hand away from him and shoved me back, without much force, putting more distance between us.

"You're trespassing," he repeated his earlier statement.

It seemed he planned on ignoring my introduction for now.

"Since you seem to be familiar with my pack and my land, you might also be familiar with our laws about trespassers. Do you know what happens to them?"

I tapped my chin and assumed an expression of deep thought. I took a tentative step back from him and continued to do so as he watched me carefully.

Objectively speaking, Valen had a frightening air about him that clung to people who were silently intimidating. Aside from his cold features, his very personality made most people wary of him. He never raises his voice, even when he's angry, and was never prone to sport fighting as many of his kind were.

He almost never betrayed what he was feeling—not with words or actions. It left him an anomaly and often feared, even among members of his own pack.

I learned all this from my dreams of him, but from those same dreams, I also learned many things no one else knew about my mate. And because of that, I didn't find him the least bit intimidating—a fact that he probably wouldn't like one bit if he knew… or would he?

"I don't know the details about pack Law," I told him honestly as I tiptoed along the banks of the lake, keeping him in my sights as I went to and fro. "Buuut, if it's like any natural wolf pack I've come across in my time, it'll probably be bloody."

He was watching me as if I was a puzzle he'd like to solve and I quite liked it.

"Are you going to try to kill me?" I wondered out loud.

He didn't respond.

"I did stumble into a wolf's den once—quite literally stumbled in fact— and she tried to kill me. Luckily I escaped. Can't say I held it against her. She was protecting her pups you see. You on the other hand have no such excuse. I'd be very cross with you if you tried to kill me."

When he still didn't respond to my spiel, I paused my waltz along the bank to look at him seriously.

"Besides, I can hardly trespass on my own home, can I? Did you miss the part where I mentioned I'm your mate?"

I knew he hadn't. He wasn't the sort to miss anything, but I wondered how long he planned on ignoring that bit of information.

“I don't think anyone could have missed that tidbit darlin'," a new voice announced before stepping out from the thickets that had previously hidden Valen.

I was startled by his appearance, to say the least. I had either been too engrossed in my conversation with Valen or my mate wasn't the only one with superior hunting skills. I hadn't sensed his approach one bit. I recognized him right away.

Ezra, one of Valen's friends and twin brother of the pack's Beta.

He seemed more roughened than he had two years ago but otherwise seemed the same if that teasing grin across his face. He was an inch or so shorter than Valen but more muscular. His dark hair was as short as Valen's had been before and his blue eyes sparkled with amusement as he looked me over.

It had been very hard for me to tell him apart from his brother when they had been younger but as the years went by, it had become more apparent to me that the two brothers, though identical in appearance, were as different in their demeanor as night and day.

His brother, Lucas, was more similar in character to Valen—silent and prone to brooding.

Ezra on the other hand, felt the need to fill silence with constant chatter and took a worrying amount of delight in teasing both his brother and his Alpha.

I guess it meant Ezra and I had much in common.

Even now, a dimple flashed on his left cheek as his smile flashed at me.

"Hate to break it to you darlin' but I don't think you'll be bagging this one," he informed me, titling his chin at Valen. "Buuut if you play your cards right, I might—"

"Enough," Valen interrupted, sending a cold glance toward Ezra who had come to stop beside him.

I was about to ask him what he meant by 'bagging' but my attention was again diverted but the rustling of leaves. Just how many of them were hiding in there?

Another wolf emerged, this one with snow-white fur and about four feet in height. It—

I gasped out loud as it lumbered closer and I realized it wasn't a wolf at all.

"Snow!" I squealed, shoving past Valen and Ezra to meet the dog's approach.

I had to restrain my immediate instinct to throw myself at her, excited as I was. I might have known her since Valen had brought her from the Human Realm as a puppy, but it was technically her first time meeting me.

Although, I often swore that Snow had been aware of my presence even in the dreams, impossible as it had seemed.

I stood still in front of her and allowed her to sniff me to her heart's content. When she finally nudged me with her snout and licked at my hand, I allowed my excitement to reign. I knelt in front of her and threw my arms around her neck, burying my face in her coat.

Snow seemed just as excited to see me, licking at wherever she could reach.

"You're such a pretty girl," I praised, rubbing her belly affectionately.

"Are you happy to see Mommy? You are, aren't you good girl? Mommy is so happy to see you. Yes she is—"

"Well I'll be damned," Ezra's awestruck whisper filtered through my bubble of happiness.

I glanced back at the men standing behind me, still petting Snow as I did. Ezra looked to be in shock, his eyes comically wide. And Valen, for the first time since his appearance, was wearing an open frown of confusion.

"What?" I asked.

"That finicky b*tch doesn't let anyone except Linus touch her. I've known her all her life and all she does is bare her teeth at me if I come within three feet of her."

I glanced at Snow whose innocent brown eyes were gazing at me in adoration as she accepted my petting.

I glared back at Ezra. "Just because she only lets her Mommy and Daddy touch her, doesn't mean she's finicky," I scolded.

"Mommy and Daddy? Mommy and—?" Ezra broke off in a choked chuckle. "I thought she might be a few wolves short of a pack, but the girl might be onto something," Ezra said to Valen.

"Are you sure she's lying?"

"Lying?!" I scoffed, immediately offended. "I don't lie!"

"Why else would Snow let the girl touch her?" Ezra continued as if I hadn't spoken.

I was becoming increasingly annoyed with the lot of them, particularly Valen, who was being entirely too silent.

"Fritz, Eden, are you seeing this?" Ezra called out. Given that no one else popped out of the trees at his question, I assumed Fritz and Ezra were the two wolves standing guard.

I took note that they had stopped growling at some point and were both staring at me and Snow as well.

There were several good-sized stones within my reach and the urge to toss one into Ezra's face was becoming strong.

I fixed my attention on Valen who was still studying me with a frown.

“Even Snow recognizes me as a part of the family,” I told him with a smug grin. “How long do you suppose it will take you to come to terms with it?”

“Snow,” Valen called to his dog. His voice was soft but there was no missing the undercurrent of command. “Come.”

Snow gave me one last nudge before trodding over to Valen’s side and plopping down at his feet.

“A while then?” I pressed, referring to my earlier question.

He was frustratingly adept at ignoring important matters, wasn’t he?

“Regardless of who you claim to be, you’ll be treated as a trespasser until I’ve confirmed otherwise,” Valen said to me.

“And how long will that take?” I parried.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“How quickly, honestly, and sufficiently you answer my questions,” he quipped back.

“How do you decide if my answers are sufficient or not?” I wondered aloud.

Instead of answering, Valen went straight into questioning. “I’ll assume since you’re so familiar with me and my dog, you didn’t just stumble onto pack territory by accident. Why are you here?”

My eyes narrowed in confusion at his question. “I’m your mate,” I answered simply.

“Let’s assume that you are—”

“You don’t need to assume. It’s a fact, Valen,” I interrupted.

Valen inhale deeply before letting out a frustrated breath. “Let’s assume that you are…my mate,” he continued calmly, “why are you here?”

It was unlikely he was asking me why I would seek out my mate, so…

“Are you implying that I have another motive for being here other than mating with you?”

“Do you?” Valen pressed.

“No.”

Valen studied me closely as if by doing so, he could decide if I being honest. “You mentioned seeing me before. Didn’t you recognize me as your mate then?” he continued.

“I’ve always known you were my mate,” I explained, “since the moment I was created.”

“Why didn’t you come then?”

“It wasn’t time,” I answered.

“Let’s go back to the created bit for a second, shall we?” The question was thrown out by Ezra, who had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout my and Valen’s exchange.

My eyes remained on Valen and his on me as Ezra joined the conversation.

“You’re not a shifter. We would’ve been able to tell immediately,” Ezra said. “So you knowing who your mate is since birth isn’t that hard a pill to swallow.”

I’d learned shifters were only able to recognize their mates when they reached maturity. For wolves, that was usually anywhere from thirteen to fifteen years. For other species, it may be different.

“But why was it since you were created and not since you were born?”

“Well, that’s because I wasn’t born.”

I watched Valen's features carefully as I took a step closer to him.

“I was created,” I told them.

“Don’t you remember, Valen?” I asked him curiously.

While I had known he wouldn’t have readily accepted me, it had never occurred to me that he might have truly forgotten that he had once wanted me above all else.

Something shifted in his features at my question. It was subtle, and, If I had not been staring at him for so long, so…intently, I might have missed it altogether.

“Remember?” Valen repeated, his voice roughened with emotion.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Ezra look at his Alpha curiously.

“Savalet Peak,” I whispered and watched in fascination as his silver-gray eyes took on an unholy light.

He closed the distance between us in a blink, his hands shooting out to grab hold of my arm. “Who are you?” he growled.

There was no mistaking the savage anger that fuelled those words, but my body was only aware of the fact that he was touching me and that I was standing this close to him.

My heart stumbled erratically in my chest. “Valen—”

“Linus.” Ezra’s voice filtered in through my fogged brain.

“What?” Valen bit out, his glowing eyes still fixed on my face.

“It’s Lucas,” Ezra answered in a serious tone.

Ezra must have handed him a phone because Valen suddenly put one to his ear all of a sudden. He didn’t say anything for a while, but I was close enough to hear indistinct mutterings from the other end of the line.

“Get Meredith there. I’m on my way,” Valen said before stowing the phone away.

His eyes never once wavered from mine during the exchange, and when he stepped away from me, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“I’ll have Fritz take her back to the Pack House and sit on her until we sort this out,” Ezra announced.

Wait, what?

“What? Who’s taking me back to the Pack House? Why aren’t you taking me, Valen? Sort what out? What happened?”

I knew that whatever it was had to be serious since Ezra had lost that affable air about him.

No one answered my questions.

Surprise, surprise.

“Valen—”

“You,” he interrupted coldly, “will do as you’re told and stay still until I return.”