Blood Legacy Chapter 90: 88. Run with the pack

That powerful beat of his heart gently soothed me, feeling that crippling anxiety within me slowly die away and make room for tranquility. I didn't know how but I swore that I could feel his wolf reaching out for me, his supernatural presence thrumming just beneath Nathan's skin like a mystical energy.

I softly sighed with exhaustion, revelling in his comforting smell and the warmth of his bare skin against my palm and cheek, my very soul reaching back with a desperate need for that connection between us.

*"I'm here, little mate. I'm right here with you,"* my eyes widened for the briefest moment at the sound of that grungy voice echoing in my head, expressing a light smile as I couldn't help but feel so entranced by his caring tone and the fact that he could actually talk to me through the bond. We'd never done this before. Nathan's wolf and I. I'd only ever managed to hear and reply to Nathan's consciousness. Now I could talk to them both.

*"Why did I see that?"* I tentatively asked him through the bond, still a little shook as I dared think about what I'd just seen, real or not.

*"See what? What did you see?"* He immediately replied with a curious tone, making me smile a little again as I couldn't help but feel so satisfied that it was properly working. He could hear my thoughts and I his.

*"Let me show you,"* I said, really curious to see if I could actually show him my visions too through the bond, just like I did with Nate.

So I closed my eyes and focused, willing my mind to conjure up that terrifying scene. I needed to show him, have him see what I'd seen.

Nathan's arms went around me a little tighter the moment I projected Darius' muddled image in my mind, forcing myself not to cower in fear as I replayed that vision exactly how I'd seen it. Horrifying bite and all.

He growled with anger, even managing to startle me a little after that image of his brother sinking his teeth into me whilst I screamed my lungs out, my body now shaking a little after reliving that.

*"He will never touch you. Not even in death. I will die and follow you in the afterlife if I have to, but he will never touch you! You are mine, MY soulmate!"*

I opened my eyes and pulled back a little to look up at him after hearing him say that in my mind with unbridled determination, noticing that his eyes had also shifted to that unnaturally glowing golden.

I blushed a little, unnerved by the rawness of that statement and that strong emotion wafting from his every pore. I'd never had someone love me like this before. And frankly, it was kinda freaking me out a little.

I could hear soft and tentative footsteps in the lush grass coming from multiple directions, my attention thankfully averted.

So I tilted my head to the side and peeked past Nathan's broad shoulder, noticing our friends and my sister approaching, along with Nathan's and David's families and several other people I've never seen before, every single one of them so scantily-clad, barely wearing anything.

My eyes immediately widened, startled by the sea of half-naked people surrounding us, all staring back at me as if I were a some sort of fabled creature.

What the fuck?!?

I quickly pulled myself back, hiding within the safety of Nathan's embrace as I obviously felt way too overwhelmed. I didn't like the attention. It was grating on my nerves. I was pretty much aware that my frightened screams must've been the ones that had drawn their attention -hence their impromptu presence- but I didn't like it. I felt absolutely mortified.

"Future Luna?" I winced at the sound of that title. It was Estefany's voice.

"What happened?" My sister asked with a concerned tone and whilst I longed so much to go to her and soothe away her worries, I just couldn't. Not with all these people watching me. Watching us.

"Is she okay?" Great. Even Jess was worried now.

I blinked and timidly raised my anxious-ridden gaze to meet Nathan's. Understanding crossed his beautiful features, offering me the tiniest smile.

"She's okay. She just saw a spider and you know how afraid she is of them," he turned to peer at them over his shoulder, a hint of mirth lacing his tone.

*"Maybe we should go and have a word with Lysander,-"*

*"No,"* I vehemently refused.

*"Absolutely not."* I was not in the mood to deal with my father again. Not after that lame attempt of his to excuse his actions. And I was used to dealing with my own shit anyway.

*"Wanna go back and rest a little then?"*

*"Nope. I'm good,"* I sucked in an encouraging breath as he stepped aside, putting on a smile as I bravely faced the sea of people. And with Nathan's hand holding onto my own I tentatively stepped forwards, forcing myself not to let that fear and nervousness overcome me again as I looked around at the people surrounding me.

"So...w-what are we doing?" I casually asked with a hint of uneasiness, cluelessly staring around at the barely clothed bodies whilst my hand holding Nathan's mildly swung back and forth. Several pairs of eyes simply watched me, having yet to receive an answer when my gaze found Nathan's mom's, my brows furrowing as soon as I noticed that knowing smile forming on her thin lips.

**

My nails pressed against the rough bark of that thick log I was currently sitting on, fighting against that innate instinct to run as I widely stared around the large clearing. There were so many of them. So many different coats and sizes, one more frightening than the other.

My heart suddenly jumped within my chest, almost falling off of that log as a long and loud howl resounded, effectively scaring the living crap out of me.

I thickly swallowed, breathing fast and hard as my gaze snapped in the direction it came from, already shaking as I noticed another black wolf, this one so much larger than the rest, his stance so majestic and proud as he stood in the growing sea of supernatural canines.

*Nathan?*

My brows furrowed, watching the wolves around him give their undivided attention whilst prowling about, some whining and some letting out small howls in reply before a whitish grey one suddenly appeared, making them all quickly part and create a large path leading straight towards the midnight black wolf.

The whitish grey wolf pranced its way to the huge black wolf, their muzzles touching and rubbing against each other in a rather endearing way as soon as they were close.

"Those are Nathan's parents. The current Alpha and Luna," I quickly turned my head to look at Jess after hearing her say that, giving her a curious frown. How did she know that? She hadn't seen them transform, she's been right here next to me ever since the boys left us and went to turn into their wolves somewhere more private. Apparently, they usually did it right in front of their pack, their nakedness not being an issue since they were all so used to their pack-mates simply turning whenever and wherever instead of wasting time to search for private places or spare clothes. But now that we were here they'd chosen to at least give us the courtesy of not having to see so many naked bits in one go, so they all went and hid somewhere in the forest, one by one to undress and turn into their beastly selves.

Jess lightly tapped her nose, making me realize that she could actually tell from their different smells -since she was too one of them- my head quickly bobbing as I nodded in understanding.

"Wait, don't you have go with them?" My brow raised, simply curious to understand how it worked. She was a wolf too, just like them. Didn't that mean that she had to turn and be there with them, seeing as they were all doing it?

"No, I can't. They're not her pack. We're not part of this pack," her expression turned a little sad and dejected as she'd said that, her glossy dark blue eyes trailing to the growing sea of supernatural wolves huddled several feet ahead of us.

"And we have to be careful around David's wolf," she quietly added, her gaze lowering back to her lap as a faint blush started to bloom in her cheeks.

"He's still..." she bit her lip, nervously twiddling with her fingers as she refused to meet my gaze again.

Oh. Wow. I thought that they were already past that! I mean, they looked so cuddly and comfortable with each other it even got me fooled!

"Y-you mean you haven't..." I trailed off, throwing her an expectant look.

Her surprised gaze met mine, that rosy colour in her cheeks becoming more visible now as she fleetingly looked at Dre who was busy talking with Estefany a few paces away from us before returning her attention to me.

"We have, but..." she bit her lip and her gaze lowered again, her voice so soft and meek as she finally whispered,

"Only with him restrained,"

Oh! *Oh shit.* Now it was my turn to blush a little, eyes widened with surprise as I stared at her.

"He's afraid that he might go feral and try to force his mark on us, and even hurt us," her glossy gaze rose back up to meet mine, that sadness and despondency now even more visible on her doll-like features.

I remained quiet after that, placing my hand over hers as we sat there and stared at each other. She offered me a small and lifeless smile in return, making my heart ache for her. She was suffering and I hated it. Even though there was virtually nothing I could do about it. They were mates, paired by the Goddess herself. And there was absolutely no way of interfering with that. It would be "a sacrilege", like Nathan had said so many times before. The wolfy girls too.

*Fucking stupid supernatural rules.* I almost rolled my eyes with annoyance as I thought about all that, casually noticing that small startle her body gave out as she suddenly turned to look over her shoulder.

Two large wolves were now slowly approaching us, one completely black and one of a soft blend of various shades of grey, both looking so powerful and intimidating.

They prowled with confident and determined strides, looking like the true predators they were, their gazes set on us as if we were prey, ready to be claimed.

I sat up straighter and met their gazes head-on, readying myself as if we were about to engage into a brawl, my stance defensive as I felt Jess tremble a little. I felt the need to protect her, hide her away from their frightening selves. Even though I actually felt a little scared myself. It was one thing talking to Nate's wolf whilst he was still trapped in Nathan's human body, but now that I was finally seeing him again -in all his wolfy glory- it was actually making me feel kind of nervous and...small.

*"Love? Why do I sense fear gripping your little body?"* I tensed at the sound of Nathan's voice echoing in my head, taking me by surprise. He was present in there? I thought that his wolf had taken control of everything, now that he was in his hairy form and all that.

*"Are you...afraid of us?"* A hint of mirth laced his tone and I immediately narrowed my eyes at him, raising myself up to my feet as he continued to approach until he was standing barely a foot away from me.

*"Uh, no!"* I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Me? Afraid? He was too damn delusional!

*"You're just...too black and hairy!"* I retorted and I swore that I could hear him laugh from within the beast's magnificent form in response, my lips parting a little as only now did I finally notice that his eyes had remained green, despite his body's total transformation.

He leaned even closer and nuzzled me a little with his big snout, my lips escaping the tiniest squeal as his hot breath hit my chest and neck, followed by a languid lick from his tongue.

Was that his wolfy way of kissing? If so, eww!

I propelled my hands forward and pushed at his furry chest a little, earning myself another echoing laugh through the bond.

He then offered me his back and sat down, making curiously stare at the back of his head. What the fuck was he doing?

*"Come on. Hop on, princess,"*

I-What?

"No. I'm not leaving her," I immediately replied as soon as I realized what he was trying to make me do, watching him quickly turn back around.

Everybody was staring back at me now. Even David's wolf who had been staring back at Jess all this time like a freaking hypnotized zombie.

*"What?"*

*"Look, Jess is still afraid of David's wolf, okay? I can't leave her alone here with him! She'll be terrified!"* I rushed to explain to Nathan, his curious gaze shifting to the cowering girl still sitting on that log behind me before returning to me.

Both our heads snapped to the side as soon as we casually noticed David's wolf moving, watching with alarm and rapt attention as he approached her with slow and careful moves, letting out a pained whine before he sat down and curled himself into a ball at her feet, apparently accepting that he wasn't going to have the privilege of running with her, whether in wolf form and side by side or with her human form riding on his back. So he chose to sit and wait with her rather than have himself running free with the pack. Nathan had explained to me earlier on our way to this special clearing that running with their pack-mates was very important to them, as a whole. As a community. It was a form of bonding, of showing respect and support for their kin, the ones that followed them. They needed to do this every now and then for the sake of their pack and their own wolves too. And since Nathan was next in line to be their leader and David their commander, it was safe to say that they kinda needed to be there. It was mandatory, actually.

But that didn't seem to matter to him anymore since his own mate was afraid of showing him her wolf form, and was vehemently refusing to submit. To bear his mating mark, and follow the ways of pack life. She was her own person after all -supernatural being or not- and she had every right to. She needed to have a choice. A say in the matter.

I watched her gaze at him for a moment, her lips expressing a small and saddened smile before she looked at me, that lifeless smile becoming a little warmer as she softly said to me,

"Go with your Alpha. The pack is waiting for you."

"What? But..." I abruptly paused to look past Nathan's beastly form, casually noticing that there were so many wolves lingering around but keeping a fair distance, their attention however trained on their future Alpha.

"I'll be okay, I swear," she said, making me turn back to look at her.

"He won't do anything as long as I remain in human form," her cheeks bloomed with colour again as soon as she said that, nervously biting her lip as she timidly lowered her gaze for a moment.

What?

"B-but-"

"Go!"

"Just go, okay?" *You have to*, that look in her eyes seemed to say as she peered up at me, her smile so kind and warm.

"I'll be fine, I promise,"

I hesitated as I stared back at her for another moment, shifting my gaze to Nathan's wolf before returning it to the pair.

Fuck.

I blew out a tired sigh, lastly giving up.

"If you hurt her I'll chop off your dick, you hear me?" I pointed an accusatory finger at David's curled up wolf, all that anger and determination abruptly leaving me as soon as I saw him straightening back up, his stance so confident and menacing as he took three measured steps in my direction, making me tilt my chin up so that I could peer into those frightening golden eyes.

Holy shit. This is where I die. This is where I fucking die mauled by a freaking supernatural pissed-off wolf. Holy mother of Jesus. Holy fucking-

*"She's my mate. I'd rather have my spirit severed from my body by the Goddess herself before even dreaming of it,"* My eyes widened like two saucers, blasted into utter astonishment at the sound of that very rough and grungy male voice echoing in my head. It sounded so very...animalistic. It was nothing like Nathan's wolf's voice. Nathan's wolf's sounded so much more humane, compared to this.

I thickly swallowed, failing to even realize that I'd started shaking until he retreated and curled back into his previous spot, like a tired dragon huffing out a long breath through his snout before his eyes closed.

Holy crap.

I was still struggling to regain my wits and recover from that shock and fright when another snout gently nudged my shoulder, making me startle a little before realizing that it was only Nathan's wolf.

*"Come on, little mate. I wanna run with you,"*