Chapter Two

Roan "I don't have time for a wanna-be family get-together, Dad. Jacob sniffed out a rogue on the west side of the grounds. I need to go figure it out." The look of disappointment his father gave him settled heavily into his gut. Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, and yet his father's stern look still made him feel like a thirteen-year-old kid. "Son, she's called her daughter down from the city to come—" Roan gave him a deadpan look. "Her daughter doesn't live in the pack with her?" His dad sighed and swiped his palm down his face. "No, Roan. She moved out and went to college. She is mateless, and moved on with a boy she met there." Roan had strong disapproval of wolves who abandoned the pack that raised them. To each their own, but it showed a lack of character in his eyes. If they met their mate, and they were from another pack, fine. Whatever. But leaving just because didn't sit right with him. Roan leaned his elbows against his desk and eyed the door behind his father's head. Jacob would come through the door at any moment to see where their alpha was hiding. "After I handle this rogue, I will come by for a little bit," Roan said. Roan didn't mind his father finding someone. His mother abandoned the pack at an early age and left Roan and his brother with their father. Pushing his fingers into his sandy brown hair, he controlled his irritation. "Thank you, son," his dad said. His salt-n-pepper hair was combed neatly to the side, and his clothes were ironed nicely. He liked this woman, and Roan was happy for him. Roan had met her a few times before. She was pretty, with red hair and a funny personality. Standing up, Roan walked toward the door to meet Jacob. When it flung open, Jacob, his stalky beta, looked pissed. Roan didn't blame him—he was late. "I'm coming," he said, shoving past Jacob. "Have the others caught the rogue, or did they just sniff him out?" Jacob hurried to catch up. "They were chasing him." He wasn't as tall as Roan, and his legs were shorter. "What did your dad want?" "Wants me to come to dinner with him and his new lady friend. She is bringing her daughter from the city. I told him I'd stop by after, not that I care to meet a she wolf that abandons her pack." Jacob chuckled. "Dude, drop that 16th-century crap—" Roan's wolf growled, and Jacob respected it with a slight bow. "Sorry, but you know what I mean." He pointed toward the edge of the field. "It looks like they've caught someone." Roan raced toward the two wolves holding a rogue captive. The rogue looked feral, with wide brown eyes and a snarl that mimicked a demon. "What do we have here," he asked. "You lost?" He spat. "Does it look like I'm lost?" "Actually," Jacob started, "I think it looks like you've wandered onto the wrong side of the river. Why are you here? You know this is our territory. There is no way you didn't smell it." His feral smile returned. Roan didn't like the look of him. "Put him in the dungeon. Then have the others search the grounds in case he has any friends." The rogue laughed. "You have no idea, do you?" Roan stopped as he was turning to leave, and glanced over his shoulder. "Idea about what?" "You will. You'll know soon enough." The wolves exchanged glances, while Roan felt something tug at his chest. He pressed his fist against it and tried to rub the tingle away. Then it touched the base of his neck and traveled down his back. It woke his wolf, who'd been bored with the rogue situation. That smell. It was the smell, the only smell he'd care about for the rest of his life. It was her. Roan turned fully away from the rogue and stared out at the field. There was no one in sight. He didn't know of anyone new that was coming to pack land, because everyone had to be approved first. Wait. She was bringing her daughter from the city. "Oh, my goddess," Roan mumbled. "What is it?" Jacob asked, looking out at the empty field. "What do you see?" Roan pointed blindly behind him. "Take him to the dungeon. I'll be down to check on him in a bit." He rushed toward his father's two-story house on pack land, ignoring Jacob's call from behind him. Roan's wolf howled and turned excited circles. When Roan turned twenty-five and hadn't yet found his mate, he'd stopped hoping. Most mates were found before the twenty-first birthday. Roan's jeans were covered in dirt by the time he made it to the small road that linked the pack houses together in their small community. He didn't care. Samantha's car sat in the driveway next to his dad's pickup. The scent of his mate hit him hard in the stomach, nearly knocking him onto his ass. The feeling of losing control began to numb his movements. He needed to get to her. Shoving open his childhood home's front door, he stalked into the kitchen, his body humming with adrenaline. His father stood from the kitchen table. "Son, did you break the door—" "Where is she?" he growled, his fingers curling into tight fists beside him. His dad glanced at the empty spot at the table. There was no food on the plates, which meant they were waiting on him to start dinner. "Where is she!" he screamed when no one answered. Samantha cleared her throat. "She left. Uh, your scent scared her. Are you two mates?" His scent scared her. "Scared her? Her fated mate's scent scared her? What in the hell does that mean?" "Calm down, son," his father said. "She's seeing someone in the city—" The alpha inside of him broke free, and his wolf pushed through the veil that separated the two. Roan shifted in the dining room, crashing into the banister of the stairs next to him. "Dammit, Roan," his father mumbled. "Not again."