5. Ronyn

5

RONYN

I pointed to one of my lieutenants. “Mac! Grab a team and go do one more wood run! I want to make sure we can keep this fire going through the night!”

“Merida! Make sure we’ve got enough potions for hangovers and accidents!”

“Riley! Go see Dom about the menu for tonight! It’s nightfall and I don’t have it yet!”

Goddamn it, I loved the summer solstice. It signaled the start of hunting season for the adults, after the pups train all spring. That’s when the real hunting beings. Races to see who could bring back their fresh kill first. Medals for competitions that would run all the way through the peak summer months. Spring was for training and shaking off the dust, but summer was for those ready to make hunting the name of their game.

I fucking love a good hunt.

I heard my men at work, rushing around me and helping out wherever they could. I smelled the campfire growing, with Dom throwing more wood onto it as meats and cheeses and fruits entered their final preparation stages. I heard men and women of all shapes and sizes laughing and telling jokes while they plucked fresh vegetables from our home gardens and filled our kegs with rich, luscious wine. Courtesy of Merida, the head of our healers.

I licked my lips at the thought of it.

God, she made some good wine. And after the pack was flushed with it, one of these women would be mine.

Until morning, at least.

“Well, if it isn’t the strongest, handsomest young man of the pack.”

I grumbled at the sound of my mother’s voice.

“Why don’t you turn around so your mother can get a good look at you.”

The snickers and muted giggles of the pack of children who always surrounded my mother for story time only served to add to my annoyance.

“Mom,” I said as I slowly turned around, “we’re sort of in the middle of the last preparations for the summer solstice.”

She swatted my arm playfully. “Don’t you think I know that, Ronybug?”

A few of the kids laughed harder, and I had to shoot them a look to get them to shut up.

“Sorry, general,” one of the kids murmured.

“Oh, come on, they’re just having a bit of fun,” Mom said with that signature ignorant smile of hers.

I nodded toward the fire. “Then, take them over there to have more fun. Food’s almost up, and the music will kick off shortly after.”

“Are you still gonna tell us that story, Miss Shirley?” another one of the kids asked as she tugged on Mom’s shirt.

“You mean, Ronybug’s favorite bedtime story about the sun and the moon?” Mom asked.

I rolled my eyes. “So, that’s why you came over.”

“What?” she asked as she swatted me again. “Can’t a mother come and dote on her baby boy every once in a while?”

The kids were damn near pissing themselves at that point. “I’m forty-five, Mom.”

She smiled up at me. “And as young and as spry as I’ve ever seen you.”

I shook my head before I bent down and kissed the top of her head. “Love you, Mom.”

She kissed my cheek right back. “Sure you don’t wanna come listen? I know it’s your favorite story.”

I couldn’t help but allow my lips to crook into a grin as I stood back up. “I’m sure. Make it a good one for them, okay?”

She nodded before she held out her arms. “All right, boys and girls! Who’s up for a love story between the sun and the moon?”

Then, she reached out to me in groupthink. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find the sun to your moon soon enough, Ronybug.

Well hello there, Miss Shirley, Dom said in that dumbass voice of his.

Can it, Dom, I said curtly.

Mom giggled. Oh, don’t mind him, Dom. He’s mad that he can’t come listen to the story of the sun and the moon.

One of my absolute favorites, Dom said. You really are the best orator in the pack, Miss Shirley.

No, that’s my favorite, I said flatly.

He was right, though. Despite the fact that Dom enjoyed hitting on every single fucking woman in the pack just to see them smile, he had a point. My mother was easily one of the best orators our pack had ever had. There was nothing that she forgot. It was as if her shifter power actually remembered everything, verbatim, bit by bit. Except, it wasn’t. That was simply how her brain worked.

Her shifter power, however, was light manipulation. And as she approached the fire with all of the kids, I watched in awe as balls of white light shot from her fingertips. I watched with awe, just like I always did as a little boy at her side, as the balls floated to the edge of our compound and hovered there, surrounding us in light for our celebration.

I always loved the bright light contrasted against a dark sky.

As I watched my mother sit near the massive bonfire with the children of the pack gathered at her feet, I couldn’t help but be proud. My father was killed in cold blood during a vicious attack on our compound when I was only a child. He fought valiantly and risked his own life to save Mom and me. It was a sacrifice I’d never forget as long as I lived.

And it was a sacrifice I pledged daily to my pack to ensure their safety.

“Ronyn!”

I heard Dom call out for me as the wind kicked up. “Ronyn! Do we have that wind sheet anywhere for the fire!?”

I drew in a deep breath of the fresh air that whizzed beneath my nostrils.

“General! We’ve got people approaching!”

My back sizzled with the air I drew in and I pushed it out quickly, just to do it again.

“Ronyn?” Dom asked as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged off his touch. “Stop.”

“Ronyn, do you know where that sheet is?”

Mate. “Go fucking find it yourself.”

Dom scoffed. “You sure you don’t need a nap or something?”

“General!”

I snarled as the wind kicked up again with that scent. “Whatever it is, get it yourself!”

Mate.

Every time the wind blew toward me, that scent filled my nostrils. It harnessed my muscles and pulled me away from the celebration. Inch by inch. Foot by foot. Until I knew nothing but that smell.

That decadent, thick smell.

“Ronybug!” Mom called out. “Everything all right!?”

“I’m fine!” I barked back as I continued toward the woods.

That smell. I had to find it. I had to backtrack its source. There’s no way. There was no way in hell that?—

Mate.

The hairs on my arms stood on end. The wind encircled around me, as if swirling like a fucking tornado. It drenched me in that smell. In its floral power and entrancing musk. Gone was the fire. Gone was the pack. Gone was Dom and his asinine questions and gone was my mother and that incessant nickname that I’d never be able to get her to fucking drop. I knew nothing but that scent. And as I approached the backyard of the last house, I saw a group of shadows breach the edge of the compound.

But, the only person I recognized was Voss.

“Here,” he said as he walked up and dropped a coyote carcass into my arms, “the boys are right behind me with more.”

I nodded mindlessly. “And they are?”

He took a quick peek over his shoulder. “Makeshift pack. Found them about ten miles out, in the meadow.”

I furrowed my brow. “A makeshift pack?”

“Yep,” Voss said as he patted my shoulder and walked by. “Hey, Dom! Where’s all that freezer space you’ve been bitching about?”

One by one, a bunch of shifters of all shapes, sizes, and ages that I didn’t recognize followed Voss out of the woods. Our boys came in tow as well, shifting into their human forms and carrying more coyote carcasses.

“Here, take this,” I murmured as I dropped the carcass in my hands onto one of the boy’s backs.

“Yeah,” he grunted as he shifted the weight around, “no problem, General.”

Then, it happened. My heart stopped in my chest. My eyesight shifted into a focus I’d never experienced before. I saw the wisps of wind in the air, trailing along the tendrils of her wild curls as she exited the darkness. The wind kicked up one last time, sending my mouth salivating with a need to taste her. I heard each blade of grass her precious little feet trampled. I saw the peach fuzz against her primed features, swaying in the breeze that teased me.

She was alive.

She existed.

And she was right there.

I smelled her womanhood. I heard her heart beating wildly in my eardrums. It thudded with a vengeance, threatening to drown out my own body’s sounds as I stood there, waiting for her to lock eyes with mine and run straight into my arms. It was a moment I dreamed about all my life. That one day, my mate would sense me and come running. Tearing through the woods, covered in blood, sweat, and tears. And right there, bringing up the rear with what looked like a cut-up deer carcass on her back… was my mate.

Holy fucking hell, my mate was real.

My wolf’s hair prickled beneath my skin, threatening to pierce right through. I curled up my fists and kept control of myself as she tossed me a nonchalant look.

“Just passing through, excuse me,” she said breathlessly.

Breathless.

My fucking mate was hauling meat and breathless.

“I got it,” I said as I took the carcass from her.

She whipped around, trying to remove the carcass from my reach. “I said, I’ve got it.”

It didn’t matter, though. No mate of mine was going to sweat over a dead animal. So, I reached over her, heaved the deer off her back and over my shoulder, then held my hand out for the bag she was carrying. “Now, I’ve got it.”

She scoffed and tossed the bag over her shoulder before walking away from me, and god dammit, I wanted to grab her hair and yank her right back to my side. She was a feisty one. She clearly enjoyed doing things for herself. It made me smirk, if I’m honest.

I couldn’t stand a whiny, weak-willed woman.

I curled my fingers into my free fist in an attempt to keep myself under control. I couldn’t wolf out. I couldn’t drag her back to my room and chain her to my bedpost. I had to keep control of myself, at least until the celebration was over. But fucking hell, she was right there. Flesh and blood. Curves and wild, curly hair. Eyes of yellow dancing with the flames of the fire as she dropped her purse next to the rest of the food that still had yet to be over an open flame.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“Well, the boys are no worse for wear,” Voss said as he came up next to me and took the deer carcass from off my shoulder, “and I think they’ve learned their lesson in how important tracking is.”

I tried to keep up with what Alpha was saying. “You remember what it was like. Pounce first, ask later.”

He chuckled as he slapped my back. “Well, I just informed Dom about our guests for the celebration.”

I watched her turn to face me, her head tilting off to the side. “How long will they be here?”

Voss shrugged as he walked away from me. “Long as they need. They damn near got mauled by a bunch of coyotes tonight, so?—”

I leapt in front of Voss and stopped him in his tracks. “Coyotes? A pack? Was anyone hurt?”

Voss raked his stare down my body. “Yeah, a pack. No, everyone’s fine. I was there.”

I turned back around and found that the woman was no longer there. Where the fuck did she go?

Where was my mate?

“So,” the woman said as she popped up behind us, “what are we celebrating?”

Voss and I turned at the same time. Holy hell, she was fast.

“Ronyn,” Voss said as he put on his very best Alpha voice, “why don’t you show their Alpha here where the women are preparing the food?”

She’s a what? I asked flatly.

You heard me right, Voss said.

“Yes, I’m their Alpha,” the woman said flatly, “and if you’ll point me to the wine, instead, that would be much appreciated. I smell it.”

I chuckled as I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Goddamn it, she had a fire inside of her. But, she also heard our groupthink, especially now that she was my mate.

We’d have to be careful about that from now on.

“So, you don’t talk much, either?” she asked.

I peered over at Voss, who had a very self-satisfying smile on his face. What the hell crawled up his asshole and tickled his nutsack?

“A finger point? A grunt? A general direction? Anything?” she asked.

“Alpha?” a small voice asked, pulling my attention down to her side. “Is there any water here? I’m really thirsty.”

The woman took the little girl’s hand in hers. “Like I said, if one of you could use your words just this once to point us in the direction of drinks, that would be lovely.”

I quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Voss. You said you found them in the meadow not too far from here?

He shot me a quick look. Yep. Ten miles north.

And who the hell are they again?

Beats me.

“Come on,” the woman said as she moved the young pup away from us, “I’m sure we can use our noses and deductive skills to find us some running water, yeah?”

“Yeah!” the little girl exclaimed.

I cleared my throat and pointed. “There’s a bubbling stream of water where you can wash up, drink, and get ready for the celebration that’ll start in about an hour. We wait until full nightfall before we make one last prowl around the area to make sure we’re safe for the night.”

Her eyes followed my pointing. “Across the way, through those two trees?”

I nodded as I lowered my hand. “No more than a few hundred feet from us. I’m sure there are others there washing up as well. You’ll be fine using it.”

My mate scooped the little girl into her arms. “Thank you for using more words than Mr. Naked over there.”

Voss beamed with pride, and I wanted to rip his fucking throat out. “Mister what?”

An ear-piercing whistle was the only thing that stopped me from lunging at Voss. Who the fuck did he think he was, being naked and in his human form around my goddamn mate?

“Everyone from my pack, follow me! We’ve got fresh water to use to clean up and drink!”

And as all of the children from her pack, as well as a few of the adults, fell in line behind her, Voss piped up beside me.

“I’ll bring you a nice chug of wine while you’re out there!”

“Over my dead fucking body,” I growled.

“What?” Voss asked.

I shook my head as I watched my mate disappear into the woods with her pack. “Nothing.”

“Better have been nothing,” Voss warned as he pulled away from me.

But, there was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. Something that didn’t sit right. Watching her walk away was torture. Feeling her scent leave me left me with an ache in my chest that I couldn’t fill. Yet, she walked away from me like it was nothing?

How the hell could she shrug me off as her mate when my entire world had come to a grinding halt?