The HumanMate: Chapter 3
1003 Words
Thorne POV
The moment Elara walked away, beyond the tree line, my wolf surged. It clawed up my spine, wild and frantic, snarling for pursuit, for her. I forced it down with iron control as I shifted direction and ran, the forest blurring past me while my pack’s land pulled closer with every stride.
This territory had been mine since birth. Passed down through generations of my pack’s alphas. Every root, every stone, every shadow knew my scent. And yet something fundamental had shifted tonight, something that didn’t belong to the old rules.
This bond would either save my pack… or tear it apart.
By the time I crossed the borders, every wolf within them felt me. Heads snapped up. Wolves froze mid-step. The pack bond thrummed, tight, uneasy, questioning.
What did you do? What did you bring to us? Why does the wolf feel… quiet?
I burst into the central clearing and stopped hard, breath steaming in the cold air. They were already gathered. Dozens of them. Warriors. Elders. Scouts. Some human, some half-shifted, others fully wolf, eyes glowing as they paced the perimeter like caged storms.
No one spoke. That silence told me everything. I turned slowly, meeting faces I’d known my entire life. Wolves who had bled beside me. Wolves who trusted me because they had never seen my control falter. Until tonight.
“You felt it,” I said at last. Alpha voice. Command without effort. “All of you.”
A murmur rippled through the clearing. “The bond went still,” someone said, unease threading their tone. “And then it changed,” another added. “It settled,” a younger wolf whispered, eyes wide. “I didn’t even know it could do that.” Neither did I.
Marcus stepped forward, my beta, my anchor when the wolf pushed too hard. His gaze searched my face for fractures he hoped not to find. “You should have brought her,” he said quietly. Not a challenge. A truth.
“No.” The word came out cold. A displeased murmur rolled through the pack, instinctive and restless. I let it happen. Let them feel the weight of my presence until the sound died away.
“She’s human.” Liora snapped, folding her arms tight. Golden-brown eyes sharp with fear she didn’t bother hiding. One of our eldest warriors. One of our strongest. “And yet the bond reacted as if you’d found a true mate.”
Because I had. “She calmed him,” another wolf said instead, awe creeping into his voice. “The wolf. I’ve never felt him like that. Not through you. Not ever.”
Every eye turned to me. “How?” Liora demanded. “What is she?”
My jaw tightened. Elara’s voice rose unbidden in my memory, soft, steady, hearing me in a way no one ever had. “She’s a Listener,” I said. The clearing erupted.
“No.” “That’s not possible.” “They died out.” “They never survived.”
Fear spiked through the bond, sharp enough to stagger several wolves. Hands went to heads. Breaths came too fast. Marcus swore softly. “That’s why it echoed,” he said slowly. “That’s why we all felt it.”
“Yes.”
Silence crashed back down, heavier than before. Listeners were pack myth, and pack nightmare. Humans who could hear the wolf beneath the skin. Soothe it. Anchor it. Or be destroyed by it.
“You know how this will end.” Liora said tightly. “They don’t survive us. And we don’t survive them.”
I stepped forward, letting my power roll out unchecked. The ground itself seemed to tense beneath my feet. “She is not dying for pack history.” I said coldly. “And she is not being used as a leash.”
“And if she’s the only thing holding you together?” Marcus asked. Not accusing. Afraid. That hit harder than any blade, because the answer was yes. The wolf stirred at the thought of her. Warmth. Quiet. Home. The bond hummed in agreement.
“I will control it.” I said. A bitter laugh cut through the air. “Can you?” a voice challenged from the back. “You can barely control yourself, my Alpha.”
My wolf snarled. I let it show. Dominance slammed outward, forcing knees to bend, heads to bow. Not cruelty. Necessity.
“I have held this pack together with blood and discipline since I took my father’s place.” I said, voice like ice. “I have never lost control. Not once. And I will not start now.”
The clearing trembled as the bond steadied beneath my command. “She goes home.” I continued. “She lives her life untouched while I decide how to protect her from us.”
“And if the bond pulls her back?” Marcus asked quietly. I didn’t answer immediately, because the truth already coiled heavy in my chest. “Then I will go to her.”
Murmurs rippled through the pack. “She is mine.” I said at last. The words sank deep into the pack bond, absolute and unyielding. “She is my fated mate.”
Gasps filled the clearing. “And anyone who threatens her, directly or otherwise, answers to me.”
“And if this destroys you?” Liora asked, fear and concern warring in her eyes. “What if it destroys you both?”
“I won’t let that happen,” I said. “And no one in this pack will harm her. Is that clear?” No one challenged me. But fear lingered, not just of what she was, but of what she meant to me.
As the pack slowly dispersed, the wolf finally exhaled. Restless. Watchful. Calmer than it had ever been before. And beneath it all, faint but constant, I felt her.
Alive. Safe.
The bond tightened. Soon, I promised silently. I was coming for her.
- Writer
