Chapter 2

I've finally found my mate, I thought to myself, trying to fully comprehend the idea. I had accepted the fact that I would never have a mate years ago. Why was this being thrown on me when I didn't even want it anymore? And why was I allowing myself to take their help? My pack and I should be headed west in hopes of relieving ourselves of our wolves for a while, not following this territorial pack around.

Useless vampires.

A growl bubbled out of my throat as I realized that if it hadn't been for the fight with the newborn, the whole ordeal could have been avoided. "Something wrong, Tor?" David asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"No," I lied.

"Torian . . ." he chastised, seeing right through me.

"It's just we shouldn't be doing this," I admitted. "You guys should have just let me heal on my own."

"You would have just made it worse, Tor," Michael said.

"Nuh-uh," I argued.

"You're so immature," he said, barking out a laugh.

"Nuh-uh," I denied again.

"Yeah-huh."

"Whatever," I grumbled, restraining the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a five year old.

"What happened anyway?"

"A newborn." Another growl slipped past my teeth.

Up ahead, I heard Logan's feral snarl. David's head swiveled in that direction, but his attention almost immediately returned to me. "Why didn't you let us stay and help?" he asked.

"I thought it would be something easy. Like a bear," I replied with a shrug.

"Still should have let us help," Ashlyn threw in, a grim tone to her voice.

"Shut up, Ash."

"You wouldn't be injured now would you?" she retorted with a bitter laugh.

"Ashlyn . . ." I warned, trailing off.

"Torian, face it," she snapped, turning to look me dead in the eyes. "If you weren't so stubborn you wouldn't get hurt half as much as you do. Now we've had to accept help from outside our own pack because I'm pretty sure your leg is broken."

Trying to contain the growl of irritation that wanted to spill out, I turned to stare blankly in the opposite direction. "Didn't want his help anyway," I muttered.

"I can hear you, you know," Logan called from his position ahead of us.

"Don't care," I responded, placing my head between Michael's shoulders.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Someone please shut him up before I do," I grumbled.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes as she faced forward. But I had seen the look in her eyes and my whole body tensed. If I knew Ashlyn, she was up to something.

Sure enough, once Logan had torn his gaze away from me she trotted silently past his pack, who all stared at her, and then pounced on Logan. They fell to the ground and he snarled at her. She shook her head and stepped on his muzzle. Slowly wagging her tail, she turned to me. "How's that, Tor?" she asked, a playful edge to her voice.

"Control your pack, ma vie," Logan spat.

"Were you talking to me?" I asked as my eyebrows knitted together. Ma vie? What did that mean?

"Yes," he replied.

"Then what did you just call me?"

"Ma vie."

"And that means?" I ground out, annoyance with him mounting by the minute.

"Guess you'll never know," he said with a shrug – even though Ashlyn was still holding him to the ground.

"Tell me," I demanded, halfway tempted to use my Alpha voice even though I knew it would be useless against him.

"Call off your dog and I will," he told me, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice. Once I connected gazes with Ashlyn, she sighed but removed her paw from Logan's snout all the same. "It's in French," he said as he stood and shook out his midnight black coat.

"That's not telling me what it means!"

"Guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own then, ma vie."

Anger seeped into my veins as we continued moving. Now not only did I have to sort this whole mate business out, but I had to figure out what his pet name meant too? Shaking my head, I caught sight of a town up ahead. "Welcome to Riverview," Logan called to us as he broke into a sprint with his pack close behind him.

"Does he really expect me to be able to carry you while I'm running?" Michael growled as the territorial pack vanished from our sight.

"Mike?" I asked as an idea came to mind. "You love me right?"

"What do you want?" he asked, apprehension creeping into his voice as he tensed up beneath me.

"Turn around and run as fast as you can in the opposite direction."

"You're impossible," he grunted as he faced back the way we had come.

"Don't you dare listen to her," David said as both he and Ashlyn stepped into Michael's path. "She needs help."

"And if we don't make sure she gets it now, she's just going to make it worse," Ashlyn added.

"You've been overruled, Tor," Michael informed me as he turned back to Riverview.

But I didn't want help, and I didn't want a mate. Being tied down to one place was not high on my list of things to accomplish, and that was all that having a mate would do. From what I had gathered of Logan so far he would insist on me staying with him and joining his pack. That task alone would be next to impossible. The Alpha blood that ran in my veins had been embraced, and I wasn't too keen on giving it up. It was who I was.

Once we arrived in the center of the town, my eyes found Logan. He looked annoyed and I couldn't help but to take a bitter satisfaction in his irritation. "Took you long enough," he bit out as his eyes raked over my pack and finally settled on me.

"They weren't just going to leave Michael and me behind," I said.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"She's on my back," Michael spoke up, and I could almost feel him rolling his eyes. "If I would have run she could have fallen off and made her injury worse."

The timber wolf from his pack snickered. "Nice going, Logan," she teased.

"Be quiet, Rikki," Logan ordered, an Alpha tone ringing clear in his voice.

She glared at him, looking like she wanted to tell him off. Unfortunately, under her Alpha's command she was silenced. "Seriously?" I asked, appalled at his misuse of authority.

"What did I do now?" he asked, confusion pinching his brows together.

"You just used an Alpha command for something as petty as that?" I sneered. "I feel so sorry for your pack."

He snarled as his emerald eyes met mine. "I'm really going to have to teach you some manners," he said.

"You can try," I taunted.

"You've got yourself a challenge, ma vie."

"Stop calling me that," I snapped.

"I don't think I will," he said. "Now shift back."

"No," I told him as a threatening snarl ripped its way out of my throat. Shifting in front of my own pack was acceptable because I had gotten used to it, but there was no way I was going to allow the three men in Logan's pack to see me naked.

"Why not?" he asked, confusion lacing his tone.

"You can have my shirt, Tor," David said before I could even respond. With that said Michael turned around and walked back towards the woods.

"Thanks, Dave," I said, breathing a sigh of relief as understanding dawned across Logan's face.

"Anytime," he replied as we disappeared into the dense thicket that surrounded the town.

With that we all shifted. The boys automatically reached down and untied the clothes that they kept tied around their ankles. Ashlyn and I really needed to take a page out of the boys' book. But then again, a t-shirt and shorts didn't hinder running as much as a t-shirt, shorts, underwear, and a bra would. David tossed me his shirt as Michael gave Ashlyn his, breaking me out of my wayward thoughts. Ashlyn and I slipped the boys' oversized t-shirts over our heads at the same time that they pulled on their shorts.

A sigh slipped out of my mouth as I stretched, making sure not to put too much pressure on my leg. I was actually relieved to be on two legs again. Shaking my head, I ran my fingers through my mocha hair and tried to pull a few of the tangles out. Ashlyn grinned when I faced her. "Good to be back," she said, her ocean blue eyes catching the sunlight.

"Couldn't have said it any better," I told her.

Michael walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Did I ever tell you how good you look in my shirt?" he asked her before spinning her around and planting a kiss on her lips.

"Ew!" I cried, jumping lightly to David and slapping a hand over my eyes. "PDA!"

Laughter erupted around me and David hugged me tightly. "You're ridiculous," he told me as he spun me around.

"Right back at you," I said, ruffling his chestnut hair. Growling playfully at me, he let it fall right back into his eyes and placed me on my feet.

Once I hit the ground I had to bite back a scream of agony at the shooting pain that ripped through my left leg. In replacement I let out a small whimper followed by a string of profanities. David held my shoulders to steady me and raised an eyebrow. "Definitely broken," I ground out, glancing down at my leg.

"I'm so sorry, Tor!" he exclaimed as his eyes widened. Within seconds he had swept me up into his arms.

"Its fine, Dave," I said, playfully hitting his shoulder. He grinned and began walking, and a knot formed in my stomach. What was I going to do? I knew that David and Ashlyn would never let me leave Riverview until I was healed, but what would they do if they found out Logan was my mate? Would they fight me to stay? Or would they agree with me that I didn't need him and let me leave? So many questions were swirling around in my brain that I started to develop a headache.

The sound of voices carried to me and I glanced to where we had left Logan and his pack. My entire body froze as I took in the boy – okay, man – that could only be Logan. His dark brown hair curled slightly over his forehead, leading directly to a set of piercing emerald eyes that were focused solely on me. The slight stubble that adorned his chin gave him a ruggedly handsome look, and it was all I could do to force my eyes to move on. Like David and Michael, he wore only a pair of shorts giving me a full view of his sculpted chest – I swear, male physique was in the shifter genes. Even in the way he stood, he was the very image of authority.

An Alpha through and through.

The silence surrounding us was deafening and all eyes were on me. Almost more than anything else, I hated being the center of attention. An odd aversion for a leader, but nothing about my being Alpha was normal. I curled farther in to David's chest. He could sense my discomfort and he gave me a reassuring squeeze. Looking up into his eyes, I could feel myself calm down. Having been together for so long – literally speaking – it was nothing for him to calm me down. Hell, half the time he was the only one that could.

Logan broke me out of my thoughts. His arms extended to David, an obvious request for him to hand me over. David was starting to comply, and I glared up at him before tugging on his hair. "No," I stated, my voice cutting through the silence. "I'm staying right here."

"Ma vie, come on," Logan said, rolling his eyes as he reached for me again. This time when he was within range, I smacked his hand. He snapped it back and shook it to relieve the pain. "Damnit, Torian."

David chuckled and began to hand me over to Logan again. "Don't you dare," I snarled at my best friend.

"C'mon, Tor," he said on a sigh. "He's not going to bite you."

"He's not touching me," I replied, my voice firm. "I'd much rather just cut my leg off." I didn't know where all the hostility was coming from, but I was willing to bet it had something to do with the fact that my leg was broken. At least that's what I was blaming it on.

Logan's growl echoed around the square and then I was ripped from David's arms. Shrieking in defiance, I struggled to break free of Logan's iron grip without letting the shirt ride up my thighs. Unfortunately, the task was impossible. "You're just going to injure yourself more, ma vie." Logan's breath washed across my neck as he whispered in my ear.

"I don't care," I said acidly, still struggling.

His hold tightened even more as he carried me further and further away from my pack. "Torian," he said my name sternly, yet softly and my body stilled against my will. He chuckled, the sound was deep and rich and I could feel myself relaxing into him. Stupid shifter hormone. My gaze lowered to the ground as I jutted my lower lip out into a petulant pout. "Look at me, ma vie," he cooed. Biting my lip, I refused to look up. I didn't want a mate and I wasn't going to allow myself to fall under this arrogant Alpha's spell. Logan leant down and nuzzled my neck. "C'mon. Look at me, Torian."

Sighing, I relented and met his piercing eyes. "What do you want?" I asked, trying to control my voice and ignore the fact that I could feel his bare chest against me.

His eyes sparkled as his lips curled into a smirk. Finally realizing we had come to a stop I looked around the room we were in. It could only be his. The walls were a simple dark blue and the carpet was cream. A king sized bed held up residence on the right wall and a desk in the corner held a computer. Two doors besides the one we came in lead to what I was guessing to be a bathroom and a closet. My scrutiny of the room was interrupted as Logan laid me down on the bed and positioned himself above me, careful not to hit my leg. "You," he said in a voice as soft as velvet, slowly lowering himself onto me.

Sitting up, I shoved him away from me. "Too bad," I said.

"You do know you're my mate, right?" he asked with irritation clear in his voice.

"Of course I know. That doesn't mean you have any control over me, or that I have to accept it."

He looked taken aback. Dumbfounded. "Why wouldn't you want to?"

I started to pick myself up from the bed, but Logan gently pushed me back down. "I don't see how that's any of your concern," I growled.

"Obviously, since you are my mate, it automatically becomes my concern."

As I tried to get up again, Logan just pinned me to the bed with his weight. He had my wrists securely in his grip as he hovered over me. "Let me go," I said in a low voice. The feeling of being helpless was not one that I ever entertained.

"Torian, your leg is broken. The town doctor is on his way here now to set it so it will heal faster," he murmured as he leveled a concerned look at me.

Irritation finally won out and I kicked him in his family jewels with my good leg. He curled into a ball with a groan as I shoved him onto the floor. "I still don't see why I have to stay here with you," I muttered while doing my best to stand. Erecting myself into a suitable standing position, I started to hobble towards the door. Faster than I thought possible he was up and in front of me, blocking my escape.

"You're staying here with me because we are mated," he stated, his voice fierce. "Don't you want that? Don't you want your mate?" he asked, searching my face. When I made no move to answer, he sighed and changed the subject. "I'm sure because of your leg you'll be on bed rest for a few days, but then you can move around again." His voice had morphed into soft and soothing, but it wasn't doing anything for me at the moment. I was too riled up.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself and control my temper. "I obviously don't give a damn that we're mated, but fine. I'll allow the doctor to do whatever he needs." I fell back on the bed and swung my legs up, wincing when my broken one knocked into the footboard. "Can you do me one favor though?" I asked, trying – and probably failing – to make my voice sound sweet.

Logan raised his eyebrows at me. "What's that?"

"Clothes," I said. The fact that I was only in a long t-shirt while I was alone in a room with him was unnerving.

Sighing again, he disappeared inside the closet for a minute before returning with a pair of shorts. "They're the smallest ones I have, they'll have to do," he said, tossing them to me and then turning his back to me so I could put them on.

Blinking uncertainly at his back, I shook my head. I hadn't expected him to be so courteous about me getting dressed. "Thank you," I said as I pulled the shorts on. Relieved to be somewhat fully dressed, I sagged back against the pillows. "I'm gone the minute I fully recover," I grumbled under my breath.

A smile twisted his lip as he came over and sat next to me. The death glare that I aimed at him gave him the good sense to scoot a few inches away. "We'll see," he murmured cryptically, relaxing back against the headboard.

Unease twisted my stomach. I didn't trust that smile for the life of me.

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-KC