GoodNovelThe Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
Chapter Three Hundred Four
PAUL
Marie Monet's voice sang into the phone, thick with mirth and heavy with the drawl of wisdom that one can only
gain by seeing too much death. Or by conjuring darkness too often. “Hello little wolf. It’s been a long time. You
have need of something, no?”
With Anastacia still so close to me, it’s hard to focus. Her right hand is lutching the top of my right thigh and her
left hand strokes my scalp as she drags her fingers through my hair over and over again. It’s bliss, but | know
better than to keep Marie waiting, so | answer as best | can, “I do, Marie. You know, | still remember what you
said that day...” A dark chuckle sounds and | snort. “You knew then, didn’t
you?”
“Mmhmm... | hope you have been good to her, despite your fears,” she chuckles and | swear my pulse jumps at
just the power in her tone. “It is time, no?”
“It is,” | acknowledged, countering Anastacia’s confused expression with an adoring smile.
“Then | will see you when you get here. Do nothing until you do, | will see you soon,” Marie says and | can
practically see her finger posed to end the call already.
“Wait! What do you mean, do nothing? And | need your help with something before | get there.”
“Do you think I do not know that? Silly little dog. Of course | do, | have known for much longer than you have
what this night would bring and so long as the girl does not leave her htonight, she will be protected. | saw
to it years ago. On the day you left. The shadows will not find her, so long as she remains indoors.”
“How do you know which girl I'm-"
“Paul, need | demonstrate the extent of my gifts for you again when you get here? | am short a few of my stock,
perhaps you would like to becone of them after all.”
“N-no. Absolutely not. Please don’t.”
A loud cackling laugh reverberates through the phone. “Then understand it is done. You bring your love here, the
moment you arrive. Do not attempt to search for him do not fear that he will follow you, but she must come
directly here. She will need something that | possess to achieve her goals. The Shadow will not go quietly. And...
you must not mark her until after we have met.”
“Wait?! What? But she says that my bonding her will protect her. Why wouldn't I-”
“Paul. There are things you do not understand. You let a shadow loose at dawn, no?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
“Let it loose? We destroyed it.”
Marie laughs arrogantly. “You did not. How can you banish a shadow when you, yourself, cannot even feel the
sun? No. That shadow still lives, but you did do something right. You bound him to the ocean and a shadow
cannot find a host there, so until a suitable host ventures into the waters in which you placed him, he will be
imprisoned there. However, he is not destroyed. That shadow lives.”
Well, fuck.
“You are fucking creepy, do you know that?” | hiss, completely serious.
Unlike Anastacia, Marie is not offended. “Oh, | do hope so. | wouldn't have it any other way. | will see you tonight,
poochie. Goodbye.”
After | hang up the phone Anastacia claws my leg. “Was that MadMarie Monet?”
1/3
Chapter Three Hundred Four
“It was. You know her?”
* | know of her. She practices blood magic. Gran never messed around with that shit and always badesteer
clear of her daughter. How do you know you can trust her?”
“Because she’s never lied. Her daughter is the one | spoke to you about before. The one | thought was my mate.
When she and her father stopped here in the summer, we met at the docks. I fell for her instantly Then | chased
her to New Orleans and took her virginity-"
“You WHAT?"
“Yeah, | know, chill.”
“You're lucky you're alive.”
“To be fair, | thought she was my destiny at the time, she had such a draw on me-"
“She charmed you! Ha!” Anastacia snipes, rolling her eyes. “And you had the balls to accuse me!”
Ignoring that, | carry on, “-as | said, | thought she was mine at the time, but Marie knew that she wasn’t. The
very first thing Marie said towhen | arrived on her doorstep was ‘You are in the right place and the wrong
place at the stime’. She knew | was there for a reason, and she knew what that reason was. On the day | left
she toldnot to worry... that my mate would findwhen the twas right. Of so | pretty much lived in fear
course, she torturedfor a good week before she releasedto my dad - who had clooking forof
witches after that. But... | didn’t know the significance of a lot of the things she said until...”
“Until?”
“Until | met you. Now though-" | squeeze her hand on my leg “-they make sense.”
Her big indigo eyes brighten as if a huge weight has been delivered from her. As if something that has been
troubling her heart has, at long last, been satisfied. “So you finally believe me, then. You believe everything |
said to you... about Gran and about... you?”
Now that | know Anastacia isn’t going to jump out of my jeep, | pull back on the gas, allowing the jeep to slow to
a crawl as we approach the fire station. After parking my jeep in the back lot behind the station, | turn in my seat
to face Anastacia and my breath stutters. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, so much as | was afraid of the power
you would have over me. But when | saw you out there on the deck... and you couldn't breathe, | thought | might
lose you and... | realize now that | could have lost my chance. That if you had died right there... you would never
know how much | wanted it to be true. You would never know how perfect | think you are for me. | wouldn't be
able to tell you that the very first t| laid eyes on you, when the elevator doors opened and | got my first real
look at you, | thought... Please, let her be mine. | want that. | want her...” Shaking my head at myself, | pound a
fist into the dash. “I saw the way you had charmed all the guys in that place and it pissedoff. | guess | kind
of hated you for it.”
Anastacia’s eyes flash violet, but she doesn’t release any magic. “I was only trying to survive. | could feel the
energy there at the station. | knew there just had to be more shifters about, and | thought... if anyone could keep
the hounds off my back, it might be wolf shifters. So yeah, I tried to charm your buddy, but it didn’t work on him
because his heart is protected by the mate bond.” She swallows thickly and T search her eyes as they deepen in
color, going from indigo to ocean blue. “The moment you stepped off the elevator though... all thoughts of
charming the next shifter | cacross completely fled my mind. I didn’t even try to charm you.” Anastacia
sucks in a deep breath, shaking her head as if to clear it. “I knew the moment | saw you that | wanted you to like
“So then, what was all that purple mist shit you tried to hitwith at my house? When I first got you to my
house and | tried to go outside? | saw it cfor me. | saw you reach out. It looked like a fucken phantom hand
made from purple fog. What was that?”
She frowns, “I wanted to protect you. | was trying to stop you from going outside... but my magic wouldn't touch
you. It... went around
you.”
Smirking to myself, | picture the look in her eyes when | dropped my clothes on the living room floor and stepped
out onto my porch. | could see that she wanted me, and right then, she could have hadno questions asked. |
eye her lips then tell her, “You used the wrong magic for that one, little demon. Because had you simply gotten
naked instead... I'm pretty sure | wouldn't have gone anywhere. | would
2/3
Chapter Three Hundred Four
have done any little damn thing you said.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
She laughs and drags her fingers through my hair again. “My mistake then, I'll remember that for next time.”
Don’t get hard, penis, don’t you dare. There's no time.
“Just so you know, every t| look at you, | can see that you were crafted specifically for me. Despite the way
I've acted, you are the epitof every fantasy I've ever had - given life.” And although | don’t want to look
away from her, | do. Because the truth is, I'm ashamed of how I've acted from the moment we met. After
watching Demonic nearly destroy his bond with Draven, | thought | knew better than to fail my mate should | find
her. But | didn’t, and for that, I'm an even bigger fool than he was. But, who knows, maybe things were always
meant to happen this way. According to MadMthey were set in stone from the very first t|
journeyed to New
Orleans.
That crazy old hag probably knew who my mate was even then, damn her
“So,” Anastacia starts, taking a glance around at our surroundings seemingly for the first tsince we've
parked. “I have to admit, I'm confused. | thought we were flying to New Orleans.”
“We are,” | say quickly, while | text Logan what | need so that the pilot inside is ready. Logan pretty much runs
this place, even when he’s
not here.
“Okay... well, Paul... not sure if you've noticed, but this is hardly an airport.”
“Grab whatever you want to change into now so that you can do so inside, because once we're in the air there
won't be space,” | say, stepping out of the car and scanning the skyline as | walk around to open her door. Lucky
for us, most of the fog and rain has dissipated, although not for long. However, by the tthe showers start
again, we'll be in another state.
“In the air?” Anastacia snickers, glancing around at the fire and emergency trucks in the immediate vicinty. “Am |
missing something? Is there like... a magic school bus waiting inside, or what?”
“Nope.”
“Well then Paul... how are we flying there?”
| pull her in close just as | get the confirmation text from Logan that everything is set. Staring at her lips for a
long moment, | realize, | haven't taken the tto taste her yet and as much as | want to right now... | know |
can’t risk doing so yet. Fucking her against my jeep would be much too tempting and we don’t have tfor it. “I
thought it might be nice if we made it to New Orleans as quickly as possible, so we are not taking a plane, but
we are flying.” Anastacia arches an eyebrow as | drag her out of the jeep and spin her around so that she can
see the roof of the building next to the fire station. “We're going in that.”
Chapter Comments
LIKE
POST COMMENT NOW
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
