~ Alex's POV ~

Something is pulling the two of us together. I want to be as close to her as possible. The moment we look into each other's eyes, Dante says one word in my mind.

Mate.

Our muzzles touch, sending sparks through my body. No way.

Dante's right. She is my mate.

No...that's not possible. She's a horse!

But what if she isn't?

Dante sighs. That's what I've been telling you all along! Get with the program, Alex!

So...if she's not a werewolf...what is she?

Wait. What if she's one of the legends?

What legends?

The ones about horse-shifters. They were said to live in wild herds.

You're not making any sense, Dante.

What I'm saying is...I think she's a horse-shifter.

I can't believe it. My mate...is a horse.

Exactly! Took you long enough, he says.

I look into her eyes and make my decision. I need to show my mate who I really am.

Taking a few steps back, I close my eyes and start shifting. The thick black fur all over my body recedes, my paws turn back into hands, and everything changes. I stand on my feet again and look at my human form.

Suddenly the mare rears up with a nervous whinny, backing up before landing on all four hooves again. I hold out my hands in an attempt to calm her down.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me."
She stops fighting for a moment and looks me in the eyes. With a gentle noise, she takes a few steps forward.

Reaching out her head, I let her sniff me. She nips playfully at my hoodie, and I laugh. She lets out a horse-like laugh, which is really just a loud neigh.

"Is it alright if I pet you?" She nods her head up and down, then holds it still. I place a hand on her star, then move it down. Wow, her fur is so soft.

Our gaze meets, locking on each other. I need to see her and talk to her. I whisper in her ear, "Please shift. I want to see you."

She sighs and closes her eyes. I know what is about to happen next. I watch as the mare shifts into her other form. I've seen other werewolves shift before, but a horse turning into a human is different.

Finally she stops changing. Oh my goodness.

Where the mare was standing is now a teenage girl with long, straight dark brown, almost black hair that falls down her back and light blue eyes.

Dante howls happily in my mind, MATE! WE FOUND HER!

All right, keep it down, Romeo. I say.

"Who are you?" the girl says.
"I'm Alex." I can't take my eyes off of her. Actually, I should probably stop if I don't want to come off as a creep.

"I'm Stella." She smiles. "So, you're a werewolf."
I nod. "And I guess you're a horse-shifter."

"Yeah." She watches me carefully the whole time, still probably unsure about the whole...werewolf thing.

Suddenly Kirsten mindlinks me, Alex? You've been gone a while, where are you?

Kirsten, you'll never believe it! I found my mate!!

You did?! Wow, I leave you alone for an hour and everything changes.

I know, right? We're in the woods, at the stream nearby the cliffs.

Can I meet her? I mean she's going to be our future Luna.

Oh. I forgot all about that.

Yeah, sure.

Alright. I'll be right there. She closes the mindlink.

Stella asks, "You okay? It looked like you were talking to somebody."

"Totally, I was just mind linking my Beta. She's my sister."

"Oh, neat! And I'm guessing you're the Alpha?"

I nod, then look at her curiously. "How do you know so much about packs?"

"Um, you're looking at a member of the Wattpadian population."

I chuckle. "That explains it. So, I guess you also know about other werewolf stuff like mates..."

"Trust me, if you read Wattpad, there's no way you won't know about mates." she laughs. "But yeah, I do. Is it a real thing?"

"Yeah! We find our mates at 16."

"Oh wow! I wish that horse-shifters had mates."

Wait, what?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in a herd, the lead stallion gets to have all of the mares. Luckily I'm too young for any of that."

Dante growls at the thought of somebody touching our mate.

Wait a minute.

If horse-shifters don't have mates...

...does that mean she can't feel the mate bond?

She doesn't know we're mates.

If I want Stella to be with me, I'll have to win her over myself.

Challenge accepted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Kirsten's POV ~

Once I close the mindlink, I walk outside and shift into my wolf form. Upon running into the woods, I catch Alex's scent immediately. I'll probably be there in a few minutes if I keep running.

Suddenly something flies past me and lands in a nearby tree. I turn around and look at the object. It's a dart filled with a purple liquid.

Wolfsbane.

I whip my head around and see ten hunters in camouflage uniform, holding tranquilizer guns. The logo they bare reminds me of a memory I never wanted to see again.

I snarl at them, running away without looking back.
How did they find us? Why are they here?

They took everything from us.

But they sure as heck won't claim any more innocent lives.

I'll make sure of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dun dun dun!!! 😮

What did you think of this chapter?

Alex found his mate! But Stella can't feel the mate bond. Looks like he'll have to win her over himself. 💕

Why are the hunters chasing Kirsten? And why does she did have such a negative response to them? What do you think they did?

Let me know if you want more chapters in Kirsten's POV. 🐺

Also, you guys might be getting Colt's POV in an upcoming chapter...😉

Welcome to the jungle, my friends!

Have an amazing day, everybody! 😘