The New Wolf Ch. 04

Lucas backed up.

"I don't think I could ever touch another woman. If Marilyn so much as broke a nail, I would feel her pain and do whatever I could to stop it. You on the other hand had no problem fucking Roxy or hurting Clara. You were given a gift and you squandered it."

"This is your fault," Lucas said. "If you wouldn't have broken us apart when I first discovered her we would be together."

"Really? That's what you think? You would've raped her and maybe marked her against her will. Do you know what your life would be like then? You would have someone who hates you tied to you. You would have to treat her like a prisoner and live with what you did for the rest of your life. Does that sound appealing to you or fair to her?"

"I WOULD HAVE PROTECTED HER," Lucas screamed. "She would have learned to love me as much as I love her."

"Love? You think of her as property or a pet. One you kicked too many times that finally decided to bite back."

Lucas loud breathing was the only noise in the air. He watched as James took a seat on a bench.

"What are you going to do to me?" Lucas glanced at the bars and tried to force out the claustrophobic feeling that was setting in.

"I'm going to leave you here for a little while, you've had a bad night and no sleep. You need to clear your head."

"And then what?"

"If you're a good boy I will let you out." James stood up.

Lucas felt a tightness in his chest as James started towards the exit. The alpha paused and spun around, staring at Lucas with intense eyes.

"Take some time to sleep and think. Reflect on all your choices the past few months. Think about what is best for Clara and how you want to proceed with your life."

"I never wanted to give her up," Lucas said.

"Like I said, take some time and think on things." James turned back and walked out.

Lucas went over to the bench that served as the bed. With no other options he laid down. He would do exactly as his Alpha ordered, but the second he was out of this cage his number one priority would be making Clara his.

~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*

"We have three hours left on the trip and if you don't talk I'm going to fall asleep at the wheel." David's voice made Clara jump. She kept replaying all her attacks over in her head. Something was wrong with her.

"Tell me about yourself," David said.

"I'm the unluckiest person you've ever met."

"So your name is Clara, you have a masters in art restoration and a bachelor's in art history, you got lost in the woods and bit by a shifter. That is literally all I know."

Clara smiled, grateful he left out the details about the scary mate.

"I'm from New York City, an only child."

"Big city girl. What about your family?"

"Don't have any."

"Foster care?"

"My mom left when I was a baby and my dad died when I was sixteen. Instead of going into foster care I was emancipated. Then I waited tables putting myself through college and graduate school. I got my dream job at University of Wyoming and my first weekend out here got lost in the woods. I think you know the rest."

"Wow, you don't have the definition of easy life," David said. "I mean, that is some depressing stuff. I'm impressed you still get out of bed in the morning."

He turned and flashed a smile, causing Clara to let out a laugh.

"That's a fun sound. We like laughs back at the woods."

"Woods?" Clara asked.

"The nickname for our little slice of paradise. You will see it in a few hours."

"What about you? All I know if you went camping in the late eighties and were attacked then made you way up to Alpha."

"I'm an open book. I was in construction, never went to college, loved the outdoors and working with my hands. If I were human, I would be forty-seven. I was twenty when I got bit. I've been alpha for about six years now."

"What about your family?" Clara asked. She looked at his skin. She would've guessed him at late twenties, maybe thirty. She sort of liked the idea of aging that nicely.

"Well after the whole bite thing I had to disappear. But it wasn't hard. Stereotypical white trash family. Both of my parents were drunks, threw me out when I turned eighteen, which I was sad about since I didn't get to finish high school."

Clara looked at the floor, she felt bad for wallowing in her own self-pity.

"I did have a brother though, I loved him. He didn't survive the attack. I think about him every day."

"That's awful," Clara said. "I'm so sorry."

"Let's try and think of a happy topic. What do you do for fun?"

"I'm not much of a fun person," Clara said. "I went to work every day, which I loved by the way, then I'd sometimes take pieces home with me, watch tv, or go out with coworkers. Then I'd spend every weekend at the lodge with the pack."

"You were only there on the weekends?"

"It was pretty much every other weekend since October," Clara said. "Then about two weeks ago I was attacked by an outcast. James pulled the plug on me living on my own and I went to the lodge full-time."

"I'm shocked James approved that. He doesn't have a reputation as a flexible alpha."

"What is his reputation?"

"Strong, smart, old fashioned, and a little hedonistic."

"So I don't have to expect orgies all over the place?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but we're a low key."

Clara felt some relief to get away from those. She was trying hard to hide her nerves, but they were winding tighter and tighter.

"I don't know if I'll ever calm down." Clara didn't mean to say the words out loud.

"Of course you will. It might take a few days, but you will get settled."

"What will happen to me now?" Clara asked. "When he grabbed me, he said he could tell I hadn't given up on him. But I didn't feel anything when he touched me. The way he chased the car, he won't stop. I'm starting to think I should just have you drop me in the middle of nowhere so I can disappear."

"I will not do that," David said. "James might have screwed up, but he did do some things right. Being an outcast is no joke. It's like losing your mind. Nobody would pick that, ever, no matter how bad things got."

Clara remembered her outcast. His eyes looked so dead. She shuddered and realized she needed more positive memories.

"He won't come after you either. He can't come on our territory without permission. Or else it will be considered hostile. James will never approve that and if Lucas does it himself those are major grounds for being outcasted."

David took a sip of his gas station coffee before continuing.

"There's not a lot out there on rejecting mates or mates behaving badly, because it doesn't happen very often at all. But like any couple, mates can fight with each other. When that occurs the bond weakens. It can get so low that you'll barely know it's there. You said your heart stopped hurting so much? The pain was dull for a few months?"

Clara nodded.

"Odds are your mate rejected you during that time. Then he took you back and they came on strong again. Now that you did the rejecting it will be that dull annoyance again."

"So it will never go away? I'll always feel it when he is... with someone?"

"I don't know," David said. "I only know one way to break a mate bond."

"How do I break it? I'll do anything."

"You have to get marked."

"People keep half explaining things to me," Clara said. "What is marking?"

David let out a chuckle.

"You know that this is really awkward? It's like explaining the birds and the bees to an adult."

"I might look like an adult but as far as wolves go I'm still a newborn. Please talk to me like I'm thirteen."

"Alright. Technically mates and marks don't have anything to do with each other, but it's rare that one exists without the other. So forget all about mates from now and focus on the mark."

Clara nodded.

"So when a wolf marks another wolf they're binding that person to them. Adam decides to mark Eve. Now Eve is bound to Adam. She can't stay away from him long or her heart will hurt, if she doesn't get some loving on the regular from him she will go a little crazy, and he will turn her on with little effort. Outside of that she's essentially half a person without him, because he has become her other half."

"That doesn't sound very romantic," Clara said.

"Usually the next step, or even simultaneously Eve will return the favor. She will mark Adam and he will feel the same way about her, unfortunately Adam has to go first."

"That's a little sexist."

"It's biology." David shrugged. "I didn't write the rules."

"Why would anyone want that?"

"Oh it's amazing, being so in love like that and knowing someone feels that way for you. It's pure bliss. Life is better, everything tastes better, the air is cleaner, you feel smarter. I'm not doing it justice, and you need the mark in order to have kids, both people."

It never occurred to Clara that David had a mate, but she didn't know why. The way he was talking he had firsthand knowledge.

"That was what Lucas was going to do to me. It would have made me love him."

"Oh no it wouldn't," David said. "If you mark the unwilling all those things will happen, but the person will likely hate you and never return the favor. So had he marked you it would have been easy for him to have sex with you, and he couldn't leave you for long. But otherwise you would still be the same. Now sleeping with someone who hates you doesn't sound like fun to me. It would have been a bad choice on his part."

"So marking is stronger than mates?"

David nodded.

"Then why wait for your mate at all? Why not mark whoever you want?"

"Sometimes people do that," David said. "But if their actual mate ever shows up and they're bound to another it's devastating to both parties. See you can only mark one person. Otherwise what would stop some mad wolf from marking dozens of women and making himself a little concubine?"

Clara stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"There is something about mates that is hard to explain. Some people thank the moon goddess and think she picked that person for you and nobody else will ever be as right."

"That's not what you believe?" Clara asked.

"I'm not much for any religion, no offense moon goddess." David looked up at the ceiling of the van and made a sign of the cross.

"Wow, that was some serious blasphemy," Clara said with a laugh. "So that's it for me? I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life huh? Even if I did find someone to mark they wouldn't ever compare to Lucas?"

David shook his head.

"No, I said that happens what a mate shows up. You've already met yours. If you find a nice wolf and want to settle down, I'm sure you would have a deep love with a strong bond. Better than what you could've had with Lucas even."

"What happens if I do meet this guy and we mark each other and are happy, and then his mate shows up?"

David gave Clara a concerned glance.

"That would be bad."

Clara held her palm to her forehead. Her brain couldn't process anything else.

"Lie back and get some rest," David said. "I've got a second or third wind."

He gave Clara a half smile and she didn't argue. Leaning back in the chair she let the vibrations of the car lull her to sleep.