Chapter 4: Mate

Samara

I was busy in the kitchens, setting up for the party tonight, when I smelled him. I had asked to be put on door duty so I could see if Sawyer or Roman arrived. I finally decided how I was going to kill them. Poison can be detected, but there are poisonous animals, such as Spur-Winged Goose and European Quail that have toxins in their bodies that aren’t readily detectible.

As I was setting up the appetizers for the cocktail party, I caught the scent of amber, bergamot, and orange. My mouth began to water, and Ayla stood up in my head, purring and arching in a way she never has before.

‘Ayla, please, please tell me that’s not our mate,’ I plead.

‘I need to see him to be sure, but he smells like our mate. This is a good thing, Samara. It means our mate is an Alpha, as we deserve. We will be able to continue the genes of the pure white wolf if we’re mated to an Alpha.’

She’s right, and I always expected that my mate, when I found him, would be an Alpha. I just didn’t expect to find him two days after my 18^th birthday.

‘Ayla, don’t you get it? This could ruin everything!’

‘We can still get our revenge. Why does finding our mate mean we can’t avenge our family’s deaths?’

‘I don’t know enough about the mate bond. What if he finds out what we’ve done. We don’t know him, Ayla. He could easily turn against us and what if….what if he was somehow involved in the murder of our family.’

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions, Samara. Let’s find out who he is first,’ Ayla says, diplomatically.

I agree with Ayla, even though I think it’s a bad idea. It’s a risk and I’m not willing to set aside my revenge just because I found my mate.

‘So, we’ll take out Sawyer and Roman this weekend and then we can live happily ever after with our mate,’ Ayla says.

I frown, wondering where my wolf got her fairytale dreams from.

‘They’re actually your dreams from before everything happened to our family. I just found them in your memories.’

‘I was a silly girl then.’

‘Maybe dreams come true, Samara.’

Not for me they don’t.

I finish getting my tray ready. Since I’m on kitchen duty, it means I’m also on serving duty. I’m careful not to put too much on my tray. I may be able to carry much more than I am, but I judge how much the other omegas are putting on their trays and I put the same amount on mine.

When I step into the room, I can smell him. Ayla pushes me to move closer, but I keep my distance, looking for Sawyer. I want Roman dead too for his betrayal, but Sawyer actually killed Teddy.

I keep my eyes down as I walk around, my tray quickly emptying, sending me back to the kitchen to put more food on my tray.

“Samantha, did you see how many attractive Alphas there are?” one of the omegas asks me.

“No, I was trying to make sure I didn’t drop my tray,” I say. It’s not true, I was looking at everyone I could see, trying to find Sawyer or Roman.

I finish filling my tray and I go back into the main room where the Alphas are all talking amongst themselves.

When I walk back out, his scent is even stronger than before. He’s moved closer to where I am, most likely recognizing my scent as easily as I’ve recognized his. If he’s an Alpha, then I’m sure that he’s smelled me.

Someone has just taken food off my tray when I hear it, his strong, masculine voice echoing through the room.

“Mate!”

The room goes silent, and my stomach drops as the individuals around me move away, leaving a direct line for me to see my mate.

The moment I see him, I feel sick. There’s only one person who could be a worse mate than I’ve been given and that’s Sawyer. Rather than give me a mate who killed my brother, the Moon Goddess has given me a mate who betrayed my family. Roman.

He steps forward, walking toward me. He stops in front of me, taking the tray from my hands and handing it to someone standing nearby. He reaches up and strokes a finger down my jaw.

“You are my mate,” he says, his voice ringing out in the silent room. Ayla is howling in my head, wanting her mate, but devastated that he’s one of the people who betrayed us.

"You don't want me," I say confidently, looking him in the eye. I want him to know how serious I am.

"You don't know me well enough to know what I want,” he says.

Oh, yes I do. I know exactly what this Alpha wants. Power and strength. Roman is well known for being the strongest Alpha in our time, both physically and financially. He wouldn’t be if my brother was still alive, but he’s not. So, why would Roman ever consider taking an omega as a mate?

“I'm an omega. Any woman here would be glad to have you, pick one of them,” I say to him, feeling the weight of the stares of the other Alphas and more so, the weight of the unmated Alpha females in the room. I’m sure they feel like I’m taking one of the most eligible bachelors from them. Well, they can have him. I don’t want him.

“None of them are my mate. You are.”

“As I said, you don’t want me. I’m nothing but a weak omega.”

His eyes narrow as he looks at me, tilting my head up to look at him. "Do you think so little of Alphas?"

“Only some,” I say to him.

“Aren’t you even willing to take the time to get to know me?” he asks, and I can see the hurt in his eyes that he’s not one of the Alphas that I think highly of. How very arrogant that an Alpha would think that an omega who had never met him would think highly of him.

“I know who you are, Alpha Roman. And if you aren’t willing to reject me, then I will reject you,” I say, hearing gasps all around the room. Maybe it’s not the right decision to reject an Alpha in a room full of other Alphas, but I don’t care. I have no intention of taking this man as my mate.

I watch as something close to terror flashes in his eyes.

“I reject you, Alpha Roman Hartwell, as my mate and Alpha,” I say.

His fear turns to a smirk, as he watches me with calculated eyes. “That’s not how it’s done, omega,” he says and the way he calls me an omega, I wonder if he recognizes that I’m more than an omega. If so, then I am in trouble. I know that’s not how you reject your mate, but I can’t say my true name in a room full of Alphas. My family was well known. My sister and I were much sought after because of our heritage. If this room of Alphas knew who I truly am….

“And for the record, I reject your inadequate rejection,” he says arrogantly, making several other Alphas snicker. I glare at him, but he just raises an eyebrow at me.

“Alpha Roman, Samantha won’t be 18 for several more months. She is underage. Perhaps you feel the mate bond to her, but she is too young to feel it for you,” Alpha William says, trying to protect me.

“Is that so?” he asks, his eyes never leaving mine. I feel the first sliver of fear fun through my body. He knows I’m 18 and if he figures out who I am, I’m as good as dead.

“Yes,” Alpha William says.

“And she was born in your pack?” Roman asks Alpha William.

“No. She was found outside our pack nearly dead. She had no family, so I took her in and made her part of my pack.”

Roman hasn’t stopped looking at me.

“Leave us!” he commands, his voice booming around the room. I look, watching as everyone, every single Alpha, including Alpha William walks out the door. Alpha William looks at me, giving me a hopeful smile, before walking out and closing the door behind him.

When he’s gone, I turn and face my mate.

“Now, why don’t you tell me why my Alpha mate is hiding as an omega in a pack that isn’t hers."