Wanted by the Wolves

J A S O N ′ S P O V :

“Oh, hello Jason dear. We were wondering why you didn’t come home from school at the normal time. What happened?” My mom said as she sat down with my dad in the family dining room. They both looked up expectantly up at me, waiting to hear my explanation.

I sat down in my usual seat and began to dig in on my steak before replying. “Well, I think I found my mate... but I’m confused.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful son, who is she? When can we meet her?” My dad is very enthusiastic about the idea of me finally finding my Luna and taking his position.

“I’m confused on that. The other day, I was at school when I smelled this amazing scent...” I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face at this part “...and I looked around. I saw this human girl who had blonde and purple hair with blue eyes, and our eyes just, connected. I could only see her. At first I thought she was my mate... but then Evelyn touched my arm and ... and sparks erupted. But it didn’t feel completing and fulfilling like you had said it would...”

My parents both frowned at this. “Well, um, that sure is strange, I haven’t heard that one before...”

“Are you sure you saw that human, you could have just been spacing off when Evelyn was looking at you, that’s why you felt that way...”

“That’s not the weirdest part though. I went to Martha earlier today, you know the local witch, and that is a totally different story.”

At the mention of Martha, my dad became perplexed. “Martha? Why, I haven’t spoken to her in quite some time...”

“I wanted to see if for some reason she had given a rogue a masking spray to keep us from finding them easily. She gave me some strange answers, and also is the aunt of that human girl. I got mad when she told me that the rogue meant no harm, she obviously knows something we don’t. When I got angry, Ethan took over, so I ran into the woods and shifted.

“Anyway as I was walking through the woods, a random gray and brown wolf ran right past me. I was positive it was a rogue, so I followed it. For some reason, Ethan told me that it could be the answer. Some of the patrol wolves, Ryder, Caleb and I cornered it by that lake out there. It hid behind a rock and came out in clothes. It was a girl, about 17, and she had a bob of red hair and vibrant green eyes. I questioned her on why she was here, and that was when Ethan claimed she was our mate.

“It wasn’t like that encounter with Evelyn though. I felt a sense of pure bliss, and I felt like the meaning in my life had been met. I ran towards her, and when my hand came in contact with her cheek, sparks like I’ve never felt before exploded.” I frowned slightly, remembering how instead of looking happy like I was, she looked slightly uncertain. Had she not been affected by the mate connection? Or had she chosen to ignore whatever pull she felt towards me?

“Then she ran. I was so shocked, as well as everyone else, that we weren’t able to catch her before she left the property. I decided it was best to leave her to figure out whatever she needed to. She was more likely to come back that way without me on her tail chasing her.”

My parents both looked at each other with wide eyes. “Well, I haven’t you had an interesting week. We need to talk to something about that mate connection, I have never heard anything like that before. Ever. And I know just who.”

I felt my eyebrows furrowing together as I asked, “Who? What are you talking about dad?”

“Why, that witch Martha of course.”

“Martha- I’m not going back to see her! I have to figure out is going on fast so that if I have to I can head out to go find that rogue!” My parents and I all winced when that name left my lips. “Okay, so maybe calling her rogue isn’t the best idea.”

So now I was heading out to go speak to Martha, that crazy old witch that was sure to tell us some random explanation this time.

When we arrived on her property, we found her scurrying around her house, as if she was searching for something. This time it was only me and my father - we had assured everyone that we would be fine and that Martha was perfectly safe.

Upon seeing our arrival, Martha came out to greet us on her driveway. “Hello Jason, I see you brought Carl with you. How are you, Carl?” She leaned in to hug him tightly, which he returned, chuckling slightly.

“How ya' doing, Martha? I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“Well, sorry the house is a mess, but please do come in to sit down. I still have the cookies and lemonade from earlier.”

We entered the house to find it in a disarray. “Martha, are you doing okay? What happened?”

“Oh, Kara’s been out awfully long, you know and I just wanted to see if she left me a note.”

“Kara, as in the human girl?” My dad asked me over mind link. I nodded. To think of it, I hadn’t seen Kara since earlier today. Looking at the clock perched above Martha’s pantry, I found it was already 7 o’clock.

My dad noticed the same thing. “Oh Martha, we are terribly sorry to disturb you at this hour, but...”

Martha immediately waved it off. “It’s quite alright, really. Now, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?” The look in her eyes told me she already knew, but she was waiting for us to confirm.

“The mate situation, it's gotten me all confused,” I admitted, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

“Oh, yes of course. You are stuck in quite the predicament, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “So which one is my real mate? Is it Evelyn, Kara, or that rogue?”

Martha’s face quickly became clouded by confusion, but just as quickly as it came, it went blank. “Rogue, what rogue?”

As I recounted the story, Martha seemed to calm down, and dare I say, relieved. Wait relieved? Relieved a rogue was somewhere on our territory? Was this the wanted wolf we had been after all along?

“Ah, that rogue. Yes, well...”

My dad came to the same conclusion and his eyes flashed black. “That rogue? You know of this rogue? Is this... is this the wanted rogue that has been hiding? Are they in our territory?”

To most people, they would collapse to their knees and beg for forgiveness from my father at the powerful tone of voice, but for Martha, she giggled. “That is more than one question, but the answers to them are I am not exactly sure.” She then proceeded to sit down in the armchair she was in earlier today. “Oh, and it depends on who you think is your mate, Jason. I can’t help you make that decision any more than your dad can. It’s up to you and Ethan now.”

Me and...Ethan? How did this crazy witch know about Ethan?! Yeah, she knew I have a wolf, but not his name, or at least I thought she didn’t...

“Oh, and if I were you, I would track down that rogue before she escapes too far. And if you see Kara at all, please send her in the direction of home. That would be wonderful. She went out for a walk earlier to clear her mind, and I think she may have gotten lost along the way.”

“Why did she have to clear her mind? Was it from our discussion earlier-?” Oh great, did I now make Kara, who could possibly be my mate, all distressed due to my carelessness?

“No, we had nothing to do with it. You see, her friend was quite distraught, so she took her to her room while we finished talking. She headed out into the woods not ten minutes after you wanted to blow off some steam.”

“Martha, do you think it’s possible Kara is a werewolf?” My dad asked, finally breaking the back and forth between the witch and me.

“Kara, oh heavens no. She isn’t a werewolf, I am positive of that.”

“But didn’t you say she left ten minutes after Jason here, and he encountered a rogue in that same amount of time?”

“But that rogue had red hair, dad. Kara has blonde hair with purple streaks.” Honestly, imagining Kara as a werewolf would be strange. What color would her wolf be, snow white with purple spots? And with her quiet personality, would her wolf be outgoing? Ugh, I need to get that human out of my head. She is confusing my thoughts, which is the last thing I need right now.

“Oh, well it could still be possible. Just got to figure out how..” That’s my dad for you. He always comes up with the answer and then tries to find out how he could get it with the current situation. It isn’t a surprise he wasn’t the greatest at math.

Martha laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about it Carl. Now if I were you, I would spend less time chitchatting and more time finding that rogue.”

“Of course, see you later Martha.” My dad gave her a hug and wave before we left. Just as we reached the cracked drive way, we both got a mind link.

“Alpha, future alpha. Rogue found on perimeter.”