Fated Hearts

A quick thanks to LaRascasse: my editor. He's freakin awesome. Anywho. I know this is a long time coming and I KNOW it's short as hell, but you know how the saying goes...short and sweet. (I'm pushing it, lol.) Thanks to all the people who are putting up with the amount of time it takes me to submit these chapters. It's not my fault, I swear. Keep those comments coming!

-G

The King is dead; long live the King.

-

Hamlet

Chapter 3

The stunned silence that penetrated the circle as Sorenan's body changed back to its human form. It was almost as if no one expected much of this stranger. From somewhere in the crowd, Stephan started clapping. The rest of Eric's Betas followed suit before many of the unfamiliar faces joined.

He couldn't help but notice the mixed reactions of some of the other Weres' faces. Some were clearly shocked, others wept, and the vast minority of fierce loyalists, he noted gratefully, were few and far between. He would take care of them personally.

The truth of the matter was that Eric was surprised he won. Letting his wolf take over wasn't voluntary, the animal had reacted to something close by.

Our mate, fool.

Their mate was here?

She's very close.

Eric fought the smile that came to his lips. She must be pleased. That was an excellent show of physical skill. He scanned the crowd of uncertain faces for her again.

"Well. You know the rules. I'm the new Alpha. I'm not a harsh man however, I'm fair and I'm willing to learn how things were run from your betas. Nevertheless, I will be integrating some of my pack with yours." He explained in a commanding voice.

"Sorenan is no longer. Any of his supporters will be banished from the pack. I don't need an uprising before I can prove what I am capable of as a ruler." He continued.

"It is also my intent to find a mate within this pack," he saw a few of the younger females inched closer from the edges of the circle; some were pushed forward by people he assumed to be their guardians. "Aside from this, you all are dismissed to your respective homes. I will hold a feast tomorrow night at sundown while I explain any changes in greater detail." He added as people started to leave, some still crying, others, the older weres and shifters had smiles of relief on their faces.

I know she's here tonight. It would be nice if she could show herself, but if not. I can easily point her out

... He told his wolf.

I can smell her, although she's hiding. Ah...there, behind the trees.

"Wait.You. Come here, little one." He smiled, his piercing gaze locking with Thessa's dark eyes as she was about to slink further into the trees.

~*~

This is bad...He can smell you; I forgot to say that...

Thessa's wolf apologized. If an animal could sound embarrassed, her wolf did right now.

RUN.

Thessa screamed at herself. The last thing she needed was to be caught. All of the former betas, including her parents, were still in the clearing, waiting to meet with Eric. She blushed.

His name is Eric

,

nice.

Her wolf smiled. Thessa almost stumbled as she felt the intensity of his gaze on her back. It was like he was hunting her. Suddenly her legs had power again and her natural instincts told her to flee "RUN!!RUN!!!RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!" they screamed.

She knew he was running behind her. She could smell him, could feel his mind reach out to her as he shifted into his wolf.

When her human body screamed in protest at the speeds she was reaching, she managed to kick her shoes off and pull her shirt off before her wolf forced her to shift. The pain of her bones rearranging and elongating were washed away by the pure adrenaline rushing through her veins. She hoped the shredded jeans, panties and bra tripped him.

I see you little one. I will have you.

He laughed in her head

.

Leave me alone!

She screamed, firmly shutting down her mental barriers in her panic.

She felt him closing in, heard the pounding of his gigantic paws in the leaf covered earth and suddenly she felt his teeth nip playfully at her tail. With a yelp, she jumped over a fence and continued running before she realized he was playing with her.

That's right, this part is supposed to be a game.

She growled at him, annoyed, some of her fear draining away into a sort of playful anger. If he wanted to play games, she would give him what he wanted. With a deep breath, she took a huge leap and shifted into an owl, using the momentum of her leap as a wolf to launch herself into the air and glide in a silent circle around the startled wolf.

Catch me, if you can that is.

She laughed at him taking off.

~*~

His mate was a shifter?

Eric's wolf was intrigued. He heard her taunting laughter in his head, felt the brush of her wings in his mind.

You turned into a bird? Wolves hunt birds, love.

He replied sniffing the air for her scent.

Here birdy.

He called catching sight of her on a nearby branch.

You aren't playing by the rules, baby.

He laughed when she shifted again, a cat this time.

I wasn't aware that there were any rules.

She sniffed.

She's showing off for you. I like this one, human. A real keeper. We will catch her soon.

His wolf promised excitedly.

The wolf was right. Eric hadn't seen more than her eyes, but they sparkled with suppressed mischief. He was at a disadvantage. She lived here her entire life so she knew the layout of the pack land like the back of her hand. This was the first time he ever came to visit...if you could call it that. So he sat still, using his wolf's natural hunting ability to locate his prey.

North. Fifty feet. Still a cat.

He smiled, stealthily moving through the foliage.

As he grew closer, he saw that she'd shifted back to her human form and was lounging on a fallen tree branch. He stopped, taking the time to admire what he could see in the moonlight. She looked one with nature, like something out of a magazine. The faint light illuminated the generous curves of her legs, hips and breasts as she sat there waiting for him. He crawled out from under the bush he was hiding behind and slowly walked up to her.

"You still didn't catch me." She laughed, shifting into her wolf before he could get any closer and bounding off.

He growled to himself.

You tricked me!

He joked as he took off after her.

They never said there were rules. All you have to do is catch me.

She responded. He spotted her up ahead in a clearing. He was getting impatient with the game. He needed to claim her before the night was over. So she wanted to play with no rules? Okay.

We will not be bested by some girl...we need a plan.

He schemed.

~*~

Where is he?

Thessa asked herself.

She was tired of running circles around the clearing. Feeling a little thirsty, she jogged into the moonlight space to the small pond where she bent her head to drink, the cool water tickling her snout. The calming sounds of the night relaxed her. Eric wouldn't know where she was. He was probably lost somewhere still looking for her. Her wolf laughed. She barely noticed when the sound of paws interrupted the tranquility of the moment. The next few moments were ones of shock as she was pushed headfirst into the pond. She was aware of the other wolf that jumped in after her. The freezing temperature caused her to shift back involuntarily as strong arms encircled her as they broke the surface of the water, and he dragged her onto the grass.

"I caught you." He smiled, bracing himself above her with his arms on the ground next to hers.

She shivered from the heat in his words as well as the cold of the pond water. Her nipples hardened as the night air brushed them. At least...that's what she told herself. There was no denying that this roguish

man

was her mate. Even as she looked up at him, she saw his eyes darken in pleasure of having her right where he wanted her. The corded muscles in his arms shivered. He was cold too.

"Yeah...well..." she whispered, licking her suddenly dry lips and swallowing as if she hadn't just had an unexpected dip in the water.

His voice was smooth, like honey. His scent was wolfy, but unlike Russ or the other men in her pack, she took a deep inhale. He smelled like the forest after a rain storm. She felt herself melting, heating up in a way that had nothing to do with the fact that he had picked her up like a baby, something no one had been able to do in a long time, and held her close trying to heat her skin up.

"We have to get you back to the meeting grounds. There is a fire there and I still have to talk to the betas." He started.

"Wait! Put me down!!" Thessa cried, the moment ruined at the mention of facing her parents when they got back.

"I'm so glad to have found you." He interrupted. "It's sort of a bad time seeing that I just became Alpha and still have a lot to do..." he frowned, walking out of the clearing with her.

"We'll have to rush the mating ceremony. I need you...and I don't even know your name." He smiled down at her.

"It's Thessa. And Eric, I have to go! You have to put me down. I can't go back with you." She cried frantically, fighting him.

"What? Damn it, Thessa..." he smiled as he said her name. She blushed.

"Why not? I want to show them that I've found you."

"My parents are betas. They're not werewolves...well my mother isn't. Anyway, she told me not to come to the fight and I showed up and I'm your mate and I'm going to be in so much trouble you have to let me..." her rant was cut off as his lips descended to press roughly against hers.

She reached her hand to his naked chest to push him away, but lost the will once his tongue teased the seam of her lips and slid into her mouth once she groaned and opened for him. Time seemed to stop as his arms tightened around her as he gently let her stand. She was forced to stand on the balls of her feet as he stood at his full height. Her hands clenched his biceps as she leaned into him, accepting the kiss even as he crushed her to his chest. She whimpered in disappointment as he broke it.

"Listen, we have to tell her. I'm the Alpha, and you cannot hide the fact that we are mates from anyone. Once she sees that she will have no choice but to forgive you. What mother wouldn't want her daughter mated to the Alpha?" He reasoned quietly, cupping her round face in his hands.

"Okay..." she agreed reluctantly, clinging to the hope that her mother wouldn't explode on her once they were alone.

"It's better that you do it now than later." He argued.

She didn't respond.

~*~

Eric frowned at Thessa in confusion. One minute she was melting in his arms as he kissed her passionately, then she was attacking him again. There was no way he would let her go that easily. He just found her. They were supposed to be together. Women...

As the entered the clearing, he felt the tension between his mate and two of the other betas.

Ahh, those must be her mother and father. Father is a wolf. Mother is a shifter.

Thessa eyed him warily, clinging to his arm for dear life. Her wide brown eyes were even wider and clouded with fear. He felt anger slowly rising in him. What kind of parent would turn a blind eye to her own child in the course of nature? Most weres were too strict when it came to the rules and regulations. Then there were the others like him who mostly made and followed their own rules. It was time to show Thessa's parents who would be calling the shots for their daughter from now on. He turned his back to them and shielded her from their view.

"Relax." He breathed, feathering light kisses over her cheeks and lips. He dipped his head to capture her lips in a tender kiss, smiling in satisfaction when she let out a whimper of need and relaxed against him.

"Are you really so upset to be here?" He asked seriously, searching her eyes for the truth even as she nodded up at him.

With a sigh he let her go and took a step back, still ignoring the glares directed at him. "Okay then, you may go..." he started, squeezing her hand as she turned to leave.

"But let me see you again tomorrow, please?" He asked before pressing another kiss on her knuckles and letting her hand slip from his.

He watched as she shifted and took off at a trot for whatever building she needed to be in. With a sigh he turned back around to face the other wolves. "Now, I've already fulfilled one of the goals I've set out to achieve since my speech. As I suspect you all realize by now, I have found my mate." [ Seems too sudden and too forward.] He paused at the growl from Thessa's mother.

"No child of mine will be mated with some rogue. I refuse to allow this." She said in a clipped tone. If looks could kill, he would be decomposing already.

"You. What is your name and station." He commanded, ignoring her comment.

"Jolena, second in head of security. My husband is first." She said anger still coloring her voice.

"Alpha, if you could excuse my wife." The older man next to the golden-eyed harpy placed a hand on his mate's arm to restrain her. "My name is Julius. I think what she means to say is that she's worried that you will hurt our--" Eric raised a hand to silence him.

"You've some nerve. She's my mate, I would never hurt her. She is the very reason for my existence. To imply that I would

ever

do anything to cause her pain or upset is ridiculous. Tell me Jolena, do you have any doubt that your husband would ever hurt you or your children? I thought not. I repeat. I would never do a thing to hurt you daughter. You have my word." He swore when she wrenched away from her husband and turned to leave with a huff.

Eric would deal with her later. For now he continued to finalize the rest of his stay with the other betas. He was grateful for Julius' extensive experience in security for the pack. He planned a separate time to meet with another beta who would give him an official tour of the land he just inherited as well as any businesses and properties. As he and Stephan made their way back to the Alphas- his manor for the night with his other bodyguards, he made a proposal.

"Stephan, I know you and I have been doing this Alpha Beta thing for a while now. Thessa is part of this pack. I know it would be unfair to just uproot her and move her to the other territory, but I need someone I can trust to take care of the other pack. I was hoping that you'd want to take the job since you're the only person I trust with something so important while I establish myself here."

Stephan stopped and turned to face him a shocked look on his face. "Eric...I...this is a big job. I can't promise I'll be able to as well as you did, but I'll give it a try for you." He vowed, resting a hand on the other man's shoulder in a sign of camaraderie.

"Will you please? I need to stay here. When I took off it was because...well...I found her, Stephan." He smiled, joy and relief evident on his face.

"I found her and I had to let her go because of her fear. I couldn't force her, but her mother already knew." Eric explained, frowning.

"Well damn, Eric. I'm kinda glad I'm going back then. Women are trouble." Stephan shook his head.

"Women are nothing but trouble. Stay strong." Stephan joked as he climbed into the SUV, the door held open by a burly werewolf.

"Go see her tonight. You have her scent. Follow it and talk to her. Use your head and not your dick...She doesn't seem like a Diane to me." He laughed as the door was shut and the dark car peeled away.

~*~

"I CANNOT

BELIEVE

YOU!" Jolena screamed as her daughter sat cross legged on her cot.

"First, you defy my orders and go to the fight. Secondly, you get yourself TIED TO A ROGUE-"

Thessa cut in "He's my mate, mother. I'm supposed to --"

"A ROGUE, AN OUTLAW A VAGABOND" She continued, ignoring her daughter's glare.

This had been going on for as long as her mother had recognized her when the alpha had ushered his captured mate back into the circle.

Okay, so what if she despised the man, her mother was really jumping the gun here.

"Mama, listen to me." She started getting up.

"He is our new alpha. He would have found me anyway. No matter how far you took me. Mama you have been yelling at me for hours and we keep having the same argument over and over. He will end up mating me in a few weeks." she said with finality.

She had forced herself to grow up in the time it took her to run from the meeting ground to her room. The wind howled outside, mimicking her mother's anger and somewhere in the distance the howl of a wolf could faintly be heard. Just as her mother was about to start yelling again, the door to the room opened opened and he came inside. Thessa's breath caught in her throat.

"Excuse me, Jolena. May I have a moment with my mate?" Eric asked, arching an eyebrow as if daring her to dissent.

Jolena growled and narrowed her eyes for she could sense the call to mate leaping between her daughter and the alpha. "We will discuss this later." she said quietly, not even sparing the alpha a glance as she slammed the door behind her.

"She's always this stubborn?" He asked and sat beside her.

She jumped up. "Don't you want to sit on a chair or something? I mean, you are our alpha, you shouldn't sit on my lumpy bed."

She clasped her hands behind her back, hoping that they wouldn't show her nervousness. Her wolf was successfully suppressed and now she felt embarrassed at how quickly she reacted. They'd almost had sex in that clearing, and then again he made her forget herself when she was in front of her parents and their friends.

He laughed; a rich, deep sound and she blushed all the way to her toes. No one had ever laughed at her before. Well not anyone important.

"Please, enough with this Alpha nonsense, you are my mate, call me Eric." He laced his fingers with hers and tugged her to him. This time she landed on his lap.

"Oh, okay...Eric." She said sitting stiffly, her legs braced against the ground should she get the sudden impulse to flee.

He smiled and stroked her hair. "I love your hair; it's so...soft, different." He brushed his lips over the nape of her neck.

"I'm glad to have my mate as beautiful as you are, even if you are just a pup." He chuckled, threading his hands through the dark strands. The comment stung.

"I'm almost 19 I'm not a pup, I'm grown-up by human standards."

He chuckled again, "It's like brown silk. I can't wait to feel it on my skin when we mate."

Suddenly she felt the uncomfortable heat of his eyes on her face. She warmed again, almost feeling his caress. "You should go. There are lots of duties I'm sure you have to attend to and...and...You have to go."

She jumped up, and he let her fingers slip free before he watched her open the door for him. "You won't be able to run from me much longer, love." He ducked his head and exited the room. Thessa slumped on the door, wondering at the way the room suddenly seemed very empty without him.

This made no sense. How could she be so sure of him? He hadn't even been there for a full day. Thessa's wolf laughed.

He's your mate, girl. How could you do anything but be sure of him? You're smart and beautiful.

The wolf assured.

As she curled up and went to sleep, Thessa was sure of one thing: she had no idea what would come next.

~*~

"Are you serious? The new Alpha is your mate? Are you sure?" the girl's whisper was ragged as the two sparred in nothing but tank tops and shorts.

"He could smell me and I was masking myself from everyone out there. Even my own mother didn't know I was there until he brought me back—pay attention." He heard Thessa explain using her arm to block the dark haired girl's sloppy move.