It felt as if someone was ripping my heart out and stomping all over it as I took in the scene in front of me.
Suddenly, the pain from earlier made sense. Werewolves could feel it if their mate did something unfaithful, but judging from how quickly the pain had left, I suspected it hadn't been more than a kiss.
But even something as simple as a kiss felt like a slap in the face.
"What?" she snapped, clearly not happy.
"Sorry to interrupt," I didn't even know how I found my voice. My mate's head snapped up, his gaze meeting mine. "I have the Alpha's dinner."
There was an indecipherable emotion behind his eyes that I didn't even want to bother figuring out.
He's probably pissed at you for cock-blocking.
I stared back blankly, refusing to display just how affected I was by the two of them.
"Whatever," she huffed. "I'm out of here anyways. Have fun with the help," her last statement was directed at my mate, along with her anger it seemed, which only sent me into a state of confusion.
The door slammed as she stomped out of the room, leaving me alone with the Alpha feeling more uncomfortable and confused than ever.
"Where's Ma?" he asked as if nothing had happened.
I could feel myself breaking out into a slightly nervous sweat as the uncomfortableness settled in. "Uh, I told her to take the rest of the evening off."
Only now, I wished I hadn't.
"My meal, Ms. Willows?"
My brain was so busy reviewing the past few minutes that I hardly realized I was standing there as if Medusa had just turned me to stone.
"Oh!" I snapped out of my daze. "Yes, sorry Alpha, I should have informed you of the switch earlier - I just saw how hard Amara was working and it seemed like she deserved to have a bit of a break, and I was supposed to be here earlier but I noticed the Paprika was mislabeled as Oregano and that could've had catastrophic effects on our future meals if someone were to mix that up -"
I awkwardly rambled on as my hands flew around, absentmindedly placing his tray down and arranging the plates and cutlery. The words coming out of my mouth barely registered with my brain, so my verbal diarrhea just kept on gushing out.
".. since I can't mindlink, perhaps we should have a signal for next time? That way things can go much smoother and we won't have another run in -"
"I believe those are my potatoes, Ms. Willows."
My body froze in position as I finally looked at my mate who was writing on some paper in front of him.
"What are you ta..." I trailed off as I realized there was indeed a fork of potatoes raised up to my lips.
Worse, I could taste bits of potato in my mouth.
Curse you, Uncle Eddie!
He was to blame for my habit of eating when stressed.
And my mate stressed me out. A lot.
I was absolutely mortified - my mate had just watched me chow down on his food like a mad woman.
"Poison!" I blurted out.
"Poison?" he repeated in confusion, his hand paused mid-air. "Where?"
"Yes. I was checking your food for poison," I shrugged nonchalantly. "You never know who's out to get you and uh, well, the potatoes are clear."
He arched a perfect eyebrow, regarding me with a cool gaze.
"I don't recall 'poison control' being one of your duties."
"Self-proclaimed Poison Controller, Alpha," I tossed him my classic salute. "No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job for the greater good."
"And do you get poisoned often?"
"Not particularly."
"What a shame."
His fingers began sifting the papers in front of him.
"Well then," I huffed. "When you do get poisoned, you'll be sorry I wasn't there to test it."
I grabbed the tray and marched towards the door.
"By the way, if there's someone else you could have just told me," the words blurted out of my mouth before a second thought.
"My personal affairs are nothing that concern you," came his gruff response, to which I rolled my eyes, "and nothing you should be concerned about."
The last part was so quiet, I wasn't even sure I heard it.
"What was that?"
But he simply told me the directions to Uncle Eddie's room instead.
~*~
After grabbing leftovers from dinner, I tapped three times on Uncle Eddie's door.
There was some commotion from inside as something thudded on the ground, followed by a string of curses.
"Who dare interrup - Skittle! " he exclaimed when he saw me standing outside his room. "Finally, a proper reunion!" He threw his arms around me.
"And you brought food!"
"I missed you, Twix," I mumbled into his robe.
"You don't smell very pleasing, child," he replied. "When did you last shower? Never mind, let's eat!"
We settled down on his couch and dug into our meals. Uncle Eddie wasted no time in filling me in on the past few days.
After I left, he had packed up quickly and followed us to Shadow territory. He wasn't able to make it past the borders as there had been a protection spell that was blocking the entry of all supernatural creatures aside from werewolves. It took him a few days to deactivate it. He had also taken time leaving our old pack due to some last minute business regarding Alpha James.
Apparently Uncle Eddie felt it necessary to remove his tongue.
He had slipped our previous Alpha a potion that burned it to a crisp, rendering him mute.
"Your father would never forgive me if I didn't punish anyone who hurt you, Skittle. I wouldn't forgive me either!" he said matter-of-factly. "And besides, it was a real treat seeing him so silent - you would have enjoyed it."
And I would have.
I only wished it had been me that ripped it out.
He reached over and stabbed some of the asparagus on my plate with his fork before taking a big bite.
"I heard things as well," his voice was quieter. "Pack raids are spiking up again."
There was a little ache in my heart as he said that. Even though the throne no longer belonged to my family, I still felt a sense of responsibility for these people.
"How bad?" I grimaced.
"Four packs were depleted of most supplies and money. Some men were taken too," he said sadly.
He hated violence towards innocent people.
"They're gathering numbers," I muttered. "But for what?"
"With the Reds, it's never good."
We settled into a silence, each distracted by our own thoughts. My mind drifted back to the night of the Mating Ball; 'In five moons time, we secure the last pack.'
But what did that mean?
"Hey," a thought occurred to me. "Do you know Gamma Harris from somewhere?"
"Why that crusty, cantankerous baboon!" Uncle Eddie suddenly stood up with a cry. "He was so rude and unhelpful, that man. I simply asked him where the nearest natural source of running water was -"
My eyes fell on the slice of molten chocolate cake. It had been the last one. Originally, I was going to give it to Uncle Eddie as a welcoming treat but seeing as he hadn't noticed it yet ...
" - because obviously they're great sources of power for magic ... "
As discreetly as possible, I took a bite out of the dessert as Uncle Eddie began pacing the room.
" - and he said, and I quote, 'It's too dangerous for someone like you to go there.'"
Three more bites of cake successfully made their way to my belly.
"A man like me?" he raged on. "Do I not look capable of taking care of myself? Is my stature too small? Are my muscles not monumentous? Oh, the insults associated with that sentence are endless!"
I frowned. Uncle Eddie hated when people made him feel inferior. He had dealt with it a lot when he was younger.
He needed the cake more than I did.
With a shake of my head, I placed the plate into his hands. "Trust me, Twix, Gamma Harris and the rest of this overly-conceited pack wouldn't last a minute against you."
He was already happily looking at the cake, but his expression brightened even more as he heard my words.
"You're too kind, Skittle," I beamed. "Don't think I didn't notice you already ate half of my dessert."
"So, you were telling me how you know Gamma Harris," I swiftly changed the subject.
"I wasn't," he corrected, "but since you ask, he was training to take over as Royal Gamma for your father."
My body stilled at his words.
Gamma Harris had been from the Royal Pack. My pack. He had met my parents.
It was taking everything in me not to run and interrogate him that instant.
"He was part of my pack?" I asked in a whisper.
Uncle Eddie gave a curt nod. "He had been training with the Royal Gamma at the time to take over his position later that year. He met your father numerous times, but I had only seen him here and there, which is why it took me a while to figure it out."
"Was he there that night?"
"He had to be. No one from the palace was absent at the time."
I had always thought about the possibility of other survivors, but never did it occur to me that I might meet one.
"I did feel something when I saw him," my mind whirled to the day he and my mate had taken me from my pack. "It was a strange sensation, like a pull of some sort."
Uncle Eddie clicked his tongue. "It's possible that, well I'm not sure if this is possible - it's more of a theory really - but wolves are tied to their Alphas and after your parents passed away, the Alpha bond must have gone to you. With you being alive, Gamma Harris never truly left the pack and his wolf may recognize you as his true leader."
I sat there silently, taking it in. What he said made sense, but I was just shocked by it all. I never thought I'd be anywhere close to being someone's Alpha, let alone Queen - after all, my old destiny had been ripped away from me.
Perhaps I just wasn't worthy of the job. That's how I felt anyway.
"Eddie, I have a question," I started with slight hesitance, twiddling my fingers, "it's about mates."
His eyebrows perked up with interest. Never had I brought this topic up on my own before.
"Have you ever heard of an instance where only one person feels the bond?" the question sounded stupid to my own ears.
Uncle Eddie frowned. "No, not at all." My heart dropped hearing those words. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, there was just someone talking about it at training and I got curious," the lie flowed out of me smoothly.
We finished up our food and cleared the plates up. After saying goodnight to Uncle Eddie, I dropped off the dishes in the kitchen and made my way back to my room. After showering, I got ready for bed and settled onto the couch as I had the night before.
I was just about to doze off when I heard the sound of soft scratching against the door. With a yawn, I opened the door to see my mate's wolf standing there, proud and happy.
"You're back?" I teased.
He gave me a snort as if saying of course.
Stepping aside, I let him in and he immediately went and plopped down by the couch. I sat back down and turned on the lamp. Using his teeth, he picked up the book I read him the night before and placed it in my lap, causing me to let out a laugh. Flicking it open, I began reading from where I had left off, and he listened intently to everything I was saying.
Once I began struggling to keep my eyes open, he quickly grabbed the blanket with his mouth and pulled it up to cover me.
"Thank you," I said tiredly.
I closed my eyes but opened them right away when I heard a clanking noise. Turning my head, I saw the wolf unsuccessfully trying to turn the lamp off with his teeth.
"Oh don't worry I can do tha-"
In an instant he lifted his paw and swiped the lamp off the table before proceeding to stomp on the light bulb until it died out.
"I suppose that works too," I shrugged.
He gave me a wolfy grin and lied back down on the floor.
"Goodnight," I yawned and grinned back at him. He gave me a soft bark in response.
Sleep came easily, but that night, I could've sworn I heard the distant screaming of a woman.
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Do i have any readers left ? LMAO
sorry it's been so long, I've been caught up with school, but I'm starting to get my motivation back!
Hopefully the next chapter won't take me another three months (doubt it) lol
Let me know what you think! Do you like how the story is progressing? Any theories for why only Freya feels the bond?
Comment and vote <3