Unwanted

Anton’s P.O.V.

As soon as Teegan waves for us to join them inside, I get out of the SUV, and the most intoxicating scent I’ve ever smelt surrounds me. I know it’s coming from inside the house. When I rush past Teegan and Joel, I see a beautiful woman with wide green eyes looking back at me. I’ve found her. I’ve found my mate.

However, when I say the word I’ve wanted to say for so long, I wasn’t expecting her to fall onto her knees sobbing. I’m scared to move. Did I do something wrong? Is she already mated? The woman beside her squats down and wraps her arms around my mate. Yes, I’m claiming her as mine until I’m told otherwise.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” The woman says to her. I look at Teegan, who pulls me aside.

“Jelena and Garett run the house. The woman crying; her name is Petra. They said she’s been here a long time. I think she’s scared based on how she looked at you when you came in.” She whispers to me. Petra. That’s a beautiful name.

“What should I do?” I ask Teegan. Petra is still crying, and Jelena is trying to console her. I hope she doesn’t think I’ll hurt her. That’s the last thing I’ll do.

“Try to talk to her. You know whatever led her here couldn’t have been good.” Teegan replies. I nod and take a few steps toward the two women.

“Hello. My name is Anton. Please don’t be scared of me. I won’t hurt you.” Jelena looks up at me with a small smile. Petra still has her hands covering her face.

“Petra, talk to him. It will be okay, I promise,” Jelena says.

“I can’t. I can’t talk to him if it’s only going to end in pain. I thought I was safe here. I didn’t want to find my mate. I don’t want to be hurt.” Petra begins sobbing again, and I’m at a loss. Was she mated before?

I know I shouldn’t, but I sit on the floor and pull her into my arms. Jelena nods and smiles as she stands up and takes everyone into another room. Petra tries to move away, but I hold her tight, hoping my touch comforts her.

“I won’t hurt you. Did someone hurt you before? Were you mated to someone else?” I ask. She shakes her head against me, but she’s still crying too hard to speak. I stroke her head and continue to hold her until she calms down. When I feel her relaxing slightly, I decide to try again.

“Did I scare you when I came in?” I ask her softly. Petra takes a deep breath but doesn’t look at me.

“Not you personally, but when I knew you were my mate, that scared me.” She answers in a whisper.

“Why does knowing I’m your mate scare you?” I continue to stroke her head, and she rests her head on my shoulder.

“I was taken from my pack when I was a pup. I was with my kidnappers for over five years, and the things I saw the men do to their mates were horrible. They tortured them and made us watch, telling us when we got old enough, they would do the same things to us. Sometimes, one of the younger men would take me out of my cell and beat me just for fun. He said he was going to mark me when I was eighteen, so he needed to get me prepared for what it’s like to be a mate. I was lucky that all he did was hit me. Some of the other pups weren’t so lucky. I vowed that when I found my mate, I would reject him because I didn’t want to be hurt.” I can’t believe what she’s saying. No wonder she was terrified of finding her mate.

“That’s not how mates are supposed to treat each other. They’re supposed to love and protect them. I will never hurt you in any way.” I try to reassure her. Petra finally looks into my eyes, but she seems uncertain.

“How can I be sure? What if I accept you, we mark each other, and then you turn into a monster? When Jelena and Garett found me, I was almost dead. They tried to take me to my pack, but the entire pack was killed the night me, and the other pups were taken. I’m a nobody from nowhere.” She tries to turn from me, but I hold her so she’s still facing me.

“You’re not nobody from nowhere. You’re Petra, and you’re my mate. If you accept me and we mark each other, I’m not going to be anything other than the man who loves you for the rest of my life. You have nothing to fear with me.” I reach up and stroke her cheek gently. The sparks are like a shot to my heart, and I hope she can feel them, too.

“We don’t have to mark each other right away, do we? I’m not going to reject you, but I need time to think.” I sigh in relief. At least she’s not rejecting me. After the mess with Kimberly, I didn’t think I would find my real mate so quickly.

“You can take as long as you need. I won’t force anything on you.” She nods and looks down at her hands. Suddenly, her head shoots back up.

“Wait, are you related to the prince and princess?” She asks, looking behind her where the others were.

“Teegan is my sister, and she’s mated to the prince. Our other brother, Damon, is mated to Joel’s sister, Kiana. I will be the alpha of the Silver Moon pack in Michigan. So if you accept me, you’ll be my luna.” I tell her. She tilts her head to the side and studies me.

“Thank goodness you’re not royalty. I wasn’t sure if I should bow, curtsy, or offer them tea. Although, they don’t dress the way I pictured royals.” I smile and shake my head. I’m glad she’s feeling well enough to joke.

“The king and queen are at our packhouse, and they’re the same as their children. They don’t want us to use titles; they prefer we call them by their first names.” Petra stands up, and I stand next to her. I want to pull her back into my arms, but I don’t want her to feel like I’m forcing her to do anything.

“What brought you here? I heard Teegan say something about missing pups, but then I got distracted.” She smiles slightly before looking away.

“It’s a long story, so I’ll give you the condensed version. Someone had been taking pups from our pack for years. When Teegan was a pup, they were only taking girls, so my parents gave her up so humans could adopt her to keep her safe. The pups disappearing slowed down for a long time, but then they picked back up again. This time, they were taking both male and female pups. Joel came to help us look into it and, on his way home, ran into my sister, who knew nothing about where she came from. Long story short, they found out she was from Silver Moon and came to visit us. When she heard that pups were still being taken, her natural instincts kicked in, and she helped us figure out it was our dad’s beta. He kept a lot of records on where the pups were taken, so we’re going around to the places he had listed. When we were at the last pack, they mentioned that some pups were sent here. We came to see if any of the missing pups are here or have been here at one time so we can reconnect them with their families.” I explain. Petra stares at me, and I feel like I’m getting lost in her green eyes.

“Wow, so you really are good people. I hope some of them came here. This place saved my life; that’s why I’ve had trouble leaving. Jelena and Garrett are the closest I’ve ever had to parents that I can remember.” I take her hand and link our fingers.

“I’m glad they were able to help you. I know this may be too soon, but would you like to go with us to the other packs? It would give us time to get to know each other. I promise I won’t pressure you. I just don’t want to leave you.” Petra hesitates and bites her lip nervously.

“I want to say yes, but let me talk to Jelena first. I’ve never been anywhere other than here and the pack they rescued me from. I did home-schooling when they found me because I was too scared to be around others. I’m not going to lie; it terrifies me to leave and go to the unknown, but I feel safe with you.” She looks down as she says the last part. I can tell that was hard for her to admit, but it warms my heart that she was willing to say it already.

“Of course, you can talk to her. I’ll do whatever you want. If you want me to stay here and let them continue without me, I will. Right now, you get to decide what happens, so act like I’m a puppy and tell me what to do.” Petra giggles and looks up at me.

“That’s going a little too far. You’re definitely not a puppy. I don’t want to stop you from looking for the pups. I want to help and go with you, but I have to talk to her first.” I smile and lean forward, kissing her forehead. When she doesn’t shove me off, I have hope that, eventually, she’ll be ready to accept me. She smiles shyly as we go to join the others holding hands. When we walk into the other room, I’m worried everyone will pay her too much attention, making her self-conscious, but they don’t. Jelena and Garrett are in front of computers while the rest sit around the table waiting.

“Any luck?” I ask. Teegan smiles and nods.

“We’ve actually found a few that have been through here. Some are now with packs that take orphans, so we have a list of those to go to. They’re looking now through some of the current pups they have between the two houses to see if any of them could be from our pack.” She answers. Petra moves closer to me, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by my sister.

“I’m so happy you found your mate. Is she better now?” She mindlinks me as she looks away.

“Yes. I think she’s going to come with us so we can get to know each other. Something concerns me, though. Petra said the day they took her from her pack, everyone there was killed. If someone was only taking pups, why would they kill the entire pack? I want to look into this for her, but I don’t know if I’m crossing a line.” Teegan glances at us and then away.

“She deserves answers. Maybe we can get her to agree while we’re on the road. Joel has an amazing investigator working for him. He may be able to find something.” I like that idea. I squeeze Petra’s hand, and she moves a little closer. I’m going to find out what happened to her pack. Why would someone kill everyone in a pack to take a few pups?