Ready or not, here I come

Amaris

As we make our way back toward the Midnight pack lands, I finally dredge up the courage to ask Zane something that’s been bothering me since we left Kenton.
*How did you know who Kenton was?*
He turns his sandy blonde head in my direction, his blue eyes appraising as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m trying to hide something.
And I guess I am, but I’m not going to let him know that.
He chuffs, then turns to face back forward again. *Part of my alpha training is to know who all of the Alpha’s and upcoming Alpha’s are in all packs, as well as their beta’s.*
*That makes sense. So, you knew who Asher was too?* I ask, curious.
*Yes,* he says simply. Then, without another word, he runs to catch up with his siblings, leaving me behind to ponder my thoughts.
After seeing Kenton today, and now knowing more about shifter life, and having come to grips with the fact that I too am a shifter, I can’t deny that I’m drawn to him. That I feel things for him I’ve never felt towards anyone else before.
But, I don’t know him.
In the books that I’ve read, when mates find one another it’s this instant connection that just clicks into place, like suddenly nothing else in their life, nothing in their past-the people that they fooled around with, if they had been a jerk or a bully to their mate or their mates family-suddenly, none of it seemed to matter because everything was right, now that they had found their mate.
But it wasn’t like that at all with Kenton and me. At least, it wasn’t like that for me. Maybe it was because I didn’t even know about shifter life when the bond supposedly would have clicked into place between us. Still yet, I would have thought that I would have felt that *sudden* connection.
But then, thinking back on it, I guess I had felt something towards him.
I wanted him.
And he smelled so freaking good that it made my mouth water and my body to ache-or maybe that was the oncoming shift that made my body ache. But either way, it wasn’t anything like what I would have expected from what I had read.
Even now that I know what I know now, yes, I can without a doubt say that I’m definitely drawn to him. And that I still want him. It hurt both mentally and physically to walk away from him, and much more this time than it had before. I get butterflies in my stomach at just the mere thought of him, so I can tell now that there clearly is a connection between us. And then there’s the tingling that I feel when our skin touches. They light up every single nerve ending in my body, but in a good way.
But I just don’t know him.
Not really.
I know *of* him.
Kenton Clearwater, the insanely hot, 6ft 3in tall hockey player who has black hair and bright leaf green eyes. He plays center for the Northport Warriors, and is to be the future Alpha of the Artemis pack once his father steps down, or… is removed from his position through death.
*What is it that Axel wanted me to seek Kenton out for?* I can’t help but wonder. *What exactly do you know?*
*Mer?* Zach says, slowing down to run next to me, and pulling me from my thoughts.
*Yeah?*
*You okay?* I sigh, trying to decide how to answer that question. *Sometimes I hate how perceptive, sweet, and concerned he seems to be with me. I haven’t done anything that would give him the impression that I’m into him or anything like that.*
‘*While that may be true, you also haven’t told him that we have a mate, now have you?*’ my wolf says, interrupting my thoughts.
And she’s right, I haven’t. Not a single person has spoken about fated mates, which seems strange to me. I know that many of the he-wolves and she-wolves of the pack have taken mates, but I can’t help but wonder if they’re chosen mates instead of fated, like Kenton and I are.
Sighing, I turn my attention back to Zach’s knowing eyes. *Yeah, seeing Kenton just reminds me of my brother, which brings up a lot of things that I haven’t dealt with yet, things that I still need to figure out.*
*Like what? Maybe I can help you to figure some of those things out?*
*It’s really okay. I promise, I’ll be okay. You don’t have to. I think this is something that I need to figure out on my own.* Please, please don’t push me, because although I’m coming to terms with being Kenton’s mate, I’m not ready to talk about it with anyone else. Especially when I haven’t even actually acknowledged it to the man himself. I can’t help but think to myself, pleading that he respects my privacy and need to do this on my own.
*Okay,* he says, sounding wholly unsure, *but you know that I’m here for you and that you can talk to me about anything, right?*
*Yeah, I know. And thank you. I really do appreciate it.* I nod at him and we both turn our attention towards Zane and Zara just as I hear Glendon’s panicked voice in my head.
*I don’t know where you kids are, but we need you back here NOW! We’re being attacked by rogues and there are more of them than there are us. Get here quickly, but please, please be careful.*
Mother effer! I was really hoping that the bad feeling wasn’t actually anything this time.
*Let’s go!* Zane says into our heads, *Amaris looks like you get to put that warrior training that you’ve been getting over the last week to good use today.*
*Are you not concerned about the welfare of your pack?* I can’t help but ask, wondering how he’s not being his usual serious asshole-ish self at a moment like this.
*Our warriors are good at what they do, plus we have a secret weapon,* he says, grinning a wolfy grin at me.
I grin back at him, more than ready to get my hands dirty and do my part to help protect my new pack.
*Between your training and those secret powers of yours, our enemies aren’t going to know what’s hit them,* Zach says with a laugh into my head.
I just shake my head and then lower it, lengthening my stride and picking up my pace just as the other three do, covering as much ground as we can, to get back to our pack as quickly as possible with millions of thoughts running through my head.
But of them all, one truly stands out, *Ready or not, here I come!*