Ruthless Mate

twenty one

I lay on the bed, staring up at the black roof above. What happened last night was astonishing, and inside I'm ecstatic.

For some odd reason, I've felt abnormally weak and frail. It's unusual, I know that much, and frankly its got me quite worried. Am I supposed to feel like this after I've just been marked?

A knock sounded at the door, waking me from my overwhelming thoughts. The door slowly creaked open, an old woman with the familiar face stepped in.

Christian was downstairs doing some business. He left reluctantly after I told him I wanted to sleep in for a couple more hours. I think he's perplexed about my new attitude, I don't think he believes that I'm okay.

"Alena? I brought you some dinner." She carried in a bowl, which I smelled to be some soup. It smelled amazing, my empty stomach now showing the signs of hunger.

"Thank you," I said gratefully, sitting up against the head board. Man, I even struggled with that.

"Its no problem, dear. Christian said you weren't feeling very well today," She handed the bowl to me. As she leaned over me, however, I saw her eyes skim my shoulder.  A slight smile crossed her face.

"Yes, well, I'm a bit tired." I lied, trying my best to not show the frightened side of me.

Nancy gave me a look of disapproval. I couldn't help the feeling of sudden guilt that washed over me. I know I shouldn't lie about this, it could be something serious, but I feel that since I'm luna, I need to be strong.

"Christian said he would be up in an hour or so. He's been worked up over the attack, its tiring him out. Might even have him a little anxious. It's one of the only times I seen him like this." She zoned out for a second before looking at me again.

Quietly, I watched her walk over to the bookshelf. She pulled one book, one that belonged to Christian, and walked back to me.

"Here, I feel like you should skim through this. Maybe it'll explain why you're feeling so drained."

My mouth hung open in shock as she placed the book on the bedside table. How-I didn't make it-Was it that obvious?

Nancy left the room, leaving me, my soup, and the book alone.

What on earth could be in that book?

Slowly, I reached for it. "The Official Guide to Being a Werewolf." I muttered. The name was stupid and corny, and the picture was a giant wolf lurking in the forest. It didn't at all look real, or convincing, but there must be a reason why its sitting on that bookshelf, why Nancy wants me to read it.

I put the soup on the tiny table and opened the book to the table of contents. It talked about shifting only on a full moon, how we could be killed with silver, mating techniques, ranks, and other stuff. Truthfully, half of it was tall tales. We can shift whenever. We can be killed by anything, and salt doesn't hurt us.

The mating technique in here, however, was somewhat accurate. It explained two methods: marking the female, or doing the deed. Obviously its the marking thats real.

In the book, it says that when the male marks his mate, she instantly becomes his forever. She takes on his scent, and the bite mark scars permanently. That much is true. It also explains that sometimes, depending on the rank of the two mates, they may be subject to side effects, such as weakness, depression, and even aggressiveness.

Hmm, I wonder if that's what's wrong with me. It could all be just a bad side effect due to the fact that I was marked by an alpha, and a strong one too.

I sighed, placing the book down and turning to the soup.

As if on cue, my stomach growled and I lunged for the food, scarfing it down quickly. After, I felt a bit stronger, a little more energetic.

The rest of the book was too boring to read, since most of it was rubbish or I already knew. I became extremely apathetic and lonely, so I slipped on some sweatpants and trudged out to the door and to Christian's office. I had to say, getting down the stairs was very embarrassing, due to the fact that halfway down I had to stop and sit for a minute.

Outside the door I heard quiet arguments. There was another person inside, talking to Christian. Clearly it was about the rogues, as they were discussing attacking them.

I opened the door and slipped in, stumbling a bit. I saw both men look towards me, startled.

"Hey," I muttered, walking slowly behind Christian's desk.

"You should be in bed." He said, standing and grabbing my arm supportively. Apparently I'm not as energized as I thought I was. I waved him off.

"I'm fine," I said.

"No you're not." He repeated back. He looked up to the man, who I recognized to be the same man that was in that weird court with all the elders. "I'll be back in a minute." He muttered, grabbing my back and helping me walk towards the door.

"Chris, I'm fine," I muttered, but I didn't have the strength to pull him back. He only lead me out the door and then carried me up the stairs. He entered our room and placed me on the bed.

"You need to stay up here for a while, okay? Your body is still adjusting to this," He brushed his fingers across the mark. So he did know why I was weak!

"But I'm bored!" I whined. He held back a smile and kissed my forehead.

"Go to sleep. I'll be up in twenty minutes, okay?" I rolled my eyes but nodded. It's only twenty more minutes, nothing my phone cant distract me with, right?

"Whatever," I muttered. He smirked and stood up, grabbing the empty bowl. Christian hesitated for a second and looked at the book next to it.

"What's this?" He asked? I shrugged.

"Nancy had me read it. Explained why I was feeling weak. It's a weird book, you know." I yawned, watching him place it back on the shelf.

"Yeah. Twenty minutes, okay?" He repeated. I only nodded, closing my eyes. The door shut quietly, leaving me alone to sleep.