Bolt

I am Danica. No last names needed.

And Just when you thought everything was going the way you wanted. Something always happens. It could rather be you get caught, you die or you get banished.

But in my case, well what do you think?

I had one secret. One secret that no one in the world knows. And it might die with me.

My pack mates think I can't shift, some think I'm submissive that's why I choose to remain in my human form, and some, well some think I just don't want to get attached to the pack.

And maybe they are all right.

My parents are dead, they died in an attack against my former pack.

I was alone in the world. And I wasn't even trying to fit in. I was always wearing a nose mask and a pair of glasses. I was always dressed in baggy clothes. Basically I was considered a confused tomboy. No one really knew what I looked like. I made sure of it. In case something went wrong. I could get away without anyone knowing I was the culprit. I knew I was trouble. I was a walking disaster. But I appreciated the fact that no one tried to get close to me. The nose mask just made people think I was allergic to something. And maybe I was really allergic to something.

Everyone was currently gathered in the great hall awaiting the Alpha.

Jerome Knight. The baddest, most sadistic, most terrifying, most intimidating, most sexy, Most everything Alpha I've ever seen. His presence radiated power and dominance. Even his eyes alone held promise of torture and pain.

And when he looks straight at you, you can either swoon from his gaze or be terrified that you've done something wrong.

In one word. He was the Big Bad Alpha every mother should keep their children away from.

But not Jerome. Even though he was intimidating he loved children and they practically swarmed over him.

And this always made me confused. How can someone so sick and bad love and play with children.

The hall suddenly went silent. I heard the thud sound of footsteps.

And I knew he was coming. Because he was the only one I could think of who would make everyone go quiet.

Jerome didn't rule with fear. No he ruled with peace and equality, everyone loved him. It was just his presence that made everything so scary you might just think he installed fear in everyone to be a respected Alpha.

Every step he took made me agitated and sweaty. Even though I hadn't seen him, I felt like what he had to say was going to be a big deal for me. Something was going to happen and it was going to involve me.

I scratched my neck, something I always did when I'm nervous.

I rubbed my hands together and still yet I couldn't shake the feeling off.

Finally I saw him. He wore leather all through. His muscles curved out of the leather jacket. He had green eyes that almost looked blue from a distance. His jet black hair was scattered around his face which made him look like he just crawled out of bed. He had that bad boy look. He was seven foot tall and huge. He didn't glance anywhere. He just kept on walking until he reached his seat. He sat in the middle of the three elders.

They were the oldest people in the pack.

Lehman, Jaundice, and Livia. Together they make up Jerome's Council.

"Do I have your attention?." Jerome started. His voice was so thick and sexy it sounded like two men talking at the same time.

"Yes Alpha." We all shouted. The whole pack was three hundred and something in total.

"Yesterday, something surprising happened." He took a moment to continue. "My mate was at Reese's birthday party, which automatically means she is part of the pack."

Okay that was a huge bomb cause everyone gasped and then the murmuring started. Of course no one attempted to speak to me. No one attempted to gossip with me —I was invisible. The scent of your mate was impossible to miss, especially when you are someone that's desperately looking for one.

"But." Jerome continued. "I didn't get to see her......or him."

This was a real problem. Everyone I knew was attracted to the Alpha. And everyone was present on Reese's birthday. It was a rule. If one of the pack mates were having a function. Everyone in the pack had a duty to be there. And this made every unmated wolf a possible option of being the mate he smelled.

Jerome stood up and we all followed his lead. He waved for us to sit back.

He walked down and stood in front of the first row of seats.

"I have decided to go around every unmated person one after the other. And I hope I find my mate."

Every unmated female practically jumped in eagerness. I mean who wouldn't want to be the Alpha's mate.

I was in the last row so I had a premonition that he'd probably have found her or him in the first rows.

The scary feeling came again. Why was I feeling so restless?

The sniffing began. The girls eagerly leaned to him to sniff them well.

Row after row. Still no declaration that he'd found his mate.

One more row till my turn and my restlessness made me unstable so I was almost shaking with worry.

What the hell was wrong with me.

Five seats to go. Goodness gracious why was I sweating. Everyone was also confused. Maybe he hadn't smelled his mate after all. Or maybe he or she wasn't present.

Two seats to go. My body began to itch.

My mind screamed Run!.

I almost ran but held my cool.

One more sit.

And then it was my turn.

I saw as his eyes dilated as he took in my scent.

And then I did the only thing I could think of.

I Ran. I bolted out the door without thinking. I Ran as fast as I could.

I heard the sound of people running after me but I didn't turn to look. I'd be faster if I shifted. And I did

Mask and eye glasses abandoned, I ran into the woods.

They would never know it was me.

I could come back as a new girl without glasses or a face mask. Without baggy clothes I could come back as a normal shifter girl. They would never find out who I was. Or basically—what breed I was.

Jerome

Was fate shitting with me or what. I smelled my mate at a birthday party my younger brother held.

He or she had smelled like honeysuckle and a mix of Vanilla. Probably one of them. But it was so addicting. Of course I followed the scent but when I got there. The wearer had disappeared without leaving a trail.

I found my mate. And this meant the pack could reproduce and expand. And they couldn't do that if I didn't first get my mate pregnant or give birth. the law of nature.

And now I found her or him. And he or she ran away.

Ran the fuck away and bolted out the door like I sentenced her or him to death.

This was fucked up. Why would he or she run away from me? Why would anyone run away from their mate?

I ran after him or her. But fuck bolt was fast. Yeah, I'd name him or her bolt for now.

Bolt was fast. I lost track and didn't see where Bolt went into.

I stopped and my beta and enforcers also stopped.

Ripped clothes, a nose mask and an eye glass was on the floor.

I knew once. Bolt had shifted and went into the woods.

I looked back at my Beta. "What information do you have?."

Vicente sighed. "It's weird. No one knows anything. It's like this person maintained a really low profile."

"Boy or girl?."

"No one knows, they don't know where He or she lives or sleeps. They just know he or she attends every function and then go back when he or she is bored or something."

"No family?, And use Bolt as the name. You know, considering this person ran."

"No family. Just that Bolt always has a mask and eye glass on. No one's ever seen Bolt's real face."

"But why do you think Bolt ran?" Josh, one of my enforcers said.

I had no idea. "Why do you think Bolt isolated her....self."

"Have no idea, but we should know if it's a girl or boy from the clothes."

Vincent bent and rummaged through the clothes.

"No girl stuff?You know, like a bra."

"There is apparently a sports Bra." Vincent answered.

"Let me see." Cara, the only female enforcer, came forward and checked out the cloth.

"It's a girl alright. Considering how she looked in the clothes and nose mask she couldn't be more than twenty something or less."

"So we know she's young, get Daniel for me, he should know something."

Daniel was always everywhere so I guessed he could know something about my mate who logically rejected me by running away.

Daniel looked down clearly intimidated.

"You were present in the hall right?."

He nodded.

"You saw what happened, am I correct?."

Again he nodded.

"So can you tell me what you know about her?"

"I didn't think it was a girl..... She's always quiet. She's basically the beginning of every rumor."

"What is this rumor?."

"Some say she's a submissive wolf that's why she chose to hang out alone. Some say she can't shift and some say she doesn't want to get attached to the pack."

"But what do you think?."

He looked taken aback for a second. But quickly compromised himself.

"I think that's the way she wants it. And I think she's hiding something or either hiding from someone, I've never really been close to her. She always disappears. But I had a glimpse of her when I saw her eat something."

It made me angry that Daniel was the only one who had seen her face. And I had no idea why.

"She had no idea I was coming. She was in the forest. She wasn't wearing eyeglasses or a face mask."

I almost choked him for the dreamy look he had on his face. Even my beta and enforcers seem to be glaring at him.

"She was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. You should have seen her eyes. They were....."

He stopped when I growled. His ears turned crimson and he coughed.

"I'm sorry Alpha." He bowed his head.

This got me thinking. If someone like Daniel who was the pack's number one player was head over heels for my mate. Then that meant my mate wasn't a freak. But it still bothered me.

Why would she be hiding her face?

If she was hiding from someone who could endanger her life then being mated to me would be a good thing. She would automatically be safe. She would be secured.

I just didn't get it. And I hated that I didn't get it.

I sighed. "What did her eyes look like?." It might be a clue.

"They kept changing color." He answered.

The answer spiked our interest and I urged Daniel to go further.

"They changed from aquamarine to Mercury to black to green to blue to hazel, it just kept changing colors."

Okay I admit. That was weird.

"They kept changing colors?." Vincent asked like he was unsure of what he heard.

"Yeah, I stood there unnoticed for minutes and I watched her as she ate. They just kept changing colors, but do you know what made me more intrigued?."

"What." We all asked in unisim.

"She was crying. She cleaned the tears but it kept on coming, she looked frustrated and in pain."

"Why would she be crying?." Pete, another enforcer asked.

"More importantly, why would her eye color keep changing?." Cara added.

"Get Octavian on the phone, he should know something,"I said.

Vincent nodded and dialed the number.

A few moments later Octavian's voice came up.

"This better be serious." He said.

I glared at the phone.

"It's serious Octavian.."

"You actually sound serious Alpha Jerome"

"That's because he's serious." Vincent snapped.

"Whoa there boy, calm the fuck down I wasn't talking to you."

"Octavian," I called you for something important."

"Throw it at me." He replied.

"What do you think about a girl who's eyes keep changing colors?"

"Shit you serious?."

"Do I ask non serious questions, give me an answer."

"Well it's rare, only a certain breed of family shifters have the gift."

"How's that a gift?." Cara asked."

"Mum please don't." Octavian said.

"It's a gift because they have certain powers over people."

"Even humans?." Pete asked.

"Yeah, and all breeds of shifters.." Octavian answered.

"So what kind of shifter family has this gift?." I asked.

"Hortensius Family."

"But they are all dead." I said unbelievably. The hortensius family were a mixed breed of shifters altogether. No one really knew if they were wolves, bears, cats, ravens, snakes or anything. People just knew they were shifters.

"They weren't all dead." He corrected me. "Albus didn't trap them all. One of them escaped."

"And how do you know this?."

"Mum." Octavian whined. "I'm the Nerd here so you let me do my thing. So one of them escaped. There were sightings of him and his mate with a child years ago. But they were never heard of again."

"Was this child a girl?." Josh asked.

"Yeah, she was the reason they even got caught.....I think. Because some people said her eyes kept changing colors when she was playing with their children."

"And boom!, I think she's the girl," Vincent said.

Cara rolled her eyes at Vincent, "So that's why she kept herself hidden.....I think." Cara said, placing her hand on her chin.

"Now the problem is— how do we find her?."

"Daniel said he saw her in the woods eating once. So she'll probably be there again." Vincent answered.

"I don't think she would be, she knows we'll try to find her. If she's smart she would stay with the pack with her baggy clothes gone, she'll become a whole new person and she'll expect us to keep looking for the girl who wears clothes that aren't her size." Said Josh.

That got all of them thinking. Josh might be right. She could do that.

"And when she does, we'll be waiting for her." Josh added.

"And that's if she comes back to the pack." Said Vincent.