Chapter 6

My eyes bulged out in exasperation. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate! Those words kept ringing in my head.

Emilia?

Did she just speak?

There was no way my wolf would speak, and certainly not in this kind of manner. My eyes darted to the side, my lips quivering as I tried to steady myself.

“Nyra, mate. He’s our mate,” she said through the mindlink. A gasp elicited from my lips as my eyes shot toward the man who sat down on his plush chair like he owned the world.

He was staring at me, his lips slightly pulled upward at the side. Almost like he knew what was going on in my head, but I wasn’t ready to believe it.

“It’s not possible. You can’t just wake up from whatever abyss you disappeared to and call him our mate,” I argued. My whole mind was in turmoil, and just like that, everything was spiraling out of control.

I wanted to scream at Emilia and ask her where she’d been. Why would she leave me alone all these years, just to come back at the time I least expected?

Five good years, and now she’s claiming he is my mate. I could feel a pull tugging, yet I fought with all my mind.

“This is a side effect of years being dormant. It’s impossi—”

The scraping of the chair forcefully dragged me back to reality. Mikael stood up, his eyes never leaving mine as he adjusted the fur coat draped on his body. One minute he was standing there; the next, he appeared in front of me, a few feet away from me—but close enough to make my throat dry.

I gulped as I watched him. His arms were spread widely. “Welcome, Nyra, to my humble abode. I’ve been waiting for your arrival,” he announced. His deep baritone voice ignited something within me, and I hated how it made my wolf purr.

“Mate! Mate! Nyra, mate!” She kept chanting, thrashing wildly in my head. She wanted to take control, but I wouldn’t let her.

This must be a mirage. I closed my eyes, hoping I wasn’t hallucinating and that Emilia was speaking to me and asking me to claim Mikael Valen, the demon, as my mate.

“It’s not a dream, Nyra. I know you can feel the bond,” Mikael whispered, his lips brushing the tip of my ear, evoking some foreign sensation within me. I jolted back, my eyes darting open, my face pale as his words sank deeply.

He was right!

I wasn’t daydreaming, nor was I hallucinating.

My wolf is back, and moreover, the bond… the tugging… the sensation.

“No,” I mumbled. My hands flew to my neck, touching the mark-free spot where my wolf had been marked.

I shook my head, my lips parted slightly. “No… it’s not possible!” Those words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

He raised his brows. “Really?” That sounded more abrasive.

I gulped down my saliva, my chin raised in willed confidence. “Yes,” I responded in a defiant manner.

He wouldn’t make me look foolish. I recalled that night in the woods; any human might have been disconnected from the bond with Eric, but what about the one with those rogues?

That one rogue who defiled me… there was no way I would forget that afternoon.

My wolf had been imprinted by another.

“Yes, it’s not possible. I was…” I trailed off. Emilia was tugging harder, not wanting to give up.

Why is she causing a scene in my head?

Why is she feeling things she ought not to feel?

“My wolf has been marked by another, and thus I can’t recognize my mate since the bond has been tethered. So this—” I stretched out my hands, “can’t be possible,” I completed my words.

Mikael’s lips twitched as he tilted his head slightly. “Are you sure?” he uttered, and before I could respond, he added rudely, “Think! Think deeply about it, Thistle.”

Thistle?

That name… it—

My brows pinched together, my eyes widening as I tried to recall where I’d heard that name before.

I blinked rapidly; nothing was coming up in my head.

“Should I give you a hint?” he interjected. My gaze flew over in his direction. He sent me a weak smile, almost like he was biding time—those amber eyes glowed in the most magnificent manner, which disarmed me.

“Think about the time in the woods, plucking the wild flower,” he hinted. His voice echoed in my head, yet I couldn’t avert my gaze from him. I felt a strong pull, one that made me ignore the bond for once just to focus on his eyes and the words he spoke. It felt like I was in a trance, and bit by bit, everything started unfolding, and I found myself right back in the woods.

(Flashback)

I hummed a song I learned from my mother while I plucked a wild flower—chamomile, a flower my mother needed to take because of her sleeping paralysis. The day was oddly serene, and I wanted to enjoy the scenery. Everything went well—until it didn’t.

A dark smoke caught my attention. It moved so swiftly that it caused me to turn my neck in its direction. I ought to have ignored it, but there was this strange curiosity that pricked my skin.

It was itching badly, giving me no choice but to follow the smoke. I was forced to hasten my steps. I wandered deeper, trying to get to where it was, but then it vanished.

My heart leaped, sweat trickling down the spine of my back. I could no longer see the smoke, and I was lost in the woods.

I knew I should scream for help, but my nose was engulfed with a burnt honeycomb scent laced with wood. Even though it was a weird combination, it carried an unexpectedly sweet aroma which was good to me.

My legs ached, pleading for me to stop, but if I stopped, then there was a probability I would miss the scent, and if I didn’t know where the smell came from, then I would never find rest.

I went farther until I saw a cave, where a man stood gloriously. I couldn’t see him clearly, but I knew he had a good physique.

And when I moved closer, something caught my attention. It was his skin… it was far too pale for a man like him; there were traces of a black pattern beneath his skin, tracing his veins like ancient runes written in living ink.

Oddly magnificent.

I was too stunned to move. He was like a piece crafted by a group of prodigies—too good to be real, and I was afraid that if I blinked, then he would disappear as if he weren’t there.

One moment, he was standing beside the cave; the next, he was right in front of me like smoke. I could feel his breath on me, my throat stricken as I found it hard to gulp. His eyes were so dark they could evoke a person’s soul and cause them to be feral.

Fear gripped me, but that was just one of the other emotions.

He looked familiar, and the scent emanating from him was the same I’d tailed after when the black smoke disappeared.

“Did he lure me here?” I thought.

My wolf became jumpy. She took control immediately and raised my hands to touch his face, but he turned away, rejecting her touch.

Instead of her keeping her hands to herself after his mild rejection, she pressed further, sniffing him as if she was trying to detect something by doing that. He snorted and pinned me to the wall. I tried to fight for control; however, there was some kind of force stopping me from doing so.

“Stay still, Thistle,” the stranger said, his tone laced with irritation, as if I irked him.

I felt sour and annoyed at his tone.

He was rude and—

“Sinfully hot!” Emilia purred in my mind, which made my eyes widen.

This wolf—how could she be so shameless?

“Ouch!” I yelped when I felt something prick my skin.

I stopped breathing.

I didn’t even have time to think about the worst scenario when his teeth sank into my neck, and I felt a bond forming. My whole body went still when I realized what he’d done.