Second Chance At Love - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My team and I shifted into our wolf forms so we would be able to follow the scents better. We took off at a run into the woods. I was paired with Kelly while Sam and Lee were paired together. I let myself fall into my wolf and used his senses to find any trace of my missing mate. I may have only met him once, but his scent was burned into my memory.

It took a while, but I finally caught a slight trail that I immediately started to follow. "I've caught Tony's scent. We're about 15 miles from the pack hall heading Northwest."

"We'll be right there. Wait for us." Alpha Jeff said through the mind link. Normally, it doesn't work for members of different packs, but because of the circumstances, the Alphas were able to set up a temporary link for me and my team.

I snarled in response because my wolf wanted its mate, he didn't want to have to wait for someone else. I wanted to protect my mate and the longer it took for everyone to meet up with Kelly and me the further away he could be. After what seemed like forever everyone else had finally gotten to our location.

“Louis, what have you found?” asked Alpha Jeff.

“Alpha Jeff, I have found a scent trail of Tony and a few others. I don’t recognize any of the scents so they must be the ones who took him,” I replied.

“Alpha Jeff, I have noticed the scent of some young pups. They must be the ones that have been taken from your pack. I smelled six pups. A couple of them smell similar so I am assuming that they are siblings,” stated Kelly.

I noticed a couple of Tony’s pack enforcers smelling the area start to growl. They were facing the direction that Kelly and I had been going in when I smelled Tony’s scent. As I scented around I noticed a scent I hadn’t smelled before and it set me on edge. I felt the hair of my wolf stand on end and my tail stiffen. The other wolves reacted in the same manner. I moved towards the front of our group and let out a low, harsh growl as a warning to whoever was approaching us.

A tall man, about six-foot-eight stepped out from behind a tree about five yards ahead of us. He held his hands up to try and show us that he was nonthreatening, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down in his presence. I caught a faint whiff of Tony’s scent on him which caused me to growl louder and bare my teeth at him.

“Peace wolves. I come in peace.”

I shifted forms so I could speak to him. I let out a low growl. “Why do you smell of my mate? Who do you think you are?” I demanded.

“So you’re the wolfie who thinks Tony is your mate? Steve said there is no way that you could be Tony’s mate because he is his mate.”

“Tony rejected Steve didn’t he?” I asked.

“Steve never accepted the rejection though,” the man said.

“For wolves, it doesn’t matter. Tony rejected him. His wolf doesn’t see this Steve guy as an acceptable mate. Wolves mate for life. Bears, however, are mostly solitary creatures. They are usually only together during the mating season. Most wolves won’t accept this in a mate. My friend Jon happens to be an exception to the rule.”

“Bears can have a single mate.”

“That can be, however, Steve made it quite clear that he would not be one of them when he tried to break the mating bond of Jon and Tim. It was for this reason that Tony rejected him. Second chance mates can happen, but they tend to be rare occurrences,” said Alpha Jeff. “Now why don’t you tell us why you are trespassing on our pack lands?”

“Steve sent me to tell you that you can find your pups in the next town over. They have been taken to the local sheriff’s office where they can wait for their parents to come to get them.”

“What about my mate you piece of crap?” I growled.

“Well, see that’s where you’re going to have a problem because Steve isn’t going to let him go. He said he would force the mating if he has to keep Tony from leaving.”

My wolf would no longer remain silent. It was as if I was a passenger in my own body as I stormed my way over to the man before us and punched him square in the jaw. Wolves from my pack lept forward and grabbed my arms as I went to strike him again. “Let me go,” I growled.

“Calm Beta Louis. Johnson and Jefferson take this man back to the cells. He is to remain there under guard until either I or Alpha James tell you otherwise. Is that understood?” Alpha Jeff asked.

“Yes Alpha,” they replied.

The man in question quietly went with the two enforcers. It was as if he knew he would not be there long. However, if what I had seen earlier was any indication of how the Alphas dealt out punishment, I wouldn’t want to be him at the end of the day.

Tony’s POV

I groaned as I covertly looked around the area I was in. I heard whimpering off to my right side so I knew the pups had to be close by. I was confused as to why they still had the pups since they now had me in their possession.

I heard footsteps coming in my direction from somewhere outside the room I was currently in. I quickly closed my eyes since I didn’t want them to realize I was awake yet. I kept going over what I remembered over in my head. I had been headed towards the pack house when Paul came up to me and that was the last I remembered before waking up in the room I was in.

“Tony, I know you’re awake. You might as well open your eyes and look at me,” Steve said right before I heard a door click shut. Why would Paul hand me over to him?

I opened my eyes and looked Steve square in the eyes. I would not let that man see me scared. I would kill myself before I let the good for nothing, philandering, cheat have his way with me. I rejected him and I knew that the rejection had taken hold, otherwise Louis never would have felt a mating pull towards me.

I knew Louis was my second chance mate, but I wasn’t about to let someone have total control over me. I had seen how Jeremy was with his mate and how Tim was with Jon. I knew not all mates were assholes, I just got the shit end of the stick with Steve. In my heart of hearts, I knew I would at least give Louis the benefit of the doubt, but that didn’t mean I had to like it right away.

“Why can’t you leave me alone? I know what you tried to do to Tim and Jon. I rejected you.”

“I know you didn’t mean it, Tony,” Steve said.

“Oh, I absolutely meant it asswipe. I want nothing to do with you.”

“You never gave me a chance. You took what Tim and Jon said at face value and never heard things from my point of view.”

“What side? You tried to interfere with their mating. You admitted to coming to Washington from Iowa to get Jon’s mom’s help in splitting the two of them up. What more is there to understand?”

“Tony, you know bears don’t mate for life. I figured Jon was the best I could get in the way of a mate. He should have been with another bear and not a wolf.”

“Have you forgotten something, you moron? I’m a wolf as well!”

“I know. I thought that way before I met you though. Give me a chance,” he pleaded.

“No! Someone who would stoop to stealing pups to get their way is not someone I want to mate with. Besides the Moon Goddess already saw fit to give me a second chance mate and he is also a wolf.”

“Noooooo, that’s not possible. I’m your mate.”

“I felt the pull with him, and I no longer feel it with you.”

“Then I will do what I must to ensure that you are mine. You haven’t mated with him yet otherwise he would never have let you come. Does he even care that you came to me?”

“I didn’t come to you, you moron! You had me kidnapped, just like you kidnapped all those pups from the pack. Why would I ever have anything to do with you now?”

“I can wait for you to come to your senses. Afterall, if you care for the pack pups like you want me to believe then you will eventually give in. You wouldn’t want to see anything happen to them, now would you?”

Steve turned and stormed away. I finally allowed myself to relax now that I was by myself again. I knew that the others would find me, I just had to hang on until they did.