Denied by Destiny: Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond

- Jace -

Josie, Knox, Jaxon and I all make our way over to the pack gates.noveldrama

The pack was in celebration mode but it doesn't stop the new alphas from wanting to check the security of the pack. When it comes to the safety of the pack, you never truly switch off.

Being an alpha isn't a job, it's a an all encompassing lifestyle until the day you die. Even when you pass the torch on, as Mum has now done, I doubt she'll ever truly switch off.

Who would be at the gates that hadn't pre-arranged their visit, and even more concerningly...why did they give the guards the slip.

Who were they, and what were they doing here.

Spies?

Had the White Moon pack heard of the death of the White Wolf's sister, had they sent someone to spy on this pack, to feed back information...

I could sense Jaxon was thinking the same. Why else would they suddenly disappear.

As we reach the guards on the gates, Josie and Knox move closer towards them, wanting key information that could help identify the stranger probably now circling the borders for a weakness.

A sigh escapes me, I can see now that Mum was right to improve the security details here. That she put the necessary measures in place not because she wanted to, but because she had to.

"A male, alone...apparently." Knox grunts out as he and Josie walk back towards

us.

"You think there are more?"

"If there are they are keeping far back. I can only feel one on the verge of the borders, not an army." Josie shrugs out, her eyes already bleeding out to the orangey red colour of her wolf's.

"You want us to split up and search past the borders?" Jaxon offers out.

"We'll take the North and West side..." Knox nods out in agreement, his hands pulling Josie closer towards him.

Pointless, because we were about to shift but I suppose having her close calms him. Something I finally now understand.

Even now, being apart from Cleo was affecting me in ways I never knew possible.

My body is cold without her by my side. I can feel the mate bond pulling me towards her, each step I take away from her I am moving against the grain, pushing through the pull which physically and mentally is harder than I could ever imagined.

I can see why now, once marked, to loose your mate would also mean the death of the one left behind.

Fuck, if I thought losing a sibling would be unfathomable...I wasn't prepared for ever thinking I would lose Cleo. Something...that would kill me instantly also.

"Fine, we'll take East and South. Watch your backs, and keep my sister safe." Jaxon confirms out, rather authoritatively.

"I know how to protect my mate Jaxon..." Knox growls out, his eyes flashing a caramel brown, just as he shifts into his wolf. Who makes the mistake of snapping at Jaxon's human form, only for him to shift, to snarl back at Knox.

"Knock it off, both of you." Josie growls out as she starts running through the gates, knowing Knox will be forced to break his conflict with our brother to follow her.

"Come on..." I sigh out to Jaxon just before my own wolf surges forward, taking control of the shift.

My bones crack as I am pushed back, the air around me shimmering, my wolf coming forward. He

stretches his back out, his paws net

pushing into the ground beneath him as he lets the sandy soilspread into his touch senses.

He may not be the alpha here, but he will still die protecting these lands. Especially with his mate and child in the central pack reservation.

He kicks off, following Jaxon through the long marsh grass out of the pack gates

where the land becomes more fertile, becomes more dense with trees.

He sniffs the air around him, searching for any hint of the person's identity that hasn't stayed to meet the new alphas.

Whoever it is, they are covering their tracks, carefully.

Jaxon's dissatisfaction vibrates through the triplet bond, he was getting pissed off the longer we searched. Until I hear him howl near by me, a sign that he has found something.