The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Six

ANASTACIA

The ride to the beach is faster than 1 expected it would be. For the first time, | allow myself to take note of the

picturesque landscape that surrounds me. The woods, the beach, the houses... Port Orchard is a town festooned

in a magic of its very own. It's charming and carries a mystique that is subtle, yet powerful. The dark of the

morning is draped in heavy curls of fog which send a shiver of foreboding up my spine, In New Orleans, the fog is

different. It’s whole and cloudlike and can sometimes last for days. This fog is so thick and so dense, it almost

feels alive. Like arms reaching out toand welcominghome.

Home, And? Really?

But wouldn't it be? If Paul were to mark me, as he calls it, would this not be home? | very much doubt he and his

pack are planning to followto New Orleans, Would | ever sleep another night in Gran’s house again?

Shit. For the first time, I'm starting to see a problem with this bood thing. | grew up in Louisiana. It's all | know.

Festivals and fairs. Hurricanes and electric storms. Magic and masquerades. Everything that | love is there. The

swampland, the marshes, the bayou

My sister, Chelsea” is there.

A sudden sadness takes hold ofas my gaze lifts to the side. | study Paul's face. The firm set of his jaw, his

prominent cheekbones, delicate, yet masculine slope of his perfect nose. He is handsbeyond imagination,

and the way his lips seem to always quirk up on the left side before the right.

I want him. Yes, | most definitely. But could he be my home? Could I let go of the hot muggy summers and the

warm breath of a Louisiana fall? Could | trade at for this place? This beach town?

Would his lovingsimply dissolve my need of everything else that has been my life since a child?

And what if he doesn’t ever love me? What if, despite all the Gran claimed during our visit, Paul never truly

accepts my heritage? What if all I'm really meant to give him is a baby? A future Alpha... A half Mystic half Wolf

Shifter.

From schat | remember of Gran’s stories, Alphas are terribly important in a pack. When | look at Paul, | see it in

him, but something tellshe’s not their leader. No... but he’s close to one. The Beta, maybe. That much is

clear. There's no way he would be convinced to leave

all this behind.

There’s no way | would ask him t

Shaking off those melancholy thoughts, I focus on the road beyond the windows. Not only does the good sheriff

take full advantage of his position as we rac down the street, but his deputies do too. Something tellsthese

wolves make up all the rules in this town and the humans wholly acept their word as law. Strange, but fantastic

in a way.

Suddenly, the car slows down and we're at the bottom of the hill. The black of the ocean is barely visible beneath

a rolling curtain of fog. and for a moment I'm afraid this might now even work. Have we missed the dawn? How

will we know if it's quercast this way?

A sharp left turns has Paul's arm squeezing tight around my waist to keepin place. Instead of the rocky

pebbled shore that | anticipated we were headed to, we end up at the docks. And before | know it, Paul has me

up, out of the back seat and back in his arms.

Not that I'm honestly complaining. Paul's embrace is quickly becoming my very

This is slightly ridiculous,” | chuckle with a bite of my lip. N favorite place to be.

th full upon m

my ear as he says, “You wanted to cwith us and truth be told, I like the

He lifts my higher, so that he can press his mouth full way it feels when I grab you. I love it, actually

My heart thumps, pounding so mightily that I'm forced to parry the sudden intensity of his gaze. | don’t want him

to know how much he affects me. Not yet. Because should he choose not to mark me, | don’t want him knowing

how terribly heartbroken | will be. | won't have

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Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Six

Tim feeling sorry for me. | retufe his pity, it will be his loss anyway. However, it will be felt as my own.

“You shouldn’t say things like that unless

ean them?” he whispers, looking away with a smile. “I know that, beautiful.”

“Are you sure you like it then? Because | seem to recall you saying-

He growls, Tuck what you recallsaying, goddamnit. It was stupid and it was said out of ignorance. Out of...

fear.”

Tear? | breathe out, my eyes fluttering upward: “Of me?”

“yes, of you.”

“But | would never hurt you with magic Paul. | would-

“Not fear of your magic,” he bites out, clenching his teeth. “Fear of... you. Of how strongly | felt drawn to you. It

felt so unreal. It still

Hate to break up your little moment,” Rainier says, “but it will be dawn in about two hundred forty seconds. Save

it yeah? For pillow

talk?

Paul stickers then races.

ces us toward a small yacht with the nLily on one side and the nMariela on the other. The energy

surrounding the vessel is strong. The npotent. For a moment, | can almost feel the female's presence. Sense

her soul.

Whoever she was, she was important to these wolves. Incredibly so.

was.

The moment Paul places my feet on the deck, | swoon. A darkness swallowsand the yacht disappears.| can't

see anything but a swirling blackness. It’s smoke and fire and it's suddenly everywhere | look. | begin to pant for

air. Choking. Sputtering for breath. | can’t catch any air, none at all. | begin to lose consciousness.

| hear Paul as if from far away. “What the fuck? Anastacia? What's what is going on? What the fuck is happening

to your eyes? Why aren’t you breathing baby? Breathe forbaby, please!”

But it’s too late... the fire is all aroundand my lungs are burning.