Chapter 4

Ruby was stunned that the word mate came out of his mouth. Even though she daydreamed about this man for a while now and thought that he could be her possible mate, she did not truly think it would happen. It was too good to be true that she even found her mate this soon after she shifted into her wolf.

The Goddess knows what she is doing, Scarlett told her while panting at Tyson.

Tyson’s eyes never left hers. A shiver ran down her spine as if she could feel his soul reaching out to hers. With a blink, she could see his eyes shifting from brown to his wolf gold. Scarlett stood in place and waited for him to make a move, unsure if he was fighting himself with his eyes shifting back and forth. Tyson growled and Scarlett went to her belly in submission. Tyson smiled to let all his teeth show with his canines elongating slowly.

“A red wolf? Interesting. I did not know someone could end up with that color coat.” It seemed as though Tyson had to examine Scarlett again by walking in a complete circle around her. “I know no one in my pack with this coat. Shift,” Tyson commanded.

Scarlett had no choice, Tyson used an Alpha Command. Ruby was not sure why Tyson did not use the pack bonds to see if it was someone from the pack before him. If he thought she was a rogue, which it seemed he did with the pack comment, why was he so laid back since he was alone and far from the pack? A possible rogue in front of him, and he is not concerned that there were more nearby? He was an Alpha, after all. The rogues would love to take out an Alpha and take his place. With a nearby town full of them, it seemed odd that Tyson seemed too relaxed about this situation.

Is this what a mate bond does? Make you forget about safety procedures for your pack?

Since Ruby has only shifted a few times, it still took her a little longer. As she felt her bones sliding into their human places, a small howl escaped her throat from the pain. She hoped it would not take her long before it would become more instantaneous like other dominant wolves. Once the burning and pain stopped, Ruby stood before him completely naked.

Tyson smiled and had a hungry look within his eyes. “I had a feeling it was you.”

“You felt the bond forming to me over the last few months, too?” Ruby was hopeful.

He took a step closer to her as he nodded, “since the day you transferred to this pack.”

Tyson was a “if I want it, I will take it” kind of guy. The hungered look he was giving her made her heart race. Some wolves did not court their mate at all once the bond appeared. They would just claim their mate and mark them to make other males realize that they were not to touch their she-wolf. The mate mark is supposed to divert males for that reason, but some ignore it. Males weren’t the only ones. Unmated females would go after mated males in hopes that they would break the bond they have to mark them. This was more common practice with Chosen Mates. Fated Mates were the other half of the wolves’ soul, so it was a much stronger bond.

Then why didn’t he court me if he had felt the bond since I transferred here?

Before she could question it, Tyson raced over to her, closed the distance, grabbed her face, and slammed his mouth against hers. The kiss was possessive as he moved his hands from her face and into her hair. Ruby’s lips felt as if they were on fire from the tingles his lips produced against hers. His fingers left a burning trail as they left her hair and roamed along her body. A moan escaped her lips as he slowed the kiss down as if he wanted to savor it.

SNAP

A twig nearby crunched and caused Tyson to snarl. He whipped his head and body around to search for the cause of the noise. Ruby whimpered as the cold from his absence slammed into her naked body.

Tyson looked at her once again, “come with me.” He grabbed her hand and steered her to the waterfall.

The rocks below her feet cut into her skin as they walked along the bottom of the cliff. Ruby was confused as to why Tyson was leading her directly under the waterfall until Tyson reached the waterfall itself. Unless someone was looking for it, they would not have seen the small opening between the water and the cliff. Tyson’s larger form walked under the water as if it was not freezing. The moment the water touched Ruby’s skin goosebumps ran along her body, and the air she breathed in caught in her throat.

On the other side was a small cave. There were a few blankets, a cooler, and a small ring of large stones with ash in the middle of the circle. Tyson walked over to the blankets and laid one of them out. It was thick like a comforter, and the other looked like fleece. He looked at her and pointed to the blanket, so Ruby complied. Once she sat down on the comforter, she draped the fleece blanket around herself. Then he moved over to a pile of stick branches and set some into the ring. He had a handful of small, thin pieces that he placed underneath and lit them on fire with a lighter. There was a small fire after a few minutes, and he poked the branches with another until he was satisfied with the fire.

He turned toward her and the hungered look was within his eyes once more. Tyson stalked towards her like a predator towards its prey with his eyes locked onto hers. Ruby heard her heart beating in her ears, and her breathing became shallow as he approached her, slightly afraid of what would happen next. The moment that he stood before her, she kept her head slightly bowed, but her eyes looked up into his as his Alpha aura filled the cavern. As his mate, keeping his gaze would not entice Tyson’s wolf in a dominance battle. Though, now that she was in his stare and his eyes shifted from brown to his wolf’s, she second guessed that information. A pang of panic raced through her, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. Scarlett growled at Ruby for doing so.

We are his equal! Do not act as though you should fear him!

A growl reverberated against the stone walls. “Look at me.” His voice sounded rougher than usual. “You do not need to fear me.”

Ruby looked up at Tyson once more, this time lifting her chin to meet his gaze instead. Tyson lowered himself to his knees and placed his hands on both sides of her legs so he could be on her level. “Are you afraid of me?” he asked with a coy smile, but his voice remained rough.

With a deep breath to calm herself, Ruby was able to control her tone. “No,” she said with certainty.

“Good.”

Tyson captured her lips once more as his fingers entangled themselves into her hair. He lifted her slightly so she would be sitting on her knees as well. Ruby could feel the heat of his skin as their bodies were so close but not touching. His fingers left a trail of fire as they roamed from her hair to her shoulders and then down her back. Tyson’s touch was gentle, and Ruby could feel the bond within her pulsing a warmth through her that she did not expect. No one had explained how the bond could heighten the emotions between the mates during this moment. It made her wrap her arms around him tighter as if she could not get close enough to him. When she did, Ruby felt a rumble inside of his chest.

I could listen to that sound all day.

Then his hands cupped her ass and pulled her into him. Instinctively, her legs wrapped around his hips, and she could feel his hardness against her. He took this as a cue and lowered her onto the blanket. Ruby allowed her hands to roam and felt the tautness of his muscles under them. She pressed her nails slightly into his skin, and she felt his gasp as he stopped their kiss and then smiled. Tyson then softly grazed the curve of her chin with his lips until it reached her ear and then down to her neck. She felt him stop over the spot where she would bear his mark, and her breath got stuck in her throat. When he continued, he began kissing her body with light scrapes of his teeth, and she almost whimpered from him not sinking his canines into her skin to claim her. She felt his mouth around her breast, and it sent a shiver down her body. He flicked his tongue against her nipple as she felt a finger circle around her clit. She moaned and Tyson let out a small chuckle as he quickened his pace. Ruby moaned again as she felt pressure build within her. Just when Tyson’s movements had her on the brink of an orgasm, he stopped. Ruby growled at him.

“Did you like that?” his wolf’s golden eyes, glistening with mischief as he teased her.

“Mmm” was the only sound she could make as she caught her angered breath.

“Want me to do that again?”

“Yes.”

Tyson retracted his finger slightly, “I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes!”

Tyson removed his finger entirely, causing Ruby to growl once more. When she felt Tyson’s knee push her legs open slightly more, and then his hard cock at her entrance, Ruby felt a little whiplash from the sudden escalation. Without any further gentleness, Tyson slammed himself inside of her to the hilt. Ruby winced as she felt her walls stretch quickly and almost asked him to stop. Tyson moved his hips back, nearly leaving her, and then forward again with the same roughness again. Before she could protest, he moved himself back and forth with a quicker pace. Within seconds Tyson found a groove, and Ruby felt an orgasm begin to coil as he did. A groan escaped her lips when Tyson maneuvered his hips slightly higher than before, causing him to plunge deeper inside of her. Ruby pulled herself up and entangled her fingers into his hair to bring his lips to hers. Ruby noticed Tyson’s eyes were now his usual chocolate brown as he moved his face to not allow the kiss and buried his head into her neck.

Weird. She thought to herself.

She was not able to continue her thought as her body tightened around him, and waves of pleasure washed over her. Ruby moved her hips against him to increase the pleasure for him, but he moved his hands to keep her in place. When her orgasm subsided, Tyson yanked himself out of her and flipped her onto her stomach, his hands still on her hips pulling them up until he was satisfied. She felt his knee push her legs open again, and then he pushed his cock inside of her.

“Aren’t you a little slut? So willing to let me dominate your body.”

Wait… what?

Tyson’s pace remained fast as he crashed his hips against her. She could hear his skin slapping against her as he continued to call her a slut. When she opened her mouth to tell him to stop calling her that, pleasure coiled inside of her as he was once again in the spot that caused the orgasm before. His cock twitched and Ruby knew Tyson was going to feel his own release soon. That was the moment he pulled himself out of her once again. Ruby thought it was to flip her on her back once more and mark her as he met his own climax, but that is not what happened. Ruby moved slightly to see what Tyson was doing as she felt his absence and witnessed him hunched over stroking himself as his seed spilled onto the cave floor.

“What the hell? Why did you stop?” she asked him.

Tyson straightened himself, his brown eyes glaring at her. “Like I would allow myself to come inside of you.”

“What?” Ruby said, more confused than before.

“You are not worthy to bear my pup or to be my mate. I just had an itch that needed to be scratched.”

Ruby snarled at him, “you are going to reject me, but decided to use me first?!”

Tyson pulled his shorts back onto him as he stood up. “Yeah. You couldn’t even save yourself for your mate. Why would I consider you to be worthy of me, worthy to be my queen, when you couldn’t even be bothered to save yourself knowing you would be promised to someone?”

“You have got to be shitting me! No one knows if they will even meet their mate during their lifetime. It is not customary for the female to save herself for her mate!”

“Doesn’t matter. You are a female from an Alpha line. Every wolf knows that the Alpha line finds their mates so they can rule their packs! You should have known you would find your mate and saved yourself for him. Instead you allowed another to defile your body.”

“That is some misogynistic bullshit excuse. Why don’t you just man up, and say you just don’t want a mate that could actually challenge you for your position.”

Tyson scoffed at her as he walked toward the entrance. “Yeah, like you could defeat me in a challenge.”

Ruby snarled again as she stormed off after him. He had already walked out of the cave by the time she got there. When she got to the other side of the falls, she saw that Tyson had shifted into his wolf. The white and gray wolf looked back at Ruby, and his golden eyes looked sad. When he trotted off on the path that led back to the pack house, Ruby let out a scream from the rage that was boiling inside of her.

That is the mate the Goddess gave us?! What kind of shit is that?! she screamed to Scarlett.

I want a better answer. Go after him.

Ruby didn’t hesitate. She allowed Scarlett to take over, and the shift came faster than it had earlier. Scarlett raced after Tyson through the forest. She managed to catch him just as his paws walked onto the beach. Scarlett let out a growl and charged at him. When she was just behind him, Scarlett leapt into the air and onto his back. Tyson’s wolf fell to the ground, but then rolled, so she would fall off him. Tyson shifted back into his human form with a snarl as he pushed out his Alpha aura.

“You dare attack your Alpha?! Of course a slutty bitch like you couldn’t handle that I just wanted a fuck out of you. This is why you will never be my She-Alpha.”

Scarlett let out a small, painful howl at his words. Before Ruby could shift into her human form, she heard Tyson’s voice within her mind as he shouted a command through mindlink.

Ruby Gardner is banned from the West Coast pack! Kill her on sight as she is a traitor to the pack. She committed the crime of an unwarranted attack on her Alpha! I, Tyson Barons, renounce her position with the West Coast pack!

Ruby felt the pack bonds snap inside of her. Scarlett let out another howl of pain. When Tyson’s hand flew toward her snout, Scarlett crouched down to the sand to evade it, then turned her body toward the forest and ran. She heard two sets of paws pounding into the ground behind her, so she picked up her speed. Scarlett ran down a path that not even Ruby knew existed. There were large roots and fallen trees that interrupted the path that she had to leap over. The terrain suddenly shifted to where Scarlett had to make quick turns. Ruby had no idea where they were within minutes of the chase’s beginning.

Just before a clearing, one of the wolves managed to leap onto her back, causing her to crash to the ground. It sunk its teeth into her shoulder and ripped it open as it threw its head to its side. Scarlett rolled the wolf off her and quickly turned her head in time to be just under its neck as it went toward her throat. Scarlett wrapped her jaw around its neck and clamped down hard until she felt her canines hit bone. Just like this wolf, she threw her head to the side to slice open a large enough gash that she was sure it would not heal from the damage. The wolf yelped but tried to move toward her to continue its fight. Scarlett moved to its flank and ripped that open too just as the other wolf barreled into her.

Scarlett got onto her feet and lowered her head at this wolf. She recognized him as a warrior of the pack. It was not one she knew the name of, but she would know his brown coat anywhere. He was one of Tyson’s top wolves, and someone she would have a hard time beating if she wasn’t careful.

The wolf snapped its jaws at her as a warning, attempting to make her yield and just accept her fate. Scarlett bared her teeth at the wolf instead. The wolf lunged, and Scarlett jumped aside just in time for him to connect to the same shoulder the previous wolf opened. He managed to bite her, but only got a tuft of fur when he broke away. Scarlett got her jaws around his back leg and clamped down to shatter it. He let out a howl of pain, and kept it to his body as he jumped at her again. His teeth tore open her side, and she felt herself weaken from the blood loss.

We have to think of something, quick!

I got an idea.

The wolf thought he had won and moved slowly toward her. Scarlett laid on her side with shallow breathing. Just as the wolf stood over her, his snout pointing at her neck so he could be ready to strike when he wanted to, Scarlett made her move. She turned toward the wolf and bit into his neck. Scarlett thrashed her neck side to side violently as her teeth opened his neck. Blood poured into her mouth as the wolf’s legs kicked out furiously, attempting to gain footing to get himself out of this hold. Scarlett continued until the wolf’s movements stopped entirely.

Blood coated her shoulder and fell from her side. Scarlett slowly trotted toward the clearing, hoping that it led to somewhere where she could rest. Her vision went blurry as she felt her feet carry her until she collapsed.

Ruby heard mumblings from someone she did not know just as everything went black.