Mate!

Xael

Carl, I and our warriors are heading home after two weeks in the regional discussions. The trip was worth it. All the Alphas in our region have vowed to unite into fighting rogues. If all goes well, those pestilences will be a thing of the past.

We are ready to leave when the Alpha king comes to me.

“Alpha Xael, I hear you are not staying for the party.”

I flash him a smile and confirm.

“I have been away from my pack and Luna too long.”

“It’s only been two weeks. I hear you turned down our maidans,” he points out with his irritating mischievous smile. I am very good looking, but this guy is disgustingly in his own league. No wonder women just fall on his lap.

“Except our luna,” Clint links proudly. That’s enough to put a smile on my face.

“I am a man captured and very much captivated by his Luna, my Lord. Only she can do.”

It sounds like I am rubbing it in his face, but I really mean it. I miss Xena like crazy.

“Ha!’ he exclaims. “Travel well and pass my warm greetings to my savior.”

Clint stirs inside when he claims Xena like that. I suppress him. The Lycan king is obviously more powerful than any Alpha or wolf out there. Sometimes I feel like he is intentionally getting on my nerves to get me to do something stupid. He is a playboy and is unfortunately very attracted to my Luna. Xena is apparently the only one who ever turned him down. It is worse now that she saved his life. He comes up with any excuse to see her. Be it donating a hospital wing or laboratory equipment.

Carl coughs next to me. He is my Beta and close friend. This is his way of reminding me of the conversation we had earlier. Xena has always been mine. She will always be. Our love is stronger than any mate bond out there.

I bow my head respectfully. “I will make sure to pass on the message to my Luna.”

“You have to learn to keep your emotions at bay with the Alpha king,” Carl warns as we drive out of the palace.

I shrug. He is right. I bet even those maidans were there to test me. He must know how possessive Xena is. She would definitely leave me if she found out that I cheated on her.

We are midway towards our pack when Clint stirs and starts yelling Mate! Mate!

What the fuck?

I instruct the driver to stop and jump out.

“Mate! Mate!” Clint continues to shout and tries to take over.

“No!” I yell while doing my best to suppress him. I can’t have him do something stupid and destroy wat we have at home. I don’t even know if this is another one of the Lycan king’s tricks. I am still on that when a pack of rogues show up, chasing a wounded greyish wolf.

“Mate!” Clint shouts. He has taken over and tearing at the rogues before I can react. Ten of the idiots are dead and the rest have fled by the time Clint lets me take over. That’s when I notice that the woman is now in her human form. She is terrified, but gorgeous.

“You are my mate. I have finally found you,” she says and runs to me.

She looks confused when I move aside, avoiding her. The last thing I need is Xena picking another woman’s scent on me.

“Oh, you already have your mark,” she says softly and lets out an empty laugh when she sees Xena’s mark on my neck. “I can’t believe I was late,” she mumbles with tears rolling down her cheeks. I feel like an ass. Clint is mad, but I cannot lose Xena even for her. I have to reject her.

“I, Alpha Xael of X-pack…”

Her eyes widen when she realizes what is happening and shouts out.

“No! Don’t reject me, I will die!” she cries before I can finish. “I swear I will never come between you and your Luna. Don’t reject me. The prophet said I will die.”

Carl and I exchange looks. Now Clint is refusing to reject her.

“Fine, just stay away.”

I tell her my reasons. She strangely understands when I tell her about my Luna. I watch her walk away while Clint whimpers. It is for the best.

“Those rogues are still out there,” Carl tells me when I instruct that we head home. “They will be on her as soon as we leave,” he adds.

I momentarily close my eyes and shake my head because I know that he is right. It will be worse now because they heard that she is my mate. They will use her to avenge their friends Clint killed. She will be a bargaining tool they will exploit to get something from me.

“Bring her along,” I instruct him and flinch when she gets into the car and curls up on me. I have to make myself very clear to her and she understands very well. We agree that she will apply to become a part of our pack for her protection, that is all.

“The pack will be waiting for our return. Maybe you should call and give the Luna heads up about this before we arrive,” Carl links with me when we cross our pack border.

“She might lose it and leave before we get there. I can’t have that,” I tell him, and he gets it. I know Xena too well. I have known her all her life. She is the type to vanish on thin air without saying a word.

Our arrival is a nightmare I should have anticipated. I explained everything clearly to Gwen, yet she comes to hold my arm right when Xena approaches us. Stupid Clint has blurted out who Gwen is and now Xena is mad. Damn it!

I dismiss everyone when she heads inside and instruct Carl to place Gwen in one of the guest houses.

Stupid Clint is now panicking because Xena has shut us out. I am thrilled to spend time with Xaden, but my mind is on Xena. The hospital said she stabilized Rebecca an hour ago, yet she is not back and is not answering my calls.

“What the fuck did you think when you announced Gwen to everyone!” I snap at Clint when my fourth call is not answered.

I am relieved when she shows up, but her whole demeanor scares the living daylights out of me. I can’t read her mind. She is hiding something from me, and I need to know what.

“Clint,” I call on my wolf.

“I can’t connect with Diana either,” he tells me. Great! Now I am panicking. I wish she could yell and speak up, instead of this.

I have no choice but carry her to our chambers as soon as Fiona takes Xaden away. I can’t take this tension between us. It really hurts that she would think I betrayed her. That she would jump for divorce at the first sign of trouble. I guess I should not blame her. I did bring Gwen without talking to her about it. Seducing her does not take much. I know that I have won as soon as Diana is on my side.

Xena is sleeping on my chest when I sense Gwen. She is in distress, and I can’t ignore it.

I know as I leave that I will have to make up for this. I am hoping the Epsilon will see Gwen tomorrow and clarify this dying thing and I can reject her. Until then, I can’t just ignore her, not with Clint going crazy like this.

“She is in her bedroom and safe. You should not be here,” Carl tells me the moment I walk in.

“I need to see her.”

He shrugs. I know that this looks bad, but I can’t help it. I leave Carl in the lounge and head to her room. She runs into my arms the moment I walk in.

“You came! I had a nightmare about those rogues.”

“You are safe here. Go back to sleep,” I instruct her, already beating myself up. I should not have come here. Carl was guarding her and would have told me if she was in real danger.

“Please don’t leave me,” she pleads when I leave.

“I will be in the lounge. Go back to sleep.”

“You should go back to your Luna,” Carl tells me when I join him in the lounge.

I nod and head out. I have not even reached the gate when I sense her again. I try to ignore it, but I can’t.

Carl shakes his head when I walk back in and straight to her bedroom.

“Please don’t leave me. I can’t sleep here. They will find me and kill me!” she trembles against me.

It takes over three hours for me to calm her down. I eventually decide to sleep in the lounge to give her peace of mind. The sun is up by the time I wake up and curse out loud. This is bad, really bad.