Mate?! What? The word rings in my ears.
No this can't be. I am a white wolf, and according to the legend only a white wolf can get a mate if they contain around the same amount of power... or if they are a white wolf.
And he is certainly not a white wolf.
I shiver thinking about his completely black fur.
I look him up and down.
How much power is he containing?
His grip tightens around my hand. It appears he's not too fond of me questioning whether or not he is my mate.
And yet I can't help but frown my eyebrows while saying, "this can't be." My voice is dripping with disbelief.
There's a sharp intake of breath, then in less than a second his mouth is right next to my shoulder.
I'm too slow to react as I stand there like a deer caught in headlights.
My reflexes must be slow because of him.
I'm frozen.
His fresh scent has me in a spell.
And somehow his presence is calming yet intense at the same time.
I'm pulled back to reality when he breathes in my scent. He lets a satisfied exhale escape his lips and I catch a faint whisper from him that sounds like "it is true."
"You are mine." He then says sternly, while letting his mouth hover over my shoulder. I can literally feel his words on my shoulder.
"No I'm not!" I shoot back in protest without much thought.
Anyone standing near us can feel his anger radiating off him as I say that.
But instead of yelling at me, he lets his lips grace the skin where my neck and shoulder connect. Confidently letting his lips hover there.
My eyes glow again, while my body fills with anticipation and electricity. What's happening?
And that's when I remember something through my clouded mind. The bite of your mate is a step closer to sealing the bond.
My heart picks up it's pace as I realize that this does in fact confirm our bond.
His teeth teasingly touch the skin near my shoulder, and the act feels like a splash of water to my face.
I an instant push him away easily and he stumbles a bit due to him being caught off guard.
I must have an effect on him too.
At first he looks confused as I just broke his daze, but then his jaw tightens and his eyes turn dark in an instant. He tries to walk up to me again, but I step away from him and the tree.
He stops and tilts his head in challenge.
Then he takes one more step.
I take a step back. "Stop." My stern voice travels through the forest.
He stops and tightens his jaw with so much force it looks like his teeth might break. "Show your King respect." His voice is cold, as his eyes dark with a booming storm.
King? He doesn't look that old.
How old is my mate?
I cringe "You're king Octavius?" I question looking at him with resentment while flashes of a decapitated white wolf runs through my mind.
No one has heard from him in a while. And I doubt that this is him. And if it is... I'm truly in a lot of danger.
"No." He speaks up angered. "I'm King Legion Winterbourne." His voice is now pure power and pride.
Realization settles in me. That's why no one has heard from Octavius.
"Your father is dead?" My voice is softer now feeling slightly scared to speak out of line. Dead parents tend to be a sensitive subject and given his current mood I doubt I should push my luck.
"Yes, so show your King and mate respect." He's clearly running out of patience. It also seems clear that he's more pissed off about the fact that I'm trying to deny him as my mate than the death of his father.
Even though it's awful, I can't help but be happy that King Octavius is dead. He was a threat to my existence. I try to contain my smile.
But then my blood runs cold in an instant, and the fleeting joy I've discovered evaporates as swiftly as it emerged.
My mate is the son of the last person who killed a white wolf.
And again, I panic.
I don't know what to do.
I can't run.
I can't shift.
I can't be his mate.
My heart beats faster again, I can hear it pound in my ears.
He looks intensely at me as he analyses my body language. He must hear it too.
My brain is hurting trying to find a loophole out of this. That's when I find it.
I once heard about a man who rejected his mate, it is supposed to be very painful but maybe I can reject him. It feels like my only choice.
"I don't want you as my mate." My heart pinches a little when I say that. And Legion looks at me like he wants to kill me. In three quick steps he's in front of me. The scent of him is slowly repairing my heart again. Then he lifts me in a swift movement and throws me over his shoulder.
At first I'm dumbfounded, but then I look at my surroundings, which isn't a lot. His back, the ground, and that's it!
"What are you doing, put me down!" I sound weird and raspy upside down, but I believe my point comes across.
He begins to walk away with me. "What are you doing?" And even though I know it's going to hurt, I say, "I reject y-"
In a quick thud I'm on the snowy ground. Thankfully he dropped me in a thick pile of snow and not an ounce of pain came with the fall, almost as if on purpose... "You can't reject me, you are mine." He looks like he is on the verge of going on a killing spree. But instead of killing anyone he chooses a different unexpected approach.
He kneels in front of me and grabs my hand. Electricity runs through us, connecting us and it feels as if this is what I've been missing my entire life. I've been missing him.
My heart warms up and is pulled towards him again. Our eyes light up. He places my hand on his heart, I look him in the eyes that are slightly covered by his black hair. He looks vulnerable, hurt even, I don't want him hurt, and I don't know why. I just know that I can feel his sadness somehow. His sadness is deep... it's real.
"You're mine and I'm yours." His voice breaks a little, it's barely noticeable but I hear it nonetheless.
His heart has the same rhythm as mine now. He looks into my eyes. "What's your name?" His voice is soft.
I take a deep breath and answer feeling responsible for his sadness. "Willow Ashen."
"Willow Ashen." He speaks my name with such ease it sounds perfect when he says it. I want him to say it again.
He removes my hand from his heart and I feel lost for a second. He takes my hand and helps me up slowly. "Do you live near here?" His voice is enchanting and velvety. I'm mesmerized yet again.
I nod twice quickly as if I can't help but answer his every word.
"Good, you will get an hour to say goodbye to your family and pack, we have a long journey ahead of us."His words startle me.
"What?" And just like that I'm pulled back to reality again and the sweet moment is over.
His jaw tighten again. "You are my mate and you're coming with me." His tone leaves no room for questions. Well that was it on the vulnerability I guess.
"But-"
He smells the air and begins to walk toward my village, dragging me along by the wrist.
He could smell my village from here?!
He can't be a regular wolf.
We walk toward my village, all five of us, with the wolves in the background and Legion with me in the front.
I figure that the best thing to do is to walk back with them, it's not like I can run away. Where would I go? Maybe my mother knows what to do.
His hand is holding my wrist. Securing me in place, hoping that I won't run away. His touch feels good, like this is indeed what I've been missing. I've always seen people from my village find their mate, but that's when they are around 18, not 20 like me, I don't even know Legions age. I take a quick peek at him, his black hair shines in the sun, his silver eyes are powerful and breathtaking and his lips are full. He is handsome.
I never thought I was going to get a mate, I've always known that your mate must match your power in some way or another, and I always thought no one could match any of mine, but he has proved me wrong. I wonder where his power lay. As I walk back to the village it is with mixed emotions of fear and also a feeling I can't quite out my finger on, I just know it feels strangely good.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
"This is your village?" You can almost hear the disbelief in his voice. He's probably used to the luxury life in his kingdom. My village isn't poor though, it's simply small and cozy. He is just being a pretentious snob.
"Yes." I rip my hand out of his hold and he looks alarmed at me. "Relax, I'm capable of walking myself."
He rolls his eyes, "that's not what I fear."
I let out a huff. "I know." And walk away without him. He's behind me in seconds following my every move. He's more alert now that his wolves aren't with him. He told them to wait by the edge of the forest. I can't even imagine people's reactions if they'd see me walking with five unknown guys four of which in their wolf forms.
People around us start to notice that something is off, they obviously don't recognize King Alpha Legion as from around here and we only ever hear stories about the royals, no one from the village has ever met one... well besides me. They whisper to each other and point to our direction discreetly, but I see it because of my powerful senses. I wonder if Legion notices it too. They look very alarmed, we are not used to outsiders here. More and more people stop to watch us walk by... if only they knew they were in the presence of the King... Well... also a white wolf.
I tune into some of the whispers, "Who is he?" "Do you recognize him?" "Should we tell Alpha." The last one makes me snort as he is the Alpha of all.
Legion leans down a bit. "Do you live far from here?" He sounds impatient, I bet the curious swarms of people are starting to annoy him.
Just when I'm about to answer, my name is called out from the crowd. "Willow?"
I look over to where I heard my name being called and I see Aaron walk in my direction with a worried expression plastered across his face.
"It's fine." I quickly say to not create a bigger scene and because I sense an immediate tensing of Legion. I just need to get home to my mother, she'll know what to do.
He doesn't listen to me though and stops in front of us. I feel some kind of anger washing over me, but it isn't mine... I look to Legion and he looks about ready to bite Aarons head off.
"She said it was fine." Legion's voice isn't loud at all yet everyone stops talking, even the dumbest wolf would be able to sense his power.
Aaron is caught off guard as well and he takes a small step back, but then he realises his action and takes a step forward again.
In less than a heartbeat I'm being pushed behind Legion and it's like everyone stops breathing, including me.
I quickly step away from him and rush in the middle of them again holding up a hand to signal them to hold on before someone does something rash. I turn to Aaron as I know him fully. Legion is still unknown to me and I don't know how to talk to him yet. "We're just going to my house, that's all Aaron." I try to look like I'm not as nervous as I actually am.
Aaron, who isn't looking at me at all, is having a staring contest with Legion, but after a bit he finally looks at me. "Who is he?" His question is seething through his teeth and I find it sensible since no one has seen him before and Aaron is probably assuming the worst due to his protective nature.
But again before I can get a word in, someone shouts something from afar. We all turn to see the Alpha of the village walk over to us. He's also Aaron's father.
"What is all this about?" He tries to sound dominant but I can understand why that's difficult in Legion's presence.
Alpha Greg walks in front of his son. He tries to look intimidating with his brown eyes. The brown eyes that match his brown grayish hair. "Who are you?" He questions out loud catching everyone's attention in case it had slipped a bit since we walked in, though I doubt it.
Without giving it anymore thought I answer with the truth. "He's my mate." My words mute the entire village fully.
Legion is fuming, I can sense it, but there's a second where he's also proud as I announce that he's my mate.
I look over to Aaron to see his reaction. His face has lost all color with a shocked expression forming on his face. I can't help but feel bad, I just don't know why. I want to reach out to him and hug him, so I take a step towards him, before I can walk any further I feel a strong grip around my arm pulling me back.
I turn to Legion to tell him to let me go, but before I even say anything, he sends me a look that tells me that I shouldn't test his patience right now. He also shoots Aaron a threatening look as if telling him to back up.
Suddenly we're moving again. Legion's walking away from the alpha while dragging me along, the entire village follows us with their eyes as I follow Legion because I don't want to cause more problems. Even though I know Legion doesn't want me so much as looking at Aaron right now, I can't help but let my eyes wander, he looks like someone has died. Like I died. The only thing keeping me from running to him, telling him that everything will be alright, is Legion. His grip isn't hurting me but it's strong enough for me to get the message. Surprisingly enough though the alpha isn't stopping us. Perhaps he also senses a power that he can't compete with.
We come to a halt at the end of the village after walking in silence and with a looming rage hanging over us and Legion turns to me. "Which way?" He asks, looking back at the village.
"Not much further" I sigh. "Just down that path." I point to the right with the hand that he hasn't restrained.
"But the village ends here." He says while analyzing me with skeptical eyes.
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "I'm not lying, my mom and I live just outside the village." I sound just as annoyed as I am.
He looks at me for a second to see if im telling the truth before walking in the direction I pointed out.
And just as I said, we arrive at my house before long. "You live here?" At his comment I snap quickly.
"Yes why?!" But when I look at him he looks confused by my small outburst.
"Why are you not living within your own village?" He says as if it's obvious. Which to be fair it is but it has been a long day and the day isn't even over.
"Oh...." I trail off. He can't know the real reason, which is my mothers need for privacy due to her fear of me being exposed as the white wolf. "We just like the quiet." I lie.
He doesn't look like he's buying it but before he can aks more questions I rip my arm out of his hold and walk up to my door and knock. He just lets me. Now normally I wouldn't knock but by doing this I hope it'll alert my mother and she'll know something is wrong before I burst in with an unknown man.
I bet that's not exactly a mothers dream. Oh this man? It's just my mate I found in the forest, oh and he's also the new king, oh and the son of King Octavius... Anyways say hello and then goodbye as I'm being forced to leave... that is unless you have a plan which I really hope you do...
As I stand there lost in my thoughts it takes me a moment to realize that no one has answered my knocks. I try again and I hear Legion sigh behind me. Again, nothing. Frustrated and worried I open the door, not a single candle is lit and the presence of my mother is lacking. "Hello." I try as I walk inside, Legion follows me.
"Are your parents not home?" I cringe at the word parents.
"Just mother." I simply say. But it gets the point across and Legions voice soften as he says, "I see". Dead parents is indeed a sensitive subject.
He waits in the doorway as I scan the rest of my house, I'm guessing to block a possible escape route.
There's no sign of my mother but I'm not particularly alarmed that my she isn't home just annoyed by the timing as I really need her right now. My guess is she went to our forest to clear her head as well as I did, she'd usually go on small walks. All of a sudden Legion speaks up, "pack your bags Willow."
I'm taken aback by my name coming from his mouth but continue pacing around nonetheless to seem busy and to stall time. I ignore his command and I can see form the corner of my eye that he continues to watch me carefully. "My patience only goes so far." He breaks the silence again now sounding more serious than before.
I don't respond this time either but I stop pacing and dare to look in his direction in a somewhat discreet manner. He looks stoic standing there with his arms crossed leaning against the doorframe, but it won't be long until he'll lose whatever patience he somehow has for me. I bet kings aren't used to waiting...
I start pacing again and he sighs. "If you don't want to pack then I don't see why I should wait any longer." His voice makes me anxious, I don't know if it's because of his unexplainable power or because of the bond but it makes me feel a type of vulnerable I'm not used to so I retaliate.
"You're right you shouldn't, you should go." Not much thought goes into my statement besides my annoyance with the whole situation and before I can think much further of it, I'm pinned against a wall.
"Don't test me Willow, you don't know what I'm capable of." His mouth is right next to my ear and his body is pressed up against mine keeping me in place. "I could've made you come with me right when I found you or I could make you go now before you get a chance at a farewell, and none of which has happened... yet, so choose your next words carefully."
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A/N
Hey again, hope you liked chapter 2!
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Chapter 3 will be ready soon enough.