Everything hurt. My whole body ached. I could barely move my leg without something hurting. The pain grew worse and worse everyday. I groan as I reach for my water on my bedside table.

It has been about 6 days since my heat ended, and i rather be in heat than have bruises all over my body. It hurt my wolf worse than me. She had to deal with the fact that her math, her other half, was cheating on her. I honestly didn't care because I knew better.

"When I first met your dad, we were both at the meeting between the werewolves, vampires, and witches," my mom started to tell me. I was maybe 42 years old at this time. I had already stopped aging at 21. I was supposedly supposed to find my mate at 18 but after 23 years, I kinda gave up. My mom would always tell this story.

"My mother was leader of the coven at the time and your father's father was Alpha of the Crimson Shadow Pack. We sat in the audience watching all the three Royalty leaders as they talked in the meeting. I was beyond bored but this was an annual meeting we all had to go to. I had to go since my mother was the leader of my current coven. I was easily bored by listening to them talk then,—"

"Then you smelled a heavenly scent and it was your mate and you found dad and y'all fell in love," I cut her off and finished her story. "I've listened to this story at least 11 times." My mom let out a laugh and nodded.

"What if my mate doesn't want me?" I asked my mom.

"If your mate doesn't love you, don't give him the time of day. He doesn't deserve you. Your wolf will be hurt tremendously but you have to be strong. Eventually your mate will feel the mate pull. Make him regret it, but hopefully your mate loves you," she says. I nod oblivious of the future.

That conversation basically foreshadowed this exact situation. I looked at the time and it had been 12 hours since I took my last dose of pain killers. I took to pills out of the bottle and downed it with water. I forced myself to get up so I could get a blood bag. My body ached with every step I took. My wolf was very silent. She grew into a state of depression thinking of her mate cheating on her. I wanted to let her out to distract her and get her mind off of things. Hopefully, I would heal by then. I chugged my blood bag and quickly shifted.

She stretched and started off and a slow trot. She wasn't necessarily happy to be released. She wanted to wallow in her own pity in the back of my head. She started to pick up her pace not knowing which direction she would actually take off in. She slowly jogged through the trees.

Winter was at full speed with snow falling heavily on the ground. Her paws didn't crunch the leaves hidden under the snow. They became soft and squished under her paws. She sniffed the fresh winter air and caught the scent of a herd of animals.

She took off in that direction wanting fresh meat. She zipped through the low branches of the trees. The snow flys of the leaves as she runs through them. Her tracks were quickly covered by the heavy snow falling on the forest floor.

She stopped briefly to shake the snow out of her fur. She continued running to reach her prey. The scent became stronger as she continued to run. The scent became even more stronger so she started to slow down to a trot.

She passed through the trees and came up next to a small cottage. The scent was definitely coming from the cottage but no living animal was there. A lady with brown hair with streaks of gray came up from behind the cottage. My wolf let out a growl backing up slowly. She held up her hands with a large piece of raw steak in it.

"I'm nor going to hurt you," she said walking cautiously towards me. She threw the chunk of meat in front of my wolf and backed up. She stared it down not trusting what she did to that me.

"I swear I did nothing to that piece of meat," she said backing up further towards the cottage. My wolf walked up slowly and sniffed it cautiously. She bit a small chunk off the side of the piece of meat and tested it. After she proved that it was non poisonous, she took the rest of the piece and ate it.

"Can you shift back? I wont hurt you I promise," she said. "There are some clothes behind that tree." I looked behind and my wolf walked there slowly. There was a pair of underwear, shorts, and a shirt. I shift back figuring that I could protect myself better if I was back in human form. I walk out from behind the tree and see her standing there.

"So you're the infamous Nicolette. The tribrid that survived the attack that night so many years ago," she said inspecting me. I back up to the tree getting spells ready that I could use to protect myself.

"How do you know about me?" I asked her. She gave me a light smile as I crossed my arms around my chest. I wince as I hit some tender bruises. I think she noticed but she didn't say anything.

"It was a devastation across the witch community when your mother passed away," she said. I've come to two conclusions. She was a witch and she knew my mother. I still didn't fully trust her.

"Your my son's mate," she said staring at the bruises on my arm.

"Wait Malcom is your son?" I ask her. She simply nods. That means I'm on his property.

"Don't worry he wont find you here. I live far away from the pack house and he rarely ever visits me," she said like she was reading my mind. "If you want to talk you can come in and I can help you with those bruises." I thought about my decision in my head with my demon and wolf, I could easily overpower her.

"I won't do anything that will harm you. I just want to talk to you," she said. I slowly nod and she leads me into her house. We walked past the living room and into the kitchen. I didn't know why I followed her in. Maybe it was because she could have possibly known my mom. She could have known her better than I knew her. Maybe it was because she knew what happened that night my parents died.

"Like father like son," she sighed, rubbing her finger lightly over my bruises.

"I would make this paste every time my husband was unfaithful. I eventually got tired of his games with my son and I so I kicked him out of this pack. That's basically how Malcom became Alpha,"she said mixing some herbs that I've never seen before. She poured a bit of water into the mix of the herbs and it formed into a thick paste.

"Here," she said handing the bowl to me. "Put it over the bruises and let it sit. The bathroom is over there to your right if you would like to go put some on," she said.

"I'll just put some on my arm," I said rubbing the paste on my arm. There was an instant cooling sensation on my arm. It felt nice. It didn't hurt as much when I moved my arm anymore.

"Did it work?" She asked me after I set the bowl back down on the counter. I nodded and washed my hands.

"It feels better than it was when I woke up this morning," I said in a small voice. I still didn't feel comfortable telling her about my personal life.

"Come sit down with me over hear," she said walking to her couch. I sat in a small wooden arm chair across from her and nervously fumbled with my fingers

"Let me formally introduce myself," she said. "My name is Denali Lynch. My husband was Zaine Lynch our two sons are Malcom and Darius. I am a witch but Zaine is a werewolf. Both of my boys inherited the wolf gene, and I taught your mother almost everything she knows."

———

If you read this earlier and saw the spacing off I'm sorry for the inconvenience