His Forbidden Human Mate

*Keera*

I've often heard people say on several occasions that the truth was bitter, but I've never once actually had a first hand experience to prove that the adage was indeed true. At least I've never had the experience up until now. For as long as I could remember I've always regarded myself as someone who wasn't scared of anything. There was almost no task I couldn't take on. No one I couldn't face. Nothing I couldn't do.

Or at least that was what I thought.

I stared blankly at my supervisor, wishing with every fibre of my being that I hadn't actually heard him right. My heart seemed to crash against my ribcage and my palms were a little sweatier than usual. I swallowed forcefully, realizing that this had to be the closest I'd come to knowing what fear felt like. I couldn't recount any instance where I'd ever been genuinely afraid. Not even the day I'd found out that werewolves existed and I had been living with them my whole life.

I remember being surprised, even in a bit of shock as my mind struggled to grasp what was before me at the time. I had felt a lot of emotions but I had never for once felt fear. Which was very unusual because I should have naturally been terrified to find out that some other species existed besides us humans. Especially since I'd only been seven years at the time.

But I hadn't.

If anything else I'd been fascinated after getting over the initial shock. That fascination had quickly morphed to irritation, disgust and finally resentment. Now anything related to werewolves made me recoil in anger and hate. Except when it came to one particular werewolf. The rest had proven to be such manipulative and violent creatures and there was nothing anyone could say to convince me otherwise.

Trevor snapped his fingers in front of my face, jolting me out of my reverie. I startled, turning to fix my attention back on him. Sometimes he proved to be a decent supervisor, always making sure I didn't make any mistakes with whatever it was that I was handling. Other times, like now for example, he was simply a pain in the ass.

"Are you listening?" He asked, staring at me expectantly. I looked at him from across the large brown desk, wondering how exactly I was going to get myself out of this mess. He loosened the buttons on his shirt, his eyes leaving me for a while to look for a file. He placed the file in front of him, raising an eyebrow as he waited for me to give an answer to his question.

I nodded, clearing my head. "Yes, of course." Against my will, I was listening. Listening to him tell me he wanted me to go to the home of those beasts. Did he not care about my safety? They saw me as the enemy. One slip and I was sure their barbarian Alpha was going to order them to finish me off. He placed the file in front of me, gesturing for me to go through it.

I picked it up, my mind racing. Sometimes the fact that I knew that werewolves existed seemed to be a curse. For one if I didn't know, there was no way my supervisor would have sought me out for this job. And to think I'd been in the middle of a very serious laboratory test. It was times like this that I envied the other humans who were still living their lives thinking that werewolves were simply a myth. I rubbed my slightly sweaty palm on my lab coat before opening the file.

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to make sense of what I was looking at. There were reports, I realized as I flipped through the pages. Reports of werewolves that had died. I raised my palm to my mouth, shocked at the number. There were almost twenty of them and they had all died within the last two weeks. I reared my head back in surprise. That was quite a large number for such a small time frame. I frowned when I noticed the most recent death was only a few hours ago.

They hadn't caught the killer yet?

The cause of death appeared to be unknown, and the times of death were so random, I didn't think the killer was bothered about what time they died. I roamed my eyes through the files again, trying to appear disinterested while my mind ran a mile per second. From reports, I didn't think the killer was also concerned with their ages. A few were the same age, but mostly their age differences were also random and disoriented.

It was no secret that werewolves were immortal, supernatural creatures. It wasn't completely impossible for them to lose their lives but it was extremely rare that they did. Whoever it was that was behind the killings had obviously done a thorough study of them and was successfully killing them in a way they wouldn't be able to recover from even with their superhuman capabilities. I pushed the file back, refusing to let my sympathy reflect on my face before Trevor preyed on it.

"I don't understand why you're showing this to me," I highlighted in confusion. I got the hint of what he was trying to say, but I wanted him to spell it out plainly. He'd only been beating around the bush since I got here. He clasped his hands together and placed it carefully on the desk, staring right at me. I leaned forward, bracing myself for whatever it was he was going to say.

"As you can tell, there's a crazy werewolf serial killer on the loose," He began, leaning back into his chair, his eyebrows forming an obvious v shape. "Whoever it is either knows or has studied everything there is to know about werewolves," He explained, drumming his fingers rhthymically on the desk. "Because for some reason despite their healing abilities they're still dying off like chickens."

I swallowed, prepared to cut in. I wanted him to go straight to the point. "I'm sorry, but I don't exactly see how this concerns me." I reminded him. He narrowed his eyes, irritated that I was to hurry him up. I gestured at my lab coat, arching an eyebrow at him in return to remind him that I'd been in the middle of a test before he'd asked to see me urgently. For all I knew someone might be trying to alter the test result for some reason. I had to hurry up and get back.

Trevor released a calm exhale and I almost smiled. If there was anything I'd learnt from him it was how to keep my emotions in check, though I wasn't exactly successful most of the time. On his good days, he was like the older brother I never had. On his bad days, he was like the older brother I never wished for.

"The point is that they've tried everything they can but they've still not been able to find a solution for their problem." He continued patiently. "So they sought our help." His eyes met mine and held. "They need someone who would be able to find out what's going on and put a stop to it...and I didn't know any better person to suggest than you."

Than me.

He was trying to tell me that not only was I going to go to the territory of those malicious creatures, I actually had to help them sort out their werewolf shit. I was already shaking my head before I even gave myself time to really think about it. There was no way I was going to offer them any form of help. Not when they've put me through a whole lot. I didn't care if it was childish to be vengeful, there was no way I was doing it.

"I'm sorry, Trevor but I'm not going." I informed him, standing to my feet. I pushed my hair behind my ears, taking my hair net out of my coat pockets as I readied myself to go back to the lab. "There are way more experienced forensic scientists than I could ever dream of." I stated honestly. "And they already know of the werewolves. I would suggest that you please have one of them go instead."

Trevor shook his head, refusing to heed my advice. He also got to feet like he wanted me to understand the gravity of what he was trying to say. "You won't be going alone," He informed me, his tone almost pleading. "You'll be working with a team but you're going to be the head of it." He took a few steps towards me. "Listen, the werewolves are worried that someone is after them,"

"Gee, I wonder why," I retorted sarcastically. He gave me a knowing look, already aware that I was simply trying to piss him off so he would angrily ask me out of his office. I released a deep breath, deciding to hear him out. How hard could it be? I already knew that no matter what he had to say, my reply would still be negative.

"If they're right," He continued. "Which they obviously are, then it means we're also not safe." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "If this person is able to take down immortals, how much more humans?" I hated that I was beginning to see reason with him. "I've been asked to appoint a team... and I want you to lead that team."

He gazed persuasively at me. "I was sure to emphasize the fact that everyone needed to keep you safe." He stated, successfully making my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. My eyes bulged at his words but he didn't seem to notice. "As much as I care about the rest of the team, I care more about you." He said, warmth evident in his tone. "The Alpha assured me he would personally ensure your safety."

I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

*Grayson*

I stared at Ginny, hating the disturbed look on her face. My sister was almost never happy these days. It was true there was practically nothing to be happy about, but I hated that she was letting it get to her this much. Especially since there was nothing I could do about it. I ran my hand down the length of my face, releasing an exasperated sigh. If there was anything I absolutely hated then it had to be this constant almost permanent state of helplessness. My entire pack was in danger but there was nothing I could do about it.

We've lost about twenty werewolves and five pups in the past three weeks. No one seemed to know what had happened to them. Their dead bodies were simply just stumbled upon. At first we hadn't taken the deaths seriously. It was true that werewolves were immortal but it wasn't unheard of that a werewolf died. There were so many things that could cause a werewolf to lose their life. Natural causes, for one. That had to be the most common cause of death. Ancient werewolves died all the time.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"Why aren't they here yet?" She asked in agitation, looking down at her phone to check what the time was. We had fixed another council meeting, the tenth one in only four days. If we didn't put a stop to the killings and as fast as possible, it was safe to say the entire pack was going to slowly but surely be wiped out. I was about to say something to calm her down when the door burst open and the pack healer walked in.

She halted in her steps, taking note of how empty the chairs around the long table were. Aside from Ginny and I, there was no other person seated for the meeting. She frowned a little, appearing concerned. "Why isn't anyone here yet?" She asked quietly, taking a few steps further inside the room. Ginny shook her head at her, making a gesture to indicate that she equally had no idea.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I instantly knew that something wasn't right. I fisted my hands, hoping against all odds that it wasn't another death. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with another death in under twenty four hours. I had contacted Trevor, an old friend, about a week ago but he was yet to give me a solid reply. He was a supervisor to the best scientists the country currently had and I needed their help.

Fast.

I wasn't sure what exactly it was that was causing the delay but Trevor had assured me he was going to put together a team. Apparently, his team was going to help in getting to the root cause of the brutal murders. I had no doubt he was going to do all he could to help me out. He was doing me a favor in return for saving his life a few years back when he'd been attacked by rogue wolves.

He'd contacted me three days ago to inform me that he wanted me to be personally protective of the team's leader. At first I'd found it odd that he seemed to care more about the leader than the rest of the team, but when I realized later on that the leader was female and she was best at what she did, it made complete sense. I had immediately promised to look after her. Werewolves had a hard time staying away from their mate, so I couldn't imagine what it would be costing him if they were romantically involved.

The door burst open and the rest of the council seemed to enter the room all at once. Ryan strode to Ginny, pulling her to his side and giving her a kiss on her head. He was my beta and my sister's mate. She managed a small smile in his direction but even that didn't reach her eyes. She was too concerned about the state of unrest in the pack and I was worried it was beginning to affect both her health and her relationship.

For one, she had practically moved in with me after I had tried to hide the deaths from her. She made it clear she wanted to be kept in the loop, even after I tried to let her know it wouldn't exactly be the wisest decision to make. We both knew she had an unhealthy way of taking everything that concerned the pack very personally. Almost more personally than I did.

I could see Ryan trying to deal with not having her around but I wondered how much more he could take. He was already dealing with the pain of losing so many people in such a short amount of time. We all were. He didn't deserve for his mate to not be by his side in such a dire moment. Which was why I've been trying to convince Ginny to move back to home.

It was a miracle she had finally agreed.

"Sorry we're late," Ria apologized, meeting my eyes. She was the pack seer. My eyebrows creased as I studied her. Her gaze flickered away from mine and I instantly knew why they'd arrived late. Ria had been overworking herself lately. We've all been trying to convince her it wasn't her fault she couldn't foresee the deaths before they happened but she was having none of it.

She was constantly trying to pry into the future and we didn't want to admit it but it was becoming obvious it was beginning to take a toll on her. For one, whenever she forced herself to see into the future, she ended up falling unconscious afterwards. I had a good guess that it had happened again a few minutes ago and the rest of the council had been trying to revive her.

My jaws clenched.

I was going to have to talk to her. Again. Ginny met my eyes then and I knew she was having the same thought that I was. We all got seated around the table and I stared at them, trying to arrange my thoughts in my head. The werewolf council consisted of nine members now but it would be ten after I had found my mate. Asides my beta and gamma and their mates, there was also the pack healer, the pack seer, the pack lead warrior and the pack lead hunter.

"You said you were going to contact some human who could help," Jax reminded me once we had all sat down. He was the pack gamma. The tone of his voice was low and polite. He wasn't asking out of a place of anger or hostility. I released what seemed to be like the millionth breath since this morning and pinched the bridge of my nose. "How did that go?" He asked.

The rest of the council fixed their attention on me as expected of them. It was the entire purpose of the meeting in the first place. I met their eyes, hoping I could communicate to them that I was doing my absolute best in finding a solution to the problem we were facing. "Trevor has assured me that he's putting together a team he believes is sure to get to the bottom of the deaths," I informed them. "He'll contact me as soon as the task is completed for a proper introduction."

Nyx sighed in relief, resting her head against Jax's shoulder. I felt a slight stab of envy as I watched him run his thumb along the length of her arm. They didn't know how lucky they were. Almost all of them. At least they were mated. Everyone knew a werewolf was their strongest when they were mated. It was easy for them to find strength and comfort in each other. I pressed my lips together.

I didn't have that.

"We should probably start making arrangements for them then," Ria suggested. Everyone echoed their agreement. We had to make sure they were as comfortable as possible if they were going to sacrifice their time coming down here to help us sort out the mess we were in. I had already gotten their lab ready. Trevor had insisted that we make it available since they were probably going to be carrying out a lot of tests.

"They'll be staying here," I informed everyone, settling whatever issues they might have been having while trying to come up with a place for them to stay. Ginny's eyebrows creases and I knew she was already wondering if it wouldn't be too much having humans in my house. Invading my personal space. It was no news that I didn't trust them. I knew to be extremely cautious and with good reason.

They'd hurt more than their fair share of werewolves in the past. I'd been given a run down of all the crimes they committed. And only because they were too scared and too arrogant to get off their high horse and accept the fact that a species stronger than them could ever dream of being existed. The meeting moved to other topics and in a few hours we were ready to disperse. Ginny packed the few things she wanted to take back with her and left with Ryan.

I watched Ria stylishly slip out between the doors and fought the urge to go after her. She was a grown woman after all. Though unmated, I knew Ria was smart and responsible. I was going to give her a few days to get over this stage of guilt before I talked to her about it. I didn't mind if it meant ordering her not to use her gift for a long while. The pack was what mattered to me the most right now. I wouldn't have any if them getting into more danger than we were already in.

Not on my watch.

*Keera*

I'd agreed to it.

It was a shame really. I'd had such an iron clad resolve to not let myself be talked into helping those beasts but in the end sheer curiosity and sympathy had won against my initial determination. Trevor had set up a simple team of five. Two forensic scientists , Lexi and me, one retired firearms and weapons expert, one profiler and one bioengineer. I was a bit surprised he was willing to go to these extents just to help them out.

There was something he wasn't saying.

I walked into the conference room and took a calculative seat at the right side of the table. We were all having a meeting with the Alpha of the pack, and I wanted to be in a place where I would feel the most comfortable. I had spent barely ten minutes in his presence a few years ago but it had been more than enough for me to form a strong opinion about him.

A strong hateful opinion.

I looked up at the door when it burst open. Trevor walked in, his strides long and confident. He frowned at the emptiness of the room and then stared down at his wrist watch. His eyebrows lifted. Probably when he realized it was still thirty five minutes early. He narrowed his eyes on me then, as if to ask why I had also arrived here so early.

"Hey," I said in greeting, managing a small smile. He walked over to where I sat and placed a kiss on my head. I jerked back and frowned at him, a bit irritated by his actions. I hated when he treated me like I was still a little child. I was willing to bet he wasn't going to greet anyone with an affectionate kiss. I met his eyes as he sat down at the head of the table, loosening the top button of his jacket.

Sometimes I wondered if he had more than platonic feelings towards me. The few times I've thought about bringing it up, I always end up letting myself formulate one excuse or the other. I saw Trevor as nothing more than a brother figure. Lately I was starting to wonder if he saw me as something more. He held my gaze, looking like he was daring me to say something. I drifted my eyes away from his, once again taking the cowards way out.

A part of me was almost afraid of what I might find out if I chose to pursue that line of conversation. I didn't think it was something I was ready for yet. The corners of his lips lifted as he obviously sensed that I wasn't confronting him today. Soon, I thought. I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt a few more times and then I was going to bring it up. Even though I might very well regret ever doing so.

"You're here early," He pointed out , gesturing towards the wall clock that stood off to the side at a corner of the room. I looked at the time, realizing we were only just about twenty minutes to the actual time we had arranged for the meeting to start. I'd been sitting all alone in the conference room for almost thirty minutes. Calculating. Thinking. Preparing myself.

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to appear casual. "Not exactly," I pointed out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I drummed my fingers silently on my lap, staring at him. "We're only about twenty minutes from the start of the meeting." I highlighted politely. I guess we were both supposed to be bothered that the others haven't shown up yet but neither of us were. For one, they still had time to burst in through those doors and rightfully say that they had come early for the meeting.

Plus I wasn't sure I wanted them here yet.

The truth was that I was simply trying to prepare myself mentally. I was about to come face to face with an old acquaintance's arrogant domineering werewolf twin. I released a deep soothing breath, angry that I still hadn't moved on from her betrayal after all these years. Once upon a time Ginny and I had been best friends. We'd been inseparable. Our friendship had been the kind that people envied and could only dream to have.

My hands fisted by my sides.

It had been the worst day of my life when I'd found out it had all been built on a big fucking lie. I hated that I could still remember the day so clearly. Every damn detail. We'd been graduating from college. Ginny hadn't wanted to introduce her brother to me but he'd introduced himself. He'd already formed an opinion about me even before he met me. From Ginny's apparent change of behavior it seemed.

He made it very clear that he blamed me for her recent stubbornness and deceptiveness. I was a bad influence. I was the devil. I was like the leech who had simply refused to unlatch herself from his precious twin. He had a lot to say to me that day. He'd mentioned something about her losing her touch with her werewolf side with each passing day because of me.

I'd asked Ginny what he'd been on about but she denied knowing. Things became tense between us afterwards but we were still at the graduation party so we couldn't properly talk about it. Instinctively, I'd decided to keep a tab on her. A few minutes later and I was convinced her supposed brother had only been trying to throw me off with the werewolf thing because he didn't like me. At least that was what it had seemed like.

Until I caught her shifting.

The door opened again and the rest of the team walked in. All at once. I smiled at Lexi as she came to sit beside me. She was the only one I was already familiar with in the team since we worked together. She wiggled her eyebrows at me, successfully conveying her excitement at the task once again. I gave her a slightly dry look, patiently waiting for her to come off her high horse. I guess in a way it was understandable. She'd only recently found out that werewolves actually existed.

"I'm glad everyone's here," Trevor started once everyone had been comfortably seated. I had a feeling he'd informed the Alpha that the meeting was starting at a later time so we could get to know each other first as a team. It was a move I admired. "So, this is Keera and Lexi," He introduced, referring to Lexi and me. "They're the best forensic scientists in the state." We waved at them modestly, already used to how Trevor introduced us.

"That's Joe," He said, referring to the buff bald guy seated two seats from Lexi. "He's our firearms and weapons expert," He explained, returning Joe's nod of acknowledgement. "That's Josie, she's a top profiler and that's Kathleen, bio engineer and CEO of Neptune labs." He said, introducing the two females. Josie and Kathleen were sitting side by side.

I studied all of them, trying to see if I could guess the kind of personality they had. I could already tell that Joe was a very strong minded person. He obviously had to have taken his line of work. I had a feeling he could also be very soft on the inside though. When he wanted to be, that is. Josie met my eyes, smoothening her hair. She was a thin brunette. I had barely been in her presence for ten minutes but I could already tell she was an extremely perceptive and observant woman.

Kathleen, the blonde sitting beside her looked to be a bit more friendly. She smiled warmly, raising her hand up in a wave. I relaxed in my chair, somehow knowing that Trevor had really been thoughtful when he'd been putting the team together. I didn't think we were going to have much trouble working together. He cleared his throat, staring at each of us straight in the eye. "You already know why you've all been gathered here. I made it extremely clear in the files I sent you," Trevor addressed.

"Yeah," Kathleen echoed, her attention fully on him. Her gaze left him then, as she studied the people she would be working with. Her eyes met mine and held for a few minutes before she gave me a smile that seemed a little respectful. It dawned on me then that she already knew I was going to head the team. It looked like she didn't have any problems at all with it.

"Keera's going to be leading the team," He informed calmly. I watched them for a reaction. Their eyes seemed to focus on me all at once and I made sure to meet their stares. I couldn't have them thinking I wasn't feet to head the team or that Trevor made me leader as a result of something other than my abilities. We studied each other for a few minutes before they seemed to silently back down. Apparently, the staring contest was over and I had won.

In more ways than one.

Trevor's phone beeped twice, signaling an incoming text. He looked down at it and his eyebrows lifted. Before he could so much as get a word out the door was pushed open. The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards the door. I felt the hairs on my arm stand and I was very sure if I looked down at my skin, I would find goosebumps. The Alpha of the werewolf pack we were supposed to be helping out walked right in.

I studied him from my seat, mentally noting that he hadn't changed that much. For one, he still had the extremely intense almost suffocating dominating aura around him. Unlike the other time I'd been in his presence when he'd been angry and venomous and saying shit, he appeared to be so calm now it was deadly. He seemed a little more mature.

And more attractive.

He paused for a second, his eyes instantly latching onto mine. I barely held back the malicious smirk that overtook my face. He stood rigidly, like I was a surprise he hadn't been expecting and I had the feeling that he was trying to contain both his surprise and confusion. I was willing to bet Trevor hadn't divulged any personal details about me from the way he was pegging me with his stare. It was actually quite funny how the tables had turned. I managed a small wicked smile in his direction, conveying an unspoken message.

Hello, Grayson.