The Half-Blood Mate

Chapter Thirty-Eight

With Christmas approaching in a couple of weeks, I figure I'll ask Edward about having Amelia and her family join us in celebrating the holiday. Not everyone in the pack believed in Christmas, but that still didn’t stop them from wanting to get in on a fun time of the year. It was usually peaceful during the holidays. Could be the weather, but I liked to believe that everyone used this time as a relaxation break from everyday stressors. 

This year has been an overall pretty good one. I met my mate obviously being the highlight of this year, but leaving Dustfall Pack was a huge relief. Alpha Zachary had been a neglectful leader, and frankly I was close to running him out of the pack myself. The only reason I left my birth pack in the beginning was because I wanted to see what was out there. My mother's formal pack had been the ideal place to start. 

After the Arne family were completely wiped out, a new family took the open spot and renamed the pack. Unfortunately for me, Zachary Walker was the ruling alpha. He knew who I was the moment I showed up at his doorsteps. He never declared me beta nor given me a role, but he treated me like a beta. Even passed on the roles a beta might take. I was glad Edward called me back before I got tangled up in a power struggle. 

My brother was a good leader. He took those lessons we were all forced to go through more seriously than Jace and I. But he was a hot head like Jace. I was pretty level-headed, but I lacked the passion he did for Pack Eclipse, so Edward took the role naturally. Before I left Pack Eclipse, Edward and I did get into an argument, but it was nothing like that rumor someone spread about me leaving the pack because I wanted power.

This place. We used to play here as boys. Since I got back home, I've never really had the time to take a walk in the forest. I was usually going back and forth between the school and home. And when I was home I was doing my duties of either patrolling the borders or aiding Edward. Since meeting Amelia, most of my time revolved around her as of late. Now that things calmed down after the Colette’s mission, I had time since I was giving Amelia space. Plus, I needed to think for myself. 

Looking around at the mudhole, I remember we used to pretend we were rogue werewolves searching to evade packs and making our own packs. Edward and I would always end up pushing Jace in that mudhole simply because he was the smallest. Then somehow Edward and I would end up going at it. By the end of the day, we were all muddy and dad wasn't too happy about having to deal with three dirty boys. He never really did like that when we played rogue werewolves. It wasn't until he started teaching us those lessons that we started to understand that all werewolves weren't the same. And all child games didn't look nice. 

I did miss dad and his ways. I was in the process of leaning over to grab a stick when I felt the squeeze from the arm wrapped around my neck, holding me in a chokehold. I started to struggle with every intention of getting out and beating my attacker to a bloody mess until he spoke.

"You failed to inform me one of the emperor's men was lurking around, Brother." Edward growled as he slightly tightened his grip on me. "I had my suspicions about your half-blood mate right from the beginning. I’m not dumb."

“I didn’t say you were dumb. Listen Edward-”

“Shut up," he snarled, shaking me a little. "You kept the fact that we have one of the emperor’s dogs watching the pack and who knows what else. Did you even consider us or was your head so set on your mate that you left us on the back burner? You selfish, powder puff bitch.”

I had enough. Throwing the color of my fur in my face was a button pressed coming from him. The moment he tried to swing me, I reached to his face, just underneath his nose, and shoved his head back. When his hold loosened, I moved my leg to knock him on his back, but he side stepped me and grabbed ahold of me again. He knocked me to the ground, easily knocking the air from me.