  I has always both wished for as well as despised the idea of having a mate, a number of reasons behind it. I wished for the closeness, the feeling of love which would surely follow but I also hated how whipped it seemed to make a wolf. Both Ryan and Paul had imprinted and mated for life, it was literally all that was on their minds whenever we were in wolf form after all. You see we could only have a mind link while in wolf form, it was both a blessing and an annoyance that while we were in human form they had the privacy of their thoughts, yet if there was a threat is was an inconvenience they couldn’t communicate.

  

      I was brought back to the present when my mates whimpers grew louder with the sound of Pauls and Ryan’s growls, my face softening dramatically as I growled lowly in my throat. I made sure not to raise it loud enough for her to hear, I didn’t want to startle her e

  As soon as I saw her fearful eyes start to droop I was running towards her, seeing how her breathing slowed dramatically as she passed out right in front of my eyes. It would only be a matter of time before her body forced her to shift back into her human form, I didn’t want her to do it in the snow.

  

      “Hansel? What the hell is going on?” Paul asked as both him and Ryan phased back into human form, identical looks of shock and confusion on their faces as they stared at me in shock. It was obvious to me why, I was a grumpy and snappy alpha who lost his temper easily, and while they respected me and I treated them fairly it didn’t mean they had no fear for me. So seeing me fall to my knees and reaching out to run my fingers lightly through my mates matted fur had come as a great shock to them, hell we had come to kill her and yet now I was petting her.

  

      “She’s my mate”

  I was surprised he missed how unhealthy my wolf must have looked, my fur matted from the snow and the fact that in my human form my face was pretty much sunken in due to the lack of nutrition in my poor excuse of a diet. Not to mention the fearful and dead look which must have been in my eyes as they sunk into my head slightly due to my bony and brittle form, I looked far from a healthy wolf.

  

      “I’m Hansel sweetheart, alpha of the ‘Jewel pack’” he continued in a soothing tone, my already wide eyes widening even more so as I recognised the name of the pack. It was a very small pack but they were vicious and incredibly talented in tracking, killing and fighting – they made my brothers pack look like nothing more than primary school kids. Numbers didn’t always mean the outcome would favour the side which had more pack members, if the Jewel pack attacked then my brother wouldn’t stand a chance.

  

      I didn’t reply, I simply stared at him with my large amber eyes as my breathing came out in sharp and uneven pants. If I died tonight I thought, at least I’d have what my idea of perfection would be on my mind when the end came. So with that thought everything went black, my body finally giving up on me as my eyes closed, no longer able to keep up with the strain. I would probably be dead meat anyway, I was a rogue and was far from being a threat so I hoped they would end it quickly while I was out, at least I wouldn’t be able to feel it when they ended my life. Thank god for small favours.

  

      Hansel’s Pov

  

      My pure black paws contrasted vividly against the snow under my feet as I glided through the snow covered forest when the sight of a rouge got past our territory boundaries. It was fair to say I was pissed since the last thing I needed was to have to deal with some idiot who thought crossing over my territory was a good idea. I mean we had gotten ourselves a reputation for being a vicious and dangerous pack, and yet while any sane person who realised where they were would have ran back once they realised it was our land they had trespassed on this one seemed to be making their way across at a slower than casual pace. Were they suicidal?

  

      As I continued to track down the strangely delicious scent of the wolf we were following I could hear both my pack mates behind me, my beta Paul and my sub-beta Ryan. We were a pretty close pack, considering there were barely any of us but we were all trained to perfection. We could take down multiple opponents with a dangerously lack of effort on our part. I was by far the most vicious, but then again I had to be considering I was the alpha. 

  

      ‘Who do you think it is Hansel?’ Ryan’s thoughts filtered into my head as we continued to follow the incredible scent which seemed to remind me of cherries…I loved cherries.

  

      ‘Probably some newbie rouge that needs to be taken care of, we’ll make it quick’I thought back causing them both to nod as they slipped behind me a few paces so we formed a V shape. It was the most effective way to approach when intending to attack to kill, simply because it was safer, easier as well as more efficient in taking care of a threat.

  

      As we approached the rouge I found myself getting more and more furious with the cheek the werewolf who had dared ruined my already shitty day! My life was far from perfect, hell my parents had died long ago and I had slight anger issues – ok slight was a little more than an understatement. So whoever this person was they were going to regret invading our territory, they should be lucky that I planned to end this quickly and not draw it out like I had done before.

  

      Our growls rumbled through the woods, the viciously animalistic sound should have scared them enough to at least try and run, but shockingly this werewolf was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Not only were they majorly outnumbered but they had managed to piss me off with their presence alone, yep, they were definitely stupid.

  

      Shifting back into my human form I pulled on my shorts hastily, since the wolf hadn’t decided to try and run there was no point in staying in wolf form. Both Ryan and Paul were behind me in case anything happened unexpectedly anyway, so if they made a move to attack I would just give them the go ahead to fight back with the intent to kill. So with that I walked into the snow covered clearing with an annoyed and furious expression on my face, intending to get this over with as quickly as possible.

  

      “Who are you and what are you doing here?” I snapped coldly as I walked out, my eyes widening when I took note of the pure white female wolf which I was greeted with. She was clearly startled from my tone as she backed herself as far as was possible against the tree behind her, the whimpering falling from her muzzle making my heart clench for some reason I didn’t understand.

  

      Frowning, I soon found my emerald eyes locked onto her gorgeous amber ones and with that I knew exactly what had happened. The pull in my chest, the delicious scent she seemed to have which was temping enough to make my mouth water…this rare coloured female was my mate, and I couldn’t have been happier.

I has always both wished for as well as despised the idea of having a mate, a number of reasons behind it. I wished for the closeness, the feeling of love which would surely follow but I also hated how whipped it seemed to make a wolf. Both Ryan and Paul had imprinted and mated for life, it was literally all that was on their minds whenever we were in wolf form after all. You see we could only have a mind link while in wolf form, it was both a blessing and an annoyance that while we were in human form they had the privacy of their thoughts, yet if there was a threat is was an inconvenience they couldn’t communicate.
  
      I was brought back to the present when my mates whimpers grew louder with the sound of Pauls and Ryan’s growls, my face softening dramatically as I growled lowly in my throat. I made sure not to raise it loud enough for her to hear, I didn’t want to startle her even more since it already pained me to see the look of fear in her eyes.
  
      My pack mates 

Chapter 7