Forget Me Not (Book Two in the Tree Top Wolves Series)

Forget Me Not

  Stacey Card

  Copyright 2013 Stacey Card

  This is a work of fiction. Some of the places are real, but the characters are imaginary.

  For Chloe, Leah and Alysha.

  Who kept me smiling even when I was down.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  I awoke and bolted up in bed. Maddi was in danger! I had to get to my mate. I looked around the room and noticed that no one was around. I tugged the wires off myself and tried to climb out of bed, I say tried because in my haste to find Maddi, I got twisted up in the sheets and fell out of bed. Doctor Nelson came rushing in with Nick close behind.

  "Damn it, Dan! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Nick demanded, but his voice held no anger, just relief.

  "Maddi, in danger." I crocked through my dry throat. I remembered the last time I saw Maddi and the things that I had said to her. I wish I had done what my wolf had said and took her into my arms and told her how much I loved her, before going to Nick and telling him that I wanted to be her mate.

  Nick raised a brow before helping him back into bed. "Don't worry, Caleb will take care of her."

  I took a gulp of water from the near by glass. "No, he's the one that's going to cause her harm. We have to go before he hurts her." I went to move again and Nick put his arm on my shoulder to stop me.

  Chapter One

  I loved running, it was my favourite part of being a wolf. I ran every day, mostly at night though, I enjoyed the beauty that the night brought to the forest. I only hated one thing and unfortunately that thing was today. It was my birthday, and I hated it. I don't mind the presents, don't get me wrong, it's the attention that comes with it. I'm the type of girl that likes being invisible and left alone, I love to just curl up with a book in front of the fire. It doesn't happen much though, what with the pack coming in and out all of the time.

  Sometimes I just wish that I could be mated to someone so that I could have my own house. I didn't actually want to be mated to anyone, unless I was in love with that someone. It probably won't happen though, my brother will soon mate me off, just as he was going to be before he met Alysha. They've been mated for two years now and are as happy as can be, it can make you feel sick being around them for too long. Nick was over protective with her at the moment because she was in the final month of pregnancy.

  I was happy for them, I really was, but when I needed Nick the most he wasn't there for me. No one was. My mum had gone back to her old pack so that she could heal with them, she came back for Nick's mating ceremony and then left straight after, she didn't even talk to me. I haven't seen her since, she hasn't even wanted to speak to me on the phone when she rings Nick. I was left to morn my father by myself, people got over his death quickly, but I haven't. I will never get over it.

  I had gotten up early to avoid everyone, the pack knows how much I hate birthdays, but they still insist on throwing me a party every year. Their selfish really, it's just an excuse for them to get drunk and to party. They don't think about the effect it has on me, last years birthday was the hardest. It was my first birthday without my dad, Alysha's dad had turned up and I felt as if she was rubbing it in my face. After all it's her fault he's dead.

  This year I was sixteen, the year that most females get mated at. Nick has been giving me pitiful looks lately and I knew that he was up to something that I wouldn't like. It's not that I don't want to be mated, I do, it's just that I feel too young. I just want to morn and try and enjoy life at the moment, not picking out a white dress. Who am I kidding, I'm afraid. I'm afraid to be mated, I'm afraid to fall in love, I'm afraid of the whole thought. Hell, I haven't even kissed a boy, never mind actually being in a relationship with one.

  I ran to the edge of the cliff where my father died, they climbed down and got his body to burry, but I still felt closer to him here. I would sit here for hours and talk to him, telling him how much I miss him and telling him what's happening with the pack. I sat on the grass near the edge, the breeze blew my light brown hair out of my face.

  "Hi dad. Another birthday without you, more fake smiles to hand out. I wish you were here to see me, you promised that I'd have a car." Tears streamed down my face slowly. "Nick has something planned and I know that I won't like it, I have a feeling that I will be mated off soon. I won't be able to talk to you then though, so I won't do it."

  I closed my eyes and listened to my surroundings. How could a place that has seen so much death be so peaceful? I wiped the tears from my face and opened my eyes again, the sun was just starting to rise, it was so beautiful.

  "Nothing has been the same since you left, I don't feel part of the pack anymore. It's like Alysha has taken my place, mum will talk to her and she isn't even her daughter. It's like I'm invisible, I like it sometimes but I need them dad. I need my pack and they aren't there for me!" I could feel my anger rising, it always did when I thought about how I'd been treated. "I wish I had died that night too." I whispered.

  I got up and slowly looked down to the place where my dad fell, I knew it wasn't my time to leave, but I wanted too. Just one more little step and I would be down at the bottom of the cliff. I sighed and walked away from the edge.

  "I should probably go and face the music. How's my fake smile?" I asked. I smiled, but even to me it felt as through I was just bearing my teeth.

  I phased back into my wolf form, I was light brown, it was boring but beggars can't be choosers. I ran the path that was familiar to me, I could probably do it in my sleep. I was lost in thought and that's why I didn't hear the hunter pull the trigger, or the sound of the twigs and leaves crunching under his boots, until it was too late.

  I felt the bullet go into my back leg and I let out a howl of pain. I heard him get ready to shoot again, but this time I knew it was coming and moved behind a tree, dodging the bullet as it flew by. My back leg was burning with the pain from being hit, I knew that I couldn't heel without removing the bullet, but I couldn't phase until I had dealt with the hunter. The first rule about being a werewolf was to never, ever tell a human what we really were.

  I ran and could hear him trying to run behind me while reloading the gun. It was his first and last mistake, I circled back and he was too busy trying to catch up to me that he didn't see the attack coming. I jumped on his back, knowing it was safer than going for his side where he could twist the gun and let out a shot. My claws dug into his back and he screamed in pain, I dragged my claws through his back and he cried out. I knew that I should stop but I couldn't, I needed this.

  I needed someone to feel pain, like I have been for the past two years. I leaned down and opened my mouth so that his neck was in my mouth, I then bit down drawing blood. He was still alive however, but his life was fading quickly. The blood was flowing into his throat and drowning him, he tried gasping for oxygen but it just filled his lungs with his blood faster. Once he took his last breath I started walking back to the house.

  It was a painful walk because of the uneven ground, but when I got to the main house I knew that I would have preferred if he had hit his target and got my heart instead. I opened the door and limped in.
I shouldn't have phased back because it just made the injury worse, but if I hadn't no one would have found me. Dan was just coming down the stairs as I was closing the door.

  "Happy Birthday, princess!" He said.

  I hated him calling me princess, but he's called me it since birth and in a way I was a wolf princess and my brother was the king. I grunted in response. He did a double take then and rushed over to me.

  "What the hell happened to you?" He demanded, looking at my leg.

  He picked me up and carried me into the dining room, setting me on a chair, he called for Nick to get the doctor. We had our own special doctor because we heal faster than normal humans and we couldn't risk getting exposed.

  "Hunters." I replied, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

  Nick came into the room then with Alysha trailing behind him. She was wearing a dress and you could clearly see the massive bump that the baby had given her, she still managed to look beautiful though. They both stopped and I could see their faces transform from shock to worry, in a matter of seconds.

  "What the hell happened?" Nick asked, anger radiating off him.

  "Damn hunters, again." Dan replied before I could.

  "Wait, what do you mean again? This has happened before?" I asked confused.

  Nick, Alysha and Dan all looked at one another, as if deciding on letting her in on a secret or not. This was ridiculous, I had a right to know, I was pack and it had effected me. I should know what I'm up against.

  Finally Nick sighed. "It's nothing to worry about, we've just been having trouble. We found some traps the other day and we could smell that humans had been on the property."

  I was about to ask him to tell me more about it, because I could tell he was hiding something, but the doctor walked in. Doctor Nelson, was considered tall for a wolf, the females were mostly short but she was a tall lanky woman. She had a straight nose and would look over the rim of her glasses at you with her hawk like eyes. She had greying hair and had a no nonsense attitude.

  "What do we have here?" She asked while kneeling down and inspecting my leg. She turned to the men. "Will you please give us a moment so that I can clean the wound?"

  They looked at each other, none of them really wanted to leave but with grumbles they left the room. The doctor then told me to take off my jeans so she could have a clearer view of the wound. I complied and she used a medical tool to remove the bullet, she then used a damp towel to clean it, before wrapping it up in a bandaid. I wouldn't need it in an hour because I would be healed and back to normal. She left and I went up to my room to rest.

  Chapter Two

  I had hoped that the party would have been cancelled, but no. Nick came up and told me to get ready because he wasn't going to cancel something that meant so much to me. I swear he just doesn't get the fact that I hate birthdays. There's no point in them, at least when women get older they start to feel the same way.

  I knew that the only reason he was keeping it on was to impress Alysha, he hated disappointing her. He was also trying to mate his friends off with the single she wolves in the pack. Matchmaker Nick, laughing at the thought I pulled on jeans and a hoodie. I knew that if my mum was here she would be shaking her head, disappointed that I wasn't wearing a skin tight dress, but that just wasn't me. I guess that's why my brother would be lucky to mate me off to someone. In my pack I was considered one of the guys and I liked it that way. I'm not a damsel in distress and I could take on most of the male pack members and win.

  I groaned as I pulled open the door knowing that this was going to be the longest night of my life, if I hadn't have gotten shot I would have sneaked out half way through to go for a run. I knew now that that was out of the question. I loved my pack, really I did, but sometimes I just wanted to throttle them.

  "Happy Birthday!" I stepped through the door looking at all of the smiling faces of my pack, I knew I had a frown on my face, I just couldn't help it. The decorations were way over the top, pink and sparkly, bleh, I hated pink! I liked blue or green, not pink.

  I sighed disappointed, it would be nice to have at least one party that I didn't hate. If only they considered the things that I would have liked. I plastered a fake smile on my face and walked over to the buffet table. Finger sandwiches? Was this some kind of joke? Guess I would be making my own food on my birthday as well, I hated finger sandwiches. This birthday party was the complete opposite to the things that I liked.

  "Happy Birthday" A deep masculine voice said from behind me. I turned around not recognising the voice, the man was standing so close behind me that when I turned the drink that I was holding in my hand went all over him. The coke pored down the front of his bright white t-shirt, well it served him right for standing too close.

  Still I couldn't stop the flow of blood to my cheeks. "I...I..." I looked up and my mouth dropped open. Stood there was the sexiest man that I had ever seen before in my life. He had blond curly hair and brown eyes that were sparkling with humour. He had broad shoulders, but he looked gentle instead of rough and ready for a fight like all of my pack mates were.

  "Ah, I see you've met my little sister, Caleb. Maddi this is Caleb Monroe. He's the Alpha of the Western pack." I watched as Nick smiled down at me, he looked hopeful for some reason. Confused I turned and smiled sheepishly at Caleb and looked down at his stained top. Nick noticing my gaze looked down and his face turned to a look of horror.

  "Sorry." I said before Nick could say anything. "The stain will come out." I said smiling brightly at Caleb, adding under my breath, "I hope"

  He laughed and shook his head. "It's fine, it's not everyday you get a beauty drenching you in coke." I blushed, I couldn't help it, between those brown eyes looking intensely at me and the fact that he had called me a beauty. I had never been called a beauty, I was lucky if I got called pretty.

  I narrowed my eyes at him wondering what his intentions were. Nick noticing my look at Caleb, cast me a warning one. Don't even think about it, he said through the pack link, Caleb is a guest of mine and you will treat him with the utmost respect, got it? I nodded my head and looked away.

  Caleb looked between us and turned to Nick. "May I take your sister out for a run?" I gaped at him but jumped at the chance to go running, I looked up at Nick with pleading eyes. I wanted to get out of this pink, frilly princess party.

  He sighed. "Fine, but stay close. I don't want a repeat of earlier, although I think you will be safe with Caleb."

  I squealed and grabbed Caleb's hand before he or Nick could change their minds. I practically ran to the back door, dragging Caleb behind me. Once out in the night air I breathed in deeply. This is where I belong, in the forest not at some pink puffy party.

  "Eager to run, my dear?" Caleb asked raising a quizzical brow, a slight smile curving the corner of his mouth. His lips were plump and full, begging for me to kiss them, but I didn't dare. Realising he was waiting for an answer I looked down blushing before nodding my head.

  He threw his head back and laughed. He had a nice laugh, deep and rich. I smiled shyly at him before phasing and tackling him to the ground. Tugging lightly at his shirt, my wolf whined waiting for him to change. Instead he ran his hands through my fur, staring at me in wonder. "Beautiful." He whispered before changing.

  My wolf yipped and I turned and ran into the forest. I could hear him catching up and he started nipping at my heels, I yipped and put on a burst of speed. He was too fast and jumped tackling me to the ground, a dark grey wolf looked down on me as I struggled to get up. He leaned down and rubbed his neck against mine, inside I froze but my wolf loved the contact and rubbed up against him.

  I fought for control of my wolf but he was off running before I could rein her in. I followed but still felt cold inside, I had never had someone show any affection for me before, it felt weird. I was too lost in thought and didn't see the trap until I was being pushed to the ground, Caleb changed, his
eyes blazed with fury.

  "What the hell were you doing?" He raked his hand through his hair, like my brother and Dan done when they were frustrated with me.

  "I was thinking, I didn't smell the trap. I'm sorry." I looked him right in the eye, not lowering my head like I wanted too. He wasn't my Alpha, who did he think he is? If I wanted to walk into a trap, I would and no one would stop me.

  He shook his head. "Let's get back, everyone will be worried about you." He phased leaving no room for an argument. I followed suit and ran back to the main house. I knew he wasn't happy and I couldn't help but miss the fun side of him when he was in wolf form.

  I didn't see Caleb for the rest of the night and knew that I probably wouldn't see him again. I went up to my room feeling annoyed, he shouldn't effect me this much. I couldn't help but want to please him though, it was strange. I usually don't care what others think of me but Caleb was different, he noticed what my pack hasn't, that I hated birthdays. I had only known him five minuets and he had figured it out, what was wrong with my pack?

  I remembered the way Caleb rubbed the side of his face against mine. I couldn't help but wonder what his lips would feel like, would he be soft and gentle or would he be rough and hard? I sighed and rolled onto my stomach knowing that I had wrecked any chance that I would have had with him. I was so stupid.