CHAPTER 4: A Scent from the Past

Morgan’s POV

The moment I had laid eyes on her in the mating ceremony, I felt a pull towards her like I'd never felt for another.

I could feel every hair on my body standing on end and I could feel Ragnar, my wolf purring.

I had felt a pool of desire in my groin and I had stiffened from the way my body had reacted to her scent.

I felt like a wild beast, starved of what it deeply craved. It was maddening.

“Mate” he purred and whimpered excitedly.

“Mate”?

He jumped around excitedly. “Yes mate!”? He replied

I chuckled in disbelief. I could not believe it because I had been without a mate for years.

I was twenty-eight years old, but I had not been mated to anyone yet. It was one of the bones of contention in my life.

I had everything, every power I needed under my feet. I was the youngest but strongest alpha with the strongest pack in the city, but the only weakness I had was my inability to find my mate.

It was the reason my gamma, Xavier, now a rogue wolf, had undermined my authority.

It was the reason some of the alphas in neighboring territories disrespected me and encroached on my territory, because they felt I was an anomaly.

It was one of the reasons I had so many enemies. The moon goddess hath deprived me of that luxury.

At some point, I had given up hope that I would ever find her. Now my wolf was jumping around excitedly talking about my mate.

Why did she feel so familiar? Why couldn’t she recognize me as her mate?

Unless… She wasn’t a werewolf.

The thought was absurd. Impossible.

No creature can bypass the Veil of Lupus, an ancient spiritual covering created by the first werewolves to protect their kind and keep our existence hidden.

Those who have slight access to this world and can somehow bypass the veil are those who either have supernatural blood like witches, seers, faes, or those marked by a werewolf.

Unless she was a spy. Maybe she was a spy from the Black Fang Pack, led by my rebellious ex-Gamma, Xavier Remus.

With those thoughts swirling in my mind, I knew I had made a mistake letting her slip away so easily.

It was the mating ceremony of my new Gamma, the third-ranking member of my pack, the Blackwood Pack.

The guest list was strictly controlled. How had she gotten in? And more importantly, why?

Through the mind link, I ordered my enforcers to grab her and bring her to the pack house.

Meanwhile, my trackers were already working to uncover everything they could about her.

I watched from the shadows as my men followed her back to a rundown apartment on the outskirts of town and, from every indication, she was trying to escape, or she was having trouble paying for her rent because of an overdue rent notice on the door, and her very little property was scattered on the floor.

I had too many questions and not enough answers.

When they brought her in, she was unconscious. She looked exhausted, as if she hadn’t slept in days. Frail. Vulnerable.

I could have woken her up immediately. Demanded answers, but each time I even considered waking her, Ragnar would let out a distressed whimper, his agitation mirroring the strange pull I felt toward her.

Instead, I had her placed in the visitor’s room.

I stood at the doorway, watching her sleep. She looked fragile even in her sleep, her breathing shallow, dark circles shadowing her eyes.

Ragnar was restless, torn between relief that she was here and frustration that she still hadn’t woken up."

“What is it Ragnar”? I asked my wolf in frustration.

“She is our mate,” he whispered.

“She is weak” I muttered

“She is unconscious,” he replied, sulking.

As she slept, her scent became stronger and enveloped me in a warm embrace.

She smelled like warm vanilla, white rose, and bare skin mixed together. It was soft, sweet, and comforting and I couldn't blame my wolf for wanting to be near her.

I felt the strong urge to wrap my arms around her tiny frame even though I didn't understand why.

I had checked my time and realized that she had slept for longer than she was supposed to, given the sedative that was used on her. 

I began to panic and called the doctor. On coming back with the doctor, I knew she was awake but pretending to sleep. After the doctor had gone, I slipped into the bathroom to see what she would do next. 

A few minutes after I left the room, I heard a scream coming from her room. I rushed back to see her on the floor holding her head in her hands. 

“Please make it go away” she cried. 

As I fell to my knees in front of her, she turned her fierce eyes on me.

“Don’t come close to me” she shouted, wincing with pain. 

What the hell does she want exactly?

I got closer, but the closer I was to her, the farther she shrank away from me.

“Get away from me, you monster” she shrieked.

Just then, the door opened and Harry walked in with a tray of food and placed it on the stool beside the bed, confused at the scene in front of him. 

She stood up from the floor, staggering in the process like a drunk person. He got closer to the bed and eyed the food hungrily while her stomach grumbled noisily.

I grabbed the plate of food from the tray and got closer, trying to coax her to eat.

Without warning, she snatched the plate from my hand and hurled it across the room. The plate hit the wall and shattered, and all its contents flew everywhere.

Then she lunged.

For a moment, I was stunned. This little wolf was stronger and fiercer than I’d expected. Her grip tightened around my neck as she clawed at me, tiny hands scratching wildly. My wolf fought to stay in control while Harry moved to intervene, but I mind-linked him to stay put. I didn’t want to hurt her until she sank her teeth into my ear.

Instinct took over. I flipped her off me, throwing her across the room. She crashed into the wall, hitting her head hard.

My heart constricted, and I felt a bolt of pain slash across my skull as she clutched onto the back of her head, letting out a piercing scream before she collapsed on the floor and lost consciousness. Immediately, her scream rang out. Harry dropped to the floor, holding his ears in his hands.

When the sound finally stopped, he looked up at me, wild-eyed, like a trapped animal caught in a cage, as if he was trying to grapple with the gravity of what had just happened.