Chapter 11

ALEXIS

The stench was overwhelming, but I didn't know whether to be more worried that it wasn't a werewolf or that it was coming so close to the border.

"Well then, let's go investigate," Hudson muttered, yanking his shirt off. My eyes wandered over his body before I quickly snapped my head back to the window so he wouldn't notice me staring.

I was used to male wolves walking around naked since there were times that they couldn't find their clothes or didn't bring their clothes, but with Hudson, it was a completely different story. I felt this level of desire that I wouldn't feel with any other male wolf.

"Are you coming?" He asked, coming to stand right behind me and look out the window. My wolf happily sniffed his intoxicating scent while I tried to ignore the warmth of his body.

Why did Hudson have to be my mate? Why couldn't the Moon Goddess give me someone who would accept me for who I am? Why did mates naturally have to have an attraction to one another the moment they met? Why couldn't they develop it over time instead?

"Alexis!"

His voice brought me out of my daze, and I saw him open the door from the corner of my eye. Realization hit me and I quickly ran to one of the storage closets to grab my brother's old baseball bat.

Hudson stared at the bat in confusion, "Why the bat? What happened to your wolf?"

"I can't shift yet because of the medication I took. They make my wolf weak," I explained, rubbing the metal bat affectionately. This was my weapon when I couldn't shift and it was the best weapon a girl could ask for. It was heavy, sturdy, and the perfect size for me. I couldn't count how many wolves I had knocked out with this.

He eyed it warily as if I would whack him instead, which I might if he continued to act like a jerk. I marched past him with the bat on my shoulder, "We haven't got all day, Hudson. Move it."

He rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him while I continued walking towards the pack border. When we reached the line of trees in front of the border, I stopped and looked around as Hudson's wolf sniffed the ground, his brown tail wagging behind him furiously.

I looked down at him and his ears stiffened and twitched as if he heard something. My werewolf hearing was weaker, but I did my best to try and listen for any noises the creature made.

It was barely audible, but I could make out the sounds of rustling coming from the east, about a quarter of a mile away. I nodded at Hudson and let him lead the way through the woods, trusting that he knew the way better with his werewolf senses. As we got closer, the stench became almost unbearable, but I sucked it up and buried my nose in my sleeve. A few seconds later, Hudson suddenly stopped and growled quietly, backing up as if he wanted to protect me.

How cute, but I didn't really need protection right now.

My eyes wandered over the mass of trees as I wondered why Hudson stopped here. There didn't seem to be anything here. I was about to ask him, when all of a sudden, there was a black shadow that sped through the trees. It disappeared into the darkness of the woods so quickly that I almost thought I was imagining things.

But then, there was another. And another.

The hair on my back of neck stood as a shiver ran down my spine. It felt like someone was watching me. I turned around slowly and gripped the bat tighter at the sight.

A pair of yellow eyes, with blood red veins surrounding the pupil, stared right back at me.

I didn't even have a chance to see if Hudson noticed the creature because it started coming closer. It was odd to see it come closer so comfortably.

There was a loud growl from Hudson and my eyes widened in horror.

There were four creatures closing in on us.

My fingers clenched the bat tightly as my eyes strained to see what the creatures looked like, but it was hard to in the dim lighting.

Suddenly, the creature facing me lunged forward with a loud hiss that made my heart skip a beat. It rushed forward just as the other three did and Hudson immediately tackled one to the ground.

It took me a few seconds to realize that they were wolves, rogues to be exact, but their scent threw me off. It was like they lost their scent and got a different one custom made.

I swung the bat just as the rogue went for my neck and slammed it right against its throat in the hopes that it would slow him down. However, the rogue's neck snapped in half, the head rolling away slightly.

What the fuck was going on? It shouldn't be that easy to break a wolf's neck.

I didn't have to time to reflect some more on this because another rogue attacked me from behind. I fell to the ground just as the rogue ripped into my jacket and shirt.

However, just as fast the rogue got on top of me, it was ripped off of me in a matter of seconds. Hudson's wolf roared and bared his teeth at the rogue that just hissed.

Why was the rogue hissing? I didn't even know that was possible in wolf form.

I grabbed my bat that had fallen and swung it at another wolf that was trying to attack Hudson from behind. He stumbled back by the force of my hit, and I took his moment of weakness as the chance to swing at his head.

There was a loud noise of bones breaking as he fell on his side, dead.

It was like their bones were made of marshmallows.

There were a few loud growls coming from behind me so I spun around to see Hudson fighting the last two rogues with ease. He had managed to get some really good wounds on the rogues. I was about to jump in when he tore through the throat of one rogue and ripped the ear off the other.

In a matter of seconds, he killed the other rogue by digging his fangs into its neck.

Hudson shifted back to his human form and stared at the rogues with disgust and curiosity. I noticed he had a large cut near his hip bone that was partly covered by his large forearm. I moved towards him and pulled his arm away so I could see the cut better.

"What are you doing?" He asked lowly, his voice rough from all the growling and fighting. I studied the cut and cringed at how deep it was. Thankfully, that was the only bad wound he had, the rest were small scratches. I let my fangs out and bit my palm, letting my blood gush from the small cut I made.

I took my palm and swiped it over his gash, watching my blood surround the broken skin and glow.

"What the fuck?" Hudson exclaimed, watching his skin heal slowly as if the wound was never there. He grabbed my hand and glared at the little cut I made. His eyes widened at the dried gold colored blood on my palm.

I shuffled uncomfortably as he looked back and forth between my face and my palm.

"The witches were talking about your blood. The golden blood," he said in disbelief. I nodded cautiously, praying that he wouldn't get mad and go on a rampage. He pursed his lips and sighed, "We'll talk about this later. But first,"

He startled me by licking the palm of my hand gently. The stinging in my hand disappeared as he continued to flick his tongue over my cut. I stared at him in shock when he let go of my hand and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "I guess no one told you that mates could heal each other."

I had no idea. I had never really questioned why some mates licked each other's cuts and bruises, but it made more sense now. I had just assumed it was a form of affection, which it kind of was since they obviously had to care enough to lick their mate's wounds.

Hudson turned back to the rogues and kicked one of the bodies, "You should mind-link your father and tell him about the rogues. We need to have their blood examined to figure out why they were so weak and why they smelled differently. They might have been injected with something."

I let out a breath and started mind-linking my dad.

Dad, we have a problem. There were four rogues just outside the perimeter and they have a peculiar scent. They don't smell like wolves at all and they were really weak.

It took him a few seconds to respond, Alright Alexis, I'll be there in a moment.

"He's coming," I muttered and Hudson nodded, lightly kicking the dirt with his feet. I sensed that something was bothering him from his tense posture and it wasn't the rogues. I opened my mouth to question him when he whipped around and reached over to grab me.

A gasp left my mouth as his hands gripped my waist tightly and tugged me until I was completely pressed against him.

We fit together like a pair of puzzle pieces.

He pursed his lips with an indecipherable expression on his face and leaned over to place his nose in the crook of my neck. I shivered as he sniffed my skin like he was trying to calm himself down. My breathing became erratic and my pulse skyrocketed at the feeling of his skin against mine. I felt a wave of desire wash over me when he nuzzled my neck and pressed his lips on my pulse lightly.

"Sorry," he whispered, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs near my ear, "I didn't mean to startle you. My wolf was about to go off and I couldn't calm him down."

He pulled away carefully and stepped back. His lips twitched at my stunned face.

I didn't know what to feel. Happy? Disgusted? Angry? I had no idea. This was all too fast for me to comprehend.

All I knew was that his touch set my nerves on fire and I wanted more, which was dangerous considering he hadn't accepted me yet.

"Alexis. Alpha Hudson."

I turned around at the sound of my dad's voice and faced the small group of wolves approaching us.

"What is that smell?" Beta Mitchell asked in disgust, covering his nose with his hand.

My dad frowned and sniffed the air, "Charles."

One of the older pack warriors stepped forward, "Alpha."

"Does this smell familiar to you?"

Charles sniffed the air again and closed his eyes as if he was hunting for a memory. When he opened them, he seemed worried and disgusted at the same time.

"Alpha, the scent belongs to the griffins."