Mates: Werewolf Short Stories

The Human Mate: Chapter 5

Unknown Alpha POV

I feel it before my scouts speak. The shift in the air. The wrongness.

The fire in my office snaps loudly, the flames bending as my wolf stirs beneath my skin, restless and alert. Something has changed. Something has shifted in the lines of the werewolves. When the scent-marked messenger kneels before me, I already suspected what the news could be.

“Speak.” I command. Not looking at the messenger as I stared at the flames. “A- Alpha Thorne has found his mate.” He said shakily, almost fearfully. My wolf stilled before hatred for the alpha started to burn in my chest. The word mate tastes like rot.

I rise slowly from my seat, the stone floor cold beneath my bare feet. My pack feels it immediately, backs straightening, breaths catching, wolves on the edge of shift. They know better than to interrupt me now.

“Go on.” I said lowly, making the messenger bow lower. “She is human.” the scout says. His pulse betrays him. Fear. Excitement. “But she is not just a human… She is a Listener.” He continued. The world goes quiet. Not peace… anticipation.

A Listener. My wolf surges, teeth bared in my skull, a low, reverent growl vibrating through my bones. Of all the things Thorne could have bound himself to… fate has handed him a curse wrapped in flesh.

I laugh. It tears out of me sharp and ugly, echoing off stone and timber until the fire flares in response. A human. His human. “I’ve waited years for this.” I murmur.

Thorne Ashwolf. The perfect Alpha. The disciplined one. The wolf who never breaks. He has ruled his territory like a shrine, order, loyalty, control. Packs speak his name like a promise.

They forget what he cost others. What he cost me. He took land that should have been mine. He took wolves that followed his strength instead of my hunger. He stood there, unbloodied, while I clawed my way to power through blood and bone. And now he has given me his throat.

“A Listener doesn’t survive long.” I say aloud, more to myself than the scout still kneeling. “Not when bound to a wolf like his so I can either wait… or kill him quicker.” I laugh again. The scout shifts nervously. “The bond echoed, Alpha. Across territories. Even we felt it.”

“Of course you did. Listeners calm the wolf. Anchor it. Steal its madness and carry it in their own fragile bodies until there is nothing left of them. When they die, the wolf is unleashed.” I said gleefully. I turn slowly, letting my dominance roll through the hall. Wolves bow their heads without being told. They feel my intent and they like it.

“Where is she now?” I ask as I look down at the man at my feet. “She lives in human lands, close to the forest outside pack lands.” the scout continues. “Unprotected as far as I know.”

I smile. “She is not his strength.” I say softly. “She is his ending. To kill Thorne outright would make him a martyr. His pack would rally. The others would interfere.” I said as my head swam with murderous plans.

“But kill her? Kill the thing that keeps his wolf from tearing him apart?” I laughed again. “That would leave him hollow. Unstable. Dangerous.” I said and I could feel the excitement in my pack of wolves.

“When she dies.” I continue, voice low and certain, “his wolf will lose its anchor. His control will fracture. His pack will turn on itself trying to contain him.” I said as I turn back to the fire and crouch in front of the fire, watching the flames writhe.

“And I will watch him burn.” I said, imagining the satisfaction of his death before me. The scout hesitates. “If he tracks the killers back to us…”

“Let him,” I snarl and the scout jumps in fright. “I want him to come for me half-mad, dragging ruin behind him. I want his pack weakened. I want his name whispered with fear instead of reverence.” I said and a murmur of approval and hunger run through my gathered men.

“Send hunters.” I order. “Not warriors. Shadows. Silent. No marks. No howls.” I said seriously as I turned to face him. The scout nods, backing away carefully. “Oh… and one more thing.” I add as a sadistic smile spreads across my face.

He freezes. “Do not take her quickly.” I said as the scout’s eyes widen fearfully. My wolf bares its teeth in delight. “Listeners suffer when they are afraid.” I say. “Let her feel it. Let the bond scream. Let Thorne feel her dying.” I said.

I straighten, power coiling tight and violent inside me. “She is the crack in his control.” I whisper. “And I will pry it open until there is nothing left of him but teeth and madness.”

Somewhere far from my territory, Thorne believes his mate is safe. I grin. Nothing is safe once I set my sights on it.

Thorne POV

I wake before dawn. Not because of sound. Not because of movement. Because my wolf is standing at attention.

Elara sleeps curled against my side, warm and real, her breath soft against my chest. The bond hums low and steady between us. Content, sated, anchored. The memory of her skin, her scent, the way the wolf had gone utterly still with her beneath me the night before tightens something dangerous in my ribs.

For a moment, I let myself believe this could last. Then the wolf growls. Low. Uneasy. Something is wrong.

I still my breathing and listen, not with my ears, but with the part of me that has kept my pack alive for years. The bond stretches, testing distance. Elara is calm. Safe. Asleep.

But beyond her… Something stirs. A pressure crawls up my spine, cold and deliberate. A ripple through the pack bond, faint but unmistakable. Fear. Movement. Intent.

Hunters… but not mine.

I ease out from beneath her carefully, every muscle controlled. She shifts slightly, murmurs something unintelligible, and settles again. I pause, brushing my thumb once over her shoulder, breathing her in like I might need the memory to survive what comes next.

“I’ll be back.” I whisper, more for myself than for her. I dress silently, already planning escape routes, already tasting blood in the back of my throat. By the time I step out into the pre-dawn cold, my control is locked down tight, but the bond pulls hard, reluctant to let me go.

Stay, it urges. Protect her. “That is what I am doing.” I murmur to myself. I move fast through the trees, shedding human skin the moment I’m far enough away, bones shifting, senses sharpening. The pack bond flares as I cross into our territory, wolves stirring, alarms beginning to whisper through shared instinct.

Whoever was foolish enough to set their sights on my mate will suffer beyond anything I have already done. The wolf bares its teeth. Let them come.