Word Count: 4151
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•Xandria's Point of View•
Gaby and I approach the pack prison with full caution. I can hear the sound of something snapping and being broken against the stone walls that seperate Gaby and I from the my mate. My blood ran cold as I hear a female screaming loudly. I look over at Gaby in horror; my eyes bulge out of their sockets at the noise. I swear to the Goddess, if Hunter is hurting a girl I will not speak to him ever again!
Gaby pushes open the two doors, and I am a bit surprised to find that there was no guards anywhere. I would think that Hunter would at least have guards standing in front of the doors to have backup.
With the doors now open, we came to stand at the back of a giant crowd along the walls of one of the rooms to our right. It was one of the torture rooms by the strong smell of blood coming from it. It was the room where pack leaders would bring prisoners in order to get information, even if their tactics of persuasion were very inhumane at times.
I squeeze my way past two guards to find the main attraction. Hunter stood with Chace next to him; both very tense and sweaty. Hunter's muscles bulge in his tight black shirt and I couldn't help but drool a little. He should really wear that shirt more often. Like damn he-
"Kind of in the middle of something," Gaby whispers into my ear, cutting me off from my dirty mind. She pushes me lightly with her shoulder and that draws me back to the fuming Alpha. Chace didn't look as pissed off as Hunter, but he was still angrily looking at something in front of him.
"Right," I say with a nod. Hunter must be pretty pissed because he hasn't even picked up that I'm here yet.
"Look," Gaby says. She points over to the one of the corners of the room where the same female rogue from Alpha Reece's territory sat with her head buried into her knees. She was shaking in fear and I frowned at her state. She looked healthier than the last time I saw her, but there was still visible cuts and bruises.
I look around for her brother, the rouge who had been with her, but couldn't see him. I'm guessing that he is behind Hunter and Chace because with both of the men being so built, it was hard to see past them.
"I smell something," Gaby says from behind me. I look around and try to detect anything off in the room. Other than the fact that no one has spoken in the last five minutes, I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"What does it smell like?" I whisper back. She shrugs her shoulder, bringing her nose up to sniff again. Her nose crinkled in disgust, which I presume means that the smell was terrible smelling.
"I think it's just the rogue," she says, "it's disgusting."
"Are you su-"
A loud growl cut me off mid-sentence. I spin my head around to find Hunter with a furious look on his face.
Well, I guess he knows I'm here now.
"What are you doing here? Who permitted them down here?!" he asks to the group in his powerful Alpha voice. The men stay quiet as Hunter growls fiercely at them, making them all take several steps back. I begin to take small steps towards Hunter, and while doing so, I can hear the sharp intakes of breath from the pack guards. They must think I'm in for a death wish right now.
"Calm down, I'm fine. I was worried. I felt your anger through the bond," I say to him in a soothing voice. I place my right hand on his chest and feel as he instantly relaxes into my touch. Everyone stare wide eyed as our actions unfolded. "Well, I suppose now they know about us," I joke, trying to lighten the mood. Hunter cracks a small smile that only I can see.
"Mate!"
That voice was not Hunter's nor was it a voice I have ever heard. Hunter's eyes darken and in one swift motion he has me pushed behind him and he faces the male rogue.
Oh, so it was him that spoke. Wait, but who was his mate? The only other female in this room is Gaby.
Does that mean...?
I whip my body around and look around for Gaby. She was standing where I left her with a confused look on her face.
'Is he your mate?' I mouth. Her eyes widen as she shakes her head rapidly.
'Of course not!' she mouths back to me. I furrow my brows as I stare at her in complete perplexity. If Gaby wasn't his mate, could it be that one of the males in this very room was his mate? But wouldn't he have mentioned it earlier?
"Emiliah, get out of here!" Hunter shouts as an Alpha command. I gasp as I look over to my right and see that the pack guards part like the Red Sea to reveal Emiliah with a worried and scared look on her face. Poor girl doesn't know what she just walked into.
"I-I was just looking for G-Gaby and Xandria. I didn't realize you were interrogating rouges," she says, swallowing a loud gulp. I would be overjoyed at the fact that Emiliah had found her mate, but under the circumstances, I was a little worried as to how this was going to play out.
"Mate!" the male rogue growls out harshly. I bite my lip as I look back to the shadow of the male, mainly because Hunter's torso blocks my whole view of him.
"They're mates, Hunter. Fate put their two souls together for a reason," I say, trying to reason with him. Emiliah was becoming a close friend of mine and I wasn't going to let Hunter ruin one of the most important experiences of her life.
"Well, fate is fucking stupid," Hunter spats at me. I stare at him with wide eyes. Did he really just say that to his own mate? Fate was the only reason we even got together. He wouldn't have even looked at me twice if we weren't mates!
"Fate is stupid? You're the stupid one, Hunter. Fate is the only reason you ever noticed my very existence! If you call fate stupid, then you might as well call our whole relationship stupid!" I shout back in a rather harsh tone. Crossing my arms over my chest, Hunter's eyes turn into ones of realization. "If you don't think they'll have a chance, how can we?" I ask him in all seriousness. He opens his mouth, as if to say something, but nothing comes out. "That's what I thought," I all but whisper. Turning on my heels, I walk up the stairs. Emiliah and Gaby following closely behind.
"Emiliah, you should go back and be with your mate," I tell her, stopping by a tree that's about six metres from the pack prison, and lean my weight against it. I run a heavy hand through my tangled hair and look at Emiliah with a pitiful look. She deserves to be with her mate.
"Like my brother would let me near him right now. Thank you, though, for telling him off for me. I was just so shocked that I even had a mate, I could barely speak," she admits, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. "I've always wanted a mate and it so happens to be the one rogue my brother clearly dislikes," she says with a heavy sigh.
"No matter who your mate turned out to be, Hunter would hate them regardless. You're his little sister, of course he's going to try and keep you two apart," I say, trying to ease her nerves. "If anything, I'm not even going to speak to him until he apologizes for what he said," I add.
"What does that have to do with me?" she asks.
"Well, obviously I'm trying to make your brother learn that fate puts people together for a reason. The Moon Goddess paired us together and now, she has paired you with a male of your own. Apparently the Moon Goddess sees something in this guy that none of us, but you, will ever understand," I tell her. Gaby looks at me for minute in shock. I stare at her with a confused look in my face.
"That was so wise. Being around an Alpha is making you all mature and shit," she says. I burst out into laughter at that and the two girls soon follow. Honestly, we all just need a good laugh after what just went down.
But Gaby did have a point, I would never have spoken like this before, but now that I'm going to soon be given the role of Luna, I'm becoming more mature and leader-like. I'd never thought that I'd see the day that I'd admit to, maybe a little bit, wanting to be Luna of this pack.
"Have you all gone insane?!" my Alpha mate yells as he comes up from the prison stairs. I roll my eyes as he glares at the three of us. He glares more at me, though.
"Well, I don't think insane is the word, but my horoscope did say that I was going to be outgoing today. Maybe this is a matter you should take up with the horoscope gods," I tell him looking up at the heavens. I can hear Gaby's snicker from behind me, while Hunter looks like he's weighing down if he should strangle me right now or just do it later.
"This is no time for jokes, Xandria," he says, his teeth grinding loudly. Again, I roll my eyes with an aggravated look.
"Calm down and then maybe we can talk like civilized people," I say, trying to step forward, but he only steps back. Why is he being such a child? He knows what I said was true, so why not just talk this out so he can apologize for what he said.
"You could've gotten hurt! He was a rogue, Xandria! You barely knew what was down there, but you still went searching. That is dangerous and I will not have you roaming the territory without supervision. From now on, you must be accompanied by either Chace or Jordan," he orders. I roll my eyes. Like he really meant any of that. "I am not one to be messed with at the moment, so you will do as I say!"
Again, I roll my eyes. He can't be serious. Has he gone insane?
"You expect me to agree to having babysitters around me at all times? Because if so, I believe you are the one that has gone off the rails," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I was being defiant and I could tell that Hunter was not pleased with my attitude.
"Take her up to my room and do not let her out until I have said so," he orders one of the guards behind him. The man nods and approaches me with uneasy eyes. "Do not make me command you," Hunter says in a sneer. I glare at him, telling him with my eyes to try and 'command' me.
"Just go, Xandria, you aren't helping anyone by acting like a child," Chace says, siding with his brother. I look at him in disbelief and with a huff, turn on my heels and head for the pack house.
"Follow her," Hunter orders the same guard from before. I stop dead in my tracks and look ahead of my with a glare into nothingness.
"If any of you follow me, I swear to the Goddess, I will never speak to you again Hunter Thatch," I threaten in a snappy tone. As I continue to walk towards, I internally smile as I hear the footsteps behind me stop. Good, at least I made him listen to me once today.
~
"You know that being watched isn't so bad once you get used to it," Jordan says with a shrug.
"Says the one who can actually leave the confides of this room," I say with a roll of my eyes. I laid back on the bed and let my feet dangle. "I hate him," I say aloud, knowing fully well that it was a lie. I couldn't hate Hunter, though at the moment I did strongly dislike him.
"You've already said that fifty other times, and it has not made a difference on your situation," Chace comments. I look up to give him a glare.
"Shut up, will you?"
Annoyed, I let my head fall back on the comfy blankets. I have been stuck in this room for about three hours now. Hunter did not follow my request to not have someone follow me, and as soon as I stepped into Hunter's room, Chace and Jordan came in to be my babysitters. To say I was infuriated was an understatement.
"When is he supposed to be coming back?" I say in a whiny voice. I was getting tired of just staying in here and doing nothing. If I could, I would be outside exploring the world. But sadly, I am stuck in Hunter's room with these two morons and two guards at the door. He might as well have sent the SWAT team.
"Soon," Chace says for the humph time. I was beginning to strongly dislike the word 'soon'.
I hear a pair of footsteps approaching the door and I strung up from the bed.
"Oh dear Goddess, tell me that's him," I pray to whoever is listening. Chace chuckles as he gets up from his current spot on the floor.
"Your mate has arrived," Chace announces as Hunter enters the room. A new kind of tension forms in the air and I glare as he walks towards me.
"Xandria-," I cut him off with my finger. My middle finger to be exact.
"You're not allowed to talk, and do you want to know why? Because you were a complete a-hole to me! Who do you think you are locking me up in this room for Goddess knows how long? Did you really think that I'd be okay with that? Because if so, you must be on some really good cocaine right about now," I shout, letting out all my built up anger. I'm pretty sure it was at least three hours worth of anger.
"I understand that you are upset with me, but-," he starts, but I interrupt him with my yelling; once again.
"Upset? Upset doesn't even begin to explain how completely frustrated I am with you right now!" I shout, poking my finger into his chest in an enraged manner.
"Yell at me all you want, but what you did was dangerous. What if the rogue tried to attack you all? I cannot even begin to think of the dangers you put yourselves in? Especially you, Xandria, you have got to be more careful and cautious with your actions. Once I tell the pack that you are my mate, packs of all places will find out, and do you know how many people will try to get you so they can inflict pain on me? Not to mention that now I have to deal with the male rogue also being my baby sisters mate!"
"That rogue being your sisters mate has nothing to do with why you got mad at me! You were just looking for someone to lash out on and I happened to be the first person you chose! Can you just stop yelling, so we can get passed this already? I hate fighting and that's all we've been doing!" I shout back, throwing my arms in the air. He was really beginning to frustrate me.
"Everyone, out," he orders. Smiling, I am about to exit the room, but Hunter grabs my arm with a grunt. "Not you," he says. I pout as I step back so that Chace and Jordan can leave.
'Help me,' I mouth to Jordan, who only snickers as he leaves the room. 'Screw you,' I mouth back, even though he can't see me.
"Now, we are going to stay in here and talk through this. No more yelling. We are going to be completely honest with each other," Hunter says as he leads me over to the bed. He sits down and pats the spot next to him. Sighing, I take a seat in the middle of the bed and cross my legs.
"Okay, so I don't like the colour of these walls. There I said it," I finally let out, breathing some air. Thank the Goddess, I finally got to say that. It feels like a real weight has been lifted off my shoulder.
Hunter blinks once, then twice, until finally saying something.
"When I said to be completely honest, I meant with what happened today, not with what you have hated since you got here," he says with an eye roll.
"Well then, next time be more specific!" I say, throwing my arms in the air and letting them drop back into the bed sheets. He looks as though he wants to smile, but holds it back.
"Now that you have got that out of your system, I will speak now," he says. I nod my head as I listen intently to what he has to say. It was time we stop shouting at each other, especially after that fantastic date last night. "I am angry, but not just with you, but also with myself. Last night, while we were on our date, Chace had mind-linked me several times, but I only ignored him. When we finally arrived back at the pack house, Chace frantically told me about how the rogue had been acting strange all of last night. I had to leave you alone, against my own needs, in order to make sure he didn't escape. On top of that, a pack members body was found near the edge of the territory. Whoever took your mother, has come back," Hunter says with a heavy sigh. I could tell that the stress of this situation has been putting a heavy weight on his shoulder.
I look down for a minute, taking in what he said. I thought back to the day that my mother was taken and all of the strange things that have happened to me.
"I think these attacks are ways to get to me," I tell him, looking up into his tired eyes. He shakes his head and sits beside me on the bed.
"Who would go after you? Has something happened that you haven't told me?" he bombards me with questions. I shrug my shoulders and think those rogues who had cornered Chace and I at the grocery. I don't think Chace told Hunter about the fact that they were targeted me specifically because Hunter didn't order guards to follow me around after that. I'm not sure why Chace didn't tell him, but I guess I kind of have to for the sake of the pack and its members.
"Not recently, but I'm beginning to think that it is because of you that they have stopped," I tell him. He looks at me doubtfully. I mean it makes sense, two rogues died trying to attack me because Hunter was always there to protect me.
"How?" he asks.
"As you already know, I have been attacked by multiple rogues in the forest. Luckily, for me, you were always there to save me from them. But there has been another incident," I explain. I knew that once I told him he would get upset and probably break something. Hopefully he doesn't choose to break me because I would really like to stay alive.
"What sort of things have happened? I need to know exactly what this incident was," he says in all seriousness. I nod my head and pull on the ends of my hair; a nervous habit of mine.
"I'm not sure if Chace told you about this, but when we went grocery shopping with Dylan and Gaby, there were rogues waiting for us at the back of the building. They didn't attack, the leader said that they were there to 'check up on me.' Which I can't imagine why. I'd never seen him before in my life! He said that those two other rogues I met were accomplices of theirs, but they ran off before I could question him anymore," I say. By now Hunter was growling deeply, and I'm not sure if I can calm him down anymore. He begins to shake in anger and before I know it there is a giant black wolf in front of me. Hunter looks up at me, a protective glint in his eyes. He looks around the room as if there were predators and I was in danger.
Once looking around and realizing no one was there he shifts back, and is now butt-naked in front of me.
"What just happened?" I squeal, covering my eyes with my hands. I hear shuffling, which I'm guessing is Hunter putting clothes on. As much as I'm not ready to complete the mating process, and small part of me was okay with Hunter casually being naked in front of me. It was a weird thought and I immediately tried to forget it.
"My wolf, he took over," he says simply.
"But why?" I ask. Why was his wolf getting so worked up? I was still here with him. All those encounters already happened.
"He got angry when he heard of all the threats have been targeted at you. We're not exactly fond of our mate being hunted upon," he tries to say calmly but instead growls it out.
"You need to calm down. Please?" I beg. I didn't like seeing him so angry. It didn't scare me, but I knew that if I don't calm him down, he might go out and attack someone. What if he goes after the rogues? Or worse, what if he hurts a pack member?
"I am calm," he says, even though he is clearly not. It sounded like by saying it he was trying to convince himself of it, but it wasn't fooling me.
"No, you're n-"
I was cut off by large searing heat spreading through my entire body. I release a strangled screen, clenching onto my stomach as my back arches painfully.
"What's happening?!" I manage to breathe out before the pain doubles. Hunter looks at me in worry. He looked as if he wanted to grab me but didn't know how with my body twitching from burning sensation.
"I-I think you're experiencing heat," he sputters nervously. Another scream of anguish escapes my lips as Hunter walks to sit on the bed with me.
"Make it stop," I whimper, "please."
Hunter looks around the room as if checking if anyone was around to help. I didn't know anything about this heat thing, so I wasn't sure what was happening to me. All I know is that it hurts a lot!
"There is only one way to make it stop and I know that you are not ready for that yet, so I'm just going to hold you for now," Hunter says as he approaches me with calm steps. He sits next to me on the comforters and pulls me body to squeeze beside his. A sense of relief goes through me and I relax into his arms. The heat subsides a bit, but it was still there. It wasn't to point like before, where I nearly fainted from the pain. I could feel my body cooling down just by being close to my mate.
"Hunter?" I ask in a whisper, gasping for air. Hunter looks down at me as I lay on his chest. His face was contorted into one of worry. "What's heat?" I ask in pure confusion.
Hunter opens his mouth to answer, but didn't get a chance as the door is pushed open with a strong force.
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I have finally updated!
I'm gonna be completely honest and say that I was not planning on adding the heat scene, but I just thought that it would make the story a little more hot.
Hahaha get it? I thought it'd make the story more 'hot' by adding 'heat.'
Okay, I'll shut up now.
I have finally brought up most of the events that have occurred through the last chapters and I will be mentioning the rest soon.
Vote & Comment!
Edited.