Rejecting The Pack: I Need One Mate

Kala was not a wolf-girl born into this brutal beast world. Her soul had come from somewhere else — a world of high towers, surgical lights, and a profession called "doctor." In that life, she had been a skilled surgeon.

Now, the memories of her past life had faded like morning mist. She could no longer recall the feel of sterile gloves or her own name from before. But the deepest instincts of her soul had carved themselves into her bones. In this primitive land where raw strength and beast instinct ruled, she still reached for herbs and bandages. She had become the Silverwood Pack's healer — the one they called the Mender. It was not a choice. It was the pull of a soul remembering what it once was.

The night wind swept through the central square of the Silverwood Pack settlement, kicking up sparks from the bonfire. They hissed and died in the dark. Morwenna cleared her throat, the dry sound cutting through the crackle of the flames.

The cubs stopped their roughhousing instantly. They scrambled to sit at the feet of the blind elder's rocking chair, their eyes wide and eager.

Kala sat on the outermost log, away from the heat. She kept her head down, her fingers working automatically to strip the root from a pearl-grass plant. The sticky sap clung to her fingertips, smelling faintly of mint and clean soil.

Morwenna began her story, her voice raspy and low. It was the old tale, the one about the Beast Goddess who descended to the ancient world and took twelve mighty beast partners.

When the elder mentioned the giant beasts the Goddess commanded, the male cubs gasped. Their chests puffed out, imaginations already running wild with battles and glory.

Tabitha, a female cub with braided hair, puffed out her own chest. "When I grow up, I'm going to have the strongest warriors," she declared loudly. "They'll fight over me."

She turned to look at Zev, who sat beside her. Her eyes held a clear, possessive gleam. It was a look that said Zev belonged on that list.

Zev's face twisted in disgust. He shuffled away from her, putting a solid foot of space between them. "You're too prissy," he shot back. "You can't even skin a rabbit. You don't deserve a strong Alpha."

Tabitha's face flushed red. Her small hands grabbed fistfuls of her skirt, her knuckles turning white. "Take that back!"

Zev jumped to his feet. He wasn't done. He needed a weapon to crush her pride completely. His finger shot out, pointing straight at the edge of the circle.

At Kala.

"When I mate," Zev announced to the entire square, "I'm going to find someone like Kala! She's gentle, and she's the best Mender in the pack!"

Every head turned. The conversation died. All eyes landed on Kala.

Snap.

The pearl-grass root in Kala's hand broke in half. The sharp sound seemed too loud in the sudden silence. She slowly raised her head, a