Ella’s POV
“Isn’t that the second son of the alpha of the blue river pack?” Loki asked, his eyes peering into distance.
“I think that is him.” Damien nodded as the men moved closer to us.
I groaned. Of all the luck in the world, we had to have the shittiest one. Why did we have to run into Caleb of all the men that we could run into here? I wondered what he would do. Caleb was friendly and wasn’t as agressive as his other two brothers but that didn’t mean that I had to take his temperament for granted.
He was a werewolf of the blue river pack and his father’s blood ran in his veins. I didn’t think that he would take lightly to people trespassing on their land but I hoped he wouldn’t mind.
I wondered who the other man with him was. He was older than Caleb for him to be a friend and I knew all of his uncles that I was sure this man wasn’t family. They seemed to be comfortable with each other in a way and I didn’t doubt that he was of the blue river pack.
That made me more confused though as they approached as I had thought I knew of everyone in the blue river pack but this man was not familiar to me at all.
There wasn’t anywhere to escape to and hide till they were gone. Moreover, I was certain that the men already saw us. They had good eyesight as we did. They must have spotted us at the same moment that we saw them.
“Anna.” Caleb grinned the moment he got closer to us.
“Anna?” Some of the men echoed.
I waved my hand dismissively at them. “It’s a long story.” I said and focused on Caleb. It was a fresh reminder of how little the men knew of how I’ve lived my life for the past five years.
“Caleb,” I answered, my heart thudding in my chest. I knew he must be curious of why I was here and who the men with me were.
He must have sniffed them out and knew that they belonged to the blood moon pack just as I had sniffed out the man with him and confirmed that he was a werewolf of the blue river pack. That didn’t mean that I wasn’t still curious about him. There was something strangely familiar about this man and his scent but I couldn’t figure out what it was. The more I stared at him, the more I was convinced that there was a puzzle about him that I needed to solve.
I wondered though what it was and couldn’t stop wondering even as I was talking with Caleb. The unknown man also was looking at me and seemed to be studying me.
“I wondered where you were when I didn’t see you again. Who knew that I would find you here?” Caleb grinned at me.
He suddenly pulled me into an embrace, shocking me and the men with me. I heard a slight growl and knew that came out of Kevin’s throat. I heard multiple gasps break out as well and knew that came from the men who were stunned at the sight of another man hugging the mate of their alpha. I wondered how hard it must be for them and Kevin to keep calm in this situation. They must really be serious about being tired of fighting if they didn’t want to start one.
I had also gasped in shock at Caleb’s action as I didn’t think that he would do that. I had thought him to be a Buddhist as that was the lineage he had come from. I didn’t think he would come close to me like this instead of bowing over his hand and wishing me well from a distance. I wondered if he was being unusual because he hadn’t seen me in a long time or because he was happy to see me. Knowing Caleb, I had no doubt that it was due to both reasons.
Caleb released me and chuckled, looking straight at Kevin. “You don’t have to growl at me. I know she is your mate and not competing with you for her. I’m not my brother. Even if I didn’t know of what happened then at home between the two of you because of Anna, I can smell your mark all over her and know that she is yours.”
I winced. Caleb had given a hint of the secret that I had been trying to protect. The men were smart and would figure out what I didn’t want to talk about in no time.
“Finally someone talked of what happened between our alpha and the blue river pack.” Damien grinned.
Caleb looked between me and Kevin and gasped, his hands flying to his mouth with a dramatic flair. “I didn’t know that was meant to be a secret.”
I snorted at his words. He even had the decency to blush.
I cleared my throat and shrugged, waving his concerns away. “You don’t have to worry about that. Where are you going?” I asked Caleb.
“I made a new friend and traveling with him for a research. I didn’t want anyone to see me leave so we decided to pass through this path. Who knew I was going to run into you here?”
I frowned at his words. There was bothering me about what he said. “You left home without telling everyone?”
He shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like anyone is going to notice my absence that much. They will only assume that I’ve gone on my usual adventure search.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To the land of the blood moon pack.” He confessed.
Kevin was the one who spoke this time. “You are going to my pack? Why?”
“To look for your mate.” Caleb said, looking at me.
“Why?” I squeaked. I didn’t know why he would want to look for me and risk going to the land of the blood moon pack where he was at risk of being unwelcome there.
Instead of replying, he turned to the man he was traveling with and smiled. He pointed at me and said to me. “This is her, the girl you are looking for.”
The man smiled at me, his eyes shining with love. I wondered what was wrong with him, even Caleb. I looked at Caleb and my question must be in my eyes because his smile got wider and more cryptic.
“I believe this is your father, Anna or should I call you, Ella?”