The Secret Wolf (Book One in the Tree Top Wolves Series) Read online

  "Go ahead,” Carly said gesturing over to me.

  He punched me.  I think most people would call it a right hook, and it would have been good in a boxing ring and if I want the opponent.  I swear he could have knocked out teeth if he had aimed higher, instead I felt my jaw slacken.  I was pretty sure that it was broken.  But he didn’t stop there, he bent down and slammed his fist into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and for a moment I couldn't breathe.  Then just for good measure, as he put it, he punched me in the eye.  I could already feel it swelling up.  I could only imagine how I looked.

  I didn’t cry out however, because I knew that’s exactly what they wanted.  They wanted to hear my pain and they wanted me to beg to be let go.  I knew that Nick would come for me though and I held onto that hope, it was just the timing that I needed to worry about.

  "Nick will come for me,” I told them.

  Max laughed.  "I can take him."

  "He won't get to you in time anyway,” Carly said.  "You'll be dead long before then.  I will then be the one to comfort him when he finds you dead at the bottom of the cliff, and then I will mate him and become Alpha female."

  So that’s what this was about, I thought.  She didn’t love Nick; she just wants the power that came with mating him.  Nick would never fall for it though.  You don’t know that though, my inner voice said.  What a time for it to come back!  I watched as Carly took hold of a knife and walked over to me.  I sent out a pray asking for God to take care of Nick when I was gone, to give him the love and happiness that he deserves.

  She walked over to me and put the knife to my throat.  Just then there was a snarl and a black wolf flew towards her, Carly screamed and was pinned under the wolf.  I watched as he looked into her face and dragged his claws down the front of her body, digging them in as deep as they would go.  Blood splattered everywhere and I knew that in a few moments she would be dead, nothing could stop the blood from flowing out of her.

  "Watch out!" I screamed.

  It was too late however, the black wolf didn’t see the grey one sneaking up on him before he was pushed so hard that he stumbled and fell over the side of the cliff.  I screamed out calling Nick's name, thinking that he was the one who saved me.

  ****

  I heard Alysha scream my name and put on a burst of speed.  When I got back to the house we wasted no time and went out searching for her.  My father called all of the wolves that were in the pack house at the time and we left to search for her.  I couldn’t think about where she would go, or who would want to hurt her.

  I could feel Alysha's mind slightly, it was strange because she wasn’t part of the pack yet, so I shouldn’t have been able to.  I was being drawn into her, the next thing I knew I was looking out through her eyes.  I knew exactly where they were, they were at the cliff.  I watched as Carly and Max hit her, I could feel the pain that she felt and my wolf whined.  My anger grew and I knew that I wanted to be the one that tore them limb from limb.  No one hurt my mate and got away with it.  No one!

  I returned to my own head and told the pack members where they were and what was happening.  I whined when I sent the image to them of what I had seen.  My dad and Chris growled and ran faster; my dad was the fastest runner in the pack so soon he was out of sight to us.  I wanted to be the one that got there first but I knew that he was the only chance she had of being saved.  I could already feel that something was going to happen soon.  I could see the image of a knife in Alysha's mind.

  ****

  Wolves burst through the trees and I noticed Nick straight away, he took in the scene and then was on Max.  There were snarls and growls as they fought.  I couldn’t take my eye off them, yes I did say eye, I could only see through the one because the other was swollen shut.  Thanks to Max.

  I heard a whimper and knew that Nick had been hurt, but then he was on top of the brown wolf and digging his teeth into his throat.  Max's head flopped to the side as blood squirted over Nick's snout.  He dropped the wolf and came over to me, nuzzling my neck.  He phased and took the knife that Carly dropped and cut the rope that held me to the tree.

  He pulled me into his lap.  "Where's my dad?" he asked just as a scream was let out.

  I turned to watch helplessly as Nick's mom looked over the cliff at her dead mate.  She cried out again and I felt tears stream down my face.  I knew now that it wasn't Nick that saved me, it was his dad.  I watched my dad phase and go over to her to keep her from falling off the edge.  She beat against his chest before breaking down in his arms.

  "I'm sorry Nick.  So, so sorry.  I tried to warn him but it was too late.  He saved me."  I choked up.  "I…I …thought it was you,” I stuttered around the lump in my throat.

  Nick looked down at me as tears slid down his face.  He cupped my face kissing me before ripping some of his top and wrapping it around my neck.  I didn’t realise that it was bleeding before I reached up and my hand was covered in blood when I pulled it away.

  "It's fine,” he said, but it clearly wasn’t.  "He knew what he was doing.  I'm just glad that you're alive."  He got up pulling me with him and then picking me up.

  I watched as everyone phased and howled out of respect for their dead Alpha.  I wanted to do it as well, after all he did save my life but I was too injured.  They then circled around Nick and bowed their heads in submission.  I felt him straighten his back and stand tall, showing that he was accepting their submission, their acceptance of him as Alpha.  I watched as Nick's mom did the same and I knew that I would do anything I could to help her stay on her feet.

  It had been a week since I had been taken, a week since Nick's dad was killed and a week since my first change.  After Carly was killed Jess told everyone that Carly was also the hunter and that she had shot Sasha so that she would be able to get me alone.  She also said that Max was Carly’s true mate and that he would have done anything for her and she took advantage of that, she also blocked out her feelings for him because she thought that he wasn’t worthy of her love.

  Nick's mom went to stay with her old pack for a while to see her sister.  She couldn’t look at me still and it made me sad to think that I was partly the cause of her sorrow.  Nick told me that I wasn’t, but I didn’t believe him.  My half sister had gone back to her pack with Carl the day that I had turned but my father was staying so that he could be there when I told my mom that I was a wolf.

  Maddi and Nick were coping without their father; Nick was always busy however with Alpha things so I didn’t see him as much as I wanted to.  Maddi and I took over cooking duty and I found out that she knew exactly what she was doing.  Nick had stayed by my side constantly when I went to the pack hospital for a few days after.  He was glad that I was ok, but I knew he would mourn his father when no one was around.

  I took him to the lake as soon as I could get out of the hospital and I told him that it was ok to cry in front of me.  He then burst out crying and I held him while he did, trying to do everything in my power to comfort him.  At the funeral he said that his dad was a hero and that he saved his mate.  He also said that he hoped to be just as good an Alpha and to carry on his legacy.  I was so proud of him and we went to his grave all the days after, he would talk to his father telling him about his day and I would watch him and be there for him afterwards.

  My father said that he would carry out the mating ceremony for us because we needed an Alpha to do it.  I was glad that he would be there, but I wanted my mom to be there as well.  And that’s why we were sat in the living room waiting for her to come home.

  When I heard the door unlock I held my breath waiting for my mom to round the corner.  When she did, she froze looking between me and my dad.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked, looking at my dad.

  "Well I was here with my daughter April, she was meant to mate with Nick.  However, on the first night there I met Alysha here.  Guess what she told me?" he asked.

  "I have no idea,”
she said, looking at me.

  "I told him that he was my father, then I told him the story that you told me,” I said, smiling sheepishly at her.

  "So guess who will be the new Alpha female of the pack here?" my dad said.

  My mom’s eyes widened.  "No,” she breathed out, taking a step back and putting her hand to her mouth.

  "It's what I want,” I told her.

  "But... but... how... you’ve changed?" she asked, as realisation dawned on her.

  "Yes.  Dad told me about the pills and I stopped taking them, I was already in love with Nick though."  I told her about what had happened over the past couple of weeks and she sat down, shock on her face all the way through it.

  "Oh my little girl!" she said, coming and hugging me when I told her about what had happened last week.

  I reassured her that I was fine and told her then that no matter what, I would mate Nick and that I wanted her to be there.

  "Of course I will, honey,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

  I felt like my parents needed to have a little chat so I walked out of the room, happy that I wasn’t lying to anyone anymore.  I was excited for my mating ceremony, I had picked out a lilac dress, it was beautiful and came to my knees with straps that crossed at my back.  I knew that I would keep my hair down during it and I had been given a butterfly comb from Nick's mom before she left.  I had hoped that she would be back by then, but she said that she wasn’t sure.

  I listened to the conversation between my parents pressed to my bedroom floor.

  "…would have mated you if you had stayed.  After you left I mated with Sally, we had April and then she died three years later.  I had hoped that you would have come back for me.  I still love you Lilly, even if you don’t feel the same,” I heard my dad say.

  "I love you too, Chris.  I never thought that you wanted me.  I thought your parents hated me and that they would do everything in their power to keep us apart."

  "They couldn’t force me to do anything.  It wasn’t my duty to mate with her, it was Jake's,”  my dad said.

  Jake was my uncle, my dad told me when he was telling me about his pack and his life.  Jake was meant to mate with Sally, but he ran away with his real mate two months before he was meant to be mated to her.  This made my dad the next target, it was why he was the Alpha now as well.  Jake was older but he ran so my father had to step up in his place.

  I put my ear back down to the floor and heard my dad say, "Come back with me?  We can get mated like we always wanted and you can take your rightful place by my side."

  "I can't just leave Alysha, Chris."

  "Sure you can, she will be mated to Nick in a week and I've met the boy and I trust him to keep her safe and out of trouble."

  I opened my door.  I couldn’t let my mum do this, she had always done her best for me and the least I could do was allow her this little piece of happiness.

  "Go!" I shouted and could hear their laughter.

  I walked downstairs with a grin on my face.  "You know you want to,” I sang.

  "Yeah, ok.  I'll go.” my mom said.

  My dad picked her up, swinging her around and then kissing her.

  "Ewww!  That's gross!  You could at least wait until I was out of the room,” I said, wrinkling my nose in mock disgust, trying to hide my smile.

  It has been two years since I got mated to Nick.  Two perfect years.  The ceremony was amazing thanks to my mom, she took charge of everything and Nick's mom helped her when she came back days before.  I can still remember it all as if it were yesterday.  Nick and Maddi were happy to see their mom; they kept her in a sandwich of children for most of the day, much to their amusement.  She seemed happier and was glad for the distraction of the mating.

  I still remember that day, the pack surrounding us and waiting patiently.  I knew that what they were really looking forward to was the food though.  Dan had picked me up in a bear hug before the ceremony telling me that Nick was a lucky guy and that he hoped his mate was just like me.  My dad had walked up the stairs then saying I looked beautiful.

  Both of our moms' had tears in their eyes when we completed the ceremony by kissing.  Afterwards I danced with Nick, who was a really good dancer and even made me look good.  My dad on the other hand was a very bad dancer.  We kept standing on each others feet, which my mom found amusing, we could hear her laughing by the refreshments table.  We had looked at each other and then both turned, poking our tongues out at her.

  Everyone had laughed at that and I couldn’t help but smile at the memory.  I was lucky that Nick's mom didn’t want me anywhere near the cleaning stuff or her kitchen, so I didn’t have to do the work that an Alpha female had to yet.  I knew one day that I would have to but luckily she wasn’t ready to leave us yet.  She joked that I would kill them all with my cooking before the day was over.

  I walked over to Nick's office and walked in without knocking.  He was on the phone, but I didn’t care.  I walked over and curled up on his lap listening to his voice vibrate in his chest.  He laid his hand on my slightly rounded stomach and kissed the top of my head before resuming his phone call.   I had never been this happy before, knowing that I had my mate and that my mom had hers was something that could make a girl happy.  My mom had moved to my dad’s shortly after my mating ceremony and I knew that they would be happy together.  We were planning a visit down next month for April and Carl's mating ceremony.

  Nick finished on the phone and looked down cupping my chin in his hand and tilting my head up.  He leaned down and kissed me softly and I sighed and nuzzled his neck where my bite mark was.  This was how life was meant to be, it was meant to be this perfect.

  "Mine," I whispered, my lips inches away from his.

  "Mine," he repeated before pressing his lips to mine.

  Book Two

 

  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.

  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 m
ost 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 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.