P.S. You're My Mate novel Chapter 4

GRACE

I wanted to move, to run out of there, and never look back but my feet wouldn't let me. They betrayed me by remaining put, almost as if someone poured quick-drying cement on them. We just stood there, eyes never wavering. He looked surprised to see me but what did he expect. There was only one pack in this district so obviously, I belonged here; unless he expected me to be a rouge. I knew I'd run into him eventually, I just didn't expect it to be so soon.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted Gino walking toward me, his muscular arm firmly wrapped around the tiny waist of what I assumed was his mate. I decided to break our a little staring contest and meet Gino's sparkling blue orbs instead. His eyes reminded me so much of his brother's.

"Grace, finally decided to come home?" Gino grinned cheekily and I knew Monica must have told him about last night.

Rolling my very dull blue eyes, I punched him playfully in the arm, "Respect your elders little one."

He snickered, "So you're admitting that you're old?"

I flipped him the bird, "Remind me why I put up with your crap again?"

"Because I'm your brother in law and you're meant to put up with me. Do you need another reason besides that?" He shrugged, flicking my nose. At eighteen, the boy towered over be with his six-foot figure and he wasn't done growing yet. He had the same sandy blond hair as his brother and the same blue eyes. Gino had higher cheekbones and softer features, resembling his mother whereas Carter looked a lot like his father when he was alive.

"Brother in law?" The girl next to him quizzed, looking between us with a raised brow.

"Yeah, she's my brother's mate," he beamed but then his smile dropped as he realized what he had just said.

"You're already mated?" The stranger's rough voice demanded an answer. There was an air of authority that surrounded him.

"She is, sort off..." Gino trailed off, "my brother passed on a few years ago but I still regard her as family. If he had been here today she would have been his mate and my sister in law but fate had it that he would die and she would survive."

"Wow, I've never heard of a wolf surviving after their other half has passed on," the girl glued to Gino's hip said. Her chocolate brown eyes shone with interest, "Do you still have a wolf?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Interesting. Very interesting indeed. Don't you think so brother?" She turned to the stranger, offering him an ear to ear smile. It was almost as if she looked at him with so much adoration and pride.

His response came in the form of a curt nod but he continued to stare at me shamelessly. Everybody could see him sweeping his eyes slowly down my frame that had a tank top and shorts. Suddenly, I felt underdressed and wished to have the biggest blanket in this pack house wrapped around me like a breakfast burrito.

Gino cleared his throat, catching everyone's undying attention, "Where are my manners? Grace, this is Cassidy. She's my mate," he beamed then gestured to the stranger, "and this is Alpha Silas Wilde, her brother."

Well, that explained the air of authority that seemed to be suffocating me.

I smiled softly at Cassidy, "Nice to meet you Cassidy. If this boy gives you any trouble, just call me. I know exactly what to do to sort him out," then I turned to Silas, "nice to meet you too. If you guys would excuse me, I need to go."

I could already feel my heart thrumming in my chest. Finally, my legs decided it would move and I all but ran out of the pack house, running into Monica on the way out. She had a cigarette between her lips and her phone in her hand. Giving me a confused look, all I had to do was turn my head toward the entrance of the pack house for her to know exactly what I was running from. Sure enough, Alpha Silas Wilde decided to follow me.

Without a word, Monica shoved me toward the forest lining the pack house and I heard a growl rip through the air, "Stay away from her man, she doesn't want anything to do with you."

I stopped and watched their exchange for a beat, "I suggest you get out of my way," when Monica didn't listen he decided to use his alpha tone which forced her wolf into submission, "Now!" He barked and she moved not even a second later.

I took that as my cue to run for it, deep into the woods. Although my legs were short, I was quite fast on my feet. Training to be a pack warrior taught me how to control my breathing and push myself to my absolute limit without fully burning myself out. After Carter passed, I took his place, and every day I had to prove myself because the male wolves were honestly a piece of shit.

Once I got tired from running on two feet, I shifted mid-sprint into my chocolate brown wolf. My poor clothes tearing to the point of no return.

R.I.P. Clothes!

I heard another set of cracking bones and a howl cut through the air like a knife. Turning around to see how far Silas was from me would be stupid because that would slow me down but unluckily for me, I was the Queen of stupid and decided to glance back anyway, startling myself when I met his glowing purple eyes.