Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 5

ZANDER

After hearing those heart wrenching words leave Calandra's lips, I took one last look at the tattooed Celtic green bracelet that had woven itself over the skin of my wrist, showing everyone that I had found the one the Moon Goddess had intended for me.

The words that came out of Calandra's mouth hurt me deeply. The words that could sever the magical connection between our souls.

I was the Gamma of my pack. They placed a heavy burden on me. I had to be a leader, trainer, diplomat, sometimes a parent or a teacher. Keeping all the paperwork in check and housing updated for the pack members. I was no unruly, just become-of-age pup that couldn't control his shifts. And here I was fucking brought down to my knees with a few words; a petite female had cracked my defenses with only a sentence. I couldn't bear the idea of ending up alone after finally having found my mate.

The words wove around my chest like a leash, pulling tighter and tighter, impeding my ability to breathe and think. The pain of the rejection had my heart in a firm grip, not letting go of my body. I gave into the sharp shards of hurt slicing through my skin and felt Conan trying to take over.

In that precise moment, I gave my animal side control of my senses. He shifted quickly into wolf form and took off through the darkness. The transition into my wolf was painless, and Conan took over my thoughts and limbs as they stretched in our wolf form. My lungs filled with the frosty night air while he ran towards nature. Retreating to the farthest corners of my mind, I let Conan's sorrowful howls resonate over the valley.

The fresh snow under my paws cracked and seeped through my fur. The white winter coat over the mountains shimmered, reflecting the Aurora Borealis in the sky. It was the only thing I noticed before I let myself become completely numb.

Conan wandered the entire night. We didn't head for pack lands, not wanting to alert anyone of our state. We climbed the mountain until we saw only the lights of the many houses in the valley. In one of those buildings, our mate was asleep. What a cruel twist of fate that she didn't want me.

A howl tore from Conan's throat, a mighty and deep sound that reverberated and coursed through our chest, carrying our emotions over with the wind. I ran the entire night through the snowy forest surrounding the town in wolf form until morning came.

When I returned home Sunday morning at the crack of dawn, I was stark naked, searching for my spare key under the mat. I didn't want to startle my neighbors with my appearance. While nudity was a normal occurrence for a werewolf, in the middle of town it was strange to find a grown ass man trying to enter his house first thing in the morning during winter, completely naked.

Jamming my key into the door, questions assaulted my mind. I did not know what pushed Calandra to reject me on the spot. Had she been afraid of me? Of what it meant to be mated to a werewolf? She was fae, after all. We weren't all like the big bad wolves in the human stories. Why didn't she even want to get to know me?

I had no clue about fae. I knew they came from the Asterion Realm and that they were supposed to have wings, and that's about it, which was as good as nothing.

I heaved a sigh and shook the remaining snow from my mussed hair. The only way I was going to obtain any answers was by planting myself outside of Calandra's flower shop and demanding them. I needed to see her and confront her about this. She had rejected me and I hadn't accepted her rejection. I wasn't going to. I wanted to fight.

If the Moon Goddess paired Calandra's soul with mine, there was a reason for it. She was the one for me, the one I would have a future with, and I wouldn't back away with my tail between my legs now.