The Forbidden Mate
Chapter Nine – Silver Wolf

Alex

I finally manage to get away without arousing too much suspicion. My father was fine, but Carl didn’t seem to buy my excuse. I can’t think about that at the moment, but I know I will have to deal with him soon.

I try not to run, my exit mustn’t look rushed. I move into the forest, I am sure that this is the direction she was taking, but I can’t replace any trace of her.

I hear the howl of a wolf; I am instantly transfixed. I am sure I don’t know this wolf. I have never heard them before, but I replace that I desperately need to know who it is. I shift into my wolf form, and head in the direction that the howl came from.

Whoever this wolf is, they are moving very quickly, because as fast as I am I struggle to keep up. We are deep into the forest now and I have been forced to slow my pace as the ground becomes more uneven and the trees are getting closer together. It is becoming more difficult to navigate.

We are getting near to the pack borders, and I know if they cross the border I will not be able to follow. With all the energy I can muster I make a final push to catch up with the wolf before it is too late.

Just as I reach the pack border, I catch sight of her. She is beautiful, with the most unusual and striking silver coloured fur. I have never seen a silver wolf before.

I howl, and she turns to look at me. Our eyes meet and I am mesmerised, but it only lasts for a moment, before she turns away and runs across the pack border.

I feel like I know her, but how can I, I have never seen a wolf like that before.

Katy

I run for hours, I cross the pack border as I run further and further, but I don’t care I want to get as far away as I can from this pack. I want to feel free and forget about everything. Even if I wanted to stop my wolf wouldn’t let me. She has finally been allowed to run, to take control and she want to enjoy it for as long as she can, to take in the sounds and scents of the forest.

At one point I notice that another wolf is following us, but somehow my wolf sees know that they are not a threat, and she doesn’t pick up the pace. She is content to let it follow us, as long as it doesn’t try to stop her.

When we reach the pack borders, I can feel it close behind me and it lets out a mournful howl. I turn back to look and see a large black alpha wolf. It looks like Alex’s wolf, but I don’t stop to check. It won’t be him he was far too busy at the party. I turn again and continue running.

Eventually my wolf stops, she has gone far enough and allows me to turn back. We make our way slowly past the pack border and towards home. Every step I take closer to home the more miserable I feel.

Going back means facing what Alex had done, my heart feels like it is being torn apart. The thought of his betrayal, and the expectation that he will now reject me, makes me want to break down and cry but if I do, I don’t think I will ever stop.

I need to replace a way to close my feelings off, because I know I won’t be able to cope with the torment of seeing him with another shewolf.

I need to get away. With my parents dead there is no longer much here for me and Emma.

The run tonight was reckless and dangerous. I had been seen and could have been caught. I wasn’t sure if there would be repercussions, would the wolf that had followed me report me?

I am fed up with concealing who I am. My wolf and I loved being free to run, we don’t want to hide. I don’t want to keep who I am from people anymore, but I know if I stay here, I will never be able to show my true self.

I had felt guilty about not telling Alex about my secret, I had come very close to doing so, but after the secrets he had been keeping from me and the way he had been behaving I realised that Mrs Graham was right to make me promise to tell no one.

I wonder if I was wrong to reject her offer to speak to her brother about me attending a human university. It might not be too bad for Emma if I was there to support her. I decide that I should speak to Miss Graham again. Alex couldn’t object this time he would be too busy with his new Luna.

Alex

I go to Katy’s house, but she doesn’t answer the door when I knock. The house is in darkness, and I am not sure if she is even there.

I resolve to speak to her tomorrow. I will come round during the day, I don’t care if I am seen, I need to explain to her what happened. If she won’t speak to me then I will have to take a risk and speak to her at work.

For now, though I am going visit my grandfather and tell him about the silver wolf, and ask what he thinks it means.

She wasn’t a rogue, she didn’t have the dirty coat, red eyes and terrible scent of a rogue, but she didn’t have the pack scent either.

He will better understand the significance.

………….

When I arrive at my grandfathers` it is three o’clock in the morning, but his lights are still on. I know that he rarely sleeps more than a couple of hours a night, so I had been hopeful that he would still be awake.

I knocked on his door and when he answered he gave me a curious look but says nothing as he let me in.

I suppose I must look terrible. My hair is a mess and I have some minor scratches on my face and arms from running so fast in the deepest parts of the forest. I had been so desperate to keep up with the silver wolf, that I hadn’t cared about being hit by branches as I ran.

My clothes which had been immaculate when I left the party were now crumpled and littered with mud stains from where I had thrown them to the ground in my haste to shift and replace the wolf. When I had returned and got dressed, I had not bothered to put my tie and jacket back on.

“Good party?” my grandfather asked me eventually.

“Not really, as you would expect” I reply. “I didn’t replace my mate.”

“How did you end up looking like this?” he asks.

I thought for a second before answering, trying to work out how much to tell him. I knew I was going to have to tell him about Katy very soon, but I needed to speak to her first and let her know what I planned to do.

“I got bored with the party and managed to slip away for some fresh air. Once I was outside, I heard the howl of a wolf that I had never heard before, and I was drawn to it. I needed to follow and replace out who it was, so I shifted quickly and ran into the forest.

“Did you replace the wolf?” he asked me, his interest now aroused.

“I managed to pick up her trail, but she was very fast, and I ran for a long time chasing her. We had reached the pack border by the time I first caught sight of her. She wasn’t a rogue, and she wasn’t a pack member. She had a beautiful silver coat. I only saw her for a moment before she ran across the pack border, but I had never seen a wolf like her before.

We didn’t encounter any of the pack patrols she managed to evade them. Who or what do you think she is?” I ask

“Silver wolves are very rare” he tells me. “There are so few left that I am not surprised that you did not recognise her for what she is. Silver wolves are only found among high-ranking wolves in the royal pack. The royals themselves were silver wolves. For this reason, they were targeted above all other wolves during the war. Very few survived, and those who did became very good at concealing who they were to evade attacks.”

“So you think that this wolf was a royal pack wolf?” I ask surprised.

“Yes, I cannot think of any other sensible explanation.”

“What would they be doing here? Royal pack wolves do not visit this pack, they are not welcome. Any communication we have with the pack is through me. I can’t see why Joseph would send a wolf and not tell me.”

He pauses before saying to me “they may not be known to Joseph. She could be a lone wolf cut off from the royal pack by the war, hiding from the Dark Moon Pack who would not hesitate to kill her if they found her Or she could be the one that we have been seeking.”

“The surviving royal?” I ask him.

“Yes, although if she is I cannot imagine how she has managed to keep herself hidden for so long. Unless she have only just arrived here” he says.

“There have been no new wolves invited to join or visit the pack. She could have come from one of our neighbouring packs and just by chance crossed our pack border, but if that was the case, I don’t know how one of the patrols did not spot her.”

“It is puzzling. I think we must try and replace as much as we can about this wolf, but keep the knowledge to ourselves. No one can replace out about her, if the wrong person was to hear she would be in danger” he warns me.

“I will only confide in Euan he will be able to help me track her. I will also let Joseph know.”

“Good, let us hope that you can solve the mystery soon. She may well need your protection. Being a silver wolf she will be in great danger” he says.