Chapter 4
I was waiting for Toby in the quad after finishing myst final exam when the scent of cedar and rain
reached me. Our mate is near! My wolf yipped in my mind. Panic and desire began to war within me as
my eyes scanned the empty quad. I knew Barb had spoken to Alpha Tristan yesterday, but that didn’t
change the fact that I was still a rogue with Alpha blood. I screamed when a hand grabbed my
shoulder.
“Shit Hannah, I think you burst my eardrums!” Toby eximed.
“You scared me, Toby!” I scolded, my heart still hammering in my chest.
Toby moved to put his arm around me and was suddenly mmed against the building.
“MINE!” snarled the man holding Toby with his elbow pressed against his throat.
Even with a murderous look on his face, he was gorgeous. I couldn’t help but rake my eyes over him,
taking in his muscr form and shaggy, jet ck hair. His scent was intoxicating. I wanted to mark him
right there in the open. Get a grip Hannah! I scolded myself, shaking my head to try and clear my
thoughts. Toby’s face was turning purple from theck of oxygen.
“Let him go asshole!” I heard myself say.
I watched the muscles in his back tense momentarily before he released Toby. He looked at me, his
eyes a mixture of confusion, anger, and hurt, before leaving as quickly as he hade.
“What the fuck was that about?” Toby choked out, rubbing his throat.
“I don’t know Tob.” I lied. “We should get back to the orphanage. We have a graduation party to n
and we should probably see if Barb has a line on any furniture for your new apartment.”
Toby and I walked home in silence. Neither of us wanted to talk about anything other than the incident
at school, but I couldn’t give Toby any answers. We weren’t supposed to tell humans about us, unless
we mated to them, and Toby wasn’t my mate. When we walked in, the receptionist called for Toby to
sign in, he had technically moved out the day before and didn’t live in the orphanage anymore. I was
waiting for him to retrieve his visitor pass when Barb grabbed my arm and led me to her office.
“I’ve received a call from Alpha Bruce today.” She said, closing the door behind her. “Alpha Tristan
wants a meeting with my pack, about you.”
“But I’m not a member of Silver Moon pack yet. I still have almost a month until I’m not a ward of the
state and can join!” I eximed.
“I know.” She shushed me. “When Alpha Tristan called yesterday, I told him as much. Since you intend
to join our pack when you age out of the system, he has decided to approach our Alpha as if you were
already a member.”
I sat in stunned silence. I would have expected Alpha Tristan to want to reject me since I was a rogue.
The incident at schoolbined with him reaching out to the Alpha of my intended pack was beginning
to suggest otherwise. My heart sped up as I let myself hope that I wasn’t jumping to the wrong
conclusion.
“Alpha Bruce didn’t divulge Alpha Tristan’s intentions.” Barb cautioned, answering my unspoken
question. “All he would say is that I am to take you to the pack house this evening.”
I nodded as Barb led me to the door, advising me to dress nicely before I left. I headed to my room,
hoping that Toby would be there to distract me until visiting hours were over. I was relieved to find him
lounging on my bed, skimming through a magazine.
“What did Barb want?” He asked when I entered the room.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you yesterday, she offered me a position here as caregiver once I turn eighteen. She
wanted to go over a few details with me.” It wasn’t totally a lie, she had offered me the job, but I
couldn’t tell Toby what today’s conversation had really been about.
Toby jumped off the bed and grabbed me in a congrattory hug. He knew I had been stressing about
what would happen to me after my birthday. I gently pulled away and picked up the magazine he had
been reading when I came in. I chuckled when I realized he had been looking through a furniture
catalogue.
We spent the next few hours figuring out how to create a budget online and picking out his dream
pieces of furniture. He couldn’t afford most of them, but it still felt good to fantasize about owning them.
I felt a twinge of jealousy. I didn’t have to worry about a job or ce to live anymore, but I also wasn’t
going to be decorating my own ce any time soon.
When the announcement ending visiting hours came across the pa system, Toby gathered up his newly
printed budget and a few print offs of furniture he could actually afford before heading out. As soon as
he shut the door behind him, I flew to my closet. I had a meeting with two Alphas, and I had to find
something to wear. I tore threw my clothing, tossing things on the floor as I searched for the perfect
outfit. Nothing I had seemed appropriate and I was about to have a break down when Barb entered the
room.
“I thought you might have this problem.” She chuckled, looking at the clothes tossed everywhere. “I
brought you something to wear.”
She handed me a light floral print dress. It wasn’t fancy by any means, it looked more like something
someone would wear to work at an office. I gave her a quick hug and ran to my bathroom to change.
The dress entuated all of my curves without making me look overly sexy. I looked like an attractive
young intern as I threw my hair into a high pony and applied light makeup. I wasn’t sure how I was
supposed to look for a meeting with alphas, but if this was what Barb felt was appropriate, it would do.
“ts!” Barb said, handing me my shoes as I exited the bathroom. “You look lovely.”
I sped my hands tightly in myp as Barb pulled up to the pack house. The ce was huge. It
looked like an upscale, rustic hotel from the outside, which wasn’t helping my nerves. Some of the pack
new me from my previous meetings with Alpha Bruce while trying to find a way for me to join before I
was eighteen. This evening was different though, I knew Alphas didn’t travel alone, so there would be
wolves who didn’t know me aside from my scent as a rogue.
“It’s going to be fine.” Barb soothed, squeezing my hand gently as she pulled into a parking space.
I was grateful for herfort, but it did little to calm my nerves. My stomach was in knots and my
hands trembled as I exited the car. The few yards to the pack house entrance felt like a death march. I
took a deep breath to steady myself as Barb led me through the crowded house to Bruce’s office. While
the wolves who knew me smiled as I passed, the few I saw that were clearly Iron Hide pack eyed me
suspiciously.
“Ah, there you are! Come in,e in. You too Barb, after all you’re Hannah’s guardian at the
orphanage. You will be acting in the stead of her parents.” Bruce called as we neared his office.
My senses were overwhelmed as we took our seats. I had smelled him when we entered the pack
house, but in the close confines of the office, cedar and rain were all I could scent. Not even Barb’s
usual perfume could break through the smell of him. I risk a nce at him and saw his jaw tighten
when I took the seat furthest away from him. I was struggling to keep my wits about me already, I
needed Barb as a buffer.
Bruce cleared his throat, pulling Alpha Tristan’s eyes from me. I felt myself blush, knowing I was the
cause of the awkwardness, even if nobody else seemed to notice. The other wolves in the room were
acting like an alpha staring down some girl like he could eat her was business as usual. It made me
realize just how little I really knew about being a wolf and it made me miss my parents. Caught up in a
sudden wave of grief, I didn’t notice I was being spoken too until I Barb gave me a gentle nudge.
“Sorry, can you repeat that?” I asked shyly.
“Have you been experiencing any symptoms of heat?” Bruce asked matter-of-factly.
My face turned red. I knew that female wolves went into heat a short time after finding their mates, but I
had no idea what the symptoms were. Even if I did, it seemed personal and not something to discuss
as a point of business in front of anyone else.
“She hasn’t.” Barb spoke up.
“Good. That means we won’t have that to contend with should you choose to reject her Tristan.”
My heart dropped. Maybe I had gotten my hopes up for nothing and this meeting really was about
officially rejecting me. Though, I still didn’t understand why a rejection would require a meeting. As far
as I knew, it only had to be spoken aloud between mates.
“I came for answers about her rogue status.” Tristan snarled. “I know from my previous phone call with
your Delta Female that she is an orphan. What I want to know is why and why she hasn’t been
epted into your pack if she is intended to join.”
I sat in silence as Bruce and Barb retold the story of how I hade to be in an orphanage. My story
was an unusual one and Tristan listened without interruption. My parents had both been alphas of
smaller packs, which they merged when they found each other as mates. Even with both packs as one,
our pack was smallpared to Iron Hide or Silver Moon. They told him that if I hadn’t been in the care
of humans when my pack was wiped out that I wouldn’t have been in the human system at all. They
had pulled enough strings in the government to ensure that I was ced in the orphanage under Barb’s
care, so that I would grow up with another wolf.
I snapped my head up hearing that. I hadn’t known that it was intentional me ending up with Barb.
Apparently, that was where Silver Moon pack’s power and influence ran out. They hadn’t been able to
get the state to let anyone from the pack to take me in or adopt me, which would have allowed me to
be initiated in as a child.
“We’ve done everything we can to keep her under our care and protection until she ages out of the
system.” Barb concluded.
“How old are you?” Tristan asked me gently.
“Seventeen. I’ll be eighteen next month, Alpha.”
“You can call me Tristan, Hannah. You are my mate. You will be my Luna.”
“You’re not rejecting me? I mean, you’re ok with me being a rogue?” I stammered.
“The Moon Goddess made you for me, and me for you. You are mine to protect.” He responded,
speaking as if no one else was in the room.
My wolf yipped with joy in my mind and my heart felt like it would burst from happiness. My mate
epted me. He wanted me.
“I will have Iron Hide packwyers draw up the paperwork for emancipation on Hannah’s behalf.”
Tristan informed Bruce. “I expect your Delta Female will cover for her at the orphanage until the
legalities are done.”
“Of course, as long as that it was Hannah desires. I expect your packwyers will be able to get the
emancipation through where we could not.” Bruce looked at me to confirm whether I wanted to go with
Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!
Tristan or not.
Before I could even consider what going with him meant, I found myself nodding my head. I had no
idea what being a mate, let alone a mate to an Alpha, would entail, but I knew I didn’t want to be away
from him. The longer I sat in the office surrounded by his scent, the harder it was bing for me to
keep from throwing myself on him in front of everyone.
“It’s settled than.” Tristan stated, grabbing my hand. “I will be taking leave with my mate now. Thank
you for humoring me with this meeting.”
Tristan led me by the hand, out of the room. I barely had a chance to wave goodbye to Barb before we
were out of the room. Feeling me tense as we walked into the main room of the pack house, Tristan
pulled me closer to him. The handful of wolves that had eyed me suspiciously when I first entered the
house fell in step behind us. Tristan’s eyes had zed over as he continued to lead me to the car. I
wondered if that meant he was linking his pack. I had never seen Barb do it to know what it looked like.
He smiled down at me as he helped me into the passenger seat of an expensive looking sports car and
in moments, we were off to start my new life with the Iron Hide pack.