Chapter 4

Kathrine's face flamed, though that was the logical next step. It was customary for newly mated wolves to have their mating ceremony, the wolf's marriage ceremony, immediately after the mate bond was established. He had essentially just told them he was expecting heirs immediately after the ceremony since he was worried about missing her heat.

"Since what I want, or need, doesn't seem to need to be considered, I'm going to join the hunt. I need a run." Kathrine said then froze when her father stood and grabbed her hand.

"If you're truly unhappy with this bond there is something that can be done." He said gently.

"Short of a new Alpha coming into power before the mating ceremony, there is nothing that can be done." She said then with a last glare over her shoulder at Alpha Jackson, left the office to join her pack for the hunt that was to take place.

Kathrine made it to the lawn just outside the pack house when she felt Toby and Jarold coming toward her. She wanted to run from them, but she knew If she could feel them coming toward her, they could surely feel where she was located. She stopped walking and turned to the door to wait for them to approach her.

The door opened and Toby and Jarold came out and stopped when they saw her waiting for them a few feet away on the lawn. They shared a glance between themselves before closing the distance between them and her.

"I guess you also wanted to go on the hunt?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow in a way that told them she knew better.

"We wanted to go on the hunt, with you." Toby said honestly.

"There is not going to be any avoiding you guys now, is there?" She asked with a long sigh.

"No, probably not. Not that we know our wolf had been recognizing you for the last several years." Jarold said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised it took this long to narrow it down, honestly. Let's go. I guess today is the start of never being out of at least one of your sights." She said in a defeated tone as she turned to lead the way down to the edge of the field where the pack was gathered.

The hunt would start with or without the Alpha to lead it. The Beta was already undressing to shift into his wolf along with the rest of the pack. Nudity was something that wasn't taboo in a pack run. They'd never get to the run if they all decided to go somewhere private to shift. Normally she would be one of the first to shift, not caring who could see her. But in the moment, newly mated to two men that she had been systematically avoiding for the better part of five years when her wolf first started sensing them as a mate. She felt the urge to shift somewhere a little less exposed.

"I'm just going to shift, I'll find you in a minute." She told them then before they could stop her or say anything she darted off to the trees a few feet to their left.

She entered the trees a few rows deep and quickly shed her clothes. She changed into her wolf form and allowed her wolf a hard fur-ruffling shake before trotting back out to where she sensed Toby and Jarold still in their human form. They were at the back of the pack and she had to carefully dodge several people in various stages of undressing and shifting into their wolf forms.

"Your wolf looks beautiful." Toby and Jarold said in unison when she approached them and sat. She chuffed at them in response, a wolf acknowledgment of their compliment. Toby reached out to pet her head and she allowed a stroke before laying her ears back and growling low in her throat. "Right. No touching." Toby held his hands up though he and Jarold shared a grin.

She gave a sharp bark and pointed look between them and the other wolves around them then turned her back on them for them to shift into their wolf forms without her watching them. Her fur rankled and a growl rolled deep in her chest when she heard them laugh at her, intuitively knowing they were making fun. A minute later two wolves that were reverse colored blond with red streaks and red with blond streaks sat on either side of her. She looked around, fairly itching for the hunt to begin and saw that all the wolves were finished shifting. The Beta howled then turned and started running into the trees.

As one, all the wolves started to disappear into the woods at various locations. The wolves would fan out and hunt various locations, though close enough to listen for the howls that were meant to call everyone back in. She was tempted to stay in her wolf form and hide in the woods for a few days until her brain could process everything. But she knew that Toby and Jarold would resist that decision. They'd want her back to her human form. The bonding in the first days of the mate mark was crucial.

A few hours passed as all three tracked deer to a clearing and managed to get a large buck off on his own and taken down. She was amazed at how well they worked together, though it was mostly her tracking that led them to the deer grazing. She privately admitted that she might not have been able to take the deer down alone. As if they were having a conversation between themselves, they both shifted almost at the same time to carry the deer back. She swiftly turned her back on them, not wanting to see them undressed. The thought of them being somewhere relatively private alone with her undressed, set her teeth on edge. She wanted to believe it was disgust she felt, but she had to be honest with herself. She felt a lot of things seeing and being around them without clothes on, disgust wasn't among them. She huffed and then jerked her nose toward the woods where they came from.

"Yes, we'll carry him back to camp in human form. He's too heavy to drag back as a wolf without tearing him up." Toby said.

She heard a lot of shuffling coming from behind her and a groan from Toby and she couldn't resist a look over her shoulder to check on him. Her wolf was already becoming protective over them and it irked her. Toby had the deer slung across his shoulders with his hoofs hanging over his chest and his strong arms wrapped around the deer's neck and rump to hold him. The strain had all of his muscles tensed and she couldn't tear her gaze away from him for a moment. It wasn't until he caught her looking and gave her a knowing grin that she successfully looked away, then huffed her irritation as she took off toward the place where the pack was supposed to meet up.